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Counter Earth Chronicles

Chapter 19: Big Animals Scaring Little Animals

Day 79

I came to sometime during the night. My head hurt like hell, as did my arm, shoulder and abdomen. My vision was also blurred. Which was not a good sign. What was worse, I started suffering from blackouts- probably from the blow to the head I received. However, I wasn't cold despite the night temperature outside the cave dipping below 40 degrees and me being without my jacket.

It was then I realized that in the darkness of the cave that something or someone was laying on top of me. Their head on my chest, their back on my stomach and groin.

Was it the werewolf? No. This creature was smaller. I moved my hands to touch its head and then face. Its mouth and eyes were wide open as if frozen in a scream. The neck had fang marks on it from what I could tell.

(OMG!)

"Fushia! Fushia!" I said rocking the fox female back and forth. She didn't respond. I gently rolled her off me and crouched down to her muzzle. She wasn't breathing either. I then went to cup my hand behind her head in preparation to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation. That was when I noticed that it had some weird unnatural play; it moved side to side in a way that no head should move- her neck had been snapped.

(Fushia!)

Frantically I combed the floor of the werewolf's lair looking for my PDA. I found it, with its illuminated display I quickly scanned the cave. The creature had finished devouring the male fox- I found bloodied bone, fur, arms and legs separated from the rest of Zed's body in the corner where the were-creature had fed on him. Fushia had most likely joined him in the great beyond shortly after I blacked out.

As for the were-creature he was no where to be found. Probably out hunting again. But why? He still had the she fox who he hadn't touched (except for breaking her neck) and myself. In my haze, I soon realized that fuzzy had devoured the male fox in one day. The female who was a bit smaller would probably, take half as long which meant I would be on the menu by evening.

This was just great! Go with Sir Ram on this mission Alex! It is for the good of the empire Alex! Don't be terrified Alex- Sir Ram is a accomplished warrior and one of the smartest minds on Counter Earth- he will keep you safe. Complete utter bullshit! (Sorry Tauren).

If Sir Ram was that smart, why didn't he foresee that his damn creation had outwitted, outplayed and outsmarted him? In the end it cost him his life and would cost me mine as well; I was alone (again) in the middle of a very very large forest and cut off from all assistance.

Wait a minute I was alone! I did have a chance to make another escape attempt! I chewed through the vines that bound my wrist and started crawling for the cave entrance. I would have made it out if I hadn't gotten very dizzy and blacked out again....

When I came to it was around morning. I awoken to the smell of rotting meat and munching noises- a lot of munching noises. The were-creature had returned and had been feeding on Fushia's remains. But he was not alone. As best I could tell from the light shining into the cave, the creature had brought company. A white wolf- nonbeastial had joined Fuzzy for his morning meal.

"Well look who came to?" The creature remarked. "Honey, this lunch." The creature said gesturing to the white wolf who stopped feeding on Fushia and came over to investigate me. "Lunch, this my Honey."

(Uh Oh, I thought I would be dinner....)

"Let me guess, you are branching out on your own and starting your own pack?!" I said as the white wolf started to sniff me. "Get away!" I growled at it.

(Whoa, it is a female! Fuzzy has a girlfriend!)

"Don't mind the meat- it is a bit fresh and just needs tenderizing." The were-creature said to his companion.

(Tenderizing?!)

Watching the pair feed, made me sick to my stomach. Realizing that with the two of them they would finish off the female fox and that I would be lunch and dinner, made me even sicker.

"How could you kill your fellow creatures like that in cold blood?" I asked the were-creature and his wolf bitch.

"Everybody's gotta eat." He replied coldly.

"You don't have to do this Christopher, you are free from your handler now." I said trying to persuade the were-creature who was now with his girlfriend gorging on fox meat.

"Who is that?" The creature looked up from his meal.

"The name Christopher Sine doesn't mean anything to you?!"

"No."

(Wow when Sir Ram changed him, he really changed him.)

I was scared yet curious and tried to pump Fuzzy for more information. Unlike the creatures that attacked Tauren and myself my first week on the planet- this werewolf was quite different. He was quite beautiful for a genetically engineered specimen. But unlike the others, he was intelligent, cold and calculating.

"What do you remember of your life before now?" I asked the feeding were-creature.

"And why would you care?!" The creature said looking up. Particles of bloody meat dripping from its maw.

"Curiosity."

"I was an experiment of that damn ram. But that is no longer an issue because I brought him down easily..." the creature boasted, "...like slaughtering a lamb and then I peed on his dead caracas."

"So you didn't feed on his remains." I said as I started feeling dizzy again.

"That bastard had it coming to him. I was his prisoner, his pet project for a long, long time." The were-beast said. "I was poked, prodded and experimented on for all of my existence. I swore that I would break the control he had on me, escape one day and claim vengeance." The werewolf said.

(So all of this was a trap.)

"Now that you are free are you going to go back to your wife and family?" I asked.

"What family? I was created by that damn ram in his lab. Now that I am free, I am not going back. Ever."

It appeared that Sir Ram had erased or blocked all memory of the creature's previous life, perhaps for the better.

"So with the slate clean you are going to start your own pack and live here in the forest. Others will come looking for you." I warned.

"Let them try, I and my growing pack will cut them down just like I did the ram." The creature growled returning to his fox meat.

I wanted to question him further perhaps gain something I could use on him, but I decided that I should try to escape again or maybe it was the realization that I was next on the menu. Either way, it was daylight and Fuzzy had failed to retie my bonds after my last attempt.

Quickly and quietly I made my way toward the cave entrance. I managed to sneak out without him or his female noticing! As I stepped into the morning light I saw that the lair was on a small hill surrounded by nothing but trees, trees and more trees.

(What direction? Anywhere was better than here!)

I picked one and started running. Well in my condition it wasn't running it was limping. I managed to "run" about 1000 feet from Fuzzy's cave before I was startled by some crows.

Caw!! Caw!!

That was enough to alert Fuzzy. The next thing I remember was that I was thrown into the air landing on my side as I came down.

I looked up and was face to snout with the were-creature.

"Where do you think you are going meat?"

"Um......"

"It is really cute. Your desperate attempts to escape." The creature said coldly. "But look around you..." the creature said pinning me to the ground. "Where could you run to and especially in your condition?"

The creature then rolled me on to my back and laid right down onto me his chest to my abdomen. It was at that moment I got a really good look at him- jet black fur, large head, large bloody fangs, yellow eyes, lean yet strong upper body and small muscular butt with a bushy tail.

The creature grabbed my right hand with its large paw and guided it down his hard perfectly shaped chest and rock hard biceps as he goaded me:

"Listen well meat." The creature said as he leered at me. "I am stronger, faster and swifter than you. If you try to escape again I will pursue you and when you are caught I will cut you down just like I did the ram." The were-beast paused. "No, that bastard deserved that especially after shooting me that morning! Instead, I will gore you and let you bleed out; then eat you. You will die alone in this forest away from your loved ones and everyone else you care about. Do you understand?" He asked.

As he said that I was overcome by another wave of dizziness; I blacked out again.

The next thing I remember was a sharp pain on my right shoulder causing me to awake with a start. The white she wolf had started feeding on me!

"Get away!" I screamed. I was bound and back inside that damn cave. The were-creature and his wolf bitch starring right over me as I came to.

"Ah awake again? But for how long this time?" Fuzzy said as he sat down right on my waist. "I want you to feel something."

The werewolf once again reached for my right hand with his left paw and gingerly guided it to his stomach where he let it sit for a minute. I got to feel his coarse dense tummy fur which was an odd sensation. But that was not the sensation he wanted me to feel.

(OMG!)

The sensation I did feel made me turn white. Underneath that dense fur I felt a rumbling a loud rumbling- as in an empty stomach.

"It is lunch time." The creature said quietly. "You see myself and Honey here are out of fox meat." He said gesturing toward the remains of the hikers in the corner of his cave. "So this afternoon we will be sampling human meat. I am interested to see what human tastes like. Is it better than fox?"

Before I could even process those words, his fangs found my neck preparing to snap it most likely in the same manner that he did Fushia's.

(I am sorry mistress. I won't be returning from this mission....)

I thought to myself as the werewolf pressed his paws down on my chest preparing to rip open my neck.

"AHH!!!"

Once again, my life flashed before my eyes. I saw my parents, my mistress, Tauren and Lea, Lady Vermin and Lord Tiger and even Sir Ram. However it was Sir Ram's whose words echoed in my ears- "....you have lived among us for how long and you still are acting like a terrified refugee?!" What is stranger in the waning moments of my life I didn't have a premonition of my own demise- that was really strange.

Suddenly the were-creature loosened it's grip on my neck and turned his attention to his lady wolf.

"What is it Honey?"

The white wolf was pawing at the pocket of my pants. She stuck her nose in and fished out a pouch of rations I was preparing to eat yesterday morning when Sir Ram and I were attacked.

It was enough of a distraction to cause Fuzzy to stop his lunchtime feeding.

"What is that?" He asked releasing my neck from his death grip.

"That was my breakfast yesterday morning before you attacked. I never got to finish eating it." I said unnerved.

"How much do you have?" He asked.

"Um, enough?" I bleated.

"Enough to take you off of the menu for now...." The were-creature said coldly.

I opened the pouches for the wolves and placed it at their paws. Both ate all that I had.

"Looks like you will live a little longer meat! Good find Honey!" Fuzzy said nuzzling his female.

She said nothing but walked to the front of the cave and lifted her tail- straight up. The were-creature climbed off me and walked over to her to take a sniff. Fuzzy had caught the scent of something- something he liked.

"Ha Ha!!" He growled.

"What is it now?" I asked sopping up blood from the bite marks on my neck.

"Someone is coming into heat! Honey, why didn't you tell me?"

I guess food was not the only thing scarce out here at this time of year. So was tail.The werewolf bounded out of his cave after his female the white she wolf. He was on her in an instant desperate to give her something to remember him by. I watched from the cave entrance with a perverse fascination. I have never in my life seen a werewolf mate with a wolf. A bipedal wolf humping a quadrupedal wolf- doggie-style. Their mating was quite a site werewolf on wolf, black on white pounding her for all she was worth. In a strange sort of way their lovemaking was quite majestic and hypnotic- the werewolf was preoccupied trying very hard to cum in his wolf bitch.

After piercing her tunnel with his thickening wolf meat, he yiffed her in swift quick bucks hard and fast trying to tie her. With some effort he did. Sometime after that he fired his goo into her inner-most depths. From the look on her face she was enjoying it as much as he was.

The pair rested and then started all over again. This must have gone on for an hour. Like the fox couple two days before, I couldn't take my eyes off of either of them.

When they had finally finished the two of them went for a walk through the forest. With the reprieve, I sat and dwelled on my situation. I had to get out of here. But I how? My last two escape attempts were dismal failures and I was in poor shape right now as well.

My situation was hopeless- even for a survivor-. I could run but I wouldn't get far- this thing caught me before I could even get a mile away from here. I couldn't confront this thing either- he had taken down a warrior of Wundagore like he was a newborn lamb. In short, if I stayed here I was dead. If I ran I was dead. If I tried to fight the creature I was certainly dead.

(Utterly utterly hopeless!)

I thought while glancing at the remains of the hikers- the fox couple they were so young, so in love and so horny when I first saw them. Now both of them were dead. I was still horrified and disgusted looking at their remains. No one deserved to die alone and especially not like that.

The day I accompanied Lady Ursa on her mission to the prairie she warned me that missions are unpredictable and could go sideways. It was best to prepare for them. That morning she also tested me to see if I could think on my feet.

The test was quite similar to my situation now- the were creature was stronger and quicker than I was. He was also sentient, intelligent, ravenous and a control freak.

(Of all Sir Ram's human/beast experiments how is it that he is the only one that has intellect?)

My mind started to wander as I tried to focus. So what does that leave me with? What do I have to work with? During my mistress' test- the only thing I had was guile.

That was it! I had to out think Fuzzy but how? I thought as I continued to stare at the remains of Fushia and Zed. It was then that I noticed something.

My glance turned toward the male fox. Around his dismembered paw was the werewolf's control collar! The device that was linked to Sir Ram's tracker. That's right when 'Fuzzy' attacked Sir Ram and myself he didn't have his control collar on!

So what were we following the last day in the forest? I figured it out. The device must have been failing hence the many false readings we were receiving while we were tracking the were-creature. The creature had kept Sir Ram and myself at bay by attaching the control collar to the fox couple the morning he had ambushed us.

I gently removed the collar from the male fox's paw and looked at it. It was no longer active. If I could get the control collar working again, others, Lady Ursa, Lady Vermin or Lord Tiger would be able to track the werewolf again if I failed to escape and at least prevent other beastials from winding up like the fox couple.

(Thank you- Fushia... Zed...)

I looked at the collar intently trying to figure out how to reactivate it.

I got lucky. Very lucky. The primary power supply on the collar was down hard and hadn't failed over to the redundant. This explained why it was glitching on the tracker. It also explained how the werewolf was able to remove it from his neck.

All I had to do was toggle it to the redundant power supply and the collar was active again within the hour; the knights now had a means to track this creature again. Now all that was needed was to get this thing around his neck again. But how to do that?

My PDA! I started playing with the device and its settings. I needed to be able to tase a target on command instead of passively like my device had with Alexander on my last mission. An unfortunate truth I found out when the werewolf attacked Sir Ram and me and I failed to incapacitate it.

ZZZZTTT!!!

(Found it!)

I thought to myself as I blacked out from the electric shock. Well at least this time it wasn't from another wave of dizziness.

When I awoke afternoon had turned to evening and it was getting dark. The werewolf entered into the cave followed by his new girl after their afternoon stroll.

"Guess who's coming to dinner?" He grinned wickedly as he untied the ropes binding my legs. He then to my amazement untied my hands.

"You are letting me go?!"

"No, meat." He responded wickedly "I just like to see my prey flail and scream as I devour them, the foxes were quite entertaining when it was their time. Now it is yours little human...."

The creature pounced on me snout aiming for my neck with renewed vigor ready to snap it. The white wolf watched her mate with some amusement by the cave entrance.

I tried to fight off the incredibly strong creature despite my dislocated shoulder, numerous bite marks and aching head.

"It can't end like this!" I bleated as I struggled.

"It can and it will!" The were-creature said coldly. "The same way it ended for the ram, the hikers and now you."

I looked at those yellow eyes and his open maw as he said:

"I am going to butcher you little human. I am going to start with your stomach, then your lungs and then your heart. I am going to eat them all up."

(Eep!)

"You scared boy?" The were-creature asked. "We big animals tend to do that to you little animals. Fear makes the meat taste even better!"

I was incensed at that monster's insensitive statement. HOW DARE HE!!! As I recollect these events three years after the fact, to this day I don't know where I found the strength or the courage (maybe it was the fact I didn't want to go out like that), but some how I did.

As the were-creature lunged for my neck. I kneed him in his groin hard- deflecting his attack to my right shoulder. Where he bit it and hard.

(At least it wasn't my neck.)

"You may be right about that Fuzzy, but sometimes us little animals fight back!" I said to the surprised werewolf.

While the were-creature winced in pain, I pulled my PDA from my pocket and shocked him with it. The creature rolled over on his side twitching. Damn, he was beautiful as he was magnificent!

(Focus Alex, focus Alex.)

"Lesson number one Fuzzy... I am not as weak as I seem." I said as I kicked the creature's head- hard.

(Man, I was on a roll!)

"Lesson number two... When dealing with Alex Winter terrified refugee, when you least expect it... EXPECT IT!!!!" I said as I kicked the creature as hard as I could in its groin drawing a whimper from it.

"Lesson number three.... This is for my friends Fushia, Zed and my colleague Sir Ram!" I said giving the creature another kick this time to its face.

The creature quickly covered its head and genitals from my attack. Unlike my doppelganger during the recon mission, the shock from my PDA only dazed him- it did not incapacitate him.

Quickly I grabbed the control collar from the cave floor and approached the recoiling were-creature one more time.

*CLIP!*

Fuzzy was back on the grid and trackable.

"YOU ARE DEAD!!" The creature said enraged at what I had just done and smacked me across the cave floor toward its entrance- leaving a gash on my chest. "You damn human! Do you realize what you have done?!!" He yelled at me.

"I reattached your accessory- you look better with it around your neck anyway!" I said as

I took that as my cue to leave.

With what strength I had, I bolted for the cave entrance and limped past the stunned she wolf down the hill south through the forest as fast as my injuries would allow. My back hurt, my head hurt, my chest ached as did both my shoulders, my vision was blurred and I was starting to feel dizzy again.

Despite the pain, I needed to put as much distance away from him as possible before the werewolf could recover. I figured when he realized I had run off, he would hunt me and follow through with his threat.

I had managed to "run" a quarter mile from the cave when I noticed a light moving toward my direction up the hill in the dark of night. I ran toward it and nearly flattened its occupant. I looked up as I caught my breath- "Ram!!" I ran to him and hugged him with my good arm, leaving blood drops on his clothing.

"That is Sir Ram to you human." He chided. "What's this?" He acted surprised and was taken back by my actions. "Have we become this close?" He asked astounded.

"You knucklehead! I thought you were dead! That creature told me he had killed you!" I blurted out.

"He nearly did. 001 broke my sternum, three ribs, gave me several gashes, bit my neck nearly breaking it, knocked me out cold and left me for dead- but not before peeing on me." The ram said.

"OMG!! How did you survive?! I asked starring up at him.

"Have you not listened to a word I said boy?! This was not the first time I haven injured and left for dead!"

"So how did you survive?" I asked again.

"You see this outfit I am wearing?!"

"Um yeah." I replied.

"This is a new invention of mine. This chest plate heals its wearer's wounds as long as it is to the abdomen and not above the neck, or legs. This was its field test and it tested well; I lived." The ram warrior said to me.

(Ok so I was wrong, he is the brightest mind on this world.)

"When I came to, I put the chest plate on and slowly I started tracking you as it healed me. I have been searching for you the last day and a half with your tracking chip." The evil beastial said. "You were stationary earlier and I had feared he had indeed killed you, but then you started moving again."

"Fuzzy attempted to eat me this afternoon, but opted for my supply of rations." I said.

"Where is he now?" The ram asked.

"He is a quarter mile north of here in his cave dazed with his girlfriend a she wolf." I said. "They were REALLY getting to know each other earlier."

"Fascinating! I wonder if there will be offspring?" The ram said. "I wonder what they would look like? Will they be quadrupedal or bipedal?"

(Wait, what? He didn't care about the foxes' mating habits earlier but he cares about the werewolf's?!)

"Sir Ram please, we need to go now! He is only dazed. When he comes to his senses he is going to realize I escaped and come after me. When he sees you he is going to try to kill you- again! This time for real." I said.

The ram was silent as he looked at his tracker. "I see you figured out what I started to tell you yesterday morning- you reattached the control collar." He said.

"Come again?!"

"The reason we had trouble tracking the creature was that its control collar was failing. That was why you saw the signal bounce all over the forest." The he beast said to me.

"Its primary power supply was damaged. I fixed it so that it was working on the backup supply and managed to reattach it to the werewolf. Please, Sir Ram we need to go now! I have no desire to die here tonight." I pleaded.

Sir Ram looked at me and then placed his paw on my right shoulder.

"Ow!" I replied.

"What happened here?" He asked.

"Fuzzy bit me during his second feeding attempt." I told the ram.

The ram warrior thought for a moment and then replied- "No, Alex we will make our stand here."

"What?! Are you mad?!" I stammered.

"No." The ram said. "Just tired, injured and out for some revenge."

He then turned to me.

"You are absolutely sure the control collar is fastened securely around his neck?"

"Yeah pretty sure." I said.

"Then here hold this." He said handing me his fire arm weapon. "I won't be needing it."

When he gave me his side arm I nearly lost it.

Sir Ram looked at me. "Relax Alex, remember I said leap of faith right?"

I nodded.

"Trust me, it's time for major some payback!!!" The he beast said.

I ducked and hid behind Sir Ram as a shadow approached us from the north. It was walking on all fours- starting at a slow gait, then accelerated to a trot before it came to a dead stop. 500 feet from us. The shadow sniffed the air, took a good look at Sir Ram and charged as soon as it recognized him.

"YOU BASTARD!" It growled running at him full bore. "PREPARE FOR DEATH!!!"

Sir Ram stood his ground and in a stern commanding voice shouted:

"Experiment 001!! I command you to sit!!"

The creature groaned in pain and came to a dead stop not 100 feet from us. It tried to charge again but the sensation from the control collar was too great. It howled and rolled in pain before it sat its rump on the cold forrest floor with a obedient "Yes master!"

(Whoa! I didn't see that coming.)

Sir Ram walked over to the werewolf and shined his light into its eyes seeing only a blank empty gaze looking back at him.

"It looks like you did a good job on the control collar Alex." Sir Ram said. "But I am giving him a second one for good measure- just in case."

Carefully, I walked up to the pair. Looking the ram warrior in the face.

"You enjoyed that didn't you?" I asked.

"You're damn right." He said.

"That's nice....." I said as another wave of dizziness hit me and I passed out in front of the stunned pair.

To Be Continued.....