WARNING: The chapters of this story have been rearranged, the comments below may not properly reflect the content of this chapter. The order has been changed due to accurate constructive criticism, and these changes will reduce the jarring back and forth between perspectives. Thank you to all of my readers whose feedback allowed me to make these changes, please enjoy the chapter.
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It wasn't long before Sheriff Pike's vanguard came across more bodies. As they stepped into a small clearing, a most gruesome sight welcomed them. They had thought there was nothing left to surprise them today. They were wrong.
"Christ... Are those kids?" the vibrantly orange attired man cursed.
"Hell. I think so." Pike affirmed gruffly, as he approached to inspect the carnage.
Five small scattered skeletons lay in a circle in the middle of the clearing. Each skeleton had a sizable stick or rock nearby, and there were dozens of the rodent skeletons all around. "These kids fought hard." Pike spoke with a quiver in his voice. The image of five friends on a wilderness adventure fighting back to back against a horde of flesh eating monsters with nothing but a few branches or rocks was enough to make the grizzled sheriff's heart ache. But as he took a closer look at the skeletons, something was off. "Hey... You there."
"Name's Bill." replied the walking traffic cone.
"Bill, come here. Take a look at those skeletons. Real close. Tell me what you see."
"Dead kids boss. I see dead kids." Bill sighed heavily.
"No look closer, look at their skulls."
"I see bite marks, and gouges- wait..." Bill paused.
"Yes?"
"Those teeth ain't right."
"Yeah, I was afraid of that." Pike sighed. There was obviously something wrong, but it was hard to imagine. He didn't want to believe it. All five of the bodies had jagged, sharp teeth. Not just the canines, but every tooth in their jaws was predatory as if made for ripping. Their bones also seemed deformed, slightly misshapen. Whatever was going on, Pike liked it less and less with each passing moment. Pike turned back to his group, "Lets keep moving."
The further in they walked the more gruesome battlefields they found. Strange children, huge dogs, those damned rats, a giant snake and a cougar. It seemed as if the entire forest was a warzone. Just as before, tons of blood and nothing else left but pearly white bone. "What the fuck is going on!" Bill shouted, startling someone recording the wreckage into dropping their camera.
"I wish I knew son. I wish I knew." Pike muttered. It was then that they heard screams from up ahead, and as Pike snapped to attention, some of his men started to run forwards, "Halt!" Pike roared, and the men quickly complied, "We don't know what's going on up there. We go together, and keep your eyes peeled." with that, Pike broke into a brisk jog as he carefully scanned the dense tree line ahead. Within a few short minutes they reached the largest clearing yet, and the battle still raged.
Five nearly naked children were surrounded by countless giant rats, with others dead on the ground being devoured as the hunters stared in shock. Those children still standing were armed with sticks and stones, and wore only a loincloth for protection. Their skin was covered in bites, scratches, blood and dirt.
"Fire at will! Advance!" Pike roared, and the seventy hunters opened fire on the swarm of rats. There were hundreds and hundreds of the beasts, some as large as a German shepherd. Their disgusting gray fur bristled at the intrusion, but as a torrent of rifle fire tore through their ranks they couldn't help but collapse. Volley after volley rushed across the grove as frantic men fired as fast as their fingers could pull the trigger. Most shot clear of the kids, but one terribly unlucky and unsteady shot ripped through a child's leg. As the child went down, the rats he was fending off swarmed over and killed him in moments.
"Fuck!" Pike roared, "Don't shoot the kids you louts! Thomas, forward! Grab those kids!"
Thomas was the deputy in charge of the mounted troop, and the nine brave men charged forwards through a hail of gunfire and furious rats. By now more than half of the rats lay dead, but the rest snapped at their horses legs as they flew past. Two of the horses were brought down as rats caught hold of their vulnerable legs. The two valiant bests went down with whinnying fury as they bucked and kicked out at the rats as they were swarmed over. Both rider and steed were soon drowned in a sea of undulating bloody-gray fur. Still their comrades pushed on, and before more than a few seconds had passed they reached the kids.
The first four men grabbed hold of an arm of the kids before their horses kicked off again, rushing out of the angry horde. Still the hunters fired round after round into the advancing rats, mowing them down by the dozen, the confident marksmen among them covering the horsemen and the rest firing into the swarm. And then something bit down into Thomas' neck. The child he had rescued had clambered onto the rear of his saddle, and then sunk his teeth into the soft flesh of his rescuers neck. Before the other riders knew what was going on, the other three had attacked the men carrying them as well. All at once, the four men were torn from their horses amid screams of agony and betrayal. Two of the horses got away, but the others were brought down.
"Those aren't kids! Kill them all!" Pike roared, "Shotguns out! Advance!"
The other three riders in the rear tried to get through, but with the downed men and flailing horses in front their mounts balked. That was all the time the rats needed. They quickly leapt upon them, biting and clawing the horses legs and bellies, and soon they too fell beneath the tide of rats.
Pike lead the charge, hoping to save some of the downed men even if he knew he would be too late. The many among them who had brought a shotgun as a spare unleashed a furious storm of buckshot into the dwindling tide of rats. Some few among the men, Bill included, had loaded a little something extra into their shells and accompanying the barrages were gouts of fire and smoke. The crazy bastards had brought hellfire rounds. Within a few short minutes the battle was over, and as the men dug into the pile of rat corpses in search of their fallen comrades, they heard a horrible scream. They raced to the noise, and tore the dead rats away to see Thomas sill alive, and screaming as he tried to fend off one of the 'children'. Bill grabbed the beast by the neck and hefted it into the air, and as the beast struggled to turn and attack him Pike got a good long look at the creature.
He had believed them to be dirty and bloody, and they were, but their skin was a sickly gray underneath. The ears came to slight points, and the teeth were absolutely horrifying. Chunks of fresh flesh were stuck between the wicked fangs and as he snarled and snapped, blood filled spittle sprayed onto the Sheriff. But the worstof all were the eyes. The irises were a deep, bloody red but the "whites" of its eyes had been replaced with a deep abyssal black. "Giant man eating rats, and these- these things! What the fuck is going on boss?" Bill shouted
"How the hell should I know?!" Pike roared.
"Sorry boss..." Bill shrugged.
"No. I shouldn't be losing it like that. I don't know what is going on, but god dammit we're going to find out."
"Sorry... Gerry..." a meek voice croaked from their feet. With their shock at the appearance of the beast, they had forgotten Thomas.
"Tom... I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Pike groaned. Thomas' legs were in complete tatters. He had terrible lacerations all over his body, the worst of which was on his neck. He was bleeding out, and fast. It was a miracle he had survived this long. He wasn't going to make it.
"Don't... Gerry... My wife..." Thomas choked out before a cough brought up a spray of blood.
Pike kneeled down, and grasped his arm firmly, "Don't worry. I'll tell her Tom." Pike spoke softly but firmly as Thomas' attempts at speech were replaced by weak coughing and gurgling noises, "Don't worry. I'll tell her."
Soon the pained noises stopped, and the deputy was gone.
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Pike sat with Thomas while they waited for the reinforcements to arrive. The men had formed a defensive circle in the middle of the blood soaked clearing, taking turns at resting. The beast they captured was still alive, unfortunately. One of the men had brought cable ties, and that combined with some duct tape kept the rabid creature still and mostly quiet. Bill had cut open one of the rats while they were waiting, and as best as he could tell they were real rats, although their insides looked a little 'weird'. Given that they varied in size from house cat to large dog, weird somehow seemed appropriate. Pike wanted to press in, to slaughter everything in this damned forest, but he wasn't stupid.
His team at the trail head had sent in another hundred late arrivals after the initial forty, and after what he had seen, he ordered the men at the road to climb into their cars for protection. Twenty men wouldn't do much good against a pack the size they had battled. Anyone who arrived after this moment would wait with the men at the road. As the fresh hunters passed the rear guard, they would collect them. All told he would have two hundred and forty men on this hunt, and the men at the road had emptied the ammo crates into the packs of the newcomers. It was a heavy load, but it would be well worth the effort. They had killed hundreds of these things, but the oppressive weight and hostility in the air had only grown harsher as they walked.
"Boss?" Bill called out.
"Yeah?"
"Do you feel different?"
"How do you mean?" the Sheriff asked sharply.
"Most of the boys, myself included... We feel really good boss."
"Good men just died." Pike growled, unsettled.
"No boss. Not happy good... But better... Stronger. Eager. I'm not tired after that crazy fight y'know?
"Yeah... I do."
"Boss?"
"I feel it too." He grunted. It felt wrong after such a horrific fight, but he did feel better. His joints were less stiff and he felt younger and spry again, even if only slightly. He felt alive. He wanted more.
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When the reinforcements arrived, they spent twenty minutes explaining everything. Much of it could be guessed from the pile of corpses and the angry captive, yet Pike took no chances. These men needed to know what they were up against, what was threatening their homes and families. And most importantly, they needed to know to shoot these child sized monsters on sight. At the end of the lesson, one of the youngest new arrivals raised a hand. "Speak." Pike answered.
"Is that a goblin?" the youth asked.
"Thats absurd. Goblins aren't-" but the Sheriff paused. Pointed ears, sharp teeth, size of a child, gray skin... Goblin was a fairly accurate name. More importantly, if they were 'goblins' then they weren't 'children'. Doubt and hesitation would get more good men killed. He needed his men be sure of putting these things down, "Yeah. It's a damned goblin."
"How?" the boy asked, and the dumbfounded looks on the faces of his other listeners echoed this simple thought.
"I haven't a damn clue." Pike announced, "I don't know a damn thing more than you do, except that these things and those rats are killing good people and that this goblin here tore out my deputy's throat" the grizzled sheriff gestured to the dead man on the ground, "We're going to put an end to this. Today." and with that, it was time to march. They formed up into a massive V formation, this time there were no gaps between groups. They stood shoulder to shoulder, two men deep. One hundred men on the front line and fifty on each side with forty men making up the rear guard. They were tightly packed, but with hordes of unarmed enemies this was the perfect formation.
It was awkward for most, marching in formation in a dense forest was more difficult than anyone had expected, however it was a simple plan. They learned quickly. Steadily the men advanced, this time when they heard shrieks in the distance, they ignored them. Pike's gut told him to follow the trail. It lead deeper and deeper into the forest. And he knew that's where the malevolent aura was coming from. One way or another, he would put an end to this nightmare.