Hunted Ch. 02

I continued, "It was back in world war two, which my great-grandfather fought in. He served with the 1st Marines on Okinawa. There was this insane guy in his squad. A fucking nut job. He was bloodthirsty. Anyway, it was about a month into the battle. This guy got the job of carrying the flamethrower. Now this was a really undesired task. They were always the priority targets. Any soldier in his right mind who saw he was about to be burnt to a fucking crisp would aim for the flamethrower. Makes perfect sense to me. Add an additional 25 pounds of fuel on your back and it was considered to be the worst job any soldier could have. I can only imagine what the fuck the guy's superiors were thinking, giving that lunatic, of all people, a flamethrower. But the problem was, he loved it! Even worse, he was the best shot in the platoon with it. And one day, his platoon got orders. These came straight down from the top." I paused and looked around at everyone. They were all listening attentively and leaning in. Liv was staring at me, her hazel eyes wide and fearful.

I went on, "His platoon was ordered to charge a series of tunnels and caves carved into the sides of the mountains. These were a fucking death trap. They were all connected so any cave thought to be clear could suddenly spawn dozens of Japanese soldiers. Countless men were lost because of this. Anyway my great-grandfather was ordered to provide cover for the flamethrowers as they cleared out the caves. And of course, the crazy guy was given this task. He didn't give a shit about his safety or self-preservation. He was a killing machine. Anyway, this nut had to push uphill and clear out a cave, pretty much singlehandedly. It almost worked. He cleared out the cave successfully, burning all the guys inside to a crisp. He turned around and signaled that it was clear. But it wasn't. He must've missed one guy. This guy took a single shot at him. The bullet hit the fuel tank and it exploded. The poor fucker never had a chance. He went up like a fucking match. And the rest of the platoon had no choice but to watch. Not a good way to die. The flesh literally melted off his bones. The guy that shot him didn't last long either though. Our boys shredded his body with gunfire. Anyway, the corpsman attached to his unit had to go retrieve the body. If you could call it that. It must have been awful. The smell, the sight, everything. His skin was black and charred. He was so disfigured that he couldn't be identified. His dog tags had melted into his skin."

I paused and held mine up on the chain around my neck. "Yeah, these. Metal being melted into your skin. God knows what that felt like. Anyway, here's the fucked part. His skin was black, apart from one perfect patch on his arm. This patch of skin had a tattoo on it. This guy was a lifer in the marines. The tattoo was a picture of Satan and a hellhound with the words 'Devil Dog' under it. That's an infamous nickname given to the marines in the first world war if you're wondering. Like I said, his skin was all burnt. Beyond recognition. But not that part. That part was perfect. The one chunk of skin with a satanic reference was unscathed. There's nothing fun in a war, despite what you may see in the movies. It always looks like a clean, tidy adventure on camera. The reality is, it's fucking disgusting. So, back to the story, what happened with the tat? Was it just a fluke? Or was Satan watching over him? Either way, it taught me to keep an open mind." I finally finished and sat back. There was silence for a long time. Everyone was trying to comprehend what I just said. Liv looked terrified.

Cody finally broke the silence, "Wow. So anyway, back to the conversation. The thing that scares me the most is definitely-" That's when hell broke loose. Something fell, literally out of the sky, right in the fire, bouncing out again and lying next to it.

There were simultaneous screams and swears. Liv screamed and literally jumped into my arms. I screamed, "OH CRAP!" and fell backwards, taking Liv with me and having her sprawled on top of me. Cody yelled, "FUCKIN' HELL!" and also fell off his seat. Nate yelled, "JESUS CHRIST!" and whipped out his knife and started stabbing the thing. Bre screamed. Nick shouted something unintelligible and jumped up. Even Steve was scared.

Slowly, the chaos died down. Cody finally got up and asked, "Is everyone ok? Is anyone hurt?"

Nick replied, "No man, I think I shit myself," and stood up.

I crawled out from under Liv and helped her up. She hugged me tight and wouldn't let go. Her heart rate was through the roof. I asked, "What the FUCK was that?!"

"I don't know. It looks like a bird, maybe a crow." Cody walked over and examined it.

Nate was going to town on the thing with his knife, screaming obscenities and insults at it as blood squirted everywhere. Nick laughed, watching him. He finally stopped stabbing it and asked, covered in its blood, "Is it dead?"

Cody replied, "Oh yeah, it's dead alright. I don't get it. Did it just fall from the sky?"

"The fuck if I know," I answered, and tried to calm Liv down. She was freaking out, still hugging me tightly.

"Whatever that was, it fucking scared me!" Liv said. She buried her face in my shoulder. I started rubbing her back, trying to calm her down.

Steve still hadn't spoken but looked scared. Nate noticed and turned to him, blood dripping down his face, and said sarcastically, "Mr. I'm-Not-Scared-Of-Anything, Mr. Balls-Of-Steel, right?" Steve glared at him but didn't say anything.

Cody laughed and said, "As I was saying, my number one fear is now random birds doing face plants into my campsites." Everyone laughed. "On that note, goodnight." He turned to me, "Don't let Liv bite," and winked before going to bed. Nate followed. Nick, Bre, and Steve decided to sleep by the fire, having unsuccessfully built shelters.

I walked over to examine the bird. That's odd. This looks like a bullet hole, I thought, noticing a hole in the body.

Liv came over, finally calmed down, "What is it?" she asked.

"I'll tell you in the shelter," I said. We bade everyone goodnight and retired to the shelter.

"So?" she asked when we got there.

"There was a bullet hole in that corpse. Hunting season hasn't started yet."

"So who shot it?"

Then I remembered. "Oh shit. Remember this morning, when I thought I saw sunlight reflecting off of something?"

"Yeah...?"

"I'm now convinced it was a scope on a gun. That makes sense."

"Jesus. You're right. But why would the guy shoot a bird and make it fall on our campsite?"

"Maybe to send us a message to fuck off back to civilization. Or to scare us. And there was only one bullet hole. The guy must be a good shot. I'm thinking ex-military. Maybe special forces. Navy SEALs or Delta Force."

"Oh fuck. I think I made a mistake coming with you."

I hugged her and said, "Liv. I promise you, no harm will come to you. They'll have to go through me to get to you. You have my word."

"I hope you're right."

"I am. Now come on, we need to get some sleep." We lay down on the ground, which was surprisingly comfortable. But it was cold. Aw fuck, no blankets, I thought. "Liv?"

"Yeah?"

"You cold?"

"Fucking freezing."

"We could share body heat. It's warm. Do you want to?"

"Sure. I could use warmth right now."

I got up and went over to her, lying down beside her. "Come here," I grabbed her and started spooning her, putting my hands on her boobs. "Better?"

"Yes. Much better. She turned her head to look at me. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Shoot."

"Was that story real? The tattoo one?"

"What, the flamethrower maniac one?" I laughed. "Hell, no. I made the whole thing up."

Liv laughed too. "You ass. You had me terrified after."

"I know, but I couldn't help it. You're so cute when you're scared."

She turned her head. "Aww, thanks baby," and kissed me. "Goodnight, love ya," and kissed me again, more passionately this time. She smiled and closed her eyes, and was soon breathing deeply. Her boobs felt really good through her tank top in my hands. I whispered, "Goodnight, gorgeous. You're safe with me." I could never forgive myself if she got hurt or killed on my watch. God, I loved her so much. Carefully, I slid both hands up her tank top, caressing her flawless stomach, and cupped both boobs, which felt amazing. I fell asleep like that, still spooning her.

To be continued in part 3...