Rogues...
If there was something that the werewolves and hunters shared then it would be their deep-rooted hatred for rogues. Rogues were easy to identify even for hunters. The beastly insanity that they have succumbed into stuck to them like a bad omen, it could be seen from a mile away.
Kristine crouched down behind a huge tree with her gun in her hands and sword hung loosely by her belt. She listened carefully for any movement, ready to attack. Since she was blindfolded, she had to rely heavily on the use of the rest of her senses.
One of the most important rules of hunting was that a hunter never looked into the eyes of the beast for too long, or at all if that was possible, be it wolf or rogue. This was due to the fear of the hunters that such wolf might succumb to some stupid beastly need dripping with insanity and forcefully take them away.
Mate bond, they call it. How ridiculous!
But it had happened before in the past and for it not to happen again they all try to stick by the rule. Kristine, however, took extra safety measures by always hunting blindfolded.
At that moment, she heard a sharp penetrating gunshot that echoed across the forest and a loud howl of pain.
"Target 3 down. Captain, do you read me?" A female voice radiating with a sense of pride and achievement rang through her ears and she sucked in a deep breath. The voice at the other end soon became urgent with worry.
"Captain? Captain, do you read me?"
"Copy that."
Bleep...
The line went dead.
Three rogues were down now, that meant that she was left with the last one. The last one seemed to be cunny and more manipulative. From what she could gather, the rogue must have been subdued to its beast form for a long time.
Snap...
She tensed up. It was closer now. She allowed herself to picture the forest in her mind, the movement of the wolf, the low threatening growls that she could hear, she took it all into account even her low uneven breathing. For a while she stood still, then a wicked smile spread across her lips.
It was here.
The wolf leaped over her at that moment and she rolled on her back and shot into the air. The bullet jammed into the wolf's belly, it crashed against the leaves while it growled angrily in pain.
But killing wolves wasn't that easy, so she wasted no time in reaching for her sword. She could hear it stand up and leap towards her in attack, she side stepped it quickly but alas, the wolf must have been bigger than she had pictured it in her mind because its long claws had scratched her shoulders a little too deeply. Blood dripped out of the wound quickly and she gnashed her teeth in pain.
Focus!
She snapped at herself in her head while she forced herself to push the pain into the far back of her mind. She then started to picture the forest and the wolf more accurately this time.
Sensing that she might not be an easy prey to take down, the rogue studied her just as she was studying it.
A logical rouge? Now that was different.
She had sensed what it was doing too. So when it leaped for her this time, she just stooped low, dug her sword right into its chest and withdrew it quickly.
The rogue howled out in pain before its body began a vehement struggle against the silver that was now spreading fast across its veins. A fight that was useless because silver was certain to always kill them once it made its way to their hearts.
Soon the growling and the struggle stopped, allowing the forest to get back its peaceful quietness, in the best way nature could allow. Kristine pulled off her blindfold, it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the light. The rogue was indeed big, black and scrawny.
Disgusting...
Kristine cleaned up her sword laced with the rouge's blood, a grimace plastered on her face. She glared at the dead rogue again, anger and irritation immediately shot through her veins.
They were all monsters.
Werewolves, rogues, they were all the same.
Beasts!
Beasts that should have never existed to begin with. They were stains of the earth and they needed to be gotten rid of. It was unbelievable that humans even once signed a Peace treaty with them. Like as if they could maintain one. When did beasts ever listen to rules?
"Code red on Target 3!" The female voice that had rang through the walkie talkie earlier, rang through it again. Kristine pressed her lips together in annoyance.
Agent 107 should have known that a gunshot wouldn't kill a wolf except it went straight into its heart.
She glanced at her dead opponent again before breaking into a race.
The Clean up team would take care of that.
"Help!"
"Where are you, Agent?"
"Zone..." There were gunshots in the background.
"Agent?!" Kristine was racing as fast as she could now.
"Code Red! Do you read me? Zo.."
She heard a loud growl and it seems the walkie talkie fell off.
Great!
Now she didn't even know the exact location Agent 107 was. She pulled her blindfold over her eyes once again and relied upon the rest of her senses as usual. It didn't take long for her to figure out where she was needed since Agent 107 kept shooting aimlessly into the air. Once this was over, she would ensure the agent went on more trainings before ever allowing her to take up any other mission with the squad again.
Then a sharp metallic scent swept across her nostrils.
Blood...she could smell it.
"Captain, over here!"
The agent in need shouted to her and that made the rogue turn its attention to Kristine. She sensed it running up to her quickly in a blinded fury.
An illogical rogue? Now, that was more like it.
It leaped towards her and she heard Agent 107 scream in fear for her death. Then the rogue tumbled down, her sword dug deep into the rogue's chest.
"Target 3 down." Kristine said into her walkie talkie before taking off her blindfold. She pulled out her sword from the rogue before speaking into the walkie talkie again.
"Mission accomplished. Send the clean up team."
"On their way." Someone responded through the walkie talkie.
Bleep...
The line went dead once again.
"I am so sorry, Captain I..." Agent 107 started to say in an apologetic voice while she rushed towards Kristine. Kristine took a quick look at her. Her black leather jumpsuit, which was a sort of uniform for them, seemed to have taken a lot of hits. Her ponytail was now messy and tangled with dried leaves, her eyes were wet with tears and filled with fear, she even seemed to be trembling slightly on her feet.
"Lily, you go to the infirmary the minute we arrive at the Base." She patted her arm and Lily bowed her head in a sort of shame.
"It is a good thing you are alive."
Lily was the newest recruit of Squad A, she still had a lot of learning to do.
At that moment, the rest of the six members of the squad arrived.
"The Clean up team is on its way." One said, breathing heavily.
"I know." Kristine smiled at them. They seemed to have taken quite a lot of hits too. It had been a while since they had to take care of rogues that were at such high beastly stages. It was obvious that they needed rest.
"Hope your target was no too much trouble for you, Captain?" Nick asked with a nervous smile. His face looked quite boyish and he was a little young and lean.
"When was there ever a target that was too much trouble for our Captain?" Ryan burst out in laughter. He was a tall man with a short beard and cleanly shaved head. He was quite huge too. His right eye was swollen from a hit he had taken, yet that didn't stop him from laughing to his fullest.
"They ain't just up to the mark!"
Kristine was already used to this. They took so much pride in having her as their leader just as she took so much pride in them being members of her squad.
"Quit that. Come on, now, tell me. Why was no one with Lily? Someone should have been here to help her."
"Jaccckkk." Someone drawled and Kristine turned her angry eyes on Jack.
"Explain yourself?"
Jack turned swiftly to Lily with a glare on his face before looking away.
"It was her fault, she went off on her own."
Well, it did seemed like something Lily would do.
"Captain, I just wanted to prove that I was good enough to do it on my own." I wanted to take it down just like you do.
Lily wanted to add that but she couldn't.
"We almost lost you today, Agent!" Kristine found this absolutely ridiculous. How could she have put her life on the line just to prove something? She needed to set her priorities straight.
It became all tensed up all of a sudden, everyone could feel it.
"Captain..."
Kristine straightened up and her face went rigid.
"Agent 107, you will be punished for this according to the law."
