The Culling (Side Story)

[Enver Marshall II]

She couldn't heal and he couldn't help her heal. Fantastic.

Enver nodded his head at the mention of Adley, the look of surprise crossing his face. He hadn't called or texted Adley, so that must have meant that she did while Enver had been busy smoozing the CEO's. Not that it bothered Enver. Indigo should have contacted Adley; they were a thing and wasn't he her sire? For a brief second, Enver wondered what that was like. To have a sire that was around. He hadn't seen or heard from Riv's in damn near three years now? And Enver was pretty sure everyone that had been connected to River and him were long gone. Maybe another city. Another country. Hell, maybe even dead. Not that Enver would run to River a lot; maybe not even at all. Too much time had passed and Enver had more or less learned to just do whatever the **** he wanted to do anyways, consequences be damned.

When she left the room, Enver rubbed at his jawline and then strode off after her. With the phone still in his other hand, waiting patiently for a reply from Crash, he took his time and gave Indigo space. Nothing like being an awkward third wheel while she did whatever with Adley. When she was in the elevator, Enver sent out another furious text to his thrall.

To: Crash Test
From: Enver Marsall II

Message: Answer me, **** face.

He hit send and stood in front of the elevator, calling it up. He was glad he didn't follow right after Ms. Knight. The view from up here in the glass elevator was pretty nice. Ms. Knight had a particular walk to her, one that any man could appreciate. He cleared his throat and stuffed his phone, not expecting much from Crash right now, or any time soon.

He felt his phone going off for the third, maybe the fourth, time in the span of ten minutes. Crash knew who it was and didn't feel inclined to answer it. Each message was read and promptly deleted, until the last cropped up. Enver wasn't an angel by any means, but when he started dropping swear word, after swear word, Crash knew that the guy's patience was growing thin.

Crash looked around for the name of a street-any street, but couldn't see any sign by him, or across the street. He bounced around in place, shook his arms and legs around, then made am extended 'uhhhhhhhhhhh' sound as Crash tried to familiarize himself with all the places he has ever traveled to during his 'work.'

To: Enver
From: Crash Test

Message: East side of town. I'm not far from a corner store. North of the river. I didn't mean to shoot her! Wouldn't shoot a fine piece like that.

Crash's thumb bashed down on the send button before he kept running, until there was no where else to run to. Nothing but woods and more woods.

"Miss Knight. Adley." Enver said with a slow nod of his head as a small snippet of song came on. Enver didn't need to look to know it was Crash finally replying. "Excuse me." Enver held up his left index finger as he pulled his phone out of his suit coat and turned his back on them. As he opened the message, the Allurist took a few steps away from where Adley and Indigo were, and read the message. The very cryptic message. All Enver could gather was that they needed to head east from here. It was better than nothing. He didn't reply, but Enver did turn around and look at the both of them. "He's headed that way." Enver pointed east, then looked at the two of them. "Apologies, again. Coming?" He asked, not bothered if they rejected his offer, or if they decided to tag along.

[Adley Reed]

Adley could hear the footsteps before the door behind him swung open; he was already looking in its direction when Indigo’s body was framed in the light radiating from within. The cold allure of the streetlamp threw her features into glinting shadows but through it all, her eyes were radiant. He pushed himself from the curb and stood, dropping the cigarette to quash it beneath his heel. The smoke billowed from his nostrils, the cloud of it dispersing in the crisp Canadian air – it was all he could smell until he stepped out of it, and away from the remnants of it.

He had a mind to push his fingers through Indigo’s hair, to press a greeting kiss to her lips. Even in greeting, the two were nothing short of affectionately passionate. He’d only managed to get one hand to cup her neck, just behind her jaw, when the scent hit him. The muscles in his jaw tensed, eyes immediately dilated – the scent of vampire blood to Adley was akin to the scent of catnip to a cat, but with far more dire consequences. It was radioactive catnip to a radioactive cat. Once upon a time it had been human blood, and human blood still had a small affect. But not nearly as much as the blood that he craved.

But this was Indigo – and he’d resisted her once before. The night they’d met had been a challenge, Adley’s willpower tested for hours at a time. Although her blood now once again inspired the rage of bloodlust within him, it was not Indigo whom he would hurt. He couldn’t. It was an inbuilt mechanism, a wall that blocked him from laying a single harmful finger on a golden hair of her head. Oh, yes, the urge to swoop in and pierce that tender neck with eager fangs was paramount; to pull the blood from her just as quickly as he healed its loss. The scent of Indigo’s blood only reminded Adley of what it tasted like, the sweetness of it already coating his tongue.

If it weren’t for the arrival of Mr Marshall, Adley might have followed through. Adley’s head snapped up as the masculine voice boomed to greet them, brushing through the door past them. If he’d caught sight of Adley as he passed it would have been to witness the predator; his pale skin, canines sharp, eyes wide and dilated, posture sharp. It was the distraction that the Necromancer required.

The first reaction was to go after Enver Marshall, to take out his bloodlust on the older male. He could not harm Indigo, but he could harm Enver. But before he could react, Enver was already meandering down the street and Adley had already let go of Indigo and stepped away. The space helped him to gain some perspective, eyes squeezed shut as he pushed the breath from his lungs. With eyes still closed he reached into his pocket and retrieved a small bottle of Eucalyptus oil. Deft fingers uncapped the bottle, upending it so that he could smear some of the oil beneath his nostrils, over his upper lip. The sharp scent burnt his heightened senses, and dispelled the scent of blood.

”You were shot,” he said to Indigo, glancing between her and Enver’s retreating backside.

”…is that who we’re going to find?” he asked, though he’d already answered himself. He’d already started to follow Enver, even as he held his hand out for Indigo to take.

[Indigo]

Indigo eyes locked on those that said more than their possessor did. So much more. Adley. For a moment the air was increasingly cooler as her mind drifted along with the stirring within her. Everything heightened in her senses like a head of a match hitting it’s striker with the lock of his hand at the back of her neck. It instantly centered her leaving no question she was doing a lot better than she was the last time she stepped out into the parking lot where they were currently meeting.

The rise of her hand meeting his with a firm press of her cool palm blanketing the top confirmed it. Her fingers curled and the tips moved to brush his skin with a comfortable caress. The pause of her steps was with an intent to greet him as she would public or private. Her lips parted gradually signaling she was brave enough to risk the temptation that her blood brought with her close proximity to him while sporting the open wound. Her empty hand reached forward out of habit and desire. There was the hard anchor of muscle and bone that she held countless times before waiting for her to latch onto and use as the leverage needed to draw him in close enough to her that there would be no space left. Adley pulled back taking notice of Enver’s presence. All of which had her moving towards him as Enver breezed by in his trademark ‘I got this’ pace.

The scent of Eucalyptus managed to cling to the lining of her nostrils while her boss shot a finger up for the un momento sign. A brief wiggle of her nose that was nearly undetectable allowed the aroma to filter through distracting her far less than perhaps it did for the one she knew as well as the back of her own hand. She could taste the contrast of what was coming on strong thanks to Adley’s recent application and the fire that was erupting beneath her skin was no less so because of it. She was fully prepared to capture the flavor of second hand smoke and the high notes of mint and honey. Then again, truth be told he could be covered in mud and that didn’t matter to either of them. However, Adley had other plans and that involved her with the extended invitation of his hand.

“I am fine.”

Of course she was even if she still was bleeding. The fact that she had an attacker on the loose was thrust back into the forefront of her thoughts as she observed Mr. Marshall pointing towards the east. Like a master scout rather keen on it’s current target he took to heading in that direction with a verbal back shot as to whether they were coming or not. The pull of Adley’s hand said that they certainly were as well as the clicks of her sharp heels keeping up with his own. So much for heading home to change and pack the hole in her back.

“It was likely an accident.” Her words were dropping between them as they moved. “He took off when he realized he shot me. He works for Enver.” Her words continued because she felt Adley would have a few thoughts of how he wanted to deal with it that perhaps needed more information before he acted upon them. “He isn’t sculling with both oars in the water if you know what I mean.”

[Enver Marshall II]

Crash had been a trying thrall the last year or so--in truth, much longer than that. Enver didn’t mind the first few years, because he was half high or half drunk like Crash was. But when Enver started to sober around his third year of being a vampire, things had changed between the two guys. Crash was pretty much left to his own destructive path, while Enver had, at one point, played the part of a ‘family guy.’ Only, it wasn’t so much a play or an act, but the Allurist played off what was [or wasn’t] going on in his personal life as nothing more than yesterday’s news and fad to the public and even his friends. He had to.

But, as trying as the thrall was, Enver knew deep down that he wasn’t the type to be trigger happy. In fact, Crash was typically a coward and would try to avoid confrontation by any means possible. Pleading and groveling wasn’t above the worn down druggie. So, Enver believed that it had been an accident to some extent; a reckless accident. Still, that didn’t make Enver any less happier about the situation. Enver didn’t reply to the message, but he did slow down so that the others could catch up. After he shut the message application down, he snapped his fingers and then abruptly stopped in his track. “Hold on…” He said, swiping his fingers over his phone and then skimming an online area where he had cracked a joke or two. When he pulled up the ad by the Administrator guy [who was no more liked than the Crow buffoon in Enver’s eyes], he turned the phone to show the pair of them. “You guys know anything about this?” He looked between the two of them, revealing the posting by the Administrator and the resemblances to some of the things Crash talked about earlier in the night.

Crash kept going towards the woods. There was no reason to keep going, other than it felt like he was going in the right direction. It was the right thing to do. He passed the boundary of human life, and entered the wildlife territory without any reservations and kept going. His heart beat in his chest, thudding a mile a minute; due to fear of what Enver might do, and what might be out here...Still, the fear of Enver kept him wanting to stay out of the city limits, at least that was what Crash thought. Time passed,how much, Crash didn’t know. Enough to no longer hear the sounds of the city, and to hear the wind howling, the occasional ‘whooo’ and some other sounds he wasn’t familiar with. He was just about to turn around and head back, when he heard….life. People. Yes. People. Voices, and loud steps. “Yuuuuuh, hello?” He called, frozen in place, not sure if he should turn back of search for the owner’s of the voice.

[Indigo]

Davion had a sore *** and that didn't hold a candle to what his melon felt like. It brought to mind the time he woke up from a blackout in the alley and was body slammed into a wall by an oncoming messenger smart car. They were the smallest machine on the road but moving at 30 mph in a empty alley made all the difference in the world. Free falling from several stories up isn't any better. Having help head first through a couple plates of glass only makes it worse.

Which is what brought on the thought of heading as far from people as possible. It was enforced by some unexplainable desire to hike deeper into the wilderness ahead from where he was currently standing and never look back. For the first time getting comfortably numb was the furthest thing from his mind. Night terrors was the newest monkey on his back and it wasn't letting go. No drugs could help his case. None, so far, that he had managed to get his hands on recently. He had forty-eight hours without sleep and twenty-four with an empty gut. His body was in better shape back in prison and the more he gave it consideration none of what was around him made sense either.

First and foremost Davion never camped in his life yet there he was feeling compelled to get as far as he could into the forest and claim the first dry patch of ground and give his battered and broken body a rest. Minus the tent of course.

Second issue was the way his brain felt like it was being gnawed on by some creepy presence he couldn't quite place. He had hallucinations before but this was the kind of **** he would compare to Aliens or something close. It sure as hell wasn't E.T. asking him to phone home. The sounds of voices broke through his momentary self-analysis and sent a chill through his sweating body. There was nothing to go on but the darkness and the scent of wet pine and earth. What was he doing? His feet added more questions than answers as they carried him towards the sound of the last voice calling out.

“Over here.” Davion had no idea why he was entering a game of hide and seek and throwing out his position first thing. But there he was doing just that. "Coming towards you." Davion was sure he was going to regret the night before it was over.

_________________

Indigo paused in her last steps and leaned in to take a look along with Adley. She skimmed the content then looked at Adley clearly confused.

“I haven't seen that before. Who is this administrator?” Adley had been around the block far more times than she had. All of what she knew about the things that go bump in the night she had to thank him for. Well he and Kaspar and Jameson. Should she know what Enver is talking about? “Did I miss something?”

Obviously she had. Now she was hoping to catch up quick if it had anything to do with why she was standing out in the open with a fresh gunshot in the back. Adley would fill in the blanks. He always did anytime she asked. And if he didn't have answers they looked like they were in line for one of Enver’s crash courses on what was going on in good old Harper Rock.

[Adley Reed]

Adley hated that look.

It was okay, of course, when he had the answers. But it wasn’t often that Adley had the answers. Everything he had learned had been learned from Kaspar, or Jameson. More the former than the latter, and it wasn’t as if Kaspar sat down and gave Adley lessons. When the two of them caught up it was more to shoot the **** than to have any kind of mentoring lesson. They talked about the past, the good and the bad. Nothing had happened recently that Adley had needed to ask Kaspar about. And Adley sure as hell had no idea what this ‘Administrator’ was talking about. Online forums were not places Adley often visited, and he’d only know as much as anyone else there did.

And then there was Indigo, looking at him like she thought he would have the answers. The Necromancer was well aware of his shortcomings. He’d never had a sire and the one person he’d thought he could go to in lieu of his own sire seemed incapable of stepping in where her own childe had fucked up. His sire’s sire proved to be as useful as a wet rag.

He sucked in a breath and held it for two seconds before he shrugged and shook his head. His breath was released and he didn’t catch Indigo’s eye. Adley’s confidence, his ego, was a magnificent beast that loathed being slighted. When he did not know the answers he did not like admitting to it. When he did not know the answers, he made it seem like they would not be hard to find. Like it would be a walk in the park. Too easy. He didn’t answer either way.

”So… you think your thrall shot Indigo because of this?” he asked, re-reading the screen of the phone. He had a hand out, as if he were going to take the phone from Enver, hand hovering in the air, not wanting to touch the other man. It had become habit to just refrain from touching other people regardless whether they were vampire or not. It was easier, so he wouldn’t make the mistake of touching someone he shouldn’t. Like Will, whenever he went and visited Kaspar. He’d never be forgiven if a hair on that child’s head was harmed.

”Is he really that important to you…?” he asked. The guy had shot Indigo. Adley was quite happy to leave him to his fate. And yet, it made it sound like Adley wasn’t too keen on racing in to face an enemy he did not know. He shoved his hands into his pockets and sucked in another Eucalyptus scented breath. Even though the sharpness of it, he could still taste the scent of Indigo’s blood on his tongue; his pupils wouldn’t sit right, now flaring again, widening dangerously. Enver looked like a mighty robust meal…

…Adley cleared his throat and took a step back.

”Yeah, sure. Let’s go then. Any ideas on how to fix it, if this is the issue, or are we going in blind…?”

[Enver Marshall II]

Crash Test:
Someone was calling him like they were expecting him. As if they were supposed to be here and were meeting up. Only, Crash wasn’t expecting to hear, or see anyone in the woods. And he was walking forward, like a dumbass. He couldn’t go back, and if he wanted to go anywhere, it was in the direction of the voice. “UAAAHHH, Alright.” Crash said as he approached the voice, then stopped dead in his tracks. No ******* way.

“Skid Mark?” Crash asked as he saw the vague outline of the guy as he approached, then shook his head. Impossible. No way in hell. Last Crash heard, the guy was locked up solid for a good couple of years. “Sorry, thought you were someone else.” He said, still walking forward. “Are...you...lost?” He asked looking the guy over, sure he wasn’t the Skid Mark, but he sure had an uncanny resemblance….

Davion: “You got anyone with you?”

Lack of sleep and seeing Crash’s unmistakable mug coming at him in the woods jacked up his paranoia tenfold. As soon as Crash was close enough old habits kicked in. A stretch of his long arm allowed him to grab the material covering Crash’s shoulder and gave it a tug.

“You better be alone or you are gonna be a mark with the rest of them.” Davion’s eyes were glazed with uncertainty, the orbs bouncing around the perimeter like pinballs slamming against the padded bumpers of a machine in use. “Did you hear that?!”

Davion felt like his heart was going to drop to his toes and sit there like a rock. His chest got tight while his neck and forehead sported the shine of fear induced sweat. Cracking twigs and howls echoed from the distance. His hand was nearly white knuckling as he pulled Crash with him towards what made no sense at all.

“Deeper we go the less likely they will try ******* with us. C’mon.”

Crash Test:
He was pulled in the same way Skid Mark pulled anyone towards him. Crash nodded at the question, but made sure to vocally state he was alone when Skid Mark started getting a little aggressive. “I’m alone. Sort of. I’m trying to stay away from...someone.” Crash admitted as a noise from somewhere near them was heard. He half jumped out -[of his skin when he heard that and heard Skid’s stress in his voice. “I ******* heard it. It’s them!” Crash said in a hushed, harsh whisper, before he let Skid Mark take pull him along. “I ******* heard that. What was that, man? And where the **** you been? Dropped off the radar like...****, a year ago? ****. Maybe longer. What year is it again?” Crash asked as he skidded around over broken twigs and mud. Another cracking of twigs and rustling had Crash stopping and pulling Skid’s arm to keep him with him. “If we got to fight, we’ll fight back to back. I got your back, if you’ve got mine. Saw it on a show once, worked good. Sound good?”

[Indigo]

Davion: The grip on the material permitted a little slack when Crash confirmed he was hearing the same thing. The offer to provide back up was a small relief but Davion knew that there was no way the tweak he kept supplied could fight all the battles he had coming since being paroled. It was inevitable that **** would catch up to him. No amount of sleep could change that. And when it finally did find him it wouldn’t matter if Crash’s twig of a frame was there or not. He was going to die young just like the rest of the company he had kept since he stepped on the wrong side of the tracks.

“Yeah, sure.” Davion reached out to give a lift to the back of Crash to keep him on both feet. “Whatever you say. 2017, man. They let me out last year just before Christmas. One mark too many had me drawing lines on a cement wall and looking through the same set of bars for the minimum sentence. Prison.”

If it wasn’t for reality, for who they were, it almost would have delivered some hope. Someone actually would have his back. Unfortunately it was too late. It was a waste of anyone’s time including the speed freak trying to sell him on some scene scripted for television. None of those soft skinned fuckers paid insane amounts of money to act tough would last where he had been or where he was going.

Crash: Unlike Davion, Crash didn’t feel as if he were ever going to die. And if he did die, he was almost positive that Enver would make him into a vampire. After all, wasn’t that why he had kept him around for so long? Crash had been Enver’s thrall for three or four years now, probably somewhere between that if the guy was any good at math. The only math he was good at was weighing ****, and that was even a chore when the guy was buzzing from something or another.

There was another crack! from around them and that had Crash jumping and breathing heavy. Death was now a true option since Enver was no where near him and that thought made Crash take a huge ******* gulp of air and hold it, as if holding his breath would make him invisible, or more silent. But, his body seemed to be working against him, because try as he might to be as quiet as he could be...Crash dropped some wind, the space around them filling with the evidence that he ate one too many chimichanga things earlier in the night.

Davion: Davion couldn’t believe it. He watched as the only one crazy enough to be in the same place he was dropped like a feather to the ground at his feet. What happened to the whole ‘I got your back’ thing? He stared at the scrawny length of unconsciousness and debated as to what in the hell he was supposed to do now. There was no honor on the streets and there sure as hell wasn’t in any cell he spent the majority of the time in.

“You sorry piece of ****.” Davion wasn’t your typical dealer and the tired muscles he built up during his stint behind bars proved it. With a stretch of a sore right arm Crash was hoisted over his shoulder. “If whatever that is out there is hungry guess what you are…” His feet took to hiking the direction he was intending to go before the featherweight KO'd himself.

Crash: He would never admit that he had passed out due to being scared of a ******* twig snapping, so when Crash came too after being jostled around, he coughed and played it off as his passing gas scenario. Crash groaned as he blinked and squinted his eyes together more, recalling just where he was and what was going on. The woods. Skidmark. Enver. And that fine piece he shot back at Enver’s business. If only he had kept his gun.

“I can wa-” Crash started to say, but stopped when he heard more rustling around them, coming from both sides. “******* hell! They’re gaining on us!” He cried out, feeling the color washing from his cheeks, before he let another one rip. Or so he thought. Instead, what came out from his *** wasn’t his stomach settling and letting go of some wind, but pushing out what he had eaten before he stopped by Enver’s place of business. Crash had just **** his pants out of fear. But that didn’t matter. He was a grown dude that just **** his pants. And Skid Mark--oh, the ******* irony there, was carrying him. And gravity had a field day and Crash’s mexican food made its way down his leg and plopped right on the guy’s pant leg and footwear. “Oh, ****.” Crash said as half a dozen or so howl’s erupted into the night air from around them.

[Enver Marshall II]

Davion: It was widely known that there was a thing about being in the great outdoors. It is supposed to smell fresh, earthy. It is why people spend good money to pack up all their essential immediate items of need and load it into some canvas dangling off their backs. The leave their cars behind and do exactly what Davion was now doing, hiking. Most of those who did it were not sleep deprived with voices and howling in their heads but no matter. Point is others had done this. Walked away from society and abandoning perfectly sound dwellings to sleep on the ground and under the stars. It was a thing. Not that Davion bought into the benefits because he didn’t. The first time Phineas brought up giving the scouts a try he looked at his uncle like he lost his damn mind.

Telling you, boy, that fresh air would do you some good.

Whatever. The air was just as fresh sitting on the neighboring fence getting high as it was in some tent in the woods. In fact it was better. The air suddenly assaulting his sense of smell was enough to inspire his empty gut to sour up and send a little sour juice up to the back of his throat. It was all the warning that he needed signaling something else was wrong besides the sounds of voices and howling that he was hiking his *** towards.

“Wait…” He growled scrambling his fingers to grab roughly at the strongest but thinnest part of clothing Crash had on his body. Once he found his belt loops he curled his fingers in and took hold. The warmth of something landing on his pants leg had him shaking it and tossing Crash at the same time. “What in the ****!” Immediately he was kicking his legs faster than any reputable riverdancer. “You **** on me!?” His cheeks were on fire, his body fully alert and ready to tear the hell out of Crash who landed on the ground.

Just as he got his hands back on Crash to pull him to his feet a blood curdling scream came from less than a couple yards. A growl followed it along with what could only be described as an eerily sound of jaws snapping. He couldn’t move. He was so scared he didn’t have the strength to. Then that moment passed and he forgot to let go of Crash when he took off running.

Crash: Skid Mark left him. Sure, he **** on the guy, but they were supposed to have eachother’s backs. What the ****?! “HEY!” He screamed out as Skid Mark’s back disappeared into the thicket of trees and other plant life that Crash knew **** all about. He wasn’t a camper or outdoorsy type of person. He sat up, instead of laying on his back, which was the WRONG thing to do. As soon as he was on his ***, there was a squish sound from beneath him and he felt his *** covered in his own feces. He was sitting in his own ****, like a ******* baby. “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARH!” He wailed out, stood and dropped his drawers. His pants and his boxers were off, Crash wiping at his *** with his pants. It was then he remembered that his cellphone was in the very pants he was wiping his shitty as with. It just wasn’t his night.

“**** it!” Crash said as he kicked the pants away from him, his *** as white as the moon in the night sky above his head. It never saw the light of day unless he was showering or taking clothes off to shower or change. Crash didn’t have much game anymore, so getting laid was far and few between. Basically, his *** was the shade of vanilla ice cream unlike the rest of him.

[Indigo]

Crash: Thankfully, his shirt was just barely long enough to cover the boys and what was above his boys, before Crash took off after Skid Mark, just before something big and black came whooshing by him. “WHAT THE **** IS THAAAAAT?!” He screamed, then started propelling his arms while he ran, ready to karate chop anything coming at him. “You left me! ******!” Crashed howled as his arms and hands smacked against tree branches while he ran, not sure where Skid Mark ran off to, but went in the direction he went, hoping they would meet up again sometime soon.

Davion: Davion left Crash to deal with his ****. Pretty much was a one man job as far as he was concerned. He kept on heading where he felt inclined to go and somehow he found himself all that much closer to what had been depriving him of sleep. The sounds, the feeling of being close to death were not enough to send him the opposite direction.

He pushed as branches, wedged himself through thick plants he could scarcely make out. Many had the business serious thorns at the ready to graze the material over his skin. That is when he smelled trouble coming behind him and squawking out a warning as he did.

“What in the hell is wrong…” Davion lost his words and felt all the color in his caramel skin fade as something far bigger than he and Crash could handle put together came flying right at him. “Oh shhhh…”

He dropped to the ground and took to crawling on elbows and knees for the nearest bush. The burn of something beyond the harsh branches hit his leg before he could pull it in tight to his body.

The scent of Crash was heavy. A few snaps of twigs had Davion reaching out and tugging the guy into the current cover he was depending on to save his ***. What he could make out it was a lot less to the tweak since he last saw him.

“What are you on?” He slapped at Crash’s bare shoulder while tugging the ringer of his thirty over his own face. “It is ******* you up, man.”


Crash: “SHHHH!” He hissed at Skid Mark as they both lay flat on the ground, a hand over his nose and face for two reasons. To keep the scent of his own **** out of his nose, and to keep silent. So silent that whatever was out here with them wouldn’t hear them. Maybe it was just some big, dumb animal and they would think that he and Skid Mark were gone since they couldn’t hear them. Then again...it probably could SMELL them. Well, him. Crash whimpered into his hand and laid very still as heavy footfalls thudded down on the ground, approaching them. He closed his eyes, much like a toddler would, believing that if he couldn’t see whatever it was, then they couldn’t see him.

How naive, Crash could be at times. Or how immature and childish. The sounds of sniffing and snorting could be heard from around them even as his eyes remained closed. Then, a howl from behind them, behind him, followed by another in front of them was heard, before Crash opened his eyes and saw the ugliest ******* thing he ever saw in his life. Was it a deer? A wolf? Some sort of cross breeding gone so ******* wrong? He didn’t know, and didn’t care. He screamed like a *****, before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and Crash was out for the count.