Modern Warfare - Chapter 2

Reo went through the mission parameters a dozen times as he sat in the back of the cart. The pace was far slower than he would like, but the farmer Clem stated he couldn’t push the horse any faster in this dark without risking injury. If the horse became lame, their death would be assured.

Mission: Successfully escort the farmer and his daughter back to their farm without casualties.

Reward:  10 points

Bonus: Kill the Wolf Pack Leader.

Bonus Reward: Guard Booth

Armaments: Glock 19 (Ammo: 27), Farmer’s Pitchfork (Condition: Fair)

The wolves had apparently decided that they could wait until darkness. They were following them, the sound of a bush shaking or a distant howling reminding them that they were being pursued. They wanted to keep them frightened, keep them harried. So, when they attacked, they were at their weakest. Reo could see that strategy playing out in real time. The horse was breathing hard, its eyes darting back and forth. The farmer had to use all of his skill to keep the horse in control.

Reo forced himself to remain calm and his eyes on a swivel. To pass the time, he counted his bullets again, as well as went through his strategy. He wasn’t a hunter, and his tracking skills were limited, but by his best guess, there were at least thirty wolves out there. That meant that even if his aim was perfect and he took out a wolf per bullet, he wouldn’t be able to take down every beast. Also, there appeared to be some kind of Pack Leader out there. Considering it offered him his first building unlock, he presumed it was more difficult to kill than the others.

He checked the store for ammo. It sold 9 mm Lugers, but it was a point-and-bullet, and they only sold them in 15-round clips, which happened to also be the size of the magazine he was using. His biggest concern was that once he used the 15 rounds, he’d have to reload. During that period, he’d be vulnerable. Thankfully, these wolves should have no clue how many rounds he had in the gun.

“Father, I told you we shouldn’t have stayed in town so late.” Madeline’s voice was shaky with fear. She sat behind Reo, centered in the carriage.

Her father was in front at the reins, and Reo was sitting in the back watching for wolves. One could say that she was in the safest spot of anyone, so she could afford to sit and worry.

“If you didn’t make that last trade, we wouldn’t have the crystals necessary to power the wardstone over the next month, and we’d be as good as dead!” The farmer spat.

“Wardstone?” Reo couldn’t help but ask.

“You’re not familiar with wardstones?” The farmer seemed genuinely surprised.

“I… am far from home.”

“Yeah, well, does your home have no beasts or monsters? The wilds are filled with deadly creatures. The only thing that keeps them back is the church’s wardstones. They’re effective, but they have to be continually supplied with mana crystals to run.”

“That’s why we’ll be safe after the bridge?” Reo predicted.

“That’s right, we belong to a community of farms. The only way beasts will get in is over that bridge, so as long as we can maintain that wardstone, we’re free to grow our harvests all year around… well, weather permitting.” He spat again.

“Can’t your other neighbors provide crystals too? Or better yet, travel as a caravan so you can have strength in numbers?”

Reo couldn’t see the farmer’s face, but a hurt expression appeared on the girl Madaline’s face. He must have touched on a heavy subject.

“It’s been a bad year. There were bandits… a sickness… then a drought. We don’t actually know the condition of the other farms. I’ve been too busy salvaging what I could of our harvest. We had to get down to the city and back before winter hits.” He spoke unsteadily. “I was planning on checking on them once we secured the wardstone.”

Reo nodded. The farmer didn’t really need to say more. It seemed like he was doing his best to take care of his family. Reo would have done the same. A somber silence overtook the cart, only occasionally interrupted by the sound of a wolf, always roughly the same distance away. Reo watched as the sun set. As the sky grew darker, he was able to see the reflection of two separate moons. This really was a whole new world.

As shadows began to grow across the pathway, shrouding them in darkness, a brief silence hung in the air. Reo recognized this undoubtedly as the calm before the inevitable storm. That’s when a wolf howled once again, but this time another wolf responded.

Then, more wolves howled, and soon the entire night was filled with the sound of dozens of wolves howling in unison, their haunting cries echoing through the wilderness and seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. The sound was so chilling that Madaline immediately let out a cry, shaking like a leaf as she hugged herself; everyone else was too busy to help her.

“How much further?” Reo asked, his eyes narrowed.

“About fifteen minutes.” The farmer replied, snapping the reins, although the horse had already picked up the pace in fear.

Reo shook his head. “We don’t have fifteen minutes.”

As if on cue, wolves began to emerge from the shadows, their eyes glinting in the moonlight. They surrounded the cart, snarling and snapping their jaws. Reo gripped the pitchfork tightly in one hand and the Glock 19 in the other, his heart pounding in his chest. It was about to begin. How he performed in these next few minutes would determine whether he lived or died, and also whether he’d even be able to take advantage of these so-called god’s gifts.

The first wolf lunged at the cart. Reo reacted instinctively, thrusting out the pitchfork toward it. He hit flesh, and the wolf yelped in pain. However, it was only a flesh wound, and the animal rebounded, retreating into the darkness. Another wolf was already attacking from the other side. Unable to bring the pitchfork over quickly enough, he had no choice but to shoot the Glock.

Bam!

The wolf seemed to dodge the bullet, or at least it jerked to the side, causing what should have been a direct hit into a graze. The wolf’s eyes met Reo’s, and he could swear it was almost mocking him. Reo realized that these wolves weren’t like the animals of his world. They were much more intelligent. Those animals had already worked out the danger of Reo’s gun just based on that single encounter against those two hours earlier, and had already found ways to mitigate the threat.

Reo tossed the pitchfork over to Madeline and then aimed his Glock. This time, he shot twice. The first shot forced the wolf to dodge, and the second, more precise shot caught the wolf as it had been tricked into moving. The wolf clearly didn’t expect the gun could fire two shots rapidly. The second shot struck its head, and with a single yelp, it fell to the ground dead, then rolled back into the darkness as they continued forward.

Madaline waved the pitchfork at another wolf that came to bite at the horse’s ankles, and it was enough to force it to run away. Meanwhile, Reo needed to shoot two more warning shots. The wolves had become more cautious of the gun after watching another wolf fall victim to its destructive properties.

However, a new problem immediately presented itself. Reo was finding it harder and harder to see the wolves. He glanced up and couldn’t help but curse. Clouds had covered the sky, and the moons and stars were slowly being swallowed by the encroaching darkness. Without the additional glow, the night was becoming even darker, to the point where he couldn’t even see any wolves. He did his best to listen for sound, shooting once when he heard a branch break, and again when he heard movement. Yet, he missed with both shots, and he couldn’t help but feel irritated.

Reo was down to 21 bullets left and had only killed one and wounded another. He really wished that he had night vision goggles or at least a flashlight. This was becoming impossible!

Boom!

Reo very nearly fell off the back of the cart, just managing to grab the edge and stabilize himself. Something big had just slammed into the side of the cart. Madaline thrust her pitchfork in that direction, but by the time she struck, it was already gone.

“Keep them off us!” Clem shouted back. “The axels can’t take too many hits like that. If the wheel breaks, we’re as dead as a lame horse.”

“I can’t see anything!” Reo shouted back.

“Damn it… Here!” He grabbed the lantern that he was using to light the path in front of him and held it to me.

“A-are you sure about this?”

“Ol’ Wild here has walked this path a hundred times, and so have I. If I can’t make it to the bridge with my eyes closed. Then, I don’t deserve to call this place home!”

Reo nodded, taking the lantern, but that was when he heard a blood-curdling scream behind him. He spun around, pushing out the lantern, only to see that one of the wolves had leapt onto the cart. His upper body was over the edge, and his mouth was clamped onto Madaline’s arm, which was holding the pitchfork. There was a crunch as her eyes rolled up in the back of her head.

“Madaline!” The farmer cried out, his hands loosening on the reins as a desperate look flashed in his eyes.

“Keep driving no matter what!” Reo yelled as he leapt forward.

The wolf had nearly pulled Madaline off the cart, but I managed to grab her with one hand. I put the gun to its eye and pulled the trigger. The wolf didn’t even make a noise as it let go of Madaline and then fell lifelessly to the ground beside the cart. Reo pulled Madaline back onto the cart. Her arm was mangled with blood pouring out, and she had passed out, likely from the pain, but Reo couldn’t worry about any of that.

“Reo!” The old man shouted.

Three wolves had all attacked at once, aiming for the horse in front. Reo immediately opened fire, shooting wildly as he had no time to think. By luck, he appeared to have hit two of them. One of them was down for the count, while the other ran back into the forest. The third also abandoned its attack, but that was when Reo heard the dreaded clicking noise. He had used fifteen bullets.

Cursing, Reo began to quickly load the last 12 bullets. It wasn’t even enough to make a full clip. In that moment, a wolf jumped onto the back of the cart. Reo let out a scream and grabbed the pitchfork Madeline had dropped, chucking it into the wolf. The pitchfork dug deep, but since Reo was one-handed and trying to juggle his gun, the wolf took the pitchfork with it as it fell off the back of the cart.

Reo cursed, but managed to get his gun loaded once again. Plus, he had the lantern now. The lantern wasn’t strong enough to make the wolves visible, but its light glinted off their eyes. As long as Reo looked for the reflection in their pupils, he was able to see them in time. He raised the gun, ready to start picking them off one at a time, but that’s when he noticed the cart slowing down.

“Clem! We need to keep going!” Reo cried out, but when the farmer didn’t respond, Reo turned to see him staring out into the darkness, a hopeless expression on his face.

Reo held the lantern out, and there, standing in the middle of the path, was a wolf about two times the size of the ones he had just been killing. It was right in front of a bridge, and Reo could even hear the running water.

“It’s the wolf pack leader. The end of the line.”