» Sat May 28, 2011 1:43 pm Jack Fermata opened the door from his rundown shack into the wide open field. It was just like any other day, the burning sun looking down on what used to be Houston, Texas. People said that before the war, this place was burning hot. Humid as hell, too, especially during summertime. After the war, the rads sure as hell didn't make it any better. Today, though, it wasn't too bad. There was even a nice breeze drifting across the wind. Through the sky, the grass. It brushed against Jack's face, and he savored the only day of bearable weather he had seen in a long time.
Jack held his lever-action rifle in one hand, and a supply pack in the other. He stopped in the middle of the field, the tall grasses brushing against his sides. He slung his pack over his shoulder and slid his arms through the straps. Just as he was about to start back on his way, he turned back around and saw his wife walking towards him.
Conni was smiling as she made her way towards him, her hands behind her back. As always, Jack couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful she was. Today, she was wearing a mucky brown shirt and some denim jeans, both of which were old, frayed, and from before the war. But nothing in the world could mar her beauty. As she came closer, Jack felt a warm smile rippling across his face. "You thought you were leaving without saying goodbye?" she asked as they hugged. When you lived in the ruins of Houston, you never really had the opportunity to look at anything that you’d like to look at again. But here, with Conni, in the middle of the field…if it was up to Jack, he would never leave.
As they pulled apart, Jack noticed a glint in the sunlight, and saw what Conni had been hiding behind her back. He jumped. “Whoa, there, Conni,” he began, unsure. “What the hell do you need with my forty-four?”
“Oh,” she said. She smiled quickly. “I just noticed that you left it here. Figured you might need it.” She held the revolver out to him, but after a moment, he closed her fingers back around it.
“Keep it here. I’m only gonna be gone for a little while, and I got my rifle. You’ll need this, in case anything happens.” He paused for a second. “You had me scared there for a second.”
She ignored that last part, and chuckled. “So are you saying something bad’s gonna happen?” she remarked smartly.
He scoffed. Conni always had something new up her sleeve. “No, but in the off-chance that it does-” he put a hand on her ever-growing stomach. “-you’ll need to keep her safe.”
Conni smiled, and looked down at his hand. Pulling it off of her stomach, she took it and closed his fingers around the gun. “You’ll need it more than we will.” She looked to the sky. “So what’s on the menu today, Jack?”
Jack sighed as he slid the pistol into its formerly empty holster at his belt. “Yao Guai, if all goes well.” He finished fastening his equipment. “Wish me luck,” he said as the couple kissed, sharing one of their many great moments together.
They pulled away slowly, neither of them wanting to, but both knowing they had to. “Good luck,” she whispered.
“I’ll be back,” Jack responded. “Have fun, you two,” he said, gesturing at the glimmer of life in Conni’s stomach, and giving her one last smile, he turned, reluctantly, and started back on his way out of the tall fields.
“I love you!” he heard his wife call as he left his shack behind.
“Yeah, me too!” Jack replied over his shoulder.
***
Jack fell fast to the dirt at his feet. He had heard something— a growl. Low and guttural. He had heard that sound before: the grumble of a Yao Guai. And unfortunately, Jack had no idea how close it was. Yao Guai are some the fastest, strongest things in the wasteland. If you heard one, and didn’t see it, then you might as well say goodbye.
Slowly, and as softly as he could, Jack unzipped his pack and reached in, careful not to hit his hand on anything but what he was looking for. Finally, when his hand wrapped around the cool, smooth metal that he was searching for, he pulled his hand from the bag, and a scope along with it. The scope, like the rifle, had been handed down for six generations before it reached Jack’s hands. However, like the rifle, it was still an amazing object, and in great condition. As quietly as he could, he slid the scope onto the rifle.
Then, he reached back into his bag, and pulled out the one thing a Wasteland big-game hunter needed more than anything else: bait. He examined the dead mole rat to make sure it was alright. Satisfied, he placed it on the dirt and closed his bag.
Now for the hard part. He needed to figure out where the Yao Guai was without giving away his own position. Doing so would require the skill and timing that only an accomplished hunter such as Jack Fermata would have. Carefully, slowly, and quietly as hell, Jack crawled over to the edge of the cliff he was lying on. Looking over the edge at a small overhang, he failed to see the Yao Guai. He did hear it, however. The monster was lurking somewhere below him and to his right. As far as Jack could tell, it didn’t have any idea where he was, and Jack hoped to keep it that way.
The next few moments would either give Jack the only food he would need for several weeks, or it would give the Yao Guai something to snack on. Jack reached to his left and grabbed the mole rat carcass and hung it over the cliff side. Bracing himself against the rocks, Jack heard the Yao Guai take a sniff. Then, there was nothing. The Yao Guai stood stock still, taking in everything it could about the familiar scent of mole rat. Jack just hoped it couldn’t tell that it was dead. Carefully, Jack swung the bait around a little, hoping to get the bear’s attention. Jack, straining his ears, could just barely hear the creature shifting its position below him. Rifle in one hand, mole rat carcass in the other, Jack took a deep breath…
…and dropped the bait on the overhang.
The creature’s speed was amazing. It lunged at its prey faster than anything Jack had ever seen, grabbing it with its massive jaws before the carcass even hit the ground. And although the bear was fast, Jack was faster. Years of training had taught him to bring his rifle up to his eye as quickly as he could. He scoped in on the Yao Guai, and, with trembling hands, brought the beast’s head into the middle of his crosshairs. It wasn’t an easy shot to take— the bear was shaking the mole rat carcass around in its huge jaws. But Jack had been doing this all his life, and even when his hands were trembling uncontrollably, the bear had no chance.
So Jack took the shot.
***
Jack was on his way back to his shack. Today had been an excellent day; his wife would say the same, as soon as she saw the bear meat in the cloth over his shoulder. The bear hadn’t stood a chance against the gun, and in one, clean shot, Jack had taken it down. Of course, there was a luck factor somewhere in there: if the bear had found his position, it would have been all over…and not for the Yao Guai.
Jack stopped at the edge of the field. Something was not right. At this time of day, when the sun was ready to take a break from the now-purple sky, Conni would have been running out smiling, ready to greet him and take the weight off his shoulders, even though she knew he would decline. She would cook the food while he took a quick bath. When the meal was ready, they would lay in the tall, grass fields, staring at the stars.
But tonight, something was wrong. Not just the fact that his wife was nowhere to be seen, but something else, too. Something in the way that the grass swayed in the wind; it was different today. Off somehow. Then Jack saw them. Tracks. Footprints, carving through the grass. They were too small to be his, but far too big to be Conni’s. It wasn’t just one set, either. These footprints were easily the work of three or four people.
Then Jack heard something, the last thing he needed to hear before he went charging up to his shack.
Conni. Screaming.
Jack dropped everything but his rifle and ran, as fast as his feet would carry him, up to his shack. When he got there, he kicked the door in and charged into the room, gun in hand.
“Don’t move another inch!” bellowed a deep voice from his left. “Not unless you want me to kill her.”
