14.
With Wolfie at his side, Roland travelled for a little over an hour without encountering any hassle, before deciding it was time to feed. Wolfie, so it seemed, had hunting instincts, as well as some kind of a telepathic connection, aiding Roland to catch his next meal, a meal which would of course, be share with Wolfie.
When food had been downed, Wolfie barked before making a move, a darting run up ahead of where Roland still sat. Roland had not spent much time with Wolfie, but there was that certain something between them. He could easily tell from his canine friend's behaviour, that something was not right.
Something indeed was not right. Roland moved to follow his companion. In the distance two men were fighting. Not just any two men, Roland knew them both. Al had come across Claude Raymonde. Whether Al had set out to find Claude or if the two men had come across each other by chance, was something Roland could debate with himself until he was blue in the face but debate was something he had not got the time for.
'Shit ...' this is not what Roland wanted to see.
Yeah, Al is a big man and can handle himself, but Claude was ... is something else, a different kind of monster. And at that, Al is injured, he had been injured unintentionally at Roland's hands, so Roland in no way could simply just let things be.
Wasting no time, Roland moved towards the fight as quickly as he could. From what Roland could see, Al was giving as good as he was getting despite that injury he had to his leg. Before Roland could get close enough, Al was knocked to the ground. Al appeared to be too weak to get back up quick enough to continue fighting ... and it seemed that Claude was about to move ion for the finish, but instead Claude stood over Al and waited for Roland to join the action ... and join it he would.
When he got close enough Roland immediately went straight for Claude and managed to strike first hitting Claude with a right fisted punch to the gut. Claude's head moved forward in a reactionary way and Roland caught him clear on the chin with a left-handed uppercut. That uppercut lifted Claude right off his feet and it ensured that he would end up on his back.
Roland had his moment and he wanted to take full advantage of it. He moved to follow up on his attack on Claude but would receive a boot to the head for his troubles; this reopened his wound and gave him more than a moment of dizziness, exactly not what he needed.
Claude got back to his feet. Roland now only seeing double took another blow to the head. Once again Roland began to swing wildly. His third throw of a punch caught Claude on the chest. Al had made it up onto his hands and knees. The power in Roland's punch knocked Claude backwards and he would trip over Al and come down hard on his back.
Wolfie didn't waste time getting involved, pouncing onto Claude's bare chest. Despite this interjection, Claude was able to reach for and grab a hunting knife which lay close by on the ground within a pile of dirt. Claude thrust this knife into Wolfie's belly and pulled on the knife to cause as much damage as he could.
The knife tore through the four legged animal. Wolfie howled then whimpered and fell onto his side with the knife remaining within him. Al used Roland to pull himself up. Roland staggered and looked completely dazed to Al.
'How many fingers am I holding up?' asked Al sticking three fingers right in front of Roland's face.
'I am alright, leave me be' was Roland's response.
'You are anything but alright man.'
'I said that I am alright, now leave me be, please.'
Roland pushed Al over to one side and Al almost tripped over himself. Two injuries, one in either man, each as troublesome as the other. Roland's injury and troubled vision prevented him from seeing over any sort of distance at all.
'Where is he? Where is he?' roared Roland.
It wasn't Claude he was asking about for Claude had long gone. Al attempted to calm Roland down only to receive another shove for his efforts.
'Where is he?' roared Roland once more with every ounce of anger exploding from within him.
It was only at this moment that Roland noticed Wolfie laying on the ground, motionless but still breathing. Roland fell to his knees and began to cry. Once again, he was hit by a vision of the moment Rachel died. Wolfie may not be human but when he died soon after Roland pulled out the knife, it hurt all the same. it hurt more than any physical pain could
'Which way did he go?' Roland asked Al.
'You are in no condition to go after anyone, let alone someone like Claude Raymonde.'
'If I wanted you opinion of my physical condition, I'd ask for it.'
'Alright, if that is how you want it, then go right ahead, go for it. There were two of us and a wolf, we hardly put a dent on him, and the wolf is dead so if you want to go after him then go right ahead.'
Al turned his back and began to limp away. Roland paused for a moment, took a disheartening look at Wolfie then stood and turned toward Al.
'Hey, come back for a minute, will you?'
Al stopped.
'What were you doing out here anyway?' continued Roland.
Al smiled and turned around.
'I will tell you at some other time my friend.'
'Oh, so we are friends now are we?'
'You could say that.'
'Well, I will continue to call you Al but as I told you before if you call me Betty, I will kick your ass.'
Al smiled once again. He and Roland looked like they both had survived a car wreck. Roland took an extended look at Al and felt a sudden pang of guilt.
'I'm sort ...' he simply said.
'For what?'
'Abandoning you, it's why Wolfie and I were out here. I kinda thought you'd be back ... but I didn't hang around.'
'Just as well you moved ... Claude may have had my number if you hadn't have shown up.'
'Yeah, Wolfie was so lucky ...'
'Right, we need to get you sorted and change the dressing on my leg, we should get going.'
'We may be down, but we are not out and we are not done yet, at least I'm not, I still want to go after him.'
'Come on, will you? We will deal with that when the time comes.'
Before either man did take the time to go anywhere, Roland took the time to bury Wolfie. The memory of the rotting body Wolfie had come across what seemed like quite some time ago now stuck in his mind. It gave Roland some peace of mind knowing that with Wolfie being buried, then none of nature's wildlife had no access to his remains.
