Evergreen, Colorado
I walked steadily over the concrete ruins beneath my feet, with my pistol aiming at the corridor in front of me. The Greenbriar was still a common place for scavengers, not for food, but for ammunition and a place to rest. It was well known to be relatively safe, with no wolves in the general area. And with so many people having rested here, there was occasionally a jar of ammunition.
I cleared the corridor of anyone or anything. Sometimes there was a person competing for food or water, or even ammunition, and you either killed them or let them mug you,. There was no debating: In a world like this there was no debating.
I saw a puddle as I passed, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed my short chopped hair and the muscular outline I had gained from surviving this long since my parents died. I remember before then, I was a geek afraid of the wild. I guess survival of the best does stand true.
My blue eyes skimmed for any movement. There was a sudden scurrying from a hallway to the left of me to the stairs upstairs, and it only took one shot to the spine to kill the runner. I shuffled towards the animal, and finding it was just a stray dog, walked at a normal gait. The bullet had blown out it's spine, with fragments scattered on the floor. There was no bleeding, just blood sprayed everywhere on the walls. I didn't take my chances skinning the dog; stray dogs were notorious for rabies and dangerous diseases.
I kicked it aside, and the dog made a dark red streak from the exit hole on the splintered, wooden stairs. I suddenly heard growling, and I spun around, expecting a stray dog.
Damn it, it was a wolf. A Black she-wolf, probably shrouded by the shadows. That's why the dog was running, it must have been looking for food, encountered the wolf, and ran. When the Wolf heard the gunshot, she hid in the shadows to examine who I am, and if she could take me down. And it apparently thought it could.
Before I could even react, she leaped and pinned me to the ground. My head hit the ground with a bump, and I felt splinters penetrate my skull. Her claws flexed, digging into my arm pits and drawing a lot of blood. Shit, I my heart must be beating like hell. The Wolf drew her head back to bite for my neck. I had maybe a second, maximum two, to survive. My arm was pinned so I couldn't shoot her in the head or back. But....
I curled my wrist towards the wolf, and tensed my finger. If I didn't time it right, I would be dead. If I dead, I would have dinner for maybe four days.
The wolf's head came down, the tongue flailing and the scissor like teeth coming for my neck. I could see my reflection in those dark pools for eyes the wolf owned. I felt the wolf's last breath as I took a shot, right in the side of the head. It collapsed, it's hundred pound body knocking the air out of me. I tried to push the dog off of me, but remembered from a sharp pain that the wolf's claws were digging into me. I took the biggest breath I could with my diaphragm being crushed by a fat-ass wolf, pulled my arms under the wolf's chest, and pushed. It collapsed beside me.
"Damn it, God Damn it!" I exclaimed. "That was close!" I could still smell the horrible breath of my victim, close to me nostrils.
Out of my utility belt, I took a sharp, serrated knife. I started to skin the animal, taking all of its meat and leaving the rest for predators that might otherwise track me down for a meal. I carried the meat bit by bit into the rooms on the next floor, then decided there was too much. So I ended up taking the ribs and the legs.
That night, I was able to make a fire out of some wood polish, bed legs and the last match in my pocket. Unfortunately, I burned the nights meet so badly it was inedible. And so I rested on the remaining mattress, thinking of the days events. Still hungry, I fell asleep. I expected a longs days treck north to maybe the small trading area of Borealis, but what I got the next day was much different.
