Misery County

Chapter 14 - Part 2

Fully transformed by that point, the wolf's rancid breath washed over Cassie as he growled in her face. Her right arm was pinned by one of his claws, so getting the pistol out of her shoulder holster wasn't an option, but with her left hand, she grabbed a magazine from the inside of her trench coat and pressed it up against the werewolf's throat, silver bullet first.

As he roared and recoiled, Cassie slipped out from under him and brought herself to her feet, backing up as quickly as she could.

"Cassie, go in now!" Eric shouted over the earpiece.

This was it. It was now or never. Cassie pulled out the pistol from her shoulder holster and fired right into the heart of the werewolf, who was still too shaken from the silver touch to get her in time. He crumpled down like a mannequin, giving Cassie leave to run toward the back door of the building.

The door was locked. That was to be expected. She started trying to kick it down, but that was no good. After plenty of tries, it still stood solid. How had she not prepared for this? Eric would be pissed.

"Stall 'em, Jer. I'm coming. Just stall 'em, all right?" Eric said over the earpiece.

No, this was definitely not going well, but it hadn't reached the crisis point yet, so Cassie kept on kicking at and slamming into the door with all her strength.

"Jer... hold... on..." Eric huffed over the radio, but from what Cassie could hear, things were not going well on the inside.

Should she run around the outside of the building and try the entrance that Jerry went through? No, that would take too long, but forcing the door open was no solution either. Could she pick the lock with the rudimentary tools she had in less time than it would take to run around? It was time to find out.

It felt like it took hours, but it couldn't have been more than a minute or two – Cassie got the lock undone and pushed the door open.

She watched as the last of the werewolves fell to Eric's silver bullets, but it was not over. A werewolf – clearly an alpha based on his transformed shape this far from the full moon – creeped up behind Eric as he looked at Cassie.

He was too close, and Eric was oblivious. This shot was the only one she had. She aimed at the werewolf from the far side of the building as Eric looked on with the eyes of a deer caught in headlights. Eric's body was blocking most of her shot, but she aimed true just over his side and took the shot. The werewolf fell with her single bullet.

Eric looked over, clearly shocked that he was still alive. He gazed upon the fallen werewolf, now transforming back into his human form, and then turned back to Cassie.

"Great shot," Eric shouted out across the warehouse floor, turning around to face Cassie again. "Now maybe you can tell me where the fuck you were."

"I'm terribly sorry to have inconvenienced you so, partner, but I've been a bit busy fighting an alpha werewolf in this little alley here. By the way, you're very welcome for saving your life. No need to thank me, though. It's what I do, even if you can't appreciate it."

"Oh, wonderful guardian," Eric mocked, "thank you for saving my life while leaving Jerry to get fucking eaten like the contents of a doggy bowl. Your mercy truly is legendary."

"I just saved your life, you dildo! How about a bit of fucking gratitude?"

"Yes, indeed, thanks for half-assing this job and saving one of your two compatriots. 50% is an F, I believe, so great work there."

"You're a fucking cu-" Cassie began to say, but she was interrupted by the sound of sirens in the distance.

The law was coming, and this was the wrong place to be caught hanging around.

"Get to the car, Cassie," Eric said, clearly hearing the same harbinger that she was. "We'll carry this on another time."

"What about Jerry?"

"His people will find him. He'll get the burial he deserves. Don't worry about that. Just get to the car," Eric said as he detached the body camera from his old friend's corpse.

"What about fingerprints, Eric? We've left a ton of –"

"Cassie, car, now."