Chapter Eleven: Fighting Back

John gathers the men of the town and prepares to drive out the beast

              With Jacob in his arms, John ran to the house next door.  He pounded on the door yelling for its occupants until the owner, Mark, let them in.  John explained his plan to the neighbors, and slowly they agreed.  Mark's wife would watch over Jacob, while the two fathers and Mark's two grown sons would round up the remaining men and drive the beast away. 
               The four moved slowly through town, carefully avoiding the wolf, while adding more and more to their group.  When all of the surviving men had been gathered, the party numbered 17.  Only seventeen grown men were left.  The others in town were either women or children too young to join the group. 
              Moving slowly through the town, they kept watch for the wolf.  Some men had guns, and others carried axes or pitchforks or whatever they could find.  A few also carried torches to light the way in the darkness.  The seventeen hunted.
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              Michael awoke.  The sky was still black.  Darkness surrounded him.  He looked up and saw no moon.  It must be behind the clouds.  By now he had learned not to wear clothes when he knew he would turn, but it was a shock to be naked in the middle of town. 
              From his position in the alley, he could see the light of torches from the street.  They're coming for me.  They've had enough.  Maybe they'll be able to... Michael's thought cut off as the pain of a change wracked him.  He looked to the sky and saw the moon emerging from behind the clouds.  Michael once again became the wolf.
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               John heard muffled cries of pain from a nearby alley.  He motioned for the group to follow the sound.  The alley was dark outside the reach of the torches, but they could all hear the growling.  Edging further into the narrow space, they began to see the reflection of the torchlight in to yellow eyes.  The eyes moved back into darkness. 
               The wolf pounced!  The cries of two men turned to gurgling sounds as the beast clawed their throats and leaped to the rear of the group.  Gunshots rang through the clear night air, and the beast howled as shot after shot hit its intended target.  Backing up, the wolf continued to snarl, but it didn't charge again.  The men with axes and pitchforks kept the beast at bay while the gunmen reloaded their weapons and fired again.  The creature turned around and fled.  Shouting in triumph, the men chased after it, making sure it left the town for good. 
                 When they were certain the wolf was gone, the men returned to their families.  John carried Jacob in one arm and his gun in the other.  Between Mark's house and his own, Jacob looked up at the moon and cried out.  John looked down at his son and saw what was happening. 
                 Startled at the fur that now covered his boy, he dropped Jacob to the ground.  "No, Jacob.  Not you!  Not you!"  The boy was changing.  Mark rushed out of his  house at the shout and saw the boy on the ground becoming a wolf. 
                 "John!  I'm sorry, my friend.  If he's becoming one too...you know what you must do."  Mark pointed at John's gun.  "If you can't, I'll understand, but then I will.  Someone has to."  He raised his own weapon.
                 John pushed his  neighbor's gun away.  "I know, Mark.  He's my boy.  I'll do it."  He raised his firearm. 
                 The gunshot rang out in the blackness.

Reviews

[Ardeth Lane]

This is so sad! John just lost his whole family because of the wolf thing. Poor kid.

[loowzerX]

you create a little movie-like vignette in my head. well written. excellent. im hooked. officially a fan :D your fan. haha

[Shin]

Poor kid, he was innocent... John lost his wife and now his kid, it's just not fair, too bad Michael can't control it yet, but I know he will eventually and I'm afraid he'll have to use it to stop certain people like William from doing anymore harm, I agree completely with bibliophile, it's just like watching a movie, I can imagine every single detail in my mind, keep it up, you have one of the greatest stories I've ever read.