Putting her sawn-off on her shoulder, Gwen blasted the Werewolf that had been climbing up behind us, making me regret standing so close to her.

Feeling as the Wolf hit the ground on the left of Monster Mash, I swung tight around the girls with my axe ready and brought it down on the beast blindly, catching it in the thigh and summoning a bloodcurdling yelp from the creature.

After a stunned second, I went to pull the axe free and get ready for my next attack, only to get absolutely hoofed in the chest by the Wolf’s free leg, sending me flying with the axe in my loose grip.

The kick hurt less than I thought it would, but I knew hitting the ground would be a completely different story.

‘Feel smart now, smart guy?’ I thought to myself as I hit the ground the first time, barely holding onto the axe and bouncing, ‘Oh, hitting the ground hurts? Genius.’

Between the self-bullying and the good three or four bounces, I was starting to wonder what the point of all that self-actualization was.

“Fuck me…” I wheezed while getting to my feet and wiping the dirt from my eyes, “Wh-”

I struggled to find words as a vindicating ‘ASSIST +50’ popped up and I was left staring openmouthed at Gwen, who’d either ripped or cut off the Wolf’s arm and beat it to death in front of the van, spraying the headlights with its blood.

A gunshot snapped me back to reality quick-smart though, and suddenly I was back in the thick of it just in time to feel a Wolf drop down some twenty feet away.

Knowing it was going to move far quicker than I could ever manage, I braced myself to take a swing at the darting mass of claws and fur.

I’d honestly forgotten how fast they were though, and in the moment before it reached me, I prepared to at best maim it as it drove me into the ground and ripped me limb from limb.

Another gunshot followed by a bullet whipping past me banished that plan from my head almost instantly, the Wolf’s shoulder recoiling with the pain, stopping it in its tracks inches before it could swipe at me and allowing me to swing my axe at its ribs.

The silver head tore through monster’s flesh and muscle with ease, glancing off its bones shortly before coming out the other side, splattering the earth and almost taking me with it.

Having recovered more than I’d expected though, I was able to control the weighty axe and, as the Wolf dropped to its knees, take the mighty beast’s head clean off, earning me a ‘KILL +100’ and nothing else.

Disappointed at the small return and realizing my hearing was slowly returning, I prepared myself for another Werewolf to rush me.

The girls had pulled one near the van, the Wolf darting around and dodging the volley of shots being sent its way, the girls unable to close in for fear of ruining the firing line and potentially getting one of the others killed.

I don’t know if it was that I had some distance or if they were simply too focused to care, but to me it was obvious that it was distracting them and, after a few seconds of searching, I saw what from.

Evidently not wanting to have their numbers cut down any more, the fourth and final Wolf had crept out of the range of the headlights and was inching its way towards the girls while the third Wolf slowly but surely turned them towards the road.

Calling out meant ruining their flow and potentially killing them all, but charging a Wolf at least double my size with a shiny lumberjack’s tool had dumb idea written all over it.

I’m sure there was some other third option, but the Wolf looked to be readying itself to launch towards the girls and I seriously owed them.

Breaking into an all-out sprint with my axe in my right hand, I did my best to count the distance to my target in feet.

Thirty feet, the Wolf was rolling its shoulders.

Twenty, I almost lost my footing.

Ten, the Wolf heard me.

It was too late though, I was on it, and despite my relatively diminutive size, I was able to take it to the ground with a sharp tackle.

Lucky for me, the Wolf was about ninety percent fur and made landing a breeze, even with me crashing into its ribs.

Unlucky for the Wolf, I wasn’t.

Having winded the oversized pooch, I pressed the head of my axe into its gut, burning it and taking away its ability to effectively kick me.

Unsure if the gunfire meant the girls had won, I put all my focus into keeping the monster I had on the ground, punching it in the head and branding it where I could with my axe.

I knew the Wolf would eventually grow numb to the sizzle of my axe though, and that in a straight one-on-one melee I was going to lose.

That’s when I heard the gravel to my left shuffling as my group came running over.

‘Just a little longer,’ I told myself, driving my fist into the rib I’d hit in the tackle, ‘just a few more seconds…’

“Move!” Gwen roared, spurring me to push off the Wolf and run backwards, my heels digging into the gravel as I did sending me to my ass as my sister dumped buckshot into the wounded beast’s face and Millie took aim at its heart.

Then, with a flash of light and a crack, the Wolf fell still, granting me yet another disappointing ‘ASSIST +50’ and a sigh of relief as I laid back.

I was hurt, tired, and more than a little embarrassed by my multiple missteps, but damn was it good to finish a proper hunt.

Then a golden ‘ALLIED QUEST COMPLETED! +2500’ popped up in my vision and ruined any opportunity I had of steadily winding down and enjoying the moment, if only because I knew that another, more aggressive pop-up was right around the corner.

LEVEL UP!

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