Chapter 12

Of all the dumb things that ever happened to me...this one was up there. Falling off a cliff was still number one but this was arguably a close second. I should have checked the wolf if it was still alive but I didn’t. A wolf playing dead? C’mon! That’s just below the belt! I was overconfident in thinking that the Bear Core and the Mods made me invulnerable. I got careless again and I almost paid the price. If I was aiming to be the best hunter I swore to myself that this would be the last mistake. Ever. Hope so. I made that promise. So here I was on the ground, covered by the wolf’s body, and with my arms spread out. *Wat Do?*

I used my arms to push away the dead wolf but it was too heavy and the only shifted a little. How did I manage to push the wolf earlier? Right. The Bear Core helped. Come on, Mama Bear. Give me some strength! I placed my hands on the wolf’s chest and pushed hard. The wolf’s body moved a little and the weight pressed against me eased and I continued to push harder. I took a breath, grit my teeth and bunched my face while I pushed higher. My chest burned and the bear nanites finally helped out. I roared loudly and my arms were slowly extending. the wolf’s blood was dripping on my face but I ignored it and pushed higher. I slowly shifted the wolf’s head to the left while I shuffled my torso to the right. I dropped the body and my head and chest were finally free but my legs were still pinned. I sighed and tried moving the wolf again.

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My face was sticky with the wolf’s congealed blood and I tried wiping it with my dirty hand. I took out a small towel from my storage and wiped most of the blood off my face. I was exhausted from my exertions and I took a little rest while staring at the wolf. I was still breathing hard while I was looking down on the wolf and I was contemplating how to move it. I was finally freed after twenty minutes and as I sized up the body, It seemed I needed to struggle more. The wolf was smaller than the great bear but that didn’t matter at all and staring at it wasn’t going to make it any lighter. I crouched down near the wolf and examined the light grey fur while I took out my knives. I made the first cut at the throat and started field dressing the wolf.

I tried lifting the head with the fur and as I suspected, the they were too heavy to carry by myself. I thought of tying ropes on the fur and imagined carrying it like a backpack while I drove the ATV, but the weight might tip the vehicle back. I rejected that plan and searched for another one. I stared at the fur with pursed lips and pondered at the problem for a while but an idea came to me. I drove the ATV back to the treeline and used my monoblade to cut down a tree. I made a crude trailer by using some rope and the rough flat boards I made from the tree. I tied the trailer to the back of the ATV and dragged it back to the wolf. I loaded the head and fur with difficulty to the trailer and I remembered something I almost forgot to do. I cursed at my temporary amnesia and blamed it on the wolf. You can’t expect to recall everything you needed to do when some wolf was trying to eat you an hour earlier.

I walked back to the wolf carcass and crawled inside the chest cavity. What’s a little more blood when you’re already drenched on it. I found what was I looking for and I used a knife to gently dislodge it from the spine. I picked the Silver Wolf’s Core and looked at the prize. It was grey, the size of a golf ball, and it had hex patterns all over. I grinned at the Core and held it up to the sun. After admiring the Core, I stored it in a ziplock baggie and put it in my pocket. As I was about to leave, I looked at the wolf’s carcass and surveyed the meat. What a waste of meat. I could bring it back but nobody ate wolf meat and they say it reminded them of dogs. They may have a point there. I then had a thought, I could give it or sell it to the lady who sold soil compost to farmers. So I butchered the meat into small pieces and stored it in my Storage mod. It’s too bad there were limits to the size of items the Storage Mod can tranfser...mmm...I’ll ask Tordan about it later. After I stowed the items on the trailer, I left the wolf’s carcass for the scavengers and drove away.

The sticky blood and the smell was getting annoying while I drove through the forest dodging low hanging branches. I rode carefully and watched the terrain for bumps that can damage the rickety trailer. I considered my making a pitstop and clean myself off from the blood. The clothes I was wearing was getting a little itchy so I made the decision to stop by and find some water. I glanced at my Gauss rifle and it was filthy as hell. Thank god it was waterproof.

I was driving and humming a song I heard earlier when I passed by our old hunting site. When I saw a few Horned Rabbits munching on the grass and I hastily avoided them. I was a little tired and I can't deal with those rabbits right then. The bunnies were all looking at me and maybe it was just my imagination but they were definitely giving me the evil eye. Those bunnies were lucky my trailer couldn’t handle more weight and so I gave them the finger. I passed by our little hunting camp and it was a little mangled by the Great bear. It was a strange being back, like visiting your own crime scene. I wanted to check our camp but the creek was nearby and I needed to clean myself as soon as possible. I gave the place one last look and continued on.

I jumped in the clear water with my clothes on and washed the blood away. The creek’s water became pink from the blood and I grimaced at the sacrilege when I dunk the rifle in the water. When I felt I was suitably clean I got out and except for my boxers, I took off all my clothes . I checked the jacket while I dried myself and unbelievably wolf’s claws didn’t leave a mark. The great bear saved me once again. I sighed in relief and patted a thank you to the bear leather. The jacket was one of my prized possessions and it would’ve been heartbreaking if it got damaged. I eyed the wolf skin and thought maybe I could get Tordan make me some boots from the leather. I was squeezing the water out of my camo shirt when I heard I a very weak cry of an animal further up the creek. The sound was from an animal that I recently had a close and very personal disagreement.

My eyes widened in surprise when I recognized the cry and I immediately wore my clothes. I raised my rifle, my hands shaking a little and I checked my surrounding using the rifle’s scope. I searched every inch of ground, but I didn’t see anything and I thought I was just imagining things when I heard the animal cry again. No. Not this time. I steeled myself and slowly walked to the sound. I collapsed my rifle into compact mode and inched closer to the noise. It cried again but I noticed that it was different. The wail sounded weak and faint and I only heard it because of my Mod enhanced hearing. I followed the creek upstream and I found the animal making the noise. It was inside a large den and the animal was in a very pitiful state. Its fur was matted with dirt and the body was all skin and bones.

Inside the den, there on a bed of dried leaves was a whimpering Great Bear cub. The little cub was laying on its side and was grunting softly. The cub saw me when I crouched at the den’s entrance and it groggily moved away from me further inside. I hunt dangerous animals but this weak little cub pulled my heart strings. This was the cub that I saw before we were attacked by the bear. This was my Bear Core's cub.

It was almost a miracle that this cub survived on its own when the mother died. I looked inside the hole and there were small bones scattered inside. The little bugger tried hibernating judging from the state of its body but it woke up too soon when its dismal body fat supply dwindled into nothing. This bear won’t survive much longer without its mother to feed the cub properly. I was debating with myself of the course of action in regards to the poor bear. With a heavy heart, I aimed my rifle at the cub’s head and decided to end its suffering. What a sad end to the little fighter. My rifle shook a little as I slowly tightened the trigger.