???, 1 PT, Day 1, 8:33 AM?

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Wolves.

The bane of primitive human society, when we were nothing more than hunter-gatherers. We tamed them, of course, but that took generations of wolves to occur at the cost of many lives. These wolves, though, do not even know what a human looks like, they do not fear us or are even wary of us like wolves are on Earth. No, these wolves are born and bred hunters, who see the humans around them only as their prey.

Of course, these just weren’t regular wolves, these were a pack of dire wolves. Stronger, faster and much more intelligent than their brethren, they could easily spot an enemy’s weak points and strike with deadly precision before their enemy could even realize what was going on.

The humans were either stunned or confused. To the people who can see the wolves, the creatures were suddenly teleported right next to them by the light. ‘Impossible,’ was the one word that came to this group of people. To the other group, the ones who could not see the danger that was around them, they were still wondering about what the ‘opening ceremony’ was.

As for the dire wolves, they were a bit dazed, they did not know where they were and did not see any of their pack. The only things they really saw were numerous odd, bipedal creatures that were looking at them like a deer looks at an incoming truck in the night. But the wolves knew one thing for sure, and that was that they were STARVING.

They thought that they were alone at first, until one of them decided to howl. From that first howl, came another howl, and then another, until all the wolves were howling. The wolves now knew that they had brethren around them, and that the creatures around them still hadn’t moved.

If the dire wolves could think, they would all simultaneously think two simple words.

‘Free food.’

That was when all hell started to break loose.

Every dire wolf turned to one of the humans surrounding them, bared their fangs, and pounced.

The last thing that twenty-four humans saw was a wolf turning to them, baring their fangs at them, and then having their necks chomped on.

When the wolves pounced on their victims, the fight, flight, or freeze instincts in the ones who saw the wolves kicked in. While some people started to try and help the victims by prying the wolves off of them, others could do nothing but stare and watch as their fellow human’s eyes dimmed until there was no light left in them. The lucky (or smart if that’s how you think they are) ones immediately started running for the hills, not caring if someone else died so that they could live.

It was at this point when the screaming started, which alerted the people who did not know what was going on that, indeed, there was something going on. They saw some people running, others standing still, and even more trying to help the wolves’ first targets by either prying the wolves off them or kicking the wolves.

There was no controlling the situation from there as the panic became worse than when a violent riot was being quelled. No one knew where to run, so people started to run in every direction. They were running into each other, shoving and pushing, trying to get somewhere that was even remotely safe.

The wolves didn’t make the situation any better. They were smart, they knew that even with their first kills that there would be more food around for them to catch and save for later consumption. They didn’t want just an entree, they wanted a full five-course meal.

So after making sure that their catches weren’t going anywhere any time soon, they looked around for their next meal. For most, it was one of people standing still in fear. Easy prey, all things considered. For a few though, they were being ganged up on by the humans so much that they had to back away.

However, those few wolves backing away was not a good thing as when they backed away, they decided to group up with another dire wolf and gang up on the humans.

This led to the grouped dire wolves creating a sort of pattern which was deadly for the humans who were trying to help others. When one of the wolves attacked a human, the other waited a little until some people tried to help, and then pounced on one of the people trying to help.

By now about a minute had passed since the wolves started attacking the humans.

The first 24 people attacked were dead and the next 24 were either bleeding out, currently having their throats ripped out, or in a futile struggle to get the wolves off of them.

Some of the fighters, seeing that their attempts to help their fellow man were futile, decided to take their chances and run as well.

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While all of this was happening, Devin was watching in horror as the wolves proved their worthiness of being an ‘opening ceremony.’

From an outside view, like which Devin had, he could see that the wolves were enough to quickly cause chaos, but not enough to wipe everyone out. Quick enough to catch the humans off-guard, but not quick enough that the humans couldn’t see what was coming at them. Strong, but not strong enough to kill the average human with ease. They were smart, but not smart enough to corral the humans.

Crude, but effective… that is what the wolves were.

‘There is no way I’m going in there, I’ll die the moment I try to help one of them.’

Devin could only watch in horror at the carnage in front of him. And as Devin stood there dazed, the mute woman, who is probably the only reason Devin is alive at this point, continued to tug on his arm with more and more desperation as time went on.

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The area that the group was initially in is now basically abandoned. The people that stood still in fear of the dire wolves have either started to run away or have watched their fates be sealed by the sharp teeth of the wolves. The people that attempted to save the others have also either ran or been caught off-guard by the wolves who ambushed them. As for the first runners, they have a head-start on everyone else, and as long as they either sabotage those catching up, are fast enough, or are just not slow.

All that is left where the group originally was is the corpses of the wolves’ victims and the dire wolves themselves. They have enough meat to fill them for a while. Their needs are filled. But it isn’t what they NEED now, it is what they WANT. And what they WANT is to send a message to the weak creatures trying to run away from them. They did not like being rudely interrupted by the braver creatures who tried to disrupt their meal. They did not like it one bit. So to send a message, they decided to chase the runners and catch some of them. That message is, “You are prey, and we are the predators.”

With their initial kills left bleeding on the grass, the dire wolves out a piercing group howl, sending fear into the people running away. The runners dare not look back for fear of what may be behind them.

After the howl finishes, the hunt starts, with the wolves looking for their first targets.

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As the wolves finish their second kills, Devin finally snaps out of his stupor and realizes that he isn’t safe where he is and that he needs to start running.

Finally realizing that the mute woman by him is pulling on his arm, he acknowledges what she is doing and they start to run away.

However, as he starts to run away, Devin can’t help himself but take one look back. He sees people running in all directions away from where the dire wolves are, with no real coordination in sight. Closer to him, he sees other people running towards him, not caring who is in front or beside them. A few of them are shoving or tripping others so that they won’t get eaten by the wolves.

Seeing enough, he turns back towards the woman in front of him and follows her lead.

It isn’t long before he hears the piercing howl of the wolves and starts to dread what that howl means.

It isn’t long before he hears distant screams that are quickly followed by silence, a grim tale telling him that wolves aren’t done yet.

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The weak, bipedal creatures aren’t even a challenge to the dire wolves. It’s basically free meat!

Quickly catching the first group of runaway creatures, they make sure that the creatures below them are dead before going off for a second group of runners, easily catching those ones as well.

Once the second group runners were dead, they knew that their message was sent and that they had food to last them for a while. As long as it didn’t spoil, of course.

With one last howl, this time signifying victory, dominance, and of a good meal to come, the wolves start dragging the running they killed back to the spot where the group of creatures originally was.

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All Devin could do was run, and run, and run. After that first howl, he didn’t dare look back. Not at the people behind him and definitely not at the wolves that may be behind him.

While running, he swore that he heard another howl, but he was too focused on trying to escape to really listen to anything.

He didn’t know how long he was running for, but his instincts were telling him that he hadn’t run far enough. So he listened to them and continued running, following the mute woman who was uncannily nimble.

After a short while, Devin saw a treeline, which the mute woman ahead of him immediately started heading towards.

Once they passed it, they kept running until neither of them could see where they had entered the forest.

When they did finally stop, Devin and the mute woman immediately collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Neither of them knew they had the stamina to run that hard for that hard. In fact, they didn’t, and as the adrenaline wore off, their bodies refused to work with them, only allowing them to move their bodies so that they were facing the sky.