Riley scratched the back of his neck and let out a long sigh. The scent detector, a long handheld device with a point-locator attached to the handle, was designed to track odors several miles away. Riley and his catchers stood at an abandoned campground which had an empty cooler, a freshly burnt out pit fire, and clothes strewn all over as if ransacked. The scent detector reading was set to high.
"Target 91787 was here," said Riley circling the site, looking for evidence of a sperm sample.
"Sweep the area, see if you can find out who this belongs to," he told the catchers before pausing, "you three stay near me just in case the beast returns."
Riley didn't want to be left alone if the beast decided to make another appearance. He had spent the entire night going over in his mind what happened to Jennifer and he couldn't get any sleep.
It's not like I had any choice,
he tried telling himself, but still, the guilt was eating at him.
Riley relocated out of his home country a decade ago for a fresh start and to continue his legacy as a renowned hunter. He famously garnered worldwide attention when he captured the Binze, a rare beast that decimated small villages and wreaked havoc across the land, destroying precious vegetation, used for spinal cord regeneration.
In the attempt to make a name for himself, and to earn the reward for capturing the beast, Riley, a fairly new hunter, decided to set out and capture it himself. It took him three weeks to track down the monster and with a stroke of luck, he was able to land a shot to its leg but not before the beast charged at him full speed, causing him to fall over and drop his dart gun.
"Shit, shit, shit," Riley said in a panic, reaching out to retrieve the dart gun, but the Binze was too fast and it stood over Riley about to land a killing blow but was instantly distracted by a noise coming from behind it. Turning around, the Binze spotted another hunter and rushed forward grabbing him by the neck, lifting him in the air by his throat.
Panicked, Riley grabbed his gun and with shaky hands let out a dart with one-eye closed. The Binze instantly dropped, releasing its grip on the hunter who had crumbled to the ground. He slowly walked over to the two unmoving subjects, gun in hand, ready to let another shot go if he spotted any sort of movement.
"Are you alight," Riley yelled at the hunter. Walking closer he peered at the hunter, whose unseeing eyes were wide-opened in horror, his mouth agape.
He died saving my life,
Riley thought feeling his chest cave in.
That wasn't the story Riley told when he reported his conquest, detailing that the hunter was already in the creature's grip when he came on the scene and in the attempt of rescue he darted the beast but it was already too late.
Riley was declared a hero and became the most sought after hunter, but before he could be exposed as a fraud, he decided to relocate to the west with his fame. He settled to work for TRACE and was placed on a team that typically did not hunt problematic targets, that was until recently when the unknown species appeared causing havoc with its ejaculation.
"Sir we found these two not too far from here." said a catcher, escorting two startled looking tourists to the campground.
One was a younger female, most likely out of third house schooling and the other was an older male. Riley surveyed the pair and turned his attention toward the male, who appeared to be more cognizant out of the two.
"Are these your belongings," Riley asked, putting on his authoritarian voice.
"Wh-what," asked the male, his eyes darting all about.
"Are these your belongings," he repeated more forcefully.
"Yes...yes they are," said the male.
"Can you tell me why you are camping out here, knowing the dangers of this area," Riley stated.
"We thought they were rumors," cried the girl, tears pouring from her eyes.
Riley started getting suspicious that the couple made contact with the beast, however, they stood before him unaffected by the virus the beast is known to spread.
"You've met the creature haven't you," he asked.
"We have, it just landed in front of us out of nowhere, it was huge and hideous," said the man, his voice shaking.
"It growled at us and we just ran toward those trees right there," said the man shooting a glance at the woman, " Kendy didn't want to leave our stuff behind so we stayed and watched as it picked through our items, taking away food and clothes...it was unreal."
"Why are you still in the area," asked Riley, feeling tension at the bridge of his nose.
"We decided to leave and come back to see what we can retrieve," said the man looking around at the damages. "Some of this stuff is valuable."
Morons,
Riley thought.
"Did you see in which direction it went," Riley asked, attempting to narrow down the search.
"South," said the man, "most definitely south."
"That'll be all," said Riley, "do not come back here until you've heard word that the beast has been caught, we cannot afford any more casualties, and keep what you saw here today to yourselves, we can't have people coming here to check things out."
"Yes...yes sir," said the man, dragging the girl by the arm toward the camping equipment.
"We head south," said Riley to the nearby catchers.
*****
It was another morning and I was still reeling over the creature uttering the word no.
He can speak English?
When I woke, the beast was missing and the outside of the shed was blocked and I was unable to leave. Not that I could picture myself leaving at this point. I heard my stomach rumble and made my way over to the pile of packaged goods that the beast brought in the night before.
Crackers
Canned Salmon
Canned beans
Ramen noodles
Lisas Chocolate
The chocolate was calling out to me, so I reached for it, quickly opening the packaging before taking a bite. The richness of it hit me hard and my head tilted back with pleasure as I took another bite.
