Hellwalkers

Hellbeasts!

Everybody, I got excellent news! I found some fanart of NOT_THE_BEES and discovered she made a HB OC that acts as Striker's older brother, inspired by Merle Dixon from the Walking Dead. I liked him so much that I asked for permission to use him in this fic, and he said yes!!This means I'll have to change quite some things, but I'm sure it'll be worth it. Brash belongs to Boo Boo the Fool (twitter). Be sure to take a look at his art. Thanks again for letting me use your OC!

*HB*

Moxxie couldn't believe his luck. He was supposed to just drop off the basket with the food and go back to town. But the hellbeasts just had to attack right then.

The formerly peaceful scenery erupted into chaos. The cattle and livestock stampeded around the corral as the hellbeasts chased after them, snapping their teeth. The wranglers were of no help, either. They were either fleeing or trying to fend off the animals with pitchforks to no avail.

"Where the fuck are the hunters?!" 

"They're all inside the woods or miles away!" 

Acting quickly, Moxxie moved through the cattle and towards the nearby post with the copper bell; everyone, hunters included, knew that hellbeasts were attacking whenever they heard it ringing.  If he could ring the bell and call the hunters, the hunters would come from the woods in no time to deal with the monsters before anyone got hurt.

He was almost there. Just a little longer...!

Something rammed against the post with the bell and knocked Moxxie to the ground before he could pull the rope. With a painful grunt, Moxxie struggled to get back on his feet when he saw it:

A massive hellbeast, larger even than the rest of the pack, stood over the fallen bell. Unlike the others, this one had peach-colored scales, a white mane, and horns. Its thick, long tail struck the broken bell and sent it flying through the air right into the shack's wooden roof. 

It was almost as if... it knew that the bell would bring the hunters, but... That can't be! Hellbeasts aren't that smart. 

Moxxie held his breath when the hellbeast turned towards him– pale yellow eyes with thick, serpentine-like green rings stared at him. 

Wait a minute. Peachy scales, white mane, snake-like eyes. Moxxie's stomach sank in realization as he remembered having heard of this hellbeast before. 

This is the Pale One.

Moxxie hurriedly crawled away from the creature, pulling out his gun from his jacket and aiming the barrel at the hellbeast's face. His finger was over the trigger, but something kept him from pulling it. He was frozen in place, hands trembling as he locked eyes with the hellbeast. 

The Pale One'smaw was inches away from the gun's barrel, but it didn't seem to be intimidated at all. In fact, it almost seemed amused at Moxxie's baby dick, as Millie's family would often say. Try as he might, Moxxie couldn't break out of this state despite his mind–and the wranglers around– screaming at him to shoot. 

Moxxie swallowed hard as the Pale One let out a shriek. For a moment, he feared the worst–hey, is that a gold tooth in the hellbeast's mouth or is he imagining things?–but it merely went back towards the cattle.

Moxxie's first instinct was to get the fuck out of there. He jumped into one of the nearest bushes to observe the chaos. He couldn't get his eyes off the Pale One as it ran through the corral, snapping its teeth at the cows.