War with the Werewolves

War with the Werewolves

Chapter One 

I grabbed the old rag wiping the spills off of the dark mahogany bar as the woman vacated her seat. The crowd had slowly filtered out as we got nearer to closing time. A few customers sat stubbornly in their seats waiting a few more gruelling minutes before Bart and I forcefully kicked them out. Mickey, a regular gestured to his drink and I grabbed the bottle of whiskey and went to fill up his glass.

"You hear the announcement," he asked me. I nodded knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Oh give it a rest Mickey," Tinsley said from beside him, clearly sick of listening to his theories. I smiled at Tinsley filling up her glass. She looked rather out of place in the run down bar. Most of the customers looked like Mickey here, middle aged with beer bellies and gruff voices. However, her blonde hair was probably the cleanest thing here and her make up was always flawlessly done in a way I'd failed to replicate when I tried. She stopped by here every Friday on her way home from work, still in her grey scrubs. She worked as a nurse at the local 'institute', an asylum of sorts. I always kind of wondered what it would be like inside the building. The tall grey building lurked in the centre of the city like a threat hanging above us.

"I'm just saying it's obvious that they're preparing for war and good on 'em!"

"Good on 'em!" Tinsley asked incredulously "Its murder is what it is!" she argued. "What do you think?" she asked turning her sharp eyes to me.

"I think those people that have chosen to live in 'No mans land' just want peace they shouldn't be killed because of it." I said honestly

"Ha! See it's murder," Tinsley said pointing victoriously at Mickey. I stared at the TV screen, which was playing a repeat of the big announcement. Andrew Hugh, the leader of the humans, basically stated that any humans residing outside the fence would either be recruited in the impending war efforts or killed because if they weren't one of us they were 'a waste of resources'.

"Did you hear? Maggie's daughter's missing," Mickey, said changing the topic, a sorrowful look crossed his face and I filled up his glass again.

"Really? I heard that a boy from across town went missing too," I informed them, having heard the news from one of the locals.

"I reckon it's the werewolves," Mickey spat out

"Can't be, no one would be able to get across that fence without being electrocuted or shot," Tinsley said quietly, starring down at her napkin.

"That's what they'll have you believe,"

"If it was a werewolf, don't you think someone would have noticed? The whole sprouting hair and shifting into a different creature would be kind of hard to miss, don't you think?" I asked

"Hmm," he said, quietly looking up at me.

"Well I better be going, try not to drink yourself into a grave," Tinsley said giving Mickey a sly smile and handing me the cash for her tab, before sliding off of her barstool and heading towards the exit.

"It was definitely the werewolves," Mickey said narrowing his eyes into thin slits; I raised my eyebrows humouring him. "Maggie was committed in for a mental health check afterwards," he added gravely, as though that explained how it was werewolves.

"Well I suppose loosing your child like that can be devastating," I offered, trying to comfort him, I knew how friendly he was with Maggie. He shook his head at me.

"Its more than that," he told me despondently shaking his head as though to rid him of the thoughts "one more refill and I'll be off," he said gesturing to his now empty glass. I poured some more in his glass before moving down the bar towards some other customers. The bar was alight with conversations about the announcement. It was obvious the government were only invading the no mans land in order to scavenge for resources, most people were hoping they would strike big and the way too overpriced tax would be reduced, others were worried about werewolves who might live in that area. Their theory was that if we went through land outside the fence, despite assurance that humans resided there, we might encounter some surprises. Everyone knew with tensions as high as they were, the smallest of triggers could evoke a war.