Witnesses

Chapter 3

"Here we are." Miles said as they materialized in a dark forest. He checked his watch. "And it appears we're a little late."

"Great." Hawthorne replied, then vomited all over the ground.

"Ah yes, I forgot you weren't used to this yet." The gunslinger chuckled, then frowned as he watched Hawthorne continue to retch. "Really, most people have a better stomach for this after their first couple of runs."

"Shut up." Hawthorne muttered as he finally finished, then looked around. The surrounding trees were featureless, the darkness revealing nothing, but he heard a loud growl rise throughout the forest. "What are we gonna be doing here?"

"We," Blackwater pointed to a mansion's silhouette that Hawthorne had not seen before, "are going to go there. Hopefully, we aren't late enough for things to go too far."

"And if we are?" The magician asked, and at that, Miles cracked a grin.

"Well then, we're going to try some diplomacy." A blue glow enveloped his hand. "We're here to reduce the damage to this universe, but I won't object to putting this self-righteous prick six feet under."

"Alright then," Hawthorne said, then gestured to their surroundings. "What is this place anyway?"

Miles sighed. "I really need to give you the rundown on these universes sometime." He unholstered his revolver. "We're in Raccoon Forest, the site of an outbreak of the T-Virus."

Sam frowned. "Never heard of that one."

The gunslinger pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's because it doesn't exist in your universe." He gestured to the silhouette again. "Look, just expect to see quite a bit of messed-up shit."

"Alright then," Hawthorne said uneasily. "That's all my questions then."

"Good," Miles replied, then covered the lower half of his face with his bandana, then offered one to the magician. "Tie that around your face."

Once the magician had done so, the gunslinger unholstered a revolver before breaking into a run. "Let's go."

It wasn't long before they'd found some attention in the forest. Or rather, some attention had found them.

They were about a third of a mile away from the mansion when they heard growling again, louder this time. Blackwater didn't seem to pay it any mind, but Hawthorne was not so calm, shifting uneasily with hands on his cards as he looked around.

"You hear that?" He called out ahead to Blackwater nervously.

"Yes," The gunslinger said impassively, not bothering to look back. "Just keep moving."

"But–" Hawthorne started, but Miles turned around to him.

"I said, keep moving." He growled. "So long as you do that, you won't have to see whatever this is."

"Sure, but what is it?" The magician frowned. "You're not telling me the full–" He was cut off as a group of howls split the air.

"Shit!" He heard Miles yell as he was suddenly tackled to the ground by something out of the corner of his eye. He heard gunshots fill the air as he heard the sound of paws hitting the forest floor, but that mattered little to him as he got a clear view of what was currently trying to sink its jaws into his throat.

It was a dog, but it was all wrong. Its eyes were almost completely whitened out, and its flesh appeared rotted. Rancid breath washed down on Hawthorne's face as it snapped down at his neck, but it wasn't normal, instead smelling like corpses. He screamed, trying to keep it from sinking its teeth into him, but it was to no avail, as another comrade, and another began eating away at the rest of his body. He shut his eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable end...