Feral (Gabentine Fic)

Hunting Trip

Walking with crutches fucking sucks. Eleanor is making me use the crutches until my leg heals up and my armpits are fucking killing me. Lee has been hovering over me lately because of my injuries but, the man needs to give me space. For the past week I've been trying to corner Javi and give him more details about what happened. However, he always slips away before I can ask any questions and it's pissing me off. I need him to answer my questions about Gabe so, I can find out what happened.

I can't sleep at night.

Every night I have the same nightmare that leaves me drenched in sweat and harshly panting. I'm chained to a tree in the middle of the woods. The moon is high in the sky and I feel truly alone but, I know I'm not. I can feel eyes watching me and I scream out for whoever it is to show themselves. A dark chuckle sounds from behind me and it sends chills up my back. A claw then reaches through the darkness and grips my neck so tightly that I can't breath. I wither around, trying to release the grasp the beast has on me. Before I suffocate from the lack of oxygen, the beasts' voice teasingly calls out to me.

"You know, my dear, it isn't safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone."

And then, the claws go deeper in my neck and I jerk awake. This has been a reoccurring nightmare and have it every night. I've asked Eleanor for sleeping medication but, she ran out just last month. So, my days are spent hobbling around on my crutches with bags under my eyes and dreading going to sleep at night. The others look at me with worried eyes and I can't stand to see them.

"Hey, Clemmy Clue. How are you feeling?"

I was hopping over to the newly built dining hall to get some food when Lee stopped me. My leg was feeling a lot better and I could even walk on it. But, Eleanor told me to use the crutches a couple more days just in case any tearing occurs. I turned towards Lee and seen that he was with Lilly.

"Hey, guys. I'm feeling great and Eleanor even said I could stop using these crutches in a couple of days."

"That's great, Clem! Come on, let's go get a bite to eat. And talk about what's going on this week."

We all sat down at a table, munching on ham sandwiches and talking about the objectives this week. I had barely listened to Lilly ramble on about what was going to happen but, my attention was caught when she mentioned Javi going hunting Friday.

"Wait. Back up. You said Javi is going hunting this Friday in the woods?"

Lilly furrowed her eyebrows at me for interrupting her but, still answered my question.

"Yes, Clementine. Javi is going hunting this Friday and he said he was going alone."

Lilly hadn't even finished talking before I was up and hurriedly hopping towards the door. I heard Lee shout after me but, I was gone and in search of that asshole we call Javi. It wasn't hard to find him because if you find Kate, Javi is always within 10 feet of her. Kate was near her house she shares with Javi and working on her garden. She stopped upon hearing me approach and gave me a smile.

"Hey, Clementine. Javi is inside cleaning his guns."

"Thanks, Kate. Nice garden by the way!"

I moved up the steps one at a time due to my crutches but, eventually made it through their front door. I found Javi sitting at his kitchen table and cleaning all of his guns. He looked up at me when I stood at the entrance of the dining room and he sat down the gun he was cleaning. Javi let out a sigh and shook his head.

"No, you cannot come hunting with me Friday."

"Um, why the fuck not?"

His eyes traveled towards my crutches and he cocked an eyebrow.

"You're not going to be the quietest out there with them things."

"Okay, Eleanor said I should be good in a couple of days anyway. Please, Javi. Let me go with you and get out of this place for awhile. I can't sleep at night with these awful nightmares about something being in them woods. Please."

I was nearly begging Javi by the time I finished and I felt a little ashamed. But, I needed to go with Javi because I need closure.

"IF and only IF Eleanor comes to me Friday and tells me that you can go with me without the crutches. That's the only way, Clem."

I was ecstatic and thanked Javi a dozen times before going back to my apartment and doing some physical therapy. Today was Monday and I worked all week on restoring my health and doing everything Eleanor had told me I needed to do. Friday came all too quickly and I found that I could walk on my leg without any pain or problems. I really hoped Eleanor would see this and give me the green light to go with Javi.

I walked over towards Eleanor's tent she had set up for medical emergencies and I seen that she was joined with Javi. Eleanor made me do a series of stretches and movements, trying to see if anything was wrong with my leg. I did this for almost an hour before Eleanor stopped me.

"Okay, Clementine. I think you can go with Javi."

"YES!"

I was about to do a happy dance but, realized I would stupid in front of Javi and Eleanor. I settled for smiling hugely at Javi and he returned it.

"Well, go get something to eat and tell Lee and Lilly where we're going. I'll come get you when it's time."

I was out of the tent in no time and almost sprinting towards the dining hall. I told Lee where I was going and, although he looked upset at me leaving again, he gave me a hug and told me to be careful. I ate my dinner and taking my plate to the trash when Javi came in.

"Hey, Clem! Are you ready to go?"

"Yep. I've been ready this whole week. Let's go!"

We were off and walking into the woods with our guns. Javi said he had seen a couple of deer roaming nearby and that we should split up and look for them. I agreed and I went left while Javi went right. I was more than deep into the woods and trying to stay quiet and look for tracks when I heard something that made my blood run cold.

Was that a fucking howl?!