Twisted Death

24. Intermission

The wolf pup only wagged its fuzzy tail and yipped. Brandon petted its head, and its tail swished even faster. It was like a tiny broom sweeping off the dust on his shoulder.

Oh, Mika would definitely love this little wolf. Unfortunately, she had to wait until she could finally leave the hospital to see her new pet.

Brandon gave Albert and other Millennion agents a "see what I say" smile. Everybody except Albert gasped and began talking to each other.

"It seems like you've gotten yourself a pet, Sir!" Albert approached him and picked up the pup. "Now, how about naming it? Every pet needs a good name." With the little wolf lying on his palms like a newborn baby, he took a closer look at it. "It's a girl."

A girl. Brandon had actually prepared a name for each gender, all to honor the deceased loved ones. No, in truth, he had had enough with the guilt and grief that clawed at his heart; at least with Nancy the Pup by his side, the talons would loosen a bit.

"Nancy," he muttered, needles puncturing his heart for every syllable he spelled out.

"Nice name." Fortunately, the usually chatty and curious Albert stopped right there.

Flashing Albert a grateful smile, he reached out a hand at the pup. The wolf rolled, dropped to the ground and wriggled her tail upon landing on her feet. Excited barks escaped from her mouth.

After nodding at her, Brandon picked up his axe and looked at the other agents. All of them - except their leader Oswald - inspected the shelves of test tube racks and pried open every single crates in the lodge. The massive bayonets attached to the anti-necrolyze rifles replaced crowbars pretty well.

"Stop looking at me, Brandon!" Oswald barked. "Help my men carry those crates outta here!"

Albert stared at Oswald. "My friend, it is very rude of you to address Mr. Brandon without the 'Mr.' He takes care of Miss Mika, our future boss, and that gives him a high position in the organization."

"He was once a traitor, and he made a big jump just because of Miss Mika."

That old story of betrayal again? Brandon stormed towards Oswald with his teeth bared. Suddenly, a thick tendril of flesh whizzed past his neck and grazed Oswald's cheek. Brandon stopped in his tracks and turned to watch the tendril retreat into...Nancy's mouth.

The serum had granted her a stretchy tongue.

"What the hell is this?" Oswald asked. "Damn pup!"

"She didn't like your attitude." Albert snickered. "Anyway, Brandon's hand is better reserved for his axe, so your men gotta carry those crates."

Brandon glanced over his shoulder to see a scowling Oswald. The human's face pretty much told him, "I hope you get to fight a big bad monster who will beat you up." Brandon remained poker-faced, though.

Once the agents had done the investigation, they left the shack. Brandon led the way again, but now, he had Nancy by his side. Too bad the whole treant and giant ants incident had scared off and even killed most - if not all - of the inhabitants in the forest. It robbed Nancy the chance of testing out her power on some tasty snacks.

They reached the spot where the treant and the giant ants first appeared. The clear greenish fluid - the insects' blood - on the twig-filled ground had dried up, but the humans winced as they paced. Nancy, however, didn't care.

Hmm? As far as he knew, superiors retained their sense of smell...

They did. Nancy ran off to the ground with crimson patches and sniffed it. Brandon winced at this, hoping that she wouldn't want human flesh as her meal.