Wake of the Dead | One

Chapter twenty-five

Shielding his eyes as he stepped out of the room, Killian squinted in the sunlight. He was immediately bombarded by an achingly familiar voice, "Hey, bro!" Dominick said, clapping a hand onto Killian's shoulder, "What's up?" The other man paused for a few moments, his voice trailing off and brows narrowing. "Hey, you okay?" 

Glaring at Dominick, Killian's nose wrinkled into a scowl. "If I wanted to tell you why I wasn't then I would have." He muttered softly. 

There was a tense silence between the two, but Dominick broke it quickly by continuing on, "Oh, okay." With a shrug he said, "I thought we could go hunting today to pass the time. It doesn't look like anybody else will be up for a lot of the day anyways." 

Both of the younger men jumped when Tom's strong voice cut in, "If you're going hunting, then you'll need somebody to carry the prey back." Killian swallowed back his rising annoyance. He'd promised himself he wouldn't ever hunt for the group again, but now it looked like he was being volunteered for it. Well...it wasn't like it could get any worse. Maybe this would give him the chance to talk to Tom about what happened the night before. 

Pulling his crossbow from his back, Killian began to head away from the motel lot and towards the woods that bordered the highway. If he'd found a deer there the night prior, there was no telling what else there could be--if they were lucky, that is. Hunting was always tricky business, you never knew what animals would be out and about. As he was walking towards the woods, Killian tripped over the curb of the road with a sharp yelp of surprise. He hadn't been watching where he was going and nearly fell over. Dominick didn't seem to think anything of it, passing right by, but Tom paused. "Hey kid, you look distracted. You alright?" 

Barely resisting the urge to snap at Tom, Killian glared upwards at him instead. Still, it was time to swallow back his pride and tell the group leader about what had happened. The cold, biting air was enough to freeze Killian to his bones, making him want to lay down and take a long nap. Instead, he brought in a shuddering and unsteady breath, "I went out of my room last night," Killian was too embarrassed to his the specifics of why, "Somebody was out there. They..." Refusing to be demeaned, Killian glared up at Tom in the eyes, "Somebody attacked me. They tried to strangle me." 

Tom's eyes flew open with shock, his lips parted before he shook his head with disbelief, "Jesus Killian, why didn't you come tell me sooner?" He asked. Without another word, the larger man gently tilted Killian's head upwards. Swallowing anxiously, Killian's hand balled up into a fist as he held back the urge to shove Tom away from him. "Yea, I can see the bruises. You're definitely not lying." The group leader said, crossing his arms. "Did you get a look at who it was?" 

Shaking his head, Killian avoided eye contact. "No, but they were taller and stronger than me. I tried to get away, but they weighed enough to pin me down. So I don't think any of the girls in the group did it." There was only one person he could think of, and that was either Casimir or Chris. Tom knit his thick brows together, nodding once. Killian wasn't sure if the other man was thinking the same thing or not. 

"If you aren't sure who did it, then we can only make speculations." Tom reasoned, his gaze flickering back over to Killian momentarily, "But we'll figure it out. In the meantime, you should stay close to either me, Dominick or Cohen just to be safe; don't leave your room at night either." With a low sigh, Tom scratched at the rough stubble on his chin idly, "I know not a lot of people are too thrilled with having you here, but that's uncalled for." 

Avoiding Tom's gaze, Killian looked longing over towards the woods instead. He felt safer there; nature followed a strict set of rules that humans didn't. Predators ate prey, prey ate plants, and they all did it in their own way; sunflowers grew facing the sun, rivers always ran downhill. Humans were unpredictable, and unpredictability was dangerous. Nature could be cruel, but that was just from the animal's instinct. Humans didn't have the instinct to be cruel, it was only done out of pure malice. That was what scared him. 

"Personally," Killian was fetched away from his thoughts once again by Tom, "I don't think you're that bad. If Jasper thinks you're good, then I trust his judgement." Tom ruffled Killian's hair, and the younger man couldn't help but smile and follow the group leader. 

***    

"How much longer?" Dominick muttered under his breath. 

Killian elbowed the other man hard in the ribs, shooting him a deadly glare. To his relief, Dominick quieted down without protest. The two were sitting beside a large thorn patch, and Killian was waiting silently. Dominick sat next to him, while Tom was taking a nap. Thankfully, the group leader didn't snore. A large pool from the recent rain had gathered into a low dip in the ground. It wasn't a large pool, but it was big enough. Killian had spotted a rabbit warren a few days ago close by. If they were lucky, one could come by for a drink. 

Small animals had trotted by, like a field mouse and a vole. Definitely not something worth their time. But as they waited, a more interesting type of prey padded over to the pool and dipped its head down for a drink. A large pheasant; definitely something Killian had seen before, but not often. With the biters around the worse seemingly in a halt, it only made since for smaller animals to emerge eventually. The bird wouldn't be enough to feed the whole group, but it would be enough for two people at least. 

Dominick had insisted that Killian teach him to hunt. It was better than somebody asking him to just bring them food, at least. With the pheasant distracted by dipping its beak into the water and throwing its head back to drink repeatedly, the bird was distracted from spotting the three men hidden in the thorns. Killian narrowed his brows and slowly handed his crossbow to Dominick. Moving his head closer, he helped the other man aim it to shoot at the birds head. Dominick held his breath like Killian had told him to, only exhaling after he pulled the trigger. 

A smile spread across Killian's lips as the arrow pierced through the pheasant's eye and the bird dropped dead. Getting up, he quickly moved it away from the pool and dragged it over to where Dominick was, nearly bursting with pride even though Killian had done most of the work. Patting Dominick on the shoulder, Killian handed the other man his crossbow and muttered, "Now be patient. Something else might come by." 

Nothing else wandered over, and Killian could barely hold down his disappointment. Still, he stood up with cramped legs and nudged Tom awake. "We're not going to find anything else here. We can bring this back to camp and see what Samantha and Casimir bring. I'll go out again if it's not enough to feed everybody." 

The trip back to the motel was more tiresome than it had been going away from it. Dominick complained about his stiff arms and legs, but Tom seemed rather content with his power nap. Killian perked up when he saw the rest of the group at the motel. Chris, Harley and Wilson were all joking around play-wrestling across the pavement while Cohen, Casimir and Samantha eyed them carefully. Killian dropped the bird unceremoniously beside the two rabbits Casimir and Samantha had brought back. He was relieved he didn't have to go back out again until it was time for dinner. 

Samantha grinned, "Nice catch you guys," Her smile was more welcoming than it had been the past few days before, making Killian's heart feel a bit softer. It seemed like a few of the group was starting to warm up to him, which was good. Maybe it was only because he brought them food, but at least it was something. 

A piercing voice interrupted Killian before he could even speak, "So, you catch a deer one night and only a pheasant the next?" Killian's good mood was nearly shattered by that comment, but with eyes widened with surprise when Cohen spoke up on his behalf. 

"Casimir, you as well as anybody should know that you can't guarantee success on every hunt." The doctor's eyes sparkled with amusement, "But it seems like you and Killian's rivalry only brings back more food. A little competition never hurt anybody, I suppose." 

As everybody else continued to talk and Samantha began to prepare the group's lunch with the help of Dominick, Killian still couldn't shake off the glare that Casimir was giving him. Instead of looking away now though, he stared back. Tension crackled between the two, but Killian refused to back down this time. His place was slowly being found in the group as a hunter, and if Casimir was his rival, then so be it.