Chapter 13: Return

It had been a day since our battle with the Demon, finally managing to take down that monster sent a wave of relief through our minds. He was a serious threat that being able to blend in, could cause untold damage anywhere he went. Dan's machete took his leg off and my spear buried deep into his throat causing him to choke on the blood welling up inside. It wasn't a pretty sight but we hadn't seen anything more beautiful given what we knew he had been doing to these people.

Getting the remaining supplies we had stashed outside, we spread them around the compound giving everyone something for their stomach. The relief and pleasure on their faces while eating their first proper meal in weeks was a balm for our hearts after seeing so much death inside the main building.

Feeling bad for what had happened to the guards, but also getting over it very quickly after remembering what they had done, we treated the other guards around the place with a heap of suspicion after the actions of the ones who perished to the Demon. We were quickly reassured by the residents that not all the guards were bad and the original ones from before the 'Boss' arrived had not been involved in his sinister plans.

In the process of getting everything sorted we had been keeping on top of Michaels recovery and noticing that he was healing at a much faster pace then normally would be expected. It still wasn't looking good but the recovery seemed about a week further along than where we would expect him to be. It did seem very red and angry around the cuts and concerned it was infected we planned on setting off the next day back to the Sanctuary.

After a good night sleep recovering from our experience at the compound, we started getting everything together and prepared to head back. Searching around the place for anything important we managed to collect various food, clothing and some medication. After some searching, I found the police station around the back on top of a tree that had stopped growing, compared to the other trees in the forested surroundings.

Maybe not just eating humans but absorbing energy from the surrounding area was the demons sustenance, this could have affected the people in the compound so that on top of being malnourished they had their energy/life force taken as well. Putting it to the back of my mind I made my way inside and upon searching it I found the containment area and multiple people locked away. Looking closer I found that it was the police officers who had most likely been in the location heading the compound when the demon arrived.

Approaching the nearest door, I called out,

"Hello in there, can you hear me."

"Yes! I can hear you, what do you want? Here to torture us some more?"

"What?! No I'm here to help."

"Don't think you can trick me; I don't know what your plan is but I'm not going to play along."

"Hey, I'm not going to do anything like that, really, I'm here to help."

"Leave me alone, I'm not playing your games." Turning away and not paying any more attention. Feeling frustrated I made my way to some of the other cells and got the same response, throwing my hands up in frustration I made my way back to the main area of the compound. Seeing my frustrated face Laurie came up to me,

"Hey Dave, what's wrong?"

"So I managed to find the police station around the back and making my way inside I found the containment area. There were some police officers inside but they thought I was trying to trick them and refused to listen."

"WAIT WHAT!?!! They are still alive?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Feeling confused.

"Well about a week after the boss arrived the police officers started going missing and when we asked him about it, we didn't get any answers, thinking he had made them disappear like all the others had we left it alone, scared of being singled out and picked next.

Let's go, I'll come with you and we can sort it out."

Feeling a sense of relief that it wouldn't be as complicated as originally thought I made my way back to the police station with Laurie, and once there we proceeded to the cells. When we made our way inside Laurie ran up to the first door noticing the man inside,

"Nick! Is that you?" He shouted inside.

The man turning around looked on in shock, "Laurie? What's happened? How come you're here?"

Laurie proceeded to inform the man who I now knew as Nick what had happened and he then turned to me,

"Thank you for everything, sorry how I treated you, but that thing had been putting us through a pretty shit time. We thought it was just another ruse to get me to let down my guard and take advantage of us.

I'm glad that he's gone, though the amount of people who died isn't ideal, but if they are who I think they were, that hung around with him then it's kind of good they are out of the picture."

Feeling a bit shocked by his response I must have clearly showed it as he continued,

"I mean yes they were helpful securing this location, but we were seeing an increase in complaints from the residents and concerning actions by that group, they were escalating and it was very disconcerting what they had been doing."

Hearing his explanation, it made a bit more sense that the Demon was surrounded and assisted by such men, they must have felt a sense of security being able to do what they wanted without any sense of reprisal.

"Well now that we have sorted that out, how about we get you all out of this place, I bet you want to stretch your legs and get some fresh air."

Seeing the eagerness on his face we proceeded to open each of the doors with the keys in the main office. Once they had all made their way out and Nick and Laurie had explained everything, I got more apologies from the other officers but I waved them off saying no hard feelings.

Before we made it out of the building, I asked the officers if they could collect everything else that might be in the building that would be of use. Spending the next 30 minutes in the place I waited while they moved around efficiently gathering and stacking bits and pieces by the front door. There were a few weapons but I was told that the remainder had been taken by the guards earlier and then some portable cots and tactical clothing and body armour.

These would definitely come in use as we will be coming into contact with other animals and creatures that intended us harm. As they gathered near the door and had finished their collection, we made our way to the main square of the compound and met the rest of the residents near the gate.

Due to the fact we had previously talked to the residents about moving off to our base of operations in the forest everyone had prepared themselves mentally for what lay ahead. We were pretty confident that unless we came upon a large group of shadow cats, we would have no issue making the distance, and quite the distance it was being almost 70km back to our home.

As we discussed the game plan, we did mention to the group that it would take just over a day to get back to our base due to the distance, though they wouldn't have to worry as we had travelled the forest quite extensively and knew what to expect. We would be able to advise them of any danger and if we got attacked by the shadow cats, we were confident in taking them out.

Dan would move at the front scouting out the best path to travel, leaving marks along the trees to guide us. Sarah and I would move at the front to the right and left of the group keeping an eye out for Dan's signs and any threats he may have missed. Michael would be in the centre of the group being able to move to any edge quickly if needed, despite what we were quickly thinking was an infected injury, he was still very capable of taking down any beast of the forest or at the very least holding his ground until help came.

We tasked the police officers that using any weapons provided to assist in the immediate protection if needed, but for the moment to just assist the individuals and help with any problems. Using some carts, we piled the supplies onto the beds and all set off. Dan moved off maintaining a 1km distance Infront of us and moved back and forth inspecting the direction of travel.

Everything was going well with little problems a few hours into the hike when we came across a symbol showing what looked like a rock with a few lines surrounding it. Freezing in place we motioned for the group to pause and to have a break, making eye contact with each other we moved forward to meet up with Daniel. Coming up behind him we slowly made our way forward making little to no sound until we were next to him behind a low bush.

"What did you see? Was it really some rock wolves?" asking in an uncertain tone.

"Yeah, I've been tracking them for the last little while, they keep swinging over the path we need to take and we wouldn't be able to get past without the group getting caught up in the pack." Dan responded.

"Ah shit, how many are we looking at?" Sarah asked.

"Hmmmm not too many, maybe around 3 or 4, so a small pack, I'm just worried that any noise we make taking them out would draw some other attention that we don't want."

"But if we don't then It's going to significantly increase the hike going all the way around, and I'm not sure the people can take it. We're already pushing them with what's going to be a 12-14hr hike at least." I responded, thinking about the amount of travel and the people who were still struggling after being starved.

Falling silent for a bit we all looked at each other thinking the same thing,

"well if we're going to do this then we have to be quick, the less time we take the less chance for anything to hear what happens."

Like clockwork we move forward in formation, Dan taking point with Sarah and I to his rear at 45 degrees left and right. Stalking through the brush we make out way forward and after about a minute we saw the group of rock wolves lazing in a rare spot of sun peeking through the dense coverage from the trees, watching for a moment we saw there were only three and breathed a sigh of relief, this would make it much easier for us.

Moving forward circling around the position, ensuring we stay downwind so they don't catch wind of us, we wait the customary 2 minutes for the others to be set up. Leaving his spot with a speed far faster than before Dan shoots forward taking the wolves off guard, sending his spear through its neck at the top near where it meets the head. Springing up from their spot the other 2 wolves growl and start circling Dan seeing their pack mate laying in a slowly growing pool of blood. Looking for an opportune moment to strike, they were focused utterly on Dan watching his every movement.

Sarah and I used their distraction to our advantage, with both of us thrusting our spears at their heads; we managed to inflict some light injuries on the beasts but we don't have Dan's accuracy and miss their vital spots. Seeing the new threats to their lives the wolves seem wary now, aware of the fact they were outnumbered and a hint of uncertainty was crossing their faces.

Dan capitalising on their moment of hesitation moved to the wolf closest to Sarah and making eye contact with her they coordinated in a brilliant move that saw Sarah making a glancing blow near its face causing it to flinch and shy away from her weapon and Dan used that movement to drive his spear deep into its throat in a feat of strength penetrating its rocky hide.

Feeling another of its compatriots quickly loosing its life the wolf I was facing off against quickly moved around me in preparation to flee, and it was a few steps from making enough distance when I thrusting forward, tangled my spear in its legs tripping the canine and causing it to sprawl out on the ground. Seeing it on it's back its belly facing the sky exposed a weak spot we had missed earlier, just at the bottom of its ribcage where the rock wasn't too think and to facilitate movement, it had formed a sort of interlocking plate system that slid over each other.

The position of the wolf on its back had exposed the area and had stretched the hide in a way that presented a small gap in its armour. Quickly capitalising on this discovery, I thrust my spear forward feeling no resistance and seeing blood burst out of the hole I had made. There must have been some major blood vessels or arteries around the area because the beast was losing blood at a ridiculous rate and within second it had gone still on the ground.

Looking at it in shock with how easy it was to take down, I didn't quite process it, I mean I had never before been able to take one down by myself, it was just too easy, jokingly so. They looked at me with an odd look on their faces, seemingly wondering I knew that was there. I just brushed it off as I hadn't planned it, I just was really lucky with how it ended up, it just wasn't important to me at that moment. Wanting to get a move on before our commotion drew somethings attention, we moved back to the group and upon letting them know what had happened we continued on our path through the forest.

Thankfully nothing had become attracted to us and we were unhindered for the rest of the day. Finding a larger area to accommodate our group we set up for the night having a cold dinner and making as little noise as possible. Setting a rotating schedule for patrol we made it through the night with no issues, and all woke to a nice brisk morning with fog hanging low on the ground and the sun peeking through the trees breaking up the cold with its warmth. Having a cold breakfast wasn't ideal but it enabled us to pack up quickly and set off for another day.

Like previously we hadn't had any issues and with Dan scouting ahead leading us around any dangerous areas, we were coming up to the Sanctuary in the late afternoon. We had had a few more breaks as the day went on due to exhaustion and everyone starting to struggle with the distance we had travelled. But now that we were on the home stretch, we were starting to see familiar signs and areas we recognised having passed through on the way out as well as when searching for supplies.

Our morale had increased and we could see it have an affect on the others too, feeling the happier mood and the positivity we were putting out. Speeding up and seeing Dan waiting at the tree line we burst into the clearing feeling the peace and tranquillity that came with the Sanctuary letting out a massive sign and feeling some of the tension fade away.

Turning to the group we could see their reaction as they crossed the boundary and it spread like a ripple through the group as more came out of the tree line.

"Welcome, to the Sanctuary."

Seeing their wide-eyed look and the excitement we couldn't help but be giddy with eagerness for what they had to experience. This would be a first that we could see what effect the lake as well as the enhancing food has on someone at their level. Turning to lead them to the club house I could see Nat and Andrew making their way over, and meeting them half way I could see the joy on their faces, though there was a slight bit of apprehension seeing the size of the group we had brought.

Adding an additional 40 people to our existing residents was a daunting task getting them organised and having everything prepared, but in the few days we had been gone I could see that not only had Tom and Roger nearly finished the original 2 houses they had started when we left, but could see some additional people we hadn't met before working on another 2 by themselves. From a distance I could see what looked like Tom moving between the houses, what I was suspecting was overseeing the work being done but I would have to go closer to find out for certain.

Making our way to the club rooms we filled the two of them in on the general details of what happened but also said that we would wait until tonight to fill everyone in with a more detailed account of what happened. In the meantime, we had to get these people sorted, take them for a dip in the lake to recover and get some food into their bellies, the most important though is Michael who we need to treat his infected injury.

We had it confirmed on the trip back due to one of the residents of the old compound being a registered nurse who had worked in an emergency department for about 10 years. She had expertly dressed the wound and had applied some antibacterial cream to stop it from worsening. Though she was amazed with how much it had healed, we hadn't taken the time to walk the new people through what we had available so we took this as a chance to introduce them to the new world of instant healing.

Moving outside I walked them over to the lake telling the people we needed to show them something. Mentioning to them about the properties of the Lake and what it could do, had some people looking on sceptically thinking I was going crazy and others in disbelief that something like that could happen. Whenever someone rejected what we said or verbally called us out on it, we would just smile and tell them to wait and see.

Michael knowing what to expect having been healed from a near as serious injury before stripped off his top and waded into the lake sighing in pleasure and submerging himself face down so we could see his back. Watching on as everyone's jaws dropped was the best part of the day as they could see the injuries he had sustained fade away before their eyes. Any hint of infection or blemish to the skin gone, like it had never happened in the first place. Standing up Michael moved to the edge of the lake putting his top back on.

Turning to the rest of the group he looked at them with a big smile, arms out wide and said,

"So who's next?"