Lycan Fallout (Book 2): Fall of Man Read Free Page A

his newly defeated town all triumphant and shit, he decided to regroup. Probably hit smaller targets while also replenishing all that he had lost.”
    “Who did he think was chasing him that he has moved his prisoners so savagely?”
    “It is in the nature of a predator to not sustain injury while out on a hunt. That’s part of it. Maybe he’s a coward.”
    She gave me a sidelong glance.
    “Wishful thinking on my part?”
    We spent three days at the base of the rock outcropping. I had initially wanted to push on. That was until I came back from a successful hunt a little sooner than Bailey had anticipated. I saw her by the edge of a small pond, her boots were off and she was tenderly washing her feet. I could smell the blood from twenty-five yards away.
    “When were you going to tell me?” I asked as I came up beside her.
    “When I thought it was business of yours.” She was grabbing her footwear to hide what I’d already seen.
    “Hold on, Bailey. Leave your boots off for now. You’ll get trench foot or something if you don’t let them breathe.”
    “My feet will swell and I will not be able to put my boots back on.”
    “We’ll take a break then.”
    “And the Lycan?”
    “Don’t worry, they’ll still be assholes when we catch up to them.”
    She snorted right up until I grabbed her foot and touched one of the blisters. “That hurt!”
    “Thought it might.”
    “And yet still you touched it?” She shook her head. “Did you get anything? I am getting sick of rabbit.”
    I pointed to where I had a small whitetail deer. I’d used three of my precious bullets to get the prize. I’d completely missed with the first. The second had been a mortal wound through the lungs but not instantaneous. I shot him quickly in the head to end his misery. Every single one of those bullets was worth it when I saw the way Bailey’s eyes lit up.
    “I’ll dress it out.” I said. “Just waddle over there when you can.”
    “I’ll show you waddle.”
    Oggie was drooling long strings of spittle. His head only moved to watch as fat dropped into the fire. He would bark sometimes in response to the sizzle. I couldn’t blame him as the smell of venison had my salivary glands working overtime.
    “You say anything and I will leave you,” Bailey said as she did indeed waddle over to the fire. She was walking on the heels of her feet, doing her best to keep the ground from making contact with the blistering hot spots.
    “I could carry you.”
    “I would rather marry the village idiot.”
    “They brought those back?”
    “According to BT’s journals, they never went anywhere. The village just got bigger.”
    “True enough,” I told her as I pulled off a hunk of meat from the thigh that looked done enough to eat.
    Not sure any of us cared if it was a little on the rare side. We ate in blissful silence. The pressure of the Lycan hunt was off for at least a little while, and it showed in our mannerisms and the ease with which we sat and enjoyed the encroaching night. Not as an obstacle that hindered further progress but as a welcome respite from the many hardships of the day.
    The only way I could have packed more food in is if someone put their foot in my mouth and tamped down what was already in there deeper into some as yet unknown, unchartered, empty corner of my stomach. I rested my hands on my belly and prepared to lie down, as the stars were getting ready to make their appearance and I was in the mood to see them in.
    We did not do much those next couple of days apart from recover. Oggie made the most of it by bounding off and playing, returning only when he was hungry and thirsty. Even with his nearly insatiable desire to eat food he brought no rabbits home. He ate deer to his heart’s content. Bailey’s feet were doing wonders now that she had kept the boots off. She went from a pregnant waddle walker to more of a hot coals ginger-footed movement.
    “I am getting sick of your smiles every time I