I slept lightly that night, my 9mm and sword close by, but even though I was certain I was being watched, nothing moved closer, or attacked. In the morning I could still smell it, roughly the same distance away. I had a light breakfast, grabbed my bag, and started back on my walk.

I wanted to listen to music, but I decided I needed all of my senses as sharp as possible, considering something was stalking me, trailing me even as I moved further and further from where I’d made camp. It stayed at the exact distance it had been when I first detected it, no closer, no further. More than once I glanced in the direction of the smell, and saw nothing. I knew it wasn’t human, I’d already entered an area with a heavier concentration of rads then anywhere else I’d ever experienced, that meant nothing human could survive. The one danger Pott’s had to deal with, as deep into a deadzone as it was, was whatever mutant creatures crawled their way out of the Cut. They were dangerous, and no two were the same, at least not so far as we’d seen. It would typically take a team of undertakers to take one down, men and women in Pott’s to rest between treks through the wastes, forced to take up arms against a monster.

Unlike them, I was alone, and I still didn’t have a clear picture of what I was dealing with. I walked for several more hours, not taking a break, hoping that whatever the creature was would lose interest or find some other prey, but no, it stayed at the same distance, not coming any closer.

Eventually, I came upon what looked to be the ruins of a town. It was a bit off my path, but I diverted, heading toward it. I thought that the creature was either waiting for an opportunity, some sign of weakness or playing a game. Either way, I didn’t want to wait for it to take the initiative. When I was less than a mile from the ruins, I sensed that the creature was closer than before, it was starting to close the gap between us. I whipped around, but saw nothing once again, and as I turned back away from it, I felt it get closer again.

I broke out into a run, drawing my 9mm while I moved and making a break for the ruin. The creature kept getting closer, but no matter how hard I looked, I was completely unable to see it. I made it to the edge of the ruin, sliding between the walls of two buildings and aiming my pistol directly behind myself. I waited there, steadying my breath and using all of my senses to try and see what was following. I saw nothing, but I could smell it getting closer, and closer. I finally saw a flicker of motion, or a hint of fur for a half second, I fired three rounds in that direction. There was a kind of yelping sound, and I smelled fresh blood, then the scent of the creature faded away, though it stayed just close enough for me to still be able to detect it.

I turned toward the ruins. I didn’t think I’d scared it off for long, and it was likely far more pissed off at me than it had been at first. I made my way to the center of the town, smelling the creature beginning to close back in even as I did so. I paused, finding a long hallway-like stretch, and took my last grenade out of my bag. I unraveled a rope to make a small length of twine, looped it through the grenades pin, and set a tripwire trap for the creature. Once that was done I moved in a straight line deeper into the ruins, drawing my rifle and slinging it over my shoulder. I found one building that had been blown in half. I climbed up to its third story and peered through the scope, trying to find the creature as it once again moved to close in on me.

I still saw nothing, but I kept looking nonetheless, paying close attention to the spot in which I’d placed the grenade. I was certain it was in that area, but it very quickly moved on, approaching me in what seemed to be a straight line. I looked and waited, considering just unloading everything I had, but I'd only just started my journey, and was cautious about wasting my supplies when I wasn’t certain of what else I might encounter. I saw something then, a small red patch that almost appeared to be floating in the air.

I aimed just a bit above the patch and to the right, firing. My shot hit, and another red patch appeared at the same time a roar rang out. I felt my hair stand on end. I’d often thought of myself as a predator, top of the food chain, but this thing, whatever it was, had the edge on me. I fired again, and again, and again. Each time a new red patch would appear until I could almost make out the outline of the thing approaching me. It was easily eight feet tall, but aside from that I could make out no other details. I popped another magazine into my rifle, wishing I’d insisted on one of the thermal scopes that Leah had as one of my rewards, then started firing again. The creature reached the foot of the building, and then I felt the floor shake as it leapt up and landed near me.

I fired on it more, and suddenly, for a split second, I could see the creature in full. It was eight feet tall, incredibly lean and wiry, covered in fur the color of sand. Its mouth was full of razor sharp teeth that were bared in rage, and it had claws that were easily three inches long. As quickly as I saw it, it flickered back to invisibility, though I could still see where I’d already shot it. I went to fire on it again, and felt a hit to my chest. I heard my ribs crack as I was thrown straight off the third story. I landed on a crumbled brick wall maybe fifteen yards away. I desperately wanted to catch my breath, or run, but couldn’t bring myself to move.

I went to reach into my pack for the Cerberus, knowing I needed more firepower, when I felt it land nearby, and grab my ankle. I cursed as I was thrown once again, this time landing on my shoulder. I saw the walking wall of bloodstains move to close in, and this time I managed to be faster. I retrieved the Cerberus from my pack. I hadn’t fired it once, not wanting to waste what I knew was a limited resource, but this seemed like the right time. I pulled the trigger, and red death erupted from it. The three barrels spun as the trigger was pulled at a speed I could only compare to the propellers of the Shrike.

The creature cried out as the beams tore through it, and it flickered into sight once again before it fell to the ground, its maw landing less than a foot from me. I exhaled, grimacing a bit as I breathed and the pain of my cracked ribs came into full focus. I smelled the burnt flesh of the creature, its wounds cauterized even as they were formed by my weapon’s blasts. My mouth began to water.

I dragged myself to my feet and moved over to the beast I’d slain. Looking closer, it was familiar, particularly in the eyes and snout. It was a coyote, or it had been one. Between the ReVolutionary Virus, the rads in the Cut, and god knows what else, it had become something else entirely. I was grateful I was the one that had encountered it. We weren’t too far from Pott’s yet, and a beast like that would take more than an Undertaker patrol to take out. I kneeled over the body running my tongue along my teeth, no sense in letting it go to waste, it was already partially cooked after all.

Once I was done eating, I wiped myself up with a black bandana and moved back into the ruins. There was one thing I still wanted to figure out. I came to the spot where I’d set the tripwire. It had been cut, carefully, likely by one of the mutant Coyote’s claws. I retrieved my grenade and returned it to my pack, my teeth itching as I did. That creature was even more dangerous than I’d thought, and I already had a pretty high opinion of it. I hoped that was the only one.

Fed, and no longer being pursued, I left the ruins and started back on the path toward the Cut. Heavy radiation poured into me as I made my way deeper and deeper into the unknown.