Read All Hell for Free Online Page B

later.
    I catch up to him like a puppy running to follow its mommy. “So, no one ever bit you?” I ask, figuring I might as well learn more.
    He chuckles. “When one of us bites you, we don’t leave anything big enough left to live. We’re at the top of the food chain. It’s the natural order of things.” He smirks.
    Okay , I think. “But before… before you were someone, someone human?”
    “Some of us remember. Some of us don’t. Some of us don’t care to. All I know is before I was like this , I was like you… weak ,” he sneers.
    Conversation was going nowhere. I clam up and we walk for a while in silence. When we reach the edge of his territory I start to prepare. I check the guns making sure the barrels are clear, spinning and clicking the mechanisms to be certain they aren’t going to jam on me at an inopportune moment. Everything appears to be in working order. I lock and load all but the Colt and make sure the handhelds are easily accessible in case the need arises.
    “Things are going to start getting interesting,” Sidekick says.
    My senses go on high alert. I constantly scan my 360. About 20 yards to my left, I spot a grey rabbit bouncing around. I jam the butt of the Ruger into the pocket of my shoulder and line it up in the square of the crosshairs.
    “I wouldn’t,” warns Sidekick.
    “Why not? Am I taking your breakfast?” My finger is on the trigger, but I’m not going to shoot it. I’m not big on killing the innocent. Instead, I look for a spot a few feet to the left of him I can use as a bullseye, a place where I can test the accuracy of the weapon then watch the bunny skitter off. Then something funny about the rabbit catches my eye… a glimmer of the fading moonlight reflecting off his face. I zoom in with the scope. Not his face… his front teeth . Two mini buck fangs are protruding out of the center of its mouth. It sees me and snarls and I’m shit sure not looking at the Easter Bunny. This wasn’t Brer Rabbit. This was were-rabbit.
    It darts toward me, the complete opposite of what a normal rabbit would do. I fire a round but its movements are quick and dart-like. The bullet splashes the ground, kicking u p the dirt a few feet behind where it just was. The sucker can move. I reacquire him about ten yards from me, coming in fast. I immediately recognize the zigzag pattern of attack from my years of hunting predators, anticipate his next move, and place a bullet in his mid-section that shreds his gut. But it doesn’t even slow down. He lands, pushes off his back legs and, just like that, his teeth are a foot away from my throat. With no time for another shot, I swing the rifle like a baseball bat. I miss by a country mile. Then a furry black hand snatches it out of the air an inch in front of my face.
    “Cute little fella,” Sidekick says, watching it wildly snap its buck teeth within his fist. Then he squeezes it tight until it stops struggling and bites its head off. “Not very tasty though.” He spat it out as he said the words. “The closer we get, the more unnatural fun like this we’ll encounter. Try to stay alive. I want the pleasure of killing you for myself.”
    His eyes light up as he says it. He’s enjoying this, the crazy fuck. And he’s warning me about ‘unnatural’ things as if he’s the natural one. I scan the immediate area. A white rabbit is sitting there off to my right, this one missing half its face. One of its eyes is popped out, hanging loosely over the muscle tissue on its jaw. A large section of its yellow-hued skull is exposed showing off its back teeth, a complete row of mini fangs that would make a piranha jealous. Zombie were-rabbits . This was Alice Cooper in Wonderland, but I had no interest in following this furry fuck down his rabbit hole. Sidekick tosses the headless rabbit body he was holding at it. It takes the hint and scurries off. 
    I pick up some wolf prints ahead of me. A quick inspection shows me different lengths and