Shades of Wolves

Chapter 20: Simulated Trap - (Part 1)

November 14th, 2100.

It was really hard to submit the answer sheet and get a place in the top 30. What is it about a nurse like me that attracts those WIC bastards to pass the interview round? Maybe a lot of people need my skills? That's right. More than a million frontline workers have died. No one wants to enter the medical profession anymore. The job is too hard and ungrateful.

I am a coward who ran away during the epidemic. At first, I felt like an angel who has been protecting many people. But then, infected people stormed in medical facilities like a waterfall. The doctor told me to decide who would be saved and who would be left behind. He pushed the responsibility of the executioner onto me. I went to each bed, said sorry, then gave them a cardiac arrest shot.

I was scared and quit my job when hundreds of people were in critical condition. Then I fell into depression. One day, when I opened my eyes, I found that I had given my cat an injection. He was in bed with my son, he slept soundly. His innocence was separate from the car horns howling outside.

A few days ago, I met Nabeya, that doctor's daughter. Her parents were dead. Nabeya passed me and left a "Sylla, why aren't you dead yet!"

Sylla

Wow woof…

KiKi's barking sounded, making Hoa's group alert around. They stood still. Hoa and Nabeya were both firmly holding their weapons.

Animals had deeper and more accurate senses than humans. They heard better, smelled better. Some species had a herd behavior and a highly developed brain.

“It's a deer!” Hoa relaxed her tight heart. She sat down to look at Kiki before patting his head.

"You're so sensitive, boy!"

In a city that was dilapidated and devoid of people, it was very common for wild animals to take over the ecosystem. There were herbivores, of course there would be carnivores. If they met a leopard or wolf here, it was not too surprising, either.

The deer looked both of her sideways a little. Once she felt safe, she jumped to the other side of the road. A bunch of other deer also ran after the leader and disappeared behind the dense trees.

“Hoa, there is food tonight. According to the current situation, we can hunt wild animals here.” Nabeya patted the number of bows and arrows wrapped around her waist.

Nabeya's idea was not bad. Currently, the terrain was relatively easy to go. This was an opportunity for them to stock up on food. Because no one would know what kind of terrain they had to face next.

“So, since it's not far from the station, let's set a couple of traps!" Sammul said.

“Okay. We bought three bait traps, at least there will be a harvest, somehow.”

Hoa smiled in response. Dinner with some meat would give them enough energy for the next day. The bread was kind of boring, anyway.

There was some noise in the bush nearby…

A couple of sounds were made from the large trees. Kiki barked again to warn. Their movement speed was very fast. It was a pack of monkeys. They swinged from branch to branch, then landed on the ground. Some of them were covered in blood and slowly walked towards them.

“That female monkey is in a very agitated state of mind. Be careful!"

Sammul put his hand on the gun. Although there were only three ammos, still, when needed, they had to take action. One bite from them could lead to rabies and death. The monkey looked at them with murderous intent. She howled in pain. She stuck out her teeth. The sticky liquid from her mouth was a warning that she was ready to strike at any time.

"There's a wound on the monkey's body. Her hand is bleeding!" Hoa held a knife in front of her chest. Animals when stimulated, they could become extremely dangerous.

Maybe this was those monkeys’ territory and they did not want it to be invaded by strangers. Hoa’s team moved back. But the monkey did not stop howling. The other monkeys also took the opportunity to follow. They howled with a horrible sound to the point of earache. That sound was harsher than the howling of a pack of wolves.

“Hoa, why is that monkey staring at you like that?” Nabeya asked. She saw that her eyes did not move away from Hoa. She had been focusing on the girl from the beginning until now.

“Try separating!” Sammul spoke up.

Nabeya and Sammul went aside. As expected, the gaze of the female monkey and the group remained unchanged. Her eyes fluttered open as if she wanted to tear our little girl apart.

“What is it about her that triggers them that much?” Nabeya didn't understand.

Hoa retreated even faster. The female monkey let out the last howl before a whole pack of monkeys stormed all in, threw their bodies at her and grabbing Hoa's hair. All at the same time. Dozens of animals ran in to attack the girl.

Nabeya ran forwards. She kicked the monkeys out. But they were outnumbered. These wild animals felt like they had just drunk some stimulants. They constantly grabbed their hair and scratch their bodies. Kiki rushed in to bark. He also rushed in to bite one of the monkeys’ head. But three or four other of them strangled the poor dog. These primates were used to living in the city. That was why they were intelligent enough not to be afraid of people.

“Sammul, do something!”

The female monkey beat wildly on Hoa. She could only raise her hand to cover her face. Taking advantage of the situation, the monkey bared her sharp teeth to bite her neck.

“Quick, Sammul, quick!”

Bang…

The sound of gunfire voiced out. The bullet went deep into the monkey's head, and its brain splashed out on Hoa's face. Its corpse also fell on top of her. Hoa was scared. She pushed it away and scrambled to sit up. The others seemed to wake up from some daylight dream. They frantically rushed into the dense trees to escape.

Hoa and Nabeya sat down on the ground, with quite a few scratches on their bodies, their hair drooping. Only Sammul was still intact.

"Are you ok?"

Sammul stood on a higher part of area, looking at the bloodstained face below.

“Next time if you shoot, can you tell me first?” Hoa wiped her face. This slimy fluid made her nauseous.

"For what?"

“I will at least try to raise the monkey a little bit away from my head. Did you know that a few inches off and all three of us die?” Hoa grinded her teeth.

"Aren't you and her still alive?"

Nabeya could only shake her head in tiredness. She understood why Hoa was so in her hot-tempered mood. It was true that he was extremely precise. However, a person with bright eyes might not even dare to take action in the situation that had just happened. Obviously, Hoa and the monkey had been fighting and struggling, if deflected, the bullet could have been pinned straight to her head. If Hoa lost her life, they would also be buried with her. And yet Sammul had been so calm and indifferent as to be, what could have trained him to be like that?

"Let's go. Let’s find some water to wash your wounds!"

Sammul moved his head up a bit to give them the signal of telling them to disinfect the wound as soon as possible. A small factor could kill them at any moment.

………………………

Hoa's group finally found a faucet not far away.

"Are you really blind or are you pretending to be blind?" Hoa was washing her wound while looking at Sammul sitting next to her. She was still very upset about what had just happened.

"If I hadn’t shot it, it would have bitten you already. And then you could have been dead even more horribly and difficult for anyone’s eyes to see."

That monkey was not normal. Most likely she had rabies. What Sammul said was not wrong, but Hoa still felt breathless when he took action that way. Blood and flesh from the monkey's head mixing together that splashed into her face and mouth created the terrible taste that gave her a chance to vomit several times already.

“But why did she only attack me? I didn’t hurt her ever.”

Hoa leaned back. She rubbed her face with her hands to be more awake. Until now the smell of blood was still strong.

"How do you know it's a female monkey by the way?"

Hoa now came to her thoughts again. Sammuls were blind, but he could clearly tell the monkey’s gender. She had not even had a chance to notice their genitals.

"I can smell the milk on her. Although the smell of blood on her hands was also very strong."

"But I didn't see the baby monkey." It was true that nothing had been clinging to that monkey at all.

“Maybe the little monkey just died!” Sammul replied.

“Or someone intentionally killed…”

Nabeya slowly walked over to them, eyes shining with a smile. She must have discovered something.

“Hoa, I know why it attacked only you.”

Nabeya held out her hand, a keychain in it. It was the six-pointed star symbol that Malvis had given them at check-in as a small gift. She stuck it on her backpack. Hoa turned around to check. It was still there.

"Mine is not lost. Where is that from?" Hoa asked surprised.

“In the hand of the female monkey. When disposing of the body, I saw it clutching this star."

Nabeya brought it in front of both of them. Sammul took it and sniffed it.

"Can you tell anything?"

“The strong smell of blood. Some antiseptic liquid. That's all!"

Sammul returned the badge to Nabeya. This badge was very common. Everyone was distributed. Some people would hang it as the keychain like Hoa. Some people even therew it in the trash.

“So, someone killed the baby monkey, that's why the mother monkey was so triggered. She saw that Hoa also had a keychain and thought she was the one who killed her child." Nabeya commented.

“This explains why the monkey kept staring at and attacked me”

Hoa was a bit pensive.

“Is this a trap set by some team?” Hoa was kind of in doubt.

“It is very difficult to arrange like that. Monkeys are high- intelligent animals. To be able to manipulate them in a short time is easy said than done." Nabeya ruled out this possibility.

“Do you still have the monkey carcass?” Sammul asked.

“Yes, it can be the bait for our traps.”

Although it was dehumanizing, but having a decoy would be easier to hunt animal. Many people had died in the previous round. There was no time to care about a few animal lives. Right now, their lives were the most important thing.

“Pack it up and let’s go!”

Sammul got up and departed. It's been a few hours already. They should also go to the train station. If someone had met them, there would have been a lot of bloodshed. By being a little bit late, it would be much safer.