By five o’clock, the sun lazily hovers above a ridge in the distance. Though not in a rush, they know they will need to make camp soon. Alex, in the lead, turns to signal to the others, but something seems out of place. Puzzled, he begins counting… one, two, three, four, five. Odd – there should be six of them. Peering into the distance, he looks farther down the trail, but no one is there. The others turn, and the realization dawns on them as well. Where is Adam?
Just then, a loud screech fills the air, followed by a horrendous scream, and then silence. They know where he is now. He is dead. Like another ten survivors of B Company of the 209th Army, he has fallen behind, and has been either eaten by the dangerous creatures that inhabit the area, or he was murdered by an Onagan scout party.
“Come on,” Alex commanded, his voice hoarse from severe thirst, “We have to keep moving.”
And so, Alex led the other four remaining survivors, Ted, George, Kyle, and Nathan, further up the mountain, seeking refuge in the small town located there, called Brownsboro, which was an old mining town.
“But Alex,” George argued, “what about Adam?”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
“Well what if he’s alive?” George suggested.
“He’s dead, George,” Alex replied, “And you know as well as I do that Adam would want us to leave him behind even if he were alive. Besides, I think I know what killed him.”
“Well what the fuck does that mean?” Kyle asked, hands on his knees and out of breath.
“I think we’re being followed,” Alex stated.
“Followed?” Ted repeated, “By what?”
“Not what,” Alex answered, “Who.”
The rest of the group took a moment to ponder over what he meant.
“Wait, you don’t mean by the Onagans, do you?” Nathan asked, beginning to panic.
“Exactly so,” Alex confirmed, “Now come on, we need to find somewhere to make camp before the sun goes down.”
“There’s no point!” Nathan argued, beginning to get into a frenzy, “They’re just gonna kill us!”
“Nathan, calm down!” George said, grabbing his shoulders, “Get a hold of yourself!”
“No! No! No! No!” Nathan continued as he wriggled free of George’s grasp. Nathan then began to hallucinate. “Ahhh!” he yelled, “There they are!” he said pointing behind the group towards some brush.
The rest of the group turned around only to find a lizard. When they looked back, they say Nathan teetering towards the edge of the Cliffside.
“Nathan!” Alex yelled, “Just calm down, and come back away from the cliff.”
At this point, Nathan began hallucinating that the others were actually Onagans in disguise. “No! Back away!” Nathan yelled as his feet were right on the edge. Nathan craned his neck to look at the steep drop to the chasm below them. “You’ll never take me alive, you Onagan bastards!” he yelled. Out of nowhere, Nathan spun around and dove off the cliff to his death, and he fell to the bottom with a splat.
“NATHAN!” Ted yelled, trying to reach out to stop him, but George held him back.
“Forget about it Ted!” George said, “He’s gone.”
Alex let go of Ted as soon as he stopped struggling seconds later.
“He’s gone,” Ted said with a look of disbelief on his face, “He’s actually gone. He just…gave up.” Ted was struck by the realization that his best friend just killed himself.
“Look, I know you and him were friends,” Alex said, trying to comfort him, “But we have to move on.”
“Uh, guys,” Kyle said, “Isn’t that an Onagan right there?”
The rest of the group spun around only to see the exact same brush they say before when Nathan was hallucinating. They gave him a look that said, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No, not there, there,” Kyle said pointing further down the road at an Onagan who was peeking around a corner. The Onagan, at the mention of him, then stepped out from around the corner to reveal himself. He was a Hunter. Hunters were Onagans that sought out and killed important enemies, such as SCP Users, Holders, and Generals. This one in particular had a sniper rifle strapped across his back, a shotgun in hand, and a curved sword which was sheathed. The curved sword was the standard melee weapon assigned to Hunters, with the basic appearance of an Arabian sword, but on one edge had sharp points, giving it the appearance of having teeth. When the Hunter came around the corner, he grinned devilishly and cocked his weapon, while giving them a ‘hungry’ look from his eyes.
“Run!” Alex ordered.
The group called upon their remaining strength, and set off sprinting further up the mountain, with the Hunter close on their feet.
As they continued running, the sun did the same. Eventually, it was so dark, that they could barely even see each other. If The Hunter was human, then that would’ve meant that they could relax, because then he wouldn’t be able to see either. But The Hunter had advanced technology that let him see perfectly in the night, as though it were a bright sunny day. So they kept running, simply keeping track of each other by the sound of each other’s footsteps.
After awhile, they all noticed Alex had come to a stop.
“What are we stopping for?” George panted, breathless and puzzled.
“He’s stopped,” Alex answered.
“Wha-…..Huh?” George responded still as confused and breathless as before, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I mean The Hunter stopped chasing us,” Alex explained vaguely.
“How do you know?” asked Kyle.
“Even Onagans need to take a break every once in awhile,” Alex explained, more clearly this time, “Although Onagans are superior to humans in many ways, their basic strength that can be accessed when not under stress is still less than the immense strength humans can call upon when in stressful circumstances. Like ours.”
“Look,” Ted intervened, “Either way, that doesn’t matter. As the highest ranking person here, I’m in charge, and I say we keep moving.”
“Hate to break it to you Ted,” Kyle interjected, “But you and Alex are technically the same rank. Holders might have a different ranking system, but he’s still your equal. Meaning your both the highest ranking ones here.”
“Look,” Alex said to Ted, “Just trust me on this. We can take some time to rest right now, but we will have to wake up before sunrise.”
“Why sunrise?” Ted grudgingly asked.
“Because that’s how long The Hunter will probably be sleeping,” Alex replied.
Ted looked around at the others, taking in all the information of the situation before making a decision. “Alright, fine,” Ted said, “But where exactly do you suggest we rest?”
“Right under there,” Alex said, pointing to a nearby tree.
The group was only able to vaguely see what Alex was speaking of, but it was because their eyes were still adjusting to the surrounding darkness.
“Alright,” Kyle said, “Well then, Alex, do ya mind using your powers to start us a fire or make a tent or something?”
Alex gave him an annoyed expression, while his eyes said “Shut the fuck up, moron”.
“Okay, never mind I guess,” Kyle said, “I guess we’ll just sleep on the ground.”
The group waddled over towards the base of the tree, and lay down for the night.
The next morning, the group was suddenly awoken by the cry of a dying animal, most likely being killed by The Hunter. It was just minutes after sunrise, so the group decided to continue forward. The entire time they trudged onward, they each knew in the back of their minds that The Hunter was watching from the shadows, but they didn’t say a thing about it. Instead, they did their best to ignore while still being wary of it, so that they could continue on towards the safety of Brownsboro.
As the group began to approach Brownsboro, they noticed something incredibly strange. Mainly that there was no noise. Everything was silent. There was no commotion, no talking, there was just nothing. Puzzled by this, the group continued.
Eventually, they came to the entrance of the town and were horrified. Bodies of men, women, and children littered the streets which were now stained red from blood. There were buildings which were in ruins, with giant man-sized holes in the walls. But what horrified them even more was that there was but one Onagan body. But not just any kind of Onagan, a Hunter.
“So, I see you’ve discovered my secret,” a voice said from behind them.
Everyone immediately spun around, ready to attack whoever was there. But what they saw was the Hunter with his weapons tucked away. And he grabbed his face, undid a latch, and the mask fell off. The Hunter was a human, it turned out, and he had a very pale face with red eyes.
“You see,” The Hunter continued, “The Onagan Empire is very mighty and all powerful. How could I not resist but to take up on the bounty on this things head,” he said, pointing towards the Onagans corpse, “The fucking traitor tried to help this little town, and so the Onagan Empire hired me to eradicate not just the treacherous Onagan, but also any and all humans who resided here. I would say they fought well, but they were shit at it.
“And now,” he said putting back on his mask and drawing his weapon, “It’s your turn to die.”
Suddenly the Hunter lunged at the group with his sword in hand, prepared to strike down the closest person in range, which just so happened to be Kyle. Or at least it was until Alex acted.
Alex, being the Holder of both Creation AND Imagination, imagined the feel of his katana in his hand, and within milliseconds it was there. He then quickly stepped in front of Kyle, shoving him to the ground, and parried the Hunters attack with such force that the Hunter was sent stumbling back in surprise.
“Oooohoho,” the Hunter chuckled, “Looks like we’ve got a badass over here.”
Suddenly the Hunter wasn’t standing where he was anymore, and was behind Alex somehow, as though he had teleported, and while bringing his sword down on Alex’s head, he yelled, “Too bad it won’t be for very much longer!”
But George, being the Holder of Ice, blocked the attack by placing his arm over Alex’s head and in the path of the sword. George was not hurt because he had covered his arm in ice before doing so. But the Hunter’s strike still broke through the ice, and George, astonished by this, was left wide open.
But Alex quickly limboed under George’s arm, and struck out at the Hunter with his katana. But the Hunter was too fast, and immediately blocked the attack with his sword, and then leapt backwards in the direction of Ted, did a complete 180 degrees turn in mid-air, and landed on Ted’s chest with his sword buried in it.
Kyle immediately acted by drawing his gun and trying to shoot the Hunter, but Kyle was too slow and the Hunter scuttled off into one of the nearby buildings, leaving the group to be distracted with Ted’s injury. Or so he thought.
Without even realizing it, the Hunter had stabbed Ted in the heart, killing him instantly.
As Kyle and George stood there, mortified by the loss of their comrade, Alex acted quickly.
“Come on,” Alex commanded, “We’ll deal with him later, he’s already dead.”
Kyle immediately came to his senses and took what remaining ammunition Ted still had on him, and went to follow Alex and George as they pursued the Hunter into the building.
But the Hunter had been expecting this. Before even going out on his task to kill the remaining survivors of B Company of the 209th Army, the Hunter had suspected that he would be able to herd them into Brownsboro, which is why before leaving, he had set up a multitude of traps.
As Alex ran through the threshold of the door of the building the Hunter had entered, he noticed the gleam of a wire in the doorframe, and stopped dead in his tracks.
“Stop,” he said holding his hand up to the others, “It’s a trap. He’s probably got the whole place rigged.”
“Well then for all we know, he could have the whole town covered in traps,” Kyle added.
“Right you are,” the Hunter’s voice said from behind them.
Kyle spun around just in time to look into the barrel of the Hunter’s shotgun, which was now staring him in the face, before getting his head blown off.
The Hunter then immediately ran off while laughing manically.
Alex and George, now covered in blood from their dead friend, wiped their face with their sleeves, and chased after the Hunter.
But as they ran down the road on which they last saw the Hunter on, the Hunter snuck up behind George, and raised his sword, prepared to strike.
But Alex, being clever as usual, anticipated this move and had already materialized his pistol, so when the Hunter raised his sword, Alex simply shot it out of his hand.
The Hunter panicked and tried to get out his shotgun, but George used his powers to freeze the gun to the Hunter hand, making it so that he could not use it, and Alex put the barrel of his pistol right to the Hunter’s forehead, and pulled the trigger.
As the Hunter’s brains splattered everywhere, the two felt an adrenaline rush that came from the sweet revenge for the brutal and inhumane deaths of their friends and comrades.
After the fight, Alex and George took Kyle’s and Ted’s bodies and buried them. They then searched the town for the radio station, which they found still intact. They called for an evacuation, and they got one. The town of Brownsboro has since been blocked off from the outside world because during the investigation of how everything happened there, they found dangerous chemicals in the air that had been released from one of the traps that the Hunter had made, but was set off by a rat scurrying around of the houses.
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