The Evil We Bring

by bosco438

Chapter Three: This Camping Trip Sucks

Celestia and Luna hovered high in the night sky above the city of Manehatten, observing life in the city go on as normal. Even at night the city was brimming with activity with ponies going through the streets attending nightly festivities. Some were just night working ponies, while others were just looking for innocent fun, and others not so innocent.
This is where they had traced the strange energy to. What lingering traces there were had dissipated along their travel to the city causing them to lose the trail and set them back a day. Now that they had reached their destination they faintly sensed what was left of the energy. This had to be the place where it had come from. Yet, none of the city residents showed any prominent signs of panic, or discontent as they went about their night.
"What do you think sister?" Luna asked.
Celestia didn't answer immediately. There were many possibilities running through her head, but she couldn't come up with a definitive answer until she had more information. She brought a hoof to her chin in thought.
"I think that we need to investigate more Luna. If this place was indeed where this energy originated from, then perhaps some of the city folk would have witnessed something out of the ordinary." She looked over to her. "We need to speak with some pony near the epicenter of this occurrence."
Luna grinned and rubbed her for hooves together.
"Very well then Tia. Lets go meet the locals." Luna then flapped her wings to dive towards the city.
"Wait Luna!" Luna froze where she was. "We cannot go as we are now. By the time they are done bowing and throwing parades in honor of our presence we will have lost another day and a half." It always did annoy Celestia how wherever she went before she could get anything done or enjoy herself ponies had to 'Honor' her in some way. It was very time draining.
"It is no problem sister." At this Luna's horn glowed and she appeared to shrink until she was the size of a normal mare. Her mane and tail lost their ethereal quality, obeying the laws of gravity, and turned a light shade of blue. Her horn also dissipated from view. Other than her cutimark, she looked like a normal pony. Luna put on a cocky grin. "See? Now if you'll excuse me."
Celestia gave her sister disapproving look. "Luna. You better not be planning on going down there and forgetting the reason we came here."
"Of course not Tia. I plan on going down there and asking all about what has happened in the town in the past few nights. But that doesn't mean i can't have fun on the town while doing it!" With that she zipped off, a blur of blue as she began her excuse to blow off steam search.
Celestia shook her head. "Well I guess she can double task when she puts her mind to it."
Luna had headed towards the downtown area of the city, but that was not where the epicenter of the power was. As Celestia donned her own disguise she glided towards the most potent source of the remaining energy. When she landed her mane and tail had also lost their ethereal quality, and had turned a shade of bright pink. She also shrunk in size, but she was still slightly taller than the average mare. Instead of hiding her horn however, she had opted to hide her wings, so she had to land in an alley way to avoid explaining a unicorn with the power of flight.
The clops of her hooves echoed off the building walls as she exited the alley way and entered the busy street, nearly bumping into a brown earth pony stallion with a black mane. She stopped just in front of him as he fell backwards on his plot rubbing his cheek. He glared in the direction from with he had fallen.
"Oi! Watch where you're going ya idiot!"
Celestia, having now completely left the alley way, took stock of the situation. The brown earth pony had apparently bumped into another sizable earth pony, this one ash grey with a silver mane. He was also on his plot rubbing his muzzle. By his frown, the tension building in his face, and the glare coming from his eyes, Celestia could tell that he was in about the same mood as the stallion across from him, maybe worse.
"I think you need your eyes checked bub," The grey stallion growled as he pulled himself off his rump, the brown stallion doing likewise. "It's kinda hard ta miss me walking down tha streets." This was true, as he stood at least 3 inches taller than the pony before him, and was much wider. Not in the fat way, but in the muscular way. This stallion had to do some type of heavy lifting work for a living because every muscle on him was well defined and bulging. "I think I outa clock dat head of yours, help fix your eyesight!"
Celestia didn't like where this was going and decided it would be best to step in.
"Excuse me sirs?"
"Oh ya wanna go big boy?!" The brown stallion yelled, and then started hopping about the sidewalk completly ignoring Celestia. "I don't give a shit how big you are. Just a bit more of your ass i get to whoop! No offense sir" He said to a passing donkey.
"Stuff it up yer arse plot face" He responded.
The two stallions then rushed at each other. Celestia rolled her eyes. 'Stallions' Shen then enveloped them both in her magic by their tails and levitated them upside down above the sidewalk. Both stallions yelp out in shock as they lost grip with gravity. She then turned them both to face her.
"Let me try again." She then gave them both a stern scowl "Excuse me SIRS!"
Both stallions looked back at her with a mixture of shock and fright.
"Yes ma'am?" They both responded, in higher pitches than they would have liked.
"That's better," She said, giving a soft smile. "Now, I think violence is a bit excessive to resolve this little quarrel don't you think?" Both stallions nodded. "So why don't you both apologize and figure out a more productive way to resolve this?" She then lowered the two back to the sidewalk.
They both just looked away from Celestia and each other, both too ashamed to look at either. The brown stallion was the first to speak up.
"Well, shite, I guess I should have been paying more attention to where i was going. My bad"
"Well I was in a rush. I wanted to get to the new karaoke bar before happy hour ends." The grey stallion responded.
"Tell you what, I was looking to go a, uhh" He looked at Celestia "Gentlestallions club..." Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Uh, but i figure instead i could buy your first round, you know, as a real apology."
"I ain't got no problem wit dat." The grey stallion said.
"See, isn't this a better solution?"
"Sure is lady" The brown stallion said. "Thank ya"
"Actually, maybe now you could help me." She said before either stallion could take off
"What do ya need ma'am?" The grey stallion asked.
"Well I came to this city because i heard that something strange had happened here. Have either of you heard anything about that?" She asked. The grey stallion just scratched his head with a hoof, and the brown stallion looked up in thought.
"Well nothing strange really 'Happened'." Said the brown one. Celestia focused on him.
"Oh? Do tell then please."
"There were these strange creatures that had some kind of accident. Last thing i heard about them they were being treated at the hospital."
Celestia was elated inside. 'So my suspicions were correct. But what are these creatures then?'

"Did you happen to see what they looked like?" She asked them.
"I didn't see crap, but the hospital staff should be able to tell ya more."
"And where is this hospital?"
"Right behind you." He then pointed a hoof behind Celestia.
Celestia look behind her to see the white four story building that took up half the block behind her. How did i miss that?
"Well thank you for your help. Please carry on with your night." She said as she smiled politely at them and turned towards the hospital.
"Yeah, lets go drink our troubles away." The grey stallion said, as he and his new companion trekked towards the bar.
"Bet I'll drink ya under the table." The brown one said.
"You'll be puking your guts out before I'm buzzed half pint" He said as he smirked at him.
"Bring it on muscle mass!" The other responded grinning.
'Stallions' Celestia thought, shaking her head and once again rolling her eyes. With that she entered the hospital.

"-andthentheyleftwithoutpayingtheirbillandIwasveryupsetsoIwentotmyofficecurledupintoaballandcriedand-" a blue hoof was then shoved into Wild Concoction's mouth, ceasing his rapid fire word spray.
"Short answer, yes, we treated these beings you are looking for." Purple Heart answered.
"Oh, very good." Celestia said. She wasn't able to make out a word that eccentric doctor had spewed at her. She had to wipe some of the 'words' from her face though. "Is it possible that I could see these beings? They are of interest to the Princesses."
"Mhhmmm hmm hm gghhmm-" Purple Heart knocked Wild on the head. He looked at her annoyed more than hurt.
"I'll talk, you shush." She then took the hoof out of his mouth.
"Fine, I got things to do anyway." He then grumbled and stomped off to his office.
"Sorry about him."
"Is he alright?" Celestia asked.
"Well its about the creatures that you were looking for. They escaped the hospital."
This wasn't what Celestia wanted to hear.
"How did they escape? I thought they were injured?"
"They were. In fact two of them were servery injured, and the one almost didn't make it."
"Then how were they able to move? If they were in that state they should have required some time to recover."
"Normally you would be correct ma'am, but my associate you just had the pleasure of meeting..." They both looked over at the open office door where Wild Concoction had dissipated into. There was the sound of scuffling and objects falling to the floor. Another pony came up to the door.
"Doctor Wild? I have some forms i need for you to sign fo-"
"Get out! Can't you see I'm busy?!"
At this the pony at the door gasped and ducked as a beaker filled with green liquid flew out the door and shattered against the hallway wall. As the liquid made contact, the wall started to sizzle and it turned from white to brown.
The pony at the door looked at the wall in shock, then back through the door in annoyance.
"I want a new boss!" He raise his voice to show just how enthused he was about the flying science experiment.
"And I want a new intern. O.W.T, OUT!" At this the intern screamed a bit more high pitched than a stallion should and bolted from the doorway and down the hall as a sledge hammer flew through the door way, embedding himself on wall next to the brown stain.
Celestia just stared at the doorway for a moment. Such strange behavior coming from this 'Professional'
"Yes, he's a very...odd pony."
"Well he also happens to be a genius when it comes to medical elixirs and herbs. Its the only reason the hospital gave him his job." She sighed and added, "and the only reason I put up with being his assistant." Under her breath. She then refocused her attention on Celestia. "He had recently created what he called a 'Miracle' elixir that could heal all wounds and cure any ailment. Seeing as our magic wasn't working on these creatures, he decided to test it out on the one in the ICU." She looked at the floor as she remembered the screams the creature gave when it had ingested the elixir. She shuddered at the memory. "His reaction to it was terrible. For a moment I thought that he would die from the treatment rather than his wounds...until he stopped bleeding and his wounds closed."
Celestia was shocked. This kind of elixir would save so many lives all across Equestria, if not all of Equis.
"That is incredible! We will have to discuss getting a sample of it so it may be mass produced."
"Well about that..." Purple Heart was scratching the back of her head with a hoof with a nervous grin.
"...he used all of it didn't he?" Celestia asked.
Purple Heart's mind went to when Wild dropped the bottle onto the floor.
"Yes."
"Well can he make more?"
"He doesn't believe in writing things down, so he doesn't remember how he made it."
'Professional indeed.' Celestia though.
"That is disheartening to hear." With the solution to many medical problems lost Celestia refocused on the reason she was here. "So how did these creatures escape?"
"Wild went to to go check on them after i had handed them their medical bill as he had added the cost of his elixir to it. When he got to their ward, he found that they had tied together bed sheets and used them as a makeshift rope to rappel out the window to the street."
"How long ago was this?"
"This was about 4 or 5 hours ago."
Another bout of objects being tossed and indecipherable noises came from Wild Concoction's office.
"He hasn't calmed down since."
"How much was their hospital bill?" Celestia asked with growing concern for the sanity of the offices occupant.
"I actually have the bill with me here." Heart said and levitated a clipboard with said medical bill on it. Celestia grasped it in her own magic and looked for the amount that these creatures fleeing the hospital. When she found it her eyes grew to the sized of cannon balls.
"That is a lot of zeros, wait..." Celestia stared at the details of the costs. Everything looked fine, from the personal costs, rooms costs, medicinal costs, until she got to the bottom where an additional cost was added called 'Doctor Wilds Tax'. This item by itself made up about 90% of the total cost. 'Not subtle is he?' "I'm not sure if this last cost is legal. It will have to be omitted. Also, I shall pay for this on behalf of the Princess." At this Celestia conjured the necessary amount to pay for the bill in front of her. "The Princess has an interest in these creatures and would like for and legal matters not to get in the way of their meeting with them."
"Well its good we haven't told the guard of them skipping out on the bill yet." Purple heart said as she took the bits.
"What did these creatures look like? I forgot to ask earlier."
"Well, they were all bipedal, they didn't have so much fur except for short manes on their heads and one with more on his face than others. They all had weird things on their forhooves, like monkey fingers, but not as long or spaced out. And they all wore clothes, weird clothes. Designs I've never seen in this town at least."
As Purple Heart explained the creatures appearance, Celestia got more and more concerned. She had heard similar descriptions of a creature before, when the pony tribes had finally united. 'It can't be. We haven't seen a hint of them since I destroyed the portal myself. There is no way they could have returned.' Noticing how Purple Heart was just staring at her, with her description finished, Celestia shook herself from her thoughts.
"Thank you, you have been very helpful. I'll see myse-"
Heavy hoof stomps could be heard coming from Wild Concoction's office. They both turned to see the orange pony with a huge set of saddle bags on his back coming out of the doorway towards them. Once he reached them he looked at Purple Heart and thrust a piece of paper at her muzzle.
"...uhhhh, and what is this Wild?"
"It's my vacation request." He said shaking it in front of her face.
"Why does it only say 'Wilds going on vacation?'" Celestia asked. She then scrutinized the paper further, squinting at it. "And is that a picture of a plot?"
Wild just scowled at Celestia before returning his attention to Purple Heart.
"Just give it to the boss. I know he wants me gone anyway, and now I'll be gone for a while." He then threw the paper up in the air and started stomping away.
"You're not going to hunt down those creatures are you?" Purple Heart asked as she caught the paper.
Wild stopped where he was and looked back to address his assistant.
"Of course not? What would give you that idea? I'm just going on vacation. I need a break from all you crazy ponys."
As he finished a bear trap fell from his saddlebag and clanged onto the hospital floor. The trio just stared at it for a long moment. They then slowly started to raise their gazes until they were staring at each other again. After another moment of this Wild yelled out "YOU CAN'T STOP ME. AAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" and started sprinting down the hallway faster than a pony burdened with all that weight should have any right to.
"Oh no you don't you idiot!" Purple Heart yelled and darted after him.
'I think its time for me to find Luna now' Celestia then charged up energy in her horn for a teleport as she sought out Luna's presence in the city.

The door to the bar swung open as two ponys with black tee shirts on with the word 'Security' on them dragged a squirming royal blue Pegasus mare out onto the sidewalk.
"I swear I'm FAR older than 18! I simply forgot my identification at home." Luna desperately tried to explain as she struggled against the grip of her escorts.
"The laws the law kid. No I.D. no entry." With that they dropped the disguised princess on her hooves outside the establishment and returned inside, leaving Luna fuming on the sidewalk.
"Fine, we didn't want to partake in the merriment of of amateur singing anyway!" Luna then started making her way to then next establishment she sought. One that didn't serve hard cider. She had grown rather tired of being thrown out of the past seven establishments.
Before she could reach her next destination she heard a popping noise and a flash of yellow light from behind her.
"Having fun Lu?"
Luna turned back around to see that Celestia had teleported to her. She groaned internally as this meant she had found the information she had been looking for. 'So much for my nightly merriment'
"Not quite Tia. No one seems to trust my word on how old I am. I have been escorted out of nearly all the establishments I've visited." She then scrunched her face in frustration. "I'm trying hard not to use the royal voice on them."
Celestia just smirked at her disgruntled little sister.
"Aw, you're adorable when you get frustrated."
Luna now turned a glare at Celestia.
"...what have you found Tia?" Luna deadpanned.
"Well what we are searching for was indeed here. There are apparently four beings that have been transported here by that energy that we had sensed. Two of them were injured badly, but the hospital was able to treat them. However when they were given the bill for there treatment they escaped the hospital. I took the liberty of paying their bill for them, but we still need to find them. We don't know if they pose a danger to any pony yet. Have you found out anything Luna?"
"Well other than that every pony is a real plot head when it comes to identification, about forty minutes ago I discovered that the beings that we are looking for fled the city by train headed for Hoofington not three hours ago."
Celestia just stared at her sister before responding.
"Luna, why didn't ya try to come tell me this as soon as you found out?"
"Because I was having fun meeting the locals Tia" Luna grinned.
Celestia just shook her head.
"We're going after that train. If we're lucky we can catch it before it reaches its destination." With that she dropped her disguise, and she took off into the night sky once more.
Luna sighed before doing the same and following suit.
"I guess it wasn't so fun in this city anyway."
They sped through the sky as a white and blue blur, leaving the city scape behind them.

"Bro."
"Yes Evan?"
"I think these guys are pissed."
"You don't say," Bosco said as he stared at the spears being brandished at them. "I have NO idea what gave you that idea."
"Well I think that the ticket guy saying we were going to hijack the train may have something to do with it." Jayson replied.
"Yeah and he may not have screamed that if you hadn't told him 'I'm going to shove that ticket stamp where the sun don't shine if you don't get out of my way'." Daniel put in.
"I was just frustrated that there was no people...ponys to steal tickets from on this damn train!" Bosco yelled back. All this went on as the train continued to roll and clack down the tracks towards wherever its goal resided. The trees and hills seemed to fly by the windows though barley visible in the night sky.
Bosco returned his full focus to the white haired blue maned pony guards clad in golden plate armor and pointing spears at him and his brothers. They made it apparent that if they stayed on the train, things would be difficult for them. Difficultly that came in the form a chain and prison time when this ride ended. 'Uh, lets dodge this bullshit.
"To the caboose! Run!" At his command, the quartet darted for the opposite end of the train. the pony guards giving chase.
They made it through two carriages before they were cut off by three more guards, two with spears and one with a crossbow wielded by a unicorn.
"Stop right there criminal scum!"
"Fucking tits!" Bosco finally decided to draw his own weapon pointing his rifle at the unicorn guard.. He really didn't want to hurt these pony's. They were in enough trouble as it is with their escape from the hospital. But he wasn't going to just let them take them in. As he went through his options in his head the guards back them into the side of the train.
It was when Bosco's back hit a door instead of a wall that he had found the best option in his mind.
"Evan, whats outside?"
"Uhh, a river...Oh no!" He said.
"Yes."
"Hell no!" From Jayson.
"Yes!"
"FUCK NO!" Daniel.
Bosco now turned around and threw open the door and grabbed Daniel by the shirt.
"YES!" And Daniel flew screaming out the door. As Bosco turned around again one of the guards already was coming at him. He thrust his spear at Bosco aiming for his lower abdomen. Bosco parried the thrust with his rifle bringing around the butt stock and striking the guard across the muzzle, staggering him back. Bosco looked back at his two remaining brothers. "If you two aren't out that door when i turn around again I'm tossing YOU out too!" At this Jayson grabbed Evan and drug him out the escape exit.
When Bosco turned around again, he was almost taken by surprise and had to hop to one side to avoid being speared through the leg. He instead caught a cut along the outside of his thigh. He stumbled slightly before back handing the guard across the back of his head. As he fell to the floor Bosco ran for the door and leaped outside.
Everything slowed down as he took in his brief experience of flight. As Tom Petty started playing in his head, it felt liberating, as if the world no longer had control over him. He was free of the limitations it brought. Everything came back full speed as he looked down a noticed how fast the water below him was approaching.
"ShitshitSHITSH-" He hit the water and went below the surface, his body chilled as the cold water soaked through his utilities and started sapping the heat from his body. Kicking his feet and arms, he attempted to regain buoyancy, and get above the surface so he could regain his breath. He didn't panic. Panicking in the water got you killed. It made you waste energy and use up what oxygen you're body had left more quickly. Instead he used easy strokes and brought himself steadily to the surface.
When his face finally did break over the surface of the water he took a big gasped of air and started panting. It would be easier now, since his gear was naturally buoyant. All he had to do was swim to the back and meat up with his brothers. He wasn't too worried about them, they were all strong enough swimmers that they wouldn't drown in short distances, and the river was calm enough that it wouldn't take too much energy to reach the other side. With his rifle slung to his arm, Bosco took the rucksack off his back and started pushing it towards the bank.
'This is just fucking great. So much for playing nice with the locals. Now instead we get to play survivor in whatever forest this is. This field trip SUCKS mom.'
When he finally reached the the back Bosco pulled himself out of the water and onto the muddy land practically dragging his pack behind him. When he was far enough away from the water he fell onto his back onto the ground, mud splashing onto him and sticking to his cammies and the back of his head. He just lay there panting, catching his breath. Swimming always got him winded quickly.
It was while he was laying there that Daniel found him and stared down at him. He did not looked amused.
"Did...you...find...the others?" Bosco asked.
Evan and Jayson both appeared on his other side. They also did not look amused.
"...What?"
Daniel kicked Bosco in the ribs, eliciting a grunt of pain from him. Bosco then got to his feet.
"Ow, hey, the fuck man?"
"You threw me out of a fucking moving TRAIN!" Daniel extrapolated. "We could have died you goddamn maniac!"
"Ya, well we're not. I couldn't think of another way of avoiding capture." Bosco looked at the other offended brothers. "Come on! What other choice did we have?"
"I dunno, we could have just gone to prison and taken the punishment?" Jayson supplied.
"If prisons here are like prisons on earth then I think we would meet some people who would want things from us Jayson, and I don't think our butt holes could take that abuse." Bosco retorted.
"Wha..just...what?" Jayson stammered.
"You know exactly what I am talking about." Bosco turned towards the trees of the forest. "Come on. Lets find somewhere to lay low in case they send somebody looking for us." Putting his rucksack back on his shoulders, Bosco, Jayson, Evan, and Daniel made there way into the darkness of the tree cover.

They had made their way into the forest a decent way before they had decided nobody was following them. Feeling secure in this they made camp for the rest of the night. They didn't have any rocks, so to keep it contained they used Bosco's E-tool to build a small pit for a fire. They collected some wood tinder from some fallen tree and they used on of the water heaters from Bosco's MRE(Meal Ready to Eat)'s to ignite a campfire to dry themselves. Since Bosco was the only one who still had his supplies with him there wasn't enough blankets for them all...that is to say one. Bosco decided to have Evan and Jayson share it. They argued but Bosco said he would just find something else to use. Once Jayson and Evan were dry, they quickly fell asleep in the sleeping back they were forced to share, drained from the days events.
Bosco was busy setting all his clothes, gear and equipment by the fire to get them dry by morning. He had already dressed and bandaged the cut on his thigh. Daniel however was doing the dance of someone who was feeling the call of nature.
"I need to go." He whispered.
"Go find a tree." Bosco retorted as he continued tending to his gear.
"Its a number two."
Without looking, Bosco picked up the E-tool and tossed it over to Daniel, who caught it and just stared at his brother.
"Go dig a hole then." He said blandly.
Daniel started walking off to find a spot before he thought of another detail.
"What will i wipe wi-" A pack of baby wipes hit him in the face and fell to his feet.
Bosco was continuing to tend to his gear, pretending he hadn't just hit his brother in the face with the package.
"Baby wipes?" Daniel said. He felt heat rising to his cheeks as he started to get angry at having the plastic package thrown at his nose.
"The pinnacle of field cleanliness. Used for washing yourself from your face to your balls. Great shitpaper when no shitpapers around. Be sure to bury what you use with the rest of the shit." Bosco just continued to set about drying his equipment.
Daniel shook his head, cooled down, and set about finding a good place to do his business. It was pitch black outside of the firelight so he didn't got more than 20 yards before doing as his brother instructed. When finished he returned to the campfire where is brother was now taking stock of his MRE's.
"I have five MRE's. That's enough to last us us seven days IF we ration them well. I'd rather not depend on them though. We have no idea where we are so it may be a while before we run into anyone who can help us." Daniel came up sat next to his brother.
"We can find food in this forest. We won't have to depend on those."
"Don't really want to. Do you know what an all MRE diet does to a colon? Yeesh. Gunna be shitting bricks for weeks." This brought a laugh from Daniel.
"Know this from experience I take it?"
"All to well." Bosco packed the MRE's back in his rucksack.
They were both quiet for a time, just listening to the fire as it crackled and popped on. Daniel broke the silence again.
"I never figured this would be how my life ends."
Bosco frowned and looked back at him.
"Over? How is your life over? You're still breathing and...well living."
"No not like that." Daniel sighed and gathered the words he was looking for to explain. "You never really had the lives me and them had," He said gesturing to the sleeping pair. "you just went from job to job, expecting each to be your last." Bosco nodded in agreement. "We have been trying to build something with our lives, you know, like a family and career."
"Yeah, turned out real good with you and your wife huh?" Bosco snorted.
"Me and her may not have worked out, but I had a life put together. I was happy for the most part...I want to go home."
Bosco figured he would get this from Daniel eventually. Of all of them, he had the most to lose from their situation. Evan and Jayson would be ecstatic about their current dimensional residence, though maybe not the situation. Bosco...well Bosco didn't know how he felt about it yet. He was alive though, and as long as he was alive he only cared about his brothers safety.
"I'm going to try to get us all home. If we can get here, we can go back. We don't belong here anyway." Bosco started checking on his gear again, seeing what had dried off and what hadn't.
"Heh, what you just going to call back to Earth or something, call for a pickup?" Daniel joked.
"Ha ha, yeah that would be rich." Bosco laughed as he pulled out his cell phone and pantomimed making a call, "Hey inter dimensional AAA? Yeah, we crashed in Equestria, and our transporter is the center of a 3 mile wide nuclear crater. Can you send a truck to pick us up?" Both of them laughed at the absurdity of it. "Ha, yeah as if our phones would even work around here." He tucked the phone back into his pocket.
Bosco found that some of his clothes had finally dried and he tossed them over to Daniel. Daniel caught them and gave him a confused expression.
"Use those as blankets and get some sleep. We need to head out as soon as the sun rises so we have the most light to find civilization or better shelter." Bosco then tended to the rest of his gear.
"What about you? You need sleep to."
"If I go to sleep as well who will keep watch? You don't know whats out there Daniel," Bosco looked out into the darkness. "but there are things just waiting for us to be vulnerable. Besides, I need all this gear dry so it doesn't weigh me down more than it already does when we take off." He looked back over to his older brother. "Just go to sleep, don't worry about it."
"It doesn't feel right having my little brother watch over me." Daniel said as he laid down, covering himself in the freshly dried clothes as a makeshift blanket.
"Then maybe you should have stayed in the military."
"You know why I didn't stay." Daniel grumbled, sleep overtaking him.
"Yeah...I do. G'night Dan."
Daniel was already asleep, so no response came. Bosco looked back out in to the inky abyss scanning for anything.
He heard a distant rustling of leaves and tried to focus in on where the noise came from. What he found was two yellow glowing catlike eyes staring back at him. They looked predatory, and hungry. Bosco reached for his rifle, and stood up, never taking his eyes off of them. They continued to stare at one another for a minute and a half. Finally, more rustling was heard and the eyes dissipated.
Bosco knew of some of the creatures that existed in the forests of this world, but not all of them. He hoped whatever it was that at he at least knew what it was. Another part of him, hoped he didn't.
'Either way, I think we'll get more acquainted tomorrow.'

Bosco had awoken his brothers at first light as he said he would. It didn't take very long to break down their simple encampment and get ready to move out. They shared one of the MRE main meals as a small breakfast. It would sustain them for a short while as they continued through the forest. Seeing as they were still completely lost, they come to an agreement that they should pick a direction and keep walking until they found someone-or something that could help them. Barring that, they would continue until sundown and find shelter for another night in the outdoors.
They kept up their march at a steady pace, feet crunching on leaves and twigs that littered the forest floor, Bosco's heavier boots making dull thuds against the ground. He was in front of the group taking point, rifle held at a 45 degree angle in front of him ready to engage any threats that may present themselves. Evan and Jayson were in the middle, talking quitely to themselves as they tried explaining things they saw to Daniel who brought up the rear. Daniel had taken Bosco's pistol so he could help if there was anything that tried to attack them.
They had come across a few patches of Poison Joke and had to make wide births to avoid them. Jayson took the liberty of explaining to Daniel that poison joke had something in its leaves that made anyone who touched it have something, though not necessarily harmful, happen to them that could be debilitating but, as the name implied, funny. They also came across a small round bug that was a bright red. Daniel, not knowing better, almost let the bug take refuge in his hair. Evan came up and smacked the creature away, and then proceeded to explain that it was a Parasprite. An insect that self replicated when in direct contact with another animal. It would also try to eat any food that you had with you.
They continued for another long stretch, listening to the forest as the creatures within, save for the bugs and a few birds, stay well away from the bipedal intruders. The only hints of their assistance they had was the chirps coming from above them, and the occasional shuffle of bushes. They also came across a pile of manure that Bosco almost stepped in. Evan and Jayson both having more experience in the Boy Scouts than the older brothers, pointed out that it was in fact Bear shit.
"Lovely," Bosco said. "good to know, even a dimension away from home, I still have a decent chance of getting mauled by a bear."
"Well on the flip side," Evan said "If you kill one, it could feed us for a while, and make us some new blankets."
"Lets not get ahead of ourselves," Jayson decided to put in. "I don't think 5.56 rounds could pierce its hide and damage it. Better off stabbing it with a knife."
"Lets just opt for avoiding bears for now." Bosco said, and they continued walking. "You know, we do need to hunt some animals if we are going to eat. These MRE's would sustain me for about a ten days by myself, but there's four of us." Bosco looked ahead again, seeing only the trees, bushes, and grass of the forest dimly lit by the little sunlight that could pierce through the canopy of leaves.
"Well i don't know much about hunting or tracking, but i could set some traps for small game." Jayson said.
"What would you need and how long would that take?"
"Just some sticks and rope could make a very simple trap. I could do it in about ten minutes."
"Alright, I have Five-Fifty cord if you think you can use that."
"That'll do fine."
"I'm getting sick of walking." Evan complained. This was something Bosco didn't want to start hearing already was complaints.
"Well get over it Evan. We need to keep moving for now. We haven't been moving that long."
"What are you talking about? We must have walked ten miles by now!"
"And we still haven't found any civilization yet. We may not for another 50 miles. Please don't start complaining already."
"Can we at least stop for a water break."
"...fine" Bosco begrudgingly stopped in front of the truck of a tree, slinging his rifle and reaching into one of the pouches of his pack and extracting a canteen. He tossed it over to Evan. "Ten minute break, then we move again. We at least need to find better shelter before sundown."
Evan unscrewed the cap of the canteen and walked over to the trunk of the tree and slumped down against it. Once seated he took a swig and sighed in satisfaction.
"Ahhh that's good." He took another swig and passed it over to Jayson. "Man I would love if there was a cab service we could call."
"How would we call them Evan?" Jayson asked snidely, finishing his own swig of the canteen.
"Don't worry Evan, I got you. I'll call a cab and have them pick you up." Bosco took the phone out of his pocket pressing the power button and pretending to make a call. "Hello, dimensional cab? I'd like you to pick up my lazy compatriot. I'd give you an address but we're lost as shit and we have not satellites on this planet for GPS."
"Yeah that jokes old already." Daniel said, taking the canteen from Jayson and taking a swig himself.
"Well lets here you tell a funny one man." Bosco said. Daniel was just looking down at Bosco's hands.
"Your phones working."
"....Ahha haha HAHAHAAHA" Bosco just took of in a fit of laughter, clutching his side. He kept it up for a good while. "I don't know why I thought that was so funny." He said wiping a tear from his eye.
"I wasn't joking." Daniel replied. Bosco was finally able to look at Daniels face. He found no trace of jest in his eyes. Finally he looked at the device in his hand.
True to Daniels word, the device was powered on. The device was displaying a full charge, curious as his phone was dead when he checked it last night. Even more curious was the lighting bolt symbol covering the battery showing that the device was charging.
"No fucking way!" Bosco yelled out. "This thing was dead before we entered the Iran facility." Bosco then looked at the other three. "Check your phones."
They did as instructed, pulling their phones from their pockets and powering them on. They all powered on, and all displayed that they were charging.
"So our phones turn on, how does this help us?" Daniel asked.
It shouldn't work, but Bosco wanted to try anyway to be sure. He dialed Daniels number into his phone and hit the call button. To his surprise his call went through and Daniels phone started vibrating in his hand. They all stared at the device as if it were a rattlesnake shaking maracas. Daniel finally hit the accept call button.
"...you know this is bullshit right?" He said. Bosco heard his voice coming in loud and clear through his own phone.
"It's bullshit we can use." Bosco said ending the call. Now we have a form of distance communication in case we lose each other."
"But how does that even work?" Evan asked. "How can our phones just be infinitely charged?"
"Evan...I have no idea. You know what else? I don't care. They work, so we can use them." Bosco went back to his phone again looking into his files. "And that's not even the best part."
"Whats the best part?" Evan asked. Jayson was looking out at something in the treeline that had caught his attention.
"I can play my music!" Bosco said. The grin on his face would make someone nervous if he met him on the streets.
"Uh, Christopher." Jayson tried getting his brothers attention, but his focus was on finding a song.
"I think i got something that's appropriate." He said, browsing through his music library.
"Christopher!" Jayson said a bit louder.
"Whats up Jay?" Bosco said, his attention still on the song he was looking for.
"We have company?"
This brought Bosco's attention up from his device, and he traced his brothers eyes to where their attention lay. In the bushes about fifty yards away, there was a pair of yellow cat like eyes looking back at them. 'No...' The bushes rustled as the eyes owner came forward. The ground shook as a clawed paw came forward. 'Noooo...' Another paw came out and them the head of their stalker came out. 'Awe come on man' A head of a lion came out. It stared at the quartet before it with hunger in its eyes and continued to stalk towards its pray. Its paws making the ground rumble slightly as it moved forward.
"Is that a fucking LION!" Daniel yelled.
"Uh, not quite." Jayson replied as he was shaking from fear.
The rest of the creature become visible as it slowly come forward. On its back was a pair of gargoyle wings, and instead of a lions tail there was the tail of a scorpion that swayed back and forth. As the creature continued coming forth, Bosco un-slung his rifle and pointed it at the threat.
"Its a Manticore" Jayson finished.
"A Manticore?" Daniel.
"A Manticore."
"A Manticore!" Bosco. "We should run."
"Indeed." Jayson.
"Yes running is good" Evan.
"Yes, time to lea-" Bosco was interrupted as the Manitcore roared and put on a burst of speed, closing the distance to them, bringing up a clawed paw and swiping for him. Bosco was barley able to dodge the swipe by falling to his left and rolling to his feet. He had dropped his phone in the process and it landed face down, starting to play the song he had selected. The others had also avoided the blow, with Jayson and Evan behind the tree and Daniel directly behind the beast.
"Climb the tree!" Bosco yelled out as the snarling Manticore made to pounce on him. The younger brothers made to do as he commanded and he leveled his rifle to get a shot off. Before he could the Manticore swiped the rifle out of his grasp, and it landed far out of his reach in some bushes to his right. Bosco was then brought to the ground as the Manticore pounced on top of him, pressing weight on top of him with its front paws on his chest. Bosco grunted as the wind was forced out of his lungs and the Manticore made to bite his head off.
A bang went off and the Manticore threw its head back and yowled in pain. It turned its attention behind it where Daniel stood with the 1911 aimed in at the Manticore. Before he could get another shot off the Manticore whipped its stinger-ed tail around catching Daniel in the side and sending him flying into low hanging branch. He fell to the ground in a heap, clutching his stomach where the tail hit him.
Bosco used this distraction to take out his K Bar. Using it, he stabbed one of the Manticores paws and it yowled again retracting the paw. Bosco repeated the process with the other paw, and he was able to get to his feet and get some distance from the enraged creature as it recovered. Bosco was able to see that Jayson, and Evan were able to get into some higher branches of the tree and out of harms way. 'Good, less to worry about the better. OH SHIT'
The Manticore made to charge and pounce him again. Bosco tucked and rolled to his right and the Manticore skidded past. Bosco saw an opening to hit the beast in the side. Readying his knife he ran at it. Too late he saw a gargoyle wing coming from his left. He was unable to dodge in time and he took a blow in the head. He lost focus as he fell on his side. He was dazed for a half a second.
"Christopher look out!" Evan yelled from his safe haven.
This brought Bosco back into focus in time to see a black stinger coming down at his face. He rolled to the side, as dirt and grass kicked up were his head was a millisecond before. But the stinger assault didn't let up, striking where Bosco was and Bosco barely avoiding the blows. Eventually Bosco rolled right into the Manticores paws. 'Oh shit' Bosco was taken in the grasp of the paws by his arms. Having finally caught his prey, it held Bosco up in the air like a trophy. It then put on a evil grin and licked Bosco on the cheek, appetizing itself for its meal.
"You gunna eat me or are you gunna FUCK ME!" Bosco brought a knee into the Manticores jaw knocking its head back. It was clear that all that did was piss it off however as when it looked at him again, he could practically taste the rage coming from the beast. Slowly Bosco was lowered towards its mouth so it could take a bite it had worked so hard for.
Daniel had recovered by this point, and he saw the position that his brother was in. He sighted in with the pistol and took another shot from where he stood aiming for the Manticores head. Missed his mark, but not by much as he managed to hit and knock out one of the Manticores big teeth. As the creature cried out in pain, Bosco was released from its grip and landed on his back, once again knocking the wind from him.
The Maniticore looked over at Daniel, still brandishing a pistol at it.
"Shoot it Daniel, shoot it!" Jayson screamed from the tree.
Daniel complied firing another shot at the increasingly angry creature. The Manticore brought its tail forward to block its face and the round ricocheted off of the hard exoskeleton. It then slowly moved forward at Daniel as he continued to futilely tried to shoot through the Manticores armor. It made its way directly in front of Daniel just has he ran out of ammunition, a click from the hammer of the pistol telling him just how fucked he was. The Manticore removed its tail from its face and showed the wicked grin it wore to him. Daniel audibly gulped. It grasped the pistol from his hands with its claws and tossed the firearm aside. It then brought a claw up to finish him.
Bosco then jumped onto its back and stabbed it repeatedly wherever he could manage. Once more its pained yowls could be heard as it tried to shake the overly persistent prey off of it's back.
"Run!" Bosco yelled as he held on desperately to the Manticores mane to keep from falling off. Before Daniel could comply, the tail whipped around hitting him in the head. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.
Bosco didn't stay on the Manticore long as it stood on its hind legs and slammed its back into the safety tree, shaking it and causing Jayson and Evan to temporarily lose balance. Bosco was once again dazed, with the wind knocked out of him and his vision blurring. He dropped his knife onto the ground, leaving him without his last offensive option.. He was slumped against the tree in a sitting position struggling to regain his breach as the Manticore turned its attention back to Bosco. It readied its stinger to deal the finishing blow, done toying with its meal.
"Yaaaaaaaa!" Jayson cried as he lept from safely and grabbed onto the stingered tail as it was lowered. With the added weight on its tail the Manticore couldn't readjust in time to change its path. Instead of the stinger embedding itself in Bosco as intended, it embedded itself in the back of the Manticores skull. There was a crunching sound as the skull bone was shattered and its own poison worked its way into the creatures brain. Jayson fell off the beasts tail and onto the ground as it went cross eyed.
Jayson and Bosco both watched as the Manticore pitifully attempted to bring a paw up to dislodge the appendage. Before it did its eyes rolled into the back of its head and blood started to dribble down from the wound. It then started convulsing as the end of the song played.
'We're gunna bring you, DOWN. HUGH!' At the last part the Manticore vomited and chunks of animal carcass, bile and even a full kitten that the beast had swallowed whole came out. It then fell on its side shaking the whole forest floor and lay still.
Bosco, finally regaining his senses, picked up his knife, got up and walked over to their foe, avoiding the vomit pool.
"Is it dead?" Jayson asked as he to got up from his landing spot and followed Bosco.
The creature showed a lot of the symptoms of being dead. Its chest didn't rise or fall, its eyes were glassy and glossed over, and it having a hole in its head with a giant stinger pumping poison into its brain lead to it being a good assumption. But Bosco liked being especially sure of knowing something he wanted dead was dead. He walked over to the Manticores head, and with his knife he started repeated stabbing the dead foe. He started by with the face and eyes, turning it into a red gory mush that you couldn't tell had eyes. After that, just to be especially sure, he removed the stinger from head wound and stuck his knife hand inside. He felt the still warm insides of the brain cavity as he wiggled his hand around inside cutting whatever brain matter was left. Blood and chunks of brain oozed out of the hole in the creatures head and Bosco retracted his arm. Brain and blood clung to his utilities.
"Yeah...I think its dead." Bosco breathed. He now felt really drained as the adrenaline started leaving his system. He also started to feel the bruising from all the hits he had taken from the battle, and he brought his free hand to his head. "Ahhhh. Fuck."
"You guys got your asses handed to you." Jayson said.
"Yeah, what the heck! You can handle assaulting an Iranian installation, but not this overgrown cat?" Evan said as he swung down from a tree branch.
"Easy to talk shit when you were up there sitting all safe and shit." Bosco said, irked by his brothers smugness. "Its not like you had to battle a mythological being that even Greek heroes would be hard pressed to defeat."
"Uhg," Daniel was stirring after his whack to the head. "Well I'm not dead...am I? Oh god don't let me be dead, I got stuff I need to get done first." He then sat up and saw his brothers gathered around the hulking Manticore corpse. He then gave a relieved gasp. "Oh thank god."
"You sucked too Daniel." Evan teased, as Daniel stood up, groaning from his own beating he had taken.
"Well next time we take on some mythical creature I'll hang back and let you handle it better, and then you can take the bruised ribs and wounded pride. Uhg shit!" As he hobbled over. "Well if we can kill it then we can pretty much take on anything else in this forest right?"
"This thing was toying with us Daniel." Bosco said walking over to where his rifle lay, putting it back to its place slung at his shoulder. "We got lucky that it didn't decide to just stab us with its stinger when it had a chance." Bosco walked back over to the tree picking up his phone from where he dropped it. "Lets keep moving. I don't wanna stick around that vomit any longer than i need to."
"What about getting some meat off this big guy? You said we don't have enough rations to waste." Evan put in a Bosco walked away and Daniel went and retrieved the pistol.
"Its probably all contaminated with the stinger venom Evan." Jayson informed Evan. "We don't wanna risk it. But i will take this." Jayson then picked of the piece of tooth that Daniel had shot out. "Can make something out of this."
The younger pair followed the older pair as they continued their linear trek through the forest. When the were out of hearing range, the kitten in the vomit coughed and stirred. It got up on its haunches and looked around in confusion.
"Mew?"
It then heard the footsteps of the brothers leaving the area, and it saw them as they left the area. The kitten's ears perked up. It didn't know what those things were, but it decided to follow the creatures.
"Mew."
It then left the puke puddle, making chase after its unknowing saviors.

"You lost them?" The once again disguised Celestia asked the guard in front of her. They had traveled the entire night to catch they train the creatures had used to escape the city but failed to catch it before it reached the next station in Hoofington. Now Celestia and Luna were questioning the few pony staff and guards as to what they were that was on the train and what happened to them. They got no answer to what they were other than they looked like big, clothed monkeys.
"Yes ma'am. After they attempted to hijack the train, me and the other guards cornered them in one of the rear carriages. One of them leveled a weird misshaped metal stick at us, and they jumped out of the carriage door into the river. If you ask me, they may have been attempting to steal the package that my detail was ordered to protect."
Celestia rubbed a temple with her hoof. This was not what she was hoping to hear at all. She didn't know what was worse, that these newcomers had attempted a train hijacking, or that they now had lost them and the trail was cold. She still wanted these creatures found and brought in. It was clear they didn't want to hurt her ponies as this misshapen stick had to be some type of weapon, but it did not try to harm the guards in their escape. But they also did not play by the rules, and were doing their best to avoid authority.
"Thank you Sergeant, you may leave."
"Ma'am." The Sergeant brought a hoof to his brow in salute, and then carried on with his duties protecting whatever package the train carried.
Celestia's brow furrowed. She was troubled that should could not catch these creatures, but they apparently didn't pose a threat to her kingdom or her ponies. As she continued her thoughts Luna popped up from underneath the train carriages.
"I have completed my sweep of the train sister. Whatever we seek is most definitely not on this train." She then brought up a small blue sphere in her hoof. "I did find this peculiar gem in the good Sergeants office though. Do you think he will miss it Tia?" She looked up at he sister smiling.
"I can no longer continue the chase of these beings Luna." Celestia said gloomily, bringing the smile from Luna's face as well.
"Oh...very well, I shall prepare a letter to to put out a warrant for the creatures who fit the description of these creatures to be brought in for questioning on sight."
"I want you to continue searching for them." Celestia continues.
"I know Tia, you'll want me with you at Canterlot to...what?" Luna's confusion was evident as she just stared at Celestia jaw slightly agape.
"I believe I know what these creatures are Luna, and that makes me want to find them more than ever. However we both cannot be away from court for much longer. Poor Twilight is probably beside herself right now under all the pressure she is no doubt under." She looked her sister in the eye. "I am trusting you to find these creatures and bring them in."
Luna squeed in excitement and hoped up onto the train platform, bouncing up and down on her hooves like a filly who just got her cutie mark.
"HAZZAH! I GET TO GO ON AN ADVENTURE." She pumped both hooves in the air. "WHOOOOO-" and noticed the serious glare Celestia was giving her. "-OOooo..."
"You should not take this lightly Luna." She began walking along the platform, and Luna followed. "I have a suspicion that I know what these creatures are. If I am right, then they are far more dangerous than anything you and I have ever faced together." She paused at the edge of the platform. and Luna stood next to her. "That's why I am sending you. The guard cannot be trusted to bring them in."
Luna had not seen her sister this serious since Discords escape from his entrapment, only even more so.
"They really could pose such a threat sister?" Celestia just looked over to her little sister, her expression only deepening.
"I shall tell the ponies of the court that you are on another diplomatic mission until you return. You cannot fail in this Luna." Celestia dropped her disguise, once again taking her royal form. "Find them, and should they pose a danger to you...flee." She then flapped her wings bringing a gust and flying dust to the train platform. Once airborne took off in the direction of Canaterlot.
Luna just stood at the platform watching her sister as made the capitol, wondering what these beings she suspected could possible be to have her so...scared.

They had spent another three ours on their hike, and the forest seemed to be only getting thicker and more ominous. They saw more wildlife around them such as squirrels, rabbits and other small mammals. They looked at the brothers as they continued their trek, observing them for a few scant moments and then carrying on. It was as if they didn't register the humans as big a threat as other things that they could come across. This troubled Bosco a great deal, as the had already brought down a Manticore.
As they continued getting deeper into the forest foliage, more dangerous forest inhabitants made their presence know. In the distance the howls of wolves signaled that a pack of the canines had begun their hunts. As the daylight that did pierce through the leaves above started to fade away, the brothers decided it was almost time to make camp again. This time they were able to find a small cave, about six feet high and four feet across, and a small hill running over it. They set about making camp, this time able to collect the stone necessary to make a fire pit inside the cave. As the younger two prepared that and set up their shared bedding, Bosco took the E-tool and hacked away low hanging tree limbs for fuel, and Daniel collected leaves, dried grass and other easily flammable material for tinder.
Evan was standing outside the cave mouth observing his eldest two brothers gathering fire fuel. As he did, he failed to notice a three foot long snake slither up from behind him. It was agitated, as it had just had its home invaded by this tall creatures. It was going to ask them to leave the only way it knew how. As it reared back to strike Evan moved out of the cave mouth and over to Bosco, leaving the snake to strike the rocky ground. It wobbled around disorientated for a moment before shaking its head and glaring at the evasive intruder and made chase after him.
Evan reached Bosco who now had a sizable collection of tree limbs in his arms.
"Christopher, I want to apologize." Evan said, catching his brothers attention. The snake had caught up to Evan and once again prepared to strike.
"Apologize for what?" Bosco replied walking past him towards the fire pit.
"It's all my fault." Evan said, as he followed Bosco. As he did the snake struck again, once again missing it's mark and embedding its teeth into a tree trunk. As it attempted to wriggle free Evan extrapolated on what was bothering him. "I feel as though this entire situation is my fault."
"Why do you think that?" Bosco asked, dropping his cargo next to the rock circle and walking over to his pack.
"Well if I hadn't been so impulsive, we wouldn't have ended up in this situation in the first place." Evan explained. "I jumped into the Humvee to try and get a more in depth story, maybe secure a raise at work. I didn't know what real combat was like, but I figured I could just hitch a ride with some soldiers and be be OK."
"You're an idiot then." Bosco said, still digging through his pack. "I don't even want to know how you figured that."
"And now with this situation we're in now...If I had just followed your plan, and snuck onto the train we could have just gotten off in that next town, found some help and be on our way back home."
Bosco snorted and stood up and looked at Evan. "Well you're right."
Evan grunted, "You're not making this very easy."
"Well I'm sorry Evan but you are right. This is your fault. If you could have just not been an idiot and listened to me then maybe we wouldn't be in the situation we are in. This IS your fault." Evan began to cringe back as an increasingly annoyed snake dislodged itself from the tree trunk and began slithering over to its unwanted house guests. "But you know what? If I didn't chase you into that facility, you would be dead, and we would have never stumbled into Jayson, and HE would be dead." Evan looked back at his brother again. "So I don't hate you for what you did there, cause YOU inadvertently saved him. As for your stunt with the train...I figure we were gunna get caught anyway. Not like its hard to spot four tall bipeds in a world of short quadrupeds."
Evan couldn't believe his brother was so accepting of his mistakes, mistakes that had nearly killed them several times.
"You know, anybody else would hate me. It's not exactly normal for people to put other people in near death situations." Behind Evan the snake had almost reached him once again. It slithered slowly up to its unaware target.
"I'm your brother Evan," Bosco said placing a hand on his shoulder. The snake was once again behind Evan. "It's not my job to hate you." His gripped tightened around Evans shoulder, making him grunt in discomfort. Bosco then tossed Evan to the side and brought a boot up above the reptile.
As Bosco lowered his boot, the snake's eyes eyes grew a size too large for its sockets, and a liquid darkened the stone floor around it's middle length. The boot came down on it's head, splashing blood against the stone ground and against Bosco's opposite boot. The tail twitch rapidly and erratically until it became completely still several seconds later.
"Its my job to protect you though," Bosco said looking at Evan who was now propped up on his elbows, his heart pounding in his chest as he only now saw the late threat to his safety.
"It that a snake?" Evan asked rather shakily.
"No," Bosco said, grinning. "It's food."

After the incident with the snake, Bosco gave the snake carcass to Daniel saying only to 'Skin it like one of your french snakes' and handing him his K Bar. He then gave Evan one of his lighters that worked and told him to set up the fire. Jayson was then given the five-fifty cord he was promised and him and Bosco went out to set traps. Bosco was unwilling to expend ammunition and the small game that had thus far presented itself, saying that they weren't worth the amount of meat that would be left afterwards.
As Jayson had promised before, setting a trap didn't take long. After finding a sturdy enough stick he was able to set up a simple trap meant to ensnare a small animal. To make things easier they were able to locate a rabbit hole to set it up by. With any luck when the checked the trap in the morning they would have something to cook for breakfast. They didn't stop with just the one trap though, setting up several more not far off from the camp sight.
After their work was done they returned to the camp sight seeing Daniel cooking the now skinned snake on a stick as Daniel rotated it slowly over the fire, and him at the same time keeping Evan entertained with his 'Cooking' accent. Jayson and Evan joined them sitting down by the campfire, enjoying some pleasant time as Daniel cooked their meal for the night. They joked and laughed, just trying to keep each others spirits up, despite their situation.Eventually the snake was cooked and Daniel served it out with as much flare as snake on a stick could be. The rest of them just rolled their eyes at him, laughing at his antics and chowed down.
The sunlight had all but disappeared giving way to night and the brothers remained huddled around the fire, their only source of light in the pitch black forest. They shared conversation for a long while. Eventually Bosco got up and walked to the cave mouth.
"Alright guys, same as last night. We leave first thing in the morning. Get some sleep." As Bosco took up his guard position, Evan made for his bedding and Daniel made for his makeshift bedding, more than ready to get some sleep. Jayson however spoke up.
"Let me take watch tonight Christopher." He walked over to the cave mouth and continued. "You already have been awake for a whole day, and took a beating from a Manticore. You need some rest."
It was true, Bosco was having a hard time keeping his eyes open as his lids felt like they were ten pounds. Still he had been awake for longer and still operated, this situation was no different.
"Don't worry about it, I can handle it again for one more night."
"And I can handle watch for one night. Come on, if you stay awake for another night you won't be able to walk straight." Bosco could have argued, but Jayson was right. And it was only one night.
"Fine." he said, un-slinging his rifle and handing it to Jayson, who tentatively took it. "But if anything happens you wake me." Bosco took off his helmet and walked over to the fire. Daniel and Evan were already asleep in their respective spots.
Bosco laid down his helmet and set his head on top of it and shut his eyes. Jayson noticed this and was perplexed.
"Isn't that uncomfortable?" He asked.
No response came as Bosco was already fast asleep. Jayson shook his head and looked out into the darkness, guessing if you were tired enough you could sleep on anything.
'Kay, I got this. Nothing bad is going to happen on my watch.' The distant howls of wolves on the prowl echoed through the night. Jayson gulped and shook slightly. 'Please not on my watch.'

It had started raining during the night, making even more difficult to see outside of the cave mouth. Despite the heavy foliage over head, the rain still came down in heavy droplets that didn't splash against the ground so much as they smacked into it. It was fortunate that they had found this cave, or they would all have been soaked to the bone. Instead they remained dry as the terrain in front of they was at the mercy of the wetness from the sky.
Jayson checked the phone again for about the tenth time since his watch had started. The time displayed said 2:32 AM. He had no idea how accurate it was but he decided to just go with it for now. His brothers were still sound asleep in their respective positions in the cave. Watching them sleep made Jayson drowse, so he maintained his sight on the few trees and bushes he could see. The only light he had came from the slowly dwindling fire behind him. He shivered from the cold of the night, as the fire wasn't large enough to heat him from his position at the cave mouth. He didn't move closer to it though, as that would mean losing a large amount of his viewing field, leaving a larger area for anything to sneak up from the sides.
He sighed and held his phone limply in his left hand, and his brother's rifle in the right. It had been very uneventful, and he was getting bored with waiting around. 'How the heck does Christopher stand this kind of crap. This is LITERALLY the most boring thing I've ever done. I've pulled all nighters all the time, but this is just boring.' He was drawn from his thoughts when he heard a splash from a puddle outside of his vision range. '...but then again, boring isn't all that bad.' Some bushes rushed in front of him, followed by a rhythmic sound of something stepping over fallen leaves. 'In fact, boring is great! Let this be a really boring night for the rest of the night' He thought as he started shaking from more than the nights air's chill.
He heard a growl coming from the direction of the rustling, and into the faint light Jayson saw a wolf stalking towards him. Jayson froze as he watched it come towards him. It was the biggest wolf he had ever seen, easily coming up to his chest on all fours. It was massive to say the least.
"Christopher!" Jayson urgently whispered. Bosco stirred, opening an eyelid partway until he to laid his sight on the danger coming their way. At that he became instantly awake and kicked Daniel and Evan out of their slumber, The former giving a startled snort as he was abruptly taken from dream state. When Daniel saw the threat as well, he drew the 1911 and Bosco drew his knife and they joined Jayson in a Defensive line at the cave mouth.
As the wolf came closer into the light however they noticed that it moved in a pained manner, with it favoring one of its front paws and one of its rear legs raised, refusing to let it touch the ground. Blood was trickling from a wound near the top of its head, as well as on its flank. Its breathing was shallow and it panted rapidly. Its eyes showed no sign of hunger or malice, but of desperation. As it came into the light more they saw it had something black and fuzzy in its mouth.
It limped up the the brothers until it was only a few yards away. It growled at them, but they didn't feel as if it was meant to sound threatening. Placed the black fuzzy bundle onto the ground before them, which they still couldn't quit make out from the low light. The massive wolf then fell to its side, whining softly as it hit the ground.
Perplexed by the unnatural behavior of this carnivore, the brothers just stared at this beast as it lay in the rain.
"Jayson, keep aimed in on that thing and keep behind me." Bosco said, keeping his grip on the K Bar tight. Jayson nodded and when Bosco moved up he followed his brother. As they came out of the cave, they felt the full brunt of the rain outside, their clothes soaking up the water and chilling them instantly. As they came closer to the wolf it didn't react to them. Bosco knelt next to it and touched it with his unoccupied hand. Its body was stone cold. He brought the hand up to its neck to feel for a pulse. He found none.
"The fuck...This big fuckers dead." Jayson sighed in relief at Bosco's declaration. Bosco was even more confused. What would this giant beast come to them for its last act for. He then looked at the black bundle that it had dropped before them. Before he moved over to it, Jayson spoke up.
"Well...phew. I didn't want to have to fight this thing. Christ! I nearly pissed myself."
Daniel walked up to them, now getting himself covered in rain. "Clearly something else did. And whatever that was won." He knelt down next to the defeated wolf, observing the wound more closely. In addition to the wounds they had already spotted, it had massive gashes on its sides and puncture wounds on it's neck. "What the hell did this thing fight?"
"Guys." Evan was standing by the fire pointing at the tree line. The rest of them followed his finger and saw a set of glowing yellow eyes. Unlike the Manitcore's this set was small and beady, and much lower to the ground. Whatever this thin was, it was smaller. As the newcomer approached, all four brothers made a defensive line again, Evan wielding a piece of flaming wood.
Into the light came a creature in shape of a wolf, but instead of fur covering it there was brown tree bark. In fact, the whole thing was made of wood. From its pointed ears and teeth, to its undoubtedly sharp claws that followed its paws through the mud on its trek towards them. Despite it being made of wood, it's mouth curled back, revealing its fangs as it snarled at its opposing force. the brothers gagged as the air suddenly took on a horrible smell.
It wasn't nearly as large as the wolf that now lay dead next to them, and was not as intimidating, even though its breath did make them want to throw up snake.
Daniel coughed and said "It's just one...whatever. We can kill this thing."
"That's a Timber wolf." Jayson informed somberly.
"OK...and?"
"They hunt in packs." Bosco informed him.
As realization dawned on Daniel, the Timber wolf tossed its head back, letting out a howl that echoed into the night. A few moments passed where they all just stared at one another. Then, pairs of yellow eyes started appearing in the dark. Snarls and growls accompanied them as they owners slowly paced their way into the light. They could count at least ten of the wolves before them, forming a semi circle around their prey cutting off escape from the cave.
As they drew closer, continuing to snarl and growl, Bosco brought up his tactical plan.
"Jayson, you have a rifle. I don't know why you aren't shooting yet!"
Jayson agreed with Bosco's tactical guidance and sighted in the rifle, firing at the one in the center of the pack. When the bullet impacted the Timber wolf fell to pieces, becoming a pile of sticks on the ground. This prompted a full charge from the rest of the wolves as they charges their prey. Jayson continued firing at the wooden canines, however they now were moving faster than before, and he couldn't line up shots to score hits. Mud flew up from where his bullets impacted the ground next to his targets as they dashed forward.
Daniel started firing his weapon as well, the bangs of his pistol fire joining those of the rifle. He managed to score a hit, and another wolf fell into a pile of twigs.
Just before the rest of the wolves reached them, Bosco charged forward thrusting his knife forward at the wolf in front of his as he did so. It impacted and embedded itself into the Timber wolf's skull. Rather than fall apart, it stayed together and fell over as its yellow eyes dimmed and the knife remained in its head, sap oozing from the wound. Bosco tried to retrieve the blade, but it was stuck in the wolf's wooden skull.
Bosco failed to recover in time and two of the timber wolves made him pay for it as one slashed at his chest. With his flak on it did not damage to him, however the other wolf jumped onto his back and bit him in the shoulder. Bosco growled in pain as the wooded teeth sunk into his flesh and fresh blood started to trickle down his back. He reached behind himself and grabbed his second opponent and attempted to dislodge it from his shoulder. He succeeded, but caused the wooden teeth to shred his shoulder more, worsening his wound. Bosco then threw the wolf at its companion that had tried to slash his ribs open. They collided and fell into piles of sticks like the first two.
Daniel and Jayson were able to down two more wolves each before they reached them. When the others did make it, they were unable to dodge the attack in time and Jayson took a bite at the calf.
"Gahh!" He fell on his back has the wolf pulled and shredded his leg further, blood soaking his now ruined jeans. When he was on his back Jayson let off another desperate shot at his attacker. He manage to score a head shot and its head splintered around the bullet wound. It let go of its grip and fell to the side, eyes dimming.
Daniel fared a bit better as when his attacker reached him he threw a leg at it, kicking it in the head. The wolf flipped onto its back. While it lay stunned Daniel got down and tried punching it in the rib cage. Too late he realized his mistake.
"Owwwww! Fucking wooden wood fucker!" He yelled as his now bleeding knuckles paid the price for attacking wood. Daniel then opted to body slam the wooden canine, surprising even him when it worked and the Timber wolf fell apart.
Evan was just waving his flaming log at his aggressors. They didn't get close to him, as they stayed away from the flame as best the could. The two Timber wolves would try to bite at him and he would swing making them back off before completing their attack. Eventually the one wolf that stayed back barked at it's companions, and they fell back to its side.
The brothers now looked at the piles of sticks and two bodies that surrounded them, then the last three of they're enemies that remained.
Daniel let out a chuckle, "How in the hell did these things manage to take that giant wolf down? These things are push overs."
"Well, uh, about that" Jayson prepared to explain. Before he did, the fallen twigs of the wolves that had fallen apart came back to life, flying back to the other two wolves and the pack leader. The twigs sticks and other bits of wood all attached themselves together with the other three wolves. And then, those three wolves joining together as well. The end product was a Timber wolf that was tall enough to reach the leaf canopy above them, claws longer their forearms, and teeth to match.
Daniel's eyes almost popped from his head at this sight that he couldn't quite believe. Then he snapped pointing his finger at their newly transformed opponent. "That's bullshit!" He yelled at it stepping forward a few steps. "You can't just do that combination crap. That's cheating!"
The giant wolf tilted its head at the frustrated combatant, then casually flicked its paw at him, sending Daniel flying back into the cave. "Hohhot SHIT!" He then hit the back of the cave wall and landed on the bedding he was using, unconscious.
Jayson started firing at the giant opponent, but the rounds merely impacted the wood of the beasts form, showing no effect. The wolf then barked at him, the gale from the bark knocking him on his back. The wolf followed up by bringing its head down to take a taste of the lanky man. Bosco leaped onto the creatures muzzle and punched it in the eye.
As it yelped in pain, it shook its head about, throwing Bosco to the ground. He landed in the mud face first. He coughed the mud out of his mouth and wiped it from his eyes and attempted to roll onto his back. As he did so a giant Timber wolf paw trapped him on the ground underneath it. Its twin did the same for Jayson. The giant Timber wolf growled at both of its prey, ready to take the meal it had came for.
Then they smelled something burning, and saw smoke coming from beneath the wooden canine. They also saw light...and Evan standing beneath the Timber wolf with his burning log, setting the stomach of the creature alight. The wolf didn't realize until it was too late and its entire front was on fire. It removed it's paws from it's entrapped food and attempted to swat itself out and Evan ran out from underneath it. In its frantic swipes Evan was slashed by a claw. His arm got a nasty gash and started bleeding as he fell into the mud.
Unable to quell the flames the wolf whined and ran into the forest. Jayson and Bosco watched the ball of orange light disappear into the depths of the forest. When it was completely gone they both ran over to Evan who was now sitting up in clutching his gashed arm.
"Ahhh! Ah hahahaaaaaaa! Dammit!" Jayson got next to Evan and assessed the damage to his brothers arm and Bosco knelt next to him.
"Hey hey! Relax, we got you." Bosco said trying to calm him down. "You're going to be fine." Jayson had taken out his phone and was using its flashlight app to look at the gash.
"It's not as bad as it looks." He said. "The claw didn't slice all the way through. We just need to get the splinters out, dress it and clean it and he should be fine."
Bosco sighed in relief. "See that, you're going to be fine. Come on stand up, lets get over to the cave."
"That thing almost had your heads for dinner." Evan said as he walked back to the cave with his brothers.
"Yeah. Good job by the way. I didn't even see you get under that thing."
"Well you punched it in the eye, so it didn't see me either."
"Ya, I did...my hand hurts...and my shoulder." He looked at the punctures in his shoulder that continued to stain yet another set of cammies with his blood.
"Ohhh my head." Daniel said as he stirred in the cave. "Did we win?"
"Yes." The younger trio responded.
"Is everything we fight going to knock me unconscious?" He asked sarcastically.
Jayson sat Evan down by the camp fire and Bosco handed him his first aid kit from his pack. As Jayson took a set of tweasers out and started removing slivers, Bosco heard a tinny whine coming from just outside the cave.
"Jayson, give me the rifle back." Jayson paused and looked at his brother, then back outside. "Now!" Jayson complied and Bosco assumed his ready stance, pressing the butt stock into his bleeding shoulder. It hurt to do so, but he stuck it out. He slowly walked to the cave mouth and stopped, listening for the noise again.
He heard the whine again coming from next to the dead wolf. When he focused on it he saw the source. The black lump of fur was a wolf pup. It licked at its mothers face attempting to wake her from what it thought was its slumber. It kept whining and licking, desperate to know that its mother was still there for it. Finally it let out a tiny howl into the night.