The Runaway

by jordanwriter

Bloody Hell

Deep in the wood covered mountains of Montana, an ex-army ranger named Aaron sat near a camp fire. He was here to mourn the death of his son, Tyler, who died of leukemia when he was just three. He was doing this because his son was the thing that kept him going, even after he was discharged and given the purple heart after receiving multiple gun shot wounds in Iraq.

This was ten years ago. Since then, he became a drunkard and divorced. His life was spiraling out of control. That was until a brief stay in jail and a sentencing to rehab got him turned around almost three years ago. Since then, he has sobered up and found other things to pass his time. He even became a Brony and was enjoying life and all of its wonders.

However, he felt like he had let his son down with his behavior the last seven years, so he started camping near there favorite spot. This was his third year coming here and just like the last year and the year before, he felt a little of his burdens of his past be whisked away. It was soothing to him, almost like he was a little kid again. He could get away from the retched world below and reflect on the good times.

'What a nice night.' Aaron thought to himself, and truly it was. The stars where shinning and the moon was bright and full. 'I just wish I didn't have to go back tomorrow.'

Aaron was so engrossed in his thoughts, that he didn't notice the lone wolf creeping up on him. It was nothing dangerous, just a curious pup who had never seen a human before. The pup sat itself down next to Aaron, landing loud enough to startle the poor man.

He jumped a little, but didn't show too much reaction. Living in these hills all of his life, he knew better than to startle junior. Because where there's one pup, there's more pups. Where there's more pups, there's many wolf mothers. And finally, where there's the mothers, there's the big Alpha. One wrong move and he could attracted the wrong type of crowd.

He slowly reached for his .40 cal semi-auto handgun that he always kept with him. He slowly undid the Velcro strap to the holster it was in. Gingerly flicked the safety off and methodically pulled the gun out and pointed it at the pup.

With a sudden loud 'bang', the pup fell lifeless to the ground. Aaron didn't take no time to examine his kill because it was a mile hike to his vehicle and he needed to get packed before any curious critters came exploring.

He had all of his things roughly packed in five minutes and was already starting to set up a gap between him and the site. He was no more than fifty feet from the site when heard the distinctive sound of a wolf packs grieving howl.

'Shit!' he thought, 'I need to hurry before they pick up on my trail.' He was now running towards his truck. After a while, the howling stopped, and so did he. He could see his ford pickup from where he was and he had no more than one hundred yard to go.

He was gleaming with joy, happy that he avoided that epidemic. His joy canceled when he felt something bit into his left calf muscle. He dropped to the ground in pain. He caught a glimpse of the creature that had him, it was a female wolf.

He ripped her off, but her clench was so tight it ripped most of the meat away from his calf also. He hollered in pain before using a tree to aid himself up to his feet. He leaned back against the tree and took a look at his attacker. The wolf bore and predatory demeanor, and looked fierce with his flesh dangling on the sides of its mouth.

Aaron stared down the wolf, trying make himself seem just as threatening as her. However, he soon found himself out matched when the other members of the pack showed up, four females and two males. Aaron knew he odds weren't good, but he was determined to fight till the very end.

He pulled out his gun and aimed it at the wolf who had his calf muscle in her mouth. Pulled the trigger and she dropped to the ground. Two other wolves took this as a signal as the charged simultaneously. Aaron dropped one but the other grabbed his left forearm.

He groaned in agony before he took the gun and unloaded three rounds into its chest, making it release its death grip on his arm. While he had a second, he started doing the math. 'Alright,' he thought, 'I got three shots left and four wolves. I can do this.'

He took in a deep breath in threw his nose and exhaled hard threw his mouth. He brought his gun up challengingly at the remaining pack members. Apparently they got wiser as all four of them charged this time.

Bang! Aaron dropped one wolf and rolled to avoid the others. He quickly reared himself up and shot another one. Bang!

He was getting close to surviving this ordeal, but he wasn't about to bet all his money on one horse yet. He only had a single shot left and two wolves. Upon further inspection, he had the two males, who he assumed to be the Alpha and maybe a son or a brother.

Aaron's vision was becoming increasingly blurry and his breathing was mostly labored. Both wolves noticed this and took there chance, each charging from a different side. Before he could react, both wolves latched onto a body part, his right shoulder and the left side of his rib cage, bringing him to one knee.

Aaron could hear and fell the bones breaking with each bite. Darkness was quickly clouding Aaron vision and he could fell his breath become even more shallower. The only thing he could fell at this point is the bites and the feel of his warm blood running down his body.

He was about to give in when memories of his son flashed in his mind. Suddenly, a rush of testosterone and adrenaline shot threw his body. He brought his gun up and fired the remaining shot into the wolf that was biting is ribs skull.

The wolf let out a small whimper before releasing his grip and falling lifeless onto the ground. Aaron then started punching the remaining wolf with his free hand. After so many blows he could hear the sound of one of the wolfs bones busting.

After some of the adrenaline wore off the fight fell to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron could see his survival knife that fell out of his pack after the attack. He quickly pushed the wolf off with all of his might, ripping all the flesh and some of his bone clean off his body.

He quickly scrambled to reach the knife but before he did, he felt the wolf latch itself on to his hindquarters. Aaron subdued the erg to scream and continued o crawl towards the knife. By his finger tips, he was able to bring the knife into his grasp.

He did a quick look behind him to see were the wolf was latched on at, and with one mighty swing, he plunged the knife deep into the wolfs jugular. The wolf released its death strike on his rear and tried to struggle away, but the knife had serrated edges so all it did was tear out his throat, killing him instantly.

Aaron took no solace in his victory, he was slowly bleeding to his death and didn't have enough time to reach hospitable. He wasn't about to give up either because he stumbled to his feet then bumbled to his truck.

He finally reached his truck and started it up and was heading down the mountain path that lead into Billings. He was only five minutes into his potentially life saving journey when he started to lose feeling in is feet.

He was now two miles away from Billings and he head no feeling in his body, no sight in his left eye, and was being chased by the cops on the highway. The vision in his right eye was already starting to go when saw the sign for the exit that lead to the hospitable.

He veered hard onto the off ramp and nearly tipped his crew cap. He focused on his destination which was about five hundred yard away. Unfortunately, his vision was so bad that he missed the entrance by three feet and made his truck stall when it hit the curb.

Aaron opened his door and fell out of the truck and started crawling towards the entrance. He could hear the muffled sounds of the police sirens closing up behind him somewhere. He was slowly fading away when he felt himself being picked up and carried towards the entrance. The last thing he saw before he blacked was the badge of the officer carrying him.

The officer, David Johnson, on the other hand was desperately trying to get this man to the emergency room. He had hated him for the past nine miles because he didn't want to do anything today and then some lunatic came flying down I90 at over 115 miles per hour.

Now the only thing he could think about is saving this man who somehow is still breathing despite obvious pieces of flesh missing. Officer Johnson burst threw the doors and called for a doctor. In less than a minute, a group of nurses and several doctor came rushing with a stretcher.

Within minutes, Aaron was in an operating room having tubes shoved into his lungs and painkillers forced down his throat while a large male doctor was busy sowing him up.

All this would be pointless as Aaron's soul had already left his physical body and he was somewhere in limbo. He didn't no this however. To him he was in a pitch black room sitting. He had a ominous glow around his body and all of his wounds were healed.

He was in total shock and awe as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. “How aren't I dead?” He asked aloud. “Where am I?” He was desperately hoping someone would answer.

He was about to ask again when a black hooded figure appeared in front of him. The figure had no physical features. It was just a black cloak and blackness where the head should be. It was floating and it to had the same ominous glow coming from his body.

Aaron was terrified, literally shaking with fright. “A-am I d-dead?” he asked.

The creatures only response was his head shaking no. Aaron gulped ad asked another question. “Then w-were is this?”

“Hell.” was its response. “But, it isn't your time to go, so you are stuck at the gates in eternal limbo.”

Aaron couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was religious man, but he never figured he would ever be stuck in limbo, especially at the gates of hell. “If this hell, then who are you?”

“I am the gate keeper. Distributer of souls and punisher of the damned. You on the other hand have unfinished business. Your time on earth is done, your earthly body destroyed beyond repair. However, I can give you a second chance at life. But be warned, this life will come with trails and tribulations that most mortals would never imagine. It will be a world you're familiar with, but you will learn things you never thought would be possible about it. Or, you can accept your untimely death and remain in limbo for the next half century.”

Aaron was at loss for words. Here he was being told that his death was to soon and he could get a second chance at life. The only thought that he had was, 'There must be a catch.' He summed up all of his courage and stood up and faced the creature and questioned. “This sounds to good to be true, whats the catch?”

The gate keeper chuckled to himself, “Silly human, there is no catch. It's cut and dry, you go to this new world and live the rest of your measly life. So, do you accept?”

Aaron pondered it, but only for second because anything was better than sitting here for fifty years. “I accept.”

The creature did a swaying motion with his arms. He started concentrating energy into a ball in front of him. Soon the ball was as big as Aaron, and it had multicolor blurs movings across it.

“Step into to the portal, and enter your new world.” Was the last thing it said before disappearing into the darkness.

Aaron took one deep breath and jumped head first into the portal. As soon as he entered, his vision went black and extreme pain shot throughout his body. All of his senses went numb.

Next thing he knew, he was free falling towards a giant tree.

Meanwhile in Twilight's tree home, Princess Celestia was having a meaningful conversation with her star pupil. She was informing her that herself and Princess Luna would be going into the jungles of Equestria to check up on some of the small Commonwealths that had been established. She was about to bid her student farewell when a large crash followed by guards yelling war cries was heard outside.

“Princess, what was that?” The lavender librarian equine asked.

“I don't know Twilight, but I think it's best if you stay here while I go investigate.” With a mighty glow from here horn, the Alicorn teleported herself to the front of the building where the commotion was coming from.

When she finished her teleportation, she was shocked and enraged by what she saw. The six guards that where guarding the entrance were lying on the ground either unconscious or in sever agony, and standing above them was a very tired looking human. Memories of a time she had erased from the minds of her subject came flooding back. The senseless killing, the trickery, the abomination it created. But the main thing was the pain of witnessing countless unicorns be slaughtered because magic didn't work on this creature.

With another glow, she summoned a small legion of Pegasus and Earth pony troops in front of her, and with a hint of hatred in her voice, Princess Celestia boomed 'CAPTURE THE HUMAN, HE IS NOW THE BIGGEST THREAT IN EQUESTRIA!'