Ironfur

"Thomas, you alright brother?" Hunter said as he looked back from the driver seat.

"I have been better and have been worse. Actually, that was a lie, I have been better, not worse." He replied.

Hunter stuttered, didn't know what to say to that, so he just kept silent, looking back at Tom through the side mirror, tears running down his face.

'We have been working with the syndicate, done some despicable things yes, but we are still human after all, this was a sign.' Hunter said to himself.

The road from there and on was a difficult one, they knew Birmingham was a ruined city, filled with all sorts of monstrosities, yet they needed to pave a way through it in order to reach Manchester in time, or so they hope. Through Oxford, it would be seventeen extra miles but they know well how dangerous the Northampton route is, because of all the savages and night raiders.

"All this time we served The Syndicate as brothers, and we did all sorts of things then. You cannot expect me to make an exception, Thomas." Said Kross out of nowhere.

"You are right, I don't, but I thought maybe, just maybe, you still had some humanity in you to see the pain I was in, and decide to help me anyways regardless of how short we were on supplies, because we served as brothers, Kross." responded Tom.

"Brotherhood has no place when survival is at stake." A cold statement Kross made.

"So you would rather feed us all to the wolves than to try to save our lives, huh?" Tom snapped.

Kross opened his mouth, but didn't say anything and just stared straight at the road.

It wasn't a place that anyone would like to be in for Hunter. He respected Kross but Tom had become his brother at that point. They undertook countless missions together for Kross as he managed them from afar, kind of like their father.

Hunter couldn't take sides, as he understood why both were upset and how their points were valid.

"We lost our people long before the outbreak, me and George did. We were all that each other had. He saw an opportunity in The Syndicate, as did I, after he explained everything to me. He said the only trouble was that we couldn't be in it together as they would kill us both. After calling some favours we managed to change his last name to McGregor. We got into The Syndicate as a last resort to gain money and have some sort of home to live in. Then everything went to shit and things changed, I couldn't see him as often as I could before. This was the first time I saw him in over two years, and to think that he'd die in my hands is something I never thought of." Tom said as a few tears escaped his eyes.

"I'm sure he knows you did your best, and I'm sorry you went through all of this without us knowing and being able to help you in any sort of way, Thomas." Hunter showed his sadness.

"It wasn't a small secret I could share. With all due respect and love to you especially, Hunter, I just never knew who I could trust with this, and he made me promise him that I would never share this with anyone unless I was certain there will be no consequences."

"It is understandable man, you don't need to justify anything to me, I'm just happy that I can say I'm always here for you regardless of what it is you want to do or say to me." Hunter reassured Tom.

"It is really appreci..."

There was loud roar that came from behind them.

Tom looked back to see an Ironfur, the recently mutated wolves evolved so their fur was sharp and strong as if it was an armour for them. Their claws sharper than a butcher's knife, teeth as if they were sharpened by a weaponsmith and the eyes were glaring at them and into their souls. To put the cherry on top, it was the size of a bear too.

"Hunter... HIT THE GAS." Shouted Tom and Kross.

Hunter hit the pedestal, and they sped into the city, as the Ironfur started running towards them and rapidly catching up.

"What can we do doc?" Hunter asked Kross.

"Pray, Hunter, we have to pray it doesn't eat us whole." Kross said in panic.

"Hold the buggy stable Hunter, just a few seconds." Tom takes out a rocket launcher from a bag near the buggy's back seat.

"Roadblock ahead Tom, you have a few seconds." Hunter shouts back.

"And... That... Is... All... I... Need..." Tom said as he took aim. "Wave goodbye." He said right before launching one towards the Ironfur.

The explosion was massive and the Ironfur fell flat on the ground as bits of it flew about the area. Tom sighed of relief. Some of the surrounding buildings were damaged as well.

"Is it taken care of?" Kross said as he looked back.

"Bit the dust." Tom said without turning.

"That was something." Hunter said before laughing in relief.

After creating some distance between the fallen beast and themselves, Tom saw something moving in the place where he hit it. He swiftly grabbed a pair of binoculars and kept his eyes on the Ironfur. Something was seen to be moving, a lot of shuffling sounds were heard through the dust and smoke by Tom.

"Guys, I think it's time for round two." Tom said.

The Ironfur leapt through the area and charged at them faster than it had been before, its eyes glowing red with a huge hole on it's chest from the rocket.

"We may have pissed it off." Hunter said as he sped through the streets.

"We sure did, what do we do now?" Tom asked.

"Stop the vehicle." Kross demanded.

"Are you crazy?" Hunter snapped.

"Do as I say or get eaten alive." Kross suggested.

"Not much of a dilemma, we are dead either way." Hunter responded.

"Just stop dammit." Kross Snapped.

Hunter brought the buggy to a halt quickly.

"Let's die." Hunter said sarcastically.

"We'll live." Kross said as he got out of the buggy.

Kross stood in the middle of the street, between the buildings, facing the creature, and he just stayed there.

The Ironfur reached Kross within seconds but it stopped directly in front of him.

"What is he doing?" Tom asked Hunter.

"Not really sure mate, but it seems like he will either save us or be the first prey." Hunter responded.

Kross seemed calm through all of this, he took small steps towards the foul creature and he extended his right hand out as if he was going to try to calm it down. He got something out of his back pocket, a vial of some sorts, it was about the size of his palm and it was light blue, and he kept it hidden behind him.

The creature leaned down to get closer to Kross, it was growling and had its mouth slightly opened as some saliva dribbled down its body.

As it got closer and closer to Kross, he became more on edge, and as soon as it got close enough, he threw the vial straight into the Ironfur's mouth.

The creature went crazy and starting howling in such a loud and high pitched sound that Tom, Hunter and Kross felt like their ears would pop off.

After a lot of howling the beast finally fell to the ground as a soulless body, void of any movement or signs of life, still.

"What was in that vial?" Hunter asked.

"Be thankful we had it, otherwise we were dead meat." Kross responded.

"I no longer trust you, but let's get some rest before we get Manchester." Tom said as he glared into Kross' eyes.