SURROUNDED

I had slouched on James' sofa after the meal. My heart was burdened with the fear of losing my family. At this point, I couldn't fathom what our next move was. The only thing I could do was watch my uncle, who was in the dining area, sharpening his dagger with a file. Only God knows where he got the file from. James was dead asleep on his couch.

"Uncle, when are we going to find Emma and my dad?" I asked.

"Emily, I honestly do not have any idea," my uncle answered. "I'm just as worried as you are. Never, in my days of hunting, have I ever thought things would come to this."

"The wolves have been howling for hours now."

"Probably praising themselves for forcing us into hiding."

We both heard a weird sound outside. It sounded like the noise of falling wood. My uncle stopped filing his dagger and gave me a sinister look.

"Something is outside," my uncle whispered.

James bounced from his couch and silently walked towards the window. He opened it slightly to have a sneak peek of what was going on outside. Not noticing anything, he turned to my uncle and nodded, stating that things were clear. Upon returning to his seat, the weird sound continued. This time, even louder and coming from multiple places.

"That's not just one thing; that's a syndicate of things," my uncle said.

My heart was palpitating at an increased rate. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I picked up my pistol and cocked it. I checked if my dagger was intact, and it was.

A moment of serenity hit the room and the entire forest. My uncle approached the window to check what was going on.

A hand slammed the window and yelled, "Help me!"

This sudden sound caused my uncle to fall on his buttocks and made the window open. James cocked his gun and aimed it at the window.

I could hear a vicious animal biting the person outside and the person crying, "Help me." I rushed outside to check whether it was my dad. My exit from the house was visited by a pack of six werewolves, one vehemently attacking someone who seemed like a hunter. When the werewolf had finished chopping off the head of the hunter, it jumped on the window.

"Bang," James's shotgun resounded across the window, rendering the werewolf lifeless.

I stood afraid. My aim was unstable as I was faced with five werewolves. My uncle rushed out of the house and shot one in the forehead. James killed another the moment he stepped out of the house. A werewolf was running towards my direction when I gave it a bullet in the forehead.

Our chances had improved; it was three against two now. The two vicious werewolves dodged the numerous shots fired by James and ran into the woods.

"We need to leave!" James rushed into the house. "Now!"

I looked at the repulsive sight - the dead body of an innocent man - and was overwhelmed with disgust. He had numerous claw marks on his black shirt, and his headless body was also filled with bite marks. His head, dislodged from his body, was bleeding profusely. He didn't look like a werewolf hunter, just some random guy.

My uncle and I joined James inside.

"Where are we going to?" I asked.

"Anywhere, but here," James answered, hurriedly moving from his bedroom to the living room, filling his long bag with firearms and bullets. "What are you both waiting for? Don't you need ammo?"

My uncle and I joined him, took two backpacks from his bedroom, and filled them with food and ammo. For a retired kickboxer, he had a lot of firearms and gadgets.

I hung a Desert Eagle around my shoulders and an H&K MP5 on my belt. My uncle took an AR-15 and a Colt 1911. James had with him a Remington 870 and an AK-47 hung around his shoulders. To help us navigate better, we took night goggles.

Together, we jumped into the dark woods, frantically racing through the thick forest. Our race was brought to an abrupt end when the snarling of werewolves became louder. We cocked our guns and placed our backs side by side, carefully scanning our surroundings.

I could sense the fear in James's breath. He was breathing like someone who had just finished a race with a cheetah. My uncle was keen, waiting for any sudden move so he could open fire.

The sounds of snarling kept getting louder, and in no time, we were surrounded by over seventeen huge werewolves. I spotted the Alpha, huge and gallant. Its eyes were glowing red, and its body was covered in fluffy brown fur. It stood at the back while the others moved towards us. It had a fearless demeanor like a warrior on the battlefield.

The Alpha matched the description my father gave when he was telling me how my mother died. I had a flashback of how my mother used to prepare my lunchbox every morning before I went to school.

When I jolted back to reality, I fired a series of bullets toward the Alpha. It just quietly disappeared into the shadows as if my bullets didn't mean a thing to it. "Come back, you bloody bastard!" I yelled.

My action instigated a war that led to an open fire. The wolves were dying, alright, but not as we expected. Many dodged bullets and tried to make their marks on us before succumbing to death.

My uncle was swept off his feet when a wolf jumped on his chest. He brought out his Colt 1911 and shot a bullet through its throat. Without hesitation, my uncle stood up again and continued firing.

My uncle and I covered James while he reloaded. It seemed they weren't stopping; the more we killed, the more they came.

"What in the world is going on?" my uncle inquired. "How many are out there?"

"They want us to waste all our ammo," James said.

"We've got to devise another plan before we run out of ammo," I said. "Uncle, what do we do?"

"What?" my uncle asked, yelling.

"You're the soldier, so what's up?" James questioned.

"Soldiers plan before they take action can't even think as I am right now," my uncle said.

"Boom, boom, boom!" We were all swept off our feet as an explosion lit up the atmosphere.

The wolves started whining and ran into the bushes. Everywhere seemed too bright for me to catch sight of who orchestrated the bombs.

I got closer and cleaned my eyes; it was my dad, my sister, and a random woman with a gun.

"What's up, kiddo?" my dad asked.