"Where the hell is he? He should have come out by now." (Matt)
"Can any of you see anything?" (David)
David and the rest continued to wait, but nothing happened. The enormous beast did not come out of its cave as they had expected it to.
"... Help..."
"Did you hear that?" (Matt)
"What?" (David)
"Someone... help me..."
Matt heard Steve's faint cries for help from inside the cave. He was still alive, but not for long. With his huge wounds to the chest, it wouldn't be long before he bled out completely.
"Someone's calling for help?" (Cass)
"It's Steve. He's still alive. We have to go get him." (Derek)
"I'm not going in there. It'll be waiting for us. It's a trap using Steve as bait." (David)
"Listen to what you're saying. It's just a bear. I'm sure it's not hungry and has gone to sleep. We can get him out now if we hurry." (Derek)
Derek Bays was the one who spoke. He was a former firefighter with a strong sense of duty. He was used to putting his life in danger to rescue someone in trouble. After facing the raging flames of a fire, a bear shouldn't be a big deal.
"I'll go with you to get Steve out. It was my fault he dared to go in. I knew he was desperate for money." (Cass)
Cass was the only one who offered to help, even though his hands were shaking. He was the first to invite Steve in. He knew he had a lot of debts, but he also knew that Steve had a family to support and a child to raise, unlike him, who was alone.
"Right, Matt, you stay with me. If you get into trouble, leave Steve and run towards us. I'm confident in my aim. I'll put a bullet right between that bear's eyes" (David).
Derek helped him before taking up an assault position with his rifle resting on his left arm. He advanced slowly alongside Cass, who followed him like a frightened sheep.
*Heavy breathing*
"You can stop breathing so heavily, I can hear you from here..."
David's words stuck in his throat. The first thing David saw were the eyes of a beast reflecting the moonlight with a cold glow. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the darkness so he could see the gigantic animal in front of him. It wasn't a grizzly bear or a black bear, but something else, as evidenced by the long deer antlers protruding from its forehead.
(How could it get so close to me in terrain like this without making a sound...) (David)
The beast's long, shiny black fur glistened silver when the moonlight hit it. What happened next seemed like slow motion to David. They were so close to him that the bear just opened its jaws and brought them close to his face.
"Fuck..." (David)
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Just as David was about to utter his last curse in life, rifle shots struck the great horned bear, multiple bullets embedding themselves in the bear's flesh, bloody holes opening up in its fur.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
David didn't think twice. He ran like the devil was after him, leaving Matt behind and dashing through the trees. His thick boots broke the twigs on the ground and the branches of the trees tore his clothes. He was used to every root in his path that would trip up any ordinary person, but he jumped over them with ease.
(Sorry mate, but I come first. Its fur was much tougher and thicker than normal, but if I can gain some distance, I can finish it off with a shot right between the eyes to damage its brain, like I should have done three years ago) (David)
"Cover me while I reload... David?" (Matt)
Matt turned to look for his partner, and although his bullets didn't seem to be doing much damage to the bear, he was confident that by working together with David, the acclaimed super hunter of man-eating bears, they would manage.
"Shit..." (Matt)
Matt was thrown against the top of a tree and stopped moving. That huge black bear didn't care about Matt in the slightest. He ran after David. His enormous body was more agile than it looked, and on all fours, it was easy for him to catch up with David.
Deep inside the Black Bear's Nest Cave.
"Calm down, Steve. The cut is shallow. Hang in there until we get out of here." (Derek)
"...thank you..." (Steve)
Steve whispered before passing out from the pain. Cass and Derek carried Steve on their shoulders. His heavy, fat body was a problem even for the muscular Derek.
"Now what the hell happened here?" (Derek)
"That one over there must be Matt, but where's David?" (Cass)
"I have no idea, but for now, fire the distress flare. We need help with the wounded." (Derek)
Derek left Steve leaning against a tree while he went to check on Matt.
"A few broken ribs and some superficial cuts on your chest. You'll be fine." (Derek)
(That will definitely leave some horrible scars.) (Derek)
*Puff*
Cass fired the flare after climbing onto a rock. It wouldn't be funny if it hit the treetops and started a fire with them in the middle.
"Reinforcements will be here soon. Are you sure Steve will hold out until we get to the hospital? (Cass)"
"I'll bandage his wounds and splint his broken leg with a couple of pieces of wood. The rest is up to him and how quickly the reinforcements arrive, as we can't leave Matt here alone." (Derek)
Some distance away from Derek and Matt.
David took up position on top of a rock, set up his rifle rest and waited. After a few minutes, he could see the trees swaying from side to side. The clouds covering the moon finally cleared, allowing David to see better even without the light of his torch.
*Bang*
David's first shot missed by centimetres. The black bear seemed to smell the fear emanating from David, and sweat ran down his neck.
*Bang* *Bang*
The second and third shots hit the bear's arms, who raised both arms and shook his head. He looked even taller on two legs and his gait was perfect, not clumsy at all compared to his grizzly bear brothers.
(A bear shouldn't be so smart or persistent...) (David)
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
David continued shooting until his magazine was finally empty.
(Now to climb this cliff and shoot from above) (David)
His plan wasn't bad, taking advantage of his higher position, and even if the bear decided to climb, its head would be defenceless, giving David a clean shot. The problem was that this was no ordinary bear. As soon as the shooting stopped, it ran furiously towards David.
"Arghhhh"
David screamed in pain as he felt the bear's powerful jaws crush the bones in his right foot. It had managed to grab his ankle before he could climb high enough to get out of its reach.
Derek and Cass's position.
"This is a complete disaster." (Galpin)
Those were Sheriff Galpin's first words. He had two injured men who needed immediate medical attention and one missing person.
"Derek, take Gael and Cass and take the injured to a hospital. Ted, come with me. We have to find David or what's left of him." (Galpin)
"What if we find the bear?" (Ted)
"We'll eliminate it once and for all." (Galpin)
Sheriff Galpin and Officer Ted followed the trail with Elvis. The bear's destruction led them to the wall of a small cliff.
"Blood, lots of blood. Do you think it's from the bear?" (Ted)
Ted crouched down to examine a pool of blood next to several rifle shells.
"At least most of it. Look for David in the surrounding area. Don't stray too far. Ritchie, where the hell are you? How is it possible that I got to the second flare before your group? Now we have a man missing." (Galpin)
Sheriff Galpin shouted angrily into his radio. There had been a bear attack on David's team, who had launched a flare for help. Galpin went to the site of the first flare and helped Dave's team, even arriving at the site of the second flare before Ritchie.
"I'm sorry, Sheriff Galpin. We encountered another team on the way that also needed help, and Garcia had a nervous breakdown." (Ritchie)
"What happened?" (Galpin)
"They say something attacked them, one of them lost an eye, and Garcia muttered that they came from his nightmares to take him away before passing out." (Ritchie)
"Was it something red and small that attacked them?" (Galpin)
"That's right, but how do you know?" (Ritchie)
"Something similar attacked Gael's group..." (Galpin)
"Sheriff Galpin, I found him!" Gael's shout interrupted Galpin.
"We'll talk later, Ritarate. Inform the rest of the teams to withdraw as well." (Galpin)
Galpin approached Gael. David was hiding in a crack in the cliff that was small enough for only one person.
"Keep breathing." (Ted)
"We have to get him out of here before he comes back." (Galpin)
"Come back? Who?" (Ted)
"Whatever left David in this state" (Galpin)
They carried David away, horrible wounds opening up on his back, one arm completely missing, as if it had been torn off by a bite. It was a miracle he was still alive. A simple tourniquet made from his belt prevented him from losing too much blood.
(He managed to hide in a crevice where the bear couldn't reach him. You were very lucky.) (Galpin)