From: cbnorman@cayley.uwaterloo.ca (Bruce Norman)
Subject: Wolf (chapter 4)
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 02:58:50 GMT

Here is the "Cut off" portion of Wolf (chapter 4).  Reposted by request.

    "You shouldn't be out there alone" he said, shyly. 
    "I'm not planning on it" she replied, still cold.  "But it 
appears that none of these `men' want me with them."  With sudden 
realization of Chris's plan Mike stepped in. 
    "And rightly so Judy, its very dangerous out there.  We'll be 
sure to let you know if we bag that wolf though, you can count on 
it."  Chris began to speak, but Mike flashed him such a glare he 
shut up quickly. 
    Judy glared at Mike. 
    "Listen, I've done more than anyone here with that wolf.  I 
was almost killed by it.  I ran it over with a truck.  What have 
you done?" Mike was speechless, what could he say? But he was 
determined. 
    "I'm sorry Judy but I can't let you come with us."  His voice 
ended it there.  Judy glared at him. 
    "Then I'm going alone.  Wake me up when you guys reach the 
20th century."  She started for the forest.  Mike couldn't see 
it, but she was sweating.  She had no intention of going out 
there alone.  But she had to see that wolf die.  She couldn't 
just hear it second hand.  She'd thought she'd killed it.  Now 
she had to see it die or she would never sleep again. 
    Mike sighed.  What could he do? If this silly bitch went off 
and got herself shot he'd never forgive himself.  He felt like 
grabbing her and taking her home to her parents, but he couldn't 
of course.  
    "All-right.  You can come."
    Judy joined them.  The slight offence she took to Mike's 
sexist generalizations was far surpassed by her gratitude due to 
the fact that he was letting her come. 
 
                      *          *         * 
 
    Chris was as happy as he had been in a long time.  Judy was 
with him, and he was hunting a wolf.  One week ago he never would 
have beleived that either would ever happen.  The others thought 
he had a crush on Judy, but that hardly explained his feelings.  
He had something far worse than a crush.  Chris was a dreamer, 
and for the past three months he had dreamed of Judy.  For Chris 
this was his romantic dream come true.  He walked beside her, 
talker with her, and held her arm when the path grew rough and 
she risked a loss of ballance. 
    Judy walked with Chris, desperately trying to keep herself 
from snapping at him.  He was really getting on her nerves.  She 
realized that he was trying, in his bumbling way, to help her.  
Drawing apon divine patience she allowed him to help her as they 
crossed a small stream.  She was easily twice as athletic as he 
was. 
    The woods seemed nice and quiet.  Clean and serene.  Mike led 
the way, he had listened to Officer O'Conner and he knew where 
they were supposed to look.  It didn't seem like prime wolf 
territory, but what did in this scrubby little forest? He caught 
sight of something in the distance. 
    Showing a masterful level of intuition his hand shot out and 
grabbed the muzzle of Raven's rifle as he raised it. 
    "Don't even think of it" he whispered and stared ahead.  
Their was something in the distance, brown, mooving.  "Anyone 
moves one muscle they are dead" he said matter of factly, and 
raised his own rifle.  He peered through the site, and waited. 
 
    "Shoot it!" hissed Seth.  Bill cuffed him. 
    "Thank you Raven" said Mike.  "I am not going to shoot it 
because I do not know if its a wolf."  He waited, and then 
lowered his rifle.  "It's a dog.  I saw a hunter with it.  Stupid 
to bring dogs.  They're not real hunting dogs.  All they'll do is 
bray and warn the wolf that we're coming.  Indeed the dog began 
to bark excitedly as Mike finished his sentence. 
    "Move on" said Bill.  They moved on. 
    Chris was on edge.  He felt something.  He had feelings some 
times, and he'd learned to trust them.  He felt something now.  
Something was in the air.  Something wrong.  He sniffed the air.  
Something was definitely wrong.  He could smell it. 
    Judy felt it too.  She didn't have Chris' instincts, his  
unrecognized tallent for noticing the unnoticeable.  Still she 
felt it.  It felt like that night with Rick.  Their was the same 
taste in the air.  She felt nervous.  It was strong now.  She 
stopped walking, and then quickly moved forward again.  Better to 
be with the others. She ran close to Chris and took his arm.  She 
whispered in his ear. 
    "Somethings wrong". 
    Chris' worried feelings were suddonly shattered as Judy 
grasped his arm.  The feelings of unrest parted like water as 
Judy touched him.  He turned to her and blathered off a generic 
assurance that everything was fine. 
    "Its not fine Chris! There's something wrong." 
    "How can there be something wrong?" said Chris, and for him 
everything was right.  He took her hand and squeezed it.  "I'm 
here if anything happens." 
    "Thanks" said Judy, unimpressed.  She'd prefer Bill to 
promise protection.  Chris was no Bill.  She slipped her hand 
from his grasp. "I still thing there's something wrong though." 
    Chris was disapointed, she didn't seem friendly at all.  
Something was wrong.  He had a feeling that she wasn't interested 
in him.  After all, she'd be dead in a few seconds. 
    He froze in his tracks.  There was no time for 
interpretation.  No time for waying belief against unbelief.  He 
grabbed Judy and pushed her. 
    The beast sprang from the bushes like a cat.  It snarled like 
a mad thing and clawed at Judy, but she was pushed out of its 
reach.  It turned its fury on Chris, and knocked him to the 
ground.  Its fangs ripped towards his throat, and he blocked with 
his arm.  It savaged him arm mercilessly.  Chris began to scream. 
    Mike turned around and whipped the rifle infront of himself 
in less than a second.  He charged forward, knocking Seth and 
Andrew out of his way.  The wolf was there, oh my god, it had 
Chris' arm.  Mike was struck by horror as he saw the blood.  He 
couldn't shoot it.  It was skin tight on Chris' thrashing 
screaming body. 
    Out of the corner of his eyes he caught sight of Judy.  She 
was just standing there. 
    "Get away from him!" screamed Mike, and kicked at the wolf.  
His foot connected with its head, and he thanked god that he 
wasted so many years of his life playing football.  Mike's trick 
knee twinged.  The beast's head was knocked to the side.  It let 
go of Chris' bloody arm and turned to Mike. 
    Oh my god, thought Mike.  Chris isn't moving.  He caught the 
creature's eyes.  He could sware that he saw something glint 
behind them, a look of satisfaction, fullfillment.  He stood 
transfixed for a second as the wolf lept at him. 
    Mike took the wolf's attack.  He brought the rifle up in a 
block, forcing it to come short on its leap.  It was too massive 
for him to stop, but he twisted his arms and brought the wolf to 
the ground. 
    "Somebody kill it!" he screamed, and swung the rifle arround 
to shoot it himself.  He fired, point blank, and the bullet 
ripped into the wolf's side.  Blood jetted from the hole he made.  
The wolf lept at Mike again and knocked him to the ground.  Seth 
was screaming for someone to do something.  Raven seemed to be in 
some sort of trance.  Andrew was holding his rifle steady, but he 
couldn't shoot, not with Mike and the wolf being so close 
together.  Judy was a dead end.  She still just stood there, 
staring, as the wolf tried to savage Mike. 
    Mike held the wolf's throat as its claws ripped at his 
hunting jacket.  Saliva dripped in his eye from its foaming jaw.  
Its left back claw raked accoss his crotch, but didn't tear 
through his jeans.  A shot rang through the air, it was Andrew.  
He'd taken the chance.  A hole appeared in the wolf's right 
flank, dead center hit.  Bloode sprayed from the hole, but the 
wolf did not react.  It slowly forced its jaws down towards 
Mike's throat.  As he struggled for his life he could swear the 
wolf was laughing at him. 
    Raven had his rifle ready now, but he did not dare shoot.  
Judy was finally beginning to show some life, she screamed.  Seth 
was useless.  Chris was dead.  Where was Bill? 
    Bill stood directly behind the struggling Mike and dropped 
his rifle.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his 
father's Colt .44.  He dropped to his knees.  The wolf was on top 
of Mike, this would require careful aim.  He aimed for half a 
second, and fired.  The shell exploded into the wolf's head and 
it paused in its attack. 
    <i die. nextman.> 
    Bill shook his head in an attempt to clear the strange 
message which had crossed his brain. 
   The struggling Mike heaved the wolf's body off of himself, not 
fully realizing it was dead.  He rolled away and stood up, 
grabbing Raven's rifle.  He unloaded six shots into the wolf's 
twitching body before Raven took his arm. 
    "It's dead Mike." 
    "Oh shit...." said Mike, "Chris..."  Judy began to cry. 
    Andrew went over and tenderly began to look Chris over.  The 
blood was everywhere, soaking into his blue jacket.  Turning the 
orange warning flag a sickly crimson.  The arm of his jacket had 
been completely torn through by the wolf's teeth.  Underneath it 
flesh parted to reveal muscle, tendon and bone. 
    "Oh my god" said Andrew.  "He's still alive."  They rushed 
over to check out the impossible.  Chris' chest still move in an 
uneven rythm. He was breathing, and bleeding. 
    "We're not s'posed to move him" said Seth. 
    "We have no choice" said Mike.  "He'll die before we can get 
someone here.  Bill, help me."  Bill did not move.  Bill was 
still staring at the wolf.  Staring at his father's gun.  He was 
thinking again.  He'd killed the wolf.  Why didn't he feel 
releived? 
    Raven bent over and helped Mike pick up Chris' limp body.  
They began to walk.  Judy hovered over Chris.  She was sobbing 
now, hysterical.  Mixed feelings of total joy at the death of the 
wolf, and concequentially the death of her nightmares, clashed 
violently with her sorrow for Chris' saccrifice.  He had saved 
her from the wolf.  She knew that.  The war between joy and 
conflict raged, and soon she began to giggle uncontrolably.  Mike 
politely told her to get out of his way when he realized she was 
hysterical.  Andrew took on the task of calming her down.  Seth 
ran ahead of Mike and Raven, pulling back branches so they could 
pass quickly without stopping.  One he let go of a branch and hit 
Raven in the face with it, Raven didn't even blink. More 
important things, Chris' life, were on his mind. 
    It was five minutes before Bill realized they had left him 
alone with the wolf. 
 
                *               *               * 
 
    "When can we see him doctor?" asked Mike.  They had made it 
to the outside of the woods, been screamed at by Officer O'Conner 
(they had ignored him completely) and quickly driven Chris to the 
hospital.  The response there was staggeringly swift.  No sooner 
had they walked through the door than a nurse and a doctor took 
Chris from them and put him on a stretcher.  They found out later 
that O'Conner had radioed in to tell them they were coming. 
    It had been three hours now and things had settled down 
somewhat.  Judy had overcome her feelings of joy and had settled 
down into grief.  Andrew held her, comforting her.  Chris' 
parents were there, silent.  For the first hour they had been 
frantic.  First they had demanded to know what had happened.  
Then Chris' father had struck Mike in the face and an orderly had 
ordered him to leave.  Mike told the orderly to let him stay.  
Chris' father appologized a few minutes later and began to pace. 
Chris' mother seemed starry eyed and in shock. 
    "I knew it would happen" she said.  "I told Chris to be 
careful today.  Why didn't he tell me he was going to try and 
kill the wolf? He's going to die."  Chris' father had then taken 
a fit and angrily informed his wife she had better shut up.  Mike 
once again calmed Chris' father down, and since then both parents 
had been silent. 
    Seth and Raven were talking quietly with three reporters. 
Occasionally Seth would lose control and begin to get excited, 
but a glare from Mike brought him down quickly enough. 
    No one knew where Bill was. 
    "I can't let anyone see him" responded the doctor.  "He is in 
very serious condition.  He's a strong boy, but I can't make any 
promises. You'll all have to pray he pulls through." 
    "What about the arm doctor?" asked Chris' father.  "What 
about his arm?"  The doctor sighed. 
    "We're doing everything we can to save the arm.  Our first 
priority though is to save his life.  We'll just have to see what 
happens in the next 24 hours."  Meanwhile the reporters chatted 
merrily with Raven and Seth. 
    "All-right boys, or should I say heroes" beamed the reporter, 
"so it was Bill who actually blew the wolf's brains out so to 
speak.  Correct?" 
    "Yes" said Raven.  "And then Mike pumped it full of more lead 
just to be safe.  With this gun."  He held it up.  The reporters 
took another picture.  They took one ever thirty seconds or so.  
Regular as clockworth. 
    "But where is Bill?" asked the reporter, coming to the 
briliant conclusion that he wasn't there. 
    "I don't know" said Raven.  "We left him with the wolf." 
 
                *               *               * 
 
    Was it moving? Bill wasn't sure.  He looked at it again.  
Hard. 
    It was big, and it was hairy.  Full of holes and covered with 
dried blood.  Flies clustered over it, humming merrily.  It 
certainly was dead. 
    But then so was his father. 
    Bill felt strange as he glared at the wolf.  He felt drunk 
almost.  He wished he knew what he was doing here.  How long had 
he been here staring at a corpse? The wolf was dead, but he 
could feel it still.  He reached out with his mind and touched 
it. 
    <i die, nextman.> 
    Bill's mind realed in shock, it was there again.  The 
message.  He concentrated, focussed.  A slow wind began to blow, 
it smelt dusty.  He was sure of it now, the wolf was moving. 
    It shuffled unassuredly and attempted to get to its feet.  
Its muslces were not working probably, brain damage from Bill's 
bullet most likely the souce of the problem.  It finally settled 
on lieing down, facing Bill.  It opened its eyes, they were dull, 
unfocussed. 
    "Arn't you going to kill me?" asked Bill. 
    <no need.  no seed.> 
    "What do you mean, no seed?" asked Bill again.  He was in one 
of his thinking moods.  He didn't even wonder at why and how he 
could be talking to the corpse of a wolf. 
    <no seed.  gone.> 
    "Where did it go?" demanded Bill.  "Where did you put the 
seed?" 
    <nextman.> 
    "What nextman?" screamed Bill.  He was enraged now.  
Something was wrong.  A heavy glove landed on his shoulder. 
    "Hold it boy.  What's going on here?"  Bill turned his head. 
Officer O'Conner stood above him.  He turned his head back to the 
wolf, quickly.  It was lying where it had been where he had shot 
it. 
    "I...I don't know" said Bill.  "I was staying with the wolf." 
    "Do you often talk to dead wolves Bill?" 
    "No, I was angry at it.  It killed my friend." 
    "He's still alive Bill."  Bill felt a surge of joy at this 
news. Chris was alive! "Come on Bill, lets get you home."  
O'Conner took his arm and lead him like he would lead a child.  
Two men picked up the wolf, they were wearing protective gloves, 
and dumped it in a sack.  Its body would have to be analyzed of 
course, the police liked doing that sort of thing.  They'd have 
to ship it away.  No one in Meaford made their business analyzing 
dead wolves.  Weren't too many dead wolves in Meaford. 
 

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