Sheep's Clothing by Gary Lewis (free ebook reader for pc txt) 📕

several four-wheel drive pickups rumbled their way into the center of a field just outside of town. Heavy doors and tailgates slammed metal, disrupting the quiet stillness with country music and barking hound dogs. "Over here!" Roy Perkins shouted as he waved the rifle and shotgun toting posse toward the flattened vegetation that pressed in a line toward the forest.

One of the voices spoke up. "We'll get that sum'bitch tonight, Roy."

"Damn right," said another. "For what happened to your brother."

They continued marching toward the distant wall of trees that rose black against a wisp of pale clouds that streaked the horizon. The dark shape of Bluff Mountain stood beyond as the dogs scurried through the grass that was growing taller as they trekked further.

"He went through here," a voice yelled through the tall, green blades of grass now standing as high as them.

"Fuckin' shame we bag this thing tonight," a burly voice blurted from Roy's left. "Cousin's got a shipment of military grade shit coming just for this thing."

Roy wrestled the tall plant life aside as he pressed forward through the light of the group's bright headlamps and they navigated the otherwise pitch-black night.

The widely spread trail of pressed overgrowth came to a dead stop where they crowded between tightly packed, green stalks that now stood taller than them. "Alright, y'all," Roy shouted. "Spread out."

The group separated from one another, shoving through the high grass while Roy stood in place, issuing commands from the center between shouts and barks.

An ear ripping howl rang from the night. "It's close!" shouted one of the others. Roy readied his rifle, swinging it to the left and then the right. "Here!" yelled another. A loud, ferocious growl rumbled the air through his chest. Roy's heart beat harder. His fingers tingled as he bit his teeth together.

Barking dogs tore into ferocious battle somewhere beyond the grass. Roy sprung around, aiming his weapon into the dark, standing greenery. Yelps and shouts came from his left. Several pops of gunfire exploded into the air. Snarling fury screamed from beyond.

Something bounced across the ground in the darkness and Roy jolted into a turn, peering at the huge, dark lump in the mud where it laid between separated grass. Gunshots continued with screams of horror and something else fell on the ground beside him. Busted bits of rifle butt rested, twisted and contorted. The shots became fewer and far between while a horrible roar cut through the air.

Roy's fear shook cold and clammy in his knees as he paced slowly away from the warzone hidden past the tall grass. He kicked into something on the damp ground and aimed his headlamp to the earth. An arm laid haphazardly bent backward at the elbow. A head rested beside it. Its features were indiscernible through ripped red flesh that coated the skull. More screams of horror followed snarling fury. Another object thudded behind him. A bloodied boot with meat covered bone extending out. "Help!" a voice screamed, abruptly cut short. Roy looked to the sky as another limb flung flipping into the air. He gasped before turning to run through the grass. The thuds of raining body parts crashed around him in the dark as he ran.

The night got quiet and Roy stopped to catch his breath. Tall grass rustled behind. Roy started to turn. A football sized mass flew straight at him. It pounded his chest, knocking him instantly to the wet ground. A hound's hind legs stretched in bloody contortion beside him as he laid in the mud. Its spine dangled from torn hips. Roy started gasping uncontrollably for breath as he pushed himself up through the sharp pain of fractured ribs cracking through his side. A snarling gallop rushed him from beside. Before he could turn, long fangs slammed into his neck. It squeezed with a force that crushed everything he had ever known until nothing was left.

Chapter 21

#Sarah#

It was early and the dew still clung in droplets that dotted blades of grass with a glistening sparkle, beautiful tears that mourned for the earth itself. Sarah pulled her spool of thick, ten-gauge copper wire across the backyard, wrapping it tightly around a metal fence post. The metal bar was mounted in a concrete filled bucket that rested on top of a stack of old tires. She slapped her hands together with a sigh. "Four more to go." She looked across her back yard. The damp grass was already beginning to rise once more where several fence posts stood the same way, spread evenly, just feet from the woodline of the forest.

The slam of a car door from around front did little to surprise her. She already knew who it was.

"What the hell do I have to do to get you to answer the phone?" David's voice rounded the corner as she saw him come to an abrupt stop. "What is all this?" he asked, holding his hand outright toward her work.

"Don't worry about it," Sarah said, tossing the bulky spool of wire into the tall, wet grass behind her. "It's not your problem."

"Look, Sarah," David said as he took a step forward, still half the yard away. "I just want to know what's going on with us."

"Oh. So that's it." Her smile pressed back her true feelings beneath her face as she bent to lift the spool and get back to work.

"So you're just going to ignore me now?" David asked loudly.

"Yes, David," she said sternly. "You're free to go do what you want. We both know what that is."

"What's that supposed to mean?" David shrugged his arms.

The weight of what she wanted to say crushed her throat with silence as she stared intently away from him and hooked the next wire onto a metal rod. From the corner of her eye, David dropped his hands down to his sides and kicked the grass before walking away. The slam of his door stung in her chest almost as much as the crank of his ignition. But as she listened to his