of nightmares and horror shows

[Ashlee Muller]

((not really open to anyone, just wanted to put this up there as something that happened. But if someone jumps in I won't say no))

Hungry.... It was the sole thing that drifted through the woman’s mind as she lumbered through the darkened streets. Her knees were stiff and shoulders hunched but other then that she looked perfectly normal. Her black hair was glossy and pulled to the side in a loose braid to keep it out of her face, her make up was fresh and flawless. All in all she looked perfectly fine other then that stiff legged walk. If anyone cared enough to sniff at her she carried a distinct werewolf scent even if her body temperature was similar to that of a humans. Her heart rate was slow, beating once only every few seconds to keep pushing her lifeblood through her body. But that wasn't enough to fight of the infection that was raging inside of her. The bite mark on her ribs was purple and black, it smelt distinctly of rotting flesh though anyone who say her might just think she got too close to a Mudo. It was inflamed, infected and it was only a matter of time before it spread and slowly killed her. In most humans the spread of the infection took hours, maybe days but she had been bitten almost a month ago and still her body fought the infection. In the back of her mind she knew that it was only a matter of time before it took over completely. The werewolf blood in her could only last so long as her heart beat slower and slower.

It was a terrifying thought for her. All her life she had wanted to be a healer, to help people, to take their pain away and yet here she was hunting for human flesh. Though most days when she felt the hunger coming on she got as far out of town as possibly take it had taken over her like a wave crashing down. There was no stopping it, no fighting it and now all she could think was hungry... Food... Lips parted wordlessly as her jaw worked against nothing, blank eyes failing to focus on any particular thing. Her arms half worked, swinging slightly but fingers were crooked as if trying to claw her way forward and grasp at something. There was nothing left of the human she used to be in the corpse of a body that now shambled along the deserted street. It was almost as though this state of her could access all of her memories though. Ash knew somewhere deep down that this was the best place to hunt and at the same time a very dangerous place to be. Though the other reanimated paid her less attention in this shambling form then her normal one they still smelt the blood that flowed like molasses through her veins.

But still she stumbled along, hands stretching forth to grab at invisible prey while her jaw chewed on the meat she knew she was soon to taste. Nose was turned up to the air, sniffing much like a dog would when it caught the scent of something delicious and oh had she found the jackpot. It was partly because she had met them today and they had invited her over. They had given her their address and that was probably the worst mistake they could make. Though her conscious mind had shut down long ago, unable to process what she was about to do. She would be in a huge surprise tomorrow when she came over to visit if she managed to find the place tonight. Not that it would be hard; most of these places were in ruins thanks to either rovers or people leaving in a panic. There was even a section that was burnt almost to the ground, maybe someone had knocked over a candle while hurrying to go somewhere and it had raged out of control. Maybe it was before the apocalypse? Some tiny part of her mind pondered these things while the rest of it kept repeating one word… Hungry.

She wasn’t able to eat normal food anymore. Sometimes maybe some crackers but unless it was raw she couldn’t handle meat. It had always been hard for her since she had grown up on raw meat but it had never been this bad. Any other food left her sick and feeling weak. She distinctly remembered the first time she had tried eating normal food after being bitten. Almost immediately she had been forced to run to the bathroom and had spend an hour throwing up. It had not been a pleasant experience by any means. Oddly raw meat in her normal form also made her queasy though not as bad as normal food. It seemed the only time she handle food was in this form even if it was just a bunny. She couldn’t just chain herself up and starve; she would just rather not know the means that she got her food by. It was when she tuned back in and someone guts were strewn about like streamers and a head was sitting beside her, dead eyes staring up at her while she sucked the marrow out of a femur. That had been some seriously shit right there; that was all she had to say about that. It had scarred her, deeply...

She found the house with little trouble or encounter from other reanimateds and paused at the door, once again sniffing at the air. Their scent was distinct to her, each member of the family having their own scent. A couple and their adult son, well adult meaning probably 20 maybe a little bit older. He had been cute, that much she had remembered and she was pretty sure the couple had been trying to set her up with him. But none of that mattered as she shambled up the driveway, almost tripping on the doorstep. There was no pitiful clawing at the door or repeatedly throwing herself against it like any normal Mudo would. No, she immediately grabbed her fist in her other hand and began slamming her elbow against the door. When a crack formed it was easy enough to simply life a leg and kick the hole big enough to reach an arm in. BANG. The sound echoed and she looked down at the hole in her arm. Blood oozed through, a thick black almost syrupy looking substance. A snarl rippled up her throat and she backed up, easily stepping out of the line of fire. She could hear rummaging through cupboards and drawers finding more ammo or guns she didn’t know.

It took no time to shift and she chose her dire form over her were simply due to the small house and the height of her were form. Somehow her mind still seemed to understand this. Fur seemed to sprout from her skin, which she ripped at. Bones crunched and reformed until the light brown wolf stood there. Muscle rippled under her pelt as she crouched. She was bigger then any normal wolf and with more muscle then anything other then a were cold have yet she still managed to look slim. Not that her slender frame mattered as she launched herself at the door shoulder first. It cracked at the hinges and she ducked into a roll, the wound in her arm not slowing her down for a second she turned unfocused eyes to the man with the gun that had shot her. She snarled, lips curling back to reveal the pink of her gums and the white fangs that promised them death. She almost shivered at the look of fear she got when they saw the gaping wound in her side. This time when he raised his gun he didn’t get the shot off as she lunged forward and surged up, muscles working in this form much better then they had in her human form. His hands came off in her mouth in one chomp.

He fell back with a cry and then she was on him. Teeth set to work on his stomach, not bothering to put him out of his misery before getting to the good stuff. Ash could vaguely hear a woman screaming in the background but that was the last issue she had. She wanted food... Hungry... Intestines went down the easiest but the other organs made her drool as she grabbed a hold of his ribs and cracked them, pulling them to the side. Finally his cries died and he fell still though she was sure his mind must have blocked out the pain he had been feeling. It was then that she heard another bang and blood oozed from the artery in her neck. Fuck, she couldn’t keep loosing blood like this. Turning she managed to drop her head at the same time the son took aim and pulled the trigger. This time it grazed her skull. He had to go. Ash abandoned her meal with something of a whimper and lunged at the boy, feinting to the side at the same time he took aim with his weapon again, the bullet burying in his fathers body. She would have to be careful what she ate later on...

Lunging teeth sunk into his throat and forepaws planted against his shoulders while back knocked the weapon away, felling them both. They hit the ground but Ash was already up and stalking towards the mother. She didn’t even raise her weapon. One hand clutched a necklace she wore while she spoke into the other with quick frantic words. Already Ash’s wounds were healing, her werewolf blood taking care of it fairly quickly; the blood at least had stopped falling from her wounds. She looked back and eyed the sticky black substance that had come from her body. It was kind of disgusting... When she looked back the woman had a gun held firmly in her hands with the barrel pressed between Ash’s eyes. A snarl rippled from the wolf’s throat and ears flattened but for a moment they just stared at each other. ”This is for...” her words were cut off as Ash ducked her head around and ripped at the woman’s throat. They always had to say something from the movies... The woman’s body dropped as Ash stood over it, tail high and blue eyes glaring down at her. She still had one more thing to do...

Hungry....