Jessie watched Father Anderson finish loading the Winchester, her face still pale beneath the dirt and dried blood.
“Those killers are incredibly strong,” she said, struggling to keep her voice steady.
“Chris is almost six feet tall, but one of them threw him several yards like he weighed nothing.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she glanced toward the dark woods.
“I don’t know what else they can do.”
Anderson pushed the final slug into the shotgun’s tubular magazine and gave her a calm smile.
The arrows that had pierced the reinforced glass and destroyed the Raptor’s tires already told him enough about their strength.
“It’s all right,” he said.
“I’m strong too.”
He reclined the driver’s seat and lowered himself beneath the windows.
A moment later, another arrow sliced through the darkness and struck the glass with a violent crack.
Bang!
The broadhead punched halfway through the window, leaving the wooden shaft trembling beside Anderson’s face.
“They’re coming closer!” Jessie cried.
She pressed herself against Carly and tried to keep both of them below the rear window.
“What are we supposed to do?”
Anderson worked the pump, chambering the first slug.
“Stay down and don’t move.
As long as I’m here, no one is killing either of you.”
Jessie looked at the priest’s steady expression.
Despite the arrows striking the truck and the killers hidden beyond the headlights, there wasn’t a trace of fear in his eyes.
A powerful sense of security settled over her.
She nodded, wrapped both arms around Carly, and squeezed her eyes shut.
Jessie understood her own limitations.
In this situation, the best thing she could do was follow Anderson’s instructions and avoid becoming a burden.
Another arrow came from the woods.
Bang!
This one penetrated farther than the first.
Before the shaft had stopped moving, a third arrow struck almost the same section of glass.
Bang!
Only the rear of its shaft remained outside the truck.
Anderson lay flat across the lowered seat and watched the arrowheads above him.
He raised one hand, passed his fingers over his eyes, and allowed magic to spread through his vision.
Magic wasn’t limited to strengthening prayers or harming supernatural entities.
When concentrated around his eyes, it greatly enhanced his sight, allowing him to see through darkness almost as clearly as if he were wearing military-grade night-vision goggles.
A fourth arrow pierced the window and buried itself in the passenger seat.
Anderson studied the angle.
“All of them are firing from the left.”
The arrows had been striking at increasingly direct angles, which meant the archers were slowly advancing toward the highway.
Rather than remaining hidden at a distance, they intended to close in on the disabled vehicle.
Anderson shifted toward the passenger side.
He braced one hand against the center console, opened the door, and slid out in one smooth movement.
Another arrow rushed over the roof just as he dropped behind the right side of the truck.
The broadhead struck the driver’s window.
Anderson crouched beside the Raptor and looked underneath it.
From that low position, he had a clear view across the asphalt.
The enhanced darkness revealed two pairs of feet standing near the edge of the forest.
Neither pair looked completely human.
The toes were twisted, the bones malformed, and the boots appeared to have been crudely modified to fit their distorted feet.
Anderson narrowed his eyes.
Rough, broken sounds came from the tree line.
“Ghh…rah!”
“Eh!
Eh!”
The two figures appeared to be communicating, but neither formed recognizable words.
Their voices sounded more like the grunts of animals than human speech.
“So you can’t talk properly.”
Anderson slowly lowered himself until he was lying beside the truck.
He brought the Winchester beneath the chassis and aimed through the gap.
The first attacker stepped onto the highway.
His lower legs entered Anderson’s line of fire.
Anderson pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
The Winchester erupted beneath the truck.
The heavy slug struck both legs and tore through them with devastating force.
Flesh and bone burst apart as the deformed man collapsed onto the pavement.
“RAAAGH!”
His scream sounded like an injured animal.
Anderson immediately worked the pump.
Chak-chak.
The attacker rolled into view, finally exposing the rest of his body.
His skull was lopsided, one side of his forehead heavily deformed, while his flattened nose and twisted lips revealed rows of jagged teeth.
Anderson recognized the kind of creature he was facing.
These weren’t ordinary serial killers.
They were the inbred cannibals who haunted the isolated roads and forests of West Virginia.
“So this really is a wrong turn.”
The wounded cannibal attempted to raise his bow.
Anderson fired again.
BOOM!
The slug struck his head and ended the movement instantly.
Blood and bone sprayed across the road as the body collapsed beside the ruined tires.
The second cannibal released a furious roar.
He moved toward his fallen companion, but Anderson had already chambered another round.
He treated every enemy with the same principle—a lion didn’t become careless simply because it was hunting a rabbit.
Chak-chak.
Anderson shifted the barrel several inches.
The second attacker’s feet entered his sights.
BOOM!
The slug tore through both lower legs.
The cannibal crashed onto the highway, dropping a crudely made bow beside him.
His howl echoed through the forest.
Now fully visible, the second man was just as deformed as the first.
His facial structure was asymmetrical, his skin was covered in scars, and one cloudy yellow eye stared at Anderson with overwhelming hatred.
Anderson remained unmoved.
He had fought demons, possessed humans, and spirits capable of tearing apart an entire family.
Two visible cannibals with bows were far less frightening.
The second attacker clawed at the pavement, attempting to drag himself closer.
Anderson pumped the shotgun again. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
Chak-chak.
The cannibal froze when the barrel aligned with his head.
BOOM!
The final slug destroyed his skull.
Silence returned to the highway.
Anderson kept the shotgun aimed at the bodies and worked the pump once more.
He waited several seconds, watching for movement or another arrow from the woods.
Nothing came.
The surrounding forest remained dark and still, but Anderson didn’t believe the danger was over.
Jessie had seen more than two figures, and the original attackers had operated like an organized hunting party.
There were probably others nearby.
After confirming that no one was immediately approaching, Anderson rose and moved back to the passenger door.
He climbed inside, closed it behind him, and remained below the window line.
The Raptor was still the safest position available.
Its steel body and reinforced glass offered far more protection than standing exposed on the highway.
Anderson exhaled slowly and reloaded the Winchester.
Only then did he glance toward the back seat.
Jessie and Carly remained huddled beneath the windows.
Jessie’s eyes were tightly closed, and her arms were still wrapped protectively around her injured friend.
Both women were trembling, but they had followed every instruction.
Anderson appreciated obedient survivors.
“It’s safe for the moment.”
Jessie’s eyes opened immediately.
She looked toward the sound of his voice and saw Anderson sitting unharmed in the passenger seat.
Only then did she allow herself to breathe normally again.
“You came back.”
“I said I would.”
Jessie stared at the shotgun in his hands, then toward the shattered window.
“Are they dead?”
“The two outside are.”
Her relief weakened slightly at his wording.
“There are more?”
“Probably.”
Anderson continued inserting slugs into the magazine.
Behind him, Jessie’s breathing gradually steadied as she checked Carly’s bandage and made sure her friend remained conscious.
“Thank you, Father,” she whispered.
Anderson’s lips twitched.
He wasn’t sure whether stopping had been profitable or troublesome.
Carly had promised him money, and both women appeared to come from wealthy families.
Saving them would likely provide enough compensation to repair the Raptor and replace the destroyed tires.
On the other hand, he had been driving peacefully toward Boston before being dragged into a fight with cannibalistic mountain killers.
Before Anderson could decide whether he had gained or lost from the encounter, the system’s mechanical voice sounded inside his mind.
[Random Mission Triggered]
[Mission: Eliminate the Cannibal Killers]
[Objective: Destroy the remaining members of the hunting party and rescue the surviving victims.]
[Mission Reward: 3 Points]
[Accept Mission?]
Anderson looked toward the silent forest.
A slow smile appeared on his face.