Werewolf Watch

-Lycan Woods, Mr. Wainwright's property-

Wearing a black overcoat and black gloves over her "office lady" attire, Diana stood on a ten-foot fortified wall outside the home of a wealthy man named Mr. Wainwright. Tonight her job was to watch the area outside the wall for any signs of werewolves and terminate any that were spotted. The blonde had no problem with that directive. She had to kill one or two werewolves just to get to the property in order to take the job. The cold had made her thankful that she bought boots to wear to jobs that took place far outside of cities.

The wind picked up and rustled Diana's long hair a bit by blowing it across her lower back, but she ignored it as she kept an eye on the moonlit horizon, particularly the woods that were a fair distance away. She was informed that the werewolves tended to lie in wait for prey in the brush and leap out in ambush. She was not worried about that for two reasons. First, she was now on a wall that was well out of their reach and that would take the werewolves a lot of effort to breach. Second, she had infrared vision that let her see wolves in hiding and take aim at them before they could become a threat.

"How's it going up there? See any of them yet?" A brown-mustached man wearing armor and carrying a magazine-fed rifle asked her though a handheld radio.

"I have not seen any werewolves so far." Diana informed the man, who was the chief of security for her client. The sound of soft breathing could be heard over the radio.

"Good, but don't relax just yet. You still have seven more hours to go before your shift's over." He informed her. Diana had no intention of slacking off on the job. She had not made it this far in life by being lazy and she was not going to start being lazy now. Werewolves were not opponents to be underestimated just because they were not visible. They hunted in packs and moved with great speed, to say nothing of their brute strength, which could tear a man apart.

Diana switched to night vision and looked towards the moonlit woods. She spotted a werewolf that was bold enough to peek its head over some bushes and sniff the air for any whiff of prey. The blonde brought out Silent Hunter and took aim at its head. She settled the crosshairs on its head and waited a full minute to make sure that it did not suddenly drop down and ruin her shot. When it kept its head above the safety of the bushes, Diana slowly squeezed the trigger and fired a Full Metal Jacket shot that connected with its forehead and dyed a section of the brush red.

"I just got one that was in the brush." Diana reported over the radio. She kept an eye out for any more werewolves but did not spot any, at least not any bold enough to peek their head over the protective brush. She was fine with playing the waiting game... she had all night to bag more of them.

"Understood. Stay focused." Came the reply. Diana did not need a reminder. In between the cold weather and the werewolves, the blonde was focused on the job at hand.

[Word Count: 575]
[Total Word Count: 575/3,500]

-One hour later-

Diana was standing at her place on the wall and looking for any signs of lycanthrope activity. She suspected that they were keeping their heads down after she shot the first one brave (or stupid) enough to peek above cover. She did not mind the lack of activity. She could afford to wait until they regained the confidence to risk another glance at the wall.

She switched on night vision and looked around the area for any werewolves trying to sneak up on the wall and climb it. The blonde spotted one sneaking out of the woods and crawling on all fours towards the wall. She took aim at its head with her suppressed rifle and held her breath, then squeezed the trigger and watched the side of its head burst with a hole drilled through it. The creature gave a pained howl and Diana shot it again to make certain that it was positively dead. Since she was using concentrated magic as ammunition, firing another shot cost her nothing and made sure that the werewolf was not faking death.

"I spotted a werewolf trying to sneak over to the section of the wall closest to the woods." Diana warned everyone over the radio. It was prudent that everyone knew about the threat so that action could be taken to fix the problem. There was no order of radio silence, so Diana would be certain to spread the word of any unusual behavior on part of the werewolves.

"Understood. Move to that section of the wall and keep watch. I'll send someone to replace you." The captain ordered.

"Understood. On the way." Diana replied. She walked carefully on the wall, passing by other armored men standing watch and eventually reached an empty place on the wall that overlooked the woods. That was the perfect place for her because she could nip any problems in the bud with direct shots instead of having to make trick shots from far away. Diana settled into her new position and waited for activity of any kind... she could afford to wait.

Hunters played the waiting game in order to get just the right opportunity to bag their prey. Most hunters did not go after werewolves, but the principle was the same. A werewolf hunter hand to find a prime position and wait for their prey to appear before striking. Ideally the target would be taken down in one shot, but prey as tough as lycanthropes sometimes required more than one shot. That was why Diana was glad that she was standing on a wall... she did not want to get within melee range of a werewolf if she could possibly help it.

Diana was not too proud to stand a distance and shoot one until it died. She did not have anything to prove to anyone. A werewolf that was shot to death was just as good for the trophy wall as one killed in "honorable" hand-to-hand combat.

[Word Count: 500]
[Total Word Count: 1,075/3,500]

-One hour later-

Diana was standing at her new place on the wall that faced the woods where she had already killed two werewolves in as many hours. She watched over them with her natural night vision, occasionally switching to infrared mode to make sure that none of them had gotten any more bright ideas to try and sneak up on the wall. She had spotted two more wolves, but neither one of them had been brave enough to make a move on her position.

"How's it looking, kid?" A voice asked Diana over the radio. She brought the handheld radio to her lips while keeping an eye on the woods.

"Two more wolves are in the woods in front of me, but they have not made a move yet." Diana gave a brief report. The wolves saw that she was busy and tried to make a move while her hands were full. Diana set down the radio and took aim, then fired a shot to the chest at one of the wolves with Silent Hunter. A howl indicated that the shot had found its target.

"I shot one of the wolves, but it is not dead." Diana added to her previous report.

"Understood. We'll keep a watch out for it." The voice on the other end answered. Diana clipped it to her right side and watched the brush for any signs of her prey getting bold again. She doubted that they would pop up so soon after getting shot, but the fact that they were bold enough to stick more than their heads above cover told the blonde that they were not afraid of the humans. It was Diana's job to put the fear of humans into any werewolves that she did not kill. That was something that the mage could do.

Diana switched to night vision again and scanned all around the woods and brush to see if any of them were trying to be sneaky about an approach. All signs indicated that the wolves had either left or were simply biding their time until they could make an undetected approach. Unfortunately for them this was a case of one hunter being hired to take out another hunter.

Diana knew better than to fight them on their terms. A lot of hunters made the mistake of getting overconfident and going onto their prey's home turf in order to make a quicker kill. Many of those hunters had the tables turned on them fairly quickly when they made such a mistake. She was not going to go into their home turf to kill them. Why would she take risks that did not need to be taken when she could just shoot them from the relative safety and comfort of the wall?

Such a style of hunting was boring and not going to make for interesting stories, but Diana cared more about getting the job done and living to collect her pay than she cared for making interesting stories to tell at a bar. The type of hunting stories she had the most of could not be told anyway, not unless she wanted a one-way trip to prison or to end up in an unmarked grave. Her legitimate hunting stories could be told, but macho hunters would consider them boring because she had not done things like punching out a lion with her bare hands or wrestling an alligator in a pond with one hand tied behind her back. The blonde preferred to shoot her targets from a distance with a minimum of muss and fuss.

Diana spotted a wolf's head peeking from the brush, so she raised Silent Hunter and aimed the crosshairs of her scope between its glowing eyes and slowly squeezed the trigger. The shot hit and made a puff of pink mist shoot into the air and stain the surrounding bushes with blood spatter. The other wolf quickly ducked back into the brush to avoid the fate of its packmate. It was only delaying the inevitable... Diana knew that it was there and was waiting on it to peek above cover again.

"I shot another one." Diana calmly radioed in.

[Word Count: 700]
[Total Word Count: 1,775/3,500]

-Two hours later-

There had been no action since the last werewolf Diana had shot, but that was not a bad thing. Werewolves were not to be underestimated just because she was on a high wall and they were on the ground. Diana intended to live to collect her pay and move onto the next job. In order to do that, she would have to stay focused on the task at hand and always assume the werewolves were a threat until she was certain that they were dead. She was glad that things were quiet because nothing was better for an easy payday than quiet.

The wind rustled the blonde's hair as she stood watch. No other wolves had worked up the nerve to make a move and the men around the wall had not reported any activity. The problem seemed to be under control for the time being, so it was a simple matter of waiting out the clock until the job was complete. Diana looked around in both night vision and infrared vision to be certain that no lycanthropes were sneaking towards her part of the wall. There were no signs of approaching enemies.

"How's it looking, kid?" A male voice asked Diana. The blonde raised the handheld radio to her lips and reported.

"It is clear so far. No signs of werewolves." Diana replied.

"Understood. Keep us posted." The voice commanded. Diana clipped the radio to her side and continued watching the woods. So far, so good.

Diana wondered why Mr. Wainwright chose to live in such a dangerous location like the Cursed Lands. Maybe it was a mansion passed down through his family. Maybe he wanted to be away from other people. Maybe he was just a rich thrill-seeker who liked living dangerously.

It was not her place to question why he lived out here. Her job began and ended at an eight-hour shift on the wall keeping werewolves at bay. That was how Diana made a living... by doing the job assigned to her and not asking any questions. She took another glance at the woods and spotted three werewolves standing up.

"I spot three wolves standing up in the woods." Diana reported over the radio. She brought up Silent Hunter and took aim at the head of the first wolf. She carefully squeezed the trigger and fired a Full Metal Jacket shot that slammed into the skull of the wolf, making it stand still a few moments before toppling over into the bushes. More wolves took its place as three stepped up to take their fallen packmate's place. Now there were five wolves standing behind the two survivors... this increase in numbers had to be reported.

"Now there are five wolves standing in front of me." Diana reported over the radio.

"Understood. Take them down." The order came. Diana aimed and fired again, bringing down another with a shot to the head. The remaining four wolves charged the wall. That was a development that the blonde had not been expecting.

"The remaining four wolves are charging the wall." Diana reported in.

"Hang on. Help is on the way!" The voice reported. Diana dispelled Silent Hunter and brought out her Suppressed Submachine gun. Its rapid-fire capability would be useful in repelling the unexpected attack. In the event that the werewolves climbed over the wall, she would be ready to repel them with automatic gunfire.

Diana leaned over the wall and fired a Three-Round Burst at the back of a wolf bounding towards her on all fours. Two of the shots hit its back, making it stumble and roll on its shoulder to the ground as the remaining three continued to rush at her. Diana fired another burst to kill the wounded wolf before turning her attention to the remaining four, who were now halfway to the wall. She switched to fully automatic mode and opened up on a wolf who stood ready to scale the wall. She fired down and killed it with five rounds through the top of its head, but the remaining three had begun scaling the wall using their claws and powerful arms and legs.

"Three are scaling the wall in my area." Diana calmly reported over the radio. She set it down and leaned over the wall, aiming at a wolf that had raised its head towards her and glared at her with soulless black eyes. She fired into it until it let out a howl and fell off the wall, landing on its back with a THUD and bleeding out. The survivors were almost on top of the wall and help had not yet arrived. She aimed at another wolf and shot it in the side, causing it to momentarily lose its grip before finding renewed strength and finishing the climb just as help arrived.

Diana threw a Stun Burst that hit it in the chest and froze the wolf in place, then ducked and let the four reinforcements finish what she started with a barrage of bullets. She heard huffing behind her and turned to see the final wolf climb over the wall and face her. It sprinted at her with arms outstretched and Diana brought up her weapon to meet the threat. She aimed at its chest and held down the trigger, firing until it toppled over and its momentum made the dying werewolf slam into her. The blonde was mildly hurt in the collision, but now she was lying on her back with a pair of werewolf jaws dangerously close to her face.

"Hang on kid!" A man said as he hustled to Diana's right and pressed the barrel of his rifle against the wolf, slowly pushing it off of her. The wolf's dying breaths blew directly into her face and left a smell of rotten meat. When it was moved off of her the four men shot it in the head and chest repeatedly until it died.

[Word Count: 1,000]
[Total Word Count: 2,775/3,500]

"Are you OK, kid?" A middle-aged man asked Diana as he helped the blonde get off of her back and onto her feet again. Aside from mild pain and having the wind knocked out of her, Diana was otherwise unharmed by the unexpected attack. The werewolf attack had been stopped without too much difficulty, but it reinforced Diana's attitude of never underestimating the opposition. She stood up and dispelled her Suppressed Submachine Gun, then faced the brown-mustached man who had helped her up.

"I am fine, thank you." Diana replied calmly. The man seemed a little put off by her calm attitude in the face of what had just happened, but otherwise he seemed relieved that she had not been killed. The blonde was glad to be alive.

"Nice work, kid. That's the first time that they climbed the walls in months. You shut them down before they could get too far." The man complimented her.

"Oh?" Diana asked. The fact that this was not the first time they had ever climbed the walls surprised her, but only a little.

"Yeah. They've tried to scale the walls before, but we've always beat them back. They must have gotten pretty bold because they thought you were a new mage. I don't think they'll make that mistake for the rest of the night." The man replied as the remaining three carried the werewolf bodies to the wall and threw them over the side. That was likely done to both clear the way for the guards and to send a warning to the werewolves that any more attacks would end in failure. Diana was not sure that the warning would work, but she understood what the men were trying to do.

"Interesting." Diana commented with the same calm she had displayed throughout the conversation. The guard looked at her with mild alarm.

"Anyway, nice work. We're glad that you're here to help." He said to her, patting her on the shoulder before winding his way to a makeshift command center that was set up in a small wooden cabin that must have been a guard shack. Diana turned around and resumed watching the woods. Hopefully that would be the last of the excitement for this evening.

-Two hours later-

Diana had not seen any more signs of werewolf activity since fending off the last attempt to climb the walls. She was glad for that because the last werewolf had gotten too close for comfort. Had she not riddled its chest with magic bullets before it slammed into her, she might not be standing on the wall right now. She likely would have become just another casualty of the denizens of Lycan Woods. Either her head would have been ripped off of her shoulders, a set of claws would have cut her open where she stood, or her throat would have been torn out by the sharp teeth of a hungry werewolf.

Unfortunately for the werewolf it had underestimated the bravery of its prey. It had probably expected Diana to turn and run for her life instead of standing her ground. If Diana had tried to run for it she would have only died in the attempt as claws tore her back to shreds. That was not the way the blonde intended to leave this world. If she was going to be killed, she would face what was going to kill her.

However, it was easy to think such bold thoughts when it was not time to put up or shut up. No one ever knew when they were going to die; sometimes death came unexpectedly and put the kibosh on any plans for a dramatic exit. That would probably be Diana's real exit from the world... a shot to the back of the head by a hired gun sent by the relatives of one of her victims. That end would be both a bit of dark comedy and strangely appropriate.

-Three hours later-

No more werewolf activity had presented itself to the attentive huntress, but she still kept watch until she was officially relieved of the responsibility. She was wary of a change because that would be a good time for the lycanthropes to make a final do-or-die charge for the wall. As if to confirm her suspicions, a lone wolf dared to peek its head above the brush. Diana brought out Silent Hunter and aimed for its head. It was in the process of ducking when the Full Metal Jacket shot nailed it, spraying blood in the air and sending it falling backwards into the brush.

"I killed another one." Diana radioed in.

"What a way to end the shift. Well done, kid. You did your job. You're relieved of duty." The voice of the brown-mustached man reported. Another guard took her place as Diana left the wall and walked down the stairs, then made her way over to the makeshift command post. The man was waiting for her with a bag full of Jewels.

"Take 'em, kid. You've earned 'em. You're always welcome here if you need a job in the future." He said to her with a slight smile. Diana took the Jewels into both hands and put them away. He pointed towards a row of tents just behind the shack.

"It's too dangerous to travel the roads now. Stay in one of those tents and you can go home when it's daylight." He suggested. Diana nodded and made her way to the tent farthest to the left in a row of twenty. She took off her boots and set them beside her cot. She took off her overcoat to use as a blanket. The blonde then reclined on the cot and tried to go to sleep before daylight got here.

[Word Count: 980]
[Total Word Count: 3,755/3,500]