Shortly after the group ate breakfast they got to walking through the city. Every mutant they came across was dispatched with little effort. Since they have been in a few fights they instinctively found out the best formation with Thomas being the front liner and Anne being the support from the back with her sniper rifle. Max would stay close to Anne to kill any mutants that got too close.
"Hey, so what's with you guys anyway? Your both mutated right?" Anne asked as they were taking shelter in an old abandoned house after traveling for a few hours straight.
"Yeah we both mutated recently, why? Max replied. Thomas gave him a stern look that basically said to stop giving details about himself to someone they just met. He then went outside to get some fresh air.
"Well, I just mean usually people that mutate are much more powerful that normal people and could be accepted into any group of their choice. So why would you two fight alone?" Anne continued the conversation.
"That's because Thomas doesn't like being in a group. I'm still not sure why but I think something bad happened." Max replied in a hushed voice. "But he's a very strong person so I was like why not join him. I would survive much longer then with a bunch of strangers."
"I guess that makes sense. Still, the way he rushes into every fight seems kind of reckless to me. Maybe he has a death wish or something."
"True, he never lets us join in on the action very much. Anyway, What's your story?" Max asked.
After thinking for a moment she decided it wouldn't hurt to tell him a little about her situation. "My settlement is on the small side and we don't have any mutated people so ever since I was little I trained with all kinds of guns and other weapons. I had a talent for marksmanship though and every time our settlement was under attack by mutants I would take them out with my rifle from a distance." She said while wiping down her sniper rifle.
"Until recently that was enough to keep our settlement safe. But then these three mutants showed up and started to prey on anyone that left our walls. I managed to shoot one in the arm one day but he was able to slip away. With our supplies dwindling and our people being picked off they decided to send me to hire people from a bigger nearby settlement and that's how I ended up here."
"I see, so you said those mutants were intelligent so we cant just run in blindly. We need some kind of plan to draw them out without scaring them away.
"What do mutants even want besides humans anyway?"
"That's the tough part I mean we could always use human bait but I don't really feel good about that." Max said.
"Yeah me either." She let out a long sigh.
At this moment Thomas was done making his rounds and came back inside. "It's possible we could just use animal meat or maybe one of us could act as bait. It's hard to tell before we have even seen the mutants in action."
"Hey Anne?" Thomas said after thinking for a moment. "You ever shoot a deer with that thing?" Referring to the rifle on her back.
"Of course I have. You think its just decoration?"
"I have an idea then. Follow me." He led the group outside and through the overgrown streets and into a nearby forest.
His plan was simple. He just needed to locate an animal and use it as bait to see how the mutants act and to get as much information as possible before confronting them.
Several hours passed as they trekked through the woods. Right now they are just looking for anything that could be used as bait no matter how big or small. finally Thomas managed to spot a slick black wolf the size of a motorcycle. Thomas motioned to the others while looking in the direction of the wolf.
"Anne, you see that?"
"Yeah that would definitely draw them out." She said as she rested her rifle on a fallen log. She let out her breathe while aiming down the sights and after a small pause, she fired.
The shot rang out across the forest and in the sky all manner of birds flew away in unison.
The wolf fell down with a loud thump and a hole in its chest. Being the strongest, Thomas was the one to hoist the wolf up over his shoulders. As they started to leave the area, There was the sound of wood being ripped from the nearby trees. The group didn't know what could make such a noise so Anne readied her rifle as she tried to follow the sound. Max also readied himself and Thomas threw the wolf on the ground.
Whatever was making that sound was obviously getting closer and closer to the groups location. After a few moments the sounds disappeared and Thomas could feel eyes on him. He was getting the feeling that whatever it was, was definitely hostile. All of a sudden a huge log was thrown at the group at high speed. Thomas quickly rolled out of the way. Since Anne wasn't mutated she wasn't able to dodge out of the way as fast but max was there to save her..
The log left a deep imprint on the ground where they were standing and rolled a few meters before crashing into a tree. Thomas pushed his senses to the max to try and locate the creature. He scanned the tree line and out of the corner of his eye he spotted something high in the trees jumping from one to the other with insane speed.
Max saw all the muscles in Thomas body flex "Thomas don't!" But before Max could stop him he charged after the creature. Thomas burst forward with his eyes focused on his prey. Using his new found mutated strength he kicked the trunk of the tree the monster was attached to and broke clean through it. As the tree began to fall the creature quickly jumped to a different one.
Knowing it could keep running away, it decided to take care of the small human trying to get between it and its food, referring to the deer most likely. With inhumane speed the creature, using its claws, charged straight down the tree. Thomas jumped backwards a few meters to create some space and to not get hit by the creatures charge. The creature didn't lose any momentum when it hit the ground and continued towards Thomas. It swiped its long black claws at Thomas midsection. He stepped back just enough to dodge the attack and without missing a beat stepped forward and popped the creature right in the jaw. The creature was knocked senseless by the heavy blow and became disoriented for a moment. Once it recovered the creature focused on dodging, it became scared after taking a hit from Thomas enhanced strength.
With the creatures agility Thomas was having a hard time landing a hit meanwhile the creature was able to get in a few good slashes here and there. Knowing he wasn't fast enough to catch the creature, Thomas waited for the creature to strike before forgoing defense and attacking. This time he landed a hit on the creatures gut knocking the air out of its lungs.
Max and Anne watched from the distance but could hardly tell what was going on. They could see that Thomas was bleeding and wanted to help but Anne couldn't get a shot off in these conditions. Max knew he could help but didn't want to leave Anne unguarded.
Thomas and the creature were moving incredibly fast compared to normal humans. Still, he was finally able to get a good look at this creature. It had long sharp claws and black fur. It almost looked like a wolf but it had for sure been mutated. Even though he himself has mutated recently, the fact that he keeps taking so much damage in these fights didn't sit right with him.
After trading blows for what seemed like a couple of minutes, the creature began to slow down but so did Thomas. Without any warning the creature felt its life was in danger and changed its focus to the other humans at the edge of the clearing. Thomas wasn't fast enough to react and the creature dashed straight for Max and Anne. It thought since the humans were staying out of the fight it meant they were weak.
"Crap, watch out!" He called out while clutching his wounds.
Unfortunately it was underestimating the group of humans as Max stood to intercept the creature. The creature lashed out with its claws and Max tried to grab the monsters wrists to keep from getting clawed. He was somewhat successful but the sharp claws still managed to cut a few inches into his shoulders. He used all his might to raise his and the creatures arms up high in the air and sent it flying back the way it came with a swift kick to the gut.
"We might actually be in trouble here. Hurry up and take this guy out before it kills us!" Max yelled.
Hearing that, Thomas channeled all his anger towards this creature and ran over to get its attention back on himself. The creature recovered quickly but before it could try anything it felt two arms wrap around its torso and begin to squeeze. Thomas used all his might to crush the creature with his new mutated strength. The creature struggled for a few moments getting in a couple of good cuts before finally going limp with the sound of crunching bones.