Interlopers Story

here is the original/prompt

“Wolves”

Ulrich could feel Georg begin to shake. There was more than a shake in his sudden movements. It was a frenzied scrabbling. He was trying to escape! Georg knew better than to try to outrun wolves.

“Could you help me friend?” Georg asked in a hurried, but not quite frenzied voice, thus interrupting Ulrich’s thoughts.

“What do you need?” Ulrich asked, wondering what could possibly save them from their seemingly doomed fate.

“Free my hands.”

“What?” Ulrich was no fool. He could not reach around the tree that had fallen on them to Georg. “I am afraid I can’t reach you.”

“You can reach with your feet! Move your feet and kick at the branches.”

Ulrich now understood. As they frenziedly kicked and scratched at the branches by Georg’s feet, the wolves suddenly stopped. The largest and most prominent of them smelled the air.

“Hurry, we do not have much time before they get to us,” Georg said, proclaiming the obvious. “Ha! Got it!”

“What, What do you have?” Ulrich asked, hoping it was something good, or they were in trouble.

“A flash-bang grenade. You seem puzzled. It releases a large flash, then a bang to temporarily blind and deafen any one, or thing in this case.” Georg proudly proclaimed.

“Well use it!” Ulrich whispered, even though he felt like shouting. Fear was wrenching his stomach so that he could feel it deep in his gut.

“I can’t throw that far, and it must be near to work well.” Georg proclaimed much to Ulrich’s dismay. “Wait. Plug you ears and close your eyes… NOW!” Georg screamed as he pulled the pin and lobbed the grenade 15 yards from the tree. The resulting flash-bang was enough to make a full-grown man cry out in pain.

Ulrich opened his eyes and pulled his fingers out of his throbbing ears. The wolves were on the ground yelping in pain! One of them lunged towards them, but ran away n fear and pain. They all left, most of them running very drunkenly

Georg seemed to have recovered from his injuries at least part time. He helped Ulrich kick off the branches n his side. Then with a heave to stun the gods, they lifted the tree off each other.

“We must find shelter before something larger and smarter comes to investigate the sound.” Ulrich said.

“I may have a map in my pack, let me look… Here it is!” Georg had pulled out a flashlight and a small hand-drawn map of the piece of property we had fought over for years. “I have no idea where we are in this prison of trees. What do you think we should do?”

“I say we should wait until morning and then find our way out by daylight.” Ulrich responded.

“A good idea indeed. Where should we build a shelter, and using what material?”

“In a tree ideally, but I don’t think we can do that in an acceptable amount of time.”

“What about a cave, or other hovel?” Georg questioned. As Ulrich looked closer in the he noticed the cave, or rather crater George was pointing at in the gloom. Ulrich nodded, and the approached. They saw that it was a good hiding place, and gathered logs for a lean-to, which they quickly built. They decide to be sentries for a short amount of time, each keeping watch while the other slept.

The first two half-hour shifts went without event. In Georg’s second shift, though, he heard a low rumble. He checked his rifle, and then wakened Ulrich.

“What? What is it?” Ulrich asked, coming to his senses quickly. Georg motioned for him to be silent, and check his rifle. As Ulrich did so, he heard the sound as well. An involuntary shiver flew down and back p his spine as he recognized it. A bear; the largest bears in forest were now on their trail.

The local hunters called them Bärundwolf, literally bear-wolf. These bears were intelligent, fast and powerful. Ulrich had once killed one, but he had the help of five other hunters, and the Bärundwolf was tired.

Now, he and George were facing a fully awake Bärundwolf, in its own territory. “Do you have another flash-bang grenade?” Ulrich whispered to Georg. He shook his head, no. Ulrich pulled out his pistol, checked it and prepared to face the Bärundwolf.

It ran out of the woods, straight into a small clearing 30 yards from Georg and Ulrich. They immediately held their breath and trained their sights on the Bärundwolf. It turned towards them and gave an ear-splitting roar, evicting an involuntary whimper from Ulrich. The Bärundwolf froze. It had heard him. George was not taking chances. He had lined up his sights, and fired. The Bärundwolf was shocked. The bang sounded like a bomb in the middle of a chapel. Nevertheless, the Bärundwolf was not going down that easily. Ulrich fired, and it roared again. It began to lumber towards their tiny shelter. Georg fired off another round, and ran. Ulrich, fumbled with the cartridge, and followed suit.

As they ran, Ulrich tripped on a root. Georg grabbed him, and climbed up a nearby tree. Unfortunately, Ulrich did not properly secure his rifle, and it fell to the ground with a loud clatter, followed by the involuntary firing of its cartridge. The Bärundwolf had found its prey again. It charged at the tree, and ran straight into it. Ulrich could not suppress the laughter. It was smart. Due to its lack of climbing ability, it was trying to shake its prey from the tree, or break it down. Georg fired his rifle and told Ulrich to stop being an idiot. “Fire your pistol! Do anything to get that thing down, or leave!” Georg screamed.

As the shots hit the Bärundwolf in its head, it stopped its mad charge, and roared again. Ulrich nearly dropped his pistol in pure fear. It then began to climb the tree, or attempt to. It broke all of the low branches.

“Climb friend, climb!” Georg screamed.

By this time, the Bärundwolf had remembered it had claws, and began to sink its claws into the soft wood of the tree. Ulrich climbed for his life. Georg screamed for his pistol, he was out of rifle ammunition. Ulrich tossed it up. As Georg caught it, Ulrich panicked. Below him was a terrifying Bärundwolf; above was a former enemy holding a pistol. He then remembered that Georg was in as much trouble as him, and they had a verbal peace agreement. He climbed. Georg then proceeded to fire five more shots at the Bärundwolf. He asked for another clip. Ulrich gave it to him, but said it was his last. Georg climbed higher, Ulrich close behind. When the Bärundwolf climbed to thicker branches, it rested shortly, before emitting another ear-piercing roar. Georg took the opportunity to unload half of the remaining clip into the Bärundwolf’s eye. With another great scream, this more of pain than threat, the Bärundwolf slowly fell 15 feet, dead.

Georg yelled in glee at their victory. Ulrich and Georg embraced, truly two friends. As Georg handed back the pistol, Ulrich said, “I owe you my life. You may keep the pistol, and this land. I will not interlope, and shall invite you to my Chateau for a private feast of celebration.

The next morning found the new friends asleep, high in a tree. Ulrich’s party arrived first, and awoke him. As they recognized Georg, they all trained their rifles on him. Ulrich noticed the dead Bärundwolf was gone, the only evidence was the blood-spotted snow, which itself was little.

Ulrich spent the next days celebrating with his newest and closest friend, Georg.