Army of Humans and Monsters-The Book

Chapter 21

A few hours later at the kitsune’s house, the two had finished watching a movie, one that Bloodtooth pretended to like, as it was a war movie, which had all the facts wrong. For instance, the sergeant, in real life, was a human, and the privates were kitsunes, not the other way around, and the sergeant only killed one for treason, by shooting him, not two by eating them alive for his supper.

“Great movie, don’t you agree?” he asked.

“Yah, it was alright, I guess,” Bloodtooth said, with fake enthusiasm.

“You didn’t like it?” the kitsune said, puzzled. “I thought that you would have, considering that you must have been there at some point.”

“Oh, I would have liked it, if they got the details correct.” (Bloodtooth)

“What do you mean? This is based on a true story.” (Kitsune)

“Based on one? Sure it is. But, is it accurate? No.” (Bloodtooth)

“What do you mean?” (Kitsune)

“I know the sergeant in real life, and he is nothing like what this movie depicts him to be. Besides, even if he was a kitsune, he only killed one, and that was by shooting him though the heart and they left his body to rot.” (Bloodtooth)

“Is that how it really went down? Well tell me, if he wasn’t a kitsune, what was he?” (Kitsune)

At this, Bloodtooth smiled and asked, “Did you check out my file, Officer Orangetail?”

“Yah,” he said. “It was impressive. Over thirty separate engagements in over a dozen countries, including a few fights with bandits.”

“Did you see my picture or race listed on it?” (Bloodtooth)

“That’s the funny thing; those two things were not on it.”

“That is because the look of my face, in both forms, and the race that I am, are classified information. We always do this to protect the soldier, or officer, should there be an incident.” (Bloodtooth)

“Like what?” (Orangetail)

“Like as to who blew up the Dragon’s Den, as well as that place the other day,” Bloodtooth said, with a knowing smile.

“That was you!?” the office said, moving to the other side of the couch, as he had had his arm around her shoulders.

“Oh yah,” she said, with a grin. “Of course, I did have some help.”

“That vampire was your accomplice?! I’m going to see that you two get arrested and executed!” (Orangetail)

“Oh, but didn’t you hear, there was another.” (Bloodtooth)

“Tell me who and I’ll see that the judge grants you a quick death,” Orangetail said, as he pulled out his pistol, and pointed it at Bloodtooth, nervous.

“Easy answer kid,” Bloodtooth said, as she leaned back on the couch, relaxing. “It was the cousin of the woman who was locked in the trunk, a Private Jenkins, and just for you to know, some friends of mine are letting her out now, even as we speak.”

At this, Orangetail started to pull on the trigger of his pistol, when Bloodtooth said, “You might want this,” and pulled out a clip from her pocket. “All that you have is that one bullet in the chamber, and while getting shot is a bitch, as is dying, such things are nothing new to me. Also, by the time that you get this clip from me, or go for my own guns, which are not loaded by the way, the others would be in here, and you would find yourself being dragged before the base Commander, who, for your information was that Sergeant, and is human, will execute you himself. As for me, I’ll be revived and, after some physical therapy, back to duty within the month. And, after having been separated for five long pain filled years, Jenkins will be reunited with his cousin. All in all, I say that it all turns out quite good. Now, put the gun down boy. After all, an empty gun is worthless next to a human who is willing to do what it takes to be reunited with his family. Of course, seeing as to how you now know classified information, you have two options, take a sniper’s bullet, from a guy who is half a mile away from here, or, you sign up. Then again, haven’t you always wanted a real challenge?”

“Okay,” the man said, as he put the gun down. “I guess I’ll sign up.”

“Good,” Bloodtooth said, as she picked the gun up, and pressed a button, revealing that there was a loaded clip in the pistol.

“You tricked me,” Orangetail said, as Bloodtooth put the clip back in the pistol.

“Yes and no,” she said. “While there is no one else out there by the car, if I know my comrade, Wolfblood, that vampire you saw with me, is perched on a rooftop some distance away, looking down the sight of a sniper rifle, aiming at your head, even as I speak.”

Then, she pointed the pistol at the officer, stood up, and said, “Now, stand up, and get your keys. After all, I, and several others, made a promise to find that girl, as well as, the rest of her family.”

“Why would you want to find a scrawny girl like her?” the officer said, as he stood up. “I just bought her, just before I went to see you. I thought that she’d be perfect for the two of us to share with dinner.”

“Yah, as the dinner itself right. I should have told you this but, for your information, I’m a vegetarian,” Bloodtooth said, as the pair walked outside. “Father always told me that one should not kill someone just to eat them. The only time that it would be, understandable, would be if there was absolutely no other choice, and then, I was to give that person a quick death, pray for their soul, as well as my own, and then eat their body, with the utmost respect.”

“Sounds contradictory, considering that you have killed more than a thousand people in combat, over the last twelve years,” Orangetail said, as he nervously tried to put the keys into the keyhole in his car’s trunk.

“Oh there is a difference, believe me,” Bloodtooth said, with a smile. “Someone like you kills others to satisfy a barbaric desire to eat those weaker than yourself. Someone like me, on the other hand, kills to protect those who can’t protect themselves, from those like you.”

“What are you saying? Is the whole military like this?” Orangetail asked as he finally found the right key and put it into the keyhole.

At this, Bloodtooth smiled, as the trunk opened up, and pulled him away from it.

“You will find out soon,” she said, as she pulled another gun from a third holster, and shot him with it, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

She then saw the young woman, Tabitha, looking at the now fallen officer.

“Is he dead?” she asked, after Bloodtooth removed the gag from her mouth, and untied her.

“No,” Bloodtooth said, with a soft, and gentle voice. “I used a tranquillizer dart on the bastard. He’ll be out for a few hours, long enough to get him to base and placed under a dream spell.”

“Why did you do that? I heard you say my cousin’s name, as well as my own, before you knocked my out. Did you really know him, and is he dead?” (Tabitha)

“No kid,” Bloodtooth said, with a smile. “The boy is very much alive. And I really did promise him that I’d find you, one way or another. Now, I best give you some clothes. I don’t think that you’d want to see you cousin for the first time in five years, naked.”

With that, Bloodtooth got out her shrink bag, pulled out some fatigues, and gave them to her.

“I know they are not much,” she said. “But they are better than nothing. Now, before we go, I best deal with this bastard.”

She then got out the officer’s handcuffs, and cuffed his hands behind his back. Then, she got some rope from the shrink bag and hog-tied him. After that, she picked him up, took his keys, and tossed him into the trunk.

“When you are done getting dressed,” she said, closing the lid. “Get into the passenger seat in the front. I need to take you to the base, for your protection.”

“What do you mean?” Tabitha asked.

“It is because the moment the tax collectors realize that you are alive, they will come for you, just like they tried to with you cousin. Thankfully, he signed up before they could get him,” Bloodtooth said, as she opened the driver’s side door, groaning in disgust at the ‘leftovers’ that Orangetail had left in the car.

“Remind me to give him one hell of a nightmare,” she grumbled. “I hope that Chap doesn’t mind giving them a proper blessing, so that, if their souls are still around, that they will cross over, peacefully.”

She then looked at Tabitha and said, “Sorry about the car. It is his after all.”

“What will be done to it?” the woman asked, as she finished dressing, and came up to the front, and saw what was in the car.

“First off, the remains will be removed, blessed, and give a proper burial. As for the car itself, giants step on small things all the time.” (Bloodtooth)

“What do you mean?” (Tabitha)

“After it is cleaned out, a giant friend of mine will accidentally step on it. After that, it will be nothing more than scrap metal, and it will be taken to a factory, that is owned and operated by the military, and turned into something else, like parts for tanks, service vehicles, and weapons.” (Bloodtooth)

“But, why would the military happen to be interested in someone like me?” Tabitha asked, as she opened the door and the two of them crawled in, Bloodtooth being forced to push the seat back as far as it could.

“Two reasons,” she said, turning the car on, and setting it into gear. “First off, according to regulations, anyone who is related to a current, or an honorable discharged soldier, in any branch, falls under military jurisdiction. Anyone who harms them, in any manner, will face a military trial, and if found guilty, executed by that soldier, or his squad mates, should the soldier be unable to do so him/herself. Since your cousin has now joined the military, it became our job to track down any family he had, and made sure that they were protected, which means, since you are his only living family member, unless you have a husband and/or a kid somewhere, you are now under our protection.”

“Well, what is the second reason?” (Tabitha)

At this, Bloodtooth looked behind her, backing the car out of the driveway, and said, “That’s classified information. However, I can safely say this; your great-grandfather started something that changed the way that the military operates. If I was to say anything else, either you’d have to join up, get your memory wiped, or I’d have to kill you, and, for the sake of your cousin, I wouldn’t want to have to kill you. That would leave you with getting the information wiped from your mind, or signing up, and something tells me that, while you would be perfect for the military, as you have a fighter’s spirit, you don’t want to have a thing to do with the military.”

“You would be correct on that,” Tabitha said, with a sigh, as Bloodtooth started to drive towards the base. “Although, I would like to know if my cousin will be safe, while he is in the military. After all, he could get killed.”

“True,” Bloodtooth said. “However, our military won’t kill one of our soldiers, unless he/she/it breaks the Code, well, at least not on purpose. Of course, if it was an accident, or a result of enemy efforts, we make sure that our doctors know a top secret spell, one that has a good chance of bringing one back to full life, over ninety-nine percent. Although with humans, there is about a thirty percent chance that they could end up as either a vampire or a zombie, both of which have an equal chance at happening. Of course, if that happened, we have special places to help those men and women out, so that they can control their new urges, as well as, train them to use their new abilities.”

“Have you ever needed to, you know, be brought back?” (Tabitha)

“Yah,” Bloodtooth said, looking at her out of the corner of her eye. “And to be honest, I don’t know which is worse, dying or being brought back to life. However, five years ago, I swore an oath, one that I aim to keep, even if I have to be brought back to life a thousand times, until I see it through.”

“Was someone important to you killed then?” (Tabitha)

“Yah, it was some family members of a guy that I owe my life to. If he hadn’t done what he did, I would not be alive today. When they were murdered by a good-for-nothing-not-even-for-food traitor, I swore that I would do everything that I could to catch and kill the bastard.” (Bloodtooth)