On the Hunt

On the Hunt
by Chris Nance

Bris kept her senses keen, waiting patiently in the cold rain. Even with her poncho, she was soaked but gripped her bow tightly, the arrow notched. She’d hunted this wooded game trail before and was sure that the broken carcass of the old wagon in deep brush was enough to keep her well concealed. A large buck pass this very route yesterday and Bris was determined to eat anything but the canned beans she'd salvaged from town.

It had been nearly a decade since the monsters came and swept humanity away, a flood of goblins pouring into Payson and stealing everything she loved. Now, Bris was alone, the last human in a world crawling with evil.

Up ahead, the branches cracked and she readied her bow as her target approached. Something was wrong, the deer was too fast, in furious flight. Intuitively, she let it bolt past, choosing instead to keep her cover. It crested a low hill just as a black hatchet soared past only feet away, sinking itself deeply. Then, the creatures descended on the kill like the terrible monsters they were.

The grinding of teeth and the scratch of claws was too much. She’d grown weary of the flight and fear and hiding. In an instant, her first arrow found its target true in a monster’s heart. She used the ensuing chaos to pick off each horror from the cover of brush until the woods were again silent. “Gaaaah!” Bris shouted as she kicked and kicked and kicked the nearest goblin. Then she turned to the deer. The meat was ruined now, fouled by the very monsters she’d slain.

Arriving back at her lonely hovel under the old stump, she realized she’d rather go to bed hungry than eat another can of beans. And so she did.


300 words