ZP: Of Predators and Prey Ch 6

"Here we go again with the dramatic speech." Anne replied With a huff, her heartbeat accelerating as the tension rose. "I'll make sure to let some screams leave your mouth as well."

Anne's body stiffened at the immense roar, her skin pale in fear as cold sweat ran down her forehead. Her guard weakened as she stood completely still, frozen in fear. Looking at her opponent now seemed more like staring Death itself in the eye. Tears begun to leave the woman's eyes and she bit her lip before finally moving, though it was not to attack. Instead, she turned and ran, unable to take the immense pressure of having to fight the monster facing her. Yet despite her fear, she could still hear a faint voice in her head telling her to fight and she found herself unable to rid herself of it. Just what was this feeling?

Whatever that feeling was, it was quickly interrupted by the sound of loud coughing behind her. As she ran she began to feel the ground shake underneath her feet, a drumbeat of the earth followed by the sounds of small trees being knocked down and vegetation being plowed through. And by the sounds coming behind her, Wally was coming up on her tail. Fast.

With wide eyes, the sheep infected slowly looked over her shoulder to see Wally closing in on her. How the hell was he so fast? With such a large and heavy body, there was no way he should reach this level of speed. She was not given more time to think about the issue as she returned her attention up front and tried to speed up. However, she had already reached her limit. If she were to try and run faster than she was, the sheep infected would most definitely trip. As her prosthetic leg were weaker than her right, adding more speed would make the movement of her legs uneven. She could nearly feel Wally's breathing now. In just a few seconds he would catch up. Then it returned again. The feeling. Her eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth. This constant voice telling her to fight back was starting to drive her mad.

That would at least explain what she did next.

Without a single hint or warning, her body came to a sudden halt, her prosthetic leg digging up dirt as her leg shot backward and into the alligator's stomach, her solid cloves pressing harshly against his body as the velocity of his speed threw him into the attack. She might have become weaker, but with his own speed used against him, this kick of hers was definitely a powerful one.

As his large form exploded out of the leaves, his naked scaly form ran in the same position he had when she had been on his back, leaning forward with his tail lashing behind him. As her hoof flew towards him, his jaws opened wide, his neck turning sideways to scoop her up in his jaws. His teeth were mere inches away from her body when her hoof made contact with his stomach. The moment it did, he grunted and his jaws raised, snapping at the open air just above her as he kept going. As the impact pushed her back, she realized that the kick didn't stop him but instead pushed his lower end up, causing him to loose balance and fall. Without time to react, his body fell forward and crushed the upper half of her body, his girth pressing her into the ground before he half-flipped at an angle and rolled along the ground away from her.

Loud screams left Anne's lips as she writhed in pain. The impact had surely broken some ribs and the pain was excruciating. However, she could not allow her opponent to win. There was no way she would let him take her right arm. Having two prosthetics was more than enough. She weakly rolled on her stomach, groaning in pain as she forced herself to stand, then stared at Wally. The sheep infected raised both fists in a guard and positioned her legs, getting ready for the fight to resume. If she could not run, there was no choice but to fight, no matter how terrifying it was.

As she started to get up, the gator was doing the same, his arms pushing his torso up to stand in his hunch and started to stalk over to her. She had expected some kind of clever retort from the reptile, but his pupils were merely dark vertical lines in his glowing green eyes, his body slowing to circle her as she moved with his jaws agape. Wally was in full predator mode now, and any intelligence he had seemed to be gone as it was replaced by raw instinct. As they circled one another, his eyes instinctively scanned her body for any sign of weakness.

Anne's eyes were locked onto the alligator, her heart beating immensely as the two silently searched for an opportunity to strike. Just by looking at her enemy, the sheep knew that he had been taken over by his predatory Instincts and she could not help but feel a sense of relief. If he stayed like this, she would find a way to win despite her weakened state. One show of weakness and the alligator would undoubtedly strike without a second thought. That could be her chance to get the upper hand. In Anne's eyes, intelligence far outclasses brute strength and violence. However, the real issue here were her broken ribs. Any sudden movement would lead to immense pain, so she had to finish things quickly. She took a deep breath to calm herself before narrowing her eyes at the alligator. It was now or never. She took a step backward and winced before her guard suddenly faltered.

"Damn it...my ribs..." she uttered, faking weakness as she waited for the crocodile to strike, hopeful that he would take the bait so she could respond with a counter. In the state she was in, counters were the only thing she could do if she had any hopes of winning.

Before she even ended the sentence, the Wally was on her. He wasted no time running again, his footsteps sending clumps of dirt flying behind him as his jaws opened wide, his head turning sideways to catch her body between his jaws. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the train of flesh and teeth drove her way with his bladed tail swinging to each side.

That was way faster than she expected and he sudden motion made her jump in fright. Her right hand trembled as she tried to prepare herself for impact, but no idea came to mind. Anne's entire body shook once Wally got closer, but she had to act if she wanted to survive. However, she was still drawing blanks on how to handle the situation and could not help but tear up. Was she going to die? She bit her lips as she tried to regain her composure, but then she heard that voice again. Before she had any idea what was going on, her body acted on its own and just as the alligator chomped down, she ducked beneath the jaw, clenched her fist and sunk her knuckles into his throat. The woman cried out in pain due to her broken ribs as she proceeded to jump out of the way, tumbling in the grass as she clutched her chest. What just happened, she thought.

Then pain exploded into her side as the side of Wally's tail slammed against her ribs, the familiar burn of his scales pulling on her flesh came back as her body was propelled sideways, the blade carving a red scar in her side as she flew and fell on her opposite side. Looking up from the ground, the gator was turning around from his swing, his eyes trained on her as he began to turn her way.

Anne let out a bloodcurdling scream as she rolled on the ground, painting the grass red with her blood as she clutched her bleeding side. Tears flowed and she kicked her legs violently as the pain surged through and ravaged her body. That was a clean hit to the throat, so how did he still manage to respond that quickly? She could not wrap her mind around it, she punched as hard as she could. At the same time she had no idea what made her go for a punch at all. It was as if instinct controlled her. Just then, a familiar image appeared before her eyes.

"Anne, let me fight him. You're not able to focus and you're hesitating. At this rate, you'll lose. We've practiced this for a while now, so let me fight." her parasite pleaded, looking into the host's eyes. "It will definitely increase out chances."

Anne shook her head as she bit her lip. "No, I won't let you... This is my fight. I...I can handle this..." the sheep uttered as she slowly forced herself up on her feet, grabbing a handful of dirt in both hands. "There's no rules...so I can take him..." she said, her legs trembling as she stumbled a few steps, showing weakness.

Her limping caught his attention as he fully turned towards her, his jaws opening wide as he slowly walked her way, his bottom jaw lining up with her waist as he stalked ever closer to her, starting to close the gap between them, his neck tensing for the strike.

Anne stood still, making sure not to waste any energy as her body throbbed in pain. Her side was a bloody mess, a number of her ribs were broken and the fear of death plagued her mind. Despite all of this however, she stood her ground, knowing fully well that she had no chance of escaping no matter what she did. Her only chance was to fight. She gritted her teeth as Wally got closer until finally he chomped down with his massive maw. She moved to the right just in time to avoid the attack, then narrowed her eyes as she saw his tail coming flying towards her. It was now or never. The sheep infected then braced herself and took the tail head on, letting her prosthetic arm take the blow before roaring in pain from the massive pressure her broken ribs faced. Her feet skidded alongside the ground and dug up dirt, but after a few more yards, the tail finally lost momentum. Seeing her chance, the woman grabbed hold of the tail and tensed her muscles before letting out a loud yell. With arm and leg muscles bulging, Anne managed to lift him off the ground despite his heavy weight and slammed him to the ground before falling to her knees. "H-how's that...you bastard?!"

Her arm was completely numb at this point and her head was feeling light at this point as she leaned her prosthetic hand against the ground. Her body was burning in pain and she could barely even move. She felt as if she was going to throw up at any moment. There was no doubt about it, she had used up all of her strength with that move. "D-damn it... This was no problem before..." she muttered to herself as the anguish of fear clouded her mind. "I can't move...I'm going to die aren't I...?"


After another minute, she heard movement