Lone Wolf

A deer walked into the woods as the sun slowly began to set. It scanned its surrounding as it stopped among a patch of meadow, twitching its ears as it sniffed the air for signs of danger. When all it was a gentle breeze blowing through the trees and all it smelled was the fresh smell of leaves falling, the deer lowered its head and began to eat. It was unaware that danger indeed lurked nearby. Hiding in the bushes, a silver wolf watched his prey with hungry eyes. He began to sneak out of the bushes, barely making a sound, as he moved towards the unsuspecting deer. He quickly began to pick up the pace as he drew closer to his prey before breaking into a full run. The deer raised its head at the last moment, only to see the wolf lunging at it. It screamed just before the wolf tore into its throat. Nearby, another predator was hunting a different kind of prey.

A large armored vehicle rode down a dirt road before coming to a slow stop after smoke began to rise at the front. Three men, wearing exo-suits and armed with RG-17 assault rifles, climbed out of the vehicle and two of them began to examine the vehicle while the third kept watch, using the HUD scanner on his fiberglass face-plate to scan the area. Inside the vehicle were two others, an armored driver, and an officer. Hiding in the tall grass on a hill close-by, a camouflaged sniper watched through his scope as the two men opened the hood and began scanning the compartments. Growing impatient, the officer called out to the men, ordering them to hurry up.

The sniper pulled back the bolt, allowing a bullet to enter the chamber, before pushing it back to its original place. He slowly turned the barrel towards the lone soldier still scanning the area. With the cross-hairs raised towards the soldier's head, the sniper breathed in slowly and held his breath as he moved his finger onto the trigger. Just as the soldier turned his head, the sniper pulled the trigger.

The fiberglass cracked as the soldier's face exploded and the soldier fell, drawing the others' attention. The two at the front quickly dropped to one knee as they pointed their rifles about. Having aimed at the other two, the sniper squeezed the trigger once again. One of the soldiers screamed as he fell after receiving a hit on the side of his chest while the other maneuvered around the vehicle. He raised his head to see if he can spot the attacker. He dropped instantly as his forehead exploded.

The officer yelled at the driver and the driver tried to crank the vehicle, only to find it pointless. A small spark flared on the driver's arm and a small pinging sound was heard and the officer ducked down. The driver reached behind him and grabbed a large chaingun before stepping out of the vehicle. The driver stepped around the vehicle, making large thumping noises with each step, before stopping in front of the opened passenger side. The driver used his infrared scanner to find the sniper. Just as he detected the sniper, the last thing he saw was the screen crack and bits of his blood splatter onto it before everything went dark. The driver slumped back onto the side of the vehicle, dropping the chaingun. Fearing for his life, the officer scrambled out of the vehicle, taking his handgun of the holster before pressing his back against the hull.

He then sprinted into the woods and ducked behind a tree, breathing hard. As dusk arrived, the officer glanced around nervously before he continued further into the woods. He stopped when he heard a twig snap. He squeezed the handle tightly before spinning around, pointing the pistol at a silver wolf, who growled at him. Beads of sweat began trickling down the officer's forehead and his hand started shaking. Suddenly, a single gunshot echoed through the woods.

The officer dropped his arm before collapsing onto the ground. The wolf looked to see the sniper stepping out from the bushes, wielding a smoking handgun while his rifle was strapped to his back. The sniper lowered his handgun as he walked over to the officer's body. The sniper looked at the wolf, who met his eyes in return but did not utter a growl. The wolf then turned and walked away.

The sniper knelt beside the corpse, holstering his weapon and taking out a small handheld device, grabbed the corpse's hand and placed it on the device. The device lit up and emitted a small buzzing sound before shutting off and a computer voice spoke out, "Hand print scanned. Target confirmed. Status: K.I.A." The sniper then took out another small handheld device and connected it to the scanner. He pressed "send" on the screen. Seconds later, a message appeared and it read, "Excellent work, Lone Wolf. Stand by for further instructions." The sniper, Lone Wolf, turned the screen off, placed both devices in his satchel, and walked away into the night.