First Hunt

The search did not last long, the hollow had sensed him much like he had sensed it. Slave to whatever trait made it kill the other men, it stalked him through pipes and broken floors. He saw it as he got close, without fear of his capability or armaments. The monster had a feline shape to it’s mask, but stood upright and towered over the human. Long hair flowed from the back of its head, matted with ick and grime, and is stared at Jeremy with hunger. A look the human answered with a pump of his assault shotgun.

The incomplete halls of the apartment complex rattled as the hollow’s piercing scream drowned out Jeremy’s hear, and he retorted with a bark of his shotgun. Although surprised, the monster seemed unshaken. It struck forward, hoping to scythe him down with its unnaturally long arms. Every step back was another attack from the hollow, its claws making shallow cuts on his body. But the suit soon sealed over, applying pressure to the wounds underneath, and Jeremy surged forward when he saw his opening.

In it’s overzealous attacks, it left a window under its arms and to the side. He rolled under the next attack and when he got to his feet he swung with his clawed hand, the wound cutting deep. The hollow let out another scream as if to attack, before falling to one knee. The toxic substance that coated the gruesome weapon kept the wound from healing, and the monster reeled back as if in fright. Holding one hand over the wound, it started to limp away deeper into the lair and Jeremy gave chase.

In the time the hollow had made the build its home, it had turned it to a labyrinthian nightmare. Junk and garbage piled everywhere, whatever it could get its hands on strewed about. Despite the size of the monster, it seemed to shift through the piles with a practiced grace, and the human was started to lose pace.

Not that he needed to keep up with it.

He held his gauntlet up, aiming toward where the hollow was heading, and fire fired a small grenade from a tube welded to the top. It sored past the hollow into the hallway it was heading towards, and the flash bang exploded in a brilliant white light. The hollow recoiled from the loud and blinding flash, and it turned into another corridor.

“Target heading towards kill zone.” Jeremy reported as he followed after, loading more shells into his weapon, the hard click of the pump telling him he was full. He raced into a portion of the building open to the sky. But as he entered it, a large hand grabbed him and yanked him into the air. The hollow had him and it started to slam him into a nearby i-beam. Unable to move his shotgun, he reached to his leg and pulled a large caliber pistol from its holster and fired into the hollow’s arm. It flinched and let him go, and as it attempted to cut him in twain he was gone.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and the hollow was now the one on the back foot as he stitched its side with high powered rounds. Jeremy grit his teeth, feeling that one false step would be his end. But it was a smile all the way through as he forced the hollow into position.

“Target acquired” he heard Remilia through his comms, and with a free hand Jeremy hit the detonator.

Across several i-beams explosives went off, filling the air with large bolos. Although many missed, enough hit the target and wrap around it. High tension cable attached to the bolos start to tighten, and the hollow found itself immobilized. From across the street, Jeremy could see Remilia on top of the hotel they had watched from, a recoilless rifle aimed where the hollow hung in the air. Each shot was like thunder as they slammed the hollow over and over, large chunks of it torn away. It struggled in vain to get away, all while Jeremy poured his own weapon’s firepower along with Remilia’s.

Soon there was nothing left, the hollow’s soul being dragged to Hell the last sight of it. Jeremy looked back into the trash maze, thinking. Where was it trying to go originally? He followed the path further down into the building, into the hollow’s lair.

He knew that all hollow were once humans, turned animalistic but not mindless. Perhaps something of its old life was why, in the heart of the building, he found cages with humans inside. Alive, but clearly mistreated and neglected. Most of them seemed as if they were once homeless. All of them were afraid as he walked closer. They would not have seen the hollow that had captured them, but Jeremy would be a stand in for what they should fear.

With a recorded scream from the cat like hollow, he wildly started to smash the cages, and the people ran. Not knowing they were saved by him. But he would be fine with that.

“Alright, Alex. We need extraction. There’s going to be some people running out of the building. It seems the hollow was collecting them for some reason.

“Any reason why?” Remilia asked, and Jeremy just shrugged. Or perhaps shuttered was a better description

“I’d rather not think about it.” he answered.

Once the room was cleared, he made his way to a back street where a van was parked for them. Alex was a reliable man, and although he was the getaway guy he was no less important to the team. Remilia was already waiting for him, half dressed and maintaining her weapon. Once he was in, they were off.

“Are you okay, Jeremy?” Alex asked as he moved through the back roads “Suit vitals says you took a few hits.”

“I’m fine.” In truth, he would probably be hurting for some time and need some stitches, but it was nothing Lionel’s meds couldn’t fix. “Could we go for a burger run? I’m starving.”