Grab Life by The Horns

As they were looking at the moose, Jason slowly took his visor off, and the two creatures looked eye to eye and inspected each other. The moose’s breath slowed.

“It’s it’s not right.” Jason whispered.

“What do you mean?” Cody asked.

“It’s anatomy, it doesn’t match.”

Jason looked at the moose with a trained eye. It was shaped like a moose, from a distance, it had all of the features he expected from a moose. But up close, it was all wrong. The hind legs and hips were too narrow in comparison, the front legs too far apart, as though it had broad shoulders. The head was shaped like a moose’s head from a distance, but the snout seemed almost too delicate, not bony enough. The antlers emerged from a head too round.

The neck looked elongated and strained. Kept at stiff angles to bear the weight, muscles tremored as it held still. Jason looked down at its hooves, and the tracks it made behind it. The tracks looked like moose traks, but the hooves did not. The four toes looked too long, as did the declaw dangling above it. It looked longer, almost posable.”

“What do you mean? It looks like a moose.” Cody whispered back.

“And you look like a wolf.” Jason said, eyes never leaving the moose.

“Wolves don’t exist Jason.”

“Maybe they once were, maybe they aren’t now. But still, thats what you look like.

The creature walked uncomfortably, as if it were a biped forced to walk on its hands and feet, and the moose looked at him with its large blue eyes. It looked at Jason with solemn acknowledgement.

Cassie took a picture. There was a click and a flash.

“No!” cried Jason. Cassie’s face fell as she just realized her mistake.

The moose screamed, its deafening call rang in their ears, and with its antlers shoved Jason aside.
Jason flew into the air, to cassie’s screams. His trip through the air interrupted with a jerk as he was caught by the bioluminescent vines that wrapped themselves around his arms. Once caught they slithered further around him. Some reaching for his dangling legs.

Cody was taken aback he moved back and scrambled for his shotgun. The moose turned to him and he stumbled and fell back. The Shotgun discharged into the air.

The shotgun shrapnel, which planted themselves into the top of the mushroom. The mushroom wailed out a voicless siren’s call. The moose took a step back, and tried to hide its head and ears from the soundless scream.

Cassie, the moose, and Cody all fell to their knees from the sound. Cassie’s body convulsed and wings spasmed out of her carapace. Cody dug into the ground with all four limbs.
The vines released Jason, who fell to the ground.

Cassie was the first to snap out of it, fighting the disorientation, and she stumbled into the air to help Jason.

The moose shook itself out and seeing cody still on the ground with gun on the floor, chased after Cassie.

Cassie made several hops trying to get airborne. Then seeing the moose behind her she let out a cry and a curse. Scrambled onto a burnt out van and jumped, finally able to fly.

The moose charged at her and hit one of the ruined trucks with its angular antlers, the van crumpled and cracked into shards like ceramic.

Cassie grabbed a knife from her boot and flew around the edge of the mushroom as some of the living tendrils flailed and tried to reach out toward her. They grab one of her arms only to be stabbed. Causing the tendrils to recoil. The Vines of the mushroom paused, then after a pause began to act like whips instead. Cassie tried her best to dodge as Jason struggled against the vines. Cassie saw some of them were using the remaining human limbs still wrapped around them. Those vines began to use them as clubs. The mushroom was defending its prize.

She flew out of reach of the tendrils. She called for Cody’s help, but saw that he was occupied trying to evade the moose. She reached for the flare gun in her pocket, and fired it at the mushroom stalk.

The bolt caught into the mushroom and spread its fire around it. The mushroom pulsed and writhed as the vines abandoned Jason. Who fell into a car below him which shattered. The moose, and cody were forced to stop, disoriented by the writhing pulse of the mushroom. As did Cassie, who now frozen fell into a tree. She could feel her wings get torn apart by the branches, but was too disoriented to scream.

Jason was the only one not impacted by the scream. He jumped up, shards of brittle metal his right arm which. He turned to see cassie writhing at the base of a tree, caught in branches like a trapped bird. With his nondominant hand he ripped the broken helmet and visor off.

Jason immediately tried to pull himself out of the car, instinctively he climbed out of the car and ran to cassie, his right arm trailing lifelessly as he moved.

The fire started to consumed the stalk and spread towards the cap of the mushroom, soft green and red flames lit up the snow around them.

Jason, seemingly the only person not affected by the scream, dragged Cassie out of the bushes and slung her on his shoulder. He turned to Cody, and was still on the floor. He shouted out to him.

Cody acknowledged the call, and moving like a drunken man stumbled to his feet before falling back down. On all fours he grabbed the shotgun and ran out away from the mushroom. Whatever the mushroom had done to his friends seemed to be wearing off. Cassie started muttering as he ran out of the center.

“Papa Balguchair” She muttered feverishly and repeatedly. He heard the moose call out, he turned to see it stumble back onto its feet. It followed him, screaming out. Its voice was like a wail of pain.

“Papa Balguchair”

Cassie continued muttering to herself feverishly as they ran through the forest. Her wings spasming out to occasionally block Jason’s view. Jason held her with one hand, dragging his limp other arm behind him. Jason’s mind was empty, adrenaline pulsing through his body and eyes focused only on the path out. With the moose tracks behind him, and the faint glimmer of the truck.

Jason tripped on a root. He and Cassie fell into the dirty snow.

He could hear the moose calling out behind them. The calls varied in length with pauses. He saw it come closer. Preparing to charge him with its antlers, and then a shotgun blast was heard.

The moose cried out.

“Get out of there Jason!” Cody called. The moose stumbled down, blood pouring out of its back rear leg.

The moose squealed as it writhed on the floor. Jason silently looked at the moose before Cody called out to him. They looked at each other without any discussion, debate or argument.

Cody and Jason looked at

They all ran to the truck, not taking any chances. They could see the truck’s headlights in the distance.

Cody hopped in.

They heard the moose calling out, getting fainter and fainter.

Jason climbed into the truck bed with Cassie and took her mask off. Her eyes were wide, muttering things to herself.

Only now did he begin to feel his arm crying out, begging to reattach itself to his shoulder.

Cody got in the car, and they immediately began to drive off.

Jason wrapped Cassie in a blanket and held his head to hers as he looked out while the car sped away.

The moose had stumbled out to follow them out of the forest, bleeding out, and collapsed.

It cried out one more time.

“Why?” it screamed.