Wolf

Wolf I am, Everything
in darkness Will be good
In light because Maheo
Wherever I search Protects us
Wherever I run Ea ea ea ho.
-- Song of a Cheyenne scout.


The thing was fast - they all were - but it was not fast enough to get out of the way of the Greyhound bus travelling to Las Vegas Nevada down I-15. The driver of the bus saw the animal mere seconds before his 45 foot bullet collided with it, producing a sickening squishing noise, and sending a jolt of adrenaline through Jason's veins. Many things happened at once, although to Jason's mind, time seemed to slow enough for them to take place sequentially.
1. Jason said, "Shit."
2. He stepped on the brakes.
3. He announced to the passengers, "Brace yourselves, everyone!"
4. He swerved in a last minute attempt to avoid the animal that had appeared out of nowhere in front of his path.
5. He glanced in the mirror to look back at his 28 men, women and children that he was responsible for.
6. He noticed that several (six, to be exact, some part of his brain realized and stored away) of the passengers seemed...ill.
7. He wondered if they had witnessed the animal he was just about to send to meet it's maker.
8. Squish. Thud. Crunch.

The bus was decelerating, and Jason was pumping the brakes and attempting to regain control of the bus and his rapidly beating heart. He was sweating and his mouth was very dry. Jason had been a driver for the past three years, and he had, until just now, had a spotless record. "Damn." he thought. As he pulled over to the shoulder, put on the emergency hazard lights and slowed the bus to a complete standstill, he was mentally going over the training he had gone through for just such an event. Rule #1 was to make sure that the passengers were safe. As he was turning around to get out of his coach-seat and ask how everyone was holding up, he heard screams.

What he saw would pale in comparison to the eventual nightmares he would witness, but at the time, it was the most horrific thing Jason Wolf had seen in his 33 years on earth.

The six passengers who had seemed sick while the bus slowed had all been replaced by beasts of some kind. Hairy, huge, snarling animals who were wearing the clothing that the humans who had been there just five minutes before. The people who had been seated near the transformed had been the ones who had screamed. Jason couldn't blame them. He felt like screaming himself, but found he was unable to do so. All he could do was stare in disbelief.

The creatures began to attack their surroundings. The animals seemed indiscriminate on what, exactly, they were battling. Human flesh, bus seats, empty air; it was all the same to them. They bit and scratched and snarled. The seat belts were - temporarily - restraining the beasts. Most of the remaining humans had removed themselves from their seats, and headed toward the front of the bus. Jason opened the door and began ushering people off quickly.