Chapter 6: Short-faced Bear
"FUCKING RUN!"
"AAAAAAH!"
"RUNNNNN!"
"OUCH DON'T STEP ON ME!"
"THIS ISN'T HOW I WANNA DIE!"
One growl from the creature was all it took to throw everyone in disarray, causing them to run like headless chickens.
But who was Felix to blame them when he was doing the exact same?
His cold persona was shattered as he turned around and bolted toward the center of the town. His destination? The town's one and only police station, of course.
Living in the town of UNA, it wasn't uncommon to find some random people carrying guns. As they say, a day isn't normal until you hear a gunshot.
However, Felix didn't know anyone with a gun in his close surroundings. Thus, heading to the police station was the safest bet.
One might ask, what kind of horror did the townspeople even see for them to react this way?
And the answer was much simpler than expected. It was a bear.
Not the usual, grizzly or a brown bear. It was the type that went extinct in the Ice age. The giant short-faced bear.
When stood up, the giant bear was nearly 4 meters tall, towering over every human, and its dangerously sharp claws swung wildly. Its spit flew when it growled and blood sprayed when it bites.
In just a moment of 2 minutes, 3 townspeople had already fallen prey to the tall beast. One swipe of its claw was all it took to end the human life.
'Fuck why is it so fast?!' Felix glanced backward, noticing the bear running towards the crowd on its fours.
Felix threw his hand forward, making space for himself and pushing through the crowd without any regard for the elders who blocked his path. In the end, what's the point of showing respect when he isn't alive to bask in the praises? It's not like he wanted praise anyway.
After a 5-minute sprint and leaving the elders in dust, Felix stopped running and panted for breath.
"Fuck you, bear! I will tell my mother's boyfriend about this! He will shoot you with his long rifle! Wait that sounds weird…"
Near Felix, a young man was panting on the floor, cursing at the bear.
"How do you know your stepdad has a long rifle, bro? It could be a pistol too you know?"
"Nah it's a long… very long rifle. He showed me. My mum likes it too." the young man shook his head, "Wait… that sounds weird too…"
"You are weird." Felix who was standing nearby, scoffed.
"I know- wait what? Who the fuck are you to call me weird, pal?" the young man shot up to his feet, dusting his ass.
"Felix. Is your mom in the town or outside?" Felix asked.
"She is on her boyfriend's farmhouse in the nearby city, but why the hell do you care?"
"Sad, if she was here, maybe your stepdad would have tried harder to support us." Felix shook his head and lost interest in the chat.
He casually looked behind, seeing some people still running from the bear. After seeing the bear was still on the trail, Felix began to run.
"He isn't my stepdad!" the young man shouted, but alas, Felix was already gone to hear him.
***
It had been 15 minutes since the bear last attacked, and Felix already reported the problem to the local police station.
A team of inspectors was then deployed, equipped with some police rifles and pistols.
"That's huge…" a police inspector, hiding behind a car murmured in shock when he looked at the short-faced bear.
"Yeah. Try to target its eyes or the head." another inspector replied as he aimed his rifle.
"Roger!" the rest of his team saluted and began to lock their aims.
Felix, who stood farther than the others glanced at the scene in thought. 'A short-faced bear's hide is tougher than normal ones, though the rifles should penetrate it well enough. But I am worried its constitution is too high to be downed with some bullets-'
*Bang!*
A gunshot put an end to Felix's thoughts, urging him to look at the bear in shock.
The bullet was fired by the leader of the team, perfectly hitting the bear's snout. Blood leaked from the wound and the inspector cheered when Bear slowed its chase.
Alas, they were gravely mistaken. A bear as huge as Short-faced wasn't scared by the injury, but rather enraged. It stopped swiping uselessly at the crowd mob and fixed its sight on the car.
"Graaaaah!"
Another growl tore the air as the bear dropped to its fours, accelerating down the road towards the car like a fast-speed truck.
"SHOOT!" the leader panicked.
Hearing his scream, all the inspectors pressed the trigger, even when their aims weren't properly set, causing most of the bullets to hit non-lethal parts such as the body, and fur and even miss.
"No no no no!" Felix's eyes widened and he broke into a dash, escaping away from the enraged bear.
Behind him, a series of gunshots continued to be fired, but he ran to a tall building and climbed to the terrace, finally moving out of sight.
Down below, the town was left in chaos.
The townspeople ran from the bear for their lives, everyone clamored on the roads, building conspiracy theories behind the sinkhole, and some idiots dressed up for work, not wanting to miss a single day.
While the part away from the bear was comparatively calmer, the part with the bear was hell.
In the face of death, humans showed their true colors, prioritizing their own lives and leaving the weak ones to die. And like a savage grim reaper it was, the bear mercilessly stomped and slayed every moving object in its sight.
Felix, watching from the top of the terrace felt grim. He kept his sight on the ongoing bear fight, but the bear was still standing while most of the inspectors were lethally injured, or fled from battle.
"Is that shit immortal or what?!" Felix cursed.
The bear's body was bleeding from multiple areas, staining its majestic brown coat in a shade of crimson. Yet, it stood. Continued to growl and fight for its life, while the inspectors kept shooting at it.
However, it was obvious that it was getting tired. It's movements became sluggish and it repeatedly tried to disengage from the fight, but then retaliated when it was shot.
"Graah…" the bear, exhausted, let out a low growl.
It turned around and began to walk away, limping. It probably wanted to run, but had no energy to.
"Finally." Felix sighed in relief.
He glanced at the limping bear and ran towards the injured policemen.
'It might die from blood loss on its own, though it's a good idea to end it right now.' Felix thought with a glint in his eyes, 'If there is even a single possibility it survives, it will definitely attack again.'
Felix reached the inspectors and found the leader still alive, his shoulder had a bleeding claw wound, the skin was torn and white bones peeked under the skin. From the wound, a disgusting mixture of blood and mucus leaked, while the inspector was barely holding onto his rifle.
"Boy…" he struggled to speak when he saw Felix standing in between of the carnage.
"Yes, sir." Felix respectfully saluted the man, praising his guts. Not literally.
"Shoot…" his hands barely moved, but Felix understood the man. He had the same idea as Felix. The bear must not survive.
Felix initially wanted to go for the rifle since it was more powerful and accurate, but he, someone with little to no experience in firearms, felt it wouldn't be a good choice.
So he quickly picked up the handgun instead, making the inspector smile despite his pain.
With his right hand around the grip and left around the trigger guard, Felix took a deep breath and aimed at the bear.
*Bang*
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone