I'll Not Quiver
He stood straight and poised, breathing deep and calm.
His eyes remained focused heavily on the target before him. His right hand gripped the main portion of the bow in a firm enough grip it wasn't going to go flying. But loose enough it didn't leave him with blisters. His other hand held the string and the arrow knocked within it, as far back as was meant to go. The head of the arrow pointed directly to the target it was meant to impale. His black ear flickered a little, but he was still intensely focused on the target.
With a final breath, he released the arrow.
He watched as it hit the target. The satisfying sound of the arrow sinking into the wood echoed about him. It wasn't a bullseye. But it was very close. He nodded as he slowly lowered his bow. Not a bad hit. Not his worst, either. Thank fuck it was just practice and not for a competition. But he was practicing for one coming up for his school. He was on his school's archery team. It was an enjoyable sport. One that had some deep roots into their culture and history.
Eh, sort of.
Those not familiar with the sport and history, would question if it was due to hunting back when they first began to shift and shake their fur coats for more flesh. He could only smile in soft amusement as he answered.
No.
It was due to war.
Duh.
Didn't the other cultures and histories have archers during war? But it showed where and when archery became something of a relic to be made into a sport. And hopefully to preserve some of the history. And where it wasn't even much of an activity to do on one's day of self-care and love. He's often gone into his head about what it must have been like hundreds of years ago. When archers like him were on high walls to defend against invasion. Protecting civilians and the royalty or nobility he was tasked with defending. What beautiful omega or striking beta he'd fall in love with, and war strongest for.
As he pulled from his inner musings, he looked to his quiver full of more arrows and pulled another one out. Knocking it into the bow, and raised it to fire another shot. His black and almost blue tinted tail only flinched a little, as he returned to a severely focused state of being. He was decidedly, alone in the field. He'd finished his last class. It was a test, and he'd been permitted to leave early. So the rest of his team would not be joining him for a little while longer.
Or rather, not at all.
But he didn't know that just yet.
//
With his quiver now empty, he had the dubious task of getting his own arrows back.
That was fine. It came with the sport. In one fell swoop, he grabbed the arrows collectively and pulled them out. He then turned and made sure to put them back into his quiver. Just as he did, he paused. His ear flickered, and he looked up. His eyes narrowed, and he sniffed. A frown marred his handsome face. It was too still and quiet. A bit unnerving, even for an alpha like himself. After scanning his surroundings, Jeong Yunho turned and readied for another go round of practice before practice.
Just as he knocked another arrow into place, he paused. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He shuddered, even as gooseflesh took over his skin. Alphas did not get frightened easily. Nor did they get into this flight or fight reaction. It was often purely fight. The only "flight" of an alpha, was to get to a point where they had the upper hand and ground. And often, away from those precious omegas and their pups.
It would not do for flying rock hard fists to hit an innocent omega.
It could actually kill them.
So why was Yunho feeling and hearing his inner wolf warn him to fucking run? It was so unlike his inner alpha wolf. He shrugged his shoulders, attempting to alleviate the feeling and tension. It was likely nothing, he was feeling flighty for nothing. Alphas were not often stalked. And if they were, they usually ignored it and carried on. Or just found a way to emphasize they were uninterested. But omegas and betas were rarely stalking alphas they liked. It was often the other way around, unfortunately.
With a somewhat shaken sigh, Yunho readied himself to fire the arrow in his grip.
However, the feeling would not leave him be. He lowered his bow and arrow, and looked around again. He growled a little. He hated this feeling. Like he was being watched and hunted. That being alone as an alpha for the first time, was a terrible idea. But fucking why? This has never happened to him before. Nor to any other alphas that he was aware of.
He gave a small huff of annoyance. Perhaps he could use the break. But he'd also just started. Just as he gently tossed the arrow back into the quiver, his ears perked and his gaze drifted to the school. He heard what sounded like chairs scraping along the floor. Before screaming came. Yunho could not stop himself from jumping at the sound. Just what the hell was going on in there? He could hear sounds of crashing and bodies hitting the floor as well. He blinked as he watched. He could see the silhouettes of students running.
He frowned.
A prank gone too far?
But pranks never were so massive, it caused the entire school to scream and panic. As he stood there watching and listening, his nose scrunched. A truly horrendous odor reached him on the breeze. He let out a sound of true disgust, even as he covered his mouth and nose to avoid taking it in thoroughly. He watched, before he jumped. Having heard what sounded like a car crashing, and more screams coming from further inside the city.
It was at this point, his inner wolf screamed louder for him to fucking run.
He argued, he couldn't run if he didn't know what he was to run from. He wasn't denying he'd run. But he wanted to see why first. Maybe his inner wolf was overreacting.
It wasn't.
He turned to the approach of someone, and his jaw unhinged and fell to the ground. They were pustule and gaunt. Their wolf ears and tail gone. Their eyes blood shot, and many gaping wounds were tale tell signs. He finally got his answer as to what he was to run from.
Zombies.
But hey, he had a weapon. He took the arrow back up and knocked it into place. He did his best to remain calm, even as his heart raced. And just as the zombie lurched to attack him, he fired the arrow. Watching as it sunk into the zombie's skull and through it's rotting brain. It fell backwards. He wasn't sure if it was truly dead from this. All the movies and shows said to aim for the brains. But he wasn't taking chances. He took up his quiver, and raced towards the body. He had to be quick and he had to be careful. As he raced past, he grabbed his now used and bloody arrow and pulled it out. Best to not waste what few resources of weaponry he had at his disposal.
Once he had it secure, he turned and ran as his wolf had commanded.
He ran, to get home.
//
Even alphas could run out of breath.
As athletic as they were, it could happen. It has happened to Yunho upon reaching his home. It was empty. His parents out, likely gone. He was quick to lock the door and barricade it. He was going purely on instincts now. He'd plan and strategize once things had calmed enough. Both the world, and his rabbiting heart. For now, he had to just wait out the storm of blood and death. He could do that. After all, the mass panic and hysteria would go on for a day or two.
Maybe three.
And in this panic the same thing would occur as in all those movies and shows. Despite them being watched by millions by this point. It never registered, but to those that were lucky enough to. The stores would be trashed and ransacked. They would scatter like leaves on the breeze. And then it would become eerily quiet and empty outside. That was the most dangerous part. He'd have to wait two more days after, to ensure the mass zombie hordes weren't as much a threat around every corner.
So he had time to plan and prepare. To figure out just what nature wanted him to do. He was aware it was nature's doing. It was her world, they just lived in it. And if she allowed him to survive his way home, she had to have a good reason. What it was, hell if he knew. With a sigh, he set the quiver and bow down. He knew they'd be real useful from here on. But what happened when he ran out of arrows and could not reclaim them? He'd have to find an alternative weapon for when that came. Or learn to fashion his own. Seemed his interest in archery and it's history, would come in handy now. He was now a real archer, taking out as many enemies as he could.
He was a bit of a dreamer.
Not terribly.
He just wanted to feel like a proud alpha having a reason to fight with a bow and arrow. And if this was what he could get, he'd relish it. He sighed as he numbly made his way through the home towards his bedroom. He wasn't sure if he was going to pass out, or throw up. While alphas were meant to be volatile and capable of drawing the blood of their enemies, this was something different. Even the bravest and heartiest of alphas could find the flesh eating of zombies on the living, entirely too much for them to handle.
It was possible!
He groaned as he fell face first onto his bed. He strained his ears, listening to the world around him. Listening as it plunged into chaos. As it died by blood and screaming. And somehow, he managed to fall asleep.
He'd wake up in a new dead world.