"I think I'll stick with Vincent." I'd like to be with someone who actually knows what he's doing, Harrison added silently.

Charles was looking intently at the footsteps, trying to decide where they could have come from, but every option was immediatly discounted. He now had no clue what they were facing, so it was most likely a new mutation of some sort, or some new supernatural entity that was mostly undocumented. He shrugged and said, "Hmm, I don't know what this thing is anymore, the foot print is too bizarre. What, splitting up, isn't that usually a bad idea? Well, I'll go with them," Charles said, pointing at Ermack's group. He wanted a look at those coyote bodies to see if he could gather anymore clues as to what this was.

Kalland shrugged "Put me in any group. It really doesn't matter as long as I get to kill me something" as he pulled the hammer back on his G36K. As long as what they were fighting wasn't bulletproof in his not so humble opinion, they were fine. Though he was slightly concerned. This would be his baptism of fire. He had read the files on what this branch was doing and was prepared enough but he had never encountered any real kind of monster before so this would most definately be a first.

"I'll stay right here for now. I'll cover you guys as you walk over there. So far, I can't see any visible sign of it right now. Frankly that doesn't bode well with me." Gabriel said into his comm link. Second thought, I had better switch to thermal, see if that can pick up anything. He dropped down into the prone position and reached up to his scope. He flicked a switch and everything changed colors in his scope. He could see the body heat of his team mates walking down a trail. Scanning up ahead, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. A few birds were circling above where he assumed the carcases would be.

"Let's get moving then." He flipped his pistol out, and took the hammer back.

"Actually, before I do...Charles, what's the max size chance of what we're dealing with?"

"Umm... Well, a 7 foot wide trail is pretty large. Also the foot steps eliminate many of my more insectoid options since they all have eight legs, and this seemed to have two. That constant line is odd, maybe a trailing tail or something. This knocks down quite a few options. There is the possibility this thing is very short but wide, but that is a rare type, so I would vote you are dealing with a 7 foot or most likely taller monster possibly." Charles deduced.

"So, roughly about two feet taller than me?"

He pulled the slide, putting a bullet in the chamber.

"Right then. Who wants to come with me?"


Unconsciously, he activated his tracker.

"It still doesn't explain the holes or the acid, though."

"No, it doesn't. I'm at a loss to explain those, or why the creature only takes the skin and nothing else. If it was eating people, I don't think it would be picky, so I'm guessing it has some use for human skin. And the acid seems an odd way to kill them, because this thing seems large, which would assume great strength or at least mass, and crushing power. I want to see those coyote bodies and learn more." Charles finished, and started walking in the direction of the killed coyotes to investigate the corpses.

Jordan was kneeling by a dead coyote when Charles arrived. "The carcasses have been killed in the same way as the humans, but the flesh remains. What use could it have for human skin but not anything else. Your thoughts chuck?"