Henry and Yulian talked as they searched, mostly about general farm stuff. How were the animals, were the crops doing well, who wasn't pulling their weight (though they all were). They kicked around the leaves and mud, looking for the ball. They couldn't see anything in particular, no spots of white nor the distinct round shape. Once, Yulian had almost found something, but it had just been tree sap that was lit in such a way that it looked like the red bindings on a baseball.
They pair noticed Clay over to their right, shuffling through the dirt. A low, faint groan seemed to filled the air. Yulian stuck his hand out, stopping Henry.
"Wait, do you hear that? What is it?" Henry listened to the strange groaning sound. He shrugged.
"Could be anything, probably one of those cars the rich folk have, like the Farmer's." Henry said, waving it off.
Clay suddenly called, distracting them both from the sound.
"You fellas find anything?" he shouted. The man turned to face them. Suddenly, a flash of plaid darted out of the trees and tackled Clay. A man was on top of him. Suddenly, the man bit Clay's throat out. Clay screamed, but then the man snapped his neck and Clay was still. The man in plaid began tearing at Clay, shoving pieces of the dead man's flesh into his mouth.
Henry reacted completely out of character. He swore his vision turned red. He picked up a massive stick, with a sharp broken end, and marched towards the monstrous scene. Yulian shouted something, trying to stop him. The vile man didn't even look up at Henry as he approached, too concerned with his feasting. Henry noticed now the man was covered and caked in mud, and that he was deathly pale. Henry was slightly disturbed by this, but he was still furious. Clay had been a good man, and this beast of a human had just killed him.
Henry roared and swung the stick, hitting the man upside the head. He swung again, and with a crack, the man's arm broke. The man snarled and leapt up. Henry's blood ran cold. The man had been almost entirely unaffected by the pain. The man charged, but Henry swung again, knocking them both over from the awkward weight of the swing. A horrible squelching sounded, and Henry got up to see Yulian had pushed the monster onto a tree branch, impaling it in place. It snarled and snapped, but it couldn't move off.
Henry stared at it for a long minute. Finally, he couldn't stand the sound of teeth snapping together anymore. He hefted the stick and smashed at its head, until it was just a bloody mess. Henry stood panting. He dropped the stick. Yulian, being the strong fellow that he was, picked up Clay's wrecked body. The two started the walk back to the farm, the ball forgotten. They had bigger problems now.
