Surviving The Dead | Book 9 | War Without End

by Cook, James N.

  For a few seconds, Maru almost turned away. He had even shifted his weight to one foot so that he could start walking back in the direction of his wagon. But then he had another thought and stopped.

  No matter where he went, no matter what he did, there would always be a doubt in his mind. Always a shadow. Always a reason to look over his shoulder. And even if Heinrich never found him, he would always find himself looking eastward from time to time wondering where Heinrich was, what he was doing, who he was making suffer. Because that was what Heinrich did. He robbed, he raped, he looted, he pillaged, he did everything he could to cause as much suffering and misery as possible. Why? Because it pleased him to do so, and because if he did it right, he could profit from it. And just as he had with Maru, he would always find men he could manipulate, men who had lost their way, men who were wandering through life with no purpose and no plan, men who would accept his leadership if he could promise them an end to the incessant worry and fear that plagued them, an end the uncertainty of how to live in a ruined world where no law existed and men only owned what they could defend.

  Heinrich would offer them safety. He would offer friendship and loyalty. He would offer wealth and comfort and women and trade and all the things they wanted in life. And in exchange, all he asked was that they obey him. That they follow his lead and fight for him. That they put aside whatever scraps of humanity and a soul they had left and commit whatever evil, depraved atrocity he commanded. And they would do it. If they were hungry enough, or lonely enough, or frightened enough, they would bend the knee and obey. Maru knew that all too well.

  Maru also knew the pain it had caused him. Knew what it meant to feel the last vestiges of his humanity slip away and fall into the endless darkness of fear and viciousness that had defined his existence for far too long. But now, standing next to this building in this shell of a town in this cold, bitter part of the world, he also knew what it meant to search through that emptiness and find something inside he thought he had lost. Something warm and bright and beautiful, even if it was stained and diminished.

  Maru looked inside himself and found his courage.

  A quick peek around the corner told him the way ahead was clear. The sun was rising in the east and casting long shadows now—shadows deep enough to conceal him if he was careful. He kept the Glock in a low one-handed grip and edged his way forward, eyes constantly moving, staying close to the wall of the blacksmith shop. The windows of the buildings he could see were empty. The doors were all shut. He smelled woodsmoke and food cooking, which meant the few places that catered to morning diners had opened. It would not be long before more people headed out to visit them. He picked up the pace but was still careful not to crunch through the snow any louder than he had to.

  He reached the alley between the blacksmith shop and the office building next to the livery. Maru could see the CLOSED sign hanging in the door. He took his time searching the windows. Nothing. Searched the rooftops. Same result.

  Rather than dart across, he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked purposely forward. There were only two lines of sight where he could be observed, and if he was, he wanted to look like just another worker in scavenged pre-Outbreak military fatigues—a popular choice among laborers—headed glumly to work. When he reached the edge of the office building, he turned the corner and headed toward the eastern side of the livery. Took another glance around. No lines of sight here except the front of the store and the alley between the store and the livery. A glance down the alley revealed a scrawny, one-eyed cat nibbling at a chicken bone. The cat looked up at Maru for a moment, growled, picked up the chicken bone, and ran off.

  “I know exactly how you feel, mate,” Maru muttered.

  Maru heard voices from the open doors of the livery and flattened himself against the nearest wall. He was a few paces from the corner, less than twenty feet from the voices.

  “Where are the others?” A voice said irritably. With a sinking, icy feeling, Maru realized it belonged to Heinrich.

  “They’ll be here shortly. I sent most of the men out to see about slowing down the feds.”

  The second voice was Ferguson. Maru frowned. What was Ferguson doing here? But then, after a moment’s consideration, he knew. After Maru had failed to report in from the warehouse, Heinrich must have written him off and chosen Ferguson as his new second in command. Maru was not surprised. Heinrich was not the kind of man to waste time on sentiment for fallen comrades. In fact, he had probably chosen Ferguson as Maru’s replacement years ago. Probably had other candidates in mind if anything happened to Ferguson. There was a moment of bitterness, but Maru pushed it down. If Ferguson was here, then things had just gotten much more difficult.

  “How, exactly, do they plan to do that?” Heinrich said caustically.

  “They’ll spread out around town, make their presence known,” Ferguson replied. “Make sure people know that once the feds leave, they still got to deal with us.”

  A moment of quiet. “That’s actually not a bad idea. Nice thinking, Ferg.”

  “Thanks.”

  “But what about the Grays? I want them released before we leave. We’ll need the tribe once we’re out of town, and if we release them now, we might lose some men.”

  “We might. But the four of us will be long gone.”

  Four of them, Maru thought. Fucking hell.

  “True.” Heinrich heaved a sigh. “I suppose it’s unavoidable at this point. We’ll need time to rebuild the tribe, afterward.”

  Maru felt his blood begin to heat up. It was bad enough they were casually discussing sacrificing men who had served them loyally, but the way they were planning to do it…Maru had seen the monsters’ handiwork. He had heard the screams of people dying in their slavering maws. And not only was Heinrich willing to unleash them on his own men, he was going to release them on the rest of the Outer Boroughs, starting with this one. Men, women, children, old, young, rich, poor, no one would be spared. The people living out here were tough, but they had neither the training nor the firepower to take on the big Grays. It was going to be a slaughter.

  Maru’s revulsion surprised him. He had seen and done so many horrible things over the years that he had begun to think nothing could faze him anymore. But over the last few months, something inside him had begun to wake up. It had grown and stretched and taken on mass and density until it sat hard in the center of Maru’s chest, a cold, icy thing that threatened to crush him, to shatter him from the inside out.

  At least until he had decided to kill Horton and Locke.

  In that moment, the ice had broken. It had been slow, gradual, small cracks forming at first, then widening and widening until the shell had fallen away and only one undeniable thing was left burning beneath.

  Anger.

  Anger for all the promises never kept. Anger at the way he had allowed himself to be manipulated. Anger at his own fear, at his lack of ability to take control of his own destiny. Anger at the pain he felt when he saw the faces of all the victims from all the raids and all the atrocities that he had committed in the name of survival.

  Maru understood, now. Understood that survival was not enough. If a man expected to live, the first thing he needed was the ability to live with himself. And Maru had reached the point where he could not do that anymore. Not if he stayed on the path he had been walking. It was time now for a different path. It was time for Maru to regain control.

  But don’t be too hasty, he told himself. The thought came unbidden, like the voice of a friend offering unsolicited, but not unwelcome, advice.

  No. Not too hasty. Heinrich is quick, and so is Ferguson. I’ll only have one chance to get both, so I have to pick my moment. Take them by surprise. I need to breath, calm my nerves. Keep the hands steady, mate. Nice and steady.

  He took several calming breaths, and then when Ferguson spoke again, he nearly laughed in utter surprise.

  “We will rebuild the tribe, that’s a fact. But you won’t be around to see it.”


  There was the sound of a hammer being drawn back on a very large gun. Maru knew exactly which gun it was. Ferguson carried a massive .44 magnum hand-cannon in a shoulder holster at all times. He was never without it.

  Maru waited, ears straining. He expected to hear the thunderous report of the big pistol at any moment. Instead, he heard the high-pitched, unnerving sound of Heinrich’s laughter. Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Maru moved to the edge of the door and peeked around the corner. He saw Ferguson and Heinrich standing inside the entrance, the light of the rising sun cutting a square on the floor at their feet. Ferguson stood a few feet away with his gun pointed at Heinrich’s chest. Heinrich stood with his hands empty, no weapon in sight. He did not need one. A man stood behind Ferguson with a pistol pressed to the back of his head.

  That’s a mistake, Maru thought. Never hold a gun on a man from that close. Especially not one like Ferguson.

  A fourth man stood nearby, eyes darting back and forth, clearly unsure what to do.

  “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t see this coming?” Heinrich said, his voice still tittering with laughter. “I’ve seen the way you look at me, Ferg. I know you hate it every time I give you an order. Every time you call me Chief you sound like you’re about to choke. You’re good at a lot of things, Ferg, but your poker face is pure shit. I knew I needed to keep tabs on you, so I had Richards start watching you months ago.”

  Ferguson moved his head slightly. “That true Richards?”

  “Sorry Ferg,” Richards said. “I hate to-”

  He never finished the sentence. Ferguson moved his head from the gun’s line of fire, spun, batted Richard’s arm aside, and fired his big revolver twice into the man’s chest. The whole sequence took less than a second, but it was enough time for Richards to clutch Ferguson’s shoulder with a surprised death grip.

  Across from them, all the amusement left Heinrich’s face. He hauled up on his coat, reached behind his back, and began digging for a weapon.

  Maru moved.

  Richards was no longer a threat. The fourth man was still standing there looking lost and frightened and ready to bolt. Not much danger there. Maru just had to hope Ferguson did not look his way and decide to fire. As for Heinrich, he was still digging for a weapon. Maru had his out already, which he had learned long ago was really the only sensible way to walk into a gun fight. He took a loose stance, feet shoulder width apart, arms straight, eyes focused on the front sight. He let out a breath. He lined up the sight picture center of mass. Heinrich saw him, and for an instant, his eyes went wide with shock.

  Then Maru fired.

  The bullet struck him in the chest. From the spray of blood that splattered the fourth man, Maru knew two things. One, Heinrich was not wearing body armor. Second, the bullet had gone all the way through.

  For perhaps a second, Heinrich just stood there staring in disbelief. Then his face twisted with rage and he drew a pistol from his lower back. Maru recentered the sights and was about to unload his entire magazine when Ferguson’s big .44 magnum roared again. The impact spun Heinrich to one side and caused him to stumble back. He tried to raise his gun one last time, but Maru was faster. He fired four times, all four rounds taking Heinrich in the torso, his body twitching with the impacts.

  Ferguson fired again, carefully aimed this time. The bulled bored a small hole through the bridge of Heinrich’s nose, and on its way out, tore off the back of his skull. Heinrich’s weapon fell from nervous fingers, his knees buckled, and as he collapsed, Maru felt a giddy sense of relief that made him want to pump his fists over his head and scream in triumph.

  It’s over, he thought. We killed the fucker.

  The relief was short lived, however. He felt movement to his left and turned his head to see Ferguson’s big revolver pointed at his face. The sight made his stomach do a couple of somersaults. He knew the barrel of the pistol was less than half an inch in diameter, but from this angle, it looked big enough to drive a truck through.

  “Willy, what are you doing over there?” Ferguson asked.

  The fourth man said, “What?”

  “I said what are you doing over there?”

  “N…nothing.”

  “You got a weapon?”

  “Yeah. You…uh…you want me to drop it?”

  “No. Just keep it holstered and go sit on the bench outside.”

  “Outside?”

  “Yep. You know the bench over in front of the building next door?”

  “Y…yeah.”

  “Go sit on it. Stay there till I call for you.”

  “Ok. I’m going now.”

  “You do that, Willy.”

  The man kept his hands in the air and walked slowly behind Ferguson. Ferguson kept his eyes on Maru while Willy made his way around the corner and out of sight.

  “Gotta say, Maru,” Ferguson said. “Hell of a surprise seeing you here. Thought sure you were dead or in jail by now.”

  “Very narrowly escaped both.”

  “Want to tell me what happened at the warehouse?”

  Maru turned his head a little more. “Want to put the guns down first?”

  “After you, seeing as I’m the one with the drop.”

  Maru had to admit the man was right. If Ferguson wanted to kill him, he still had two rounds in his weapon. But he had not fired. Which meant chances were pretty good he would not fire unless given sufficient provocation. Maru decided he did not want to provoke Ferguson and laid the Glock very carefully on the ground. When he was done, he stood up and faced Ferguson, hands upraised. The red-headed giant stared at him suspiciously for another couple of seconds, then lowered his gun.

  “So what happened?” Ferguson said.

  “We got raided.”

  “By who?”

  “Blackthorns. Pretty sure they were working with the feds.”

  “How much do they know?”

  “Pretty much everything.”

  Ferguson nodded and looked at the ground. “Figured. What did you tell ‘em?”

  “I told them about the monsters. As much as I knew anyway. And about Heinrich.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Your name didn’t come up if that’s what you’re asking. And once I told them about the monsters, they seemed to lose interest in other lines of questioning.”

  Another nod. “How’d you get away?”

  “Got taken into custody, but they only put two Blackthorns on me. I handled them.”

  Ferguson chuckled. “You kill the fuckers?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  Maru shrugged. He did not feel much like lying, so he told the truth. “I met the Blackthorns’ field commander. Fella named Gabriel Garrett. Heard of him?”

  “I have. He’s got a reputation.”

  “It’s well earned. Didn’t reckon on killing his men because I didn’t want him coming after me.”

  “What makes you think he won’t even without killing his men?”

  Maru looked toward the spires of smoke rising above the city. “Reckon he’s got bigger things to worry about now. That your doing by the way?”

  Ferguson shrugged. “I made the call and passed the message. Every man has to make his own decisions.”

  It was Maru’s turn to nod. “Speaking of,” he pointed at Heinrich’s body and the pool of blood beneath it. “What was that all about? Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Just curious.”

  Ferguson holstered his pistol, reached into a coat pocket, and pulled out a flask. “Care for a drink?”

  “A little early for me, but sure. Why not?”

  Maru walked closer, keeping his hands where Ferguson could see them. The red-headed giant took a long swallow, then held the flask out to Maru. He took a much smaller slug and handed the little metal container back. Ferguson replaced the lid and tucked the flask way.

  “When I was a kid, I read a book by Hemingway,” Ferguson said. “It was a long time ago, and I don’t remember the story too w
ell, but I seem to remember this one fella asking another fella, who had been a rich man until he lost all his money, how he went bankrupt. You know what the rich fella said?”

  “No.”

  “Gradually, then suddenly.”

  Maru’s hands were getting cold, so he put them in his pockets. “I think I know what you mean. I guess that’s how it happened for me too. Gradually, then suddenly.”

  “Looking back on my life, it seems a lot of things end up that way. Being in love, being rich, being broke, being a crook. It starts slow. It starts out as bad habits, or good ones, or just the shit you do from one day to the next, over and over. We can’t help it. It’s just how people are. Then one day you look around and you realize, shit, I never wanted any of this. But here I am. Know what I mean?”

  “I know exactly what you mean.”

  “I just been getting by for so long. Getting by and nothing else. Then we came here to this place.”

  Maru looked around appreciatively. “It’s changed a lot.”

  “You’re damn right it has. And I was the man at the front of that change, despite what this asshole liked to tell people.” Ferguson made a dismissive gesture at Heinrich’s corpse.

  The sound of engines approaching was getting louder. Maru knew he needed to wrap this up and get a move on, but he also knew Ferguson was building to something, and he did not want to risk angering the man.

  “I like this place. I like the people here. Hell, I even made a few friends. Can you believe that?”

  “Never had a problem with you, Ferguson. Never knew anyone who did. Maybe you’re a better man than you think.”

  The giant laughed. “No, I am most certainly fucking not. But you know what? I realized something today. Or maybe not today. Maybe it was like what I said. Gradually, then suddenly. Anyway, I realized I don’t have to be that man anymore. I mean, shit, look around. It’s the end of the goddamn world. A man can be anything he wants.”