by SD Tanner
Catching up to TL, he said, “It doesn’t look like much to me.”
“It’s pretty famous, Gears. They held annual rowing regattas here.”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
A cluster of ducks waddled ahead of them, honking loudly, and on the water, a pair of magnificent white swans smoothly drifted by. He had to admit the town did have an odd charm. The row of houses were three stories high with balconies on the second and third floor. The balconies were painted white, but now so dirty they were a murky brown, and the slats were filled with a thick patchwork of spider webs.
TL looked at him and asked, “You or me?”
Turning to find Ip by his side, he replied, “Neither.”
Grabbing her hand, he helped her over the ground floor balcony. “Make sure the place is clear, honey.”
Walking to the balcony doors and finding they were unlocked, she slid the door open and slipped inside. While they stood next to the balcony waiting to see if the house was clear, Logan, Philip, Axel, and the other shooters joined them.
After about ten minutes, Axel began to fidget. “What’s taking her so long?”
Stepping back so he could see the second story balcony, he called, “Honey, whatcha doin’ up there?”
Ip’s head appeared at the third-story window, with her shaggy hair hanging down, framing her delicate face. Without replying, her head disappeared back inside the window, and he waited to see if she was coming downstairs.
When there was no sign of her, he turned to TL and said, “I’m guessin’ it’s clear.”
“Has she given up talking again?”
Ip hadn’t spoken to him since the morning they’d gone to the ammunitions factory. At first he’d thought she was bothered by the strange markings she was developing, but the last thing she told him was the markings were the whole of her. He didn’t know what she’d meant at the time, but she’d never said another word since so he still didn’t know.
“Yeah, she ain’t talkin’ to me.”
Now that Ip was reborn she was not quite the same, but he couldn’t explain what had changed. She could talk, but she never said much and she didn’t seem to be comfortable with herself. He missed the contented woman he fell in love with. Their relationship hadn’t resumed in the same way and he doubted it ever would. He was disappointed, but he wouldn’t abandon her. He’d made a commitment to her and he wouldn’t break it. They were bonded and he would stay by her side unless she told him to leave.
Climbing over the balcony they all walked into the darkened house. It was a typical UK townhouse. No more than seven yards wide, it was buffeted between two identical homes and shared a wall with each. A narrow flight of stairs led to the next two levels, and he found Ip on the third floor standing in front of a mirror. She’d removed her shirt and was peering over her shoulder at the intricate markings now weaving across her back. Although he’d spent the night with her outside the offices at the ammunition factory, it had been dark and since then he hadn’t had a chance to inspect the markings on her body.
He gently ran his hands down her back, feeling for any change in her skin other than the markings.
“Do you know what this is?”
Ip speaks: These are the marks we all will bear.
Hearing a musical voice travel through his head, he felt his heart rate quicken. More than words, it was a complete message. He understood what she was saying, but he also felt her emotions.
Moving to face her, and tilting her chin up so he could look into her odd eyes, he asked, “Did you jus’ speak to me?”
Looking up at him, a small smile played along her lips, and she tilted her head so that it rested against his calloused hand.
Ip speaks: You are always behind, never aware. Lucky for you, I do not care.
With her thoughts came a feeling of joy and a lightness of spirit he knew well. Delighted by her cheekiness, he thought, the first time you talk to me telepathically and you’re giving me a hard time. She smirked at him, and he thought, where have you been?
Ip speaks: Always complaining, never content. Contentment for you is always absent.
“Oh really? When did we get married? You’re talkin’ to me like you’re my wife.”
Ip speaks: We are one. That has always been true. There is no getting rid of you.
With her thoughts came an emotion of warmth and delight. He felt her amusement at him, and as her laughter travelled through his mind, he felt his mood lifting.
Ip speaks: If you were less stubborn, you would understand true, but this is an eternal lesson for you.
Still travelling with the ease of her emotions, he smiled. “You have me at a disadvantage, honey. Tell me what’s goin’ on here.”
Not bothering to put her top back on, she sat on the bed, tucking her legs under her body and watched him. Intrigued, he sat next to her and they faced the large mirror opposite them. Watching her in the mirror, he enjoyed the sight of her as well as her warm presence inside his mind.
Ip speaks: I am Death and you are War. With us four, we judge and rule. It is the universal law so it is true.
After his near death and his dream about talking to Ip, he’d asked Nelson about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Nelson told him a bunch of hooey about seven seals being broken, and how the Horsemen have to decide whether mankind should live or die. It was an interesting story, but much like everything else he knew about the Bible, it sounded unbelievable. She clearly believed they were the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but that didn’t make it true.
Ip speaks: I think it true because it is. You and your blindness do persist.
“I dunno, honey. I feel like a man. A human man, not some mythical kinda man.”
Ip speaks: You will be what you believe to be true. When you change will be up to you.
She placed her hand on his leg and tilting her head up at him, he felt her feelings in his mind shift from playful and amused to concerned. He thought, she’s worried about me, she thinks I need to change.
“Do you think I need to change like you’re changing now?”
Ip speaks: This is the form we are meant to be. What I become is not up to me.
Her feelings in his mind shifted again and he felt a warm contentment. She was changing, but in her mind that was a good thing and not something to be feared. If anything, she welcomed the change and she was relieved it was happening.
“So, you know what’s happening to you?”
Ip speaks: Yes and no and maybe too. I do not remember true. This body works, the other did not. It was right when the Magician shot.
In her original form the designer virus had destroyed large areas in her brain, and he assumed that’s what she meant when she said her body didn’t work. With such a severely damaged brain she wasn’t able to function the way she needed to. She was telling him Mackenzie wasn’t wrong when he killed her.
“You’re sayin’ Mackenzie was right to kill you?
Ip speaks: The reason was wrong, the action was right. Sometimes you must break to find the might.
She believed Mackenzie had freed her and now she could fulfil her destiny to become the Horseman of Death. He didn’t believe in the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. and even if they did exist, he was sure he wasn’t one and neither was she.
“Have you ever been a Horseman before?”
Ip speaks: We have always judged, that is true. But this is the only time the universe has not followed our rule.
She and Nelson believed the role of the Horsemen was to judge whether mankind lived or not. He and his brothers decided mankind didn’t deserve the shit they were in, and they gave themselves the mission to restore order, but he didn’t believe that meant they were Horsemen. Ruler was trying to destroy their bases, but he didn’t see that as the universe not following their rule.
“So, you’re sayin’ we judged as Horsemen, but our judgement isn’t bein’ followed.”
Ip speaks: We hold the balance of what is right and not. But i
t seems that someone has forgot.
She believed the brain in her previous body was so severely damaged she couldn’t function and Mackenzie had freed her. She also believed they were the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse sent to judge mankind, but their ruling was being undermined by Ruler. He thought it was an odd way to look at it, but she was right. He and his brothers decided man deserved another chance, and Ruler was trying to stop their effort to save what little was left.
“If we’re meant to be the four Horseman does that mean you can talk to Pax and TL like you’re talkin’ to me?”
Ip speaks: Yes and no and maybe too. You and I are bonded true. I will always listen to you. The white and the black, not so well. Until I hear them I cannot tell.
“Are you sayin’ Pax and TL need to talk to you first?”
Ip speaks: Not so simple to share the mind. They can only do it if they know their kind.
Before he could ask her any more questions the door opened and TL walked in. Briefly glancing at Ip’s breasts, he said, “Err, sorry.” Peering at Ip, he asked, “What the hell is that on her chest?”
“Aren’t you a bit old not to know what they are?”
“Shaddup, Gears. You know what I mean.”
“Little brother, you’ve gotta learn to keep up with the changin’ dynamic.”
TL stared at him blankly and said, “According to our birth certificates I’m older than you, so don’t call me little brother. And what the hell are you talking about?”
“I don’t have a real birth certificate, and as far as I’m concerned, I’m older than you. And Ip has developed some new skills. She’s talkin’ to me telepathically and she reckons we’re Horsemen.” With smirk, he added, “If I recall rightly, you were the white one.”
“You two really shouldn’t be left alone.” Turning to leave, he added, “And you really should lock the door.”
As TL slammed the door shut, and feeling happier than he had for a long time, he turned to her and said, “You can read my mind, so I can’t lie to ya, I’d like to have a reason to lock that door.”
She smiled at him, and slipping her delicate hand around the back of his neck, she began to pull his mouth to hers. Before she could kiss him, there was shouting coming from outside the house. Cursing, he grabbed his gun and moved towards the window. On a newly arrived riverboat there were shooters lined up behind the cabin.
He pulled his radio from his pocket, and jamming it in his ear, he asked, “What’s goin’ on down there?”
“I don’t know,” Philip replied. “Where are you?”
“Third floor bedroom. Ip’s with me. Send a coupla shooters up here to give us cover. I wanna go down and see what’s goin’ on.”
Immediately there were heavy footsteps of the shooters on the stairs and they burst into the room. “Settle down,” he said sternly. “They ain’t done anything yet. Jus’ give us some cover.”
Stamping down the stairs with Ip, he asked, “Where are the trucks?”
“Parked on the other side,” TL replied. “The shooters are unloading extra ammo and armaments.”
“I’m gonna take a couple with me, and then we’ll drive the truck to the riverside.”
They drove to the front of the townhouses, and using the truck door as cover, he called to the people on the boat.
“Hey, we’re friendlies. Whatcha doin’?”
“Nothing! You pulled guns on us!”
“What if we all agree to behave ourselves and lower our weapons?”
“You do it first,” the voice shouted back.
Philip called from the second floor balcony of the townhouse, “Oh come on, chaps, let’s be grown up about this.”
“Shut up, ya tosser,” another voice called out from the boat.
“Really?” He called loudly. “Name calling? I’m gonna put my gun down and walk out. If you shoot me, you’re dead.”
Putting his gun in the truck well, but still armed with his handgun, he walked onto the concrete area between the townhouse and the river. A lean man walked out from behind the boat cabin, also unarmed, with his hands slightly raised to show he was no threat. Jumping from the boat, he stood three yards in front of him.
“I’m Gears. Who the hell are you?”
“Peter. What are you doing here?”
“Free country ain’t it.”
“Not really. You’re in Kray’s territory.”
“Who’s Kray?”
“Well, originally they were a London gang, but those thugs adopted the name. We only docked to tell you that you should leave. It’s not safe here, but your men pulled guns on us.”
Realizing the man meant well, he relaxed and said sincerely, “Thanks for the heads up. We’re over from the U.S. lookin’ for a safe zone. I’d like to talk to you if that’s okay. We need as much intel as we can get before we try and relocate our people here.”
“I don’t think we can stay. I’m sorry, but it isn’t safe here. It’ll be dark soon.”
“The hunters are no problem. If you stay the night, I can promise ya’ll be safe from the hunters, and we can take care of any Krays that poke their noses in our territory.”
Peter looked at the vehicles and then at the shooters at the windows and on the balcony. Shrugging, he said, “Alright. I’m as curious about you as you are about us.”
There were nine people on Peter’s boat, and they settled in the lounge on the second level of the townhouse. Sprawled around the large room and on the balcony, they shared the food they’d brought with them and it was a pleasant break from their MREs.
As dusk fell he looked at Ip and thought, honey, go get some hunters to guard the house.
Ip speaks: I will do as you ask, but it is boring task.
Walking out to the second floor balcony, she skipped over it and landed gracefully on the roof of a truck parked below.
Sitting with his back to the railing he watched her leave and Peter asked, “What’s she doing?”
“She can control the hunters, and she’ll give us a hunter guard for the night.”
“I didn’t know that was possible.”
“It’s a long story and there aren’t many people like her. Tell me what’s been going on in the UK.”
Peter leaned back on the La-Z-Boy recliner and said, “Well, there are a lot less hunters than there were. They seem to be dying off. We think they’re running out of food, but they take a long time to die. It’s getting easier to move around, but there’s still enough of them to make living on the land dangerous. Most of the people here died very early on. They weren’t armed or even trained to shoot. I happened to work on a farm when I was a lad, and that’s where I learned to shoot. I was in this area when it all erupted, and I teamed up with Chris who worked in the boat shed next door. We’ve been cruising up and down the Thames, mostly hiding for long periods, and only coming out when we need supplies.”
TL asked, “What? You’ve been on a boat for over a year?”
Peter nodded. “The Thames is a long river and there’s places to pull in and hide. It’s gotten easier now there are less hunters to deal with.”
“So, you’ve been travelling up and down this river the whole time?” He asked.
“Yes, and the situation has been changing. At first there were a huge number of hunters and they would stand on the riverbanks growling all night long. And during the day there were gangs. We took the boat as far out from London as we could and lived at the head of the river, but eventually we ran low on supplies and had to come back. Over time we noticed the situation has been changing. There’s less hunters, but the gangs have been getting more aggressive.”
One of the men nodded. “It means we can travel safer at night, but we hide during the day. When we saw you pulled in here, we wanted to warn you that this is one of the least safe areas for gangs.”
“That was kind of you, but you took a hell of a risk,” TL replied.
“We saw the American flags on your uniforms. We wondered if you were with the U.S. Army,
and maybe you’d survived better than we have.”
Throwing a glance at TL, he shook his head. “No, we’ve got worse problems than you. I’ve got ninety thousand people who I need to keep fed, and we have a major enemy who is makin’ our hunters more effective. If anything I was hoping the UK was in better condition than the U.S.. I want to relocate some of our people here while I sort out the mainland.”
“What kind of enemy do you have that’s worse than the hunters…or the Krays?” Peter asked.
“It’s a long story, but he’s literally hell bent on taking control of the country and wreckin’ it. I ain’t worried about your Kray problem. If we start shipping people over here, they’ll be armed and combat trained.”
“How many people are in this Kray gang?” TL asked.
“It’s hard to say, but I doubt they have enough people to fight off a well-trained army. If you come here then that’ll help us. We don’t want to keep living on the boat. It’s time we got back on land, but we need to be somewhere we can still get supplies while we set up a farm.”
“Aside from the Krays, how many people do you think are left alive in the UK?” He asked.
With a grim expression, Peter replied, “I don’t really know, but there are a lot of bunkers scattered around the UK, and many areas are quite remote. I’m guessing if people felt they were safe, there are probably more people alive than we’ve seen.”
“Is there any government left? Any military?”
“I don’t think so, and if there are they’re not organized.”
Peter and his people had been helpful and he thought it had been a worthwhile discussion, but having learned what he needed to know he was eager to talk to Ip.
“Okay, thanks for sharing. I need to go check on our hunter killer.”
He was wondering how to get Ip’s attention by using his mind, when he heard her complaining.
Ip speaks: It is boring here on my own. I do not like the night alone.