by SD Tanner
Trying to block out the noise, he asked, “Can’t you give that man some morphine?”
Captain Ted was holding the man’s arm wrapped around his shoulder and looking up, he asked wearily, “Have you got any morphine?”
“Yeah, in the bird.”
Helping Captain Ted and Mike push the man onto the bird, he said, “Shoot this guy up with some morphine now.” Once they were safely on board, he called, “Honey, we’re goin’ now!”
Even as he spoke to her he realized he didn’t need to, she was telepathic. Just as he thought it, she appeared by his side, smirking at him and climbed aboard the bird. Climbing on board after her, he hunkered down next the injured man.
Pulling a set of headsets from a hook, he put them on the man’s head. “What’s your name, son?”
“Jacob. You must be Gears.”
“How do ya know that?”
“I was trying to rescue some of the refugees and take them to your base, but I got caught. They threw me off the top of the barracks, but I didn’t die and they were going to feed me to the hunters. Then these guys turned up. All the refugees wanted to get to your bases. That was the dream, man. It’s all they ever talked about. All they ever hoped for.”
He didn’t know the refugees even knew about their bases and he patted Jacob’s hand. “Well you’re goin’ there now, son. Our medics will patch you up good.”
Hatch was hovering over the convoy and Ip was already moving across the platform ready to jump out. He reached across to her. “Not so fast, honey. You need cover fire. We dunno where the human army are.”
“Cutter, we’re above you and we need you to give us cover fire,” he ordered.
He didn’t hear Cutter reply in words, but his guns spoke well enough. Gunfire erupted in every direction, and he nodded to Ip. She jumped from the bird to the top of a Stryker and he followed her. Captain Ted, Mike, Darren and the combat shooters clumsily scramble out, each on top of different assault vehicles. Hatch took off to take Jacob back to the medical team in the rear. By the time they were down all hell had broken loose. Ip was using her control of the hunter army to push back the hordes behind it. His own combat shooters and the armored vehicles had ceased fire to avoid shooting their own hunters.
“Honey, clear forward.”
He could hear endless explosions over the sound of the warring hunters and Pax was methodically destroying the outlying buildings.
“Cutter, move the convoy forward, but take it slow.”
Unlike the night before, today he had full visibility of the hunter on hunter battle. Like the war at the missile silo, he was witnessing endless and merciless violence. Once again he felt like he was living in hell, while hunters ripped into one another and the land became slick with their black viscous goo. Their broken bodies were being crushed underfoot, but they were relentless in their anger. Sighing, he looked beyond the battle and another building exploded, creating a halo of dust and debris. They were standing on a Stryker third from the front. Beneath his feet he felt the jerking motion of the Stryker as it slowly rolled forward. Captain Ted, Mike, Darren and the combat shooters were standing on different vehicles behind them continuing to monitor the situation. He adjusted his weight on his legs to roll with the slow rocking motion of the moving Stryker.
Ip was kneeling down on one leg, clearly concentrating on her share of the battle. As he noted at the Ranch, her hunters fought with greater ferocity and purpose than those being controlled by the super hunters. Glancing at the battle directly ahead, she’d taken control of more hunters and they were violently hurling enemy hunters out of their path. Through the use of her hunter army, her actions were creating sufficient gap for the assault vehicles and Strykers to move slowly forward, without forming a pile of corpses that would eventually block their way. The noise was tremendous, the stench almost overpowering, and the bloodless battle was brutal. Beneath the thick rolling wheels of the assault vehicle ahead the head of a still moving hunter was slowly crushed, and he felt his face tighten into a disgusted grimace.
One by one the assault vehicles turned right onto the wide two-lane road that would lead them past the refugee camp to their left, and onto the barracks a mile down the road which would ultimately lead them outside the perimeter of the large military base. Based on his aerial recon, he knew the further they travelled down this road, the fewer the buildings and there were less places for the super hunters to hide. Pax was methodically destroying all the buildings on either side of the road, and although he thought there were less hunters attacking Ip’s hunter army, he wasn’t sure.
He shouted over the racket of the vehicles’ revving engines, gunfire, explosions and warring hunters. “Honey, do you think we’re getting the super hunters?”
Ip speaks: Do you think I have nothing to do? Worry yourself, I am too busy for you!
Despite the pressure of the situation, he laughed. “Sorry.”
“What are ya laughin’ at, Gears,” Pax asked over the radio.
“Ip told me to piss off. What’s it look like from up there?”
“We’re takin’ down anythin’ that might have a super hunter in it. There seems to be less hunters in play, so I think we’re getting somewhere.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
To his left, they were passing the refugee camp and as he briefly scanned the buildings, a man exploded from the front door of a building and ran towards the forest. Before he had time to guess who the man might be, Ip leapt from the roof of the Stryker and streaked off across the muddy land towards the man. With her sword drawn, flying quickly over the slippery terrain, he thought she looked like an angry elf.
“Get back here, Ip!”
Through his earpiece, he heard Pax chuckle. “Still can’t control ya puddy tat, Gears.”
Without bothering to tell his brother to shut up, he awkwardly eased himself down from the slowly moving Stryker to the dirty road. Expecting to need to fight his way through the warring hunters, he realized they were wandering aimlessly and blinded in the daylight. While he clumsily slid in the clay-like mud, he headed in the direction he’d seen Ip run. He was still irritated at her taking off. The running man was also struggling to move across the slippery terrain. Realizing he couldn’t catch up to him, he stopped, took aim and shot the man’s legs. He immediately toppled to the ground and Ip swiftly caught up to him.
He continued to slip and slide his way towards her and the now prone man. “Don’t kill him, honey, and that’s a goddamn order.”
Ip was standing over the man with her sword pressed firmly against his throat. The man had the blue on blue eyes of a super hunter and he was glaring up at her. They seemed to be engaged in some silent conflict and he was sure, had he not been blunt, she would have killed the creature before he got there.
“Go back and protect the convoy, honey. I’ve got this.”
Ip speaks: The convoy is safe. There is no question of that. This is the last of the evil brats.
He kept his gun trained on the super hunter. “Brats?”
Ip speaks: Demons are bad that is true. But nothing to fear for me and you. More like children of naughty mind. They are of a trivial kind.
Despite the seriousness of the moment, he chuckled. “You think the super hunters are naughty brats. That’s cute, honey.”
“Fuck you,” the super hunter hissed at Ip.
Ip needled her sword a little deeper into the super hunter’s throat, and a small trickle of blood leaked from the wound.
He was feeling slightly amused by both of them. “Now, now kids. Play nicely.”
The super hunter was in the body of a person infected by the hunter virus, and despite having multiple severe bullet wounds to its legs, it didn’t seem to be in any pain. Blood was running from several areas on its thighs and without medical help, it would bleed out.
He wanted information before it died, and he hunkered and glared into its blue eyes. “Where’s the human army?”
As it turned to g
lare at him, Ip’s blade sliced a little deeper into its throat.
“Call your bitch off.”
“Don’t be rude to my wife, asshole. Answer the question or I’ll let her gut you. She’s been workin’ real hard today and I think she deserves a treat.”
Ip ran the tip of the blade across the super hunter’s eye, and it stared back at her unblinking. If he let her, he didn’t doubt she’d slice its eyeball open.
Leaning closer, he said steadily, “Either way you’re gonna die, but if you don’t get helpful I’ll let her loose on ya, and she calls herself Death for a reason.”
Seeming to deflate, the super hunter said, “She is Death.”
The super hunter obviously knew who Ip was and he asked, “How do ya know that?”
It gave him a baleful look. “Call her off.”
“Stand down, honey.”
She pulled her sword away, and even without looking he knew she was pouting and he’d pay for it later.
The super hunter pulled himself up slightly. “You don’t understand, do you?”
“Understand what?”
“Hell is here. You think you’re fighting to keep what you have, but you’ve already lost. The earth is ours and you’re trying to invade hell.” When he said nothing, the super hunter added with contempt, “You are so stupid.”
He wanted the super hunter to keep talking. “Maybe I am.”
“No maybe about it. You lost already. You think destroying this camp wins you a war, but you only rearrange the furniture in a world that is already hell.”
“Where’s the human army?”
The super hunter’s eyes widened in surprise. “Are you deaf? I just told you that you lost already. There is no human army. This is hell. There are no humans here. Only cattle and chattel. Human fodder for us to use.”
“Use how?”
The super hunter glanced at Ip with mock empathy. “This one is very stupid. You should keep better company.”
It turned its attention back to him. “Humans feed us as cattle feed humans. They keep us refreshed. It’s kind of you to gather them up and keep them for us.”
It was saying Ruler saw their bases as a cattle farm of humans, and he could swoop in and take them when he was ready. It never occurred to him to view their bases that way. Where he saw a safe haven, Ruler saw a human farm.
Anger flared in him. “What makes you think we’d let you walk in unopposed and take what ain’t yours?”
The super hunter laughed. “You’re not listening. You think you’re on earth, but this land is now hell. Everything on it is ours, you silly old fool.” It sat up higher until its face was inches from his. “Face the facts, War, you’ve lost. The game is over. You ruled and you lost.”
The super hunter believed they were Horsemen and their rule was denied. He might not believe he was a Horseman, but he didn’t believe the war was lost.
“Believe what ya want. The war is only lost when I stop fightin’ and I ain’t quit yet. Pass this message to that little shit Ruler. I don’t give fuck who he thinks he is. I’ll be done when one of us is dead, and accordin’ to Ip, I can’t die, so I guess I’ll see him in hell no matter where the fuck he thinks that is.”
Standing up, he said, “Have at it, honey.”
Ip held her sword aloft with both hands, and with single powerful drive, plunged it deeply into the super hunter’s throat. Blood poured from the wound and the super hunter’s face changed from an expression of sneering anger to a human face filled with relief.
He thought he heard it whisper. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: There’s no place like home (Gears)
He felt the softness of a warm breast filling his hand, and without opening his eyes, he massaged it gently and felt the nipple harden in his palm. Ip rolled over to face him, and moving his hand from her breast to her face, he kissed her deeply. She twisted her naked body to fully face his, sliding her arm around his waist and pulling herself deeper into his body.
“Get up!” Pax shouted, while repeatedly slamming his fist against the closed door to their suite.
Breaking away from kissing Ip, he shouted loudly. “Fuck off, Pax!”
The door burst open and Pax stalked into the room. He yanked the quilt covering their entwined bodies. “Get outta bed!”
Genuinely irritated with his brother, he glared at him. “Seriously, Pax. Fuck off.”
“Nope. I ain’t goin’ nowhere. You’ve been havin’ fun in here for two days now, and for as much as I get the need, bro’, enough is enough. We’ve got work to do.”
Ip was sprawled over his naked body, and she turned and gave Pax a naughty look. “Don’t give me that look, Ip. Gears’s got other work to do.”
Huffing, she kissed him on the mouth, then pushed herself off his body and rolled out of bed, landing nimbly on her feet. She gave Pax a friendly pat on the cheek and he watched her sashay into the bathroom of their suite. Sitting up, he gave Pax a dirty look and before he could say something rude, the loud wails of a baby interrupted both his thoughts and good mood.
“Does that baby ever shut the hell up?”
“Shaddup, Gears. The baby is cute. It jus’ heard you were up and you irritate it.”
“I’m happy to stay in bed.”
“Nope, ain’t buyin’. Get your ass outta bed. Everyone’s here waiting on you for a briefing.”
Since destroying Ruler’s camp they’d brought the convoy back to the base. He and Ip, along with TL, Pax and the baby, were living on the ship. They seemed to have orders from somewhere to protect the child and the ship was the safest place he knew. It had been a week since they’d destroyed the camp, and he and Ip had spent some much needed time together. He smiled with pleasure at the memories of recent times, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Standing up and stretching, he went to follow Pax out of the room.
“Pants, Gears, put your damn pants on!” Pax shouted over his shoulder, as he left the room.
While he thought about the past week, he reached for his ACUs and began to dress. TL had brought the newborn straight to the ship and handed him over to Mom, while he went back to the Ranch to find Lydia’s body. It was a waste of a trip. Other than hunter bodies, there were no human remains and they assumed the hunters had eaten their corpses. That hadn’t seem to upset TL and he was worried for him. TL told him a hunter had broken into the upstairs room and he lost his grip on his M4A1. He’d fought the hunter, eventually shooting it repeatedly with his Beretta M9. While he was distracted by the hunter, Lydia somehow got in front of the window and was shot through back of the neck, dying instantly. He’d figured the baby still had a chance which is why he’d delivered it after she died. His memory of that moment wasn’t too clear, but when he saw Lydia dead in the room he could have sworn she had blue eyes. If that were true then it meant she was one of the Infected, but Mom assured him Lydia’s eyes were brown.
He walked into the bathroom and Ip was showering. Reaching his arm into the running water, he playfully slapped her firm behind. She reached a dripping wet hand behind his head and pulled him under the running water, kissing him deeply as she did. Ip was the same, but not the same. Sharing her mind only added to their already deep bond. Where once only she could feel how he felt, now he could feel her too. He found it intoxicating and he really did want to go back to bed, but he knew Pax would only continue to interrupt them. Reluctantly pulling away from her embrace, he grabbed a toothbrush. Quickly applying some toothpaste and water, he began to scrub his teeth vigorously while staring at his reflection in the mirror.
Pax had returned from his experience with Ruler a stronger and a better man for it. He told them Ruler took him back to a memory he had when he was about two or three years old. Pax’s father murdered his mother in front of him when he was a toddler. When they asked Mom if that happened, she confirmed it was true, and that his father had killed himself by slitting his wrists while he was in prison. The newly recalled memory settled Pax in a way nothing ever
had before. When he’d asked how he felt about it, Pax said his mother was a wonderful woman and he was glad to have her back. It didn’t make a lot of sense to him, but it had brought a stability to Pax that had always seemed to elude him and he was happy for his brother.
Taking a face cloth, he wiped his body down and turned to see Ip was now drying herself in the small bathroom. It was too tempting and he couldn’t resist playfully running his hands over her naked and damp body. He thought maybe they had time for a little fast action, but it was not to be.
Pax appeared in the doorway to the bathroom. “Aww, come on!” Then he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Out!”
Walking past Pax and into the bedroom to find a t-shirt, he grumbled with genuine annoyance, “You’re really gettin’ on my nerves.”
Following him like a hound dog, Pax said with a grin, “Hey, I’ve seen Ip and I don’t blame ya, but we’ve gotta team waiting on you in the lounge, so cut it out.”
Standing aside, he waved Pax out the door, but he shook his head. “Nope. You go first, ‘cos if I have to fetch you a third time, I’m gonna bring you out at gunpoint.”
Walking into the living area, his eyes watered at the sound of the still howling baby. The baby had been born screaming and hadn’t shut up since. It was little wonder he and Ip hid in the bedroom and while they were there, one thing always led to another. He grinned to himself and saw Nelson, Captain Ted, Mackenzie, Logan, Max, Farrington, Mom, Pop, Philip, Axel, Benny, Hatch, Kat and even Gerry, sitting around the room looking back him expectantly.
TL was sitting on the sofa holding the wailing baby like a football, and Mom was in the kitchen fussing with something he hoped would quieten the baby down. Pax pushed past him and scooped the screaming baby from his awkward father. The baby went quiet and he could hear it begin to gurgle happily.