by SD Tanner
Walking over to Pax, he stared down at the now contented baby as if he was inspecting roadkill. “Baby likes ya, Pax. Is there something we should know about you and Lydia?”
Before he could answer, Mom bustled over clutching a bottle of baby formula. As she elbowed him out of the way, calling him by his given name and not his nickname, she said, “Don’t be rude, Bob, and show some respect for the dead.”
“Bein’ dead ain’t the problem it used to be, Mom. She’ll probably be back.”
TL hauled himself to his feet and said irritably, “Shaddup, Gears.”
Pax took the bottle from Mom began to feed the baby as if it was something he’d been born to do. Who is this guy, he wondered? The sight of an ape like Pax feeding a tiny infant struck him as ridiculous. Meanwhile Pax was grinning and cooing at the contented baby as if he was its natural born father. He thought there was something wrong about someone as roughly cut as Pax being anywhere near anything as innocent as a baby, but he held his tongue.
Leaning against the door to the balcony, he looked at the assembled group. “What’s new?”
“It’s not new, but we still have ninety thousand people who need to be fed, and we’re getting low on supplies,” Kat said firmly. She was responsible for base administration, and taking care of people’s needs was always her top priority.
Philip said, “We didn’t finish the recon of the UK, but it did look viable. We need to go back and see if we can set up a base and find any other survivors.” Turning to Kat, he added, “Moving people to the UK could solve the supply problem.”
Pop spoke next. “I wanna rebuild the Ranch. I don’t have a sensible reason to do that, but I reckon we gotta put it back together again. At least it’ll be faster this time.”
Nelson raised his hand. “We lost most of the Infected when we lost the Ranch.” Looking over at Mackenzie, he said, “We only have Mac, Isaac, Logan and three others left.”
Captain Ted said firmly, “That won’t work. We need the Infected to help us get into buildings for supplies.”
Farrington practically jumped out of his chair and said, “I’ve been working on the designer virus and it’s even more stable now. I can continue to infect more people. I wasn’t happy when Lydia moved the operation to the Ranch anyway.”
At the mention of Lydia’s name, he glanced over at TL, who stared back at him without even a flicker of expression. TL had said nothing about Lydia’s death other than to explain how it happened. He’d yet to see TL express any regret or anger about how she’d died. He planned to ask him about it as soon as he stopped being distracted by Ip. As he thought of Ip, she walked out of their bedroom and wandered into the kitchen.
Captain Ted asked, “What do you want to do with Gray?”
He’d forgotten about that asshole and Pax said, “Interrogate him and then shoot him.”
“Lovely,” Kat said, with a disgusted look.
“Is that it? Look for supplies, set up the UK, infect more people and rebuild the Ranch?”
Mackenzie said, “No, I want Max to live on the boat. I don’t think it’s safe out there and she’s pregnant.”
Gerry raised his hand timidly. “I umm think you…err...umm…need to umm…’
Hatch cut him off. “Gerry thinks you need to base yourselves on the ship and I agree with him.”
Nodding, Kat said, “It’s true. We’ve grown so rapidly and people need to know there’s reliable leadership somewhere.”
Mom interrupted and said, “That’s a given, Bob. The baby has to stay on the boat, so you all have to live here.”
Now all the points were laid on the table, people began to talk amongst themselves, prioritizing and planning what they needed to do. He watched the team as they talked, and thought, we’re missing the point.
Ip speaks: True you are as you do. There is more than one problem that is true.
I know, honey, he replied without speaking, all we’ve got is problems and not enough solutions, but if we don’t fix the main problem then every solution will fail.
Ip speaks: Now you see the game for real. If not fixed the people here are only a meal.
“Quiet!”
Instantly the room fell silent and all he could hear was the chortling and gurgling of the baby. He pushed himself away from leaning against the balcony door and stepped closer to the center of the room. He looked at each person as they either sat or stood around the combined lounge and dining area of their suite.
“Ya’ll missin’ the point. Ruler ain’t gone. That little shit is still out there and it’s a question of time before he comes for us.”
Looking at his father, he said, “You can keep rebuildin’ the Ranch, Pop, and you’re right ‘cos it means somethin’, but he’ll keep spillin’ innocent blood there.”
He turned to Philip and said, “We can abandon the U.S. and move everyone to the UK, and we may have to jus’ to keep ‘em fed, but it won’t be long before Ruler and his demons join you there too.”
Turning to face Farrington, he said, “And we can keep creating more Infected, but they can only kill one hunter at a time, and he’s learned to fight with hundreds of thousands of hunters.”
Looking over at Captain Ted, he said, “We do need the Infected to help us clear buildings, but they can’t help us defeat Ruler unless we use ‘em better.”
Giving Max a top to toe look, he said, “And we can keep you safe on the boat, Max, jus’ like we’ll keep Lydia’s baby safe here, but if we don’t fix the core problem, these babies ain’t got a future on this earth.”
Max instinctively placed her hand protectively over her swelling belly, and he could see she was trying not to cry. Mackenzie frowned at him and put his arm around Max.
“Bob! Do not put the fear of God into expectant mothers,” Mom admonished.
“Sorry, Mom, but the truth has to be told or we’re wastin’ our time. I’ve learned a lot over the past week. Things ain’t what I thought they were. I’ve been tryin’ to hang onto some old belief that the world is simple. In the Army, we called it WYSIWYG. What You See Is What You Get. But it ain’t true. It shoulda been WYBIWYS. What You Believe Is What You See. The problem is we only see what we wanna believe. I believed the world just caught a virus. I believed all we had to do was kill the virus, but I was wrong.”
He looked around the room at all the attentive faces. “Last week Pax talked to the Devil himself. Last week I talked to one of the Devil’s demons, and they both told an interestin’ tale. They believe we’ve lost the war. That our land is now their land and we live in hell. The dead don’t walk the earth. It’s the other way around. The living are walkin’ through hell. I wouldn’t have believed it a week ago, but the more I think about it, the more I know it’s the truth.”
Pop nodded grimly. “But what does that mean, son?”
TL answered for him and said, “It means we need to be on the attack and not the defense.”
Nodding at his brother, he said, “Exactly. Everythin’ we’ve done to date was on the assumption Ruler is attacking us, but he ain’t. Ruler thinks we’re jus’ minding his shop for him, and anytime he wants, he can jus’ walk in and take what’s his and he ain’t wrong.”
“What?” Kat exclaimed in surprise.
“He’s got a lot more super hunters and literally tens of millions of hunters they can control. Ip can fight back, but if he used all his super hunters and hunters against us, we’d lose with or without her. I thought the core of the problem was the hunters, and that Ruler and his demons were just an extra complication. Kill the hunters and Ruler and his demons have got no army, so problem solved.”
Shaking his head at his own blindness, he said, “The real problem is Ruler is the Devil and the super hunters are his demons. Between ‘em, they’ve used the hunters and the virus to bring hell to earth, and we’re not on earth anymore, we’re livin’ in hell.”
“Finally, Gears!” Nelson boomed. “You finally understand.”
He waved his hand in acknowl
edgement. “Yeah, I finally understand and there’s more. ‘Cos we’re in hell, the dead rule. We’re the ones invading their world and not the other way around.”
“Oh my God,” Kat said in alarm. “I don’t know whether to think you’ve lost your mind, Gears, or to be terrified of the world.”
“You should be terrified, Kat. Take a good look around ya,” Pax replied dourly.
Benny spoke for the first time and asked, “What does all this mean, Gears?”
“It means we have to assume we’re in enemy territory. If we’re the invaders then we gotta act like we are. There’s no sittin’ back and thinking Ruler will go away. He’s got no reason to. As far as he’s concerned, this is his home and we’re squatters.”
Pax had handed the baby back to Mom and he walked over to him. “Yeah, Gears. We gotta go on the offensive. It’s time to go Ruler huntin’.”
Walking over from the back of the room, TL stood next to him. “If we’re the invaders, then let’s play the part.”
From across the room Ip was smiling and he thought, I’m slow, but I do listen to ya, honey.
“We still need the UK and, Ted, you lead that. Logan, I want you to support Ted in the UK. Pop, rebuild the Ranch. If nothin’ else it’s a symbol of what we’ll bring back to earth. Farrington, get me more Infected and the more the better. Kat and Nelson, keep the home fires burnin’. Mom, the baby and Max are your responsibility. Stay on the ship and take care of ‘em. Mac, you’ve got precog and we’re gonna need that, so you’re with us. Me, Ip, Pax and TL are gonna find Ruler and his demons and we’ll work out how to kill ‘em all. We’ll get whatever intel we can from Gray. Pax, feel free to do what you like with him. I want every able man and woman to be armed and ready to fight. It seems, while I ain’t been payin’ attention, the Devil moved in on my territory and I want that sonofabitch outta my house.”
Looking sternly at his brothers, he said, “We’ve gotta new mission. We’re gonna enforce our right to rule.”
CHAPTER THIRTY: Let the games begin (Gears)
For the rest of the meeting the team discussed the logistics of their new orders, and he was satisfied they all knew what they needed to do. It was late by the time everyone left to go to their beds for the night, and he was finally left sitting on the sofa with Ip half-asleep and curled up in his lap. TL was sprawled opposite, and Pax sat next to TL with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Mom had taken the baby back to her cabin to give them a night of peace and quiet, and Max had eagerly followed her to learn some basics about caring for a newborn.
“So, TL, are you doin’ alright? You know, with Lydia dyin’.”
TL looked back at him through half closed eyes. “Yeah, we live in hell, Gears. People are gonna die.”
Remembering how he felt when he thought Ip was dead, he gave him an understanding nod. “Yeah, I know, but how do you feel about Lydia dyin’?”
“I’m sorry she died, but we hadn’t been together very long. I’m sorry the baby lost its mother, but truth is I dunno if he’s mine.”
“Does it matter who fathered the baby?”
“No, he’s my responsibility now.”
Pax sniffed and said, “Nah, that ain’t true, TL. He’s our responsibility now. Lydia was a good woman, and he’s jus’ a little guy and he needs us.”
He smiled at his brother’s simple view of the world while inwardly agreeing with him. “Yeah, that true, TL. Lydia saved a lotta lives including my own. I had a lot a respect for her. Her baby is ours now. We owe her that.”
Ip speaks: Noisy child. Why is he so wild?
“You’ve got no maternal instinct, honey.”
“What did she say?” TL asked.
“She thinks the baby is noisy and he goddamn is.”
Studying Ip, TL asked, “She’s talks to you and Pax telepathically, so why doesn’t she talk to me?”
Ip speaks: The kind one has no attention yet. He still thinks I am your pet.
“She says you’ve got no respect for her and I guess until you do, she won’t talk to ya.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
Ip speaks: He speaks the words, but he does not believe. Until he does, he cannot receive.
“Yeah well, TL has always been a bit of a politician.” Looking over at him, he added, “She says you don’t believe your own bullshit and until you do you can’t hear her.”
“I thought you were the disbeliever,” TL retorted sharply.
He mulled over the accusation and thought, I neither believed nor disbelieved, I just wanted some proof one way or the other. He never called Ip a liar, but he’d struggled to believe what he couldn’t see. Over the past week, he’d realized it wasn’t that he lacked evidence, but more he hadn’t seen it for what it was. Now he could see the dead walked the earth, he was surrounded by people with inhuman abilities, and that Ruler did command a demon army. That didn’t mean he believed he was a Horseman, but he was prepared to accept there was a Devil and a God.
Ip speaks: You know God, you know the Devil too. It is only your part that has never been clear to you.
He’d always known there was evil in the world. In the Army he’d witnessed it in person, and if he believed in evil then by comparison alone there had to be good. Was it such a big leap to give good and evil the name of God and the Devil? He didn’t think so, but to believe his role was to be anything other than a man walking the earth doing the best he knew how was too far to stretch. Lying in his arms, she sighed at him, and he knew she didn’t agree.
“I ain’t a disbeliever, TL, and I never have been. I just didn’t use words like God and the Devil, but those words will do to describe good and evil and I’ve always believed in that.”
“True story,” Pax replied sagely.
“So, what are you saying?” TL asked, sounding annoyed. “That I don’t believe in God and the Devil?”
“If Ip ain’t talkin’ to you, then I’m guessin’ not.”
Sounding irritable, TL said, “We don’t need to communicate telepathically, Ip. You can talk.”
She gave him a sulky frown. “It is not easy to use the words. It makes my head hurt.”
Turning away from TL, she buried her face in his chest. “Stop annoyin’ her, TL. She sulks enough as it is.”
Pax chortled. “Who woulda guessed Death would be such a sulky brat.”
“Shaddup, Pax.” With a wicked grin, he added, “Don’t make me order Ip to kill ya.”
“Do you think she’d kill someone if I asked her to?”
“Nah, no one with any sense does anythin’ you ask, Pax.”
Pax screwed up his face. “That ain’t true. BD left when I dumped her.”
TL rolled his eyes in disgust. “None of our conversations make any sense anymore.”
Pax snorted. “None of our conversations every made any goddamn sense, TL. What world have you been livin’ in?”
Ip had grown bored with their squabbling and fallen asleep with her face pressed into his chest. He thought it was time he got some sleep himself and interrupted his brothers. “We’re gonna need to plan the mission to take down Ruler.”
“Yeah, I know, but not tonight, Gears. We gotta think this through. That sonofabitch won’t die easy.”
TL snorted. “We have to find him first and we’ve no idea where to look.”
They didn’t know where to start, but he thought they could make better use of the weapons they’d been granted. Mackenzie had precognition and Ip was able to see Ruler in her mind, so there had to be a way to use them both.
“We’ll deal with it tomorrow, but I figure between Mac and Ip they should be able to give us some idea where that little shit is.”
“Now you’re thinkin’, bro’,” Pax said with a grin.
There was a lot to do and they had the people to do it. Secretly he was looking forward to hunting down Ruler and killing him, and if necessary, he’d enjoy killing him more than once. He’d started the week feeling demotivated and disengaged, but as the we
ek progressed he felt his resolve returning. I’ve been on the wrong goddamn mission, he thought, my mission has always been the right to rule and rule I will. He didn’t care whether he was a Horseman or not, but he’d be damned if that little shit Ruler got to rule. Not only didn’t he agree with his ruling, he also hated everything the little shit did and everything he stood for.
“So, do you really think we lost?” Pax asked.
In some respects he could understand the demon’s point of view. The land was dying and so were the people, but did that mean the Devil had won? He supposed in a way he had, but as far as he was concerned nothing was won until they were done fighting.
“Have you given up yet, Pax?”
“Hell no. Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Then the Devil ain’t won shit.”
“You two never quit anything. Not even the stupid shit you do.” TL muttered.
“Shaddup, TL. I’m goin’ Ruler huntin’ and I’m gonna kill that little shit.”
Rolling his eyes, TL said dourly, “How, Gears? Ruler can resurrect himself.”
“Then we’ll keep killin’ the little shit until he stays dead.”
TL gave him a resigned stare, but said nothing. In the silence Pax, who was chewing on stale gum he’d found in the bottom of a drawer in his room, playfully punched TL and asked, “So, whatcha gonna call our baby boy?”
“I dunno.”
“You should call it Pax’. I think he likes me.”
“Lydia and I never talked about a name, but I know she wouldn’t agree to naming him Pax.”
Pax wasn’t letting the subject go and he continued to argue his case. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes and let the noise of their bickering drift over him. It had been over a year and a half since the virus had swept through the world and nothing had been the same since. He felt as though he lived more than a lifetime in that short window. Everything he believed to be true about himself, his brothers, the world and how the universe worked was changing. At first he’d resisted this new view of life, but now sitting in their suite with Ip asleep in his arms and the sound of his brother’s voices while they argued over nothing, he was content. Despite all outward signs he was confident he would win this fight. He had no reason for the confidence other than a growing belief he was meant to. It was his job in this time and place to do exactly what he was doing. He felt Ip stir restlessly in his lap and he stroked her back soothingly. Of all the strange things he’d learned that week, she was the best lesson by far.