by J. W. Vohs
Luke let out a slow, quiet whistle before asking, “Notice anything different in the others you captured?”
“No, but they haven’t lasted long. Besides, I’m thinking we’ve learned enough already.”
“Can we see the one that used to be the sheriff?” David asked. “I mean, just me and Luke. I’ve never had the opportunity to observe a live one up close for any longer than it took me to kill it.”
Jack nodded, “Sure, I’ll take you two over there this evening, but you aren’t going to like it.”
Luke had that deadly look in his eyes that he got whenever he faced the hunters, and he agreed with Jack’s assessment, “No, I don’t suppose we will.”
The three soldiers stood up and continued on with the tour. Jack led them further along the wall, pointing out the various structures on the grounds and explaining, “Most of the people down in the tents are waiting for houses to move in to—we’ve expanded what we consider our safety zone out for about three miles in every direction, but we still like to refit most homes with barred windows and doors before we move people into them. The barn mostly holds weapons, the command center for the RRTs on duty, things like that. Sort of like fire stations used to be, only we’ve added a couple holding cells. Our fighters conduct weapons practice in the yard behind the barn; we’ve discovered that we all have a lot to learn when it comes to medieval combat.”
“Have you guys developed any new tactics?” David asked.
“Well, Carter built some catapults that helped a lot when we were defending this place, but nobody has suggested using them for offensive operations. If we can get a bunch of the creatures in one place we can blow them up, but again, that’s easier when you’re on the defensive. Some of our people know a lot about horses, and we’ve been doing our best to round up as many as we can before the flesh-eaters get them. So now we’re teaching everyone how to ride, and a small group is working with some of the biggest horses, trying to develop them into, for lack of a better word, war-horses. We know that the old knights had a huge advantage fighting from horseback, and we’d love to develop that ability for our small army. We keep about half a dozen horses here at all times, but since our barn has pretty much been repurposed, we use a ranch down the road for most of the training. It’s a learning curve for all of us.”
“Sounds as if it isn’t going as well as you’d hoped,” Luke remarked.
“Oh, we have about twenty horses that will actually move close enough to hunters for our folks to fight them, but we’re learning that you don’t quickly or easily create mounted knights. I’ve heard you’re deadly with a long bow; how long have you been using it?”
Luke thought for a moment, “Dad got me a toy-bow when I was six, and a year later a small real one. I guess I’ve been working at it for about ten years.”
Jack nodded, “That’s what I figured. In the Hundred Years War the French were repeatedly slaughtered by the English long bow-men but could never develop their own archers. We now know that the English peasants started practicing with bows as soon as they were old enough to walk. By the time they were eighteen they could put arrows through plate armor at two hundred yards. You can’t recreate that kind of ability overnight. The nobles back then would have their boys on horses before they could walk, and they were learning to use weapons up there as soon as they were strong enough to hold one. So, we’re discovering that training people from the modern world to fight from horseback is nearly impossible. Mostly, we hope to use horses to move fighters quickly, sort of like the mobile infantry guys during the Civil War. We’ve also been practicing a form of the laager.”
“What’s a laager?” David wondered.
Jack explained, “Well, that’s the word the Afrikaners used to describe the fortified circle they’d make with their wagons at night as they traveled through Zulu territory when they were settling what’s now South Africa. The Hussites did the same thing against Catholic armies in Europe, and if the movies are to be trusted, American settlers used the tactic as they moved through Indian territories. For us, it means pulling our vehicles into a circle, bumper to bumper, then fighting from behind them if we’re surrounded.”
“I don’t suppose you’ve had to use that tactic yet?” Luke asked.
“Not yet,” Jack conceded, “but we practice it a lot for the day when we need it. Another tactic we’re working on is based on the shield walls used from at least Greek times to the Middle Ages. We found a number of riot shields in the sheriff’s department, and we’ve been building lightweight models since. We can put a hundred and twenty fully armored fighters into a circle, or a phalanx if we have flank protection, and go old school on the infected. Our tactics are a bit different from the ancients though; the first rank has its hands full just holding onto the shields and the second line does the killing. As long as everybody does their job it should work just fine.”
“You don’t know for sure?” David asked.
“Well, we haven’t seen any packs with more than eight of the creatures since the battle here. We haven’t lost anyone since then, but we don’t know for certain how we’d do against large numbers of hunters away from these walls.”
Luke interjected, “We’ve fought dozens at once several times. The guns and my arrows have been critical. We use halberds to keep them off of us as much as possible, but once they get past those we’ve just had to try to cut our way free and run. Some of us haven’t made it.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, “that’s how most of our fights went early on. Now that they’re evolving it’s going to be even more dangerous the next time we have to fight a large group of these things in the open.”
The three warriors were quiet as they thought about the inevitable battles of the future until Jack said, “Hey, we better get back down there with everyone else; hundreds of other people are anxious to get to know you guys.”
After a day of mostly resting with the other members of the group, Luke just picked at his dinner until Gracie finally asked if something was wrong. Instead of answering he just smiled and shook his head, then forced himself to clear his plate. He thought he was doing a good job of hiding the nervousness he was experiencing as he thought about his post-dinner plans, but the butterflies in his stomach were real despite their invisibility. He looked over to see that David seemed to be equally disinterested in his food, and when the two finally made eye contact Luke asked in a loud voice, “Did Jack still want to see us after dinner?”
David nonchalantly wiped his mouth on a napkin, tossed it onto his nearly empty plate, and declared, “Yeah, wants to set up a training routine for you to teach your axe skills to some of his fighters. You don’t have to come along if you’d rather skip it.”
Luke shook his head with feigned annoyance, “Nah, I might as well have some control over how I’m gonna be spending my time here.”
The two fighters assured their significant others that they wouldn’t be gone long, then walked over to Jack’s table and dragged him away from Andi, Carter, and Deb. They made their way to the barn-turned-barracks where Jack led them into a back room that held a door they had assumed opened to a closet. Instead, they found a trap door to a well-lit staircase leading down to what was essentially a bomb shelter.
“We didn’t make a big deal out of it,” Jack explained, “but me and Carter thought it might be a good idea to have a safe-room-slash-bomb-shelter.”
“Why am I not surprised,” David quipped.
“Okay,” Jack told the pair, “don’t expect much here. The creature’s been fairly docile for awhile now, and feeding time is over. Doc Redders is here, keeping an eye on things. I guess I don’t need to tell you not to go up to the cage or do anything else to annoy the hunter.”
Luke and David both nodded their understanding, so Jack led them down into the secret room. At that point Jack stopped and explained in a low whisper, “This is as far as I go. I don’t know if somehow the creature remembers me or something, but every time it sees me it goes crazy trying to get
to me. Doc Redders is afraid the poor thing might break a limb slamming into the bars of the cell, so I just stay out of there nowadays. You two go on in and I’ll wait for you out here.”
Luke and David both looked a little wary now, wondering if Jack was setting up a practical joke or something, but then they realized this wouldn’t be the time or place for it, unless perhaps they were Carter. After a moment they both just shrugged and walked through a short hallway, where they then turned left to find a rather large, clinical space occupied by a huge desk, several filing cabinets, and various types of medical equipment and monitors. Everything was placed about ten feet away from what was obviously a makeshift cell formed from what appeared to be salvaged parts from the county jail.
Doc Redders looked up from where he was sitting at the desk and gave a brief nod to the newcomers, then jerked his head in the direction of the cage and shrugged. The hunter was curled into a fetal position in the rear corner, apparently sleeping off a meal since the floor of the cell was liberally splattered with fresh blood. Luke also noticed plenty of scraps of flesh and bone from what looked to have once been a fresh leg of lamb or goat.
For a few moments they simply observed the resting hunter, noting the taut muscles of the shirtless creature’s back as it lay perfectly still while facing away from them. After about a minute of staring at the hunter with no reaction from the beast, what had been Sheriff Bob Gates began to slowly turn toward the visitors. The monster briefly glanced at Doc, then it shifted its gaze to David, who felt a cold chill tingle in his spine as he peered into its blank reptilian eyes. The creature seemed to sniff the air for a few seconds, then a low growl rumbled in the beast’s throat as it tilted its head far enough to bring Luke its peripheral vision.
The hunter snapped its head toward Luke and locked eyes with the teen for less than a second before leaping to its feet faster than anyone could have imagined. It let out a hair-raising howl and threw itself against the bars of the cage with such force that a cloud of dust wafted down from the ceiling. The monster was reaching from the cell and loudly snarling as it strained to get its hands on Luke. Doc Redders and David leapt back at the ferocity of the creature’s attack, but Luke didn’t move a muscle. With the enraged hunter roaring its frustration and waving its hands less than a foot from the teen’s face, Luke just stood and stared at the beast with fearless contempt.
The surreal moment was broken when Doc Redders rushed over and pulled Luke away from the cage, quickly explaining, “I don’t know what’s going on. He hasn’t acted like this in months. You guys had better get out of here so I can get him calmed down. I don’t want him to hurt himself slamming up against the bars of the cell.”
Without a word the two fighters turned and walked out of the room, where they joined Jack and headed back up into the main building. After explaining what had happened with the hunter, David was still visibly shaken.
Jack eyed Luke, who didn’t seem rattled in the least. “Well, I can’t imagine why you stirred up such a big reaction.” He smiled mischievously and cocked an eyebrow. “When’s the last time you had a shower, kid?”
CHAPTER 3
It didn’t take long for David and his group to be assimilated into the daily routines of The Castle. As part of Jack’s long-term plan, a few of the Rangers had moved out into the nearest homes in order to set up additional safe houses and expand the territory firmly under the control of the resistance. John and Tina insisted that David and Christy take their room at The Castle since the couple had been planning to move to the ranch where most of the horses were boarded anyway—the horses were known to attract the flesh-eaters, and John and Tina intended to insure that none of the animals would fall victim to the hunters. Trudy and Gracie roomed together just down the hall from David and Christy, and the oldest Smith brother, Tom, offered to share his space with Luke. The Alberts and Martinez families squeezed into three rooms in the basement, and despite what would have been seen as extremely tight quarters before the outbreak, they were more than thrilled with the accommodations.
Doc Redders was relieved to have another physician at The Castle, and Vickie was anxious to feel like she was making a real contribution to the people responsible for saving her family from certain death, or worse, back in Ohio. She was especially interested in the research Redders and David’s sister, Sarah, were conducting with the infected. Seeing that his doctor-wife was immersed in her duties at the clinic, Sal decided to organize a few home-schooling groups for The Castle’s children. Andi was more than happy to help him out, and soon several adults were teaching classes at various times throughout the day.
Trudy had grown up with horses, and she needed something to throw herself into, so she volunteered to work in the barns. She was both physically and mentally exhausted by the end of each day, which is exactly what she needed to keep from sliding into debilitating grief over the loss of her husband. Blake, Lori, Gracie, Luke, and David all signed up for basic training and patrol duty. Luke and Gracie tackled everything as a pair, and both were impressive enough in their fighting and shooting abilities to be assigned guard duty on their third day at The Castle. After just a week they fell into a routine of guard rotations, physical training, horseback riding, and classes in math, literature, and history. David made sure to keep their schedules full, while Trudy kept a supervising eye on the pair most evenings.
Two weeks after David and his group arrived, Carter tracked down Jack one muggy morning following breakfast. “We’ve purty much got ourselves all set to send a few supplies and a CB radio to that priest out on Middle Bass. I think conditions would have to be just right for us to pick up the signal of the rig we’re sendin’ ‘em, but it’s as good as anythin’ else we got here. Course, David wants to lead the team.”
Jack nodded, “Yeah, that’s what I figured. He may be the best choice, but I’m not sure I’m ready to send him away again quite yet—not that I’ll be able to stop him if he has his mind set to do it.”
“Well, now, ya’ll probably can’t—but Deb told me somethin’ that might make the situation more interestin’ . . .” Carter paused and gave Jack an I-know-something-you-don’t-know look. “Now Deb may just have my head if she ever finds out . . .”
“Just spit it out, Carter! You know I can keep your secrets.”
Carter smiled, “Problem is, it’s not my secret. It’s Christy’s. David don’t even know yet. She’s, uh, in the family way, if ya know what I mean.”
The large guard tower at the corner of Indiana Highways 9 and 33 allowed excellent observation in every direction. From the crow’s nest Gracie kept watch on the distant horizon with her field glasses, calling down regular updates to Luke, who stayed armed and ready at the base of the tower. Even though the two teens spent most of their free time together, Gracie particularly enjoyed sharing guard duty with Luke. Every now and then she would turn her glasses in his direction and observe him from above.
Luke was tall and broad-shouldered, slim and strong, with wavy dark hair and a smile that, while rare, could melt even the coldest heart. He was fast on his feet, and faster with his hands in battle. Most importantly, he was absolutely determined to rid the world of the infected, which he considered to be evil abominations in the eyes of God. Usually, he was too serious for his age, but he’d suffered through the deaths of two parents, one from cancer and the other to the hunters, and he seemed to walk somewhere between Earth and the spirit-world. During the journey from Cleveland, David and the others had learned to trust in Luke’s intelligence and instincts, as well as his ability to fight. Children and animals adored him, and so did Gracie. Fortunately for the smitten young woman, the feeling was mutual.
Out of the corner of her eye, Gracie saw a speck moving in the far distance on Highway 9. She raised the binoculars, holding them steady until the speck became a person on a bicycle with a pack of six hunters chasing him and quickly closing the gap. She immediately shouted down to Luke, “Man headed our way on a bike; six hunters on his tail, and they
’re gaining!”
Luke tossed aside the book he’d been reading and reached for his helmet, “Where?”
“Highway 9! It looks like he’s got a gun strapped to his back so be careful . . .”
Luke jumped in the Hummer they’d driven out from the compound that morning and shoved the accelerator to the floor as he headed down the road toward the cyclist he could now clearly see ahead. Gracie wasn’t kidding, he thought, as he saw that the hunters were less than ten feet behind the man who was obviously at the end of his strength. Luke pointed the vehicle right at the bike and hoped the man realized what he was trying to do. At the last second the rider wrenched his bike to the right and Luke roared by him as he plowed into the pack of hunters that had been within seconds of catching their prey.
Luke slammed on the brakes and spun the steering wheel to the left, bringing the Hummer to a skidding stop in the middle of the road. Three of the hunters were still on their feet, though they seemed to have forgotten all about the cyclist as they began to cautiously move toward an object that experience had taught them often contained food. Luke grabbed his longbow and checked to make sure his axe was attached to his weapons belt as he pushed open the door, and then he quickly hopped up on the roof of the SUV as the monsters broke into a sprint upon seeing a live human emerge from the vehicle. Luke had faced greater odds many times, and he coolly released the first arrow and was pulling another from the quiver as he watched the lead hunter tumble to the pavement with bright feathers from the fletching protruding from his cheekbone. The second arrow was fired at a distance of less than five yards, and for a split second he thought he’d missed as he watched the missile skitter down the road behind the creature he’d aimed at. But the monster was already falling and Luke realized that his arrow had passed completely through the skull, probably after sliding through an eye socket or open mouth.