Wanderer (Book 2): Hunters

by Lincoln, James

  “Look at this map,” I said, pulling it out of my jacket and handing it to Eric.

  He stopped what he was doing for a minute and examined it.

  “Is that here?”

  He handed the map back to me. “Yes,” he said and went back to scanning.

  “Something ain’t right here,” I said.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know yet.” I honestly wasn’t sure now. There were still a lot of variables. “I think they were bringing the girl here. Larson is making some kind play. I don’t know what it is and that scares me. These people are in danger.”

  Suddenly his wand started beeping. The wand was stopped over the center of the dashboard. Eric produced a screwdriver and pried the dash panel loose. Behind the panel was a maze work of wires and fuses. None of it made sense to me, but he seemed to know what he was doing because he reached right in without hesitation and pulled out a small device about the size and shape of a pocketknife.

  “I’ve seen these before. Pretty simple device,” he said. “It will transmit basic GPS coordinates back to its source.”

  “Is it transmitting now?”

  “It’s hard to say.”

  Expensive electronics are very fragile, and the transmitter was no different. It disintegrated with just one swing of Eric’s hammer.

  “It isn’t now. What’s your plan, Captain?” Eric asked.

  I turned and looked at his off-road truck. “How soon can you have that thing ready?”

  I found myself thinking about Emily’s brother that night. It would be getting colder as the nights went on. Hopefully he had the smarts to grab a jacket or a blanket before he left the burnt-out ruin of his house. I wasn’t sure how old he was, but I’m sure he was around the same age as Emily, which was roughly the same age as Moyer was.

  I still couldn’t sleep sometimes thinking about him. Was it my fault that he wandered down that hallway? Could I have done more to stop him? That girl biting his neck was the last thing I saw before I woke up the next morning.

  I caught up with David on the way to the mess hall the next morning.

  “We found a tracking device in the APC yesterday,” I said jumping right into things.

  “How do you know it was a tracking device?”

  “Because it said so on the side. Fuck you, okay?”

  “Look, Captain, what do you want from me?” David snapped.

  I stopped walking and so did he. I felt like a kid on the playground that was just told he couldn’t play anymore.

  “Something is rotten in Denver and you know it,” I said, regaining my composure.

  “So, what do you want me to do about it? Until you have proof my hands are tied. Orders are orders,” he said.

  “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.”

  “Was it still transmitting?” Charlie asked.

  Charlie, California, and I had secured a table in the center of the mess hall. Charlie was feeling well enough to walk around now which was a good sign.

  It was abnormally busy this morning, probably because pancakes were being served. Families were scurrying about to get their morning meal. I noticed a few of them scowling at us like we were uninvited.

  “Most likely,” I said. “Eric’s detector found it because it had a power signature.”

  “What do you think is going on here, Captain?”

  “I don’t know.” I turned to California. “How is Emily?”

  “Couldn’t tell you, they won’t let me see her,” he said.

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “No one will tell me.”

  “This is wrong, Captain,” Charlie said.

  Apparently, we were more unwelcomed than I had thought. A man walked up to us and slapped Charlie’s plate to the ground. Charlie abruptly stood up; the bench he was sitting on tipped over.

  “What the fuck, man?” Charlie yelled.

  “You all should be arrested for bringing that scavenger into the camp,” the man said.

  The entire room had gone still. No one said anything. Charlie and the man stared through each other.

  I tried to be diplomatic. “Why don’t we all just calm down.”

  “You shut up,” the main said, turning and pointing at me. “You put this entire camp at risk. Men, women, and children. This world is dangerous enough, we don’t need people like you making it worse.”

  “Sir, I can assure you she is not a scavenger,” California said.

  The man’s fist shot out quicker than any of us could blink and landed squarely on California’s jaw. The blow sent California tumbling over the bench seating and into the table. Before he could even hit the ground, Charlie had returned the punch, which put the man flat on his back. He tried scrambling to his feet as I tried to hold Charlie back.

  The door to the mess hall burst open and several armed guards moved into the building toward us, like they knew it was going to happen.

  “That one punched me,” the man said pointing at Charlie.

  The guards moved up to Charlie. “I’m about to do more than that,” Charlie said.

  “Charlie, shut up,” I commanded.

  Two armed guards grabbed Charlie and pulled him away from me.

  “You’re under arrest,” one of the guards said.

  Another two guards lifted California off of his feet and placed cuffs on him as well.

  “Wait a minute,” I pleaded.

  Another guard stepped up and pushed me back. “Sir, do not interfere or you will be placed in custody as well.”

  I was completely beside myself. This had all happened too fast and too conveniently.

  The guards lead Charlie and California outside. I followed them. “Who is your supervisor?” I asked.

  Just as I stepped out of the door, I was stopped by a hand grabbing the crook of my arm. I looked to see who it was.

  “Cool it,” David said.

  “What the fuck, David?”

  “Come with me,” he said.

  David led me behind the mess hall so that no one would hear us.

  “You were right,” David said.

  “About what?” I said irritated.

  “Larson is making a move and he thinks you’re going to stand in the way.”

  “So why have Charlie and California arrested?” I said.

  “If he’s going to maintain control, he needs it to look like you are the enemy. He’ll be looking to have you arrested too. The guards stepped in a little too early otherwise you’d be with Charlie and California right now.”

  “So, what do we do?” I asked.

  “He rules by fear. You need proof Larson willingly ignored your warnings of approaching zombies and you’re going to need it quick.”

  I thought quickly and knew what we had to do. “Can you get me some rifles?”

  “Yes. Anything else?”

  “No, I need your involvement to remain hush for the moment. I need someone on the inside. Someone who is untainted by the situation who can back up our story.”

  “You got it.”

  “David, I need them tonight.”

  I prayed that Eric could have the off-road vehicle ready by tonight.

  There was a green canvas bag on my bed when I returned. I unzipped it and examined its contents, two M-16’s, several magazines and extra rounds, a few other miscellaneous supplies, and two masks intended to shield our faces from the dropping temperature. Those would come in handy as the race truck had no windshield.

  It was almost dark now. Magic hour as they called it, the point where the sun retreats behind the horizon but is still light out.

  Eric was sitting on a stool and bolting one of the massive tires to the off-road truck. It resembled more of an actual vehicle now. Two of the tires were already on and the engine had been put in. Black fiberglass fenders and cab pieces had been attached to the skeleton.

  “Looking good,” I said.

  Eric turned around on his stool. “Yeah I figured you might need it pretty quick.�
��

  “You figured right. We’re leaving tonight.”

  “What’s in the bag?”

  “Hardware.”

  “For?”

  I just smiled at him.

  The race truck wasn’t a normal truck, so it didn’t have a bed, Eric had envisioned it as a high-speed vehicle for getting into and out of situations very quickly, but it did have a metal toolbox attached just behind the cab. I opened the lid to the toolbox and put the canvas bag in.

  “You almost done?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. I’m going to take care of our search party.”

  “Be careful,” Eric said. “Just before you got here, I got the call to arrest you on sight.”

  “That was quick.”

  I spent the next forty-five minutes sneaking around camp and removing one spark plug from each of the camp’s vehicles. I didn’t want to fully disable the vehicles, in case something were to happen I wanted them to be able to respond. They would eventually figure out what happened and fix the vehicles, but it would take a while. I placed each spark plug into a small canvas bag and pulled the strings to close it once I was finished.

  Only twice did I have to hide from patrolling sentries. No doubt they had tossed my room by now. Right now, it was a calm, quiet search, but once they realized I was actively hiding the search would ramp up and they wouldn’t be so subtle anymore.

  I quietly opened the door to Eric’s garage and slipped in. Eric had finished assembling the truck and had cleared a path for when I raced out of the garage.

  I put the bag of spark plugs in the toolbox while Eric performed some last-minute checks on the race truck. I walked over to him. He was leaning in the window of the race truck.

  “Are you ready?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Everything seems to be functioning.”

  “No. I mean, are you ready?”

  He got out of the window and sighed. He nodded nervously. I didn’t want Eric to be implicated in this when Larson came calling so we needed to make it look like I had stolen the race truck.

  I placed my hands on either of Eric’s shoulders and looked into his eyes. I could see the pain in his eyes, wishing he had been the one in San Francisco and not Johnny.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. He knew what it was for.

  “Good luck out there,” he said closing his eyes. “Oh, wait, wait, wait,’ he said, stopping me. “California’s cell is on the back side of the jail, first window on the left.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  Eric closed his eyes again. Leaving my left hand on his shoulder I reared back and fired my fist into his jaw, knocking him unconscious. Eric fell back and I caught him before he hit the ground.

  After I drug Eric away, I ran to the opposite side of the garage and began shutting off the lights. Once all the lights were off, I quietly pushed opened the wide doors of the garage to facilitate my escape.

  It was quiet. Orange light from the camp lights crept into the garage. I could see shadowy figures walking through the camp, most likely guards. Their flashlights bouncing through the darkness.

  The race truck didn’t have any doors, so I had to slide in through the window.

  The dash didn’t resemble a normal dashboard. There were still dials and switches, but these all served mostly different purposes than those of a regular automobile. I started switching each one on. Green lights illuminated above each switch as they were turned on their various functions. I flipped the last switch on, and a red light illuminated, this was the ignition switch, if I pushed the button next to it this sleeping beast would awake.

  I reached into my pocket, pulled out the black face mask I was given and wrapped my face.

  I depressed the clutch with my foot and put the race truck into first gear. The way the transmission was constructed the shifter only needed to be moved in a linear fashion, which made things a little easier.

  There was still a final row of switches on the dashboard. I raised my hand to the switches and paused for a moment to reflect on what we were about to do. There would be no turning back. I know it’s a cliché thing to think, but I finally understood what that meant. We weren’t going on this mission for some selfish purpose. Larson was going to seize control of this camp and he would expand and control it with an iron fist. Not to mention that every person in this camp was at danger from a threat he was willingly ignoring.

  The truck was equipped with eight extremely bright halogen lights, four on the roof and four across a light rack on the front of the truck. I flicked on the last four switches, each one controlling a quadrant of the front headlights. Once I flicked the switches each light exploded with the intensity of the sun. The lights now illuminated every inch of the pitch-black garage. Anyone remotely in the area would be drawn to the strange lights emanating from the garage.

  One final button remained, the ignition. I pressed it and the engine roared to life with such intensity that tools and other items strewn across the garage, on the walls, and work benches rattled and fell to the floor. The sound was deafening, someone could be shouting at me and I would never know. I punched the gas and released the clutch. The race truck surged forward. The torque of the engine lifted the front end of the truck high in the air and I almost crashed into the other side of the garage before catching the wheel and turning it toward the exit.

  As I sped through the camp I was steering around trees as fast as I could. The truck fishtailed around a large oak and I pushed the truck to its limits. The bright headlights illuminated the camp in front of me as I navigated toward the camp’s jail.

  The guards would be running to their vehicles now to intercept me, only to find that their vehicles didn’t work. If my gamble was correct, they would be spending several minutes trying to figure out what was wrong before actually abandoning their vehicles and continuing on foot. It would give me a few extra moments to pull of what I needed to do.

  I pulled the truck behind the jail and slammed on the brakes in front of the first window on the left. I backed the truck up to the window. I got out and headed to the back of the truck. The noise of the engine was intense. California poked his head out of the barred window.

  Eric had put a sledgehammer in the back of the truck. I grabbed it and proceeded to knock a hole into the bottom of the wall. After I had created a hole big enough, I gave it one last swing and broke the glass of the window.

  Reaching into the toolbox of the truck one last time I came back with a chain. I passed one end of the chain through the window. California grabbed it and passed it to me through the hole in the wall. I grabbed that end then attached both ends to the truck.

  I hopped back into the truck and gunned it forward. The power of the truck ripped a large chunk of the wall from the building. California jumped out of his cell and got into the truck. Once he was in, I punched the accelerator once more and we were off.

  The camp gate was in front of us a few hundred feet. I shifted the truck into fifth gear and headed for the gate. If anyone were to jump in front of us and the gate, we would not be able to stop. The gate materialized in front of us and in a second the truck blew through it like it was paper.

  We needed to head east first, so I turned the truck left and we raced into the darkness.

  Chapter 13

  We didn’t set a fire that first night for fear of being discovered. Larson would be sending out the most search parties tonight.

  “Do you think he’s out there?” California said in the darkness.

  “Who?”

  “Emily’s brother.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “That’s why we’re out here isn’t it? You think he’s still alive?”

  I thought about that for a moment. “Most likely. If he could survive for this long, I’m sure he can make it for a little while longer.”

  “I feel horrible for asking this, but why did you decide to go after him. Why not stay and protect the people of the camp?”

  “We’re no
t going after the kid.”

  “What?”

  “Larson is using the girl as leverage; he didn’t want someone else corroborating our story and discrediting his. We need to find this horde and bring one back as proof.”

  “This is crazy. He needs our help.”

  “Those people need our help. The scavengers were bringing Emily to that camp and I don’t know why. Larson knows. Once we have our proof for the people we will go after the kid.”

  We now stood at the top of the mountain that overlooked the camp. I couldn’t make out any buildings through the trees from this distance, but I did see a large smoke column protruding from the trees close to the where the satellites were. They at least got the APC working again and were now using it. Against their original motives.

  A few hundred yards down the road stood a white tower that was used to project the radio messages. We couldn’t stay here for long, there was no one in it now, but someone would surely be on their way soon.

  Even from this height there was no sign of the large flock of birds.

  “I don’t see anything, Captain,” California said. He was looking through a pair of binoculars in the opposite direction I was.

  “Me either,” I said.

  “I don’t get it,” he said. “They should be right there.”

  “I know.”

  “What do we do now?”

  This definitely put a kink in our plans. I had hoped to find the zombies this morning and bring the news back to camp. Now that they were gone who knows how long Larson would have to use this to his advantage, what lies he could spin.

  I walked over to the truck and unscrewed the cap to the red gas tank. I peered inside. It was hard to tell just how much gas was in there because it had stopped sloshing back and forth so I bumped the truck with my hip. The slightly yellowish liquid began to move back and forth. It was a fairly large gas tank and it had been filled before we left, and it didn’t look like we had used much at all.