Call to War: Hunter Wars Book Six (The Hunter Wars 6)

by SD Tanner

  “There is, Hull. There’s a plan for all eternity.” Turning to face Ron, he added, “You need to understand the game at hand here. If you join us, then you’ll be siding with the Devil. He’ll make you powerful, but it’ll come at a price and it’s your soul for all eternity. If you’re okay with that, then you’ll have yourself a deal, but be well aware that he’ll do whatever he wants with you in the end.”

  Sniffing derisively, Ron replied coldly, “Show me another option.”

  Gray dipped his head in acknowledgement. “You can try and make your way to Florida where there are bases run by another group, but it’s a dangerous journey.”

  While they were talking, Gray was slowly edging Hull and Ron away from the back of the car where she stood with the twins, and they seemed to forget about her. Hunters now stood between them and the men who were deep in conversation, clearly negotiating their terms. She doubted this would end well for them, and cautiously looked around hoping to find some way to escape the nightmare she knew was coming. Feeling a small hand on her back, and still clutching the twins, she twisted quickly and a small, lean hunter looking up at her with its blue eyes. Unexpectedly, the hunter seemed to smile at her, and then it tugged at her arm indicating she should crouch. Surprised by the hunter’s behavior, she bent down, and although she knew better, she almost expected it to speak to her. Judging by its manner and size, she assumed the hunter was most likely once a young woman, and she thought sadly, a pretty one at that.

  The hunter kept hold of her arm, and began to pull her towards a gap between the buildings on her right. Behind her, there was the shuffling and snuffling of hunters that were clearly in her wake, but she didn’t dare turn and look at them. Once in the wide alley the female hunter picked up her speed, and began to jog lightly to the road that ran alongside the one she’d just been on. Struggling to keep up, she was again surprised when the female hunter reached out and gently took Nicky from her arms. Another hunter appeared at her side and took Marky from her. It all happened so fast she didn’t have time to react before two more hunters were by her side. The hunters linked arms with her and began to run.

  Without warning she found herself supported and sprinting with a growing pack of hunters. She lost track of where they went and how far they ran, but eventually she found herself in an open field next to a main road. Breathless and in shock, she watched numbly as the female hunter handed Nicky and Marky back to her. The hunter almost seemed to smile again, but then she snarled and turned away from her. Stunned, she stood watching while the hunters ran the way they came.

  CHAPTER SIX: Who let the dogs out? (Pax)

  Leighton and two of his surviving men directed their pilot to Stonehenge. Even though it was early evening, he wasn’t concerned. Ip was more than able to control any hunters, and he figured they could take care of any aggressive survivors they might meet. Out of respect for Leighton’s men who were turned into hunters, Ip killed them quickly, and the rest of his men were taking their bodies back to Windsor Castle. He still wasn’t sure what Leighton wanted to show him, but his curiosity was piqued. They assumed Ruler hadn’t made his presence known in the UK, and he couldn’t imagine what Leighton was so worried about. Despite questioning him, he refused to explain and assured him they would need to see it to understand it. Watching out of the open door of the bird, all he could see now were gently rolling green hills, interspersed with small clusters of low buildings, which he assumed were villages. Aside from the large and industrial cities, the UK struck him as old-fashioned and almost idyllic, and he wished he’d seen it before it became nothing more than a well-forested island.

  Through his headset, he heard Leighton speak, “There’s Stonehenge.”

  Peering intently into the distance, there was a structure of stones surrounded by fields. Several rings of large uneven rocks were either sticking high in the air, or lying on the ground. Rolling green pastureland surrounded the stones and in the distance were low hills. In the dimming sunlight, he thought the area looked gloomy, but harmless.

  Unimpressed, he asked in disbelief, “That’s it?”

  “The site is over four thousand years old,” Leighton replied steadily. “The largest stone weighs around forty tons, but that type of rock is believed to have come from Wales, and no one knows how they got them here, or why they brought them so far.” Pausing briefly, he added, “Well, we didn’t know, but I think we might now.”

  The bird neared Stonehenge and the stones were standing around something that looked like a red pit, glowing dimly in the greying light.

  “What’s in the middle of them stones?”

  Leighton was staring out of the door at the looming rocks. “That’s the point, my friend. The thing in the middle didn’t used to be there. It turned up sometime in the past few weeks and it’s getting worse.”

  Not knowing anything about Stonehenge, he didn’t understand Leighton’s point. “Whatdaya mean it’s gettin’ worse?”

  “You’ll see.”

  The pilot landed a hundred feet from stones and they climbed out and began walking toward the rocks. At about fifty feet, Leighton and his men stopped, and he paused and looked around the area. The ground view looked much the same as it had from the air, and there were rolling green fields and the outline of hills in the distance. Slowly he became aware of a faint roaring noise, and he looked around again trying to find the source. It sounded like the sea to him, but the sea was fifty miles from where they were standing.

  He was about to question Leighton, but Captain Ted beat him to it. “What’s that noise?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Glancing at Captain Ted, he shrugged. He, BD, Leighton, Ip and Captain Ted continued walking toward the stones. Leighton’s two men clearly didn’t want to join them, and they stood watching as they walked away. Approaching the thirteen foot high slabs, they were heavily weathered and tiny tufts of light green moss clung to the uneven surface. The stones had clearly been shaped into thick rectangles and placed on their ends in a circle. On top of each of the two matching upright stones, was another large stone that joined them together and created a gap wide enough for someone to walk through. Each set of stones was roughly four feet from the next, and completed a full circle. Some of the stones in the circle had fallen over and lay on the ground, which made the circle look like it was broken. There were two rings of circles, and the inner circle was seven to eight feet taller than the outer circle and open at one end. Studying the construction, he realized originally the outer circle was a ring of identically cut rocks about thirteen feet high, by seven feet wide. They were topped by rectangular stones that would have formed a rim along the top of the rocks. The inner circle was a horseshoe shape, and was a replica of the outer circle, only taller. It was an odd design, and now he was standing next to the stones, he understood it must have been nearly impossible to do without modern equipment. It would have been a huge endeavor to move such heavy stones any distance at all, and he wondered why they’d bothered.

  Leighton said, “No one knows why this was built, what it was used for, or even what it represented, but I have a theory.”

  The roaring noise grew louder and he could feel the heat emanating from the rocks. There seemed to be a round red pit about thirty feet wide at the center of the stone circle. The noise and heat was coming from the pit, and the closer they got, the hotter it became. He walked in between the rocks of the first circle, and saw the red hole was on fire. Wanting a closer look, he moved past the last and the largest of the circles, and shielding his face, he tried to peer into the pit. There was nothing to see, but arcing flames that seemed to come from so deep inside the pit, they barely reached a foot into the air above the ground. He placed the back of his hand against the largest rock, but feeling it burn, he immediately snatched it back. Having seen enough, he turned away from the flames and walked back to where Leighton was waiting.

  “You coulda jus’ told us it has a burnin’ hole in the middle of it. We didn’t have to to wast
e the fuel comin’ here.”

  “I didn’t bring you here to show you that.” Waving his hand in the direction of the pit, he added, “That’s new and it’s weird, but who cares. It looks like nothing more than a volcano…minus the volcano, of course.”

  Unable to see anything that presented a problem, he asked impatiently, “Well, what am I lookin’ at?”

  “Just wait. It’ll be dark enough soon.”

  Deciding he was hungry and Leighton was wasting his time, he sighed. “Dark enough for what?”

  “Oh shit, Leigh,” one of Leighton men’s called. “We gotta go.”

  Following the man’s frightened gaze, he turned to look at Stonehenge and saw what was scaring him. Darkness was slowly falling, and the light created by the glowing red pit grew brighter. Slowly, dark smoky shapes were beginning to emerge from the pit and make their way between the stones. Instead of dissipating like smoke would, the shapes held a cohesion resembling a human body, and they drifted out into the fields. He began to slowly walk back to the stones and watched the dark drifting shapes curiously. One of the vague apparitions was drifting ten feet from him, when it suddenly stopped. The shape shifted, and he thought he could make out the head and body of a person. Just as he was beginning to think his mind was playing tricks on him, a set of bright red glowing orbs appeared in what he assumed was the head of the entity.

  Glaring at the dark shape, he asked in disgust, “What the fuck are you?”

  At the sound of his voice, several of the drifting shapes changed direction and began to move toward him. Now closer to them, he saw they had more cohesion and density than any smoke he’d ever seen. As the drifting shapes drew near, he stood his ground and watched them without fear. When the dark shape was five feet away, it seemed to shudder and a light grey colored shape emerged. This smoky apparition slowly took form and he saw it was a man. Unlike the dark smoke, the man was slightly transparent, and he didn’t have glowing red eyes. Fascinated, he watched the man gradually become more defined, and was surprised to see he was wearing a long coat, shoes and gloves.

  “Run!” Leighton shouted.

  He heard him, but he wanted to see what the apparitions would do if they made contact with him, so he stood still and waited. The ghostly man dressed in the long coat was drifting away from him, not walking exactly, but seeming to float. The densely dark shape was less than a foot from him, and it was so heavily clouded he couldn’t see through it. Now no more than an inch from his face, he waited for the dark apparition to pass through him and to feel an impact, but he didn’t. Instead, he felt a freezing air starting at the soles of his feet, and wasn’t like any sort of cold he’d ever felt before. All the hairs on his legs stood on end as the iciness moved up his body, and oozed quickly and silently like a snake winding its way toward his heart. Wanting to pull back in surprise, he found he couldn’t. His feet felt frozen to the ground and he was pinned to his position. The freezing sensation had reached his hips, and wherever it touched, his body became numb.

  Ip speaks: Poor playmates you pick, brother dear. Why do you want demons so near?

  As she spoke in his mind, she stepped forward and snarled. He was surprised by her reaction, but also relieved when the coldness left his lower body, and he could feel his feet again. The smoky shadow appeared in front of him, and it seemed to pull away as if alarmed by her presence.

  Moving his feet to confirm they were still there and under his command, he asked, “Is that what they are?” Demons?”

  Ip speaks: It is a gateway from hell that is clear. It brings the demons ever near. There is nothing but death here.

  Having seen Ip frighten the demon into leaving, Leighton studied her curiously. “What is she?”

  “Horseman of Death. She scares the crap outta demons.”

  Captain Ted was watching smoky black shapes emerge from the gaps between the rocks. “So, what the fuck is going on here?”

  He looked at Leighton quizzically. “You said you had a theory.”

  “We’ve never known why Stonehenge was built or even how, but we do know there’s bodies buried here, and it’s a hub point for ley lines.”

  Raising his eyebrows, Captain Ted asked, “Ley lines?”

  “Ley lines are meant to be a grid of the earth’s energy. The ancient monuments like Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill, are joined by straight lines that are supposedly ley lines, and these monuments highlight the earth’s energy. The most powerful areas are where the ley lines converge. Stonehenge has a convergence of fourteen ley lines, which makes it a powerful energy vortex. There’s a road in the UK called the Ridgeway that was built before Roman times, and it has straight sections of road that link the ancient monuments.”

  “What does that mean?” He asked.

  Pointing at the fiery pit that was shining brightly against the darkening gloom, Leighton replied, “Well, I think it means Stonehenge was meant us to protect us from that.”

  “And what exactly is that?”

  As if surprised by his question, Ip said, “It is a deep well that leads to hell.”

  Leighton said in surprise, “Oh, so she can talk.”

  He chuckled. “I like ya, Leighton. You’ve gotta doorway to hell lettin’ demons and dead walk your land, and all you notice is that the pretty blonde can talk.”

  Feeling a sharp slap across his ear, BD said indignantly, “Don’t be rude, Pax.”

  Not wanting to argue with her, he asked sulkily, “How was that rude?”

  She flicked her blonde curls and said petulantly, “I don’t know, but it was.”

  BD began walking to waiting bird, swinging her hips in a way she knew kept his attention. Admiring her rear, he followed her shaking his head. “Women worry me more than demons and ghosts. Them I can understand.”

  It was a long flight to Windsor Castle, and he was relieved to land back in a place where the world still seemed relatively normal. The castle was surrounded by thick walls, and in the center were large gardens, where they were growing vegetables and cared for the livestock that were now dead. In the dark, it was difficult to appreciate the full extent of the castle, but it was made of solid walls and without modern weapons, it would be impenetrable. He thought Leighton’s set up looked fairly safe and peaceful. After being introduced to some of his people, he sat outside by an open fire with Captain Ted, BD, Ip, Leighton and others from his group. While the fire crackled, they were warmly welcomed by the people there and fed a hot and generous meal. Despite having lost men that day, no one seemed to bear any grudge, and he decided they were a resilient group. It seemed to him, they were more upset about the loss of their livestock and the risk to their ongoing survival. He concluded the British were a stoic lot and supposed, despite having limited access to weapons, that’s why they’d survived the shamblers and then the hunters.

  Enjoying the warmth of the fire and relaxed company, he looked at Captain Ted. “We need to head back home. Gears needs to know about this.”

  “It looks like Ruler has extended his domain.”

  “Yup. That sonofabitch never stops uppin’ the ante. I’m sick of his sorry ass.”

  Leighton’s wife was a wiry woman called Dianne, and she asked curiously ‘What exactly is Ruler?”

  Ip smiled and said contentedly, “He is the Devil.”

  “You mean, as in God and the Devil?”

  With a puzzled expression, Ip asked Dianne, “Is there another Devil?”

  “Well, I never thought of the Devil as a person, more of a concept of evil than a physical being.”

  “The Devil looks like you and me, but he has no soul we can set free.”

  Ip had never said Ruler didn’t have a soul and he asked, “Do I have a soul?”

  With a musical laugh, she replied, “We are a force, not a life.” Sounding indignant, she chided, “Your foolishness causes strife.” Grabbing his arm, and pushing up the sleeve of his shirt to expose the lacework pattern, she asked, “These are marks we do wear. What do you think put them
there?”

  Glancing down at his arm, he shrugged and replied, “I dunno. Maybe they’re somethin’ I caught off you?”

  “I cannot explain what you will not see, even when evidence is in front of me.”

  Turning to BD, he asked, “Do you have any idea what the hell she’s ramblin’ on about?”

  BD reached her hand across to him, and stroking his face, she said softly, “You’re a force, Pax, and not a life. It means you’re immortal.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN: Tempted for life (Mackenzie)

  The line of shooters stretched before him again, only this time they were in vehicles and moving past him. The Strykers, armored vehicles, buses and trucks were driving two abreast, and occupying both sides of the road. Looking up, a bird in the distance was headed towards the long convoy slowly rumbling by on either side of him. He turned to face the vehicles heading toward him, and shooters were standing high, holding their guns, wearing full combat gear including their Kevlar helmets. It was clearly an army on the move, and he walked through one of the vehicles to the side of the road. Looking around, he tried to work out where he was, but there were no landmarks and the area was flat, brown and arid. Normally he would have assumed he was somewhere like Arizona, but with Ruler’s knack for wrecking the land, he couldn’t be sure.

  Assuming his previous vision was also true, he wondered how they went from being this well-equipped army, to the unarmed men and women he’d seen ready to fight millions of hunters. Searching the line, he looked for Gears or anyone else he might recognize, but the line was long and if they were there, he couldn’t see them. Maybe this is an alternative future, he thought, maybe there’s an event that changes what happens on the battlefield. If that was true, then he needed to isolate the event, and make sure this was the future that came to pass, and not the one he’d witnessed in his earlier vision. While he puzzled about how he could find out what might have changed, a bird slowly flew across his line of vision about thirty feet away. It seemed to freeze in mid-air and the rotors stopped spinning. Suddenly the bird became crystal white, and paused as if it was frozen in time, before dropping to the ground like a stone. The bird crashed and crumpled on impact, and was left lying tilted on the ground, with half its rotors buried in the sand.