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

by SD Tanner

  “No, but we roughly know where Hull was a day or so ago. We picked up a survivor and her two kids, and she met him in Akron, Ohio. She says she also met Gray, and that Lucie helped her escape.”

  After Ruler infiltrated their bases with super hunters, he planted Gray and Lucie in Hull’s camp to act as their spies. Ip could communicate with Lucie telepathically, but so far she hadn’t told him anything useful about their mission. He thought knowing Gray and Lucie were still operational was the only good news he was hearing. “At least we know they’re doin’ okay.”

  Giving him a surprised look, Pax asked, “Do you care if Gray’s okay?”

  “Yeah, I kinda do. Whatever Gray was, he’s on our side now and Lucie was always one of us. Our people might come in some weird ways, but they’re ours and we protect our own.”

  “Yeah, I know that, I jus’ didn’t know you felt that way about Gray.”

  Mackenzie raised his hand and said loudly, “Err, I’m a daddy now. Max had the baby and he’s good.” As they all made congratulatory noises, he waved away their warm replies. “But there was an interesting development. Baby Mac has the same markings as baby Ant and Ip.”

  “And me,” Pax added happily. “Don’t forget, I’ve got ‘em too.”

  TL pulled up the sleeve of his ACU shirt. “Me too.”

  Now Pax, Ip, TL and two babies had the same marking, and he still had no explanation for the phenomena. Sighing wearily, he said, “I’m startin’ to wonder what I’m missin’ out on here.”

  “Common sense,” TL replied with a smirk.

  “Good looks and personal hygiene,” Pax added unhelpfully.

  “Shaddup both of ya. Those ain’t things you two have got either.”

  TL continued to smirk. “So, what’s next, Gears?”

  He wasn’t sure what their next move should be. Ruler was still missing, and the news from the UK wasn’t good. If Ruler was spreading his domain to include the UK, then it was no longer a safe haven for their survivors. Having already watched the destruction of their own land, he was confident the same thing would happen there. If anything, the situation was rapidly reaching a crisis point where they might as well fight and lose, than sit around and die slowly while the land withered around them. Maybe he’d already left it too long. Ruler already had more super hunters, an endless supply of hunters, and now it appeared the earth was haunted in some way.

  Looking over at Pax, he asked, “Are the demons and ghosts doin’ anythin’ in the UK?”

  “I dunno, but somethin’ killed those animals.”

  Shaking his head, Captain Ted said, “We don’t know if those two things were connected. Maybe they aren’t.”

  It didn’t really matter whether the animals were killed by the demons and ghosts, the fact remained Ruler was continuing to strengthen his army. It looked to him, the longer he left Ruler alone, the less likely it was he could win a battle. Remembering back to the first time he’d met Ruler at the Ranch, he realized now he’d underestimated the little shit. Back then he’d thought Ruler was some lunatic hell bent on being a pain in the ass. Had he known he was dealing with the Devil, he would have cornered him a lot earlier.

  Feeling as if he needed to make up for lost time, he said grimly, “We need to force a final battle.”

  “No way,” Captain Ted replied firmly. “We can’t win that. Ruler has super hunters, which means he’s got an endless supply of hunters. We don’t even know where he is to force him into battle anyway.”

  “No, we don’t know where he is, but through Lucie and Ip, we can find him.”

  Pax sat back from the table, crossed his meaty forearms across his chest and asked, “How we would we win that battle, Gears?”

  He didn’t have an answer to that. All he knew was he needed to force a final confrontation with Ruler. Logic dictated they would probably lose the battle, but their worsening situation also dictated if they didn’t fight, they’d die of starvation anyway. Now the UK was infiltrated by Ruler’s demons, it was a question of time before the land there died as well.

  “I don’t know that we would win, but I’d rather die fighting than lose on our knees, and if Ruler keeps killing the land, we’re gonna die on our knees.”

  “No, no, no,” TL said sternly. “You can’t take our people into a battle they’ll most likely lose, without trying to negotiate with Ruler first.”

  “What the hell are you talkin’ about, TL? To negotiate, we’d have to have somethin’ Ruler wants, and aside from the babies, I don’t think we do.”

  Giving him a disgusted look, TL replied firmly, “You’re not using baby Bob as a bargaining chip. Don’t make me kick your ass again.”

  Chuckling, Pax said cheekily, “Aww, go on, Gears. Give him a reason. You and TL should have a rematch. With a bit more warnin’, I could run a pool. Make it more interesting.”

  Ignoring Pax, Nelson looked at TL thoughtfully. “Maybe we should use baby Bob as bait to entice Ruler to meet with us.”

  “Seriously, Nelson?” TL said, giving him a hard stare. “For as much as I respect you, I will shoot you in the head if you put my boy in danger.”

  “Shaddup, TL. No one’s proposin’ to put Bob at risk, but the babies might be the lure we need to get Ruler out of hidin’, so we can talk to him. I mean, you jus’ said we need to try negotiatin’ first.” Rubbing the scar on his face while he considered his options, he added, “There’s no way we can agree any terms with Ruler. His terms would never be sensible, but we can probably piss him off enough to be willing to fight us. Meeting with him might be our best chance of forcing him into battle.”

  Shaking his head, Captain Ted said, “You’re proposing a final battle we know we’re gonna lose. What’s the fuckin’ point of that? We all die and Ruler wins.”

  “If we’re gonna die anyway, Ted, we might as well die with our guns in our hands. That’s always been my motto and I stand by that.”

  Clearly not happy with his solution, Captain Ted suggested, “Maybe we need to ask the people what they wanna do?”

  Although he appreciated his sentiment, he shook his head. “No, Ted. Democracy is a luxury of peacetime. People will fight ‘cos we tell ‘em too, and quite frankly, we’ve run outta options.”

  Nelson nodded and said, “Gears is right, we’ve run out of road. It’s time to fight and see who’s left standing.”

  After giving him a contemplative look, Pax leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. “So, how do we do this?”

  The whole point of planting Lucie and Gray was to give them access to intel and the ability to influence Ruler’s camp. To keep Lucie from becoming a full hunter, Ip shared her mind with her, and it was easy to pass on a message. Through Lucie, they could get a message to Gray and arrange to meet him.

  Leaning forward as well, he replied, “We tell Ip to contact Lucie and get Gray to meet us wherever they are now. We’ll tell Gray to tell Ruler where the babies are. Ruler will come looking for them, but he’ll find us and we’ll goad him into a final battle.”

  His plan was greeted with silence, and he knew none of them were happy and he understood why. Their chances of winning a battle against Ruler were slim at best. In past engagements with him, they’d managed to kill the super hunters, and he hoped with more air support and a bigger army they might again, but it was by no means guaranteed. Despite their obvious reservations, he genuinely didn’t believe they had a choice. Without the land, they couldn’t produce food, and with dwindling supplies, they would all die eventually. It was better he fought Ruler while his people could still fight. If he left it much longer, he’d have no one left to fight him with. In a strange way, he was almost relieved to know his long running war with Ruler would be brought to a swift conclusion.

  Pax was the first to speak, and with a confident nod of his head, he said, “Alright, bro’, if you believe the time is now, then it is. Let’s assume we can bully Ruler into a battle, then we should mobilize troops and equipment now. Might as well take advantage
of our head start.”

  Nodding, Captain Ted added, “Yeah, okay, but we need to know where you plan to have the battle. We gotta know who and what we’re moving where.”

  “And we should let Mike know and he can get his people on road to meet us,” TL added. “And Wolfie as well.”

  Nelson chimed in. “We’ll also need to get the medical teams ready to deal with casualties.”

  Nodding to the group, he said, “I’ll get Ip to contact Lucie, and then we need to head over to wherever she is now and talk to Gray.” Looking at each of them, he asked, “Any other business?”

  Mackenzie nodded and said, “I have a theory about the babies, but you’re gonna think it’s crazy.”

  Smirking at Mackenzie, he said, “You’re always a bit batshit crazy, Mac, but we kinda like you that way.”

  Clearing his throat nervously, Mackenzie said, “I think the babies are you.” When no one spoke, he continued, “You’ve all got the same markings, and I think you’re all connected. There’s three of you guys and three babies, two of them have markings and two of you have markings. There’s a connection and I think they’re…well…you.”

  He began to chuckle. “Yeah, okay, that’s fuckin’ crazy even for you.”

  Pax laughed. “That’s not crazy, Mac, that’s jus’ plain stupid. I mean, how would that work? And if you’re right, then there’s four Horsemen, in which case where’s Ip? I don’t think she’d like bein’ left out like that.”

  Grinning at Pax, he said, “You know, I think you’re gettin’ smarter. You can count to four now.”

  Pax showed him his middle finger, and he was about to dismiss the meeting when Nelson said, “I think there might be a fourth baby.” Everyone stopped moving to leave and looked at him, “I buried a newborn on the main island a few months ago around the time baby Bob and Ant were born.”

  “What? You never mentioned that.”

  Giving him a wry look, Nelson said, “I bury a lot of people these days, Gears. I’m a pastor and we live in bad times, but there was a woman who died in childbirth on the island, and she had a baby girl who only lived a few hours. I don’t remember her name now, and she died before she could name the child.”

  “Why would you think her baby is Ip?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just the first thing I thought of when Mac suggested the babies are you guys.”

  He shook his head adamantly. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Bursting into loud laughter, Pax said gleefully, “Let me get this straight, Gears. We’ve got demons and ghosts walkin’ around the UK. A guy who can see the future. People bein’ tortured even after they’re dead. Freakin’ tattoos appearin’ on us and babies, not to mention Ip’s sword. Oh yeah, and BD and Ip somehow bein’ reborn into new, and I might add, hot bodies.” Looking around the table, he asked, “Have I missed anythin’ out?”

  Holding out his hands as if he was ticking the items off a long list, TL added helpfully, “Telepathy, precognition, Devil, super hunters, demons, killer virus, hunters, reincarnation, Horsemen of the Apocalypse and ghosts. Nah, I think you got it covered, bro’.”

  Grinning at him, Pax said triumphantly, “So, with all that goin’ on, you’re drawin’ the line at the babies bein’ us.”

  Giving him a baleful look, he said dourly, “Yeah, ‘cos in case you haven’t noticed, we ain’t dead yet.”

  Pax waved his hand dismissively. “Meh. Accordin’ to Ip, we’re immortal, bro’. We can’t die.”

  Shaking his head in disgust, he said, “I’ve told you before, if you think you’re immortal then shoot yourself, and we’ll see jus’ how immortal you ain’t.”

  With a horrified look, TL said sternly, “Gears, don’t tell Pax to shoot himself. He’s stupid enough to try it.”

  “No, I ain’t. Anyways, from what I understand I’d have to get a new body.” Waving his hand from his head to his toes, he added seriously, “This is whole lotta man to have to replace.”

  Despite himself and their current situation, he found himself laughing at Pax’s confident declaration, and with the meeting concluded, he walked out of the room. Hoping to find Ip, he headed towards his quarters and felt her join her mind with his. Smiling at her familiar presence, he heard her speak.

  Ip speaks: You should not dismiss what you do not understand. What if the Magician is right and I am buried in the land?

  CHAPTER TEN: Witness to life (Gears)

  “Do you think we should stop him?” TL asked amiably, while they sat watching Captain Ted striding up to the door of their container.

  “Nah,” he replied, equally as casually. “Pax has interrupted Ip and me plenty. Time for some payback.”

  It was after midnight, and Pax and BD had been holed up in their container for hours. He’d been patient, but ever since BD returned, she and Pax often disappeared for long periods. On the one hand, he understood their need for privacy, but it also amused him to annoy Pax, and right now his desire to annoy him outweighed his brotherly concern. He saw Ip watching him, and as he caught her eye, she smirked.

  Captain Ted was pounding on the door to the container. “Gears, are you in there?”

  He heard Pax shout angrily, “No, and fuck off, I’m busy.”

  Hearing their laughter, he turned abruptly to see them sitting at one of the picnic tables near the kitchen container. Striding over to where they were seated, Captain Ted said sternly, “Not funny guys, we’ve got serious fuckin’ problems.”

  Unconcerned by his worried expression, he asked jovially, “Now, what?”

  “I’ve just got back from the comms room. Gerry says he’s getting weird reports from all the bases, and Izzie’s seriously injured in the base hospital.”

  Now looking worried, TL asked, “What happened?”

  He slid onto the bench attached to the table. “Well that’s the fuckin’ problem. Nobody knows. According to the people who were at the Navy submarine base, it was like she was being cut by someone they couldn’t see. And that’s not all, Gerry says he’s getting reports of weird sightings, and a batch of pigs on the main island were slaughtered…well, Jack described it as pulverized.”

  “The Devil’s demons are out to play,” Ip observed calmly. “And it will not help to pray.”

  Leaning forward on the table, Captain Ted asked her intently, “Do you think this is the work of demons?”

  Sounding almost bored, she replied, “Not just demons, but the dead walk too. It isn’t safe here for any of you.”

  He’d heard enough about demons at their mission briefing, and something Mackenzie said earlier that day was nagging at him. The strange blue and black markings his brothers, Ip and the babies shared meant something, and he wanted to either dismiss or prove Mackenzie’s theory. Demons and ghosts weren’t something he could do anything about, but he could investigate Mackenzie latest crazy idea.

  Standing up from the table, he walked over to their container and bellowed, “Pax, get your ass out here!”

  A head popped out from the window of the container next to theirs, and a woman shouted angrily, “Will you shut the hell up! People are trying to sleep in here.”

  Waving a dismissive hand at the woman, he banged on the container door again. “Comin’ in, ready or not!”

  Before he could open the door, it opened in front of him and Pax asked, “What the hell do you want? And it better be good.”

  “You mean aside from wantin’ to use our shared quarters?” Before Pax could reply, he added, “Izzie’s been injured and we got dead animals on the main island.”

  Giving him a filthy look, Pax said, “Well, that’s unfortunate, but why the hell do I have to stop what I’m doin’ for that?” Preparing to close the door again, he added impatiently, “You deal with it.”

  Before he could slam the door, he stuck his large, well-built arm in the gap, and stepped into the container. BD was lying stretched naked on a bunk bed and he smirked at her. “Get dressed, we gotta go.”

  Her full breasts bo
unced as she sat up and asked, “Where are we going?”

  Knowing Ip would probably slap him, he continued to admire BD’s naked body. “Not you.” Still staring at BD, he said with a flick of his thumb, “I mean this dumbass, but you can come if you want.”

  Pushing past him to reach BD, Pax said sternly, “Gears, quit bein’ pervy at my wife, and why the hell are we goin’ to the main island?”

  Finally tearing his gaze from BD, he smirked at Pax. “I gotta hunch. Meet me at the helipad…now!”

  Within twenty minutes, he, Ip, Pax, TL, BD and Captain Ted sat in the bird, heading out to the main island. Before he left, he asked the comms room to radio Nelson to meet them once they landed. While they flew to the island, everyone looked like they were half-asleep, but he stared out of the window and pondered Mackenzie’s theory that the babies were them. As a theory, it sounded like complete bullshit and yet he couldn’t quite shake the thought that maybe he was right. In his experience, nothing Mackenzie said made much sense these days, but everything he said had an element of truth to it. He didn’t know how to prove whether Mackenzie was right, but if the dead baby on the main island was Ip, it would certainly prove something. If they were Horsemen and the babies were them, then for some reason they were on earth twice. It was a lot of ifs, and trying to unravel what was true and what it might mean was giving him a headache.

  Ip speaks: Always the doubter and never the light. It always takes so much for you to find your might.

  As usual, Ip didn’t agree with him, but he wasn’t a man prone to flights of fancy. He believed in what he could see and not what he was told. I’m not you, honey, he thought, I got this far in life by questioning and not by blindly following.

  Nelson met them at the helipad on the island, and clearly understanding what he wanted, had three trucks waiting for him. Walking over to the trucks, he saw Jack was leaning against the hood of one of them.

  Striding up to Jack, he shook his hand warmly. “Had some problems with your pigs?”

  Jack sniffed. “If being pulverized and having their heads nailed to the barn wall is a problem, then yeah.”