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

by SD Tanner

  “It’s a warning,” Nelson said grimly. “That could just as easily have been done to people.”

  “Not a warning,” Ip said steadily. “A display of might.” Slipping her hand into his, she looked up at him and added, “It is time you found yours, we need to fight.”

  Once they were seated in the trucks, Nelson said, “I take it you want to go to the graveyard.”

  “Yeah. I need to see that baby.”

  “What will that prove to you, Gears?”

  “I dunno, but I’ll know it when I see it.”

  The graveyard was at the top of a hill overlooking the island and the sea. It was built when they first established the island to bury the thirty-two combat shooters who lost their lives clearing the island of hunters. Since then, another forty bodies had been added to the small graveyard, and no doubt there would be more to come. When they arrived, it was still dark and they arranged the three trucks to light the grave where the baby and its mother were buried three months earlier. The grave sat unmarked except for a small crooked wooden cross, that stood poking out from the low mound of raised dirt. Whatever name had been written on the cross was already faded by the wind and the rain, and if Nelson hadn’t known which grave to look for, he would have needed to dig up the entire graveyard to find them. Being prepared, Nelson pulled shovels from the back of one of the trucks, but when he tried to join them, he waved him away.

  With a shake of his head, he said, “If this is who you think it is, then we need to do this. We’re her family.”

  The wind was whipping through his shirt and he could smell the salt of the sea. Being on the edge of the island and at the top of a hill, the earth was sandy and he, Pax and TL began to dig. Ip stood at the top of the grave watching them work with interest. Her hair, which was always slightly tangled, was being swept up by the endless sea-scented wind around her heart-shaped face. With the three of them shoveling dirt, it didn’t take long before he thought he saw the body bag begin to show through the pale earth. Dawn was breaking and the darkness of night was replaced by a gloomy light.

  He wiped greasy, gritty sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “Be careful, I don’t wanna hit her with a shovel.”

  With a grunt, Pax heaved his shovel loaded with sandy earth out of the grave. He ducked as Pax swung the shovel back down, narrowly missing his head, and began to scrape at the soft earth. Continuing to run the head of the shovel over the dirt, the color of black began to show clearly through the light beige of the sand.

  “Move outta the way, Pax.”

  It was a narrow grave, and he awkwardly navigated around his brother’s stocky build until he was positioned with one leg on either side of the body. He wasn’t a lightweight, and if he stood on the body, he might get his big booted foot stuck in the corpse of the decaying woman. Bending over, using his gloved hands, he began to sweep the sandy earth from what he assumed was the upper body of her corpse. Slowly the body bag emerged in sharp contrast to the earth covering it and he could see the top of the zip. He tugged his assault glove off and pulled at the zip, but having been buried for more than three months, it was gritty and stuck. Cursing, he pulled out his KA-BAR and began to slice the bag open. He was prepared for the stench of death, but even as he revealed the body inside the bag, all he could smell was the slightly damp earth.

  Finally the woman’s face was revealed and he pulled back in surprise. With her eyes closed and her skin a grey and ashen color, the woman was obviously dead, but otherwise her delicate face was perfect. He peeled back the body bag, and cradled in her arms, was a small parcel wrapped in white cloth. Carefully lifting out the white bundle, and still holding it in the crook of his arm, he levered himself from the grave. Kneeling next to the grave with the bundle on his knee, he gently unwrapped it until he revealed the tiny body of a newborn baby and drew a sharp breath in surprise. If he hadn’t know better, he would have thought the baby was sleeping and not dead. It was lying curled up, with its tiny hands and feet drawn close to its torso, and moving the arms and legs gently, he felt his head swim slightly.

  Across the tiny body was a tattoo of blue and black lines in a pattern he knew so well.

  Bending down next to him, Ip held out her arms for the baby, and although he knew the baby was dead, he placed it gently into her waiting hands. Both he and Ip stood up and she stroked the infant’s face and began to rock her slowly. Taking her hand away from the tiny face, she looked up at him and smiled happily.

  She’d had never shown any maternal instinct and confused, but curious, he asked, “What is it, honey?”

  In reply, she lifted the baby higher until it was lit by the lights from the trucks, and he thought he saw a tiny fist waving at him. Sure it was only a trick of the light, he leaned into the baby and peered at it. The baby’s brilliant blue eyes slowly opened, and he watched in wonder as it came to life in front of him. Almost seeming to smile, the infant kicked her legs contentedly and reached for him. Instinctively, he offered her his index finger and she firmly grasped it in her tiny hand. The baby was buried for months, and she was definitely dead when he took her from the grave. Knowing he’d witnessed the impossible, and feeling a flood of contentment fill his mind, he knew the baby was Ip.

  Taking the baby, he looked over at TL and Pax. “She’s alive.”

  Stepping closer so he could inspect the baby, Pax casually remarked, “That ain’t possible, Gears, but then neither is BD bein’ alive, so what the hell do we know?”

  TL walked over, and tickling the baby’s stomach with his finger, he asked, “What does it mean?”

  When he looked at Ip, she smiled at him happily. “Four babies and one of them was dead, but she’s fresh from the grave and alive again.” Shaking his head at Ip, he added, “It means Mac is right. The babies are us.”

  Taking the baby from his arms, TL smiled down at her. “Why would we be here twice?”

  Ip speaks: Once you know, we cannot stay. It has always been this way.

  Pax guffawed loudly. “Aww, that sucks!”

  Surprised by his brother’s reaction, he asked, “Whatdaya mean?”

  TL was still smiling at the baby. “It means once we know we’re Horsemen, our replacements show up.”

  It hadn’t occurred to him he would have to leave and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. All his life, he’d fought to live, and now it seemed he wouldn’t be allowed to.

  “What? We have to leave?”

  Ip speaks: It is our right to rule and rule we do, but why would we stay once we are through?

  “Well, I kinda like bein’ alive, honey. I didn’t know we hadda leave once we finished our mission.”

  Ip sighed deeply. “We do not live. We do not die. Why would it matter where we reside?”

  He didn’t understand her answer, but he decided he’d learned enough for one night. He’d witnessed a resurrection and finally had to accept he wasn’t who thought he was.

  Nodding, he looked back at the contented infant in TL’s arms. “Let’s take her home. She belongs at the Ranch with the rest of us.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN: Witness to dead (Gears)

  Returning to the Marine supply base from the main island, he waited in their container with Ip, while Pax and TL organized refueling and supplies for their trip to the Ranch. From there they would head up to Ohio to find Lucie and Gray, so they could deliver their offer to negotiate with Ruler. Ip had laid her baby self on the bunk bed and was tickling her feet, while the baby contentedly waved her arms and gurgled. Having no practical skills, she was waiting for one of the medical staff to come to their quarters to feed the baby. He knew he should be shocked she returned to life after being dead and buried for months, but he wasn’t. Baby Ip, as he thought of her, confirmed everything he suspected since Mackenzie suggested the babies were them. He was a Horseman and so were Ip, TL and Pax. It was the only explanation that fit, but knowing his role in the universe was greater than he ever suspected didn’t mean he knew what to do about it.

&nb
sp; Sitting on the bed opposite Ip and the baby, he wondered how he’d come so far from everything he believed to be true. Despite a strange start in life with a mother who wasn’t his biological mother, and then being fostered by a variety of homes before finally being sent to Mom and Pop, his life was unremarkable. It was his idea to join the Army. He felt drawn to their mission, and if he were honest, he was fascinated by war. The idea of combatants meeting on the battlefield made perfect sense to him, and he enjoyed every opportunity to fight. Pax liked being destructive, and the Army provided him with plenty of opportunities to blow things up, and TL followed to keep an eye on both of them. Despite being capable soldiers, none of them ever pushed the boundaries, and preferred frequent deployments and regular battles to promotions and a career. As they neared their twenty-five years of service, they’d discussed at length what they planned to do next. His plans were simple. With few expenses, they’d accrued a tidy sum of cash over the years and were entitled to good pensions. He figured Mom and Pop would welcome them home and they’d continue to run the Ranch and maybe even grow it. Once settled, he thought they might have time to find wives, and he’d envisaged a shared home filled with women, children and laughter. The odd thing was, despite there being no reason for his plan to fail, he’d always believed it would never come to pass. Now sitting in the container and looking back on his life, he wondered what he knew then that gave him that unspoken insight. Perhaps somewhere in the back of his mind he’d always known the truth.

  As he played through his past, he hunted for any sign they were anything other than what they looked like. To themselves and the world, they looked like three ordinary men living an average life, and he couldn’t think of a single sign indicating they were anything more than they appeared to be. When they were tired, they slept. When they were hungry, they ate. When they were cut, they bled. He decided there was nothing exceptional about them, other than they tried to be decent men and live a good life. His musings brought him to the past two years, and it was the arrival of Ip that had changed everything. It was only after they found her that he set their mission to restore order. Had she never shown up, they probably would have headed to the hills and waited for the worst of the virus to pass. At the time, he’d thought it was a chance meeting, but looking at the resurrected baby on the bed, he now understood everything had a purpose. His immediate connection with Ip made sense now. She was Death and he was War and they were bonded for all eternity. With that thought, she looked over to him and smiled.

  Ip speaks: We are one that is true. You will always know me and I will know you.

  He nodded and thought, is that what you do, honey? You show us who we are. When Ip first appeared, he set their first mission, and now with the resurrection of baby Ip, he was convinced he was a Horseman and he was here to rule. Once again, the appearance of another Ip changed his purpose. For the first time he now truly believed they were Horsemen and it was their right to rule. He would use everything in his power to enforce that right, but he didn’t know what he could do other than what he was already doing. Pax once said being a Horseman without a super power was just another burden, and maybe he was right. As far as he could tell, he couldn’t do anything more now than he could before. Being a Horsemen seemed to be an empty rank with much purpose, but no apparent control. According to Ip he couldn’t die, he didn’t understand what, if anything, he could do to bring Ruler into line. The situation with Ruler had frustrated him from the start, and to date nothing had happened to lessen his anger. If anything, Ruler was becoming more powerful and there didn’t seem to be a damn thing he or his brothers could do about it. As his thoughts became more irritable, they were interrupted by a tap at the door, and he assumed it was the medical person with food for the baby.

  “Come in!”

  Mackenzie walked into the container and looked at the baby. “I ran into Pax and he said you found baby Ip.” Leaning down to stroke the baby’s cheek, he asked, “So, now there’s four of you, do you believe me?”

  Still worried he had no way of enforcing his right to rule, he replied grumpily, “Yeah, I believe ya, but I don’t see what good it’s gonna do me.”

  Sitting next to Ip, Mackenzie gave him a grim look. “Well, I have more bad news for you. Ruler came to see me a few days ago while I was at the Ranch, and he made me an offer. He said he could make sure I lived to see my son grow up providing I was willing side with him. I won’t lie, Gears, I was tempted, but that’s no one I wanna be.”

  Ruler was trying to poach one of his best and he asked unhappily, “What did he want you to do for him?”

  “Nothing specific, but I’m guessing he doesn’t want me to tell you what I’ve seen.”

  “You hadda another vision?”

  “Not exactly. This time Ip from the future spoke to me, and she told me I don’t have visions of the future. According to her I go to the future.”

  Looking at Ip in surprise, he asked, “Is that true? Mac actually goes back and forth in time?”

  “Time has no meaning for the dead.” Turning to face Mackenzie, she asked, “What did you see that the Devil does not want said?”

  “Weapons failure. In the final battle there’s millions of hunters under the control of super hunters and we have no weapons…just knives.”

  Given the strange events occurring at all of their bases, he wasn’t surprised. Both transport ships in New York had failed, and according to Gerry, all the engines in a convoy of trucks headed to the Navy submarine base froze while driving. It wasn’t a huge step for him to think their heavy and personal weapons might also fail.

  As if to confirm his assumption, Mackenzie said, “I saw a bird drop out of the sky. You and Ip were on it, and when you pulled the pilot out, she was frozen and so was the bird. I’m guessing it must have frozen mid-flight.”

  “Yeah, we’re already seein’ signs that might happen.”

  “But there’s more. There were tens of thousands of us lined up ready to fight with nothing more than machetes, and we were using our guns like clubs, but millions of hunters were racing toward us. And weirdly Jacob was at the front of the battle.” Giving him a confused look, Mackenzie asked, “Why would you put a man in wheelchair at the front of a battle?”

  It didn’t sound like something he would do and he looked as puzzled as he felt. “I dunno. Did Jacob look upset?”

  “Well, that was the weird thing. Jacob looked very calm and confident.” With a snort, he added, “But you four looked pissed off as all hell.”

  “Once we drop baby Ip off at the Ranch, we’re headin’ out to get a message to Ruler through Gray. We need to bring him to the table and make him an offer he can refuse. Maybe we can meet Ruler while we’re out there. Can you tell me what he looks like now?”

  Mackenzie chuckled. “Stupid as ever. This time he’s come back as an enormous woman with huge tits.” To emphasize his point, he held his hands out in front of his chest.

  “What the hell was he thinkin’?” Dismissing his own question with a wave of his hand, he asked, “Do you ever speak to that demon you’ve got in your head?”

  “Not if I can avoid it. Why?”

  “We seem to be at a hell of a disadvantage. We’ve got weird shit everywhere, includin’ our so called safe haven in the UK.” Sighing deeply, he added, “We’re not runnin’ outta options anymore, Mac, we’re already outta options, and if we gotta go into battle then we need to use every resource we got.”

  Appearing to drift off for a moment, Mackenzie returned his focus to him. “Ip, show Gears what the demon is showing me.”

  He felt her mind drift into his and he looked around the container curiously. If the demon was showing Mackenzie something, then he couldn’t see it. Standing up, he looked outside the window of the container, and then walked to the door to confirm what he was seeing. Outside the container people wearing ACUs were going about their day, completely unaware they weren’t alone. Standing on the high step at the entrance to the container, he saw thousands of
people were drifting along with the living. Unable to see them, the living walked through the shadowy dead, and the ghosts would briefly disappear and then reappear. Looking up at the sky, there were dark shadows flying erratically through the air. Like fighter pilots, they dived and then flew straight up into the blue sky again and again.

  Without turning to look at Mackenzie or Ip, he asked in awe, “What am I lookin’ at?”

  “Demons,” Ip and Mackenzie replied in perfect unison. “And the dead,” Mackenzie added.

  Now turning to face them, he asked in amazement, “But there’s thousands of them.”

  Shrugging, Ip replied, “Billions have lived, billions have died.”

  Feeling his frustration grow even more. “I’m gettin’ sick of this shit. You tell me I’m a Horseman and I get to rule, but what in the hell do I get to rule with. I’ve already got Ruler with super hunters and millions of hunters, and now I got thousands of goddamn demons and ghosts. Jus’ what in the hell kinda weapons do I get?”

  Still burning with anger, he turned to look at the thousands of ghosts and flying dark demons. “How the hell do I beat that?”

  He stepped down from the container and glared in fury at the ghosts surrounding him. Vaguely aware the living were now giving him a wide berth, he grabbed at one of the ghosts, but his hand passed through the shadowy body. “Dammit,” he growled. Pulling his handgun from his holster, he held it with both hands, and began to shoot at the demons still diving and weaving around the blue sky. The bullets passed through the dark shadows, but it helped to take some action to pacify his rising rage. Intellectually he knew it was futile, but it was all he was trained to do. When he ran out of ammo, he reloaded and continued to fire.

  He didn’t see Pax storming towards him, but heard him shout over the sound of his gunfire. “What the fuck are ya doin’, Gears? You’re shootin’ at birds with a handgun. Do you know how stupid that is?”

  Pausing, he looked at Pax angrily. “I ain’t shootin’ at birds. I’m shootin’ at the demons up there.”