Dead Alive: Eden Lost Book Two (Hunter Wars 8)

by SD Tanner

  When he looked at her blankly, she said, “Aww, you’re a bit shy, aren’t ya, hon? Don’t worry about it, just enjoy your beer and then check in at the hall.”

  Taking a sip of the frothy liquid, he felt his body react to the chemicals. It didn’t taste good, sort of malty and slightly acidic. The effect it had on his body was instantaneous, and his muscles began to relax, while his mind grew blurry. “What is this?”

  “We make it out of a sort of barley, only it isn’t really barley. If it was it would taste more like beer, but the stuff is horrible, it’s the effect you’re looking for.”

  His hands and feet felt slightly numb and his stomach was lurching unsteadily. Blood was rushing to his face and the room was beginning to spin. “It feels…weird.” His voice sounded funny and he began to giggle.

  “Yeah, it’s kinda like being stoned and drunk at the same time. If you wait a little bit, you’re gonna feel real mellow.”

  Collapsing into a chair by the bar, he understood exactly what she meant. He’d never felt this relaxed before, and the soul inside him seemed to agree. It began to sing a happy tune, and a wet, dopey smile spread across his face.

  ***

  Air base

  “You can’t just walk into this base without identifying yourself.”

  The stern looking man wearing ACUs and holding his gun ready to fire wasn’t going to let him in. Seeing the main entrance to the walled base was heavily guarded, he’d elected to enter through a side door, only to be confronted by a single, large and heavily built soldier. Up until now, he hadn’t been able to enter a town until he got his brown colored contact lenses, so he wasn’t sure what to expect. The Devil had told them to wait in the forests until he’d decided what to do with them, and this was his first trip out in quite some time.

  “I…I’m kinda lost.”

  “You can’t be lost. No one comes to this area by accident. Who are you?”

  “Umm…my name’s…umm…Abraham Lincoln.”

  His big features crinkled with disbelieving scorn. “No, it’s not. That’s the name of a very dead President.”

  The soul sharing his body giggled merrily, and he made a note to make him eat something he wouldn’t like later. He and his possessed soul didn’t usually fight, in fact he’d grown a bit fond of it. It appeared they shared some common interests, particularly when it came to killing. There hadn’t been too much killing to be had for the past five years, and they were both looking forward to some entertainment. Casting his thoughts at his partner in crime, he asked for another name to offer the large soldier.

  “Err, yeah, sorry about that. My name’s really Clark Kent.”

  As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew his possessed soul had tricked him again. The soldier shook his head. “I ain’t got time for this. You need to fuck off.”

  His possessed soul was howling with laughter and it made him giggle. It was funny, but the soldier clearly didn’t share his amusement. Quickly sobering, he said, “Err, well, I found something you might need to see.”

  The soldier gave him a skeptical look. “What did you find?”

  “It’s probably better if you see it.”

  Peering around the edges of the gate, the soldier asked, “Where is it?”

  “Just inside the forest.”

  Ten yards of land had been cleared about around the fence surrounding the base. Cautiously, the soldier stepped through the small doorway, holding his gun at eye level. “If you’re fucking with me, you’ll be the first one to die today.”

  He was standing only three yards from the gate when the hunter cleared the seven yards of forest in a blur of vibrating anger. As the man toppled backwards, his gun fired harmlessly into the air, and the hunter tore open his thigh with his teeth. Refusing to let go, it landed on top of him, still chewing furiously. Blood was seeping down the soldier’s ACUs, while the hunter clawed under the belly of his tactical vest, digging deeply into his gut. Not content with opening his leg and his stomach, the hunter finally let go of his thigh, only to propel across the soldier’s prone body and rip into his throat.

  Crouching next to the near dead man, he delicately dipped his finger into the blood pulsing from his thigh. For as much as he would have enjoyed a meal of living human flesh, he couldn’t afford to get himself dirty. Taking the man’s gun, he stood up and ordered the hunter to take its prey into the forest where it wouldn’t be found.

  With no one left guarding the gate, he walked into the air base.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Ruler

  “So undisciplined. One of them got drunk, and another one ate someone in its squad.” He tutted to emphasize his displeasure.

  Cain stared back at him. “Are you sure you have this situation under control?”

  It struck him as a bit of a cheeky question to put to the Devil. “Do you think you could do any better? Have you ever tried to manage millions of demons? It’s not an easy job, you know. They’re quite lazy and easily distracted.”

  “I have over fifty thousand people, and more than fifteen thousand armed soldiers. I can’t honestly say they’re the most disciplined lot, but with a good management structure, spies and a healthy dose of fear, they do as they’re told.”

  Demons weren’t the easiest creatures to deal with. They weren’t simply badly behaved humans, they were a completely different species. Having never been human or alive in any real sense, they didn’t deal with the world with any grasp of reality. Childish and quite immature, they existed to amuse themselves at the expense of others. Their entire existence revolved around human suffering, it’s what made them happy and kept them fed. The other side had another species often called angels. They were a tedious bunch, ever dedicated to understanding man and making him feel better about being stupid.

  “Demons don’t scare easily, if at all. They live to be entertained, and only obey me because I can terminate them.”

  “You mean you can kill them.”

  Cain was a smart man, but was confined to his narrow scientific view of the world with a twist. The damaged part of Cain was his need for control, and other than that, the man was sane. He had more brains than Hull and Gray combined, which was why he knew he was the perfect man for the job, but unlike his predecessors, he wasn’t as easy to play. Cain had only joined him on the basis he was most likely to win the battle for mankind. In Cain’s mind, he believed there was nothing much the Devil wouldn’t do to win, and he wasn’t wrong either.

  Losing the battle had been a blow, and when the imp had slaughtered him like an animal, he’d skulked off convinced he’d lost. It was only when his demon super hunters nagged him for their orders that he’d realized War had made a tactical error. War had left without wiping the dead from the earth. The universe had benefited from their two-year fight quite well, but not so much he was prepared to quit. He’d noticed the additional light in the sky, although no one else seemed to have or if they did, it was attributed to the wonders of Eden. They had no idea where it was leading, but he did and he wasn’t going to let it happen without more of a fight.

  After resting up for a bit, he’d formulated a new plan and gone hunting for the right team. It seemed his selection criteria last time had been somewhat opportunistic. This time he’d found Faith hanging around his demons in Alaska. She was a perfect fit, plus she entertained him. All he’d had to do was wait and see which dog reigned supreme, and Cain was another excellent find.

  He’d learned a thing or two since his last encounter. The hunters needed to be used sparingly, and War had no tactics against his ghosts and demons from hell. When he realized how close he’d come to winning last time he could have kicked himself, but instead he tore apart a few thousand souls until he felt better. His rage still wasn’t satisfied and was in full flight now the Horsemen were back. He couldn’t work out why they’d woken up. Everything was going quite well until they’d reappeared, and now he needed to accelerate his plans.

  “You can’t kill what isn’t alive. Demons aren
’t lost souls, they never had one in the first place.”

  “How does it work…hell, I mean?” Cain asked.

  “It’s a system. People behave like assholes, they get sent to hell and my demons torture them. Their fear and pain feed them, so they’re quite motivated to do their jobs well.”

  “But where did the demons come from?”

  “Big bang, I suppose. The universe was created, and then filled with life, heaven and hell.”

  “So, heaven and hell are places?”

  He pulled his large face into a thoughtful grimace. “More of a dimension than a place. If you climb above the clouds, you won’t find heaven. Equally, if you dig deep enough, you won’t find hell. They’re a different dimension of the same space.”

  “How many dimensions are there?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not exactly invited to visit any others. We’re not on speaking terms.”

  “But you rule hell.”

  “I control hell inasmuch as I can dictate what happens there, who continues to exist, who stays, who doesn’t. If neither side want a soul, or the soul won't go where it's supposed to, it gets stuck in what humans call purgatory. There's a whole chamber of them somewhere. Like I said, I only really deal with my own dimension.”

  Cain adjusted himself in his chair uncomfortably. “So, striking a deal with you means I’ll eventually live in hell.

  The innocence of the question made him guffaw loudly. “The problem with you, Cain, is only one part of you is utterly insane.” To emphasize his point, he leaned forward at the table separating them. “That's the bit that likes to cut people up while they’re still alive and conscious. The rest of your brain is saner and smarter than most.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “The insane part of you has already condemned you to hell. It’s just that you live in a contradiction. The sane part of your mind doesn’t acknowledge the truth of your insanity, and it can’t believe some of the choices you’ve made.”

  “Are you saying it doesn’t matter whether I strike a deal with you or not. I’m destined to go to hell because part of my brain is crazy.”

  He chortled merrily. “Oh, yeah, you’re more than few sandwiches short of a picnic.”

  “And if I stopped killing?”

  That question made him laugh even harder. “As if. You can’t just stop killing to save your own skin. You have to truly repent, but the sane part of you doesn’t acknowledge your own insanity. It means you’re barely aware of the wrong you do to know what to repent for.”

  “What makes me this way?”

  He’d dealt with a lot of evil during his existence. Mostly men were evil for a perception of gain, sometimes they did bad and pretended they didn’t, but in all cases it fulfilled an emotional need. It came down to what really drove a man. If he had a weak ego, he was prone to propping it up at the expense of others. If he was driven by fear, he’d do pretty much anything for the perception of safety. If he liked to watch others suffer, he’d make sure they did. Man was a complex and contradictory set of desires, and frequently didn’t understand what made them who they were.

  “It’s always a result of life experience combined with natural temperament. In your case, you were beaten down as a child and you seek to empower yourself at the expense of others. The sins of the father really are passed to the child, but the child is still to blame for the crimes they commit. There’s no escaping your responsibilities.”

  Sounding resigned, Cain replied, “I don’t want to escape them, I just want to understand them. I’ve lived this way for decades, and I’ve never felt the need to apologize or repent. I guess I saw myself as a man living a small life, but it seems there’s a larger world around me that I wasn’t aware of. If I ever thought about heaven or hell, I never thought of them as places you go when you’re dead. When you don’t see an afterlife, you don’t worry much about what’ll happen when you die. You do what you do while you’re alive, and work hard not to get caught. You assume once you’re dead it’ll all be over, and there’s nothing more that can happen to you.”

  “Ah, I see. You’re worried about the consequences of your actions.”

  “Yes and no. On the one hand, I don’t particularly want to become a victim of hell. On the other, I don’t want to change who I am, and the crimes that condemn me to hell have already been done. You’re really my best option. I’m going to hell anyway, and you’re offering me chance to be more than a suffering soul.”

  “So, you don’t think you’re suffering now?”

  Cain shook his head. “No, why do you ask?”

  “Well, many would say living inside a mind that is both sane and crazy at the same time is suffering.”

  “My mind has never worked any other way, so to tell me it could be better is meaningless. I don’t know any other way to be, and it’s got me this far, so perhaps I’m fine just the way I am.”

  “You’re a smart man, Cain. You know what you are and even the consequences, so you simply side with the team that offers you the most.”

  “As I see it, I don’t have any other choice. If I don’t side with you now when I die I’ll be stuck with you anyway. If I do side with you, then maybe you will fulfil your end of the deal and leave me in peace in hell.”

  “You think I’m going to cheat you?”

  This time it was Cain who laughed. “You’re the Devil, do you do anything else?”

  He had a point, and his track record for being honest was poor even by his low standards. “Well, as you rightly pointed out, it wouldn’t matter if I did, you’re going to hell either way. At least this way there’s a chance I’m not lying. Follow the other path and you’re definitely screwed.”

  His answer seemed to satisfy Cain and he nodded firmly. “Okay, so what’s next?”

  “I have three super hunters with their hunters waiting for orders. It’s up to you. I can call them off or I can order them to attack.”

  “Why don’t you just do it? Why do you need my approval?”

  It wouldn’t do to take lead on this battle. It would only make him the target the Horsemen were looking for. Man had to make his own decisions. He was merely offering them an opportunity to make their intentions known. “Because this is an argument between men and not hell. I can make it easier for you, but ultimately you have to decide. Are you willing to kill hundreds and possibly thousands of people today?”

  Cain leaned back in his chair, and he could see the sane part of his mind was arguing with the lunatic that truly ruled him. “Either way I’m screwed, but if I help you get whatever it is you want then you might screw with me less.”

  “I might, but I’m also a notorious liar,” he replied gaily.

  With a cynical laugh, Cain replied, “I don’t doubt that’s true, but I also don’t care what happens to those people. If there’s even a glimmer of a chance I can live my life free of consequences I’ll take it.” Leaning forward into the table, he said decisively, “Send in your dogs.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Demons

  Marine supply base

  The full moon shone brightly, dwarfing the extra stars in the sky, and hiding the fact there so many new ones. A shimmer ran across the water that surrounded almost the entire base except for the one road leading into it. The heavy double metal gates were permanently wedged open by concrete dividers, and the once essential large perimeter lights that lit the cross roads were no longer in use. Despite the darkness, the moon gave more than enough light to see the shadowy figure of a lean hunter trotting across the road.

  It didn’t pause or even hesitate, but maintained a steady pace running down the long stretch of road connecting the base to the mainland. No one saw it. It was three in the morning and they were all sleeping in their containers. He was waiting for it at start of the corridor of bunkers and smiled indulgently at his obedient puppy. Between them, they were going to cause a lot of trouble tonight.

  He had a two-step plan. The first step was to milk his hunter of fluids. W
ith that in mind, he made it stand still while he filled a half a dozen syringes with the deeply red and thickened blood. The hunter stood patiently while he plunged needle after needle into its neck, finding the closest vein to the surface of its thick skin.

  Once done, he tucked the syringes into his tactical vest, and padded quietly into his container. The container rooms were small, and all were packed with at least four to six occupants. At night, with the unpleasant emissions of so many people, they became stuffy and stank of human sweat, and no one ever closed the doors to their quarters. Standing between the two bunk beds, there were four people within easy reach. There should have been five, but he’d made a meal of the woman who went for a late night walk with him. After he’d finished with her, he simply rolled the remains of her corpse under a pile of abandoned vehicles and left her there. A few people asked where she went, but the general consensus was she’d simply left.

  Holding a syringe in each hand, he moved abruptly to the man on his left, and plunged it roughly into the arm outside the covers.

  “What the fuck…?”

  He didn’t wait to hear the man’s complaint, and repeated his attack on the woman in the next bunk. She gave a brief cry and fell silent.

  The two people on the top bunks stirred, but didn’t appear worried. When one of them, a man, reached down to see who was there, he plunged a needle into his arm. The final woman had sat up and was looking at him groggily.

  “Give me your hand. I’ll help you down.”

  Leaning over the edge of the bed, she mumbled, “What’s going on?”

  He plunged the needle into her face, and then pushed her back onto the bed. All four victims had fallen silent, and he knew the infection would rage through their bodies until they eventually died. It would remain to be seen whether they would wake up friendly or not.