by SD Tanner
Ignoring Leo’s question, TL asked, “Why’s he stupid, Ip?”
“The Devil’s lair is always there. He does not look because he does not dare.”
Giving Ip a disdainful look, Leo asked, “What the hell’s wrong with her?”
“Nothing,” TL replied. “She’s warning you not to get too comfortable.”
Ip was a strange woman, if she could be called a woman. In addition to be able to kill hunters with a touch, she had odd abilities, and he was never sure if she was entirely human. Ip turned to TL and they seemed to be communicating. That didn’t surprise him, he’d been told she was telepathically linked to all the Horsemen.
Turning his attention back to Leo, TL said, “Ip says you haven’t got the full picture, and she’s offering to show it to you. Do you want to see?”
Leo and Jeff shared a puzzled look, and sounding slightly unsure, Leo replied, “Yeah, alright.”
Within a second, he wished Leo hadn’t agreed. The room, once an office, disintegrated around him and he was no longer sitting on a padded chair with a table in front of him. The previously comfortable platform under his rear became hot, and he stood up in surprise. Red glowed all around him, and he appeared to be standing in a cave. The sounds of screaming reached his ears, and he looked for the source of the pain. It was then he saw the craggy walls in the distance were cluttered with hanging bodies that looked like they should be dead, but instead were howling. At his feet were dismembered body parts, and the moist floor was really small rivers of blood.
Turning to face the others, he saw they too were staring in horror at the scene. Ip was daintily stepping over the broken body parts, and walking deeper into the cavern. When they didn’t follow her, she turned, and with a slight smile, beckoned them with a wave. Not wanting to be left behind, he quickly walked with the others towards Ip. The further they went, the more unbelievable it became. Monsters with leathery bodies and fanged teeth stood amongst the screaming men and women, idly ripping into their flesh. Dark wisps of smoke spun crazily around the room, and small sparks of flame exploded mid-air. The cloying stench of blood hit his senses making him want to gag, while the screaming went on in an endless chorus of ever escalating howls.
While they followed Ip across the cavern, none of the creatures seemed interested in their presence. One large beast, with long muscular arms, was tearing into the flesh of a mortally wounded, but still conscious man. As he walked by, it caught his eye and grinned as if it knew him. Entering another chamber, Ip stopped, and smirking, she slowly turned her head to look to her left. Following her gaze, he recoiled in shock. Suspended from the ceiling by her feet, was a woman he recognized. He hadn’t seen her in over a decade, but he remembered her face well.
She was famous for poisoning her husband with antifreeze. The commonly used blue colored fluid contained ethylene glycol, and with its sweet taste, it was difficult for anyone to detect. It was one of those poisons that slowly accumulated in the body, causing a person to feel ill, and was often not diagnosed early enough to save the victim. After slowly feeding her husband antifreeze mixed with his favorite fruit juice, he eventually died of acute kidney failure. What made the case even more exceptional was she left him sitting in his overstuffed armchair for nearly two years, while she continued to collect his pension. It was only when she fell down the stairs that the emergency responders discovered his desiccated corpse. Surrounding his body were a variety of empty cans of air fresheners, and with the apartment kept under fifty-five degrees, neighbors had never guessed the kindly and disabled old man had been murdered.
Everyone knew her face, and it was shocking to learn this mother of six children callously slaughtered the man she was married to for forty-seven years. She claimed he wanted to die, and she was only doing what he asked. The jury saw it differently, and despite being nearly seventy years old, she was found guilty of first degree murder. She died the day before she was sentenced, and he couldn’t believe she was now hanging upside down and staring at them. Her eyes were watery, and she was mouthing something he couldn’t hear. Moving closer, he leaned in and heard her speak weakly.
“You don’t understand, it wasn’t my fault, he wanted to die.”
Pulling him by the arm, Ip gently tugged him away from the terrified woman and into the next cavern. This one led them back to the office they were sitting in, only it wasn’t the same anymore. Once clean and crisply polished, it was now dusty, and the walls were stained with black marks. The carpet was partially torn from the floor, and the furniture was broken and haphazardly strewn around the room.
Walking to the wide windows, Ip stood looking out and they walked over to her. Eden was gone, the earth was dead, and random billows of smoke could be seen in the distance. Worse than the devastation, were the ghostly forms drifting across the road and between the decrepit buildings. Creatures, like the ones they’d just seen torturing their victims, were ambling between the shadowy dead. Opening the window, he heard long howls piercing through the grey fog, and he wasn’t sure if they were animal or human.
Turning to Ip, TL said, “Tell them where they are, Ip.”
While they continued to stare out the window, she turned to face them, haloed by the hellish scene behind her and said, “The divide between heaven and hell is but a line. The crossing is only a question of time.”
Under the untidy hair covering his face, Leo’s skin had turned a grey, pasty color, and he asked anxiously, “Are you showing us a possible future?”
Ip’s mouth instantly turned upward, and she did something he’d never heard her do before. She laughed. With a musical lilt, he thought it sounded like glass shattering against a hard floor, and any doubts he had about her being human were gone. It was clear to him Ip was an unearthly creature, packaged to look like an attractive woman.
Shaking his head, and giving Ip and affectionate wink, TL said, “No, you’re not in some alternate future. This isn’t a vision. This is happening now.” When they all gave him a confused look, he added, “Ip is the Horsemen of Death. She lives in the bridge between life and death, but to her, there’s no gap between the living and the dead.” Looking back at the cavernous hole they’d entered by, he said soberly, “Ip has brought you to hell, so you can see it really does exist.”
“But why is our town here?” Leo asked.
“One day it will be. Your entry to hell is well,” Ip replied in a disinterested tone.
Seeing Leo’s panicked expression, TL explained, “Time has no meaning in hell. If Ip can see Eden in hell, it’s because this is where it will be some time in the future or past.”
Comprehension dawned, and with relief filling his face, Leo asked, “So this may be from the past and not the future?”
Shaking his head, Jeff said uncertainly, “I don’t think so, Leo.” Pointing at a torn and bloodstained map of America hanging crookedly on the wall, he said, “That’s mine. Don’t you remember? We found it in another town. I hung it in here, and if it’s here in hell, then this is the future and not the past.”
Both men stared at the damaged map, then Leo turned to TL and said decisively, “Okay, I’ve got the message now. Tell her to get us the hell outta here.”
Chapter Fifteen: Ted
He didn’t want to leave Angel just weeks before she was due to have their baby, but he didn’t want to miss out on the action with Gears and Pax either. Damn, I’ve missed this, he thought happily. Putting aside his guilty conscience, he stared out the door of the bird at the town below. The town belonged to Axe, and was shortly to be handed over to Gears. He missed the meeting with Axe, and he couldn’t believe they persuaded him to give them his army.
Marrying Angel was the highlight of his past five years, and other than hunting super hunters with Jack, he’d turned into a farmer. When the Horsemen left, so did the structure of the bases and their combat troops. After the battle, most of the people didn’t go back to their bases other than to collect their friends and families, and they resettled in towns acros
s the country. Despite the world looking very different, many people returned to where they lived before the outbreak, and with no communications, everyone might as well have simply disappeared. Occasionally he ran into a person who’d lived at the bases, and they would share a meal and stories of a time he assumed was gone forever.
He was happy he had a family and a home with another child on the way, but without the adrenalin highs, he was bored more often than he liked to admit. He didn’t talk to Angel about it, she would have been hurt and think she wasn’t enough for him, and when he talked to Pop, he said he was being ungrateful. Looking around the bird, he felt a familiar surge of excitement, and realized he wasn’t meant to be a farmer.
Axe was sitting uncomfortably in his seat, tightly strapped in his harness and looking miserable. The headsets they’d given him to wear were slipping down the back of his head, but with his hands clutching the edge of his seat, he clearly wasn’t willing to let go. In contrast, Pax was practically hanging out the door ogling the ground beneath them, looking like an overexcited puppy.
Hauling himself inside again, Pax shouted, “Looks like the Stepford Wives down there.”
With their over manicured lawns, clean streets and matching flying flags in every garden, he didn’t disagree. Giving Axe a worried look, he wondered what kind of army the man had built. He knew the military appreciated discipline, but there was such a thing as focusing on the wrong problem. Axe openly admitted his men weren’t trained, and he couldn’t understand why they’d waste so much time keeping the place tidy when they should have been learning to fight.
Finally landing in the middle of what looked like a parade ground, they were approached by a group of twenty men. With their weapons slung casually over their shoulders, they didn’t look remotely concerned about the heavily armed men disembarking from the fully loaded bird. Axe waved to his men, and they began walking across the asphalt towards a large single-story building. Once inside, he saw it was a lecture hall, clearly used for presentations and briefings. Axe’s men took their seats while more armed men and women quietly filed into the room. After just ten minutes, there were over a hundred people waiting patiently with their guns resting against their legs.
Standing in front of a hundred armed people, he realized if Axe went back on his word, they would all be dead within seconds. He gave Pax a worried look, but Pax didn’t notice, and was staring at the crowd with interest. When Axe walked to the center of the platform, he cleared his throat, and the group immediately became completely silent. He was impressed to see the respect they had for a man he didn’t think look like much, and was a bit of an idiot.
“The mission to attack the helicopter base didn’t go well,” Axe said bluntly. “It was my fault. I wanted to test their strength, and I knew we’d probably lose.”
No one spoke, but he saw a woman begin to cry quietly. Axe saw her too and said kindly, “I’m sorry. I’m not a soldier. I know what we need to do, but I don’t really know how to make it happen. Truth is, we’ve done a good job pulling this town together, finding weapons and ammo, and learning how to work as a team. The next step is to learn how to fight, and if you follow me, I’ll screw it up just like I have this time.”
A man raised his hand, and when Axe nodded, he stood up and asked, “What are you saying, sir? That we should disband?”
Axe shook his head and said, “No, of course not. Our country needs a government, or it’ll never be great again.” Turning to Gears and Pax standing next to him, he added, “These men are soldiers, and they built the army that fought against the hunters. They want to train you and turn you into a real army. They’re already in control of the airfield. Apparently it’s theirs.”
All one hundred pairs of eyes were now staring at Gears and Pax. Stepping forward, Gears said confidently, “My name is Gears, and this is my brother, Pax. That guy over there is Captain Ted, but we jus’ call him Ted.” Staring sternly at the group, he continued, “Five years ago, my brothers and I…”
“Hey, Gears…sir!” A man’s voice shouted from the group.
Before he could work out who was speaking, a man in his late twenties stood up, and began to make his way to the front of the room. A woman met him at the podium, and grinning happily, they both looked up at Gears and Pax.
“I thought you guys were dead,” the man said. When they continued to stare at them blankly, he added, “I’m Greg.” Grabbing the woman, he said, “This is Tess. We were combat leaders in the final battle against Ruler.” Giving Tess a warm smile, he added, “We’re married now.”
He didn’t recognize the man or the woman, but Gears looked at the woman and nodded. “I remember you. You were in the front line. Glad you made it.”
Tess nodded, and turning to face the crowd, she said loudly, “I survived thanks to my training. These guys aren’t quite what they look like. I went to their funeral. I watched them being buried, but here they are again. If they’re here, then we’ve got more problems than the need for central control.”
Holding his hand out to Tess, Gears helped her onto the podium and said, “She’s right. There’s a problem, but I dunno what it is yet. In the meantime, there’s a bunch callin’ themselves the Crusaders makin’ trouble. If nothin’ else, we need a police force, but I’m expectin’ to be needin’ an army too.” Waving his hand in the direction of Axe, he added, “Axe has done a good job pullin’ you together, but you gotta be properly trained, or you’ll die for the wrong reasons. We had a structure of combat leaders, shooters, squads, platoons and battalions. We need the same again.”
“What about the central government?” A voice asked.
“I’ve got another brother called TL. He’s goin’ around the towns as we speak. He’s talkin’ to them about formin’ a council to govern the towns.”
Axe stepped forward again and said, “A government has two basic requirements. One is to have a council to set the rules and standards, and the other is to have the ability enforce those rules.” Looking sternly around the room, he said, “And that’s what you’ll do. It means you’ll police first, but if Eden is ever at risk, you’ll be the ones to fight for it.”
“And you think these are the guys who should run this?” A woman’s voice asked.
Greg replied, “They’ve done it before. Believe me, they can turn us into a skilled army, and we all know we aren’t one now. This isn’t a change in plans, just an improvement. We need to better prepared and more able. If we don’t do this, then more of us will die, and we’ll lose heart and disband.”
The room erupted into chatter, and he watched with interest, wondering which they’d go. While the group talked, Pax turned to Greg and asked, “I remember you now, you came back to the Ranch with us when we killed Ruler.”
Nodding, Greg said, “Yeah, we had to clear the super hunters out of the barn that was being used as a hospital.” Looking at Pax curiously, he asked, “What exactly killed you guys?”
“Nothin’. Do we look dead?” Pax replied with a smirk. “So, jus’ how much trainin’ do these guys need?”
Before Greg could answer, Gears boomed, “Enough! Are you in or out?”
The room fell silent, and an older man stood up and said, “We all survived the outbreak, the hunters and the death of our land. All of us lost people we loved. I wasn’t prepared for what happened, and I never want to be caught short that way again. That’s why we’re here. We’ve all got families, and we want our world to be safe. If it happened once, it can happen again, but this time we wanna be ready.”
“Then we have the same objective,” Gears said sternly.
Having agreed, they spent the day touring the town. It was less a town as it was a very well run base. Axe had accrued a significant stockpile of AR15s, mortars, sniper rifles, shotguns, grenades, anti-tank weapons and ammunition. Unfortunately, he kept them all in several large warehouses next to one another. It was a novice error, and a single well placed bomb would destroy his armaments in one blow. His troops could use their wea
pons, but that was pretty much all they could do. They were over-trained in fitness and basic weapons use, but had no idea about combat. They were like a scout troop that returned home to their families every night, and it meant they weren’t working like combat squads.
He didn’t think turning them into a real fighting force wouldn’t be as difficult as the last army they’d built. Despite the weaknesses, the basics of an army were there. This army would be different to the last one in that it would primarily work as a police force, and only be an army if it were needed for combat. He thought Axe was strange little man, but he seemed to have done everything right, except turn them into fighters.
He and Pax agreed they would stay and start organizing the troops. He thought he would bring Cutter to the town, but Gears believed they needed multiple bases to cover the entire country, and wanted some of the troops to move to the Marine supply base. It would mean people would be separated from their families, but that was how the military always worked. They needed the soldiers to bond as squads, and their loyalties would always be split between their comrades and their family.
Three thousand men and women was a good size force to start with, but given Gears had no idea what he was facing, he didn’t know if it was too little or too much. They agreed that enlisting new troops would have to wait until the current soldiers were properly trained. With their need to drill them in weapons and combat, their only issue was finding more ammo, but he knew there was a town manufacturing for small arms. He figured, providing Leo agreed, he could ramp production to meet their needs. He’d already sent TL and Jack to meet with Leo, and hoped they hadn’t pissed him off.
Given his considerable skills as a manager, they decided providing TL could bring the town leaders together, Axe should act as the administrator of the yet to be formed government. He wasn’t as confident as Gears and Pax that TL would succeed in getting the town leaders to cooperate. He thought Gears was underestimating how resistant the towns would be to the idea of a government. Even with the Crusaders making their presence known, most of the towns would figure they could defend themselves, and although they were unlikely to pass up any offer to help, he didn’t think it would make them work as a single country. When it came to Gears and Pax, he had complete confidence in their ability to fight and bomb anything, but political savvy wasn’t something he thought either of them had.