Hunting The Broken: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Caitlin Chronicles Book 3)

by Daniel Willcocks

She looked all around, wondering where it was coming from and where to go next. At the side of the road was a double-decker bus with faded yellow paint. Its windows were smashed, and its tires practically melted into the road.

  In one quick sprint, she made it to the top deck, crouched low, and peeked out from above one of the seats.

  A shape moved along the road in the distance, a hulking mass of something that made little noise and moved with a steady gait despite its large size. It seemed careful, almost lazy in its approach as it crossed the street and moved in her direction.

  What the hell? Mary-Anne thought, squinting ahead and not quite believing what she was seeing.

  It was a great bear, much larger than any she had seen before. It moved with purpose, gradually but steadily moving closer and closer.

  For a heartbeat, Mary-Anne wondered if she’d be discovered. Was the bear tracking her? She held her breath, poised for action, but it stood on its hind legs, cocked an ear, and turned right down a side-street.

  Mary-Anne waited a few moments to give the animal a head start before jumping nimbly out of the bus window and starting in pursuit. It had been a Were, of that she was sure. But what the hell was it doing? And where was it going?

  An idea struck her. If she could follow the bear, perhaps she’d be able to find out where it had come from. She had a fifty-fifty chance of either following the bear away from the lair or towards it.

  And that was a chance she was happy to take.

  Mary-Anne crept forward, poking her head around the corner of the building to get a better look at the street. Now, however, the bear was nowhere to be seen.

  A brick cracked behind her, and her adrenaline pumped. She turned in one quick movement to see the bear sprinting for her.

  Mary-Anne only had time to raise her arms before she felt the weight of the bear slam into her. She shot backward through the air for several feet before she hit the floor in a puff of dust.

  “Okay, big boy,” she said, standing and stretching her back as the bear made another charge. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  The animal ran towards her, but Mary-Anne dodged right, twisted, and managed a swift kick to the bear’s side. He wheezed as her foot sank into his flesh before he spun sideways and slammed into the nearest building. Bricks spiderwebbed around him, and he collapsed momentarily to the ground.

  When he turned his head, his eyes looked human. There was an intelligence there which reminded Mary-Anne of the time she had seen Kain transform into his wolf form. She flashed her eyes red as her fangs grew. She motioned to him with two fingers that she was ready, and with a roar, the bear rose up onto his hind legs and strode towards her.

  He must have been at least twice Mary-Anne’s size, but she had her vampire strength on her side.

  Or, at least, she believed she did, until the bear swiped at her and she raised an arm to block him. She half-folded with the strength of the creature and managed to rise barely in time to block another swat. If she was at full strength, she could easily shove the arms away, dash at the bear’s throat, and slice it in one go. But it had been a while since she had drunk human blood, and she truly felt the weakening of her powers.

  It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog, Mary-Anne reminded herself. And this bitch has a fuckload of fight inside her.

  The bear snapped his jaws, letting out a mighty roar before taking another jab.

  Mary-Anne blocked it once more, then rolled to the side as he dropped back down onto its four paws.

  “You may have strength, but do you have speed?” Mary-Anne taunted.

  The bear seemed to grin, but Mary-Anne didn’t see it. She’d already dashed around behind the bear and had now mounted onto its back, gripping into its fur with everything she had.

  He yelped in pain and turned his head but couldn’t quite reach her. He bucked on his paws and spun around in a circle, but to no avail.

  “Can’t get this monkey off your back, eh?” Mary-Anne laughed, digging her fingernails into the bear’s skin until small droplets of red bubbled and leaked between her fingers.

  In a flash of inspiration, the bear rose once more onto its hind legs and lurched backward. Mary-Anne had just enough time to see the building behind her before she leaped off and let him slam against the old storefront. This time, several large chunks of brickwork rained around them, knocking them both on the head.

  “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten stoned,” she quirked as she touched her hand to her skull and felt the wetness of blood. “What do you say, big guy? Want to toke on the green stuff with me, or are you as much of a pussy as some of your Were friends?”

  The bear let out a mighty roar in response, a roar so powerful that Mary-Anne could feel his rage. What little glass was left in the frames shook and fell out. His eyes burned an amber so hot that Mary-Anne could only think of fire and brimstone.

  “I guess not,” she muttered.

  Just as he padded back down to all fours and looked set to charge, the sound of voices and footsteps resounded in the momentary silence. The bear looked up in alarm as a glow of torches appeared around the corner of the street several blocks down.

  He took one more look at Mary-Anne, seeming pissed that he had been interrupted, then sprinted off down a street, stumbling slightly from the blows he had taken.

  Mary-Anne stood rooted to the spot for a moment, unsure of what to do. Her curiosity told her to stay and see who the new arrivals were, but at the same time, she wanted to follow the bear.

  With a longing look back at the torchlight, now glowing brighter as men and women flocked around the corner, Mary-Anne gave chase—this time using her nose to follow the bear’s scent and holding back far enough to be sure she remained undetected.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The Broken City, Old Ontario

  Vex and Belle paused on the hill, their mouths wide open.

  “Da-yum,” he said, staring at the silhouetted city ahead.

  “You can say that again,” Belle said.

  “Da-yum—”

  He winced as an elbow shot into his hip. “I didn’t actually mean it.”

  “Still…where the fuck has this city been hiding all these years?”

  “Here, probably. Unless you can think of any cities that can grow legs and run across the plains?” Belle tucked her hair behind her ears.

  Vex sighed. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”

  They carried on down the hill, led by the small wolf cub. He had served them well, navigating through the forest using his nose as a way-finder. Only a few times had the cub paused and seemed to lose its direction before picking up a trail again and carrying on.

  Despite Vex’s protestations that they had no confirmation that Scout was leading them in the direction they needed to be going, he was certainly curious to find out. Even if Scout led them on a wild goose chase, at least they’d had some adventure.

  Anything would be better than being cooped up in that town.

  It wasn’t so much that he hated Silver Creek. In actual fact, that there was even a town, now, to call home—which didn’t consist of precarious living in the woods in a settlement surrounded by barbed wire—was wonderful. Amazing. Joyous, even. The problem was that if a bird had been caged all of its life and then tasted a sample of freedom, that was the feeling it grew drunk on.

  Or maybe some other kind of animal.

  No, a bird. Definitely a bird.

  Vex chuckled to himself as he imagined an owl, tipsy from spirits, wobbling and slamming face-first into a tree.

  “What are you giggling about?” Belle asked.

  “Firstly, men don’t giggle,” he corrected Belle. “Secondly, nothing. I just had a funny image in my head.”

  “Fancy sharing?”

  Vex did, though Belle didn’t seem to find the same amusement as he did.

  “That’s just cruel,” she said flatly.

  “Oh, come on. You’re telling me that
if Scout managed to lap up enough booze to make it difficult to walk, you wouldn’t laugh if he ran head-first into a wall?”

  Belle dropped to her knees and scooped Scout up defensively. “No. And neither should you. Scout has been nothing but good to us. Isn’t that right, you teeny thing.” She rubbed her face in his fur as he wriggled in her grasp.

  “Eurgh. Do you know where that thing has been?” Vex said.

  “I don’t care,” Belle replied. “Oops. Scout, come back here.”

  He landing softly on the ground, his little tail wagging, then trotted over the Vex’s feet.

  “See, he loves you,” Belle said.

  “I don’t need his love—”

  His protest cut short when the wolf cocked his leg and let his piss spray all over his shoes.

  “Oh, for fuck’s…can you keep a leash on that thing?”

  “It’s because he understands,” Belle said in the cub’s defense. “He knows you’re being mean.”

  Scout sat back on his hind legs and looked up at Vex. His eyes were huge and sparkly in the starlight. As much as he hated to admit it, the damned wolf was cute.

  Vex shook the liquid off his foot and sighed. “Let’s keep moving, shall we?”

  They weren’t far from the city now. As Scout led the way from a few feet ahead of Belle, Vex squelched along, the piss now soaked through to his foot. He grimaced but made a mental note that, if he needed something to use against Belle later, he already had a bullet in his mental chamber.

  When they arrived at the fence, they were aware that they stood in a spot which Mary-Anne would have glimpsed on her lap of the city. They hooked their fingers in the chain link and stared ahead at the outskirts of the city. Smaller houses and flats in the foreground blended into the skyscrapers and office buildings beyond.

  Vex cocked an ear and listened. Somewhere in the distance, they could hear a low rumble of disruption along with the unmistakable sound of guns firing.

  “Sounds like fun,” he said.

  Belle shook her head. “Not for me today, thank you. I’m absolutely starving. Have you ever had to try fighting on an empty stomach?”

  He looked incredulously at her. “You realize that it was the men who had to fight the Mad at New Leaf right? Thanks to the governor, no matter what the time of day, it was our duty to fight. Have you ever been woken up at two in the morning and had to head straight into battle with feral zombs? No? Didn’t think so. That’s fighting on an empty stomach.”

  Belle curtsied. “Oh, and we women were so thankful. If it wasn’t for you men, I don’t know how we would have coped, what with our skinny chicken arms and heavy boobies dragging us to the floor. I’m not even sure we’d have known how to work a sword. Which end do you hit them with? The blunt end? The flat side?”

  Despite some degree of offense, Vex found himself laughing. He threw an arm around Belle’s shoulder and dragged her in close enough to tousle her hair with his fists. “You’ve always got something to say, haven’t you?”

  “Guess that’s why we make a good pair.”

  He squeezed Belle, then released her. Silent now, he studied the length of the fence as far as he could see either direction.

  “So how do we get in?” Belle asked.

  “We could climb,” Vex answered. “Though I don’t much fancy the chances of my skin against the barbs at the top.”

  She stroked her chin until an idea popped into her head. “Scout!” she exclaimed.

  “What about him?”

  Belle ignored Vex and bent down towards the cub. “Which way do we go, boy? Left or right? Let’s finish what you started.”

  For a moment, Scout simply stared at Belle. Then, with a big lick of her face, he jumped towards the fence, put his paws to the ground, and started digging.

  “What’s he doing?” Vex asked.

  Within a few seconds, the cub had made a hole large enough for himself to squeeze through. He pushed his head down, arched his body under, and was halfway through before it suddenly dawned on the pair that they wouldn’t be able to follow.

  “Shit! Grab him,” Vex cried.

  But it was too late. Belle’s hands went for Scout’s legs, but he was under and through before she could gain any purchase.

  “Fuckity fuck!” Vex exclaimed.

  “Calm down,” Belle said softly. “Maybe he’ll direct us from that side. Or maybe he’s trying to make sure he can dig the hole from that side first so we’ll fit through?”

  “Why would it matter what side he digs the hole from?” Vex asked.

  “I don’t know, I’m not a wolf cub.”

  Scout watched with keen eyes from the other side of the fence. He was a few feet away, too far to reach through the fence and grab him. He stared at them, cocking his head with his ears raised.

  Belle sat on her ass. “Do you have any treats on you?”

  “Why would I have treats on me? I wasn’t prepared to become a dog owner in a day.”

  “What about SPAM? Do we have any tins of that left?”

  Vex patted his pockets, his expression sarcastic. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. Was I supposed to pack before I left?”

  “Well, we need to do something—”

  Belle’s words fell short as a man appeared, sprinting out from between several houses on Scout’s side of the fence. He was a large man and naked, with muscles rippling in the moonlight.

  “What the—” was all Vex could manage before Scout started barking.

  “No, shut up, Scout,” Belle whispered harshly.

  But it was too late. The man’s attention had already been drawn. In a mad dash, he sprinted towards the cub and picked him up. Seemingly distracted by his own thoughts and panic, he hardly seemed to notice Vex and Belle sitting there.

  The man turned back to the nearest house, entered the front door with a crash, and disappeared inside.

  “This night keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Vex reached down and clawed at the ground.

  “What are you doing?”

  “If the cub can do it, why can’t I?” he asked, shoveling dirt behind him with his hands now shaped like paddles.

  “Vex, stop it,” Belle said.

  “Why?”

  He lifted his head in time to see someone else appear now. A woman, by the looks of things. Belle gasped and put a hand to her mouth as the woman spotted them and sprinted at an impossible speed towards the fence.

  “What the fuck are you two doing here?” Mary-Anne asked, panting a little more than she would have liked to admit.

  “We could ask you the same thing. Have we somehow arrived in Crazyopolis?” Belle asked.

  Mary-Anne looked in all directions as if expecting to see something. “Now’s not the time. Did you see a bear come through this way?”

  “A bear?”

  “You know? Big, tall animal, walks on four paws, bit of a fucking snout—a bear!” Mary-Anne said hurriedly.

  Vex shook his head. “Nope. No bear.”

  “Dammit.”

  “Did see a big-ass naked man, though.”

  Mary-Anne’s eyes flared. “Which way did he go?”

  Vex and Belle pointed at the doorway the man had entered.

  “Thanks,” Mary-Anne said, dashing towards the house. She reached the door, then sprinted back, burying her hands in the ground. In seconds, she had dug a hole large enough for the two to crawl through. “You know that would’ve taken you all night, right?”

  Belle looked down her nose at Vex.

  “What?” he asked.

  The house was a state. Ivy, fungi, and moss grew out of the old kitchen sink, chinaware was smashed in all directions, and tables were buckled and broken. It looked as though a herd of elephants had held a party and never bothered to clean up after themselves.

  “Where did he go?” Belle asked, walking cautiously from room to room, half-expecting the man to jump out and attack them at any moment.

  Mary-Anne closed her eyes and sniffed. “This way.”

  Sh
e led them to a small cupboard under the stairs. From where they stood, it hardly looked large enough to fit Joe standing up. But when they opened it, they were hit with a waft of stale air.

  Inside was a set of stairs leading down to an unknown destination. Mary-Anne glanced back at the other two as if to ask silently if they would follow.

  “You’re not serious?” Vex asked.

  “Not scared of the dark are we, Vex?” Belle teased.

  “Not exactly. I’m more…cautious about following a crazed naked lunatic who stole our puppy and disappeared into a big hole in the ground. If that’s me being scared, then so be it. I’d really like to know that I’ll wake up again tomorrow morning. If I go down there without caution, who knows what’ll happen?”

  “What’s down there, Ma?” Belle asked.

  Mary-Anne shrugged. “Oh, not much. Just an underground sewage system which has been taken over by a pack of Weres who may or may not have kidnapped Kain.”

  There was a pause as they both stared at the vampire.

  Finally, Vex turned to Belle and said, “See? This is why it’s less fun to stay at Silver Creek.”

  Belle rolled her eyes and motioned for Mary-Anne to enter. “Go on. Lead the way. Just promise us that you’ll give us advance notice if a Were is about to tear our heads off.”

  The Broken City, Old Ontario

  By the time Caitlin and the others arrived back at the library, they were exhausted.

  She watched Joe, Tom, and Laurie as they made themselves comfortable. They had been given a set of blankets and cushions by Izzy, as well as one of the rare spare rooms of the library in which to shut themselves in and rest in peace.

  Joe plonked his ass down with his back to the wall, removed his hat, yawned, and then instantly fell asleep. Tom lay down, removed his eyepatch to give his empty socket a good scratch, and looked at a wound on his right forearm.

  Laurie watched him with interest. “You need that looking at?”

  “No, it’s fine,” Tom said. “It’s nothing, honestly.”

  Caitlin and Laurie shared a look.

  “There are no prizes for heroes, here,” Caitlin said. “Particularly if you’ve been gashed by the Mad. If that’s the case, that’s something we need to know about.” She was partly joking, but a small part of her wondered about the cut. The last thing she wanted was to lose one of her guys to the Madness.