Hunter's Home: Hunter's Saga Books 1-3

by Art DeForest

  Alex cleared the desk carefully of everything on it. He didn’t want to damage any of Mr. Edwards stuff after all. He then positioned the desk in front of the window overlooking the school. He kept it well back of the sill however, not wanting to risk detection. He wasn’t sure if the detectors would reach this high, but why take the chance? He placed his pack on the end of the desk closest to the window and rested his rifle on it. Laying prone on the desk would allow him to see most of the school and surrounding yard. Finally, having set himself up the best he knew how, he settled in to start gathering as much information as possible.

  There were few people out under the hot sun at that time of day. Those that were seemed to be in reasonable health. They all appeared to be in dirty clothing. “Probably the same clothes they were captured in.” He mused. This was more or less confirmed when he saw a man in his pajamas and a pair of slippers make his way outside from the main building and take a seat on a bench placed just outside the main entrance.

  What struck Alex as odd almost at once was that he could see no guards anywhere. “These people sure have a lot of confidence in their technology.” he thought, shaking his head a bit.

  He carefully inspected as much of the perimeter as he could through his optics. The setup seemed of a standard configuration most of the way around the compound. The motions sensors were placed about five meters apart with gun emplacements at all the corners. The only exception was the gate that allowed street access in the western fence. This had two gun emplacements, one on each end of the gate. The guns also appeared to be heavier than the standard assault rifle configuration that was so prevalent. They were undoubtedly designed to stop vehicles that might try ramming the gate. Alex wasn’t sure where they expected a working vehicle to come from in this power dead area, but they seemed ready if one should mysteriously pop up.

  He continued to watch throughout the afternoon. People came in and out of the buildings seeming to wander aimlessly for the most part. He would recognize a person occasionally, his heart jumping a little everytime. Mr. and Mrs. Park took a stroll around the buildings at one point and Alex almost laughed in relief at seeing them. He also saw Mr. Dandridge, the leader of their local militia, come out. Looking every bit the captain of the militia, he walked the perimeter of the fence, seeming to inspect the guns and sensors that were preventing his escape. Alex wracked his brain for a way to make contact with him, but couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t set off the motion detectors. Even trying to open the window in order to shout would likely draw their robotic attention.

  He was just beginning to pack up his things late in the afternoon, when the sound of a scout ship coming closer attracted his attention. Peering back out the window he saw it almost immediately. It was coming his way from the area of the ever present dust cloud in the hills. The scout came to a hover over the center of the schoolyard and started it’s descent. The people in the yard drew back for the most part, but Mr. Dandridge actually drew closer to the landing vehicle. As the ship completed its landing, he saw Mayor Parsons come out of the main school entrance and move up to stand by Mr. Dandridge. The two men stood together, waiting for the back of the scout to open up.

  The rear troop hatch dropped quickly to the ground, coming to a stop in a little puff of dust. Two soldiers came down the ramp quickly and took up positions to either side of the ramp. They held their assault rifles alertly at a ready position, but had them pointed at the ground in front of them. Their eyes roamed the compound for any sign of threat. After a couple more moments, two more soldiers slowly descended the ramp. Each was holding the arm of a local and was escorting them almost gently down the ramp.

  Alex looked at the scene through his scope and was shocked to see that it was Keisha’s aunt and uncle being led down the ramp. Looking closely at their faces and the shuffling way they walked, he could tell that something was wrong with them. It seemed like they were in some kind of zombie like trance as they stared vacantly off into space. The two escorting soldiers took them carefully over to where the mayor and Mr. Dandridge stood waiting. A few words were exchanged and the faces of the two town leaders became suffused with anger. It looked as if they would have attacked the soldiers if it hadn’t been for the looming presence of the guards and their assault rifles.

  Mr. Parsons and Mr. Dandridge took over the escort duties and turned to start walking the couple back towards the school. The soldiers quickly re-entered their craft and took off, headed back to the dust cloud in the distance. Alex sat in speculation of what he had just seen. It appeared the invaders had done something to the Wilson’s. It was obvious that they weren’t themselves and the anger coming off of Parsons and Dandridge was almost palpable. He wasn’t sure how he would break this to Keisha.

  Focusing once again on his assignment, Alex watched the scout ship fly away towards the dust cloud. He looked on closely trying to pinpoint where exactly the ship was going to land. It went out of sight over the ridge into what Alex realized was a large canyon that emptied out of the hills west of town. Thinking about the size of the canyon, he had no doubt that the large ship he had seen that first day could fit into the space between the steep sides of the canyon. The real puzzle was what the heck was so valuable there that they needed to take over the whole area to get it?

  ++++

  Sergeant Alvarez walked cautiously down a street in the northwest part of the town. He had split his squad into two man fire teams and had each pair take a separate street. He and Private Simpson anchored the westernmost street while Corporal Adams and Private Kwon anchored the easternmost end of the line one block west of Main street. He figured the gun emplacements covered that street just fine and he didn’t want to place too trust in the IFF (interrogate friend or foe) software in their locator beacons to keep them from being killed by their own guns. Alvarez had convinced Commander Walsh to let he and his men do extra patrols through town. Something about the second shot the Main street gun had taken and the drag marks left by whatever it had hit didn’t sit right with him. He didn’t know why for sure, but he didn’t think the gun had shot an animal. His gut was telling him they had people roaming around town. His leaders were of a different opinion, but they allowed his squad to do the sweeps he had requested. After all, a little extra security couldn’t hurt right?

  Private Murdoch slid his pistol silently out of his holster as he crouched low behind some trash bins. Two of the invaders came down the street towards his position. He was caught squarely between two intersections with an apartment building at his back. The main entrance to the building may as well have been a thousand kilometers away for all the chance he had of reaching it unseen. The two invaders split as they as they came into view. Each taking one side of the road. Murdoch had no option but to freeze in place and hope the trash bins and his camo cover were enough to keep him hidden.

  The private’s heart hammered in his chest as the pair drew nearer and nearer, their assault rifles hanging in a ready position across their chests as they walked somewhat casually down the street, unaware that the enemy they were looking for was mere meters away. The soldier on Murdoch’s side of the street was level with the bins he was crouching behind when he jerked to a halt. “What’s tha…” was all that got out of his mouth before Murdoch’s 10mm semi-auto barked twice. The first round impacted high in the invader chest. His body armor absorbed the blow, forcing him back a half step. The second round hit slightly higher, tearing out the man’s throat.

  As the soldier in front of him collapsed, Murdoch stood and sprayed three quick shots at his partner. The man dove for cover as the brick wall behind him was impacted by the bullets, spraying bits of brick out like shrapnel. Murdoch took the opportunity to sprint south to the next intersection and duck around the corner just as a three round burst of assault weapon fire clipped the corner of the building causing the screaming projectiles to fly wide of the mark. Murdoch kept sprinting down the street past the first building and quickly leaping over a low fence and into the
back yard. He purposely thought to head away from the militia building and try to get behind the rest of the patrol he knew had to be out there somewhere.

  “Dammit!” shouted Corporal Adams as the murdering bastard who’d shot Private Kwon ducked around the corner, chased by his answering fire. Running toward his downed comrade, Adams keyed his communicator. “Man down! Man down!” he said as he approached Kwon. A quick glance at down told him there was nothing he could do for the man. He turned and ran to the corner and stopped beside the building. Taking a deep breath, he brought his rifle to bear down the street the fleeing man had taken. The street was empty.

  “Adams! Status Dammit!” The sound of Sergeant Alvarez’s voice cut through Adams’ adrenaline fueled haze, making him realize that he’d been heard that demand more than once in the last few hectic seconds. He keyed his comm in reply. “Sir, Kwon is down. Shot by an unknown assailant wearing a camouflage of some kind.” Adam’s quickly released the button on his comm and kept scanning the street the assailant had fled down. “Where’s the shooter now?” Alvarez asked, breathing hard as he ran towards the scene. “He ducked down a side street before I could get a clean shot. I sent a burst his direction, but missed.” he said, his face coloring slightly at his lack of accuracy. Standing, Adams returned to Kwon’s body to await the arrival of the sergeant and the rest of his squad. “Hold position for reinforcement. I have a bird on route.” Said Alvarez shortly, as he continued his sprint to the scene.

  Murdoch kept heading north, jumping fences from backyard to backyard. He made good progress until the scout ship came streaking out of the west and immediately began a search pattern. Then it was all about concealment. He found an open door in an old brick home. It led down into the basement of the structure. He quickly turned the locking mechanism on the door and walked cautiously into the dark interior. He risked cracking a chemical light stick in order to search out other possible exits. The room that was illuminated proved to be for food storage. Barrels of flour and other grains sat next to shelves with various canned goods and sacks containing different kinds of root vegetables. “Well, at least I won’t go hungry.” He thought. The basement had the additional advantage of only having one exit. That made it less likely to be searched and at the same time easier to defend if necessary.

  Murdoch set to work rearranging the barrels on the floor to make a hiding spot for himself that would get by a cursory inspection. If someone were to stand at the bottom of the steps and flash a light around the room, all they would see was a stack of foodstuffs. It would have to do.

  The private settled down to wait for the searchers to give up.

  6

  “Sampson to Walsh, come in Commander.” The colonel was pissed. All the assurances that anyone who was left uncaptured had fled the area had proven to be false. He had a spy running around town not far at all from his operation and who knows what the infiltrator had discovered so far! This was unacceptable! “Walsh here, go ahead Sir.” Responded the commander. The colonel took a deep breath, trying to calm the panic that was threatening to overtake him as visions of his career crashing into a deep abyss passed through his mind. “Commander, I want you to bring the assault shuttle and its soldiers back to town. We must find this spy.” There was a brief pause over the communicator before Walsh responded. “Sir, with all due respect, that will leave our picket line between the town and the capitol very thin.” He replied cautiously. Colonel Sampson’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “We cannot hope to fight the forces that may be sent against us at any rate Commander. That is not what is most dangerous to our cause at this point.” Sampson’s voice began to rise as he continued. “What is important is keeping this force anonymous. We have an infiltrator running around killing our people and gathering unknown amounts of information. He must be stopped or the whole Association’s involvement could become known!”

  Walsh sighed mentally. He knew there was no changing the Colonel’s mind at this point. He didn’t think that one person could have gathered enough information to threaten the Association’s anonymity. They had taken great precautions to protect it after all. Short of brain scanning one of his people, he didn’t think it was even possible. Orders were orders however. “Yes sir, I’ll recall the assault shuttle troops and set up observation pickets with the rest.”

  “Be quick about it commander. Take the town apart brick by brick if you have to, but find me that spy!”

  ++++

  Alex reached the relative safety of the militia house well after midnight. The short burst of gunfire he had heard from the area where Murdoch was, had been like kicking a hornet’s nest. An assault shuttle had appeared first followed shortly thereafter by the bigger craft that had destroyed his home. Fearing that the town would soon be infested with troops on the hunt, he had moved east out of town and into the brush and trees of open country where he felt more secure.

  It had taken longer that way. but he didn’t encounter any invaders and the search pattern of the ships had stayed well to the west. Alex didn’t think that the search pattern would remain that concentrated for long though. As much as worry ate at him about Murdoch’s plight, he knew he had to get back and warn the others.

  The guard in the lobby quickly opened the front door when he recognized Alex standing there. With a wave of acknowledgement he quickly headed down stairs. Lieutenant Cooper was right in front of the lower basement door when he entered the room. “Where have you been Mr. Hunter. We expected you both back hours ago.” Alex looked around the room, hoping to see the thin face of Murdoch looking back at him. No such luck. “Sorry ma’am. We may have a problem.” Glancing once more around the room he asked, “Has Murdoch returned yet lieutenant?” Cooper stared at him closely. That something was wrong was clearly written on his face. “You are the first back. Why, did something happen?”

  “I’m afraid so ma’am.” He said, shaking his head a little. “I heard some gunfire over in the area private Murdoch was supposed to be in. A scout ship showed and started searching and a little while later it was followed by the invader’s assault shuttle. I think both landed troops and both are now running search patterns around town.” He shrugged his shoulders a little. “The way they are searching he’s probably still free. I’m just afraid they’re going to search the whole town until they find him.”

  Lieutenant Cooper started pacing as she digested the news. “This is bad. If they make it this far south without catching him, they will undoubtedly search this building….thoroughly.” She continued to pace as she asked, “What did you find at the school?” Alex brightened a bit. “That’s where they are keeping our people, just as we suspected. I saw several people out in the schoolyard.” Cooper stopped pacing and looked at him. “How heavy is the guard on them.” She asked, concentration evident on her face as she gathered facts. “That’s the funny thing ma’am, there don’t appear to be any soldiers at the facility. They seem to be relying on sensors and gun emplacements to do the work of guards. They have a bunch of them surrounding the whole perimeter of the school.” Alex paused a moment before continuing. As a matter of fact, the only guards I saw were on a scout craft that landed in the schoolyard while I was watching. They stayed on the ground just long enough to hand over Keisha’s aunt and uncle before taking off again.

  From across the room, Keisha looked up. “You saw my aunt and uncle? How were they? Are they okay?” She spouted as she hurried up to Alex and the lieutenant. Alex’s features dropped as he was confronted by Keisha’s anxious expression. “I’m not sure how they were to be honest.” He said in a troubled voice. “I watched as they came down the ramp of the ship. They seemed kind of out of it.” He stuttered. “Out of it how? What do you mean?” She grew pale as she moved closer to him. “I’m not sure Keish.” He said, shaking his head. “It was kind of like they were zombies or something. They sort of shuffled along and stared off into the distance.” Keisha face suffused with anger. “What did those monsters do to my aunt and uncle!” She demanded. “I don’t know wh
at they did while they had them, but they handed them over to the Mayor and Captain Dandridge when they landed.” Lieutenant Cooper interrupted. “Captain Dandridge is the head of the local militia, is he not?” She asked. “Yes ma’am.” Responded Alex. “I watched him inspect the outer perimeter of the school during the afternoon.”

  “What are we going to do about Aunt Rose and Uncle Tyler?” Demanded Keisha. “We have to rescue them and all the rest of the people!” The lieutenant looked at her in sympathy, but her voice was firm when she responded. “We may not have the manpower to accomplish that Ms. Wilson” There are too many unknowns at this point.” Cooper nodded her head as she came to some decision. “First and foremost we must stay out of the hands of the invaders or we will not be able to help anybody.” In an attempt to re-focus Keisha’s mind on the big picture she asked, “What is the status of your patient Ms. Wilson. Can he travel?” Keisha stared at her blankly for a moment as she mentally shifted gears. “He’s stable enough to be carried, but he lost a lot of blood and that makes him too weak to walk on his own for more distance than it takes to relieve himself.” She said regaining her momentary loss of composure.

  Lieutenant Cooper continued to ponder their circumstances for a moment before waving over Corporal Jenkins. “Corporal, start preparing to evacuate. Gather all the supplies we can carry and get a stretcher for private Ciner.” Yes ma’am.” He replied, immediately turning to start issuing commands.