Death Plague [Four Zombie Novels]

by Ian Woodhead

  The woman gasped, and I felt her grabbing my ankle.

  “Stay still and hush!” she hissed.

  I pressed my body tight against the cold metal ladder, my cheek grazing across the moss covered stone wall. Over the edge, I knew heard voices. Three males, deep in murmured argument. I bit my lip, wanting to curse my own stupid senses for not warning me sooner. Hell, if it hadn’t been for the woman, I would have blundered straight into them.

  They were hunters, that much I’d already figured out. No human left alive carried that air of arrogance so evident in all three of their voices. I closed my eyes and listened closely, trying to pick out their words, knowing that anything they said could be of value. I felt it odd that I felt no need to suppress any panic of being discovered, instinctively knowing that the three humans under me would all be wafting out their mental fog, effectively masking me from the hunters’ natural radars. Since when did I start to accept their contributions to my continued wellbeing?

  So much for being the lone wolf.

  I should be fine as long as I didn’t try to scan them. Then again, considering the woeful lack of warning my own talents gave me, I’d be surprised if it even fucking worked. Still, I wasn’t about to risk it, just in case.

  It appeared that they were arguing over a TV show, some crime drama. Of all the banal subjects to get all work up on. It made me wonder about my own life before all this. I know for a fact that I spent a stupid about of time in heated discussion over pointless subjects like a stupid TV show, or a console game, or well, anything really. I opened my eyes and looked down at the three below me, wondering what the chance were of either Linda or her quiet husband thinking along the same lines as me. With my extra talents shut off, I had no way of knowing.

  Back then, though, I suppose that we all had a huge amount of time to waste. Oh sure, jobs and relationships ate away the hours, and what was left we filled with going to the gym, or playing games, or any other number of pointless activities.

  The pitted metal under my fingers felt so thin. It was a wonder that it was holding my weight without breaking. I decided that my thoughts wouldn’t have even cross Linda’s mind at all. Oh, no, she’d be thinking about this thin metal, about the likely possibility of discovery, about staying alive.

  Armageddon pushed their mindsets back a few hundred thousand years, back to when their ancestors were still running away from sabre-toothed cats. The surviving humans wouldn’t have time anymore to look back at their brief moment, sitting at the top of the food chain and surveying their kingdoms.

  Unlike us Hunters, compared to the humans we were still living the life of luxury. That obviously meant looking back in the past, getting nostalgic over things that we’ll never have again.

  I listened in to their fading voices, still trying to figure out which TV show was causing the three of them so much distress. When the voices vanished completely, I climbed up until I reached the lip. A nudge from below gave me the encouragement to peak over the edge.

  The scene that met my eyes almost made me lose my grip on the ladders. My assumption that we had been unlucky enough to almost bump into three Hunters just passing through was blown out of the water by the sight of over a dozen tents laid out on a patch of hard-packed black mud. I saw three shadows dipping into the nearest tent and guessed that they were the Hunters who’s just passed us.

  What the hell was this? I could make out several dead fires as well as three large trucks parked beside each other. My nose detected the faint aroma of cooked meat in the air. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the meat hadn’t come from a cow.

  Apart from those three disappearing inside that tent, I saw nobody else. Considering this looked like a military camp, there was no evidence of guards; then again, why would they bother?

  I climbed over the edge, feeling a great sense of relief to find myself back on solid ground. Once the others had followed me up, I ran towards a patch of brambles large enough to screen us from any prying eyes.

  “Linda,” I hissed. “What’s going on?” From her furtive looks, I could tell straight away that she had been expecting something like this. Of course, she had. Christ, her senses weren’t that strong; the woman must have known what we were going to find up here. “Tell me now.” I looked past the three of them, still scanning for any sign of movement. Now that my eyes had gotten used to this unexpected find, I could now pick out a few more familiar looking items. Beside every tent opening there were stacks of weapons, mainly shotguns and rifles; then again, for all I knew they could have been bb guns and air rifles. Whatever their calibre, it seemed to be such an odd thing to see. In all these two decades, I had never seen a single hunter using anything more deadly than a katana.

  We have always preferred the ‘hands on’ method. The sheer pleasure of ripping through a human body with your bare hands is like nothing any human could understand. The killing is just as important as the feeding. I looked at that collection of weapons, and I shook. The trembling I felt was down to one simple reason. I knew that those other Hunters must be terrified.

  Those three that passed the edge of the cliff didn’t show any signs of fear, but then they wouldn’t. The vein of macho bullshit ruins deep in all of us. If I had been able to scan them, I knew I would have received a different tale.

  “I’m still waiting, Linda,” I warned.

  The woman quietly sighed. “I know I shouldn’t pity you, Colin, but I can’t help it. Because of what you are, these puzzle pieces just aren’t clicking together. The Hunters are going to war. Only problem is, they have no idea as to whom they are supposed to be fighting. Look around you. These guys have been camped here for weeks.”

  I shook my head in confusion. “You mean they’re planning to attack the Keeper’s pet?” My eyes were drawn to the lip of the cliff that we climbed up. “Are you having a laugh? He’s just down there. With the amount of firepower they’ve collected, these jokers could drop both the Keeper and the thing that jumped on me in minutes.”

  “I’ve already told you that it’s no coincidence that you’re here, and it’s the same for the others. The only difference is that you now know the reason. Think back to the world before. Did you ever see what happened when a neighbours’ dog was in heat? Dozens of males appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Most of those poor mutts wouldn’t have a clue as to why they suddenly decided to stop from burying a bone when that hormonal chemical filled their senses.”

  “On, that’s great,” I muttered.” So now you’re comparing us to dogs.” I forced myself to stop staring at that oh so forgiving face and slowly stood up, looking over our screen of bushes. Despite her very clumsy analogy, I understood her meaning. What I couldn’t wrap my head around was how the hell she knew about this anomaly that was able to strip a single town of all its nutrients and then conveniently end up here as some fucking pet.

  “Get down!” she said, pawing at my ankles. It was too late though, I felt two enquiring minds brush past me. I moaned quietly when the silhouettes of two hunters stepped out from the side of an overturned bus. The bastards had posted guards after all.

  No matter what previous misconceptions Linda had about these hunters being terrified of the unknown, the bastards were showing none of that trepidation right now. Then again, why should they? They could see me and knew exactly what to do with me and my human companions. I couldn’t move my legs, their old terror had become my terror. What strength and energy that I’d gained from eating that enforcer had long since dissipated.

  The two hunters stopped walking a few paces from the bank of foliage. “Are you alone?” asked the largest man.

  I felt my head bob up and down, keeping my gaze focussed on the hunter’s gauntlets. Unreal, they still had no idea that the three humans were with me. A soft hand encircled mine. It took great effort not to look down.

  Bluff it, Colin. We still have a chance.

  “Have you come to join the party, traitor?”

  There was no mistaking the malice in
the hunter’s gravelly voice. This one so wanted to fuck me up. Despite the dark undertones, I took solace from Linda’s directed mental request. The reassurance came from the simple fact that I had completely underestimated their abilities. What else did this devious woman have hidden up her sleeves?

  “I‘m a little hurt at that remark.” I frowned. “Hell, I don’t even know who you are. Look, I’m not sure what you think I’ve done here, but I’m no traitor.” I took my eyes off the two hunters, praying that they wouldn’t get any closer. Another couple of paces, and I just knew they’d spot the humans. Instead, I gazed at their collection of weapons. “Yes, I’m alone. This party you mention? I’ll admit that I’m intrigued.” The pair of them now shifted their eyes to the guns as well. “You see, although you are both swaggering about like dimbulb nightclub bouncers, I know that you two and the rest of your baby buddies are shitting your pants.”

  The pair of them growled deep in their throats, but they didn’t move forward. I didn’t have to be able to read Linda’s thoughts to know that the hunters weren’t the only ones who needed to go to the toilet.

  The woman must be crapping herself. I wish I could reassure her that I knew what I was doing. If I showed any signs of weakness the bastards would have been all over me like a rash. It’s in our genetic makeup to posture and boast.

  “That does it, your gob’s just gotten you dead, fuckwit. I ain’t taking that shite from some lowlife cockwomble.”

  I laughed. “Oh, listen to his hot air. You’re talking out of your arse, and you know it. There were three of your lot the last time we danced, and I only let two of them live cos I was feeling generous.”

  You’re going to get all of us killed!

  I jumped so much, I almost left my skin behind. Linda’s mental blast tore through me like a hurricane. I sighed loudly, partly to cover up my fucked nerves. “Look, believe or not, I’m not here to battle, at least not with you lot.” I risked a look behind the hunters, making sure that no more of them had climbed out of the tents. I sighed again, this time, quietly.

  Is this two way?

  Of course it is. What are you playing at?

  Stop fretting, Linda. Just find us a route through this wasps nest.

  “We don’t need any help, especially from the likes of you, traitor.”

  “Yes, you do; otherwise, why have all that hardware?” I took a step to the side and reluctantly raised my arms. “Aren’t the pair of you the least bit curious as to where I’ve come from?”

  You have about two seconds left, Linda!

  That got their attention. I edged closer to the edge of the cliff, walking away from the three humans as my two hunter pals moved in. “You see, I know why we’re all here. I know who’s called us.” I placed a finger against my lips, lowered myself to the ground, and patted the flattened grass. “Wanna see?”

  Colin, I know where to go.

  I grinned, watching my eager young hunters scuttle towards me. Their minds open wider than a pair of whore’s legs at the sight of a bulging wallet. Damien Florence, his wide open, blue eyes bulged at the promise of discovering what had dragged him away from his previous life.

  He hadn’t left quietly. The hunter quietly killed the young woman who’d been keeping him company for the past three years and feasted on her body, knowing that it could be the last meal for quite some time. Damien had no idea where he was going, only that he had no choice but to go.

  The hunter’s previous life reeled out, showing me his transformation from a lowly supermarket worker into the murdering animal that he’d become after one of his already turned co-workers attacked him and bit out a chunk of flesh from Damien’s torso. I brushed away the huge torrent of images spewing from his mind, only knowing that if there was a contest to find out which Hunter needed dropping, this joker would get first prize.

  His companion, a Hunter called Brian Harris, his hair already grey a decade before the dead rose, was harder to read. All I received from him was a single mental clip of him holding a small dead girl and weeping into her chest. The girl was dead, but she hadn’t truly died. As he held her tight, the girl bit out chunk after chunk of meat from the man’s thick arm.

  I shook my head, clearing away the rest of the images, I thought I might have found something in there to justify my next actions. All I got back was a headache and a mild spell of guilt.

  “Show us now, traitor, or I swear that I’ll…”

  I slammed my fist hard into Damien’s bollocks. His complete surprise gave me my only open move to end this. The Hunter was three times my size, and although it was true that I demolished the other hunter earlier, that was after my first real feast for months.

  To his credit, the hunter recovered lightning fast, but not fast enough. I leapt up, grabbed the front of his shirt, and fell back.

  I gritted my teeth to avoid crying out when my spine bounced off the ground. The pain shot through my system like a herd of stampeding horses, their galloping hooves stamping and kicking every nerve in my back. The only recompense was that I knew my suffering would be nothing compared to what Damien was about to experience. The distraction of the pain didn’t stop me from managing to bring both my legs up. Gravity took over when Damien’s thighs landed on the soles of my feet.

  The hunter went head first over the edge of the cliff. I rolled over and crawled up to the lip, grinning when I potted his splayed body lying at the bottom. The fall hadn’t killed him, I hadn’t thought it would. It takes a lot to put a hunter out of action. His legs and arms jerked, but he wasn’t about to get up anytime son.

  “You bastard!” hissed the other hunter. “You utter bastard.”

  It wasn’t his accusatory retort that caused me to spin around; the terrified gasp coming from Linda’s only son did that. “Put him down right now,” I snarled, silently wincing at the sight of the hunter’s huge fingers wrapped around the young human’s throat. “Brian, you can still walk away from this, you know.”

  The hunter started at the sound of his name, but he didn’t relinquish his hold. It was so fucking difficult to contain my boiling mixed up emotions over this situation. A part of me wanted to forget everything I’d gone through since meeting up with this family and dive on the other hunter in order to rip the food out of his fingers. He wouldn’t be able to stop me. Oh sure, the old bastard would put up a fight, course he would. The bastard wouldn’t stand much of a chance though.

  I growled low in my throat and found my body already reacting to the prospect of consuming more fresh meat. The only thing stopping me from drowning in my own drool was Linda’s rapid breathing and her soft whimpers. I looked away from the hunter and stared at the woman.

  “Brian, don’t do this. I know you lost everything when …”

  “Don’t even try to empathize, you human loving traitor!”

  Several more hunters’ minds woke at the sound of his shout. This was getting out of control!

  “There’s almost twenty sleeping hunters around you, Brian. We both know what will happen if they see you with him.” I felt as calm as a still lake. I’ve no idea how I’d achieved that, considering the other hunter’s emotions were now off the fucking scale. This old bastard knew full well that if the others saw him with the human, both he and the human, plus me and the others, would all end up as ripped up bits of meat.

  “I’m going to kill this one.” The hunter dragged the struggling human closer to me. “There’s nothing you can do about that.” He glared at Linda and her husband for a moment before turning those hateful eyes on me. “You’re right about the others, though. So, let’s make a deal. Go right now, and I’ll promise not to give you away.” He shrugged. “It sounds more than fair to me.”

  Don’t judge me here, but a large part of me actually found his offer appealing. After all, Brian did have a point. Even so, I found myself shaking my head and advancing towards the hunter as I couldn’t shift the thought of Linda’s oh so gentle eyes filling up with tears.

  At least that’s th
e reason I settled upon as the distance between the pair of us decreased.

  “Are you living in the future or something? Do you honestly want me to gut this wriggling bitch?” The hunter lowered his free hand and rested it on the human’s crotch. “How about I castrate him first?”

  I opened my mouth and promptly shut it again when I heard a wailing noise erupting from Linda. The sound of her obvious distress acted like a catalyst, thrusting my base hunter instincts above my human rationality. The other hunter had to die, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if he harmed her. The bag of meat in his hands was now of no concern to me.

  The woman cried again, and I once more found my priorities shifting. Her son needed saving, it was the only thing that mattered. The conflict inside my mind showed no signs of dissipating. I couldn’t see a way out. The alien feelings threatened to pull me apart. It wasn’t until I managed to focus my vision on outside my limited sphere of sight when I saw something that utterly baffled me. The other hunter was in the same position as me, on his knees, and obviously struggling with a similar experience. He’d thrust both his hands flat against the side of his head. Even with his obvious discomfort, he hadn’t released his captive.

  None of this made any sense to me. Was the woman’s power strong enough to disable the pair of us? The confusion just increased when I felt a hand rest upon my shoulder. I raised my head and saw her eyes gazing into mine. I saw no pain or suffering in those beautiful orbs, only love and contentment. She walked past me, easily pulled her son away from the other hunter, and coaxed the boy back towards his father.

  “You’ll want to see this,” she said, taking my hand and leading me to the edge. “It’s time for the veil to drop, Colin. Time to understand the importance for your role.”