by SD Tanner
He wasn’t sure he knew. He wasn’t even sure it mattered as long as it was something he believed was worth doing. Replying honestly again, he said, ‘I dunno, TL, but I don’t wanna do somethin’ outta fear. We could hunker down somewhere and survive all this, but I think that’s kinda cowardly. Covers our asses, but I don’t care about doin’ that. I don’t fear dyin’. Dyin’ comes with bein’ alive. It’s a package deal.’
Pax nodded and said sagely, ‘That’s true, and in this new world growin’ old ain’t really an option. I think all the old folks homes be closed now.’
Screwing up his face, TL said, ‘I didn’t want to go there anyway.’
They kept walking and he kept thinking. He’d thought through his options before the world ended and he hadn’t found what he was looking for, which is why he kept doing what he’d always done even if it wasn’t making much sense to him anymore. The world ending changed the dynamic. In this new world, people were frightened, lost and dying. Before the world ended people used to complain if their coffee was too hot or too cold or not served fast enough or wasn’t as ordered. It all seemed so stupid now. In this new world, people only complained if someone actually shot them, and even a near miss wasn’t worthy of comment anymore.
Sighing, he asked, ‘If ya could do anythin’, what would ya wanna have happen right now?’
Pax laughed and said, ‘I wanna have sex with a hot woman.’
Rolling his eyes at Pax, TL commented dryly, ‘You always waste your wishes, Pax. When are you ever gonna learn?’
Pax laughed again and said, ‘When I run outta magic beans.’
‘Shaddup Pax,’ he said mildly. ‘I’m serious. If ya could make anythin’ happen right now what would it be?’
TL said thoughtfully, ‘I’d want the world to be safe again. I don’t think what’s happening now is right. The human race can be a shabby bunch, but we didn’t deserve this kinda payback.’
He nodded at TL and said, ‘Exactly. I didn’t think people were all that great, but they didn’t do anythin’ to deserve this kinda shit.’
Pax groaned at both of them and said sharply, ‘I doan like where this is headin’. You two jackasses are cookin’ up some kinda BS between ya.’ He added in a whiny voice, ‘Why can’t we jus’ keep doin’ what we’re doin’? I doan wanna be dragged into some dumbass save the world shit.’
They both said in unison, ‘Shaddup Pax.’ Giving Pax a dour look, he added, ‘And quit whinin’, Pax.’
Pax shook his head in disgust and said crossly, ‘I’m not whinin’. You two always do this. Ya come up with some dumbass idea that almost gets us killed, and ya call it a good time. Ya both nuts.’
Laughing, TL said, ‘Two against one, Pax. You just always lose.’
He grinned at TL and then he looked at the woman walking next to him. She was the game changer. Pax had said so himself. If she could kill hunters so easily then there had to be a way to replicate what she could do. If they could do that, they could wipe the hunters off the face of the earth and people would be safe again. Life could go on as it always had.
Still looking at the woman, he said firmly, ‘We have a mission.’
Shaking his head in disgust again and sounding annoyed, Pax asked, ‘What’s the plan this time, Gears?’
He replied blandly, ‘We’re gonna kill all the hunters. Restore order to the world.’
‘Oh well, that shouldn’t take long,’ Pax replied sarcastically. Snorting, he added, ‘So what’s the plan for after lunch?’
He and TL laughed at Pax and TL said with good humor, ‘Good one, Pax.’
TL turned to him and said, ‘That’s a good mission. I can get behind that, but we’re still gonna need somewhere to hole up for a while.’
Nodding, he said, ‘Goes without sayin’. We’re gonna need to plan.’
Pax interrupted rudely and said, ‘What you’re gonna need is a goddamn army. Ya seen one of those lately?’
Knowing Pax liked to be doing and not thinking, he said, ‘No, Pax, I haven’t and I blame ya for that.’
Giving him a look of utter disbelief, Pax said incredulously, ‘And how do ya figure that, Gears?’
Shrugging, he said, ‘Cos ya ain’t built me one yet. And crack on, Pax. Quit wastin’ time.’
‘I hate you guys,’ Pax grumbled. He continued to complain, ‘You’re always comin’ up with some stupid dumbass idea and then ya expect me to join in. And ya never come up with anythin’ fun. It’s always gotta be somethin’ dangerous. Somethin’ that could get us killed. And then if it works, ya just sit around whinin’ that you’re bored, ‘cos Gears that’s all ya problem really is. You’re jus’ goddamn bored, and instead of doin’ what every other bored asshole does, which is have another beer and chase another bit of tail, ya gotta come up with some dumbass idea….’
This time they both cut him off mid-sentence and shouted, ‘Shaddup Pax!’
Pax pulled an unhappy face at them and said, ‘Jus’ doan come whinin’ to me when we’re all dead, ‘cos this ain’t like all you’re other dumbass ideas. This one is extra special stupid. You’re proposin’ to kills millions of lethal killers with no army, no weapons, no arty and no backup.’
Both of them looked at Pax slightly disheartened and TL complained, ‘Way to try and spoil our fun, Pax.’
With a dismissive flick of his hand, he said to TL, ‘Don’t listen to him. He’s jus’ grumpy ‘cos he didn’t get his own way.’ Turning to Pax, he said, ‘Don’t be such a whiny little bitch, Pax.’
Pax replied sarcastically, ‘Oh yeah, like I’m the one with the problem.’
TL grinned and said, ‘So, we’re agreed then? We’re gonna kill all the hunters and restore order.’
He grinned back at TL and said, ‘Yep. That’s the mission.’
‘Hey,’ Pax interjected. ‘Don’t I get a say in all this.’
He looked blankly at Pax and said bluntly, ‘Ya had your say and ya used it to whine like a little girl, and we chose to ignore ya. Next time use your airspace more wisely.’
The woman they’d nicknamed Ip looked up at him and smiled. Smiling back at her, he asked kindly, ‘Whatcha smilin’ at, honey?’
She didn’t answer him, but he thought she looked highly amused by their conversation and asked, ‘Do ya understand what we’re sayin?’
The woman didn’t acknowledge his words or even seem to realize he asked a question, and he turned to TL and asked, ‘Whatdaya think’s goin’ on with her?’
Shrugging, TL replied, ‘I dunno, but she has odd eyes and an even odder ability. I’ve no idea how she came to exist.’
Neither did he, but he didn’t really care. She was here and she seemed happy enough. In the current times, that was as much as anyone could expect. He put his arm around her shoulder and said, ‘You and me are gonna take back the world, Ip.’
Ip looked up at him and smiled happily.
Ip thinks: I feel the strong one’s heart raised up high. It makes me happy to feel him fly. He cannot see I know him well. They speak with voices I cannot tell. It matters not for I can hear. Their minds, their hearts and all they hold dear. I will stay with them for they are good. We will hunt together as we should.
CHAPTER FOUR: A way forward (Gears)
‘Whatdaya think, Ip?’ He asked.
They’d found a farmhouse that was isolated and settled down to get their heads and their lives together. It had been a good month. Stocked with food, a generator with enough fuel and some good hunting trips provided them with everything they needed. Even now, TL and Pax were watching a DVD downstairs, while he and Ip were relaxing on the large king size bed in the main bedroom. They spent the month sharing a room at night and slept soundly. Being with Ip meant there was nothing to fear from the hunters and none had attacked the house.
He enjoyed Ip’s calm and easy-going company. She was playful, curious, contented and smiled often. She didn’t seem to understand what they said, but he believed she understood what was going on. He’d taken to talki
ng to her and she seemed happy to listen to him. Over the past month, he’d grown increasingly close to her. She had a calming influence on all of them and life felt surprisingly normal, considering the real state of the nation.
Aside from relaxing and hunting for their supper, they spent the rest of their time planning how to complete their mission. They knew what they needed to do and even Pax, who remained skeptical that the mission was doable, wanted to get on and do it.
He was lying stretched out on the bed, with Ip curled up in the crook of his arm and resting her head on his chest. His early evening chats with her was his new favorite time of the day. Tonight he was excitedly telling her about their plans.
‘We’ll have the first base in the town near an army supply depot,’ he told her. ‘That’ll be for our trained guys. The civvies can be in out-posted camps and I’m hopin’ the first camp can be Mom and Pop’s Ranch. We can make it safe and, thanks to Pop, it’s already pretty self-sufficient. The civvies can get the farms up and runnin’ to supply the base with fresh food. We can’t win a war feedin’ our shooters bad food. They need to be in peak condition.’
He paused as he continued to think through everything they would need and then said, ‘Of course, once we got one base and manpower up and runnin’, we can expand. Our trained shooters will kill the hunters. Then it’s a logistics problem. Keepin’ ‘em supplied with weapons and ammo. We’ll clear the towns and the cities of hunters.’
‘But our shooters can only thin ‘em out. We can’t get rid of ‘em all that way. There’s too many and the ones that are left will keep infectin’ and killin’ the livin’, until there’s no livin’ left. That’s where you come in, Ip. We gotta learn how ya kill ‘em and replicate it. We’re gonna need some smart doctors. Find a way to copy what you can do and then we can get rid of the hunters for good.’
He squeezed her gently with his arm and said, ‘You’re the game changer, Ip.’
Ip thinks: I feel his power, I draw from his strength. He wants me near and I stay content. He draws from me an equal strength. We were two, now we are one. We have peace in our sun.
CHAPTER FIVE: Home sweet home (TL)
‘It’s real. Totally real,’ Benny said to the woman earnestly.
The woman shook her head, making her dark wavy hair bounce and TL couldn’t help noticing her striking beauty. She was slender, fine featured with flawlessly smooth skin and he thought she looked like a living doll.
Still unconvinced by their story, the woman said worriedly, ‘You guys could be from anywhere and just telling us what we want to hear.’
The woman’s name was Lydia and they were trying to persuade her to join their Base. It’d been two months since they’d left their hideout and set up a Base and he was now actively looking for survivors to join them. Lydia was leading a group of thirty-seven survivors currently holed up in a house just outside of a town called Natchez. Although he was always keen for survivors to join them, they’d yet to start analyzing how Ip was able to kill the hunters and they needed a doctor and a hospital for their Base. Lydia was a qualified doctor and they desperately needed her.
He thought she was a smart woman who wouldn’t be persuaded by emotional arguments and replied, ‘Why would we do that? What would be the point? If we lie to you, then you’ll just leave when we need you to stay.’
Lydia stared at him intensely with her beautiful and intelligent eyes. He’d told her everything about their base without exaggeration or compromise, but he could see there was something still worrying her. There really wasn’t anything else he could tell her and he didn’t know what else he could say to convince her. From across the table, he leaned in close to her and staring deeply into her eyes, he said in an almost intimate tone, ‘Tell me what you need, Lydia. I promise to try and make it happen for you.’
Breaking the connection of the moment, Lydia pulled back from the table and blinked. Suddenly her deep brown eyes flashed with grief and she said sharply, ‘I need equipment and supplies! I’m sick of trying to help people with nothing, but a wet towel. People keep dying on me, and they’re dying of injuries and illnesses I know how to cure.’
He realized he was wrong, Lydia could be won with an emotional argument and he needed to promise to give her what she needed to help the people she cared about. He understood exactly how she felt and he felt exactly the same way.
Nodding enthusiastically, he said honestly, ‘I hear you, Lydia. We’ll get whatever you need. Supplies and equipment. We’ll even build you a hospital. You have my word. You just have tell me what you need and I’ll make it happen.’
Looking at him dubiously, Lydia said, ‘Really? You guys can do that?’
He grinned at her. Survivors were always surprised at how organized they were and he said, ‘Yes, Lydia, we’re organized. We have a plan and we’re making it happen.’ He added, ‘There’s one other thing. We have a person with us who has some interesting abilities that we need a doctor to help us understand.’
Lydia’s intelligent eyes narrowed and, clearly intrigued by his cryptic statement, she said, ‘Explain that to me.’
They didn’t want to make Ip a target and only a few people knew what she could do. There’d be people who’d want to use her, others who’d kill her and he wouldn’t tell Lydia about her until she was with them.
Deliberately wanting to be vague, he said, ‘I will if you join us, and it’s real critical we get someone to work on this.’
Lydia held his gaze for a long moment and he could see she was weighing the truth of his words. As he watched, she visibly relaxed and he knew she’d made her decision.
Nodding, Lydia said confidently, ‘Okay, we’ll come to the Base, but if we don’t like it there, you have to promise you’ll bring us back here.’
Breaking into a wide smile, he said firmly, ‘You have my word.’
He was relieved. Back at their Base, they were short on people and skills. If they were going to eliminate the hunters, they needed to build up the Base and start establishing civilian camps. He wholeheartedly believed in their mission and this way the survivors would live somewhere safe, and together they could build a force capable of taking back the territory. He needed Lydia as a doctor, and he needed her people to build up their numbers at their Base. He knew Lydia’s people would follow her and winning her trust was key to his success today. The fact that he thought she was gorgeous was an unexpected added bonus.
Having made the decision, Lydia went straight to practicalities and clearly wanting to move quickly, she said, ‘Okay. What happens now?’
He wanted to get back to their Base that night. Figuring Lydia and her people could come with him, he said, ‘We can go right now. If you’re happy and we leave in an hour, we could be at the Base before it’s dark.’
Lydia didn’t resist his proposal and, looking relieved, she said, ‘We can be ready in less than an hour.’
He wasn’t surprised at her enthusiasm to leave. He and Benny had looked around and it was obvious these people had almost nothing. Everyone was skinny and they looked exhausted. The group had holed up in a house that was once the private escape of a famous actor. The design of the house made it a good choice. Every room had wall-to-wall ceiling- to-floor glass, which meant rooms were filled with light by day, and at night they slept safely in the large carpeted basement, but the house was in a remote area and that must have made it difficult for them to scavenge supplies.
Wondering just how low on supplies they were, he asked, ‘Do you think you have enough fuel to make the 50 mile trip?’
Lydia replied, ‘If we consolidate our fuel into fewer trucks then we should, but the trucks will be full.’
Nodding, he said, ‘We didn’t run into any problems on the roads here, so we should make good time.’ Smiling warmly at her, he added, ‘They won’t be uncomfortable for long.’
She smiled back at him and said, ‘If the Base is as good as you say, they won’t mind a bit of discomfort.’
Satisfied they’d
agreed a plan of action, he said, ‘Okay, Benny and I will go help with the fuel. Can you go get the people ready within the hour?’ I don’t wanna risk this many people getting stuck on road at night.’
‘Sure,’ Lydia replied brusquely. ‘No reason to wait.’
After admiring her as she walked away to organize people, he and Benny headed outside to where they’d parked their trucks. Benny turned to him and said, ‘I didn’t think she was gonna agree.’
He hadn’t been sure either and said, ‘There’s a lot of bad stuff happening in the world these days, and I’m not just talking about the hunters. People are scared of other people. It can be hard to convince them we’re the good guys.’
Benny nodded and said, ‘I know, I wasn’t sure about you guys when I met you either. It all seemed too good to be true, but I figured I didn’t have anything left to lose.’
Understanding his point, he nodded and replied, ‘It’s tough times when you have to rely on the help of strangers.’
‘Maybe, but it was the best decision I ever made,’ Benny said triumphantly. ‘I just want people to know there’s still good stuff going on in the world.’
He liked Benny. The youngster was about twenty years old and before the end of the world was an outbound call center operator. His main hobby had been playing online computer games. Now Pax had trained him in weapons and combat tactics, he’d quickly become the real version of the games he once played. Pax said Benny was one of his best and, having worked with him for the past few weeks, he agreed. The kid was eager to learn, and always honest about what he thought and how he felt.
His role on the mission was to bring in the survivors. While he was travelling the region, he looked for places to scavenge for supplies and safe houses they could use when they needed to stay away from the Base at night. He’d always been the more affable and approachable of the three of them. Gears was an over-muscled 6ft 5 chunk of a man with a perpetual scowl, and the recent addition of his eyebrow to chin scar only made him look more menacing. The slightly manic nature of Pax, combined with his 6 foot heavily built body, didn’t inspire confidence in your average person. Pax seemed to have an unpredictable edge to his personality that alarmed anyone who didn’t really know him. In truth, there was nothing to fear from either of them. When pushed, Gears would always resort to reason, and for all his noise, Pax was a genuinely decent man. Like many able men, they both had the confidence that comes from knowing they could take care of themselves and they worried more about protecting others. It was one of the reasons he genuinely liked his brothers despite how annoying they could be, particularly when they sparred with one another.