by SD Tanner
Grinning, he said proudly, ‘Yep, and it works too. Well, I ain’t tried it, but Gears says it’s damned fine fun.’
Eyeing him suspiciously, she asked sulkily, ‘And you’re telling me you haven’t had any women in your Jacuzzi?’
His face darkened and he replied irritably, ‘No, for one thing I ain’t had time, and for another, TL and Gears won’t let me bring a woman back to our quarters.’
Arching an eyebrow, she asked, ‘Dare I ask why?’
With a resigned look, he sighed and said unhappily, ‘There were some incidents involvin’ women who may, or may not have but probably did steal stuff.’
Throwing back her head and laughing, her curly blonde hair spilled down her naked back and she asked, ‘Would I be allowed to stay over?’
‘Yeah, course ya would,’ he replied smiling at her. ‘I’d have to fight Gears man-on-man, but I’d win. He’s all love struck since he hooked up with Ip.’
Looking surprised, she asked, ‘He only just hooked up with Ip? I thought those two were already a couple.’
‘Coupla idiots, maybe,’ he replied rudely. ‘Gears was all bent outta shape worrying that Ip might not wanna take it in that direction. He can be a right girl some days.’
Smiling, she said, ‘He’s not being a girl, Pax. When a man loves a woman, he wants her to love him back. It’s normal and you know that. You’re just being mouthy.’
Chuckling, he replied, ‘Yeah, I’m like that.’
Grabbing BD, he pulled her naked body on top of his own and it was midday by the time they were done. BD said she needed to get back and they dressed and were sitting back on the three-seater sofa eating the last of the apples he brought with him.
‘Are ya sure ya won’t come back home with me,’ he asked her.
Chewing a piece of apple, she shook her head and said, ‘No, I’m not leaving so stop asking.’
It bothered him that she wouldn’t come back with him. He was leaving her in a dangerous place, but she was only doing what he asked her to do. The whole situation was his own fault. Thanks to her, they knew the Major was probably only a week away from attacking the Base and the ship, but he found himself struggling with his contradictory needs. On the one hand, he wanted to keep BD safe and on the other hand, he promised to protect their people. Too late, he realized he’d put himself in an impossible situation.
Unsure what to do, he said earnestly, ‘Okay, but listen, baby, if the shootin’ starts, ya gotta hide in the buildin’. Find somewhere safe in there and wait for me. I’ll come getcha.’
Nodding, she said impatiently, ‘I heard you the first twenty times, Pax.’ A sad expression drifted across her face and she said, ‘There’s just one thing I need you to know.’ Hesitating, she drew a sharp breath and said, ‘I had a son. When the virus broke out, he was staying with his father in Montgomery Alabama. Now, I don’t know if he’s still alive or not, but I want to go look for him when I’m done here.’
He hadn’t given much thought to her previous life and assumed, like many people now, she was alone. It shocked him to know she might have a child somewhere and he knew he would go look for her son. Squeezing her hand in his, he said, ‘Ya shoulda told me that before, baby. When ya done here, we’ll go look for him. How old is he?’
Suddenly looked as if she might cry, she seemed to pull back the emotion and said unsteadily, ‘He’s eight. Well, he was eight.’
BD looked down at her hand in his and he thought she might be crying. Feeling her pain, he squeezed her hand again and said gently, ‘Let’s assume he’s still eight until we know otherwise.’
Smiling shyly at him, she asked hopefully, ‘His name’s Eric, and if anything bad happens to me would you still look for him?’
He needed her to understand she mattered to him, that he would be there for her and do whatever it took to take care of her. He’d never said that to a woman before and he didn’t know how to make her understand.
Smiling back at her, he said bluntly, ‘If ya haven’t worked it out yet, then let me be blunt. Ya own my ass, BD. I’ll look for ya boy no matter what, but we’re gonna look for him together.’
This time he saw her tears fall, and pulling her into his arms, he held her until she stopped crying. It wasn’t easy for him to watch her leave, but there was no way to stop her. She believed in what they built more than he did and she was willing to lose everything to keep it safe. With heavy legs, he climbed up to their observation spot on the top of the building and he watched her through his scope. Finally, she disappeared inside the living quarters at the Major’s base and he felt a deep anxiety in his chest that didn’t go away just because he told it to.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: Ducks in a row (Gears)
‘Isaac how many can she see?’
They were in the mission room sitting in front of a large detailed map of the US. He and TL were sitting in grubby office chairs watching Isaac and Ip talk in their silent way. Scattered across the table were a collection of pictures of famous US landmarks including the Pentagon, Golden Gate Bridge, Graceland and the Empire State Building. For the past two hours, they’d been working with Isaac and Ip trying to find out where the super hunters were located. Ip would look through the pictures and, when she found a picture that mapped to a memory she could see in a super hunter’s mind, she would hand them the picture. Through Isaac talking to Ip, they would try and find out how many super hunters were in that location. It was slow and tiring work and he absentmindedly rubbed the scar on his face. Behind him, the map was filling with pins.
Having asked his question, he watched Isaac pause. He was never sure if Isaac paused to translate the words, or if he and Ip were communicating.
Eventually, Isaac replied, ‘Some’.
Isaac reached across and counted out two pins. That meant two super hunters were located somewhere near The Gateway Arch in St Louis. He swiveled in the dirty office chair and stuck two pins on the map. There were almost 50 pins across the map. Every one of them represented a super hunter and these were just the ones located near or around famous US landmarks. He wasn’t sure what percentage this represented of the total number of super hunters, but he guessed it would be safe to assume they weren’t all hanging around tourist attractions.
Turning to TL, he said, ‘There doesn’t seem to be any large groups of super hunters. Just one or two in each location.’
TL nodded and said, ‘If they’re telepathically linked like some sort of hive mind, I guess they don’t need to be near one another physically.’
‘Do ya think there’s a reason why they’re so widely spread?’ he asked.
Shrugging, TL said, ‘Could be by chance, but if they’re like Ip then they don’t know how to drive a car. If they want to destroy the human race, it’s very convenient they’re so widely spread.’
That’s true, he thought. Based on how widely spread they were, they were ideally placed to destroy life across much of the country. He thought they needed to eliminate the super hunters aggressively and fast.
Shaking his head, he said worriedly, ‘The problem we face is the situation keeps changin’ for the worse too rapidly. We can’t keep up. Jus’ as we find ways to cope with the hunters, we have super hunters and as soon as we know we can kill ‘em, we find out they are all over the country and able to destroy all life. How are we supposed to mobilize combat teams into all of these areas fast enough to kill ‘em before they destroy everythin’?’
TL leaned forward in his chair and, contemplating the map with pins, he said steadily, ‘Like you always say, Gears. One step at a time. Yesterday we didn’t know where the super hunters were, and now we do, we’ll find a way to deal with them.’
He knew TL was right, but he wondered if there would come a day when they couldn’t adapt fast enough to the next emergent threat. He thought about what happened with Juan. It led him to wonder how many new super hunters were created every day and he asked, ‘Whatdaya think the conversion rate is?’
Sighing deeply, TL said,
‘I was just thinking about that. It means what we’re looking at on the map is only a percentage of the super hunters that exist today, and then we have to add the super hunters that could be created tomorrow and that’ll change the total number again.’
Nodded unhappily, he said dourly ‘Exactly.’
Sounding tired, TL said, ‘Some days I wonder if Pax was right about this being an impossible mission. His plan was to go somewhere safe.’
Snorted derisively, he said sharply, ‘Pax ain’t ever right, and this is gonna happen whether we’re here or not. Runnin’ for the hills and hidin’ won’t save us from what’s goin’ down here. If anythin’, this proves we have to do exactly what we’re doin’, only faster, ‘cos if we’re don’t we die no matter where we are or what we’re doin’.
Turning to Isaac, he asked, ‘Isaac, how many new super hunters a day?’
Isaac’s attention seemed to drift away and he assumed Isaac was putting his question to Ip. He thought Ip must live in a very different world to them. In her world, there were a huge number of entities and he thought it must be like being on the web. She had immediate access to a large number of super hunters any time she was willing to talk to them.
Knowing it might be a while before Isaac had an answer for them, he turned to TL and asked, ‘Wanna grab a coffee?’
They walked through the Base and into the mess where Harry always left out snacks and a row of full coffee pots. Walking over to the coffee area, he saw Anna glare at him and TL quietly asked, ‘What did you do to that woman?’
Equally as quietly, he replied, ‘Somethin’ I shouldn’t have.’
Smirking, TL remarked, ‘That’s not the kind of problem I’ve been having lately.’
Surprised, he asked, ‘Lydia?’
Shrugging, TL replied amiably, ‘Nah, she passed on me.’
Standing next to Anna, he poured himself a coffee and added a liberal amount of sugar. He still hated the powdered milk they used in the absence of any fresh milk, but he figured it was better than nothing. Not being a sensitive man, even he wasn’t oblivious to the waves of anger coming from Anna as she furiously stirred the lumps of powdered milk into her own coffee. Earlier that day, he’d asked Isaac to find out if Ip thought Anna had shot her. Ip’s reply through Isaac had both surprised and embarrassed him. Through Isaac, Ip said Anna wanted him, but she was angry with him, but she didn’t think Anna meant to shoot her. Ip said Anna had fear in her heart, not anger. It never occurred to him that Anna was frightened and it put a different spin on how he saw her behavior. He realized by not allowing her on the ship, he was probably doing the wrong thing. Anna hadn’t intentionally tried to hurt Ip and she didn’t deserve to be punished for something she didn’t do.
Wanting to resolve the issue, but prepared for a backlash, he asked politely, ‘Anna, can we talk for a minute?’
Glaring at him, Anna replied angrily, ‘What do you want, Gears?’
Clearing his throat, he replied calmly, ‘I’ve spoken with Ip, and I think we should talk’.
Suddenly looking surprised, Anna said, ‘I thought Ip couldn’t talk.’
‘She can’t,’ he explained. ‘But she sort of has a brother who can. It’s a complicated story.’
Looking curious, Anna said, ‘I’m listening.’
Indicating they should sit down, they found a quiet corner in the mess. TL saw he was with Anna and left the mess.
In a slightly warmer tone, Anna asked, ‘What do you want to talk about?’
Sipping his coffee, he felt it burn his mouth and putting it down on the table, he said bluntly, ‘Ip told me ya didn’t mean to shoot her. That it was an accident.’
Anna looked down at her coffee and said nothing.
Sighing, he said honestly, ‘I did the wrong thing that night at the Ranch, Anna. I was feelin’ lonely and outta sorts. I know ya offered, but I shoulda known ya were just feelin’ vulnerable and said no. Woulda been better if we’d just talked and not jumped in the sack like that and I’m sorry.’
Anna looked up from her coffee in surprise and, watching her face contort trying not to cry, he waited for her to steady herself.
Slowly Anna composed herself and she said softly, ‘We both did the wrong thing that night, Gears. I knew you were with Ip. Everyone knew, but you always seemed so sure of yourself, so in control. And you’re so protective of Ip, I guess I wanted a piece of that, but it was the wrong way to go about it. You give everyone a piece of your protection just because they’re here, and I didn’t need to do what I did.’
Unsure what to say next, he said, ‘We both went down a path we shouldn’t have that night.’
Smiling at him, she said, ‘Can we at least be friends?’
Anna had shown him a side of herself he wasn’t sure he would ever feel entirely comfortable with, but he said, ‘I think it’s time we let the whole thing go and move on.’
Her face fell and she said, ‘I’m sorry I shot Ip. I was panicked and she was everywhere all at once. Is she okay?’
Despite her words, he didn’t believe Anna was feeling repentant, but she hadn’t deliberately shot Ip. Deciding to play along, he said, ‘She’s fine, Anna. I think she’s forgotten about it.’
Smiling, Anna asked, ‘What exactly is she?’
Anna had been a bit too curious about Ip during their first trip to the Ranch. He still didn’t want to talk about Ip with her and he replied brusquely, ‘Ip’s a woman with some unique abilities, Anna.’
Smiling, Anna said dryly, ‘True. Let’s face it, she forgave you.’
He still didn’t like Anna, but as far as he was concerned, the issue was resolved. Telling Anna he needed to head back to the mission brief, he left and when he got back to the room, he asked, ‘So, does Ip know what the conversion rate of the super hunters is?’
Laughing, TL replied, ‘Nope. Isaac says Ip doesn’t do math.’
Rolling his eyes, he looked at Ip and said dryly, ‘Of course she don’t.’
Staring at him with her large blue eyes, Ip huffed and looked away sulkily. Then for no reason he understood, she suddenly smiled, jumped to her feet and after kissing him, grabbed Isaac’s hand and they both ran out of the room.
Watching them leave, TL asked, ‘What was that all about?’
Smiling, he shook his head and said, ‘I dunno, but she and Isaac seem to adore one another. It’s kinda sweet.’
Kat, Lydia, Pax, Benny, Max and Mackenzie filed into the room and, as he watched them take their seats, he asked, ‘Where’s Hatch?’
‘I last heard him singing in the port-a-john,’ Benny replied. ‘I don’t even wanna breathe in there much less sing.’
Once they were all seated, he asked his usual question, ‘What’s new?’
TL said, ‘As you all know, we’re talking to Izzie. She says they’re in bad shape. They only have about 40 people left out of a peak of 50 and she wants to join us.’
He’d only spoken to Izzie on the radio once and she’d told him Nelson said she could trust him. Like Nelson, she was losing people daily to the new hunters. She said the hunters were acting more like a pack. Based on where Ip had shown them the super hunters were, he knew Izzie had a super hunter near her base.
Nodding to TL, he said, ‘All survivor groups are always welcome, but Izzie’s group do come with a coupla navy ships engineers. We mighta struck gold with this group.’
Looking impressed, Pax said, ‘I hadn’t heard that. Do ya reckon we can get our cruise ship to Hawaii? I ain’t seen a wet t-shirt contest in a while.’
Both he and TL grimaced at Pax, and in unison said, ‘Shaddup Pax.’
At that moment, Hatch walked in the room and he lurched into a chair next to Pax, making it squeak in protest and said cheerfully, ‘Haven’t missed anythin’ then.’
Shrugging, Pax replied casually, ‘Nah, my suggestion of a wet t-shirt contest has been formally rejected.’
Looking at Pax balefully and sounding resigned, Hatch replied, ‘Yer brothers are a dull pair.’
Ignoring Pax and Hatch, he turned to the group and said, ‘We gotta few things that are gonna need the bird, so let’s sort priorities once we got it all on the table. It looks like Nelson’s group might have one or more super hunters. I agreed to head over to help ‘em clear some buildin’s so they can get supplies. While we’re there, I wanna see if Ip can help us pinpoint the super hunters and see if we can kill ‘em.’
Looking at Lydia, he asked, ‘How’s the counter virus comin’ along. This could be good time to test it. We’re goin’ in anyways.’
Taking a deep breath, Lydia shook her head and said, ‘Developing and testing new viruses is complex work, made even harder by our limited skills and equipment. We also lack the ability to run adequate testing on actual hunters and we’re not ready.’
He was frustrated with their slow and methodical approach. He figured they were going to take on the hunters with Nelson’s group no matter what and whatever state the counter virus was in, it could only help.
Narrowing his eyes at Lydia, he said firmly, ‘Give us whatcha got, and we’ll test it for ya. If it fails, we got fuckin’ big guns as back up.’
Rolling her eyes, Lydia said bluntly, ‘It could kill you or infect you.’
Eyeing her skeptically, he asked dourly, ‘Really?’
Looking slightly abashed, Lydia replied, ‘No, we might not be the best experts, but we’re not that stupid.’
Chuckling, he said, ‘Didn’t think so, Lydia.’
Reluctantly Lydia conceded and said, ‘Leave it with me. We have samples and a transmission mechanism. We’ll put something together you can take with you, but it would help if I went with you to observe the impact on the hunters.’
‘No can do, Lydia,’ he replied curtly. ‘You’re our only doctor and the closest thing we got to a scientist. I don’t even like it that ya leave the safety of the ship to go to the CDC. You’re far too important to take into an unpredictable combat situation.’
He’d told Lydia this before and she sighed and said, ‘Speaking of the CDC, I understand Isaac came from the one in Baton Rouge.’ Turning to TL, she asked, ‘Any chance we can go see it? If it’s still intact, we should consider moving to that CDC.’