Hunter Wars Omnibus Edition (Books 1 - 3)

by SD Tanner

  If that was true then it wasn’t possible to kill them and he asked, ‘How the hell do we kill them if they can come back?’

  ‘We don’t,’ Gears replied firmly. ‘I think we have to kill all of the super hunters so they don’t have a body to possess. We also have to kill all the hunters so they don’t have an army to use against us and, ‘cos we can’t easily tell a super hunter from a hunter, we have to kill anythin’ that looks like one.’

  Sighing, he said, ‘That always been our mission. To kill all hunters.’

  Gears nodded and replied, ‘Exactly. The only thing that’s changed is we thought they were jus’ rabid dogs, but now they’re an organized army with some unexpected skills. We gotta match those skills, which is why we need our own army of the weird.’

  Looking slightly annoyed, Lydia asked, ‘Why didn’t you just say that in the meeting?’

  Gears sighed and said, ‘I did. It’s jus’ no one wants to believe we’re dealin’ with demons. But if ya can get past your disbelief then ya know ya need different tactics if ya wanna win the war. Ya people need to get with the program on this and stop tryin’ to make this about somethin’ it ain’t.’

  Looking down at the corpse, Gears added, ‘We gotta stop tryin’ to be politically correct and start gettin’ blunt with these assholes. I dunno what they are, but I do know they exist and they mean to do us harm. We ain’t gonna survive tryin’ to apply middle class values to a low class problem. These fuckers are out to destroy us and we need to be prepared to fight like with like. I ain’t prepared to lose one more of our people pussy footin’ around these assholes, jus’ so’s I look like I’m bein’ a decent and civilized man. World ain’t civilized, it never has been and I ain’t gonna waste good lives pretendin’ it is.’

  He knew Gears was right, but he didn’t like it and asked, ‘Don’t we just become as bad as they are?’

  Snorting, Gears said pragmatically, ‘We can never be as bad as they are ‘cos we didn’t start this shitfight. We have gotta fight fire with fire. We didn’t ask for this shit and we didn’t start it either, but I intend for us to be the ones to finish it. There ain’t nothing more to think about.’

  Looking back at Lydia, Gears said, ‘Lydia, can ya make sure ya bury Chris proper. What I jus’ shot wasn’t Chris, but the body did belong to Chris. Chris was dead before I walked in the room today and that man deserves a decent burial.’

  In the next room was the Major. He was the only unwilling test subject when Pax handed him over to Farrington as punishment for killing BD in cold blood. Farrington infected him with the designer virus and the Major had been in a coma ever since. Walking into the room, he could see the Major lying on his back with his arms and legs straight. There was a catheter bag hanging off the side of the bed and a feeding tube ran from his nose. The Major looked a little pale, but otherwise he could be mistaken for a man sleeping rather than someone who was in a deep coma.

  Studying the Major, Gears asked, ‘What’s the matter with him?’

  Shaking her head, Lydia replied, ‘I don’t know. He has almost no brain activity, but I’m sure you’ll tell me that was always true.’

  Gears snorted and Lydia continued, ‘There’s nothing much to say about him. He has organs, he’s developed an expanded right lobe and his body seems to be functioning normally, but he’s asleep and he has minimal brain activity. It’s like he’s waiting for something.’

  Frowning, Gears asked, ‘Whatdaya mean?’

  ‘Well, it’s like he’s in suspended animation,’ Lydia replied. ‘Not awake, not sleeping, not living, not dying.’

  ‘Like a body waiting to be used,’ he observed.

  Lydia touched his arm and sounding surprised, she said, ‘That’s exactly what I think. If I ignore science and go with what I feel, then that’s what I see too. It’s as if he’s a body-in-waiting, but I don’t know what he’s waiting for.’

  Smiling warmly at her touch, he asked, ‘What color are his eyes?’

  ‘Blue on blue,’ Lydia replied.

  ‘Not just blue then?’ Gears asked.

  Lydia replied, ‘No. We’ve not had another one like Ip with blue eyes, no iris and the blue just leaking into the whites of her eyes.’

  Still feeling close to Lydia, he took her hand and still smiling at her, he asked, ‘Do you know what that means?’

  Shaking her head, Lydia replied, ‘No, I don’t.’

  The other reason they were at the CDC was to monitor the next group of volunteers to be infected. Gears had already spoken to each of them and offered them the option to decide against being infected. No one chose to leave and there were twelve people waiting to be infected that day. According to Lydia, a further twelve were willing to be infected. Given the unpredictable results of the designer virus, Lydia decided to infect people in small groups so she could closely monitor them. They walked into the lounge kitchen area of the CDC where the volunteers, already dressed in their hospital gowns and slippers, were waiting to be called. With a gentle squeeze, he let go of Lydia’s hand and as they walked in, everyone looked up at them expectantly.

  Lydia nodded to a few of them and said, ‘We’re ready for you.’

  Looking around at the people waiting to be infected, Gears said, ‘Ya know I’ve spoken to each of ya and the offer still stands. Ya can stop the process at any time and leave. No questions asked.’

  People nodded, but no one spoke. It was time to do what they all agreed to do. He thought, it’s a strange world we live in when this is the only option. He couldn’t really think of a comparable event in history where people put themselves in danger quite like this. I guess they’re soldiers, he thought, willing to die to protect their people. Gears was right. Chris may have been a whiny little shit when he was alive, but he had for whatever reason, been willing to die for the good of the mission.

  Lydia pulled a list from her pocket and said, ‘We have three rooms set up and you’ll be sharing rooms in groups of four. Ian and Louise will each take a group of four into their room and four of you will come with me.’

  She read out the names and people went with their group to be prepared. He followed Lydia into the room with her four people. Above each bed was a large card with the person’s full name neatly written with a thick black marker. At the bottom of each bed, hung a chart and by the side of the bed was a metal pole holding a drip bag with hanging plastic tubes. There were two beds on each side of the room, and between each bed were several pieces of equipment. One looked like a heart monitor and the other, he suspected, was used to monitor brain activity. Each bed had a curtain that could be pulled around to provide a patient with privacy. Once everyone was settled in their beds, Lydia moved to pull the curtain around the bed of a woman called Margaret and all four volunteers objected.

  A man with a sign above his bed that had the name Malcolm written in large black letters, called out, ‘Don’t do that, Lydia.’

  Lydia stopped and looked at the volunteers quizzically.

  Margaret, a delicate looking woman in her fifties, smiled and said, ‘We’re all in this together, Lydia.’

  Nodding, Lydia completed the preparation for each of them by inserting the needle for the drip into their forearms. Farrington walked in with the latest version of the designer virus and just as they’d done the first time, Lydia injected the designer virus into the drip in Margaret’s arm and they stood and waited to see the effect. The virus entered her bloodstream, Margaret’s eyes rolled up in her head and she shuddered and lost consciousness. Once infected, the host could turn the person into a hunter or become very weird like Chris and they always strapped them down to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves or others.

  From the bed facing Margaret, a man called John asked, ‘How’d she do?’

  He was helping Lydia strap Margaret down and Lydia replied, ‘She’s not responsive, which is not necessarily a bad sign. We’ll have to wait until she wakes up.’

  Next was Malcolm. He was a bald man also in his fifties with br
ight blue eyes and a face that looked like he smiled often. Malcolm grinned at Lydia as she injected his drip and said, ‘This is the ultimate ride.’

  Looking closely at Malcolm’s other arm, he could see a tattoo peeking from below the cuff of his hospital gown and he guessed Malcolm was probably a biker. As the designer virus took hold, Malcolm’s grin slowly faded, his mouth dropped open and he became glassy eyed and non-responsive. They strapped him down and moved to the next volunteer.

  This next volunteer was a young man in his twenties called John. He didn’t like infecting the young and he remembered how badly it turned out for Mackenzie. John looked fit and able enough to be a combat shooter and he probably was one. Wanting to tell the young man to get up and get back to the base, he held his tongue and let Lydia do her job. As the virus took hold, John remained half sitting, but his face became slack and his head bent forward slightly as his mind detached. Again, they strapped him down and moved to the last volunteer. The card above her bed said her name was Georgia. She was blonde, buxom and quite pretty and he was surprised she decided to volunteer to be infected.

  Seeing his confused look, Georgia said, ‘I know. Everyone thinks I’m crazy. That I have everything to live for, but this is a new world and I want to be a new person in it. I thought Ip was amazing.’

  Lydia shook her head and said sternly, ‘Ip was unique and assuming you survive, you’re very unlikely to have all of her abilities.’

  Georgia rolled her eyes and asked, ‘Why does everyone keep telling me not to do this?’

  He looked at her sharply and said, ‘Because you’re a young, healthy female.’

  ‘That’s a bit sexist,’ Georgia replied bluntly.

  Lydia smiled and said, ‘Don’t mind him. He’s a bit old school and overly protective.’

  Georgia smiled up at him and said, ‘Aww, ain’t he sweet.’

  Shaking his head, he replied, ‘I’m not a puppy.’

  Both Lydia and Georgia laughed and Lydia asked her, ‘Are you ready?’

  Georgia nodded and Lydia injected the virus into her drip, but there was no obvious reaction from Georgia and she continued to smile at them.

  Watching Georgia closely, Lydia said, ‘That’s interesting.’

  Sounding slightly breathless, Georgia asked, ‘What?’

  Smiling, Lydia replied, ‘You’re still with us. Your body is fighting the virus well.’

  ‘You said that was a good thing,’ Georgia said, now sounding vague.

  Lydia gently pushed Georgia back down on the bed and as she tilted the bed back into a flat position, she said, ‘Yes it is, Georgia.’

  Now mumbling with her voice sounding fuzzy, Georgia replied, ‘I’m gonna say hullo to Ip.’

  Touching Georgia’s arm, Gears said gently, ‘Ya can’t. Ip died.’

  Georgia’s eyes glazed over and her face fell slack, but before she was completely under he heard her mumble, ‘Hullo Ip.’

  The designer virus seemed to do odd things to people’s minds and he wondered if Georgia was really talking to Ip. Turning to Gears, he asked, ‘Is that possible?’

  Gears face hardened and as he turned to stalk out of the room, he said abruptly, ‘No.’

  CHAPTER TEN: The price is not right (Pax)

  He wasn’t looking forward to today. He thought they weren’t trained to clear an island without the support of both Ip and Isaac, and he wasn’t confident about working with only Isaac. Sighing, he walked to the front of the ferry and looked back at the five hundred combat shooters currently lounging about on the top deck, fully dressed and armed for combat,. Beneath his feet in the cargo hold designed to ferry cars and trucks across the English Channel, were ten armed assault vehicles they planned to drive onto the island.

  The island was in the Bahamas, and normally he would be looking forward to a day out killing hunters on a beautiful sunny island, but not today. Today he was worried as hell. It was a big, heavily forested island about sixty miles long and forty miles wide and was originally home to about eight thousand people. At one end of the island was a collection of small coral islands that weren’t useful for agriculture or living, but could be used as bolthole from hunters if there was another incident like the one on Haven. The original inhabitants of the island set up a small town with about ten blocks of buildings and homes. The rest of the island had about fifty small villages where the largest village housed about four hundred people. If it could be cleared of hunters then the island was ideal. It was large enough for a population of up to fifteen thousand people and once the forest was cleared, had a lot of land to grow food and farm animals.

  Clearing an island of this size was their most ambitious project to date and he didn’t think they were ready for it. Gears, Captain Ted and Philip were on the bridge of the ferry and feeling a sudden surge of anxiety, he marched down the deck to find Gears to dump his worries on him.

  On his way to the bridge, he ran into Gears and grabbing his arm, he said tersely, ‘I wanna talk to ya…in private.’

  Gears was on his way to the top of the ferry to get a better view of the island and together they headed up to the roof over the bridge. They were drawing closer to the wharf and the boat was slowing down from its top speed of over twenty mph, but it was still windy and he had to raise his voice to be heard over the wind and waves.

  ‘I doan think this is a good idea, Gears,’ he said loudly. ‘I doan think my shooters are ready to work this kinda territory without Ip. We ain’t cleared anything as big as this and I doan think we’ve done enough recon work on it. I jus’ think we’re not prepared and it’s gonna go badly wrong. Yer pushin’ too hard, too fast, Gears. Ya need to slow down. Yer gonna fuck up and our people are gonna die.’

  The longer he spoke, the more wound up he got and by the end of his last sentence, he was shouting and waving his arms about angrily.

  Gears raised his hand and said steadily, ‘What would ya do to prepare ‘em for this, Pax?’

  That was a good question and he didn’t have a good answer. He’d brought his most experienced shooters, who’d all been on at least ten missions each, and he didn’t have any more training to give them other than actual combat.

  When he didn’t reply, Gears said, ‘We ain’t got Ip and we ain’t ever gonna have her again. I got some people infected, but I dunno how successful it’s gonna be and I dunno when they’ll be ready to work. In the meantime, I got ten thousand people I gotta put somewhere. They can’t keep livin’ on the bases in tents. At some point, I gotta bite the bullet and clear some safe territory for ‘em to live in. And, if we’re gonna keep gatherin’ survivors, we gotta learn to clear larger territory. Plus we’re finding it harder to get supplies, so we gotta start farmin’ for food. It’s the way it is, Pax.’

  Looking as miserable as he felt, he said unhappily, ‘I’m gonna lose people today, Gears. I ain’t happy about that.’

  Gears looked back at him equally as unhappily and said, ‘I feel ya, bro’, but it’s the mission we set ourselves and like ya say, we can’t quit now. I don’t wanna be here much either, but we made promises and we’re gonna stand by ‘em. It don’t mean it ain’t shit some days.’

  Knowing his brother was right, he sighed deeply and asked, ‘How the fuck did we get here?’

  ‘We found hope, bro’,’ Gears replied honestly. ‘Then we infected everybody else with our hope and now they trust us.’

  Snorting, he said, ‘And now we’re gonna get ‘em killed.’

  ‘They don’t trust us to keep ‘em all alive,’ Gears said plainly. ‘They trust us to try and give some of ‘em a future. Times have gotten so bad, jus’ bein’ willin’ to try is enough.’

  Captain Ted climbed onto the roof and walking over to them, he asked, ‘Whatsup?’

  Turning to Captain Ted, he said, ‘I was jus’ tellin’, Gears, I gotta bad feelin’ about today.’

  Nodding, Captain Ted said, ‘I hear that.’

  They backed the ferry up to the wharf, lowered the gates and had the te
n assault vehicles, loaded with ten shooters in each, drive out onto the large marina. Their job was to make sure the area was clear. The vehicles formed a perimeter around the wharf and the shooters began to clear the small buildings at the end of the marina. They had Isaac with them and he was going into each small wooden building and killing the hunters. Hunters didn’t fear Isaac the way they feared Ip and they didn’t run when they saw him. Without the hunters running from the small buildings, it was slow work while Isaac killed every hunter inside each building.

  From their aerial recon, they knew there was a large brick building that was the island’s only hotel. Clearing every village, house and building on the island was going to take weeks and they figured they could secure the hotel to house the combat teams and act as a base, so they wanted to clear that building first. The hotel was a three-story building and being a hotel, would no doubt have at least fifty small rooms that were going to be difficult to clear. Parking four assault vehicles outside the hotel, he surveyed the building and saw it had about ten large windows on the ground floor that faced the sea. He thought, these windows will need to be boarded up to stop hunters from getting into the building once it was cleared. Climbing out of the truck, he, Captain Ted, Isaac, Max and six shooters, walked around the building checking for entrances, exits and windows.

  ‘Whatdaya think?’ Gears asked through his radio mike.

  ‘I doan like it,’ he replied. ‘It’s big and it’s got lotsa windows. We can see a lot of movement in there.’

  ‘Okay, let’s send Isaac in,’ Gears replied.

  Turning to Isaac, he asked, ‘Ya ready, son?’

  Isaac nodded and he and Captain Ted opened one of the unlocked back doors and Isaac walked in. He didn’t like the way Isaac was moving. Ip would have been excited by the hunt and she always scampered in eager to kill, but Isaac strolled in as if he had no real interest in killing the hunters. He was worried about Isaac’s lack of instinct to kill and he clearly lacked the drive to hunt that Ip always had.