by David Peters
END WORLD
Dawn of the Corrupted
By David Peters
Copyright © 2010 by David Peters
The End World Series
End World: Dawn of the Corrupted
End World: Ultimate Corruption
Prologue
August 21st, 2019
Dylan could always tell when something was wrong. It was a tangible feeling. Something he had gained from years of experience. As he kept a guarded watch on his surroundings he placed a final apple in his pack. He was at the end of his patrol route and stopped at the abandoned orchard. The sound of crickets was no longer; the only sound that remained was the wind moving through the trees and overgrown grass.
As he backed away from the tree, he unlimbered his rifle and began the search. He felt he was being stalked; he felt it as surely as the sudden, quiet air. That was his first clue that something was out of place.
“I hate this part,” he growled to himself.
His dog Beau knew his job, but had yet to find the source; ears perked and eyes searching the distant forest line. A low growl began in his throat. Unlike Dylan, Beau lived for this. He loved the hunt and had no fear that any surviving human would have.
The brush moved as if something low to the ground was coming towards them. The tall, brown grass moved as if it was hiding an unseen predator. Whatever it was, there was no doubt that it was coming towards them.
“Damn Hunter, guess it could have been worse, but not by much. What do you think Beau, Pure Blood, or not?”
Beau continued his low growl and Dylan rubbed the scruff on his chin. Hunters were never a problem if you spotted them this far out. He just hoped it wasn’t the body of someone he knew. After all these years, he still couldn’t quite figure out how to cope with killing a friend who was already dead.
The brush gave way to low grass about fifty yards from where he was standing in the direction the Hunter was coming from. This gave him lots of time. Hunters usually broke into a run at half this distance.
As he brought the lever action rifle to his shoulder, he mumbled, “Please don’t be anyone I know, or at least be too Corrupted to tell.” Another breeze moved through the valley as if some giant breathed over the grass and down the draw towards Dylan. While the Hunter would have difficulty smelling Dylan, he would have no problem at all smelling the Hunter.
The Hunter entered the open field. Hunters walked nearly on all fours, stopping occasionally to stand and smell the air. They were incredibly agile and when fully grown were more than a match for any man. It sniffed at the air in the open field like any carnivore would. Their eyesight was poor but their sense of smell more than made up for that. The jet black, abomination still had some remnants of clothing hanging from its gangling frame which told Dylan it hadn’t been turned too long ago. This was a blessing and a curse. It wouldn’t be as strong as a full Hunter but it would have retained enough of its old appearance, to be recognized as the person when it was alive and human.
The Hunter settled its head in Dylan’s direction and as Dylan looked through the scope he recognized the altered face. It was what remained of Ted Thornton. It looked as angry in death as he was in life. Ted had been taken a little over a week ago while doing the exact same thing Dylan was doing now, or so it was assumed. He had chosen to live just beyond Paradise Falls and that was fine with Dylan. Some folks didn’t take kindly to the way of life in Paradise. They wanted things their way and their way alone. Of all the people that had come and gone through the years, Ted’s departure generated the biggest communal sigh of relief.
“Well Beau, if I have to smoke a Corrupted that I know, it’s good that the guy was such an ass.”
Dylan squeezed the trigger and the single gunshot echoed loudly. Ted, or whatever it was now, staggered backwards as the round caught him in the neck. The Hunter paused as if confused. The second round blasted squarely through its forehead, sending him crashing lifelessly to the ground.
“Was a little low on that first shot… Think I’m gettin’ old.”
The brush rattled and as Dylan wheeled about he was caught by surprise by the second Hunter that had been silently stalking them from behind. The Hunter has broken into its deadly run from 20 yards away and in a single jump cleared the last 15 feet to land on top of Dylan. The force threw him to the ground with a crashing scream and sent his rifle flying beyond his reach.
Dylan and the Hunter rolled several feet, struggling for the higher ground. They came to rest with Dylan pinned on the bottom by the Hunter. The Hunter locked eyes with Dylan and hissed violently.
This Hunter was Julie Thornton. Ted’s wife of God knows how many years. When this woman was alive she made Ted look like a saint. She glowered at Dylan and breathed a stench through her newly grown and extremely deadly teeth.
It took all of Dylan’s strength to hold her jaws at bay. All it took was one bite, one area of broken skin where the Corrupted could get their infected saliva into Dylan’s system and it would be over. Nothing but the burning left in life. The Hunter didn’t have the strength it would in another month, nor did it have the fully formed talons that a Pure Bred Hunter would have. This gave Dylan a fighting chance.
Beau latched on to the Corrupted’s thigh, pulling with all the power a German shepherd could muster. His claws were tearing out clumps of ground as he shook his head furiously trying to pull the vile creature off of his master. The Hunters had no pain centers as far as anyone had been able to discern, but they did respond to bigger threats. Beau was enough of a threat to force the Hunter to turn away from Dylan and attempt to even the odds.
Letting out a ferocious roar the Hunter turned on Beau momentarily forgetting its current attacker. Dylan struck the Corrupted Hunter, hitting it solidly on the side of its head. He landed a second blow and the Corrupted rolled onto its back. He drew his automatic pistol. Two rapid gunshots rang out turning the Hunter’s head to mush. Dylan kicked away from the twitching corpse and pulled pushed himself to his feet.
Dylan picked up his rifle and gave a quick once-over for damage, “They just never stop learning do they? Seems like every time we meet one of these damn things they have new tricks. Why can’t these bastards just stick to one style? You know Beau, there are days I wish I was a dog. At least then I would probably have more respect for the stink.”
For Dylan, this new world was not the place he wanted to be. He had lost too many friends and loved ones in the last seven years to think differently.
He stared at the dead Hunter. So much has changed, he thought. He had come so far as a person and only the remnants of humanity had made the same journey. But still we are just barely hanging on. Every day was a new fight in what seemed like a never ending war.
With these thoughts burdening him, Dylan grabbed his bag of apples and slung it over his shoulder. It would take him about half an hour to get back to the town. It gave him lots of time to remember the good old days. They seemed so very long ago.
Chapter 1
July 18th, 2012
“God it’s hot out here,” he said to out loud to himself.
“You wanted to do this today, not me,” a woman’s voice replied. She walked up with a smile and handed him a tall glass of iced tea.
Dylan planted his shovel in the ground and took the offered glass, “It would be pretty nice to have a yard that looked like a yard and less like a combat zone. We’ve got a little less than two days before your parents get here and your Dad can be just a tad critical.” Dylan smiled as he took a long drink.
“Can’t argue with you on that one, why do you think I’ve been cleaning under the refrigerator? My Mom still brings up the issue. That
combined with the fact that I don’t use bleach in the wash, and we won’t even start with the list I have for the guest bedroom. Who knows how much time that woman will spend looking for something wrong there.”
“I guess I could call it an early day, won’t cool off for another two or three hours, and I think I actually have grill marks.”
“Good call, when you are done showering all that grime off, help me mess up the clean sheets,” Niccole said with a wink.
--2--
“Lordy that was a good steak Ma’am!” Dylan said in his best Texan drawl and pushed himself away from the table.
“Glad you liked it. The Hooper’s dropped those by the other day. Their way of saying thanks for helping with the barn last month.” Niccole stood and followed Dylan into the small kitchen with her dish.
He stood silently, close to her at the sink as they washed the dinner dishes. He thought of how he always looked forward to this part of the night, strange as that seemed. His mind turned to thoughts of her long, smooth legs; scented skin. Touching her and listening to her breath halt for just a moment when he found the sweet and sensitive places of her body made him want to move nearer to her. He often thought it odd that he looked forward to something as mundane as doing supper dishes with her, but he loved standing beside his childhood sweetheart, looking out the small window over the sink towards the golden hills that surrounded their small farm. The nearest house was over two and a half miles down the road that seldom saw any traffic.
Dylan still remembered the first day he saw Niccole at their small town elementary school. “Do you remember the first time you saw me?”
“Of course I do, I turned and ran, but you still caught me,” she said coyly.
“Seriously though, I remember when the teacher introduced you to the class. You had the cutest pig tails and looked so completely out of place. I had the feeling you hadn’t even seen mud before.”
“That doesn’t sound like the thoughts of a second grader to me.”
“You know what I mean. I was as into girls as any second grader could be. I chased ‘em, just didn’t know what to do when I caught ‘em. You were fast too. I chased you for years. Still remember the first time you said you would go out with me, like on a real date.”
“Now that I do remember. It was the first time I ever remembered seeing your truck clean, up until that day I thought dirt was a color.” She smiled and poked him in the ribs. “I also recall the borderline disgust that my mom had about us dating. She always called you ‘my hick boyfriend’, or ‘that pig farmer down the road’.”
“I never understood that one. We didn’t even own pigs.”
The two of them stood quietly finishing up the dishes as they thought back on different memories. Niccole would wash while Dylan rinsed and dried. They didn’t have a dishwasher and wouldn’t use it if they did.
“It was what, six months after that when my parents were killed. Not sure how I would have made it through that without you. Daniel and I were already so far apart.”
“I still miss them sometimes; I think I was closer to your parents than my own. At least your dad would actually talk. I remember that last fishing trip down to the river like it was yesterday. ” Niccole washed out a large bowl and a brief sadness crossed her eyes, “It was such a freak accident. If they had left town even thirty seconds earlier or later they wouldn’t have been at that corner at the same time as that grain truck.”
Dylan felt the sadness wash over him like a wave. Anytime he would feel that sense of loss he would think back to the words his father had spoken the last time they went hunting together, “Son, a lot of folks say they live in the moment but they lie. They live in the past or the future but the now always eludes them. Don’t ever let ‘now’ get away from you.”
Dylan smiled as he remembered those words, “That’s the last one, what shall our drink of the evening be Ma’am?”
“Ugh, enough with the Ma’am crap, you know I can’t stand that…always makes me feel old.”
“Your Highness then?”
“Go sit down, you’re getting a beer and liking it.”
“Yes Ma’am!” Dylan ducked her mock blow as he saluted.
“Love you Coco.”
“Love you too Cowboy.”
They took their evening drinks out to the porch swing and sat in loving silence. Niccole rested her head on his shoulder while they sipped and looked out over the rolling hills. Dylan loved this time of year more than any other. He could never get enough of this country, his country. The slight breeze that would roll in when the sun started its slow fall over the horizon or the scent of the wheat fields on the warm summer air.
“You ever think about your brother? I really miss Daniel sometimes. He was always really nice to me.”
“I think about him a lot. We grew up here. I can’t walk the property without thinking about something we shared as kids. My parents passing affected him much more than me. We were already forming such different views on life. We would argue about the dumbest things.”
“Like?”
“Politics was a big one. I never took it seriously, I couldn’t even vote yet. He didn’t like where things were going in the world. He didn’t necessarily want to change them; he just didn’t want to be a part of them.”
“I was there the day he left. It broke my heart to see you two not talking.”
“Mine too, but that was a long time ago. It isn’t like I haven’t tried to mend fences.” Dylan stood and walked to the porch railing.
“What about you? You regret not being closer to your parents?”
“I guess a part of me does but not in the way you would think. I wish things were different all together. You at least got to go hunting and fishing with your dad, and your mom came to a lot of your games in school. I couldn’t even get my mother to come to her only daughter’s wedding.”
Niccole stood next to Dylan and hugged him, “can’t change the past can we?”
“Any time I think about changing the past I realize it would change who I am today. I’m not perfect, but I like the man I am.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear that. I’m a pretty big fan too.”
--3--
As remote as their life was, they both still made a point of getting the latest news and catching one of the late night talk shows before retiring for the night. Although they were tech savvy, their heart was in the country around them. Dylan worked for a local tractor dealer, servicing vehicles in the field when needed, but spending about half of his time at the John Deere dealership just north of Colfax fixing whatever managed to get broken and dragged into the shop
Niccole worked part time with the Pullman Police Department as a 911 dispatcher. It was not particularly demanding work which consisted mostly of calls about drunk and disorderly happenings regarding some random college student or even an occasional prank call. Being the middle of summer, things were pretty slow and extremely quiet. The heat tended to keep people near some form of air conditioning.
This meant that work hours were a little harder to come by but on the positive side it left her more time at home to work around their place doing what she really loved. They had a small garden where they grew assorted vegetables, along with a few fruit trees. She also fed and watered their two horses and checked in on their small herd of cattle, assorted goats, a few chickens and some feral cats that she refused to give up on.
“Looks like some trouble in Spokane,” Dylan called to the kitchen.
The anchorwoman continued on with the gruesome details all the while never losing her smile “Initial reports aren’t clear on what started the riot, but at this time all reserve police units have been called. There are currently talks of mobilizing National Guard units if the uprising continues. There have been numerous unconfirmed reports of injuries and fatalities. A source asking to remain anonymous described the area as being similar to a war zone and requested people not to go down town unless they absolutely have to. In other news, four bodies wer
e found in Ginkgo Park…”
“You hear anything about riots at work today?”
Niccole looked confused. She handed Dylan a cold beer and sat down next to him on the couch “nope, not a peep, it was actually really quiet. Maybe it started after I punched out.”
“Don’t you think it’s kind of fast to go from nothing to National Guard in half a day?” asked Dylan, looking just as confused.
“Ya, that is kind of strange. Let me call Steve, he runs the board for the State Patrol in Spokane, he would know if anyone would.”
Dialing the number several times, she looked perplexed “let me use your phone, mine just rings.”
Dylan looked at his cell phone and saw the reception bars half full. He handed it to Niccole.
