by David Peters
Dylan set the watch patrol points. Four people could cover the compound fairly well and the routes all terminated in the square. Anyone not passing through the square on a timely basis would be noticed quickly by the barricade guard.
The four returned to their now cold after dinner tea and started discussing some of the changes that would need to occur tomorrow.
“How hard will it be to continue that barricade wall all the way around the compound?” asked Dylan.
“We have a lot of labor so that won’t be too much of an issue. I don’t think it needs to go all the way around. The eastern side of the compound where the water wheel generator is housed is almost entirely sheer rock wall several hundred feet high. That saves us several hundred feet worth of wall.”
“The big issue is going to be wood and other construction materials. I don’t think we are going to be able to do it with what we have here. We will need to go into town,” said Daniel.
“I don’t like that idea at all. Let’s sleep on it and see what we have in the morning,” said Dylan, stretching and yawning at the same time.
The rest of the evening was spent catching up on old times, Daniel talking about some of the funnier characters who had passed through the camp over time. Dylan and Niccole talked about Tuck. Erica laughed right along with them but kept her stories to herself. Some hurts take longer to heal.
Chapter 9
Dylan woke up to a knock on the front door followed by the sound of muffled voices. Getting up and slipping on his clothes and pistol he made his way out to the front room where Daniel and Niccole were talking with Doc.
“Their body makeup is extraordinary,” said Doc excitedly. “I could spend years studying their anatomy alone. It’s absolutely fascinating stuff!”
“Do we stand a chance?” asked Daniel with concern. “That is what it really comes down to, as extraordinary as you think they are can we fight them? Do they have a weakness?”
“Oh, of course, we have the technology and the ability to use it. They are quite primitive in that respect.” Doc nodded to Dylan. “Morning, Dylan. I haven’t slept yet, so pardon me if I sound a little punchy.”
“No problem Doc, you find out anything interesting?” Dylan asked as Niccole and Erica walked into the room behind him.
“I think I have added four fold to the level of knowledge we have currently. At least as far as the Hunter species goes. I would love to get my hands on a Sapper or one of the Workers for comparison. Anyway, when you guys are up and about come by my office. I have some very interesting points to go over with you.”
“Will do Doc,” said Daniel.
“Niccole and I will start breakfast while you do, well, whatever it is you do in the morning Daniel,” Dylan said smiling.
“I think you will be on my morning rounds with me now little brother.” Daniel said as he closed the door behind Doc. “I really want your input on things and we should start now rather than later.”
They put on shoes and headed out the front door. The brothers, as they were already being called, walked the perimeter of the compound. Both making comments about what would or would not be easy to defend. They stopped at the barricade and talked to the guard on duty. He said it had been quiet after the attack earlier. First shift had reported the same.
Daniel led Dylan down the barricade wall and off behind the Town Hall. The wall ended a short ways behind the building where the ground dropped away steeply into a pine covered hill. The design of the gate had only been to keep vehicles out so there was no need to extend it down a hill no car could navigate.
The two continued on along the top of the hill until it opened into the large field they used to graze the bulk of their animals. This was a large open grass pasture about the size of a football field and bounded by tall fir trees on two sides.
Around the back side of the town the hill rose sharply up and beyond to the top of the mountain about two thousand feet higher than where they currently stood. The narrow trail they were on met up with the river that made up the back side of the town. They both concluded there were entirely too many ways to enter the town unseen.
“We should probably put a twenty four hour rotation schedule together. Remind me to go through the list of able bodied people for that,” Daniel said out loud. “We have more than enough people for that. We want to be able to rotate shifts. Keep people fresh.”
They talked more details as they moved through the town square and stopped at the large brass bell that was hung in the middle of it. They both agreed there was a lot more work to be done before anyone would be able to rest easy at night. They completed their rounds and arrived back at the cabin with the blue door.
“Smells like they found some bacon,” said Dylan.
“We have quite a bit of hog still in the deep freeze. There are so many vegans here no one touches it.” Daniel gave a mischievous smile. “That makes it great for the carnivores like us. I may get the occasional evil stare but I can’t give it up.”
After breakfast Niccole headed out to see how the horses were doing and get a fix on who was in charge of food stores and the like. She was especially curious to see how they managed their crops. She wanted to make sure people were shifting from the ‘nice to have crops’ to the ‘this will keep us alive’ types of food.
Dylan and Daniel entered Doc’s office with a verbal “knock, knock.”
“Great! Come in, come in!” said Doc excitedly, “I’ve really made a fantastic breakthrough.
Doc had made copious notes on his white board, all of it looking like one long prescription. This translated into completely unreadable for the layman.
“Remember me saying that I would like to get my hands on a Sapper and Worker? Well I still do, but not for the same reasons as earlier today. I also think there may be at least two more subspecies we have not come across.”
“You got that from the Hunter?” asked Dylan in amazement.
“Yes, let me explain. So first off, these things are not human. Well they still are in some respects but given another two to three weeks I believe they would be completely non-human. The amount of change going on inside and outside their bodies is simply astonishing. Some of it continues post mortem. Notice the body is still not completely cooled even nearly sixteen hours after death.”
Doc picked up a milk crate full of canning jars and put them on the table. Pulling out a jar, he asked, “What do you think this is? Looks like a dried plum, doesn’t it. It’s the remains of a human heart. The Hunter has two other hearts, it is my thinking they could survive with only one, but they have two,” he held up another jar. “They only have two chambers to our four, and, well, we won’t get into too many details right now. I found several other human organs that were wasting away as well. I also found several organs that were not formed at all, for instance, these... “He held up another jar. “…are what I think would be the two organs that cause the Sappers to detonate, but they are just shriveled, fist sized things in a Hunter.”
Dylan and Daniel were rapt with fascination. They were finally getting a detailed look at what was easily the most deadly enemy of the Human Race to ever have existed.
“I also found this organ in the neck, but it was in an un-grown state like the Sapper sacks. If I had to take an educated guess I would say it looks similar to the venom sack of a snake. This is something to keep in mind if we come across a new Corrupted we haven’t seen yet. They may spit, or bite or some other freakishly strange thing.”
“This is what appears to be a massive adrenal gland. Although this is slightly different chemistry than I would expect to see in a mammal. If I had to venture a guess I would say it is fully formed in the Packers we have seen so they may have extraordinary strength.”
“This last series of organs is what concerns me the most.” Doc placed a series of jars on the desk, “These, my friends, are what we call, well, I’ll keep it simple. I don’t want to sound like I am talking down to you but this is a fairly important discovery. If
this was a Yellow Jacket or a Wasp, I would say this is what the sex organ of a worker looks like. To extrapolate just a tad further, I would go so far as to say that the Queen type Corrupted that Erica had described has the ability to lay eggs.”
Dylan and Daniel exchanged looks, “What the hell does that mean?” asked Dylan.
“Well for starters, the offspring would be pure bred and that’s just a guess at this point. Given the equipment I have here it’s the best I can do. I would also venture to say they wouldn’t smell as bad. Please understand this is all the conjecture of a very tired mind.”
“Why wouldn’t they smell?” asked Dylan.
“That smell is a result of the massive changes their bodies are undergoing, both inside and out, and it is very much akin to the smell of rot. The human organs that aren’t altering are just shriveling up and dying,” said Doc.
“I guess that makes sense,” said Daniel.
“If you open this jar here” Doc held up a small canary jar filled with what looked like two walnuts, “contain the saliva glands from the Hunter, here, take a whiff, I think this is what a pure Corrupted may smell like, but be careful, there are a few other things I have learned about the saliva.”
Dylan took a quick smell and gave a puzzled look, “I know that smell, what is that?”
Doc looked at him, “I knew it too, couldn’t place it for some time. Then it hit me, smells like a pulp mill.”
“Ya, that’s it!” Dylan nearly yelled.
“Why the hell would it smell like that?” Daniel asked.
“No clue, don’t have the equipment to tell you either, but it is something to tuck away for future use,” replied Doc.
“So moving forward, I am getting into the purely hypothetical or even, using the phrase that Daniel is so fond of, ‘just pulled straight out of my ass’” said Doc.
“Don’t worry about it Doc, the smell might mask some of the Corrupted stink in here,” laughed Dylan.
“Funny man,” Doc said laughing. “Anyway, I think a hive or nest; I am calling it that because I like the sound of it, has to get to a critical mass before it makes the change to a pure bred hive. I do not know what this means to us but I do know it is several shades of crap beyond what we are in right now.”
“Dinosaurs had their reign. Mammals ran the show for a while. Near as I can tell, these things are closer to insects than us. It’s still a stretch, but you can see where I am going with this.”
“Let me take a guess here Doc, you want to go on a field trip,” asked Daniel.
“Why yes, yes I do. Are you offering assistance?” asked Doc.
“Dylan and I have already talked. We need to get supplies for winter from town. We don’t know yet how we are going to do that. But we can combine the trips when we do figure it out.”
“Marvelous. I will continue to study here and figure out what I need to take for this field trip as you called it,” said Doc happily.
“Doc, we can’t risk you in town. You are the only doctor type we have.”
“I was afraid you would say that. I had already planned on the rejection so I made of list of things to observe and supplies that I will need beyond the basic medical.”
Daniel read down the list and nodded his head at a few of the items.
“I wouldn’t even have thought of some of these.”
Doc shrugged. “I’m just trying to think ahead. These may be exciting times for new discoveries but at the heart of things I really just want to take care of bumps and bruises.”
The brothers walked out of Docs office in silence. It was overwhelming to have the picture they had now of their enemy. It was far bleaker than when they went into his office. Going in under the assumption that this was some sort of virus or plague, it hadn’t occurred to them that it was something different, something organized but non-human, or struggling to be not human.
Entering Daniels cabin, the Brothers took their coats off and made their way to the living room couch. They sat in quiet contemplation. When prompted by Niccole they went over all of Doc’s discoveries and speculations.
“I am surprised at the level of detail he was able to pull from one body. I can’t say I didn’t expect it, with what we have seen and have heard on our trip here,” observed Niccole. “I guess the real question is when and how do we go into Sumter?”
“Doc will get us a detailed list of what he needs, and we can put additional stuff together at our meeting later today,” commented Daniel.
“Not sure how the wall building will go with the rest of the camp, I understand the purpose, but it goes against everything we have lived for here to remove those trees,” said Daniel.
“You know as well as I do what it will take to secure this place. Only two Hunters got in last night. They could have wreaked havoc in here if they had gone undiscovered. They could have converted half the camp into Corrupted and killed the other half before dawn,” said Dylan convincingly.
Dylan stood up from the table and walked over to the kitchen to get a fresh cup of coffee.
“Dylan, I’m on your side. I’m just saying people should have a say in it. We will ultimately make our case, but it’s something to keep in mind,” said Daniel, trying to calm the conversation back down.
“I understand. This is all kind of new to me. I guess converting this place, which is home to so many, into a fortress might go against the world they had in mind” Dylan said, agreeing with Daniel.
“We will do what we have to do to make this place safer. We just have to communicate it out correctly. It sounds political but it isn’t. These people love the land they live on. But they love the people here more and that is what truly matters to them” Daniel said.
Dylan brought Niccole and Daniel a fresh refill.
“Do you have a shortwave radio? VHF maybe, anything other than the satellite?” asked Niccole as she sat down at the table.
“Uh, no, why?” asked Daniel.
“While you guys are setting up for the next battle in World War Three I want to see if there are other camps out there like us. If we set an antenna on the top of this hill we are on we could get ourselves some pretty long range for VHF, extremely long range for UHF” said Niccole.
“Guess we have someone in charge of communications now,” said Dylan laughing.
“I second that promotion, promotion is carried,” said Daniel laughing, “So Niccole, do we have any communication gear?”
All four were laughing now, “I’ll get a report together for later this afternoon sir,” Niccole replied, saluting as she spoke.
“We know what remained of the Pendleton battle was headed to Denver. At the very least we should try and get in contact with anyone from that group.”
Daniel nodded “Sounds like a good idea to me. I can’t help but wonder if there are other pockets of people like us surviving out there.”
They continued talking about details as they finished their coffee. As the last cups were emptied the three grabbed their weapons and headed outside for a very busy day. Niccole kissed Erica on the top of the head as they left “You want to head over to the storage shack and do some shopping with me?”
“Sure! A girls gotta shop,” Erica said with a smile.
As the brothers crossed the town square, the barricade guard called out to Daniel, “Hey Boss, looks like a car is coming up the road!”
“Holy hell, this could be interesting,” Daniel said as they jogged over to the front gate.
Niccole and Erica turned back towards the town square and waited near the bell.
Dylan stood on top of the wall and used the guard’s binoculars to examine the vehicle. They could see about a mile and half down the winding road. There were smaller sections of the road that could be made out through open sections of the forest further on, so vehicles sneaking up on the camp weren’t an issue.
As the minivan rounded the last turn and continued toward the camp Dylan exclaimed “Fantastic!” and climbed down to the bottom of the wall to greet the passe
ngers.
“What the hell Dylan!” exclaimed Daniel, “You trying to get yourself killed, or worse?”
“It’s all good big brother, trust me!” said Dylan as he ran out to the vehicle.
Niccole had climbed up and was standing on the wall next to Daniel. She clapped happily and actually had tears in her eyes.
Dylan met the van a short ways out from the gate, “Hey folks, glad to see you made it!”
Dave and Julie looked exhausted, but the kids smiled when they recognized Dylan, “Hi horsey man,” said the little girl in the back seat.
“Nice to see a friendly face,” said Dave.
“So I guess you know I need to smell everyone’s breath, right?” asked Dylan.
