Call to War: Hunter Wars Book Six (The Hunter Wars 6)

by SD Tanner

  She wasn’t about to ignore Jacob’s words and she looked at Terry. “If Jacob says I need to talk to Mac, then I do.” Looking down at him in his wheelchair, she smiled fondly. “He’s unique and he knows things we don’t understand.” Looking back at Terry, she added, “Mac is here at the base, and it won’t take long to find him and ask.”

  Terry didn’t look pleased, but he nodded. “Do what you have to do, but get back here as soon as you can.”

  Wheeling Jacob out of the hospital, she headed over to the communications room to ask if anyone knew where Mackenzie was. The communications room was located inside the main warehouse, and navigating around the boxes and bags that were laid out on the asphalt, she saw Captain Ted talking to one of the combat leads.

  Feeling a flutter of excitement, she called, “Ted!”

  At the sound of her voice, he turned and smiling broadly at her. They both quickly made their way towards one another and she stopped short of hugging him.

  “Don’t be so formal all the time, Angel.” Sweeping her up in a tight hug, he whispered, “I’m sorry I haven’t been to see you, but Gears has given me some tough orders.”

  “I heard.” Pulling away from his hug, she asked worriedly, “Is it true? Is there’s going to be a battle? What if we lose?”

  With his hands still around her slender waist, Captain Ted replied steadily, “This isn’t anything you need to worry about, Angel.”

  Shaking her head vehemently and without thinking, she blurted, “I love you and I’ll always worry about you.” Realizing what she’d just said, she blushed furiously and said uncertainly, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I…spoke without thinking first.”

  “Sweetheart, you know I feel the same way, and maybe it seems a bit rushed, but we don’t have time to take it slow anymore.”

  Jacob had wheeled himself over and was listening to them. “We should never waste time, it’s precious, but right now Angel needs to talk to Mac.”

  Smiling at her, Captain Ted said, “He’s in the warehouse sorting supplies.” Giving her a quick kiss on her forehead, he strode off into the warehouse, and after a moment he reappeared with Mackenzie.

  “Jacob says he and I have to go to the Ranch and you know why.”

  Mackenzie nodded. “Jacob’s right. You need to be at the Ranch where the babies are. They need you. Gears is gonna go nuts when he finds out I disobeyed his orders and didn’t bring them back to the base.”

  She was surprised to hear Mackenzie disobeyed his orders. “If you were supposed to bring them here, then why didn’t you?”

  Looking at her as if she was crazy, he replied, “They’re the Horsemen and they belong at the Ranch. It’s their home and you and Ted are gonna raise them as your own. It’s Ted’s role to keep them safe and your role to be their mother.”

  With her eyes widening in surprise, she asked in disbelief, “How do you know any of this? And how do you know Ted and I are going to be…together?”

  Jacob took her hand. “Angel, do you really think only the Devil and his demons walk the earth? Why would that be true?”

  “What are you saying? That you’re from the other side? That you’re all with God?”

  “Well, aren’t you?”

  She nodded slowly. “I suppose so. I’m not with the Devil, so I guess I must be with God.”

  Captain Ted said, “There’s no middle ground in war. You can’t sit on the fence and wait and see which side wins. You’re either on one side or the other.” Clearly becoming distracted by his orders, he added abruptly, “If Mac says you need to be at the Ranch, then you need to be there. If Mac says you and I are needed to raise the Horsemen, then we are. Go to the Ranch and I’ll see you there.”

  Feeling taken aback by his curtness, she looked away to hide her disappointment. As if reading her mind, he stepped forward and kissed her forehead. “We can’t fight fate, Angel, so let’s not. Nothing is ever guaranteed, and I have to follow my orders, but I’ll be back. I promise.”

  She didn’t understand what was happening. Everything seemed to be moving too fast and there was so much more going on than she’d ever suspected. It seemed the world was falling into two very distinct sides and she knew which side she belonged to. With her eyes filling with tears, she pulled Captain Ted into a fierce hug and kissed him deeply.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: A battle to die for (TL)

  They were in high spirits when they landed at the Ranch. He estimated they destroyed hundreds of military vehicles and well over seventy birds. Just like old times, he thought contentedly, it’s been a long time since we’ve worked together like that. After the outbreak of the virus, he felt like they were pulled in so many different directions, they barely spent any time together as brothers. Today was one of the few occasions where they fulfilled their mission without any arguments, frustration or anger. Obviously his brothers felt the same way, and the three of them headed into the house looking forward to a hot meal and comfortable bed for the night.

  “Do you think he’ll show up?” Pax asked hopefully.

  “Yeah, he won’t be able to resist showing off his new figure,” Gears replied with a smirk.

  Pax elbowed him hard in the ribs. ”You’re gonna have to do him.”

  Feeling genuinely horrified, he asked unhappily, “Why?”

  “I can’t do him, I’m a married man now, and Gears can’t ‘cos Ip’ll kill him.”

  Gears nodded sagely. “True story.”

  Not liking his brother’s logic, he asked sharply, “Why does anyone have to do him?”

  Walking in through the front door, Pax said over his shoulder, “It’ll make a good story.”

  He shook his head in genuine disgust. “I’m not screwing Ruler just to amuse you, Pax.”

  Entering the house, he stopped at the sound of babies wailing. “What the hell are they still doing here?” Not waiting to hear an answer, he dropped his pack, leaned his gun against the wall, and headed to the stairs. Taking the stairs two at a time, he quickly made it to the next level and walked into the room, where he found the four babies lying two to a cot.

  Mom was standing next to the cots. “Hello, honey, good trip?”

  Annoyed to find the babies and Mom still at the Ranch, he asked unhappily, “Mom, what are you still doing here? You were supposed to go back to the base with Mac. Where’s Mac?”

  “Oh, Mac went back to the base to deliver your orders,” Mom replied, as she scooped up a crying baby from its cot and placed it on the changing table. She busily unclipped the baby’s onesie. “Max, BD, Pop and the babies stayed here, and Benny arrived a few hours ago with more shooters. He says he’s been told to prepare the Ranch for combat.” With her hand gently holding the baby on the table, she turned. “I’ve been hoping you boys would come back to the Ranch. Pop and I want to know what all this talk of a battle is about.”

  Gears appeared in the doorway and said irritably, “You shoulda gone back to the base with the babies, Mom. Ruler is on his way here and there’s gonna be a major battle. I don’t want you or the babies here.”

  Turning her back to Gears, Mom continued to change the baby’s diaper while tickling his tiny feet, making him squeal gleefully. Ignoring Gear’s stern tone, she said calmly, “You worry too much, honey. It’ll be fine and the babies belong here. You of all people should know that.”

  “No, no, no,” Gears declared firmly. “You’ve gonna head out at first light. It’s gonna be too goddamn dangerous here.”

  Picking the baby up from the table, Mom gently patted his back and handed baby Bob to him. She gathered up the next baby from its cot and turned towards the changing table. Smiling as she walked past Gears, she said, “No, honey, I appreciate your concern and all, but we’re staying here.”

  “Why the fuck doesn’t anyone listen to me?”

  “Language, Gears,” Mom admonished gently.

  Not willing to argue with Mom, he shrugged at Gears, and as they both walked downstairs, he said, “We can still send t
hem back to the base.”

  Gears sighed and waved dismissively wave. “Mom and Pop are takin’ care of the babies. I’ll talk to Pop and let him know the risks, but if they decide to stay then it’s their call.”

  “Are you okay with them staying?”

  “No, I ain’t, but it’s not my problem. People have gotta start makin’ their own decisions and livin’ with the consequences.” Sniffing unhappily, he added, “We ain’t gonna be here forever, you know.”

  Since witnessing the rebirth of baby Ip, he agreed with Mackenzie that Bob was Pax, Ant was Gears, and Mac was him. He couldn’t believe that as a Horseman he’d fathered Bob, but Lydia was never sure if he or Captain Ted was the father. Now he assumed Bob was Captain Ted’s baby. Knowing he wasn’t the father hadn’t changed how he felt about the boy, but he acknowledged he would never get to raise him. If the babies were really them, and he believed they were, then they were destined to leave, and according to Gears, they’d be gone soon. Not that being gone would mean much if they were immortal, but Ip always said death was a transition and that implied everyone was immortal. Despite trying to talk to Ip, he still didn’t understand what being immortal meant and, as usual, she never made as much sense as he thought she should. He thought maybe as the Horseman responsible for spreading the word, he should give Ip some training on how to express herself properly.

  He was preparing bottles of formula for the babies, when Pax wandered in looking for food. Taking Bob from him, Pax asked, “I thought the babies were supposed to go back to the base with Mac?”

  “Change of plan.”

  While he prepared the bottles, Max walked into the kitchen. “What are you guys doing back here? I thought you were going to the base.”

  Max nudged him away from the counter, and while she continued to prepare the formula, he replied, “I could ask you the same question.”

  “Mac decided the babies should stay here. Mac knows shit and I trust him. If he says they need to be here, then they do.”

  “Well, Gears is pissed about you still being here, and so am I. Ruler’s on his way and he’s looking for the babies. You know he’s always hunting for them.”

  The bottles were ready and Max took Bob from Pax. As she was about to leave the kitchen, she turned to him. “Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t seem right to me either, but I trust Mac and you should too.”

  Watching Max leave, Pax commented nonchalantly, “Everyone’s got an attitude on ‘em today.” Suddenly he grinned and said excitedly, “I’m gonna go find BD. don’t disturb us for…umm…at least two hours.”

  Knowing what his brother hand in mind, he snorted and muttered, “More like two minutes.”

  “I heard that, jackass,” Pax shouted over his shoulder, and he headed out of the kitchen to the garage.

  Now alone in the kitchen, he looked around the lounge and wondered what to do next. Gears had disappeared with Ip. Lucie was sitting in the lounge looking lost. Mom and Max were feeding the babies, and Pop was no doubt somewhere on the Ranch taking care of the animals. He supposed he could go upstairs and help feed the babies, but seeing Lucie in the lounge, he wondered how she was doing. It had been a shock to realize the hunters weren’t mindless, soulless undead, and he was curious just how much of the original person was left inside them.

  Walking over to Lucie, he sat opposite her. “It’s just you and me, kid.”

  Lucie watched him sullenly.

  “It must be hard for you to be stuck inside a body that won’t do what you tell it to anymore, and being driven to live a way you don’t want to.”

  Almost seeming to understand him, she moaned unhappily. He thought, she’s definitely in there and she’s aware of me and herself. Feeling a wash of sympathy for her, he leaned forward and patted her arm reassuringly. “It’ll all be over soon, but you’ll be okay, Lucie.”

  In the quiet of the Ranch, the sound of rotors was deafening and walked onto the porch. Once the bird landed, two people dressed in ACUs unloaded someone or something from inside, and he wasn’t surprised when he saw it was Mackenzie and Angel helping Jacob into his wheelchair. Hatch emerged from the cockpit and began walking towards the house.

  Gears appeared at his side with a satisfied look on his face. “Good. I wanna talk to Mac and Hatch.”

  “And maybe we should give Mac a slap upside the head for disobeying his orders.”

  To his surprise, Gears shook his head. “I don’t think so. Like I said, we ain’t gonna be here for much longer and this is their show, so we gotta let ‘em make their own decisions.”

  It was time for them to let go of the reins, but he was surprised his over-controlling brother knew that. Gears always set their direction and he’d been ordering them about for as long he could remember. In the thirty or so years he’d known Gears, he’d never seen him willingly give up control and wondered why he suddenly changed. He thought maybe witnessing baby Ip come to life after being buried for months concluded any questions he had about who they really were. Perhaps Gears had to accept who he really was so he could meet himself at the Ranch. The universe clearly worked in odd ways, and it would always have taken that kind of force to change his stubborn brother.

  He walked across the gravel driveway to meet Hatch and Mackenzie. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “Jacob’s here for the battle and Angel’s here for the babies,” Mackenzie replied.

  Giving him a hard stare, he asked pointedly, “You do know Ruler is coming here?”

  Mackenzie nodded. “Yeah.”

  He wanted to ask him why he’d left the babies at risk, but decided if Gears wasn’t going to make an issue of it, then neither would he. They were following Mackenzie’s vision for the battle, and it didn’t make sense to doubt his credibility about one decision, while accepting his advice about another. Once they were in the house, Angel went to see the babies and he noticed Lucie had disappeared. He, Jacob, Mackenzie and Hatch sat in the lounge waiting for Gears who’d left to find Pax. Finally Pax and Gears returned, and he heard them enter the lounge through the garage entrance, arguing loudly about nothing.

  Standing by the large fireplace, Gears cleared his throat and asked, “What’s going on, Mac?”

  “I dunno. What I do know is Angel is here for the babies, and we need Jacob for the battle.”

  Gears looked at Jacob. “Why do you need to be in the battle?”

  “I don’t know, but I know I need to be there.”

  Puzzled by his answer, he asked, “How do you know that? Did Mac tell you that?”

  “I haven’t spoken to Mac about anything to do with the battle. Why do you ask?”

  Mackenzie turned to Jacob. “I told them I saw you at the front of the battlefield.”

  “You did? Because I know that’s where I’m supposed to be.”

  Gears was listening intently to their discussion. “If you wanna be in the line of fire, I won’t stop ya, but given you can’t walk, I reckon you’re gonna die.”

  Jacob chuckled. “According to the doctors, I’m already dead, so I don’t reckon I’ll lose anything I haven’t already lost.”

  He’d been told that Jacob was technically dead, but given the man didn’t act dead, he hadn’t given it much thought. Jacob was a grown man who appeared sane enough, and if he wanted him to be at the head of the battle, why should they care? Gears looked at him and shrugged. He wasn’t going to stop Jacob from joining the front line, and he couldn’t see any reason to argue either.

  “Do as ya please, but right now we gotta get the troops to the Ranch. When Ruler gets here, we’ll get him to agree to fight, and I want the battle to happen within the week.” Looking at Mackenzie, Gears asked, “Do you know if we’ve gotten a message to Wolfie and Mike yet?”

  “Ted got a message to both of them, and I know they’re getting their shooters ready to head down here. Logan is working with Mike, and Nelson is working with Wolfie. Ted and Cutter are getting our people organized at the bases.”

  Looking at Ha
tch, Gears asked, “Do we have a plan for the birds?”

  “Err, yeah. Mac says the birds are gonna freeze mid-flight, but I gotta get ‘em closer to the Ranch, so I’m gonna fly ‘em up here. I reckon we need to park ‘em until you’re confident they’re safe to fly.”

  “We need to get ‘em up here now before Ruler uses his demons to damage ‘em,” Pax said pragmatically. “It seems a shame not to use ‘em to cover the convoy, but they’re useless if they’re jus’ gonna freeze in the air.”

  Hatch nodded. “Not to mention the pilots would be killed.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Pax replied, with a dismissive wave. “I ain’t discountin’ the potential loss of human life.”

  Looking at Mackenzie again, Gears asked, “What’s the sitrep on our convoy?”

  “We’ve got over two thousand vehicles, forty thousand shooters, ten howitzers, ten semis of ammo, twenty semis of supplies. They’re planning to rendezvous with Wolfie and Mike’s convoy at Daingerfield.”

  “No, no, no,” Gears replied, shaking his head in frustration. “We know our weapons ain’t gonna work. You’ve already seen that. What’s the point of armin’ ‘em with weapons we already know are gonna fail.”

  “What do you propose we use instead?” Mackenzie asked. “Pitchforks?”

  “Don’t be stupid, Mac,” Pax replied. “We gotta be ready for hand-to-hand combat. Ya know, like the good ole days. Machetes, hammers, axes…nunchucks…I always liked them.”

  Surprised at what seemed like a casual solution, he asked, “Are you trying to be funny? You’re gonna send over seventy thousand men and women armed with supermarket weapons to fight demons controlling hunters? Just what kind of massacre are you planning?”

  “Hey, I ain’t plannin’ anythin’,” Pax replied angrily. “When you’re cornered, you use your damned teeth if that’s all you’ve got to fight with.” He leaned forward and glared at him. “It ain’t like we gotta choice. The gates to hell are open and there’s nothin’ stoppin’ hell from floodin’ our world.”