Dead Alive: Eden Lost Book Two (Hunter Wars 8)

by SD Tanner

  Nothing seemed to have happened, but something had, she just wasn’t sure what it was. TL had left abruptly after she told him it was Cain who killed Izzie. He was normally so subdued and controlled that his emotional outburst had caught her by surprise. She’d come to believe nothing could unsettle the man, much less the death of woman she didn’t know he knew. It angered her to think a woman long dead could evoke more response in him than she could. He wasn't unkind to her, but she could tell he wasn't really interested in anything about her. Perhaps she was jealous, although that didn’t sound right to her, he wasn't really her type.

  Ruler could read her thoughts and feelings, and to a casual observer their conversation would appear one sided. “Why did you tell him Cain killed that woman?”

  “I didn’t know he’d care.”

  “Where did he go?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied tartly.

  Always using a man’s sexual preferences to control him, she found herself in uncharted territory with TL. His sexual appetite was that of a healthy man, but his tastes were plain and could easily be provided by any number of willing women. Knowing he was a man that other women would take if they could, she needed to do more than just satisfy his carnal needs. To that end, she’d tried to get to know him, engage with him at a deeper level, but it wasn’t working out well. He treated her kindly, listened to her when she talked to him, and never criticized her in any way. Sexually he was a considerate lover, never asking her to do more than she was willing to do, and whenever she was with him he never looked at another woman. If she was of a different nature, she would have found him charming, but for all his positive points, he lacked one thing. He was never really present. Whatever he was feeling or thinking remained deeply buried, and she doubted even he knew what was going on in him.

  Ruler chuckled cynically. “You’ve really rather honed your skills in only one direction, my dear.” He waved one heavy clawed hand. “Of course, you have perfected those skills, but you’re only built for one type of audience.”

  Insecurity flickered through her. “Are you saying I’m unattractive to other men?”

  “Well, you’re not to everyone’s tastes, are you?” He replied matter-of-factly.

  Having never thought about it before, it irritated her to think that perhaps she couldn’t wield power over all men. Without rejecting her, TL was elusive and kept his distance while appearing to be quite attentive to her needs. “It’s never been an issue before. I think there’s something wrong with him.”

  “Or maybe the problem is there isn’t anything wrong with him, but you, my dear, are thoroughly bent out of shape.”

  It was an unfair accusation. If she was damaged then it was in a way that appealed to Ruler, but she wasn't in the mood for his games. “I seem to suit you just fine.”

  This time he gave a loud booming laugh. “But I’m the Devil, my dear. Being to my taste means you’re very far from being a well-rounded and healthy mind.”

  She placed her hands on her hips indignantly. “What are you saying? That I’m crazy?”

  For the first time since she’d known him, he looked genuinely puzzled. “I thought you already knew that.” He gave a slight huff. “Your inadequate love life isn’t why I’m here. I want an update on the Horsemen.”

  It was her job to act as a spy for Ruler and she supposed Cain as well. He still interested her, but with her current assignment she never got to see him. All of her dealings were done through Ruler. Cain was a cruel man and it made her want to control him. If he did her bidding, then she could redirect his sadistic needs away from herself and onto others. In her odd way of thinking, it was a way to stay safe in a dangerous world. A small part of her understood it wasn't a sane approach to life, but it was how she’d protected herself as a young girl, and all she knew how to do to stay safe. The crueler the man, the greater was her desire to take control of him. TL was the exception to her rule. She didn't feel the need to control him, she just wanted him to care about her and she didn't know why.

  Sighing with displeasure, she replied, “Pax is running about training the soldiers. I gather they’re still pretty useless. TL has disappeared and I don’t know where he went, but before he left he was trying to unite the towns. From what he told me, most of them walked out of the second meeting of the Council of Eden and it’s not going well. Gears went to the UK with Ip to find out where their survivors went. According to TL, he’ll probably try and bring them back here. He seems to think there might be a problem in the UK.”

  “When did he leave?”

  “About seven or eight days ago. They said the crossing would take a week, so he’s probably there now.”

  “Why did he go?”

  “There was an expedition team who were there a few months ago. They said something weird was going on.” She eyed him expectantly. “Is there something going on?”

  He didn’t answer her in words, but she felt herself lifted out of the water and into the air. Holding her by the throat, he glared at her angrily. “Why didn’t you call me?”

  Grabbing air in small gasps, she clutched at the clawed hand squeezing her neck. “I...didn’t know…it was...important.”

  She was used to Ruler being violent, in fact she welcomed it, but this felt different. Usually he was playful, not angry. For all the pain he’d inflicted on her, she'd never witnessed his rage. Her usual feelings of anxiety were replaced by genuine fear that this time he might hurt her, and not bother to heal the damage.

  With a slight flex of his muscular arm, he threw her across the water. She landed heavily in the mud on the opposite side of the bank, feeling the tiny rocks tear at her skin as she skidded on her back. Where pain usually made her feel alive, this time she feared where it would lead. Instantly curling into a fetal position, she shielded her head under her arms, sure he would punish her in a way she’d never recover from.

  “What are you doing?” A woman’s voice called from the other side of the water.

  Slowly unwrapping her arms from her head, she looked back at the creek. Ruler was gone and BD was standing at the water’s edge looking worried. She continued to scan the edges of the forest, seeking his gray form hidden beneath the greenery, but saw nothing that shouldn’t be there. Her heart was still hammering in her chest, her back ached, and her naked body was covered in slimy mud.

  When she didn’t reply, BD pulled off her boots and strode through the water, soaking the pants of her ACUs. Sliding an arm under hers, she gently pulled her out of the mud until she found her footing.

  “You’re trembling. What happened? Did someone hurt you?”

  The familiar scent of BD’s perfume washed over her and she raised a trembling hand. “No…no, I slipped in the mud. It was a nasty fall.”

  BD was wiping away the mud from her back and side with a flat palm, and looking for injuries. “You did more than fall. You’re going to have some bruises. Do you think you broke anything?”

  Her firm and reassuring touch was calming her down, and she gingerly felt her arms and back. “No, I think I just jarred myself.”

  “What were you doing on this side of the water?”

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “Well, come back to the house and take some of the Water of Life. Then you should lie down for a bit, you’ve given yourself a shock.” Still running her hands gently down her back, BD asked with genuine concern, “Where did you get these scars from? Who did this to you?”

  Instantly alert and eager to deflect the questions she couldn’t answer honestly, she replied in a soft voice, “A bad man.”

  “There have always been bad people in the world. It only becomes a problem when there’s more of them than there are good ones.” Taking her hand, she looked intently into her eyes. “You mustn’t let the bad experiences in life mold you and make you what you are. Anything bad people do should be ignored. They’ve nothing useful to teach you, other than how to recognize them and avoid their type in the future.”

  Brea
king away from BD’s kindly, but intense gaze, she began to walk towards the water. “But you’re the culmination of your life experiences. If all you’ve ever known is bad then that’s what you are,” she replied with less confidence than she felt.

  While they waded through the fresh water, BD said firmly, “No, we’re intelligent, sentient creatures and we get to choose who we’ll be. No one other than you makes that decision. You can only blame other people for treating you badly, but if you become a bad person then that's on you. Otherwise, what’s the point of having free will?” Reaching the bank, she handed her a towel. “You and you alone are responsible for your actions. If you allow bad experiences to make you angry and bitter, you’ll become cynical and do bad things, and you can't blame anyone else for that.”

  “Are you saying you think we have a choice to be whoever we want to be no matter how badly we’re treated?”

  “Yes, Faith, you always have a choice, and when you make a bad one it means you’re letting fear rule you.” BD smiled brightly. “But you can always change your mind. It’s all in your head, and if you want to live a different life, all you have to do is believe you can have it.”

  Wrapping the towel around her body and slipping on her shoes, BD carried her dress and wash bag. “I don't know what happened to you, Faith, but I think you're very lost.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think you want to be loved, but you don't know how to be.”

  “Isn't being loved a matter of the other person loving you? What's it got to do with me? Why do I have to do anything?”

  BD laughed softly. “Love is about being vulnerable to another person without the guarantee of it being returned.”

  “Sounds like you're just letting someone walk all over you.”

  “If they don't take it the right way, or treat you badly, then you'll very quickly stop loving them. There's no risk involved, not really.”

  She'd never given love much thought. It was just something people made movies about, and nothing to do with real life. Did she want control over TL, or did she really want him to love her? She wasn't sure, all she knew was she wanted something from him and he wasn't giving it to her.

  “You miss TL, don't you?”

  “Do I?”

  Smiling patiently, BD replied, “You’ve been crabby ever since he left. Did you two argue about something? Is that why he left?”

  “No, I didn't know he knew that woman Izzie. I told him Cain killed her and he just got out of bed and left.”

  A look of understanding crossed BD’s face. “They were close. How do you know Cain killed her?”

  She couldn’t tell BD that no one had told her, but she'd experienced Cain’s particular brand of brutality first hand, so she shrugged dismissively. “Someone at the base told me, but I don't remember who.”

  “That's odd. I wonder how they knew, but now I know why you're so upset.”

  Surprised, she asked, “You do?”

  They’d reached the door to their house and BD held it open for her. “Yes. You’re jealous of TL’s love for Izzie.”

  “Why would I be jealous of that?” She asked incredulously.

  Following her into the house, BD laughed gently. “I think you're falling in love with him.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Gears

  When he’d thrown a bottle of the Water of Life into the gates to hell, it erupted like a geyser of flames in an explosion so fierce it rocked the earth and created a localized tornado. Barely making it back to the bird safely, he and Philip continued to stare out of the door, amazed at the effect of his one ill-considered action. Slowly subsiding, the gates continued to belch flames, clearly still offended by his thoughtless gift.

  Philip was crouched next to him wearing a dour expression. “Nice one, Gears, you managed to make it worse.”

  Ip was standing by the door, and he slipped his hand around her lean thigh. “Why’d that happen, honey?”

  It only gives to life, for anything else it creates strife. Do not give it to me unless you want to be free.

  Like all of the infected, Ip was technically dead and she was telling him the water was only for the living. Pulling another small bottle of the glittering liquid from his vest, he held it up against the sun. Calling it water was misleading, the fluid moved in a graceful flow, more like a dense oil. The sunlight was catching something in the mixture and throwing tiny sparks of light.

  Grinning at Philip, he winked. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a new weapon.”

  Hatch laughed loudly through his headset. “So, you manage to piss off the gates to hell, nearly kill us all, but all ya see is a bomb.”

  He continued to admire the angry flames still licking at the sky. “It is a bomb. A really good bomb and we’ve got an unlimited supply of it.”

  While he spoke, the bird banked sharply to the left, making him grab for the edge of the door. “Err, well, I hope you’ve brought more of it,” Hatch said uncertainly.

  Once they straightened out it became obvious why. The tree line ended abruptly in an arc carving a path towards Stonehenge. Approximately three to four miles wide and stretching north into the horizon, it was as if a plague of locusts had eaten everything in their path. The strip of land was barren and dry, lifeless, muddy and flat, but the forest on either side remained richly green and dense.

  Reaching into his pack, he unraveled the strap on his small binoculars. “What the hell is this?”

  The Devil’s domain is always a pain.

  It certainly looked like Ruler’s work. “How can he be here when he’s not in the U.S.?”

  Philip shot him a confused look. “How do you know he’s not in the U.S. as well? If anything, this proves he’s back even if he isn’t making it obvious anywhere else.”

  Through his binoculars, he scanned further north trying to detect if there was anything on the dead land. “That little shit doesn’t do anythin’ without showin’ off. He wouldn’t know how not to be obvious.”

  Hatch’s tinny and somber voice came through his headset. “Maybe he’s learnin’. This ain’t funny, Gears, I got kids now. Ya need to shut this asshole down proper. You owe us that.”

  Hatch’s worried demand raised his own anxiety. Clearly, Ruler hadn’t left and was comfortable enough not to bother hiding his existence in the UK. The gates to hell were opening again, and it would only be a matter of time before he extended his borders. They’d gotten lucky in the battle, and forces he’d known nothing about had stepped up to the plate. Ruler had said he almost got him and he had. Back then, they’d had a highly motivated army and access to considerable weapons, but there was less left now and people had grown soft living in paradise. This was the same war, but the battle conditions were very different, and he wasn’t sure he could promise Hatch a successful result. According to Ip, Eden would be lost and maybe this was how.

  “I hear ya, Hatch, and you know I’ll do everything I know how.” Far into the distance, he thought he detected smoke drifting in the wind. “Hatch, let’s fly the strip.”

  “Roger that.”

  Mile after mile there was nothing to see, just more of the same dead, muddy earth. If there’d ever been any smoke he couldn’t see its source, and maybe it had only been a naturally occurring forest fire. The birds flew one behind the other with an endless droning whumping noise. Occasionally a cluster of large prehistoric birds flew alongside, and then they would veer and fly away in their own direction.

  “There’s some animal life left.”

  Philip nodded. “So it seems, but we couldn’t see the birds from the ground.”

  “Maybe there’s not many left.”

  Hatch was listening to their radio talk. “Or maybe the animals have got the good sense to hide.”

  It was encouraging to find some signs of animal life, it meant Ruler hadn’t destroyed everything on the island, but it made him wonder why the dead land was pointing towards Stonehenge.

  “Do ya think it’s comin’ or goin’?”

>   “What do you mean?” Philip asked.

  “Do ya think the dead land is leading away from Stonehenge or headin’ towards it?”

  He heard Philip harrumph. “That’s a really good question, Gears.”

  The question answered itself when dark, dense smoke appeared on the horizon, hovering over the dead strip of land.

  “What do ya think that is?” Hatch asked.

  “Dunno, but pick up your speed.”

  Doing as he was asked, both birds tilted forward as if charging towards the first signs of action since they’d arrived. A long line of large pens on wheels came into view, and they were being pulled by a row of three beasts, six deep. Behind the ten heavy carts were tented carriages on wheels, also being dragged along by more beasts. Hemming the entourage were at least twenty riders armed with guns. They were so close he didn’t need his binoculars and out of habit, he rewrapped the strap before dropping them into his open pack.

  They were less than a mile from the procession, when a horde of fifteen men on beasts emerged from the edges of the forest. Sprinting across the mud, their arms were raised in anger, and some were standing high in their stirrups, aiming their guns at the riders guarding the procession. On both sides, men began to slump in their saddles, and some of the beasts collapsed into the mud. It quickly became clear the attacking force were no match for the men with the carts. More of their riders were falling from their beasts, and the animals were running back to the safety of the forest.

  Without thinking, he made a decision. “Hatch, give ‘em cover.”

  “Which side?”

  “The forest guys.”

  The two birds rapidly covered the distance and then hovered over the riders. Pointing to the M240, he pushed a shooter towards it. “Don’t hit the carts.”

  “Roger that.”

  Both bird gunners opened fire, and riders and beasts collapsed into the mud. Riders on the other side of the carts rode between them, only to be cut down by their guns. Encouraged by their support, some of the forest riders pushed forward to the carts. He quickly moved to the door facing the forest.