by SD Tanner
He wasn’t sure the hunters represented the end of the world. “Are they really the end of Eden, or are they just another species now?”
“If they’re another species then they’re a very clever one.”
Looking back at Diesel, he asked, “Why do you say that?”
“It’s the food chain. Man was at the top, able to kill and eat anything he wanted, but now the hunters are at the top of the chain. If they’re another species, then there’s a real risk they’re a superior one to our own. Think about it, they don’t just kill us, they infect and turn us into hunters. Every one of us they take down makes a new one of them. I don’t know any other species on the planet capable of doing that. It's quite possible we’re looking at the next evolution of man.”
Pax looked back at Diesel as well and said uncertainly, “If you look at it that way, then they’re an enemy whether they’re friendly or not.”
“Exactly, Pax,” Diesel replied firmly. “But right now we’re not in position to be without them. We need them to fight the enemy hunters.”
With his eyes narrowing, Pax frowned at Diesel. “I don’t like what you’re implying. We’re not just gonna use the friendly hunters until we’re done with ‘em and then kill ‘em. That ain’t gonna happen. Ya don’t turn on your allies like that.”
“Even if they have the ability to replace us as the dominant species? They could literally eliminate us from the earth and become the new version of mankind.”
Clearly becoming increasingly annoyed, Pax stood up and glared down at Diesel. “Little America, as you like to call it, will make room for everyone willin’ to support it. I ain’t doin’ this shit jus’ so you can turn on one another. That ain’t how this is gonna play out, or you’ll find my big fuckin’ boot buried in your ass.”
Diesel and Axe shared a warning glance with one another. Raising his hand peaceably, Axe said, “Okay, nothing’s happened and you’ve made your point, but Diesel is right to think this stuff through.”
Still glaring down at both of them, Pax replied, “That’s enough thinkin’ outta both of ya. There’s a lot to be done, and you should be worryin’ about that, not playin’ politics in a country that doesn’t even exist yet.”
Returning to his position by the door, Pax gave him a frustrated look. Nodding to show he agreed with him, he stared out of the door at the forest. Like Pax, his good mood was lost. He was willing to build Little America for the good of anyone who supported it, and he didn’t want it to become divided over nothing before it even began.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: Pax
“Whatdaya think?”
Gears rubbed his scar thoughtfully. “I like it. How long will it take?”
“Two to three months to get everything in place and operational.”
“Yeah, okay. How’s the troop training?”
“Ted’s leading on that with George and Marcus. Jack’s leading the perimeter build. Kat’s got the engineers and collectin’ manifests from the towns on skills and supplies. TL’s workin’ with the towns, Axe and Diesel to organize the relocation. Leo’s checkin’ the region for manufacturin’ plants. Pop is subdividin’ the region to decide where the main farms will be and what crops they’ll need. Mac’s gone to the island to talk to Maxine about how she can work with Max. When he’s done, I’m sendin’ him to the refinery town to work with the shooters and hunters. And you know Ip and Benny are setting up the hunters at the Ranch.”
“What about Nelson? Has anyone spoken to him?”
“Nope. I figure you’ll sort him out when ya deal with Wolfie and Nelson.”
“And the old army base, Fort Benning, in Georgia?”
He shook his head. “I ain’t got anyone to cover that yet. I’m gettin’ short. Greg and Rodrigo left to recon Cain’s set up, and Tess is takin’ care of the refinery town while I wait for Mac to get back.”
“I spoke to Hatch and he reckons he can move the airbase to the Marine supply base. It’s got the tanks to hold the aviation fuel. Harry’s engineers are workin’ on supplyin’ the additives to maintain the fuel.” Nodding decisively, Gears added, “But if we gotta choose between the UK and Fort Benning, then we deal with the UK first.”
Looking around the Marine supply base, he said, “We should clear the containers out before we move the fleet here.”
“I dunno about that, Pax, I’d rather secure the fleet. It’s gonna take you months before the place’ll be clear.”
“What’s the rush?”
“I dunno, but I get the feelin’ we’ve got less time and not more.”
Gears always had an instinct for trouble and he wasn’t going to argue. “Yeah, alright, I’ll get ‘em to clear some space.”
“What about BD?”
Surprised Gears would mention her, he asked, “What about her?”
“You should get her to manage the Marine supply base. The towns will be bringin’ a lotta stuff in and we need it held centrally. BD could lead on that.”
He never thought about asking BD to do anything practical, and it was a growing argument between them. She said he still thought she was a bimbo, and although he assured her that wasn’t the case, if he was honest, he never considered her practical skills. His overriding desire was to keep her safe and happy, and in his mind that meant never asking her do anything she might not enjoy.
Gears was watching him hesitate. “Pax, the woman isn’t stupid and you should let her lead on stuff. What the hell is wrong with ya?” Narrowing his eyes, he added, “This ain’t like the time you asked her to spy on Major major asshole. She won’t die.”
The only thing he’d ever asked her to do resulted in her violent death. Major major asshole had murdered her and he didn’t think he’d ever feel any less guilty about it. Gears was right, and asking her to manage supplies into the base wasn’t the same thing. If anything, she’d be safer at the Marine supply base than staying at Axe’s old base. Being reminded of how BD had died, he wondered if Cain had spies in their own camp. “Yeah, alright, but Rodrigo reckons Cain probably has spies in our camp, and we oughta have some of our own in his.”
Standing at the edge of the start of the containers, Gears studied the people moving around the corridor thoughtfully. “Do ya think we’ve got spies here?”
He snorted in disgust. “Our security has always been crap, so I don’t see why we wouldn’t, and it wouldn't be the first time.”
“To do anythin’ else would be runnin’ a police state and I ain’t gettin’ behind anythin’ like that.” Gears sighed deeply. “But Rodrigo is right, we should plant some spies in their camp, it’ll at least even up the odds.”
Their last attempt at placing BD as a spy hadn’t gone well and he replied, “Maybe, but it didn’t work out so well last time.”
“I dunno about that. BD is fine and Major major asshole never managed to attack us. That said, your mistake was to send only one person. This time we’ll send a two-person team. Maybe a coupla shooters posing as husband and wife.”
The Crusaders were renowned for not treating women well, and he wasn’t keen to send any female into their bases. Sounding worried, he replied, “I dunno, Gears, I'm not sure it's a good idea to send a woman.”
“They might think differently if they believe she’s the wife of a trained shooter, and we can use the hunters to pull ‘em out if things get ugly.”
He tried to visualize two of their people in enemy territory. Although Rodrigo had an execution squad in Cain’s area, they were constantly on the move. There was no point having spies if they couldn’t pass messages to them and he asked, “How do we stay in contact with ‘em?”
“The same way you stay in contact with Rodrigo. We’ll keep a hunter in the woods wherever they are and they can communicate through them.”
Rodrigo was still reconning Cain’s region, but the hunter wasn’t good at relaying any information other than they were still alive. “Yeah, okay, the hunter can let us know if there’s a problem, but otherwise they’re not good with co
mplex messages.”
“When BD was at the Major’s base you flew over every day to talk to her by radio. Why can’t we do something similar? Radios work over short distances.”
“Now you’re talkin’ about havin’ a squad nearby to collect messages.”
“Is that a problem?”
“No, it’s just we gotta lot to do and I’m short on skilled people as it is.”
Gears waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t whine at me, Pax, and get on with your job. Maybe you should let Tess manage the refinery and send Mac to Cain’s region to monitor our spies.”
He was about to argue it was a waste of Mackenzie’s skills when Annie and BD came out of one of the containers. Six children followed on their heels and quickly overtook them. Scooting past him with excited shrieks, the four young Horsemen and Annie’s twins, Marky and Nicky, ran out of the corridor. Their high-pitched squeals competed with his permanent headache and he grumbled, “Were we really that annoyin’ as kids?”
Gears snorted. “You’re still annoying, Pax. You forgot to grow up.”
While BD strolled towards him, he admired how her curves filled out her ACUs in a way the uniform was never designed to look. She gave him a knowing look and winked. “What are you guys doing?”
Kissing her, he replied, “Waitin’ for Hatch. We’ve gotta work out how we’re gonna get a slingshot of the Water of Life to dump onto the gate to hell at Stonehenge.”
“Where’s TL…and Faith?”
“TL’s with Axe and Diesel organizin’ the towns to move, and Faith follows him around like a dumb puppy, so I guess she’s with him.”
Annie was watching the children, who were now climbing into an abandoned and damaged armored truck. “I used to know a woman called Faith, but I don’t know what happened to her after I ran away from Hull.”
He’d run into Annie months earlier when he was training a combat team. She’d been keen to see TL again, and once they’d met, he’d convinced her to move to the Ranch with her two kids, Nicky and Marky. He said Angel had told him there were few children born during the first two years after the outbreak, and she was always looking for kids closer to the young Horseman’s age. She said it was important they didn’t only socialize with one another.
Not knowing much about Annie’s history, he asked, “You met Hull?”
“Yes. Lucie helped me escape and then TL rescued me from my asshole husband.” With a vague wave of her hand, she added, “It was a long time ago now and I’m sure it’s not the same woman.”
“It could be,” BD remarked. “TL’s Faith is a robust vamp of woman with long dark hair. I’ve asked her where she was before, but she’s quite evasive. She said she was traveling with another group led by some guy called Ron and then she was captured by Hull’s Army.”
Annie looked at BD in surprise. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, why?”
“The asshole I was married to was called Ron.”
“Maybe it is the same woman,” BD suggested. “If it is then something bad happened to her. She’s covered in a huge number of very old scars.”
Frowning, Annie replied, “I last saw her five years ago and she didn’t have any scars then.”
BD raised her eyebrow. “That’s odd. Most of her scars look like they were made a very long time ago.”
He didn’t like Faith. For all her charms, there was something corrupt about her. Unlike TL, he wasn’t convinced she’d been held captive and tortured. She certainly didn’t act like a woman who’d been held prisoner for an extended period of time. When he’d raised his concerns with TL, he’d told him people reacted to abuse in different ways, and he wasn’t in a position to know or judge. TL had a point, but where he could probably handle a woman like Faith, he didn’t think his straight as an arrow brother was built for her type.
Curious whether Annie could uncover the truth about Faith, he asked, “Maybe you should talk to Faith? Find out what’s she’s been up to.”
The kids were jumping from the top of the armored vehicle to the dusty ground. Suddenly looking concerned and moving towards them, Annie replied vaguely, “Sure.” As she walked across the dusty base to the children, he heard her call, “Stop that! You’ll hurt yourselves.” Her scolding was met with more shrieks and giggling, and the children disappeared into the wrecked truck.
While he watched Annie sticking her head into the damaged truck, no doubt shouting at the unruly children, Gears was talking to BD. “We need a female spy to form a husband and wife team to infiltrate Cain’s base. Do ya know anyone who could do that?”
With a flick of her bouncing curls, she replied brightly, “Ashley might be willing, and she’d certainly be able.”
Her suggestion of Ashley surprised him. “Are ya sure about that? I thought she’d already been taken prisoner by them.”
Nodding, she replied firmly, “And that’s why she’s perfect for the job. She already knows what they’re like and she won’t hesitate to kill them. I’ve made sure she’s had good training while she’s been with me. She’s pretty good with a gun and a knife.”
Gears nodded. “Good enough. I’m likin’ Marcus to play the role of her husband.”
Marcus was a good combat leader and screwing up his face, he said unhappily, “I’m short on leads and he’s one of my best.”
“All the more reason to send him, Pax,” BD replied sharply. “You should send your best into enemy territory, and not your weakest.”
Her comment and sharp tone made him wonder if she was angry with him about being killed by the Major. She claimed she didn’t remember her previous life, but he wasn’t so sure. Since resurrecting herself into another body, she’d certainly remembered enough to want be with him. Her body language, habits, and even the way she spoke was the same as before. She might not have the memories, but she hadn’t changed at all.
His guilt chip kicked in and he asked equally as sharply, “Are ya suggestin’ that’s what I did when I sent you to the Major’s base?”
Giving him a dour look, Gears rolled his eyes. “I ain’t got time to listen to a domestic between you two.” With that dismissive remark, he walked back to the helipad, clearly hoping Hatch would arrive and save him from having to listen to their spat.
“No,” BD replied firmly. She gave him a haughty look and flicked her platinum blonde curls at him. “I don’t remember being killed, but I assume you sent me because I was the best person for the job.” Lovingly winding her arms around her neck, she leaned her mouth close to his. “When are you and Gears leaving for the UK? I could come with you.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly to him. “I would like that, but Gears wants ya to run the Marine supply base. You know, process the new recruits and make sure the supplies get stored and recorded.”
She screwed up her nose in the way he always thought was cute. “I’d rather go with you, but the big gorilla is right, there’s too much to do here.”
He nodded with more than a little disappointment. “Yeah, I know. We’re leavin’ in a week or so and should only be gone for a coupla weeks. You can talk to Ip and she’ll pass your messages to me.”
Pressing her hips firmly against his, she giggled. “Ip’s not the best communicator, and there are some messages best given by me in person.”
Pushing himself into her willing body, he smiled. “Then we’d best make good use of the next few days. I wouldn’t wanna miss any messages from ya.”
EPILOGUE
The carts pulled by the beasts had stopped about one hundred yards from the large bluestone rocks surrounding the burning hole. Land around the area had died, and the dead earth stretched for miles behind the small cluster of ten carts and trucks. The dense green forest ended in a clear line on either side of the dead zone.
He didn’t know where he was, in fact he wasn’t even sure who he was. One moment he was alive, then he remembered intense pain that never seemed to stop and after that he was here. Looking down at his body, he assumed h
e’d be nothing more than a collection of injuries, but it wasn’t true. He was dressed in his white working Navy uniform, and touching his forehead, he felt his stiff white cap on his head.
Where am I?
That question seemed to be the least of his problems. With a little further thought, he concluded he had a more pressing problem.
Who am I?
Near the trucks were a collection of men holding weapons he didn’t recognize. Of more concern was the gargantuan creature standing at least eight feet tall, with a razor sharp tail and fanged teeth. He didn’t want to go anywhere near the group, but he also needed answers. Walking across the muddy terrain towards them, he was surprised he didn’t slip and fall, but the soil felt firm beneath his feet. His black shoes, that were usually polished until they shone, were scuffed and torn. It surprised him and he wondered why he hadn’t been put on report, but then he realized he didn’t know what that meant.
“What do you mean you want us to throw ‘em in? That don’t sound right to me.”
The tall creature seemed to stamp its clawed foot impatiently, which looked absurd on such a terrifying monster. “Why do you think I asked you to bring them here? Do you think the plan was to parade them up and down the country? What would be the point of that?”
“But what’s the point of throwing them down the hole?” The armed man complained. Dressed in green fatigues he didn’t recognize, he was holding his gun down by his hip, and staring at the burning hole in the middle of the rocks.
“Do you care?” The monstrous creature asked impatiently.
“A little bit. I thought we were gonna use ‘em as slaves, you know, to work for us. I don’t wanna just kill ‘em, mate. What’s that gonna do for me?”
Their argument confused him and he walked past them towards the cages. Standing next to the flatbed it became clear it wasn’t a normal cart, but some sort of vehicle being pulled by animals. He didn’t recognize the type of truck or the animal pulling it. Reaching up to pet the animal, he was surprised when his hand passed straight through it. The heavy head of the beast nodded in acknowledgement and it gently snorted at him.
