by SD Tanner
“Cease fire!” Gears called loudly. “Hatch! Take us down a good distance from the trucks.” Without taking his eyes from the ground below him, he added, “Benny, stay with the bird and keep her secure.”
Hatch landed about a quarter of a mile ahead of the trucks on the main road. While he slowly brought the bird down, they all watched for anyone dressed in black. People wearing civilian clothes were running towards the bird as it landed.
“Do ya think they’re armed?”
“Don’t be stupid, Pax,” TL replied bluntly. “If they were armed, they’d be defending themselves.”
“True story,” Gears said grimly.
As soon as the bird touched the asphalt on the road, a woman ran forward clutching two small children. Thrusting them into his arms, she cried, “Take them! Keep them safe!”
Grabbing the small girl with one arm, he passed her back to BD, and over the sound of the rotors, she shouted, “I’ve got them.”
BD was tucked in the back of the bird with the crated armaments and he said, “Stay here with ‘em.”
Dropping from the bird, he saw Gears and TL were already crouched on the road, forming a rough perimeter and looking for the enemy. More people dressed in civilian clothes were running towards the bird, making it difficult to separate friendlies from foes.
“Gears, this is gettin’ messy,” he called.
Nodding, Gears said, “Hatch take the bird up. We’ll call you when we need ya. Benny keep eyes out for the enemy and kill ‘em.” After a pause, he added, “And don’t shoot the civvies.”
Sounding mildly disgusted, Benny replied, “I’m not a greenhorn.”
“Roger that,” Hatch replied calmly, and the rotors on the bird began to spin faster as he prepared to take off again.
Before Hatch could leave, Ip jumped down from the bird and ran to Gears. Sighing, he thought, she was useful when we needed to kill hunters, but she’s a liability here.
Clearly hearing his thoughts, Ip turned and narrowed her eyes at him. Giving her a mock glare, he thought, you know I’m right.
“We need to clear the main street,” Gears said. “And I want whatever weapons they got in the trucks.”
They still had a lot of heavy and personal weapons left, but if he was going to set up a new army, he couldn’t scavenge enough. Annoyed Gears was ahead of him in what he considered to be his job, he frowned at himself.
TL was standing tall and shouting to the townspeople. “You need to get off the streets. The enemy is everywhere. Secure yourself in buildings and wait until the area is clear. Move off the street now!”
Men and women began pulling and carrying frightened children with them, slowly dispersing into the single and two story buildings lining the road. Above him he could see Hatch hovering, and there was the occasional burst of gunfire. He assumed Benny was discouraging the enemy from returning to the main road.
He was disappointed when Benny left with Lucie before the battle, but he supposed Lucie needed someone to be with her. For as much as he valued Benny’s skills, it wouldn’t have made any difference where Benny was that day, but for Lucie it was a chance to have a life. He didn’t resent either of them the time they’d managed to have together. Benny and Lucie had always pulled their weight, and he was prepared to cut them a break, even if Gears didn’t feel the same way.
Moving to the sidewalk, they began to make their way slowly towards the trucks. Gears told Ip to wait in one of the buildings with the civvies. She didn’t seem pleased, but for once she did as she was asked. He figured that if they came under fire, they could duck into the doorways of the shopfronts lining the road. Of course, they weren’t real shops anymore, but he did notice some of the stores were in use again. The burning truck was still smoking with the odd flash of flames, and clearly it had contained armaments of some sort. Trucks just didn’t blow up like that without something more combustible than a fuel tank inside them.
The man who ran from the burning truck was still lying on the road. His clothes had almost burned away, and he was a mass of blackened flesh. As they drew closer, the stench of burning flesh made him want to gag. It reminded him of the foul odor around Ruler’s camp the night before the battle, and based on everything they’d seen, slowly burning people alive was one of his favorite things to do.
Suddenly gunfire erupted from one of the trucks. Returning fire, Gears shouted, “Pax, get around the other side, but don’t fuckin’ shoot me.”
While he ran in a low crouch, Gears and TL gave him cover fire, and he shouted, “Are ya sure, Gears? I mean, you are immortal.”
“Shaddup, Pax,” Gears growled.
On the other side of the truck the driver’s door was open, and the shooter was sitting in the passenger seat firing through the window. Seeing his black outfit with the odd red crest, he decided Gears would want him alive, and aiming low, he shot the guy in the ass. The man immediately dropped his gun and clutched at his rear, howling in pain. Running forward into the vehicle, he grabbed the man’s gun and pulled it behind him. Leaning his body weight against the still screaming man, he flicked the door handle open, and pushed him to the ground. Careful not to fall as well, he dropped to the road, and began to run down the row of trucks looking for any more shooters. Without bothering to check, he knew Gears would be following, while TL watched over the injured man.
Feeling the air move sharply past his head, he realized someone was shooting at him, and quickly moved into a space between two trucks and heard Gears firing at something ahead. Still crouched between the vehicles, Gears thundered past him, and began to fire into the back of the truck. Leaving Gears to deal with the shooter, he ran forward to the next truck in the row.
Banging the side of the truck, he shouted, “Get the fuck outta there. I’m blowin’ your truck!”
Two men appeared at the edge of the truck, with their hands raised. The taller of the three cried, “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot.”
While he stood covering the two men, Gears moved past him to check the last truck in the line. Copying his approach, he banged on the side of the truck shouting, “Get the fuck out here now!”
The passenger door opened, and a man who must have been hiding in the footwell, slithered out and said anxiously, “Please don’t shoot me.”
“Get up, you idiot,” Gears said irritably, and when the man didn’t move fast enough, he hauled him by his collar, and threw him at the three men standing with their hands held high.
TL appeared at his side and silently held out zip ties. Giving TL a quick look of disbelief, he said, “You tie ‘em. I’m busy guardin’ ‘em.”
Sighing, TL shouldered his weapon and said tiredly, “I was just letting you know I had the zip ties.”
While TL tied the four men, Gears continued to prowl the trucks, making sure no one was left inside. He and TL pushed the four men to the front of the small town hall in the middle of the long road.
Once he joined them, Gears said, “There’s still enemy out there. I’m guessin’ they’re runnin’ away, but keep your eyes open. This situation ain’t completely stable.”
With a flick of his head in the direction of the burned, but still alive man, TL asked, “What about him?”
“I don’t think Crispy is gonna cause us any trouble,” he replied dourly.
Gears turned to his focus on the captured men and asked abruptly, “Who the fuck are ya? And what’s with the fancy duds?”
The four men looked at one another nervously, and then the tall man said, “We’re Crusaders on God’s mission.”
“What kinda mission did God set for ya?”
Sounding worried, the man stuttered, “To kill the Sinners, and save the world from God’s wrath.”
Snorting in disgust, Gears asked, “How the fuck did ya get a stupid mission like that.”
With awe in his voice, the man replied, “Cain is God’s Messenger on Earth, and he has blessed us with God’s Holy Mission.”
Jacob was God’s messenger sent to call the
hunters home, and he died with them. He’d never heard anything about some guy called Cain. Confused, he turned to Gears and asked, “Who the fuck is Cain?”
“You know what I know, dumbass.” Pulling his mouth into a cynical grimace, Gears looked the four men up and down, and then said bluntly, “Sounds like crap to me. What the hell are you doin’ in this town?”
“It’s our mission,” the man said sincerely. “We travel the land looking for the Holy and destroying the Sinners.”
Still watching the road and buildings for enemy, TL asked, “How do you know one from the other?”
“The Sinner’s run,” another of the four men replied sternly.
While he also scanned the area for any signs of danger, he said morosely, “So do people who don’t wanna be killed by some asshole with a gun.”
By now, several townspeople were cautiously walking down the sidewalk. Waving at them, TL called, “It isn’t secure out here.”
“We’ll take our chances,” the man called back, as he continued to make his way carefully down the path.
The two men walking towards them wore jeans and flannel shirts with work boots. Both looked like typical farmers, and he thought his assessment they were in an Amish town wasn’t too far wrong. With their short hair, simple attire and open expressions, he guessed they were living the simple life God meant for Eden.
Extending his hand, the older man said, “I’m Chris. Flicking his head slightly, he added, “This is Steve.”
After Gears introduced them, Chris said steadily, “We appreciate you’re trying to help, but this isn’t how we deal with conflict.”
Snorting in disgust, he asked, “Whatdaya do? Lay down and die.”
Nodding calmly, Chris said somberly, “If that’s God’s will, then yes.”
Looking puzzled, Gears asked sharply, “Why would ya do that?”
With a peaceful expression on his face, Chris replied, “Because we are all God’s Children and he will take care of us.” Smiling gently, he added, “Look around you. We live in heaven.”
“No, you goddamn don’t,” he said sharply. “You live in the same place you always did, with the same shitferbrains that were always here.”
Sighing, Chris and Steve turned and walked towards the burned man lying on the road. Watching them, Gears called, “What the hell are ya doin’? The only thing that’s gonna do that guy any good is a bullet in the head.”
Ignoring Gears, the two men took vials from their pockets and began to shower water on the man. While still trying to watch the buildings around them, he moved closer. The burned man was almost naked, but as the water touched him, pink patches of skin began to show through the charring. To his shock, the man sat up and Chris gave him a vial to drink. While the once burned man gulped the water, his body continued to heal, and flakes of blackened skin peeled away, revealing a healthy glow.
“You gotta be shittin’ me,” he muttered in disbelief.
Gears walked up to him, and they both watched the miracle unfolding before their eyes. “Awesome,” Gears said sourly.
“Kinda is.”
Harrumphing, Gears said, “Whatever happened to the good ‘ole days when you killed your enemies?”
Chapter Nine: Faith
“It’s so boring here. How can you stand it?”
Sighing at his comment, she studied the oddly shaped body in front of her. Rippling with misshapen muscle, it stood eight feet tall, was a steel grey color, with strangely long, thick limbs and a rounded torso. Its head matched its body, and was square jawed with sharp, jagged teeth and black eyes. The hands were shaped like the claws on a bird, but large and gnarled. Its entire body was smooth, and its over-sized male genitals hung between its bowed and muscular legs. The thing she liked most about the beast was its spectacular long tail that ended in a razor point. He could control the tail like a weapon, and in a single graceful sweep, she’d watched it disembowel a man from crotch to neck, so organs spilled from the wound like seeds from a ripe tomato.
She’d belonged to this creature since the day she’d handed over her soul for her life. He wasn’t human, so he didn’t have a sex, but having shared everything she was with him, he was male to her. When she met him, he was known as Ruler, but since then, she’d learned many times over what he really was. He was the Devil and she was his willing slave. The night before the great battle, while she lay chained to the rod they would use to slowly cook her alive, she’d offered him her soul and meant it. From the moment he accepted her offer, she was his in every possible way.
Stroking his chest gently, she pressed her body into him and asked soothingly, “Tell me what you want me to do, Master?”
Screwing up his face until it was even more garish, he replied irritably, “Don’t call me that. It sounds stupid.”
Smiling coquettishly, she replied, “Sorry, Ruler. You know how much I like to play with you.”
Seeming pacified, he said, “You are a good playmate, and you do like to bleed, but everything’s taking too long.” Pushing her away from him, he said, “You told me you could win the living to your side, but you haven’t won enough yet.”
Becoming business-like, she asked, “How many do you need?”
“More than you’ve got.”
Throwing her naked body onto the over-sized bed, she said unhappily, “I’ve sent the super hunters across the country, and they’ve been infiltrating the settlements. The problem is, nobody’s scared anymore.” Sighing deeply, she said dramatically, “They think they’re one with God now. Ugh, it’s so tedious.”
“You should move closer to them. You could get more done.”
Staring out of the window at the endless blanket of snow surrounding her town, she said, “It’s not as simple as that. They kill super hunters if they find them. If I moved us nearer the other settlements, we’d come under attack and your demons make poor soldiers.”
Sitting on the bed next to her, he tracked a claw down her chest to her the warmth between her legs, and said, “Hmm, I suppose so.” Digging the tip of the claw into her lower abdomen until she felt it pierce her skin, he said, “We need a better plan. You need to be closer to what’s happening.”
The pain of his claw cutting through her flesh sent a shiver of pleasure through her, and she asked foggily, “Tell me what you want me to do.”
Taking his bloodied claw from inside her gut, he touched it to the tip of his long forked tongue and tasted her. Licking his bulbous lips, he replied distractedly, “The Horsemen are back.”
Surprised, she sat up and asked sharply, “Why are they here again?”
Last time they’d walked the earth, she’d watched that bitch, Ip, gut Ruler and then the four of them dropped dead. She hated the Horsemen. Before the battle, she’d fully expected to be by Ruler’s side and known as Queen, but after they lost, she fled with the super hunters. Ruler explained that the Horsemen were immortal and couldn’t be dead, but for as long as he didn’t show his himself, they wouldn’t rise again.
With his heavy and uneven shoulders slumping, he replied petulantly, “Oh, who knows? They’re never really gone anyway.”
“How do you know they’re back?”
Using the bedsheet, she carelessly mopped at the blood seeping from the wound he made in her abdomen. She had a very different evening planned, but now it was ruined, and she was no longer in the mood to play.
Feeling disappointed, she said irritably, “Fix me”
He could destroy her body as many times as he wished, and then restore her whole again. Well, not quite whole, she thought. After her many pleasures with Ruler, her body was a covered in a complex network of scars caused by his violent entertainment. At first she’d endured the pain, but after what seemed like a short time, she came to crave it. There was something freeing about handing her body and soul to his abusive care. She could turn off her mind, knowing he would break her down, and tear her to pieces until they were both satisfied. Every cut released her from herself, and in the end, he would cr
adle her almost gently, while he healed her until he wanted to hear her scream again. It wasn’t her first time in the hands of a sadist, but he was better than any she’d known before.
Pushing her back down on the bed, he bent his head to her bleeding abdomen, and ran his strange tongue around the deep cut until it stopped bleeding. Despite her anger, she felt her mood shifting again, and wondered if the night couldn’t be retrieved after all.
Tilting his head to look at her, he said, “They’ve been seen travelling all over the country in one of their helicopters.”
“Who?” She asked dreamily.
Slapping her plump breast sharply, he said indignantly, “The Horsemen! You’re so easily distracted by the pleasures of your flesh. It’s almost your only weakness.”
Sitting up, she stroked his arm and said, “And yours.”
Shrugging his huge shoulders, he smirked and said, “True. Every so often I find a soul that likes to burn.” Sighing with pleasure, he added, “When I’m done with you, I promise you a long and painful death before I abandon you to the demons in hell.” With his bulging brow buckling, he added contemptuously, “Of course, they’re not as good at causing suffering as I am.”
Clapping his claws together, he declared decisively, “But we don’t have time for that today.”
Already feeling abandoned, she pouted and asked, “Why? You said you were bored.”
“Is that all you heard, you little slut?” He asked with a wicked smile. “The Horsemen are coming, and you need to get the town ready.”
It was cold outside, but since being with Ruler her body had changed. The pain of the cold now appealed to her, and she frequently wandered the grounds naked, displaying her scars with pride. The demon super hunters were unimpressed by her injuries, but they truly feared the creature that made them. She belonged to him and her word was his word. It kept them in line and they didn’t dare disobey her. As for the humans that joined her in the hope of being safe again, they were in awe of her special status with the Devil.
Very few people really understood what happened for the two years after the outbreak of the virus. All they saw was the earth dying and hunters attacking and eating people. Most remained confused about why the land was reborn as paradise. Some thought it was a gift from God, others believed Mother Nature purged man like he was vermin, and all believed it could happen again. Almost no one knew Ruler was the Devil, and the super hunters were demons infecting and then possessing the living. All they knew was they weren’t safe anymore. The rules of nature and the universe changed before their eyes and nothing could be taken for granted again.
