by SD Tanner
Cain was firmly running his hands from her breasts to her pelvis in an almost loving way, and she shuddered with anticipation. She was so used to disappointment, but Cain was living up to her every expectation. The smell of disinfectant seeped its way into her nostrils, and there was a coolness sweeping across her torso.
“Interesting scars. How did you get these? Accident? Acid? Burns? Or are you an advanced self-harmer? Been cutting yourself, have you?”
The medical disinfectant was dripping down her sides, and she felt Cain lift her body slightly as if he were trying to see how far the scars stretched.
“Guess not.” Chuckling to himself, he added, “Not unless you’re flexible enough to carve your own back.”
Leaning over her restrained head, he peered at her closely. “You’re very quiet. Don’t you have anything to say?”
Smiling up at him, she replied, “Show me your face.”
“Why?”
“I want to see if your face matches your eyes.”
Tugging his mask down until it was trapped around his chin, he beamed a wide smile back at her. “Is this what you expected?”
With his strong jaw and wide forehead, he could have passed for an actor on a daytime soap opera. Cain was surprisingly handsome, and not at all how she imagined him. His soldiers spoke about him in hushed tones, clearly frightened of the man. His reputation for excessive punishments, violent rituals and human vivisection was legendary. They believed he was the Son of God delivering God’s will on earth. Studying him dispassionately, she decided he was no more a God than she was an angel.
“No, not really. I thought you’d look…scarier…more impressive.”
Replacing his facemask, he turned and picked up a sharp scalpel and held it close to her face. “I’m told you’ve been amusement for my men. Surely they explained to you what I like to do to women.”
In graphic detail, his men had informed her how Cain would remove organs one by one, keeping his victim alive until he finally removed their still beating heart. Curious how that could even be done, she’d quizzed the men about blood loss and shock, but none had an answer.
“How do you do it? I mean, how will you stop me from bleeding to death? Or going into shock?”
“Very good questions and ones I suspect are designed to delay me.” He waggled the finely bladed scalpel close to her eyes. “Clever girl. Naughty girl. And if you must know, I use a scalpel that cauterizes the wound as it cuts, and providing I give your body sufficient time to assimilate the shock, you’ll live throughout the procedure, but you’ll wish you didn’t.”
Running her tongue across her drying lips, and smiling seductively, she asked, “How do you know what I like? How do you think I got my scars?”
“I assume you’ve been someone’s plaything before, but that doesn’t mean you wanted to be.”
Cain moved out of her narrow line of sight, and she felt something against her torso that seemed to cover and tighten it. She guessed it was a plastic sheath that would hold her skin firmly, while Cain opened her chest and abdomen. Just like a real surgery, she thought idly. His plans for her were of no concern. If he followed through, then she would experience pain in a way she’d only ever dreamed about until she met Ruler. It was more likely Ruler would put an end to Cain’s surgery, and she could only hope it would be later and not sooner.
Remembering her mission, and not wanting to disappoint Ruler, she said, “I’m supposed to talk to you first.”
“About what?”
“You have a hunter and I have demon super hunters.”
Cain’s hand was expertly probing her diaphragm, and he was gently moving it down her stomach and across her belly. Not wanting him to stop, she hoped he wouldn’t get distracted.
“So?”
“If you can create hunters, I have the super hunters that can control them. It would give you an undefeatable army.”
Cain’s right hand was now firmly pushing against her chest, and she almost didn’t notice he was burying the scalpel, digging deep until he hit the breastbone. Her brain registered the pain a fraction of moment after he made the cut. She felt a slight tugging as he slowly pulled the blade firmly down her chest, past her diaphragm and across her gut in a vertical line. This time her brain registered every inch of the blade’s progress, and she instinctively arched her back in protest, but the restraints held her in place. Her heart was beating faster, and she began to pant as adrenalin coursed through her system.
“I already have an undefeatable army. Why do I need to make stronger something that’s already strong enough?”
While he spoke, he leaned over her to make an incision from her left shoulder to the tip of his first incision. Pain flared across the wound, and there were stars weaving in front of her eyes. Cain made a third incision from her right shoulder, forming the letter ‘Y’.
“The next bit is tricky. It’s one thing to peel back the skin of a corpse, but quite a different thing to do it to a living body.” Filling her limited line of sight, he added, “The tissue is still alive, and difficult to separate without causing unnecessary damage. You do understand this takes a lot of skill on my part.”
Her breath was coming in short, sharp gasps and she rasped, “You…won’t…win.”
She could feel his fingers probing the wound he’d made, trying to find traction so he could pull her skin away from her body and reveal her organs. The pain had exceeded her brain’s ability to cope, and his fingers felt like rounded stubs against her exposed bones. Her body was releasing wave after crashing wave of chemicals, and through the agony, she had a sensation of flying higher than she ever had.
“Win what?”
“The…world.”
“Is that what I want?”
“You…want…power.”
Taking his hands from her chest, his faced loomed over her again. The hand that tugged the mask from his mouth and nose was bright red with her blood, and it left dirty fingerprints on the blue fabric. Her head was spinning, and her already limited vision had narrowed further into a tunnel surrounded by darkness.
“How do you know I won’t win?”
“You…don’t…know…your…enemy.”
“And you do?”
“Not…really…but…I…know…who…your…friends…are.”
Chapter Thirty-Six: Gears
The refinery was surrounded by a ring of armored vehicles parked along the cleared land outside the fence. Behind the trucks, men were sitting around and there were small wisps of smoke from the many small campfires. Gunners were leaning against their turrets, and flags were lying limp for lack of wind. Behind the fence, the buildings looked abandoned, but he assumed the people were hiding inside, otherwise the Crusaders would have stormed their way in.
The town had looked deserted, and all they’d seen on the roads outside it were five armored vehicles headed in the direction of Axe’s base. The vehicles weren’t flying any flags, so he assumed they weren’t Crusaders, and for the moment they weren’t a problem he needed to deal with. They were miles from Axe’s base, and he doubted they’d present the fully armed town any problems even if they were hostiles.
If the Crusaders operated true to form, he guessed there would be riders and their beasts hidden in the forest. Being highly maneuverable, they presented more of a challenge. The trucks he could deal with, and the fools sitting around having a nice supper were about to learn they were eating their last meal.
“Head back to the meeting site,” he ordered.
The other five birds were about ten miles away, parked along the road waiting for the results of his recon. He hadn’t seen any sight of Ted’s convoy, but Pax said he went with ten vehicles. The five trucks he’d seen on the road heading towards Axe’s base could have been theirs. He had no idea where Ted was, or the bird that was supposed to be travelling with him. If any of his boots were on the ground, he hoped they’d seen them fly overhead. If they had, then they’d know to get closer to where the action was most likely t
o take place, and that was the refinery. Standing with his shooters and the pilots, he prepared to brief them.
“They’ve formed a tight ring around the refinery where I’m assuming the townspeople are hiding. Much like our last engagement, we won’t be able to kill ‘em all, but we can send ‘em running. I’m guessin’ our guys are down there somewhere and they’ve seen us. Ted and Greg should know to get closer to the refinery.”
Scraping his boot across the dirt in front of him, he hunkered down and pulled his KA-BAR from his belt. Making a rough circle in the dirt, he said, “This is the refinery. It’s surrounded by a pretty sturdy fence that won’t stop a bullet, but makes it hard for anyone to run in or out of the site.”
Stabbing at points around the circle, he said, “This is where their trucks and the bulk of their soldiers are. Behind them is a dense forest, and I’m guessin’ most of the men with their beasts are under the cover of the trees.”
Looking at the seventy or so men and women around him, he said, “We need to disable the vehicles and the soldiers. The way we’re gonna do that is by hitting them with everything we’ve got. The birds are gonna fire Hellfires and Hydra Rockets at the trucks, the gunners on the M240’s are gonna kill anyone on the ground wearing black. Everyone else is to fire tear gas from their M4s into the forest nearest the trucks. We’ll follow the tear gas with grenades and continuous fire. After that, we gun down anyone we see runnin’ that ain’t ours, but stay tight around the refinery, I don’t wanna hit our own guys down there. And whatever ya do, don’t shoot anywhere near the refinery. They’ll be armed inside the building, and they can deal with any idiot that breaches their perimeter. Once we’ve thinned them out, I want three birds to land. Make your way into the forest and kill anyone in a Crusader uniform. I want the other two birds to land in the town. I’m gonna send the townspeople there, and I want ‘em secured in four buildings on the main road while we clear the area of enemy. Put their best shooters at the windows and keep everyone else calm.”
There was a murmuring amongst the men and women and one asked, “What’s our end game?”
“Nothin’ conclusive. We jus’ want ‘em to fuck off and we’ll sort out how to deal with the bigger problem later.”
After agreeing with the shooters which ones would be manning the M240’s and firing their M4s, the remaining shooters were told to keep them loaded with ammo and anything else they needed. The six birds left to take positions around the refinery, and they flew in timed formation so they would arrive roughly at the same time. Each bird was responsible for destroying the enemy in a segment around the refinery. The cleared area between the refinery fence and the forest wasn’t more than eight hundred yards wide. Gassing the enemy soldiers would disable them for up to two hours, making it easier for their boots on the ground to kill them when they tried to leave. His greatest risk was that a stray bullet would explode the refinery, but if he couldn’t shoot then he couldn’t do anything at all. It was risk he was going to have to take and hope for the best.
All he’d done all day long was break his enemy’s formation, and not really got rid of them. Feeling frustrated and irritable, he was going kick Pax in the ass for failing to deliver him a working army.
You cannot make what is not there.
“You say that, but Pax didn’t warn me how useless they are.”
I think he did, you did not hear. You often choose to have a deaf ear.
“Don’t defend him. He’s dropped the ball.”
Ip didn’t reply in words, but he could tell by the flood of disgust that filled him that she didn’t agree. Maybe he was being unreasonable and blaming his brother for his own lack of direction. He knew he was supposed to save the young Horsemen, but he didn’t know what from. Fighting the Crusaders didn’t make any sense. This was a battle between men, and he had no business interfering with it. He couldn’t get his mission straight in his head, and if he didn’t know what he was fighting for, he couldn’t do more than scatter man’s enemy.
Ignoring his worries, he focused on the battle ahead. They were flying low and fast over the forest, and as planned, the pilots fired missiles and rockets at the trucks. The M240’s exploded into a heavy regular firing pattern, and the shooters were aiming their tear gas canisters directly into the forest below. The gas would be trapped under the canopy of trees, and he hoped it would cause maximum disruption. Tear gas was fierce, and anyone caught by it would be blinded, ill and unable to move for up to five minutes, and continue to struggle for anything up to two hours. Anyone directly exposed to the gas, would certainly be in no condition to fight.
Their attack was swift and violent. Men were running from the forest, disoriented and blind. The M4 shooters switched to rapid fire, and it was like shooting fish in a barrel. He’d ordered them to shoot to kill, otherwise anyone who survived their attack would recover from the effects of the gas and become a danger to the town. He assumed some of the enemy would be escaping through the forest, and hoped Greg and Ted were out there somewhere. He didn’t want to gun down his own shooters accidentally, and the gunners were told to avoid shooting too far out into the forest.
In a matter of ten minutes, the area around the refinery was littered with burning trucks and scattered corpses. Ordering his pilot to take him to the refinery, three birds landed in the clearing and two more left to secure the main road in the town. Landing in a clear area behind the fence line, he climbed out of the bird, and walked to the main building. The door immediately opened and a man holding a gun stepped out.
“What’s the situation out there?”
“They’re dead or runnin’. We can’t get ‘em all and we need your people to get outta this rat trap.”
“Where are we gonna go?”
“Head back to the town, but keep your eyes open. The place is crawlin’ with enemy tryin’ to escape.”
“Maybe we should stay here.”
“No. You shouldn’t have come here in the first place. This place is a bomb waitin’ to go off. You’re lucky you’re not dead. You shoulda taken defensive positions in the buildin’s in the town and held your ground.”
Turning to look at the vehicles scattered around the building, he said, “Put the kids and vulnerable in the trucks, make sure there’s at least two shooters and a driver in each. Drive very slowly back to the town, and get ‘em secured across four of the most defendable buildings. I need to go find my guys and help ‘em chase the enemy outta your territory. I’ll get back to you when we’re clear.”
The man nodded and asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m Gears.”
“Then the guy who told us to come here was one of your men.”
Giving the man a stern look, he said bluntly, “I’ll admit my troops need more trainin’, but ya gotta understand an army ain’t one person. It’s the culmination of resources and decisions that win a battle. If the Crusaders hadn’t been so busy hangin’ around the refinery, it mighta been harder to take ‘em out. Don’t judge what you don’t understand.”
Taking the shooters from the bird, he joined his troops on the ground chasing the enemy out of the region. It took eight hours to feel confident that they’d cleared the area surrounding the town sufficiently to let people return to their homes. When he finally found Ted, they headed out with a team of shooters to retrieve the trucks hidden in the forest.
Once they made it back to the refinery town, Ted climbed out of the truck, and surveying the burning vehicles and ransacked buildings, he sighed deeply and muttered, “What a fucking mess.”
He didn’t disagree with Ted’s short summary. The UK appeared to be lost and over twenty thousand of their survivors had vanished. Cain had a larger and better trained army than they did. They also believed he had Lucie and could create more hunters, and it wasn’t a big step for the demon super hunters to get control of any new hunter army. Mackenzie was still trapped in hell, and he didn’t know how to get him out. Max was dead. Benny was a hunter. Ip assured him the young Horsemen would b
e kidnapped, and he just learned he didn’t have an army capable of dealing with any of his problems. Even though he’d scattered the enemy today, he hadn’t won anything. He could blame Pax, but he knew it wasn’t his fault. They didn’t have an enemy. Man had an enemy called Cain, but that didn’t make Cain an enemy of his.
He didn’t know what he was doing or why.
Turning to Ip, he asked, “What are we doin’ here, honey? I mean, I get we’re supposed to stop the young Horsemen from bein’ taken prisoner and killed, but do I need an army to do that? Why don’t we jus’ act like their bodyguards? Am I overreaching by tryin’ to set up an army?”
The town disintegrated, and he found himself in the now familiar world of hell, only this time he was still standing in the refinery town. The sky was a gloomy red, and in the distance, the production site was burning. Ghosts of people long dead were drifting along the street, and demons were laughing maniacally as they ran in and out of the buildings around them. The ground beneath his feet was hardened mud, and the air was freezing cold. Turning slowly, he surveyed the wrecked town with boarded up windows and burned out buildings. Rusted wrecks of cars were haphazardly parked, the once green forest was gone, and only a barren wasteland remained.
“Why are we in hell again?”
Ip slipped her hand into his and said, “Not hell.”
“It looks like hell.”
“This is what the world will be.”
“What are ya sayin’? This is the future?”
“There is no time that hell can tell. This is the future for man and it is hell.”
Standing in the middle of the street, he saw a face appear at a window. He recognized her, it was Genny and she was looking up and down the street warily. In an instant, she pulled her head back inside the window and was gone again. He finally understood. Everything that would ever exist was already in hell, and what he was seeing now was something that would happen at some point in time. This wasn’t precognition, it was another point in time, and it meant Ruler would one day rule.
