The Caitlin Chronicles Boxed Set

by Michael Anderle

  The Mad began running straight for them.

  “I don’t know,” Serena said, shocked that Lewis could joke at a time like this.

  “IHOP!” Lewis said as he swung the branch and smacked it into the Mad’s leg.

  The attacker buckled to one side and fell to the ground. The leg it had hobbled on was now twisted and bent out of shape.

  “Nice shot.” Serena cheered.

  Lewis grabbed her hand. “Okay, run. Now. While it’s down.”

  They sped back down the hill, using the momentum gravity afforded them. As they ran, Lewis could hear Serena growing breathless beside him. Somewhere behind them, he could hear the Mad screech and stumble in the bracken—far enough away that he knew they were winning, but not far enough that they were safe.

  “Lewy?” Serena huffed, watching every step she took.

  “Yeah?”

  “What’s an IHOP?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Lewis grinned. “Keep running.”

  When they made it to the border of the Broken City—a chain link fence topped with barbed wire—they looked around for the gap they had crawled through.

  “Where is it?” Serena asked.

  “I don’t know”

  They could hear him now. The Mad hadn’t given up his pursuit.

  Serena hugged Lewis tight. “What do we do?”

  Lewis tried to think. What did they do now?

  The Mad appeared a moment later, hobbling and stumbling. When he saw them, his eyes grew wide. He tripped and rolled down the hill, landing a few feet away.

  But as he clawed for them, something whistled through the air, followed by a thunk.

  Lewis looked curiously at the arrow embedded in the Mad’s skull. The reds of its eyes faded.

  “Nice shot—”

  Lewis jumped as another arrow whistled out from somewhere behind them, landing not even an inch from the first one.

  They turned to see a man on the other side of the fence. Or, rather, the upper half of his body. The rest of it was hidden by the manhole cover he was poking out of.

  “Nice shot,” Lewis said.

  “Thanks,” their rescuer replied. He looked at them with great interest. “Should you two be on this side of the fence? Looks dangerous out there.”

  Lewis blushed. “We wanted to watch the sun rise from the top of the hill.”

  The man smiled. “I don’t blame you. You could take a thousand pictures of that view and nothing would do it the justice the real thing deserves. You guys stuck out there now?”

  Lewis nodded. “There’s a gap out that way. I’m not sure how far.”

  “Too far,” Serena complained.

  The man chuckled. “Not a problem. Why don’t we make our own gap?” He fished into his pocket and withdrew a pair of pliers. When he climbed out and came over to snip at the fence, Lewis couldn’t help but notice that he was shirtless. He was strong, that was for sure. A thick carpet of shaggy hair covered his chest.

  Despite his appearance, his voice was soft and calm.

  “There you go,” he said as he twisted the fence back and allowed them passage. “Where you guys headed now?”

  “Home,” Serena said. “Before Mama realizes we’re gone.”

  The man looked at the city behind. “You live with the colony in the old library?”

  Lewis and Serena nodded.

  “Well, hey! I know a shortcut. Saves you a lot of leg, and you can go on a straight path through the city. Don’t need to weave and duck around the buildings and ruins. What do you say?”

  “Sounds great,” Lewis said eagerly, not sure if he felt more soothed by his reassuring tone or his strength.

  “Mama said not to walk with strangers. She says the Weres might grab us,” Serena said, stamping on Lewis’ toes.

  Lewis jumped in the air. “Ouch!”

  “Your mama is a smart lady,” the man said. “You should always be careful of strangers. Let’s get acquainted. My name’s Bryce Gilligan, and you are?”

  “Lewis.”

  “Serena.”

  “Great. Now that we know each other, we’re not strangers.” Bryce turned, dropped his bum on the edge of the manhole, and extended an arm. “What do you say?”

  Lewis turned to Serena, shrugged, and followed.

  She cast one more look at the Mad that Bryce had taken out with ease. Surely it was better to follow the nice man and take the quick route than to make their way through the city. Even after all these years, you never knew what Madness lurked in the abandoned buildings.

  “Okay,” Serena said, following Lewis and Bryce into the darkness of the sewers.

  Chapter One

  The High Road, Silver Creek Forest, Old Ontario

  “It sure is beautiful,” Caitlin said, standing proudly with her hands on her hips.

  “I’ll say.” Kain tilted his head and studied Caitlin’s ass.

  Mary-Anne slapped Kain’s arm. “Hey, wolf-boy, she’s talking about the road.”

  “Hey!” he whined.

  But Caitlin didn’t seem bothered. Her mind wasn’t with Kain and his filthy thoughts in that moment. She beamed as her gaze followed the tree-lined road to its furthest point in the distance, then turned and looked back in the opposite direction. She could see for miles, and for a woman who had grown up in a walled-off town surrounded by what seemed to be infinite forest, that was something special.

  “Finally, the world is starting to connect,” she said, more to herself than the others.

  “You want to see connection? You should’ve been around during the days of the spaghetti junctions.” Kain whistled. “More twists and turns than you’ve ever seen connecting the roads and paths of the cities.”

  Mary-Anne rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Pooch. Give Kitty-Cat her moment.”

  They had spent the best part of four months working on the road. It had taken the effort of nearly everyone to pull together and make it happen. Men and women from Ashdale Pond had jumped at the chance to lend a hand, ready to repay Caitlin for setting their town free from the clutches of a Mad-infected governor and his delusional pastor partner. Unlike her hometown of Silver Creek, the residents of Ashdale were accustomed to living without fancy fences or borders, having developed a unique system of defense in which posts and bells were set up across town and rung when danger was near. The herd mentality of Ashdale’s folks was more than sufficient to defeat any threat of Mad.

  The residents of Silver Creek, on the other hand, had been far more reluctant to get involved in building the road. After spending almost a century hiding behind the wooden walls, it took some convincing to get the townsfolk to even consider going through the gates.

  “Are you kidding?” Sid, a former high-security prison guard, had asked. “Out into the woods where those…things roam? Not for me, thank you.”

  The sound of a shotgun racking behind Sid made him jump.

  “Its be a whole lots safer for you out there than in heres right now. Yes, it do,” Joe, said, whistling with his words. A strange, short man with a ten-gallon hat and a love of his shotgun which rivaled that of his now-turned-Mad-wife Violet, Joe had the element of surprise.

  They had taken a double-pronged approach. Led by Christy—a woman who had worked for the corrupt Pastor Andrews as one of his Firestarters while they held her parents hostage—the residents of Ashdale started work on their side of the forest. Way down south in the depths of the forest, the Silver Creek townsfolk were led by Dylan and his team.

  The regular townsfolk—and even a few of the hardened guards—had quaked in their boots at first. Many had feigned sickness and disability to avoid the heavy work. But protected and shepherded by Caitlin and her band of Revolutionaries, they slowly began to make progress. They became accustomed to the intermittent attacks of the Mad when the defenders dealt with them without so much as breaking a sweat.

  “You ought to keep a kill count,” Mother Wendy had said one day as the sun beat down on them from a cloudless sky. She had tagg
ed along to provide refreshments for the hard workers. And also, as everyone knew, because her curiosity and need for gossip was so great she just had to see everything for herself.

  “Who says we’re not?” Caitlin replied, picking up a rock and launching it into the trees. A moment later, there was a grunt and a Mad ran out, arms a-flailing. Caitlin took out Moxie—a sword Mary-Anne had given her that made all other weapons pale in comparison—and with a swift upward cut, slashed the beast’s stomach open.

  Blood and gore spilled over a patch of land Kain had just finished flattening.

  “Hey!”

  “That’s ten for me today,” Caitlin bragged. “What are your counts?”

  “Five,” Kain whinged.

  “And you, Ma?”

  “I’m not keeping score,” Mary-Anne mumbled beneath the folds of her day-cloak—an item she had acquired from a senile old lady in Ashdale which covered her entire body and blocked the sun.

  A very important acquisition for a vampire, given that exposure to direct sunlight was a big no-no.

  “Is someone afraid of a little competition?” Caitlin teased.

  “Wait until night falls and I’m not burdened by this damn frock, then we’ll see who’s afraid of competition.”

  They had made great progress, and now, they sat in the shadows of the trees. Caitlin, Kain, Mary-Anne, Christy, Dylan, and several other members of the Council of Revolutionaries made up the day’s work party.

  Only Jaxon, Caitlin’s German Shepherd, remained standing. He sniffed around the forest floor nearby, occasionally cocking his leg at a tree and letting his contents spray.

  “It’s not official until the pup has pissed on it,” Caitlin joked, eliciting a small chorus of giggles amongst the gang.

  “Here’s to Caitlin,” Dylan said, raising an imaginary cup to the sky. “You can’t say she doesn’t know how to bring light to a dark world.”

  “Hear, hear,” the group chorused.

  Caitlin smiled, still unable to fully believe it even after everything that had happened. Because of her actions and the incredible feats of the fighters she had gathered on her journey to oust the governor, the gates of Silver Creek remained open. For the first time in nearly a century—or maybe more—there was a clear path to a nearby town.

  Jaxon ran up to Caitlin and licked a fresh wet track of saliva on her cheek. She chuckled, ruffling the dog’s fur.

  “Jax, stop it.”

  Caitlin heard Kain mumble, “Lucky bastard.”

  They dozed in the sun most of the afternoon, only making their own way home when the light began to fade and the drink began to run dry.

  As Caitlin, Kain, Mary-Anne, and the CoR headed home, they chatted idly about the state of things. Kain stumbled several meters back, walking in zigzags and occasionally bashing into Joe who, since being given his new home in Silver Creek, had taken a shine to the wooden town.

  “Ooof,” Joe muttered as Kain knocked into the small man.

  “Sorry,” Kain hiccupped.

  “Y’alls better be,” Joe retorted, tapping his shotgun threateningly. He never went anywhere without it these days. Kain sometimes wondered how many bullets the guy had left.

  “Cheer up, sleepy Jean!” Kain suddenly bellowed, his voice like a howl in the forest. “Oh, what can it mean—”

  “Shuts up!” Joe said, his eyes alert. He looked up and down the track, studying the forest on either side as if expecting some kind of attack. “You’ll draw lunas from all around, yes, y’will.”

  “Oh, come on,” Kain said, rolling his eyes. “You can call them what they are, you know? They’re Maaaaad!”

  Kain raised his arms and legs, emulating a zombie walking.

  “Keeps it down, please,” Joe urged.

  “Everything all right back there?” Caitlin asked, breaking away from the group in front.

  “All is fine,” Kain slurred. “Ol’ Psycho Joe here was worried about a few little Mad coming and eating his face off.”

  The mood turned sour when Joe racked a shell and aimed his shotgun at Kain’s face.

  “Oh, really?” Kain said, speaking as though a child held a water pistol to his skull.

  “Joe! No,” Caitlin protested, standing in the way.

  Joe seemed to consider his chances of hitting Kain past Caitlin. Maybe if he could clip the edge of his face off, he wouldn’t hit her at all.

  But then, she’s been good to yous so much, yes, she has, hasn’t she?

  Joe lowered the gun. “I’ms just playing, Caitlins, yes I am. Though your lover boys needs to keep down the noise. Ain’t no telling what’s out in the woods beyond what our eyes can sees.”

  Caitlin bent to Joe’s level and leaned in conspiratorially. “I know, I know. Truth is, he’s all talk and no action, that one. Couldn’t get laid in a brothel.”

  Joe chuckled, the sound whistling between his mash of missing teeth.

  “Just keep him entertained and let him think he’s in the right, and he’ll be okay. Don’t take anything he says too seriously—”

  A series of sounds erupted. Bells rang, a slap sounded, and a loud “Hey!” finished it off.

  Caitlin turned and grew furious. Kain and Mary-Anne stood next to a post from which a long piece of rope hung. A series of these alarms had been planted at intervals as a security measure for anyone who found themselves in trouble along the newly finished road. The Mad were the most likely threat around there, but who was to say a bear, a wolf, or even a group of bandits wouldn’t be lurking somewhere in the trees on a lonely day?

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Caitlin demanded, storming over to Kain.

  “Wolf-boy wanted to see if there were any Mad nearby,” Mary-Anne said, holding Kain by the ear. “Isn’t that about the truth of it?”

  Despite his pain, Kain laughed. “A little.”

  Caitlin’s fury turned to mild pity. What was it about Kain that made him so self-destructive? In all the months she had known him, he wasn’t one to turn down drinks, hold his tongue, or generally consider his own wellbeing. Sometimes, she thought of him simply as no more than a childish brat.

  But the truth was, he had always been there when she needed him.

  Kain wriggled free of Mary-Anne, rubbing his sore ear. “I also wanted to try and up my score.” He grinned sheepishly, pointing behind Caitlin to where several sets of red eyes had appeared through the trees.

  Jesus Christ, here we go again, Caitlin thought. She looked at the sky, noting that it was near sunset. By her estimate, they were still at least an hour away from Silver Creek.

  “Well, hold on to your belt, Pooch, because Kitty-Cat wants nothing more than to defend her title.”

  Three Mad ran from the trees, a horror to behold. Men and women infected with the Madness—an affliction which caused its bearer to lust after flesh and develop glowing red eyes.

  The male Mad was taken down easily. Not even a hint of emotion crossed his bearded face as he staggered, sliced by Kain, and fell.

  “That’s six.”

  Caitlin focused on the one behind him, drawing her blade and aiming low for the Mad’s legs. The blade cut through the flesh without resistance but jarred at the bone. The Mad fell to its knees but continued to crawl, its hunger for flesh never fading.

  Jaxon barked and danced around the crawling body, snapping his jaws near its flesh.

  “No, Jax. Back,” Caitlin shouted. Though she didn’t know with any certainty what would happen to an animal infected with the Madness, the last thing she wanted was for Jaxon to be the guinea pig.

  “Jax, heel,” Dylan shouted from the tree line, engaged in his own battle as several more Mad appeared on his side of the road. “Fucking hell, Kain. You couldn’t have just passed out as usual? You had to summon the whole fucking family.”

  But Kain wasn’t listening.

  “Seven!” he roared in triumph as he stuck his blade through the skull of the crawler. He poked his tongue out at Caitlin.

  “That was mine.�
��

  “Don’t count the death until there’s no more breath,” Kain teased.

  “You sonofabitch.” Caitlin grinned.

  Mary-Anne, busy taking down the third on their side, ripped the Mad’s head off in one simple tug and discarded the body in the trees.

  “How many’s that, Ma?”

  “I’m not counting.”

  Kain chuckled. “That means you’re losing, right?”

  They moved on to the other side of the road to join Dylan and the CoR. Joe stood back, his eye trained down the sight of his shotgun. Caitlin knew he was unlikely to use it unless something went seriously wrong and it could save a life. Only if a Mad came straight at him would he fire, or if one was about to tear into a comrade’s throat. The sound would be too much, drawing more Mad than he’d destroy.

  But it was useful as backup.

  Caitlin’s thoughts flashed briefly to Monica Chapman, Silver Creek’s own slightly deranged old lady with an affinity for firearms and a knack for fixing up relics of the old world. She made a mental note to introduce Monica and Joe the next time she had a chance.

  “Almost there, CoR!” Caitlin called to her band of misfits as they hacked and slashed and reduced the Mad to lifeless bodies on the forest floor. Before long, they were all down. Caitlin tallied the corpses and reached a count of twenty.

  Twenty fewer monsters to ruin the world, she thought, wondering how many more of them there were in the forest. How long had they been there? How many more were out there in the wide world, wandering around aimlessly and hunting for blood?

  How much of the world is left to infect? She patted the old piece of parchment she now kept tucked in her pocket. The map of the nearby areas the governor had left before he had found himself fleeing into the forest was a precious treasure.

  “Ha! Sixteen,” Kain said proudly, squaring up to Caitlin.

  Belle, a hardy and slight young woman with skill in the art of twin daggers, raised a finger as if to interrupt. “Erm…sorry, but I think you’ll find those last two were mine.”

  Kain shrugged. “I helped.”

  “In which case, I’m on forty today.” Caitlin smirked.