by Ian Woodhead
“You truly are honoured, Hunter.” The woman’s eyes had glazed over. “We all are. This is the Keeper’s private sanctum, his hidden garden.”
It took great effort not to follow her revered posture, and I had to admit, this place was a sight to behold. I wouldn’t have described it as a garden, though, more like how the Victorians would have perceived a jungle to look, pruned and semi-tame but still with that hint of danger hidden in the dense undergrowth. It wasn’t a large area, although, thanks to some clever camouflaging, this appeared huge as long as you kept your eyes at ground level. It ruined the effect if you just happened to tilt your head back.
The Keeper had grown his very impressive retreat in what used to be an open railway cutting. The blackened sheer brick walls visible behind the ever-growing vegetation stretched up until the horizontal lines kissed the blue sky. The two tunnel entrances cut into the ground were blocked off, leaving a man-sized high hole in the middle of the two tunnels.
It took my brain a while to grasp the enormity of what this meant. While the rest of the surviving humans were hiding, running, and starving whilst being hunted by the shambling dead and the likes of me, this joker was pottering about in this blocked off square, building his own little paradise. I wasn’t sure whether to applaud his genius or rip the weird freak into bite-sized chunks of meat.
I decided to go for the former. Apart from him blasting through my brains with a nuclear force hurricane, I did kinda liked the guy, and I couldn’t deny that he’d done an outstanding job here.
The family’s own feelings of awe had obviously worn off already. I watched them scurry over to a bank of small trees, their branches bursting with brightly coloured fruit. They reminded me of a troop of monkeys my Dad and I used to watch on the documentaries on TV back when I was a kid. It wouldn’t surprise me if they started grooming each other next.
I bullied my muscles into life and found enough strength and energy to clamber to my feet. A convenient tree trunk helped me stay upright as I finished my observations. Grass and a medley of low growing flowers of many colours carpeted the floor, and vines and creepers provided the canopy disguising the human build walls. A narrow path of red paving blocks surrounded the perimeter, with two paths cutting through the middle. It was on one of these paths that I noticed the woman making her way back to me, her feet sticking to the path. A difficult task, considering she’d piled her arms with fruit.
“Are you hungry, hunter?”
I thanked her and picked off a large red apple. “Your pal fried my fucking head. You do know that, yes?” I studied her face, feeling a degree of satisfaction when I saw that contented look slip away. I glared at Linda, not taking my eyes away while I pushed the tennis ball sized piece of fruit halfway into my mouth and bit down.
Unease filled her features. That made me feel so much better. I wasn’t used to humans feeling comfortable in my presence, it just wasn’t natural. “Great, so we’ve met your Keeper. He almost brain-wiped me, and you and your family are acting as though you’re on a fucking nature ramble.” The apple was delicious, and having something so sublime caressing my taste buds was playing havoc with my speech. “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t find this whole experience a little disconcerting.” I whipped my arm out, my thick fingers curling around Linda’s wrist. “Thank you for the apple.” She didn’t mistake the menace in my voice.
“Please, hunter. I’m confused, too, you need to believe me.”
I was going to do no such thing. I sneaked my way into her mind, finding the pathway very easy. She knew I was there and made no effort to expel me. In fact, the woman had welcomed me into her with open arms. She was telling the truth, yet I could tell that Linda was holding something back. This time though, I’d let her just tell me. To be honest, I wasn’t too comfortable in her mind. Her immediate thoughts were beginning to distress me. It wasn’t open arms now, it was open legs.
“I know that you feel animosity towards our Keeper,” she said.
I tried to keep track of her monologue, but it took effort; I think that you’ve already figured out that my relationships with the opposite gender haven’t exactly been numerous. Believe me, getting a date when you’re a flesh eating monster living in this desolate world isn’t so easy. Her thoughts confused the fuck out of me.
She took my hand. “You need to understand Hunter. The Keeper wants rid of the other hunters as well. Those vile fuckers have wrenched the heart out of this town and in turn almost destroyed that gentle man.”
I shook my head, hoping the movement would dislodge the confusion that her thoughts had caused. There was something important here, and yet no matter how hard I tried, the pieces wouldn’t fit together. This Keeper dude had to be like me, he just had to be another hunter, no tainted human could have broken through my mental defences and subjected me to such vivid imagery. Linda’s so called gentle man was a hunter alright, and I had no doubt in my mind that he was a fucking strong one.
“I know what you are thinking Hunter. Why has he not already disposed of the unwanted intruders?”
At that precise moment the human had absolutely no idea how close she had come to me killing her.
“If I find you crawling through my mind again, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
Linda sighed heavily. “Oh, for crying out loud. I’ve been nowhere near your mind. It’s just a figure of speech. I’m a woman, remember? We have been able to tell what has been going through your minds since the dawn of our species. Think back to when you was a kid, didn’t your mum know what your father was up to?”
Linda moved back a pace. I guess that despite her cavalier reply, she still wasn’t sure whether I would punch the bitch in the throat. She did have a point, though, and mum could usually tell what dad was thinking, but I put that down to the obvious fact that they had been to together of over twenty years. After two decades, mum was bound to know what dad was thinking most of the time.
“Colin, the Keeper is unable to move away from his home, otherwise, I’m guessing that he would have already countered the threat.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
Linda shrugged. “Both, I guess. Please don’t ask me to explain why, I don’t know myself. I only know what he told me.”
The remains of my apple dropped from my hand and rolled off the red block paving and disappeared into the long grass. Danielle had always suggested that I had always been a sandwich short of a picnic, of having trouble with making connections. Well, I had certainly made the fucking connection now.
“My sister.” I looked past her at what I assumed to be the way I was carried in. “I’m such a fucking idiot. She’s the same as me, isn’t she? Danielle is another hunter.”
Linda cast her eyes down. “I’m so very sorry, Colin,” she whispered.
“And I never even fucking guessed.”
“It is the reason why we’re all in his garden. Linda ran her tongue across her lips. “It’s also the reason why you’re still breathing.”
“What?
“The Keeper had to make sure that you were what you said you were. Colin, you killed and ate two innocents. He needed to share your experience.” Linda took a deep breath. “Going from how he reacted, I don’t think that he was prepared for that. He’s like you as well, although I think you’ve already guessed that. Unlike you, he’s never feasted. Not once.”
I shuddered, trying to imagine what it must have been like for him. The first feast is always the best. It’s like getting your first hit; the comedown is a bastard, leaving you feeling like death. Looking back, it must have been exactly what Danielle had planned to happen. No bloody wonder I felt like I’d just fallen into a volcano. Even a second hand feasting experience must have sent the Keeper slightly loopy, especially if he’d never tasted.
“She wasn’t taken from me, the bitch chose to leave. She left me to defend for myself.” I wanted to cry, to shout, to break something. Most of all though, I wished I could erase every day that I’d been al
one. I lowered my body back onto the makeshift stretcher; I scanned the river and watched the ducks on the other side of the water struggling to climb the bank. “Go tell your Keeper that he can go find some other hunter to do his dirty work.” I laid down and closed my eyes. Right now, I didn’t care about anything.
“She didn’t leave you, Colin,” whispered the woman. Her warm breath tickled my left ear. “She had no choice, Danielle was compelled to come to this town, just like all the other hunters. Just like you. Believe me, it was no coincidence that you ended up here.”
I snapped open my eyes. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”
“Just take it from me that your sister had no intentions of leaving you.”
Linda stood up, turned around, and walked over to her family, leaving me more confused than ever. What other choice did I have now? I jumped to my feet and stormed over, taking no satisfaction at seeing the males backing off and hiding behind one of the fruit trees. I wasn’t even sure why they were here at all, they had served no purpose other than to get in my way.
“Tell me what you fucking know,” I growled.
“I only know what he told me,” she uttered, busying herself with helping the others pick more apples.
As you could expect, at this point my emotions were in a complete mess, and I didn’t know what to believe anymore. Watching these three humans pull apples off that tree and stuff them in their bag, all the while ignoring the fact that I was breathing down their necks, made me feel even worse. It made me want to do something that I may regret in the future. I tightened my fingers, formed a hard fist, and imagined it slamming into the man’s face—then again, maybe not.
Linda spun around and placed herself between her husband and me. She looked up, wrapped her arms around my broad back, and kissed my lips.
I found the experience more pleasurable than I could have believed. Even so, I gently pushed her back and held her at arm’s length, casting my gaze at the silent witnesses.
I saw myself throwing the woman to the side before grabbing their heads and smashing them together. I reckoned I’d only need a couple of attempts before I broke their skulls; once the bone fractured, it all started to get a bit messy. Once those waste of skins were out of the way, I’d be able to do whatever I wanted to Linda. She wouldn’t protest, I’m sure of that, but even if she did it wouldn’t make much difference.
“Colin, you came here to find Danielle. You don’t need to search any longer. We’re going to take you to where she is.”
I blinked rapidly, pushing aside that alien thought. Where the hell had that come from? “Just tell me where she is, Linda. There’s no need for you to come.” Right now, being alone was what I needed, to be more precise, away from these three. I wasn’t confident that I’d be able to control myself.
“I’m sorry, hunter.”
I felt her arms snake around my waist again. I closed my eyes and thought of anything but sex.
“There is no other choice. The Keeper didn’t tell me where she was, he implanted it. I’ll only know the direction once I get to specific points.”
“Are you joking?” I turned around. “Why the fuck did he do that? I mean, I might be new in town, but even I know that we’re all about to enter the equivalent of a fucking wasp nest, and to make matters worse, these wasps know I’m here and are very eager to meet me. If you come with me, you will all die, it’s that simple.”
“We know the dangers,” replied Marcus. “I’ve already lost one son. Do you think I’m eager to lose another? Even though we know the dangers, we also know that there is no other choice. The Keeper wills it, so we must obey.”
“Then your Keeper is a fucking dickhead!” I shouted. I turned to the woman. “This is madness, I’ll find her myself.” I stormed off, marching towards the other hole in the thick foliage, still expecting those three to run after me. When I reached the climbers, I was relieved, yet a little disappointed, to find the three of them hadn’t moved from that fruit tree. I shrugged to myself and pushed my way through, so perhaps they really did have the sense they were born with after all.
I shivered. The temperature in here was close to freezing, The Keeper’s illusion of a serene garden had stopped at the screen of vines. In the dim light I saw what I was used to – human built decay, the remains of our once great civilization. In this case, a Victorian railway tunnel. I jumped off the packed down earth and onto the bed of gravel, gazing up at the curved stones. I might be out of that garden, but there was no mistaking that I was still within the influence of the strange effeminate hunter. He even decorated in here. Old metal road signs were attached all the way around the tunnel interior. It must have taken some ingenuity to get them up there. Some of them were directly above me, about twenty feet above my head.
My night sensitive eyes picked out other, more familiar, objects attached to the walls, objects that were a total contrast to the Keeper’s usual style of decorating. Hidden in an alcove a few metres from where I stood were a collection of human skulls. I knew immediately that they’d been purposely placed there. I saw no stonework behind the bone. There must have been at least a couple of dozen skulls filling the archway.
“One of his earlier works?” I muttered, walking up to it. If it was the Keeper’s doing, and saw I saw no reason how it could have been the work of anybody else, it put the Hunter’s whole outlook into disrepute, especially the bit about no human flesh ever passing his lips.
“Fucking hypocrite.” I had a good mind to go back, find this lying dog turd, and kill the bastard for subjecting me to all of his fantasy. My feet stayed where they were. What was the point of going back anyway? It made sense to keep going and to hope that everything that had vomited from his gob was a total lie, especially the bit about my sister being just like me.
I turned around and saw another mural in the alcove opposite me, this one, though, was filled with footballs, and each one had a smiling face painted on it. I decided there and then to keep walking and to put all of this weird shit behind me. Interacting with other people apart from my sister was obviously my worst ever mistake. They were all fucking mental.
My ears picked up the tell-tale sound of footsteps. I turned back towards that fuzzy circle of daylight, but saw nobody. It wasn’t difficult to work out that those three hadn’t given up on me; I guess their master, the freakazoid Keeper, wouldn’t let that happen. Right now I had no idea of his true motives. If he was anything like the devious minds of the three humans behind me, though, there was no chance of working that out. Their brains followed soap opera scripts.
I shook my head and continued walking between the tracks. From now on I’d keep my interaction with the denizens in this shithole of a town to a bare minimum. I only needed to locate Danielle, and I could achieve that through torture. The humans were less likely to confuse me if they were trying to stop their insides from falling out of their ripped open stomachs.
Those footsteps continued to echo through the tunnel. I paused and turned in a tight circle, still unable to see the family. Perhaps I should start my interrogation with Linda? That did sound logical. Would she be able to control her duplicitous mind and tongue while I eviscerated her? I’d have to kill the males first, though, simply because they really did annoy me. Also, I might even chance upon that serum; one of them were bound to have a vial of that secreted upon their person.
“Come on, out you get, Linda.” I said, watching the shadows. Stop playing games. I know you’re in here with me.”
I looked back towards the skull collection, wondering if perhaps I had it wrong. What if it wasn’t the humans in here with me but their freakazoid master? And I was about to discover what really lay behind his jolly mask. The footsteps increased in volume. I frowned, it couldn’t be the keeper, not unless he’d magically grew an extra pair of legs.
At last my eyes caught movement. I jerked my head towards the tunnel roof and saw a huge shadow race past. I had no idea what that belonged to, but I knew that it wasn’t the humans or
their Keeper. My senses went into overdrive, finally realising that I was in great danger. Hunters can become the hunted. I ran over to the wall and pressed my back against the stone, trying to see if I could spot my adversary. I saw nothing but more stone, gravel, track, and way too many fucking shadows.
I raced alongside of the tunnel, my eyes darting from one shadow to the next. The ever present sound of those footsteps told me that whatever was in here with me hadn’t given up the chase. It wasn’t until I saw the faint glimmer of light in the distance when I realised that I should have just turned around and ran back the way I came. Even if it did follow me, at least I would have been able to see what the fuck I was running from.
Fear is an alien concept to me now; I was used to inflicting it not being on the receiving end. It made no sense why I should even be scared. My rationality did nothing to calm me down. I continued to run, still convinced that something very large was right behind me, ready to consume my body and soul.
Something heavy did drop on my back. The weight buckled my knees, and I crashed into the gravel, the sharp stones cutting into my face and hands. I couldn’t move my body, and whatever it was had pinned me down. I was helpless. I tried to crane my neck to see what it was and received a bolt of piercing agony pass through my spine for the trouble.
I heard a very human groan of pleasure coming from the thing on my back, and I fully realised exactly what was about to happen to me. There are monsters in this world and tales of monsters that preyed on them. I now saw that what the Keeper said had more of a grain of truth hidden in his words. He wasn’t a lawkeeper, the other hunter was the Keeper of this thing, and I was about to become its next meal. My skull would soon join the others in that alcove.
I attempted to shut off my pain receptors in anticipation of the first bite. The excitable sound of a ravenous animal filled my ears. I gritted my teeth and just hoped that my oblivion wouldn’t take forever to claim me.
