The Hunted

by Steve Scheunemann

He had some impossible decisions to make and needed some answers, answers that only Abbey could supply. He’d decided to trust her, and so he would.

  “Let’s go,” he replied.

  “What? Now?”

  “Right now. This minute.”

  Matt got to his feet, took Abbey’s hand and without pausing to grab so much as a change of clothes they left to explore the hills of New Zealand.

  Malone had discovered Matt and the traitorous Hunter were in New Zealand. He was still not sure of their method of entry to the island nation. After they had entered the tunnels under the hills, he’d lost them, but what the spy satellites had shown him was enough to tell him they were being brought to the NZMC headquarters. The New Zealand Marine Corps was a fighting force not to be underestimated.

  Malone’s team would not attempt anything in New Zealand. He had no doubt he could infiltrate them into the country and get them out again, but New Zealand was a known quantity. They would be dealt with by the military in time.

  Malone would instead prove the existence of the organized resistance outside New Zealand. He’d have his chance at Matt. The Kiwis would use him to focus the growing resentment they had been creating with their Angus stories. He’d have to come out and meet people eventually and Malone would get him then.

  He would locate and capture the leaders working off island. Once secured, they would be squeezed for all the intelligence they contained. Malone would then break the back of the resistance, and glean all the nasty secrets that would help unlock the defenses of the one island on the planet that still rebelled.

  The difficulty lay in the fact that the military and government headquarters was underground. There was no solid intelligence on exactly how far underground nor precisely where. What they did know was the location of the entrances. They also had some idea of where it must be, based on geological data from before the amalgamation of the world’s governments.

  All of this would be obtained when Malone started to apply the right pressure. The BGP had been soft on gene trash. Malone would move in all around the globe, smoking the scum from their burrows, and when he got his hands on them he would simply squeeze. They had no honor, and no courage to speak of. Soon enough he’d find one that knew what he needed, then it would only be a short time until Malone got the information that would allow him to destroy all resistance outside New Zealand. Let the military deal with the island when they could.

  Malone was looking forward to his assignment. He’d decided he would work exclusively with his team. No BGP strike teams, no Storm Troop backups. Eleven men and women would clean up all the genetic trash cluttering the gutters of the world. They would rain fire and destruction on the places the trash found shelter, they would destroy all who sought to aid them. Eleven men and women would deliver the wrath of the almighty…. the almighty BGP.

  History would remember the bloody days to come, the days during which humanity was cleansed of its dregs. History would make heroes of them. At their head would be Malone. He was the best the BGP had ever produced and it was about time he showed the world just how devastatingly effective he could be.

  Eleven of them alone against the trash.

  This was not the same as giving up his power. He would still have resources at his command, in the form of his team and his own skills, as well as some nasty surprises in the area of weaponry.

  41

  June 8, 2080

  New Zealand

  Four days without ever once thinking about the world, hatred, responsibility, or anything besides each other.

  Oh, Matt had taken the time to call Colonel Thibodaux and tell him he and Abbey were taking some personal time, and that he’d see him when he saw him. No, he didn’t know how long they’d be gone. No, he didn’t know where they were going.

  While they could probably get off the island if they tried hard enough, it was not their purpose to flee New Zealand; they just wanted the semblance of freedom. Matt was well aware of the fact that they had placed a tracking device within his PDT. That was fine, they could track him to their hearts’ content, as long as they did it from a distance he did not care in the least.

  They had left on a borrowed motorcycle, an antique that still burned fossil fuel. As efficient as they were the fusion plants could never equal the feel of a real honest-to-goodness gas-powered engine. There was a feel of raw power that the quiet vibration-free fusion plants would never have.

  It was an 1800 cc cruiser. 1783 cubic centimeters of power, pushing them down the highway at speeds that were unjustifiably fast.

  Matt and Abbey weren’t seeking justification for speed, merely speed itself. Yes, it was dangerous, and yes there was no hurry, but traveling on two wheels at 185 mph lets you know just how alive you are. The slightest mistake, or even an imperfection in the road’s surface, can mean death. A very messy death.

  They found a little cottage for rent in the small mountain town of Mount Hutt. The place was owned by a local man of about eighty years who raised the biggest dogs Matt had ever seen aside from the BGPs Great Hounds.

  As Jacob explained it they were the result of careful breeding and some genetic manipulation over sixty years and ten generations.

  Weighing around 275 pounds, the beasts stood as tall as Matt’s chest. They had thick, wiry coats that were only medium-long, deep chests, powerful jaws, and long legs.

  Jacob claimed they could run down greyhounds, but at the same time could go all day without tiring.

  The dogs, which he called Great Hounds, were very similar to the BGP version, but smaller, faster, and if Jacob was to believed, far smarter. They were the result of crossing Irish Wolfhounds with Mastiffs and adding in some Rhodesian Ridgeback.

  “They had some genes spliced and chromosomes enhanced in the lab that brought the IQ up to about that of a dolphin, and it’s held true through the generations. These mates of mine are the steadiest, most loyal, and courageous animals there is. They tolerate hardships as would kill most men, and never pike out.

  “Never has their like been seen before. Why, these bugalugs almost don’t need to be trained. What I mean is they learn on their own, they teach each other. It’s much more than instinct, it’s intellect.”

  Matt thought the dogs were some of the most beautiful animals he’d ever seen. Big, powerful beasts, they were somehow as graceful as any cat he’d ever seen. They seemed like a coiled spring, ready to explode into action at any time.

  They’d be fierce in battle Matt knew, possibly even more than the larger BGP version.

  Firmly putting aside thoughts of violence, whether committed by him or by animals, he bid Jacob goodbye and joined Abbey in their cottage.

  “So what should we do today? There are trails we could explore on foot or we could rent bicycles. There’s even a stable we could rent horses from.”

  “I was thinking we might just stay right here,” said Abbey as she slowly began to pull Matt’s shirt from his pants.

  “I want to forget the rest of the world and just enjoy you,” she continued, her breath hot in Matt’s ear.

  Abbey shoved Matt backwards until he sat on the bed. Swinging behind him she began to work at the muscles of his neck and shoulders.

  “Mmm, that feels great,” he murmured.

  “Well relax and enjoy it. I’m going to leave you a weak and helpless quivering mass of well satisfied flesh.”

  Abbey slowly worked his shoulders, then as she reached over and began to work the muscles of his chest Matt could feel her breasts pressed against his back. Her hands reaching further over his shoulders moved down and unbuckled his belt. Lowering his zipper with one hand, Abbey urged him to stand with the other. Quickly Matt’s jeans joined his shirt and he stood before her clad only in his boxer shorts.

  As he stood almost naked in front of her, the amazing beauty of her eyes struck him once again. So blue, so intense, they seemed to fill him with a sense of well being. They knew him, all of him. They knew his strengths, his weaknesses, his hate, as well
as his love. There was no judgment there, only acceptance.

  Matt knew he was forever lost to the love he felt.

  As her hands urged him face down on the bed and began to work the muscles in his buttocks and upper legs, it began to get distinctly uncomfortable for him to lay face down.

  Rolling over, he attempted to grab her and pull her on top of him. Evading him Abbey said, “not yet, I’m not done softening you up. Glancing down she added, “or at least part of you is getting softened up.”

  After that, neither spoke a word for some time. As Matt lay back Abbey worked him over, caressing his body with her hands.

  Matt knew it would be easy to give in to his desire and make love to Abbey again, but ever since the first time something had been bothering him. He knew his morals were not the norm. The world today placed value only on genetic purity. Sex was often casual, usually without commitment and devoid of love. The world told him this was fine. If two adults wanted to spend some time bringing pleasure to each other, that was great. It was even okay to buy your pleasure. But, Matt had been raised, at least in part, by monks. While he knew the brothers never intended he make any vows, he was still greatly influenced by their beliefs. So as wonderful as that first time had been, Matt felt guilty about it.

  The lust Matt felt was powerful, but he knew it was his love that brought him to this, the most terrifying moment of his life. He’d made all kinds of plans in his head, over the last few days, but in the end he forgot them all.

  “Marry me.”

  “What? This again?”

  “You heard me Abbey. I love you. I hope you feel the same. I want to be with you forever, to hold you every night as I go to sleep. Besides, at least for the moment, we’re safe, and I won’t take ‘No’ for an answer.”

  “You can hold me every night now, Matt. Why would we need to get married?”

  “No, Abbey, I can’t. Or I can’t without our being married anyway. I need it to be right.

  “I know that most people no longer believe in God, but I do. Comes from being raised in a monastery, I guess. I know that is probably hard for you to believe, but…”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes?”

  “Yes Matt, I’ll marry you. Is there someone here in town who can do it? I want to marry you right now, today!”

  The ceremony took place that afternoon, Jacob stood as witness as Matt and Abbey became man and wife.

  Abbey knew just about everything there was to know about technique, and used all of her skills to please Matt. She was different with him, she did not have to retreat inside herself, to wall herself off from what her body was doing. With Matt she was fully involved. Like their first time, she wanted to please him because she desired to. She pleased herself as much as him.

  Danielle had warned her about love. When you loved you risked too much of yourself. You gave the other person a weapon they could use over you.

  Abbey knew only too well that if she were to strike out at Matt he would never strike back. He would not even defend himself. It was because he loved her. Love was his greatest weakness, and now hers. She could no longer deny it, even to herself. She loved Matt. She loved him with all she was, so now she too had allowed this great weakness in. The funny thing was, she realized that rather than make her weak, love gave her a great strength. Yes, she could be hurt through Matt, but never by Matt. He loved her. Cut one and both would bleed.

  This great strength came from the knowledge that each of them would move the heavens themselves for the other. As good as each one was alone, together they were unbeatable.

  Gone was any hesitation she had about genetic trash. Malone and others like him were sociopaths, and they had been the product of the most careful genetic engineering ever done. How then could she consider that people like she had met since joining with Matt, people like Fidelis, kind gentle Fidelis who loved Matt more than life, could be in any way inferior just because their genes had not been meddled with? She was now fully committed to helping Matt find himself and his purpose. With Colonel Rawlson and Fidelis to help, she felt sure they would turn Matt from vengeance. He had accepted God and saw himself as damned for seeking his vengeance anyway. He had accepted that damnation.

  42

  June 8, 2080

  Christchurch, New Zealand

  Ralph never felt so free as when he was surfing the net. Here he feared nothing and no man. Here he was the undisputed master. He could crack any security and gain access to any system. If it existed in an electronic form anywhere, Ralph could get it. Since coming to New Zealand he’d been allowed, indeed asked, to do just that.

  Quite possibly the most talented researcher on the planet, Ralph lived for the hunt. The hunt for information. Physically he was unimpressive, not small or weak, just average. Around here, average wasn’t. Occasionally he thought about it, but it had never bothered him before. He’d had his computers and a mission he believed in.

  Ralph had been born a citizen and had lived in fear for thirty years before he was recruited by the Resistance. He and Angus had come aboard about the same time and despite very different backgrounds and skills had become fast friends. Ralph had been Angus’ confidant, the person with whom he was able to share his hopes, his dreams and his fears.

  Ralph knew all about fears. He had been plagued by fear all his life. As a boy he had been afraid of the other bigger kids, of all but the smallest of dogs, he feared spiders, snakes, storms, heights, the dark, just about everything.

  As an adult he learned to fear his government. The difference was most of his childhood fears had been unfounded. His grownup fears were very real.

  He had discovered the great truth about the New World Order. He knew all about the dark underbelly.

  He’d discovered the camps for the processing of genetic rejects, the poor misfits who’d been created in some madman’s lab and then discarded because they were not the expected result, or because they were. Often the scientists created some poor creature for the express purpose of destroying it, or torturing it.

  Ralph had seen file footage of a man who’d been genetically manipulated so as to be born with six eyes. The eyes were then surgically removed so they could be used for paying customers’ transplants, and the original owner of the eyes, with six empty bleeding sockets, who had been given no anesthesia, was dumped into a truck with others of his kind and shipped to a BGP work camp where they were forced to labor until they could be processed. Processing involved turning human beings into a nourishing gruel for those still doing useful work. Often some government scientist or another would browse through those waiting to die and select one or more to carry out some other form of experiment on.

  All of this was legal since they were all clones created from a catalog of genetic material kept on hand for just such a purpose.

  There were even human-animal crosses that had to be seen to be believed. They were all kept isolated from society, their existence a closely guarded secret.

  The most closely guarded file of all though, was the one Ralph was staring at, at this moment.

  It detailed the future of the human race. Starting 11 years ago, the government scientists had begun to implant directly into the brains of all newborn babies microscopic viral-molecular implants, which would allow the BGP to literally take control of their minds.

  The effect was temporary and strictly limited in area, but a BGP agent with the right equipment could, at the press of a button, cause every implanted person within a 2-mile radius to follow instructions exactly. Aside from strictly involuntary activities, like breathing and keeping the heart beating, the brain simply shut down. Then the BGP provided the input. If activated, anyone affected would simply stop, awaiting input. Those driving cars would undoubtedly crash; those swimming would drown. Heck, they might even drown if they were simply drinking a glass of milk.

  Government doctors had also been implanting anyone they had any reason to put under anesthesia as well. At this point some 1.4% of the population was impla
nted.

  So small no x-ray or MRI would detect them, the implants gave the BGP more than control over genetics. They allowed them to do more than simply influence what a person would become. They gave direct control over the mind to the most abusive and evil government the world had ever known. The program was so secret that only those at the highest level of the government even knew the code name, ‘Sunflower’. It was a purposely chosen innocuous name for a program with deadly purpose. As of yet the equipment needed to activate the system was far from portable. It required most of a small building to house it. There was significant work being done to reduce its size however. It would not be too long, Ralph thought. The machine itself could be miniaturized enough to fit in a small truck in pretty short order; it was providing the power for it that would prove difficult.

  Ralph began to hunt. He began to hunt for the locations where the equipment might already be located. Sweat caused his shirt to stick to his back as he became truly horrified at the scope of control the BGP had already achieved.

  43

  June 12, 2080

  Christchurch, New Zealand

  “Colonel Rawlson,” Vicki heard her named called as she was about to enter her office.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m in,” Matt said. “I want to sign up, enlist or whatever you call it.”

  “Come on in and sit down.” Colonel Vicki Rawlson pushed open the door to her office. It was an elegant, if simply furnished, work space. There were several framed photographs on the walls, as well as one on the desk. On the floor was a beautiful Persian rug. The furniture was substantial, made of a dark mahogany. The couch and wingback chairs that formed a conversation area were burgundy leather with deep, comfortable cushions.

  Sitting in one of the chairs and motioning Matt to take a seat, Colonel Rawlson said “Can I ask why? You didn’t seem all that anxious to join us before your surprise nuptials. Can I infer your new bride had something to do with your sudden change of heart?”