The Hunt Chronicles (Volume 3): Crusade

by Demers, J. D.

  My stomach turned. No matter how many times I tried to think of Judy as a nice, wonderful lady, those bad images popped up, distorting my view.

  Fish wanted the same thing for me when I thought of my family. Not a deranged father and a malevolent sister. It wasn’t enough, though. They were still the same people deep inside, no matter what Fish thought. No matter what horrors they took part in or witnessed. Their core, their being, still had to exist somewhere inside.

  Yes, Judy was a bad memory, but even though it was hard to look through the corrupted film of what happened to her, there were still good memories.

  No, I wasn’t going to let my family fall, regardless of Fish’s concerns.

  “Let me ask you a question,” I said, turning back to look at him, “why didn’t you go back and try to help your father?”

  He flinched but he quickly recovered.

  “You don’t think I tried? Trust me kid, I even had them put him in a drunk tank for three days. But it didn’t work.”

  “Okay, you tried. But then you gave up. I’m not going to give up on them that easily. Maybe you can stomach the fact that you let your father die alone and afraid, but I’m not willing to do that with my family.”

  Fish’s face grew red and his eyes became dark. I knew I hit a sore spot. Had he considered that? Maybe not seeing his dad spiral into a drunken void was okay when the man was still alive, but were there regrets after he passed? Of course there were, he just wouldn’t admit it.

  He gritted his teeth.

  “I’m just trying to protect you, kid.”

  His anger was palpable.

  “I know, Fish. And trust me, I’m thankful. But you have to let me try. If I don’t try to bring them back to some sort of sanity, then I’ll never forgive myself.”

  I took a step back before I went on.

  “Thank you. Seriously. I’m glad you have my best interests in mind. But it is something I need to do.”

  He stared at me as the red drained from his cheeks and his face softened. He took in a deep breath and sighed, letting go of the subject.

  “Let’s get back in there and get dry. Besides, Preacher is cooking up some of your sister’s bounty. I want to catch him before he burns the shit out of it.”

  We returned to the barn, soaked from the steady rain.

  The food was one of those ‘just add water’ prepper meals I had eaten the night before. It was supposedly a deluxe meal, consisting of freeze dried beef, noodles and a sauce that was supposed to taste like stroganoff… it didn’t. The dish was better than most of the food we had eaten over the past few weeks, save the fresh deer meat, and no one complained as they gobbled it up.

  We fed the prisoners. I hate referring to my sister that way, but there really isn’t any other way to describe the situation.

  Campbell contacted us just before 11:00 AM, informing us they had yet to find anything meaningful. I still wasn’t sure what Doctor Tripp thought she would find at my parents’ house.

  The rain finally subsided. Fish used the break in weather to get Eagle One in the air and do a little recon. He and Karina controlled the UAV from the Stryker.

  I decided to relieve DJ and Enrique so I could have some time with my sister.

  “How are you holding up?” I asked Trinity as I sat next to her.

  She took her eyes off the ground only briefly, acknowledging me with a sharp glare.

  “Trinity, you have to talk to me,” I whispered earnestly.

  “Now that you have the upper hand?” she sneered.

  “It’s not about having the upper hand,” I said crossly. “It’s about…”

  “What?” Trinity asked while I hesitated. “About how you and your friends might kill us? Your bearded friend over there sure thinks you should.”

  She eyed DJ who was sitting at the stove.

  “No one is going to kill anyone,” I lied.

  I really didn’t know what they were going to do with Gus, Ray, or Goblin. If I had my way, Goblin would just take a shot to the back of the head and we would be done with the little varmint.

  “Before you leave, some of us will be dead,” she promised.

  I wasn’t sure how to take that. Was she going to try and escape? Or was she sure that we would kill her friends?

  “You won’t be,” I stated. “You’re coming with us.”

  She shook her head. “I told you. I don’t need you or them.”

  “It’s not about you needing us,” I conceded. “It’s about us needing you. It is about me needing you.”

  She fixated on the stove for a moment.

  “Family doesn’t mean a thing anymore,” she said coldly. “Ask Dad.”

  “I am going to ask Dad. I’m going to ask him a lot of things. And I’m going to try and bring him around.”

  She chuckled.

  “You actually think you can save him?” She leaned back. “You’re as crazy as he is.”

  I leaned in close to her.

  “Look, Trinity, I know life has been twisted and flipped upside down, but that doesn’t change who we really are. I know you’re hurting. I know you’ve had to do some wicked things. So have I. None of us are pure anymore. I know I can bring you and Dad back to—”

  “To what?” she almost shouted, and then lowered her voice. “Do you think I’m crazy or something? I’m not, Christian. I am still your sister. But I’m also someone who knows how to survive. I’m someone who has learned that friendship and family are just imaginary lines. I trust you about as much as I trust Ray or Goblin. And I trust your friends even less.”

  I leaned back, feeling defeated.

  My sister wasn’t crazy. At least, no crazier than anyone else. She was different. She had changed and evolved. I suddenly hated Fish for being right.

  What surprised me was that she wasn’t even pretending to come around. Trinity could have easily played friendly, become excited about leaving with us and get on everyone’s good side. Then I would have demanded better treatment of her. She could create an opportunity to escape. But she didn’t pretend. She saw no reason to fake how she felt. That’s what worried me more.

  A part of me wanted to reach out and strangle some sense into her. To shout in her face that either she comes with us voluntarily or we would hogtie her and put her on the back of Big Red.

  Her eyebrow raised, as if she could read the thoughts running through my head. I couldn’t hide my anger or irritation. I took a few breaths and slowly eased my frustration.

  Emotionally attacking her would not go anywhere. Her heart had grown too cold, too hard.

  “I’m not going to try and convince you anymore. I’m your brother and I will do what I have to do to protect you. Believe me, or don’t, I really don’t care. That’s just the way things are. The world is dying around me and I refuse to let go of anything, including you. Call it love or call it obsession, but I didn’t travel all this way to just let you walk out on me.”

  I started to rise and her eyes lifted. There were no tears, but I saw regret around her brow.

  “And if I don’t give you a choice?”

  “Then maybe you will just have to kill me,” I replied in the same icy tone she had given to me repeatedly.

  Our eyes locked briefly. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

  I didn’t really care. I said my piece. The wheels were turning in her head, but I wasn’t sure where her thoughts were leading her. Escape? Rethinking her feelings toward me? Killing all of us in our sleep?

  The truth is, I don’t think she had a clue either.

  CHAPTER 21

  Popcorn

  September 2nd Morning

  By mid-morning, everyone had fallen into a routine and preparations were being made to leave the barn. Enrique and DJ were standing watch over my sister and her friends while Preacher and Pittman pulled guard on the roof. Jenna and I were reloading magazines and cleaning our weapons. I was keeping one eye on Boomer and Leia who were snoring next to each other in the dirt by the door. I
wasn’t sure if they would ever form a kinship but at the moment I was just happy they weren’t at each other’s throats.

  “Hey Christian, get over here,” Fish called from the Stryker. The rain had stopped some time before and Campbell had put out the call to recon the area. I put down my weapon and hurried over. Fish and Karina were huddled over the laptop that controlled our drones.

  “What’s up?” I asked after I hopped into the Stryker.

  “Something weird,” Karina returned.

  I arched around, staring over the teenager’s head. The screen showed the canopy of woodland.

  “All I see are trees,” I said with a smirk. “Doesn’t seem that weird.”

  “Watch the trees, kid.”

  I dipped in closer to the screen. It didn’t take long before I noticed part of the canopy rustle. Two seconds later, another nearby patch of trees did the same.

  “Weird,” I murmured.

  “See?” Karina smiled, glancing up at me.

  “It’s not just that.” Fish zoomed the camera out and angled the drone until the view showed a road. “What do you think is causing that?”

  Dozens of zombies were shambling their way across the road, heading toward the commotion in the woods.

  “Could be anything,” I said with a shrug. “Deer, raccoon, wild pig...”

  “It’s been going on for about five minutes,” Fish pointed out. “If a group of Zulus caught an animal, it sure as hell would be dead by now.”

  “Not if it was a pack of dogs. There would be quite a few fighting back or they would have run away,” I countered.

  “I don’t think it’s animals, kid. Look up here.”

  Fish guided the drone further up, past where the trees were rustling. There was a small break in the canopy. He zoomed into the opening, focusing on one specific area. Laying almost on top of each other were two zombies. They had been permanently killed. The head we could see had been crushed while the other body was missing its head all together.

  “Survivors?” I asked.

  “Possible...” Fish muttered. “Or scabs. It’s been raining off and on. Scabs might be using the cover of the weather to move around.”

  “We haven’t seen any scab sign since we got here,” I pointed out.

  “Doesn’t mean it’s a scab free zone.” He turned and looked out of the opening of the Stryker. “Your sister say anything about a scab den in the area?”

  I shook my head. “Never got brought up. She said there were scabs in Crestview, but that’s twenty miles to the west.”

  “Well, then, let’s go ask. Karina, take the controls.”

  She nodded happily and pulled the computer onto her lap.

  Fish and I exited the rear hatch of the Stryker and walked over to the prisoners.

  “Trinity, how many scabs in the area?” I asked calmly.

  Her masked face couldn’t hide the confusion in her eyes.

  “Fiends! What you call fiends!” I said tersely.

  “None,” she responded.

  Gus began to mumble through the gag in his mouth.

  “No scabs in this whole area?” DJ asked in disbelief. “She’s lying.”

  “It’s true,” she responded evenly. “The only ones I’ve seen or heard about are closer to Crestview. Other than that, they’ve been hunted and killed.”

  “By who?” Fish asked.

  “Me,” she replied simply.

  “What about other survivors?” I asked, leaning in closer.

  “Those that are smart enough to stay alive avoid us,” she said dryly.

  I could almost see her grinning underneath the scarf and Goblin started laughing through his gag.

  “There’s more of them,” DJ motioned toward Trinity and Ray. “They have more friends out there!”

  “No, this is it,” I stated.

  “From what she told you,” he said accusingly. “How do you know they didn’t have more people outside the barn?”

  “Because,” I said, staring coldly at my sister, “she killed them all.”

  I was referring to the zombies hanging on the backpacks. We had eliminated those zombies. The idea may have been sound but it was too repulsive for our people. We had left the ones on poles outside believing that they helped detract other dead-heads.

  “Will someone shut that little fuck up,” Fish groaned as Goblin’s laughter became louder despite the gag in his mouth.

  Enrique hit the little man with the hilt of his lawnmower sword. The creature crumbled back against the wall, dazed.

  “How do we know she didn’t lie to you?” DJ argued.

  “Because she didn’t have a reason to,” I shot back, angrily.

  Ray was trying to speak. Fish reached over and pulled the gag from between his teeth.

  “Better say something productive,” he growled at the tall man.

  “She’s…telling the truth,” Ray coughed and spit some dirt from his mouth. “She killed everyone in our group except Gus and me. Most people that were alive around here have died off or moved on over the last few months. We haven’t seen a living soul in weeks.”

  “And we’re going to believe him…why?” DJ said, turning to Fish.

  Heavy droplets of rain began to pound the roof and Karina rushed over.

  “Fish!” she said excitedly.

  “You’re supposed to be flying the drone!” he growled.

  “I don’t think it’s flying anymore,” she said with a frown.

  “What do you mean, ‘not flying anymore’?”

  “Well… it started to rain, so the drone became hard to drive. I tried to bring it back, but I wasn’t sure which way ‘back’ was. I think the rain made it fall some, and I tried to bring it higher, but then it, well, jerked and fell to the ground. When it hit, the screen went black. So, I tried—”

  “You lost the drone?” DJ cut her off.

  “Don’t blame me!” she said, recoiling. “I didn’t do it. The rain did!”

  “We can take the Stryker over and recover it,” DJ suggested. “How far was it?”

  “Not far,” Fish responded. “But I’d rather not move the Stryker. It’s the only thing plugging that hole Pablo put in the barn.”

  “Campbell won’t like it if we lost a drone,” DJ sighed.

  “We can’t afford to be losing drones, but I’m less worried about Campbell and the drone than I am about who or what is killing those zombies. It was only half a mile or so away. If it’s people or scabs, we may be in trouble.”

  “We could send a team out,” I suggested.

  “A little risky, don’t you think?” Jenna asked, joining the conversation.

  Fish lifted an ear, noting the heavier rainfall on the roof.

  “Not really. Not in this weather.”

  “You and I can take Pittman and Jenna,” DJ said.

  “Naw, I need you here to be in charge,” Fish said dismissively. “Christian and I will take the mutt out. We’ll scout the woods and see what’s there. Maybe we can recover the drone.”

  “You can’t take Christian,” DJ threw up a hand. “He’s—”

  “I’ll go,” I said and then faced DJ. “If something happens to me, you still have my sister.”

  DJ stole a quick look at Trinity.

  “It’s happening, DJ,” Fish growled as he walked over and grabbed his M4 rifle from the Stryker. “We can’t take a chance of some rogue group stumbling upon us.”

  “The Captain wanted us all to stay put,” DJ reminded Fish. “And the Doctor will throw a shit fit if Christian goes out.”

  “I’ll handle them. I need the mutt which means Christian needs to come. I know it’s a catch twenty-two, but now that we have his sister, we can take these risks,” Fish replied with a thumb aimed at Trinity.

  I darted over to the Stryker and grabbed two extra magazines along with a grenade. “You should cut us loose,” Ray said. “Give us weapons. We can help.”

  “Did someone sneak over and tattoo dumbass on my forehead?” DJ grunted. He b
ent down and replaced the gag over Ray’s mouth.

  “If there are scabs, you’ll need my help,” Trinity said in an icy tone.

  “Honey, you have no idea what we’ve had to deal with,” Fish retorted as he donned his vest and checked his sights. “Besides, I thought you said there weren’t any scabs around here.”

  “I also said there weren’t any people around here,” she pointed out. “Yet, someone is out there.”

  “You forgot about your father,” he replied coldly. “He’s still out there somewhere.”

  “It isn’t him.”

  “Either way, we don’t need you,” Fish growled and motioned for me to join him.

  “Suit yourself,” she sighed and leaned back against the wood.

  “What do I do?” Karina asked.

  “Get back on that laptop. See if you can reboot or whatever to get that drone operational again,” Fish told her.

  “I don’t’ think it works like—”

  “Just do it!” he cut her off. “Since when did orders become debatable?” he muttered as he marched toward the side door.

  “Since we brought a fifteen-year-old girl with us,” I smirked, joining him and rousing Boomer.

  “Yeah…wasn’t that your idea?” Fish asked as he opened the door. “Ready?”

  I nodded and the three of us ran out into the rain. The zombies fixed to the pikes turned toward us as we passed, their heads leaning as far as they could in a vain effort to snap at us.

  Fish spent the first five minutes of the march bringing Campbell up to date. The rain was fading in and out, from a slow drizzle to a moderate fall. It didn’t impair us too much and we moved quickly. I was worried Boomer’s senses would be impeded, but that also meant zombies were less likely to follow us unless we were right on top of them.

  The added cover of rain allowed Fish, Boomer, and I to move fast and cover a lot of ground. We didn’t have to worry about prowling as much. The rain was loud enough to cover our footfalls, regardless of what we stepped on.

  We put down six zombies before we made it to the road that we had seen on the drone imagery. Either the rain had caused the zombies in the area to disperse again, or whoever was killing them had finished all of them off. We wouldn’t know until we crossed the road.