by SD Tanner
He decided the voice was lying and said, no you won’t, you plan to kill me.
The voice howled with laughter and still hitching with giggles, it said, I’ve already done that, but it serves you right for killing all those people with your stupid designer virus.
I didn’t kill anyone, he said, Ruler killed most of them at the Ranch.
Can’t kill what’s already dead, ya fool, the voice said cheerfully. Your virus kills the host, but the brain continues the same way it does with the hunter virus. The only difference is your virus leaves more of the brain working and the virus is less lethal to the living, but it still kills the host.
Formulas began running through his mind, but every time he tried to focus on one it slipped from his thoughts. He couldn’t unravel the truth of the words through science, but the voice was inside him and he knew it wasn’t lying. He’d failed, plain and simple. All his research was wrong and he’d failed. While this fact sunk into every inch of his mind, he thought, Terry will be infecting more people tomorrow and I need to tell him to stop.
Too late for that, mate, the voice said adamantly, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.
What do you mean, he asked warily?
You can stay in control of yourself or I’ll take control of you.
According to you, I’m already dead.
Yes, you are, mate, and right now, you control your body, but I can finish the job and then I’ll own all of you.
If you can do that then why don’t you do it now?
I’m lazy, mate. It’s easier if you find out what I need to know and take me where I have to go. It’s up to you. If I control you, then you’re just along for my ride. What do you wanna do?
Being in control was always been a big issue for him. He’d hated being told what to do when he was a kid and he’d never had to put up with it as an adult. Being a leading neuroscientist, his skills had always been in demand and he called the shots. I might be dead, he thought, but I’m still here and I’m still me, and I still don’t want to lose control.
Tell me what you need me to do.
The rats pestering his mind disappeared and the voice replied, we need to find a baby.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Devil’s play (TL)
Having left Mike, Benny, the shooters and other prisoners with just a faint chance of escape, they made their way to the hotel Saunders told them they were most likely to find Ruler. To say he wasn’t happy was an understatement. Everything was pissing him off. Gears should have left the prisoners where they were, but as usual, his know-it-all, do-gooder, over-controlling brother had to be the hero even when there was no way to be one. Usually he just went along with whatever fool idea Gears and Pax came up with. He always figured as long as he kept a close eye on the pair of them, he could step in whenever their shared idiocy bordered on insanity. It was a way of life that worked since he met them at the age of ten, but this time it cost Lydia her life and he blamed Gears for that. If Gears hadn’t dragged his ass to the UK, he would have been at the Ranch, or at least had the time to shore up the defenses there.
They were walking the short distance from the office tower, where they’d found the prisoners, to the hotel. Glaring at the back of Gears head, he thought, stupid asshole. He didn’t really understand why he was so angry with Gears and Pax, but all he wanted to do was take a swing at both of them. Still walking behind them, he saw the entrance to the hotel was made of darkened glass and black marble. Craning his neck to look up, it was at least fifty stories high, but with a fairly small footprint, no wider than most of the surrounding buildings. Sighing, he watched Gears make a hand signal, which he took to mean they needed to be cautious and thought, no shit.
Entering the foyer, Gears told them to brazen it out and act as if they belonged there. Through his radio mike, he listened to Gears. “Find the stairs.”
Shaking his head, he thought miserably, I’m not walking up fifty flights of stairs. Inside the foyer there was what must have once been a glamorous marble-topped reception desk, but now it was dusty, scuffed and battered. To the left of the long reception desk were a bank of gold colored elevators and he strode over to them and pressed the button to go up. The button lit up and glowed in the dim light inside the foyer, and sensing Gears walk up behind him, he heard him quietly say, “Huh, didn’t expect that.”
Rolling his eyes, he cradled his gun and said nothing, looking impassive, while he waited for the elevator. Standing facing the elevator doors, he recalled seeing a long black limousine parked out the front and wondered if they could use it for an emergency extract. Ip had brought her three hunters with her and they were now snuffling and growling while they too waited for the elevator.
After a waiting less than half a minute, Pax complained, “I don’t think it’s workin’.”
He contemplated slapping him across the head, but decided now was probably not the time. Maybe later, he thought with some satisfaction.
“Yeah,” Gears replied, as he started to move away from the elevator doors. “Let’s go find the stairs.”
Gritting his teeth, he hissed sharply. “I’m not climbing the stairs if I don’t have to. The building is at least fifty stories high. Give it a minute.”
Gears glared at him and Pax began to fidget. Ip sighed and they continued standing together, watching the lights at the top of the elevator doors. Their reflection was warped in the shiny gold metal of the doors, but he could see Pax was still fidgeting.
“Nah, this is dangerous,” Pax complained quietly. “We gotta find the stairs.”
He was about to tell him to shut the hell up when the elevator made a quiet dinging noise, and the set of gold doors in front of him smoothly slid open. Without waiting for his brothers, he marched into the elevator, pressed the button for the top floor, and stood with his back to the mirrored wall opposite the doors. A noise that was supposed to pass for music was playing through the speakers. Ip walked in and stood next to him, followed by her three hunters and Pax and Gears. All of them turned to face the doors. When the elevator doors began to close, an arm shot out, and the sensors in the doors made them immediately slide open again. A young man with blue on blue eyes stepped into the elevator, and paying no attention to them, he turned to face the doors while they slowly closed again. With a smooth and practiced motion, Pax grabbed the man by the head and ran his KA-BAR firmly across his throat. The man offered no resistance other than to gurgle and blood spewed from his slit throat. He let go of his grip around the man’s head and he dropped to his knees. Ip drew her sword up high and plunged it down through the man’s neck, severing his spinal cord. It took the pair of them no more than ten seconds to kill the super hunter, and the elevator quietly continued to travel smoothly to the top floor of the hotel.
Ignoring the growing pool of blood at his feet, Gears said conversationally, “You’d think you’d need a security card to get to the top floor.”
“They must have disabled it,” Pax replied, while he wiped his blade clean against the leg of his pants. Putting his knife back in his belt, he began to hum to the music playing through the elevator speakers.
The elevator had a soft female voice. “Level fifty-two.”
It stopped and the doors quietly slid open. Ip sent her hunters out first and they ambled into the corridor. When there was no reaction, Gears cautiously peered out of the elevator, his gun aimed, and then he waved at them to join him. He followed Gears, Pax and Ip into the dimly lit corridor and fell into position at the rear. Gears and Pax were crabbing forward with their guns ready to fire. He felt less concerned, and with a casual glance down the corridor, he decided it all looked pretty quiet to him. Ip was walking between him and his brothers and controlling the hunters who were ambling ahead. The corridor had a set of double doors at each end, and two single doors against the wall opposite the elevator. Each door had a gold sign with the name of the suite elegantly etched on it. There was an ornate gold handle with a black box on the wall next to it that was clearly a swipe
card security system. Above each black box was a doorbell nestled in the middle of a gold oval plate. The corridor alone screamed money and he assumed the suites would be equally as expensive. Against the wall with the elevators, were several plush and floral patterned sofas and large ornate gold trimmed mirrors sat above them. They neared the end of the corridor and were almost outside the dark mahogany double doors.
In a loud stage whisper, Pax asked, “How are we gonna get in?”
With and equal air of drama, Gears whispered, “Dunno. Which door should we go for?”
Deciding they were both over acting, he sighed. “Maybe we should ring the doorbell.”
Gears turned to look at him with an expression of disbelief. “We’re not door-to-door salesman, TL. I ain’t sellin’ Tupperware.”
“Nah, screw that shit,” Pax said loudly. Taking aim at the door in front of him, he opened fire and shot at the door handles.
Rather than tell Pax to stop, Gears joined in, and the sound of their gunfire in the confined space of the corridor was deafening. One of the double doors swung open and he dived to the left in time to avoid gunfire coming from within the room. Gears and Pax swung behind one of the sofas against the wall and they returned fire. Ip was nestled between the two sofas and was controlling her hunters to continue their advance through the now open door. Her hunters were taking a tremendous amount of fire, but being hunters, it had no effect other than to make their bodies jerk while they walked through the rain of bullets. As the hunters entered the room, crouching low, Gears and Pax used them as a shield and they followed,, firing past them into the room. He sighed and wondered, now they’d made their presence so known, who they thought was going to deal with any danger that could come from the other rooms. Just as he thought might happen, the single door in the wall opposite him opened and he began to fire rapidly at whatever might be about to come through the door.
Whoever or whatever it was clearly thought better of it and he was left looking at an empty doorway. Ip had left to follow Pax and Gears and he assumed she was planning to control the hunters to support their attack. He moved forward unsure whether to follow her or to go into the suite through what appeared to be a side door. The decision was made for him when the double doors at the other end of the corridor began to ease open. Still firing, he ran for the side door and burst into the room. He was immediately confronted by two bodies he assumed were the people he’d just fired at when they tried to leave. Looking down at the two young women at his feet, he realized they were probably not super hunters, and more likely survivors who were taking advantage of the disruption and trying to escape. His heart froze and he knew he’d just killed two innocent civilians.
Shaking his head to free it of the guilt he knew he would have to deal with later, he advanced into the room and through his radio, he said, “I’m in through the side door.”
He was in a room that looked like a corridor that led to the main suite. If he had to guess, he thought he was probably in a side entrance used by staff to provide services to the guests. To his right was a wall, and he inched his way down the corridor to another door that was half-open. The sound of gunfire continued, and when he reached the door, he peered around it cautiously. In front of him was a large open area with a dining table and several heavy and well-stuffed green colored sofas, with a large gold metal trimmed coffee table between them. Behind the sofas, he saw several men in ACUs taking turns to pop up and fire at his brothers. Lying sprawled over the top of a sofa was a downed hunter and it was leaking black goo into the green fabric. He took aim to shoot the men and saw something move to his right. Someone was disappearing through the double doors that were to the right of the long dining table. Firing rapidly at the shooters behind the sofa, he pulled back swiftly while they returned fire in his direction. He was sure he’d hit them. There was no way he could have missed, but they returned fire with gusto and were a pretty good aim. When they stopped firing in his direction, he heard them continuing to fire back at his brothers and he decided it was a standoff.
Taking an M67 grenade from his vest, he removed the safety clip and pulled the pin. Throwing it at the men behind the sofa, he shouted, “Frag out!” Ducking back behind the wall of the corridor, and determined the guys would stay down, he pulled out another grenade. Pulling the pin, he again shouted, “Frag out!” His second grenade signaled a clear end to the engagement and the room fell silent.
Through a cloud of smoke, Gears appeared in the doorway. “Two frags? Seriously? Who the fuck trained ya?”
Sounding as irritated as he felt, he said, “You did, and they were super hunters and none of these fuckers die easy.” Waving his hand at the double doors next to the dining table, he added, “I saw someone go in there.”
“Let’s take a look. Watch our six.”
Gears and Pax walked up to the door and stood on either side. With a nod, Gears asked Pax, “You ready?”
Pax nodded, stepped forward and quickly flicked one side of the double doors open. When it swung open, the second door also opened with it, and he saw the room was filled with a large California king-size bed and Ruler was sitting on top of it, with his legs stretched out in front of him and his ankles crossed. In one hand Ruler held a handgun and he was smiling happily.
Both Pax and Gears aimed their weapons directly at him. Gears growled, “Put the gun down, ya little shit.”
Ruler gave him a sly look. “Oh I don’t think so, Gears.”
Ip ran in into the room with her sword drawn to attack him, but Gears was faster and he grabbed her shirt as she went by and pulled her back.
“Cut it out, honey! We’ve got him covered.”
Ip fought against his grip. “You have no plan that will stand. Let me go or evil will flow!”
While she continued to struggle fiercely, Gears wrapped his large and heavy arm around her slender waist, and even though she couldn’t win, she refused to concede and continued to struggle against him.
Ruler began to laugh, and in between his spluttering laugher, he said smugly, “You’re the one that needs to keep better company, my little imp. Why do you waste your time with these dolts?”
Suddenly he understood what was about to happen. “Gears, let her go!”
Still firmly holding the struggling Ip, Gears half turned to him. “What?”
Before he had a chance to explain, Ruler lifted the gun, and putting the barrel under his chin, he pulled the trigger. The gunshot resonated and the back of his head exploded, leaving fragments of brain, skull and blood against the pillows and wall behind him. Ruler’s body jerked back and then he was utterly still.
“What the hell…?” Pax uttered in the silence.
In surprise, Gears loosened his grip on Ip and she wriggled free, stalking over to the bed. Staring down at the lifeless corpse, her face became a frozen mask of fury. Her blue on blue eyes seemed to spark, whirling, she glared angrily at Gears.
Raising her sword, she slapped it violently against Ruler’s corpse and then pointing her sword at Gears. “You! You do not know what to do! It cannot be killed! It is not alive, so it cannot be dead!”
Stalking toward Pax and Gears, with her sword still pointing at them, she jabbed it with each sentence. “You! You let it escape! Again! You never learn! You are old and you are stubborn!” She continued to wave the end of her sword less than an inch from Gears face. “What? What will it take? Do you need to die? Do you need proof? Let me kill you, and when you return, maybe you will be smarter!”
He thought given Ruler had the gun in his hand, it was unlikely Ip could have reached him in time to stop him from shooting himself, but they could have at least tried.
Ip was still so angry, she continued to hold the lethal tip of her sword at Gears throat. This was a side of Ip he’d never seen, but he completely understood her frustration and added his own. “She’s right! You don’t know what you’re doing. You never fucking have!”
Without breaking his eye contact with Ip, Gears said calmly, “Sh
addup, TL. It’s bad enough she’s shouting in my ear and my head at the same time. No man should have to be telepathically connected to an angry woman.”
Pax gave Gears a sympathetic look. “I’m earnin’ a new respect for ya, bro’. Your wife’s givin’ me a major headache.”
Pushing Ip’s sword away with his hand, Gears said amiably, “Honey, get that blade outta my face and explain yourself.”
Ip glanced over at him and he realized she was speaking for his benefit. In a slightly calmer voice, she said, “The Devil does not just die and neither do you or I. Just like we, it can return, but now we do not know its form.”
He’d seen the problem the moment she’d fought against Gears to attack Ruler. Now Ruler was dead, he would come back and they’d have no idea who he was. It complicated an already almost impossible mission.
Gears eyes widened. “What the hell was I supposed to do?”
“You cannot kill it. You must convince it to leave, and it will only leave when it knows it has lost. I needed to stop it from destroying itself. You must talk to it.” Waving her hand around the room, she added, “Now it could be…anywhere.”
Seeming to lose her rage, Ip’s shoulders dropped and so did her sword. She suddenly looked tired and defeated, as if she felt this was a battle that would never end. Watching her closely, he was reminded of the first incarnation of Ip and how much empathy he felt for her when she was trapped in a mind that was so badly damaged by the designer virus. Now having lost Lydia and been left with a child to raise, he empathized with her frustration at a mission that never seemed to go well. Clearly she was as fed up with Gears as he was.
“You never have a plan, Gears,” he said dourly. “You keep dragging us all from one half-assed idea to the next. You knew Ruler had captured New York. What did you think he’d done with all the people? You knew Ruler could die and would be reborn. What did you think he was going to do if we cornered him?” Shaking his head, he turned to leave. “We never get any closer to a solution and all the wrong people keep dying.”
