by SD Tanner
Ip thinks: My brother dear is always near. He does not know the whole show. But he sees enough to know life’s flow may not grow.
‘Hey Gerry,’ he said, as he walked into the comms room. ‘Kat says she has a coupla comms guys for ya.’
‘She umm said. I’m gonna umm meet them umm when they umm rotate to the umm ship,’ Gerry stammered.
‘Ya spoken to Nelson or Isaac out in Lumberton?’ He asked.
Gerry stammered again, ‘Err yes umm he’s umm good I think.’
Ip speaks: Brother dear do you hear?
Isaac speaks: Sister sweet here we meet.
Ip speaks: Your mind is clear. No danger near.
Isaac speaks: All is well as you can tell.
‘We had any other radio contact?’ He asked.
‘Umm no but I umm have umm set up multiple repeating umm messages so I’m umm hopeful we’ll pick up umm some replies.’
Nodding, he said, ‘Keep me posted.’
Ip thinks: So much trouble to talk to one another. They should speak with their minds. It would save them so much bother.
‘Shame we don’t all have telepathy, honey,’ he said to her with a wink.
Ip thinks: If only you would listen to what you know. Then we could speak without being so slow.
Ip huffed at him and he thought, even she’s annoyed today. He headed back to their suite to grab his gear. He didn’t know what they would find on the island so he wanted to be prepared. Ip was lagging behind him looking bored with all their activity.
‘What are ya thinkin’, honey?’ He asked conversationally. ‘Think we’re wastin’ our time?’
Ip thinks: True enough my love but it seems to please you all well enough. You never see your enemy clear and never realize they are always near. But amuse yourself you always do. Far for me to discomfort you. Truth will tell soon enough and then we will see who best plays rough.
She didn’t answer as usual, but she was regarding him with an odd look and he smiled at her. She smiled back and then seemed to become distracted.
Hunter ruler: Busy again I see. You never have time for me.
Ip speaks: Oh go away you foolish thing. I have no time to hear you whinge.
Hunter ruler: I feel our relationship is in a rut. You are so rude to me. I am deeply cut.
Ip speaks: Bleed to death for all I care. I have no time for you to share.
He and Ip met up with Pax, TL, Captain Ted, Pop, Benny, Mackenzie, Max and Kat. The winged Blackhawk could carry up to sixteen people, but they only had eight seats configured. He assumed Ip would sit in his lap and someone else would have an uncomfortable flight. Today Hatch brought one of his trainee co-pilots, but he sincerely hoped Hatch would stay at the controls. He wasn’t in the mood for more problems today. Hatch might be an unreliable ex-alcoholic who failed his flight exams, but he’d learned the man was an outstanding pilot.
The island was about seven miles long by four miles wide. Flying over the small island, he could see it was literally paradise. Long stretches of white beaches surrounded by lush and deep green forests. In the middle of the island was a good expanse of flat grassland that would be ideal for farming. At one end of the island was a tall mountain that looked like an inactive volcano, but was now filled in with a lake creating a spectacular waterfall down to rivers and creeks below. From the air, the island looked untouched by man.
‘Can’t believe this wasn’t turned into tourist crap,’ Pax observed dourly.
‘Next island over has the tourist crap,’ TL replied, pointing at a smaller island. The two islands were so close to one another it looked like it was part of the same island. The only difference between the islands was the smaller island had a collection of single story buildings that were well blended in with the forest areas. With a cluster of small huts and a large shared area, the buildings were clearly hotel style accommodation.
Captain Ted said, ‘We haven’t reconned the hotel island yet’
‘Do ya think there’s anythin’ left livin’ down there?’ He asked.
‘We haven’t seen anything on the bigger island,’ TL replied.
They directed Hatch to land the bird in an open area of grassland on the bigger island and disembarked. Away from the noise and disruption of the bird, they all stood and looked out over the land facing the sea. It smelt fresh and the air was only slightly warm.
‘I could live here,’ Pax said happily.
Sounding worried, Pop said, ‘This place has got nothin’.’
He agreed with his father. It was going to take a lot of work to make the island work for them. The advantage of it being untouched was there were no hunters. Even if there ever were any, in the absence of prey, they would probably have starved to death by now. The downside was there was no infrastructure and they would have to build everything from pipes in the ground to buildings people could live in.
Shrugging, he replied, ‘In the army we carved Forward Operatin’ Bases into less. It won’t be pretty, but we can make it work.’
Nodding at him, TL said, ‘Good approach, Gears. We’ll set it up like an FOB, but it does mean we’re gonna ship a lot of stuff in.’
‘We’re gonna need a big boat,’ Pop observed dryly.
‘TL, ya should get into the army logistics systems at the Naval base Ted’s talkin’ about, and get an FOB manifest. That’ll give Ted and Pax a list of what to go scavenge,’ he instructed. Turning to Captain Ted, he asked, ‘Can ya Navy boys liberate a transport ship from the Naval base?’
Captain Ted grinned and said, ‘You boys waste no fuckin’ time and, yeah, course they can.’
Snorting, Pax replied rudely, ‘Oh yeah, Gears, is good with the orders. Shoulda been an officer. Crap all over yer day and leave.’
He shot Pax a filthy look and said equally as rudely, ‘If I didn’t tell ya what to do, you’d spend all day playin’ with yourself.’
Ip thinks: The noise and the meaning never match. It is only noise and means not much. I think they aim to waste their time. I suppose it amuses their minds.
‘Shaddup both of ya,’ Pop said bluntly. ‘I wanna walk around.’
Neither he nor Pax listened to Pop, and they continued to be rude to one another as they walked around paradise. Max pulled her combat boots off and was standing at the edge of the sea letting the water lap and drench the legs of her ACU pants.
Turning to face them from the shore, Max shouted, ‘We oughta name this island.’
Smiling at Max, he thought it was a good idea. Fagan, their scavenger master, hadn’t found a map with any reference for the island and it didn’t have a name anyway.
‘Sure,’ he called back to her. ‘Whatdaya wanna call it?’
‘Haven!’ Benny shouted, in his usual overexcited way.
Max laughed and said, ‘One letter short of heaven!’
‘We’re a few things short of heaven, Max,’ he observed dourly.
Laughing, Pax said, ‘You’re such a miserable asshole, Gears!’
Ignoring Pax, he turned to Ip and asked, ‘Are there any hunters here, hon?’
Ip thinks: Oh there is bald ones here that I know. They hide in the dark waiting for you to go. We should kill them before we leave. Let us hunt and make the bald ones grieve.
Ip gave him a naughty look and took off into the forested area behind them. At first all he could hear was her crashing through the trees and bushes; but then he heard snarling and hissing.
‘Lil warnin’, honey!’ He shouted, and fell back with the others as they lined the beach.
Hunters seemed to know Ip could kill them and they waited for the hunters to come out of the forested area, running away from Ip. Within moments the first of the hunters stumbled blindly onto the beach.
‘He’s mine,’ Mackenzie called, and opened fire aiming directly at the hunters head.
Max and Benny quickly joined Mackenzie’s gunfire and the young leaders worked in practiced synchronization. There were only four hunters and soon they were lying on the pristine
white beach, still moving aimlessly.
‘Fuckin’ shame to mess up such a nice place,’ Captain Ted remarked.
‘True story,’ Pax replied. ‘Let’s load ‘em on the bird and dump ‘em out at sea.’
‘Do you think there’s anymore?’ Kat asked.
‘Dunno,’ he replied. ‘Let’s walk the island and see what comes out to play.’
They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering across the island. Occasionally Ip disappeared into the dark forests, but there were no signs of hunters. Eventually they found a small wooden hut with beds for up to four people and they agreed there were probably no more hunters on the island than the four they’d found. It seemed the only hunters on the island were the people who’d once lived there. Just as Pax suggested, they dumped the still moving hunter bodies out at sea and returned to the ship.
CHAPTER FIVE: The devil comes down from Georgia (Ruler)
Surveying the wrecked Ranch, he muttered disdainfully, ‘Piece of shit.’
The speaker was a short lean man who stood about five foot six inches tall with a boyish, but aging face. He had short dark hair, which if you looked closely, was growing in the neat lines that was evidence of a cheap hair transplant rather than natural growth. His nose had an odd bump on the end, his eyes were a watery blue and his skin wore an unhealthy waxiness. The man should have been handsome, but despite his boyish features, he was clearly much older than he looked and it made his face look slightly odd. Physically, he was well cut, straight backed and when he walked, his hips and upper body didn’t move and he seemed to glide with a snake-like fluidity.
Sneering, he glared at the super hunter standing next to him and asked in a quiet, but dangerous voice, ‘How did you fuck this up?’
The super hunter didn’t react, but stood looking at the damaged house and barn surrounded by the stench of rotting dead hunters. The lack of response angered the lean man and he suddenly roared, ‘You are so fucking useless! Die!’
Obliging, the super hunter dropped dead to the ground. That seemed to appease the lean man and toeing the corpse with his expensive Italian shoes, he muttered to himself, ‘If only that worked.’
He knew that didn’t work. The entity would reappear in another body and he’d be back where he started, trying to manage a bunch of useless assholes that could never get it right. Feeling quite dissatisfied, he eyed the human standing next to the now deceased super hunter and said grumpily, ‘What are you staring at? Stare bear!’ Then he wrinkled his nose at the growing wet stain on the front of the man’s heavy-duty workman pants. ‘Seriously?’ He asked. ‘Aren’t you a bit old for that, Pampers?’
The terrified man said nothing, but continued to stare at the dead super hunter. He thought about having a hunter kill him, but decided against it. He couldn’t believe what a shocking mess his super hunters and their hunter packs made and he wanted the Ranch fixed. Rolling his eyes, he said conversationally to the terrified man, ‘You can’t get good help anywhere these days. Look at the fucking mess they made.’
When the man didn’t reply, he roared, ‘Are you fucking deaf?!’
‘No, no. I…well…er,’ the frightened man stammered uselessly.
Pinching the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, he intoned to himself, ‘Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him.’ Turning to the terrified man and, speaking as if he was talking to a witless idiot, he said threateningly, ‘Fix this fucking shit.’
Without bothering to add a threat along with his order, he turned and walked away kicking a rotting hunter corpse for good measure. Standing next to the stable was another human. Stalking up to the wiry gaunt-faced man and, with a wave of his stubby little fingers, he said, ‘Make sure that stupid piece of shit gets this Ranch fixed.’
‘Yes boss. Will do boss,’ the gaunt faced man replied with a cheesy grin.
‘Call me Ruler,’ he said flippantly. ‘I like the title. Boss is so…passé.’
‘Yes, Ruler,’ the gaunt man replied practically genuflecting.
‘What’s wrong with you today?’ Ruler asked looking disgusted. ‘I didn’t kill you, did I?’
‘No, Ruler,’ the gaunt man agreed.
‘So, buck up buckaroo,’ Ruler replied gaily. ‘We have things to do!’
‘Yes, Ruler,’ the gaunt faced man replied humbly.
Looking at the scrawny man, he decided he was unremarkable and would need a remarkable name. Pretending to ponder deeply, he declared, ‘Hmm, I think I’ll call you Sprout. No. Chuckles.’
Satisfied with the irony of the dour faced miserable looking piece of crap having such a happy name, he chortled to himself and said cheerfully, ‘Come along, Chuckles. We have people to see. Things to do. Yoo hoo!’
Chuckles followed and he led him to a glossy, long, black stretch limousine parked next to the gate. ‘Now, Chuckles, just make sure Pampers over there fixes this Ranch,’ he said sternly. ‘I have to go see a man about an imp.’
Well, he thought, it’s actually an Ip. His rage stirred, and mentally he petted it. Now, now rage won’t get this problem solved. It’d all been going so very well. Virus. Check. Lots of dead humans. Check. Killer beasts. Check. Job done, eh! It wasn’t done, though, was it? In fact, it was looking like it wouldn’t be done at all. His rage simmered to a boil and breathed out deeply, he thought it didn’t help and so much for yoga.
Why, oh, why were these three humans and one imp causing him so much trouble? Tapping his stubby fingers on the shiny, black hood of the limousine, he stared at the horizon. In his mind, he saw a pristine white cruise ship and the healthy humans it contained.
Hunter ruler: Oh little one? My lovely child. It is time we played without your crowd.
Ip speaks: What do you want you damaged beast. Play with your demons I am not yours to seek.
Hunter ruler: I see you dear. You cannot hide from me. Enjoy your time for you will not long be free.
Ip speaks: Idle threats from a coward like you. Go away for we are through.
Hunter ruler: So you think but that will not be true.
Feeling his rage stirring again, he thought, damn that stupid little bitch. He’d tried everything to unhook her from her human charges. Told her she was one of his. Even offered her love. He didn’t care about the imp. When he got his hands on her, she would suffer severely and scream and beg to die. So many of his “guests” did. No, he didn’t care about her, he only cared about stopping what she and her dumb dogs were doing. It was wrecking his plan and he should be so much further ahead than he was. He was behind schedule and that irritated him. It was a matter of personal pride. His rage rumbled again and he soothed it muttering, ‘Not now, my pet.’
The dumb dogs surprised him with their persistence and success and he knew he was going to have to up his ante. He’d hoped for a simpler solution, but if anything they were gaining ground, not losing it. Chewing on his finger until he tasted copper, he thought, eww, what is that? Looking at his hand, he realized he’d bitten through one of his fingers and shrugging, he said to Chuckles, ‘We need to take a cruise.’
Looking confused, Chuckles asked, ‘What?’
‘A cruise, Chuckles,’ he shouted. ‘On a ship, you dumb fuck!’
‘Err, I don’t think any of the cruise liners are running, boss…err…Ruler,’ Chuckles replied unhappily.
‘It’s not a real cruise ship,’ he said, as if he was talking to a dumb person, which he was.
‘Then how we gonna take a cruise?’ Chuckles asked, now sounding nervous and frightened.
‘It doesn’t matter. You’re not coming. You irritate me,’ he replied tartly. ‘We also need to find a Major.’
He’d seen through the mind of the imp that her dogs had gone to war with a little man who was and wasn’t a Major. He was a short, fat, bald man with stunningly small feet. He thought the little Major man might be useful, and if he wasn’t then he was going to be dead, but it would be better if he were useful. Break the spirit, break the mind. Free the mind and the body w
ill follow. With that thought, he smiled.
‘We need a cruise ship and a Major?’ Chuckles asked, clearly not following the conversation at all.
Rolling his eyes, he thought about killing Chuckles, but decided against it. He was stupid, but the rest of them were even more witless than him. Pampers was second best to Chuckles and he pissed himself almost daily. He drew a deep breath knowing it wouldn’t help and promised himself he would kill the next yoga instructor he met. With exaggerated fake patience, he explained, ‘I have to get an imp to catch some dogs who are delaying my schedule. You understand don’t you?’
Swallowing loudly, Chuckles said anxiously, ‘No.’
Seeing he‘d decided not to kill Chuckles, he smiled benignly and said, ‘Never mind.’
CHAPTER SIX: A world at war (Gears)
‘Hello? Hello?’
Gerry answered in his smooth radio presenter voice, ‘This is the ship, The Mission, replying. Who am I speaking with?’
‘This is The Brittany Express and we’re in the Channel off the coast of the UK. How are you, Mission?’ Replied a distinctly British voice.
‘You find us well. And you?’ Gerry replied smoothly.
‘Pretty rubbish actually,’ the British voice replied. ‘Where are you?’
Flagging one of his new comms guys to go fetch Gears, Gerry replied smoothly and honestly, ‘We’re on a cruise ship off Miami, Florida, and it’s not the best here either.’
‘My name’s Philip. I don’t how long these comms will stay up, can you tell us what your status is?’ Philip asked.
Gerry wasn’t sure how long the weather conditions would last either and he quickly replied, ‘We have about three thousand people on boats, and we are establishing a safe island called Haven to relocate survivors.’
***
Gears burst into the room and threw himself into the chair next to Gerry. Gerry said, ‘Philip. Gears has joined me. He’s our mission leader.’
Turning to him, Gerry said succinctly, ‘They’re in the English Channel off the coast of the UK.’
