Hunter Wars Omnibus Edition (Books 1 - 3)

by SD Tanner

  Ip ran and launched herself at Pax, slapping him sharply across the ear.

  Rubbing his ear, Pax complained, ‘Shit! She’s developin’ a mean streak!’

  ‘Either that or she don’t like bein’ carpet bombed, asshole,’ he replied rudely.

  Still rubbing his ear, Pax asked, ‘What the hell ya bin teachin’ her, Gears. She’s gettin’ slap happy.’ Then Pax grinned and asked, ‘Jus’ whatdaya get up to in the boudoir, Gears?’

  ‘I ain’t discussin’ that with ya,’ he said frowning at Pax. ‘And since when did ya know words like boudoir?’

  Pax chuckled and said, ‘Heard it in a movie.’

  Standing next to Pax, he could smell waves of whisky fumes and he growled, ‘Ya been drinkin’ on my ship, Pax?’

  ‘Nah,’ Pax replied happily. ‘On Ted’s sub.’

  Sounding as annoyed as he felt, he asked, ‘Have ya been firin’ shitfaced again?’

  Pax’s face fell and frowning, he complained, ‘When ya gonna let that go? I only did that once.’

  ‘Make that twice now, dumbass,’ he replied sternly.

  They both made their way back to the bank where Nelson was now standing surveying the damage.

  ‘Well I think it’s time we moved,’ Nelson said casually. ‘This place has really gone to hell.’

  CHAPTER TEN: What’s yours is mine too (Gears)

  Pax and Captain Ted were busy setting up the Naval base and Marine supply base. Hatch was working with TL to ferry Nelson’s people to the Marine supply base. They needed to check the living island was clear of hunters and he decided to take the young leaders and their teams out to clear the island. Isaac had stayed with Nelson’s group to help keep them secure on land while he returned to the island with Ip, Benny, Mackenzie and Max plus six of their combat shooters. He hadn’t seen any hunters when they had flown over it, but everyone was pretty keen to see Haven.

  When he got back to the ship the night before, Kat told him more boats were arriving steadily. Setting up the island and the mainland base was now his highest priority, but he was frustrated. In his view, they needed to find more of Ip’s people and keep killing the super hunters, but the needs of the survivors were overriding everything. He had too many number one priorities and not enough experienced personnel. If he could, he would hand off the survivor needs and get on with the job of war. He wasn’t cut out to be a manager and he knew it.

  Currently they were being flown by one of Hatch’s newly trained pilots and circling the second island. This pilot is no Hatch, he thought as the bird dipped and banked too sharply. The sharp movement made his stomach drop and they were thrown so hard, everyone strained uncomfortably against their harnesses. Usually they didn’t bother strapping themselves in, but the greenhorn at the controls was hurling them about like marbles in a metal box and even he was feeling airsick, while everyone else was looking more than a little green. Deciding that dealing with hunters was better than being vomited on by ten people, he told the pilot to land. Sitting opposite him Max gave him a look of clear gratitude.

  It wasn’t a good landing. He felt his spine jar while the bird landed, not once, but bunny hopped its way along the ground. Without waiting for the all clear, everyone began to unbuckle, grab their gear and tumble out of the bird.

  Looking more than a little unhappy, Benny whined, ‘Can we walk back?’

  Max eyed him dourly and bluntly asked, ‘Can you walk on water?’

  Groaning, Mackenzie replied, ‘I’m prepared to learn.’

  He didn’t disagree, but by now he had forgotten about the pilot and was looking at the mass of foliage in front of him trying to understand the layout of the resort. As was protocol, the pilot left his rotors running for an emergency take off until he was given the all clear. There was a central single story building with a grass-covered roof, but judging by the number of single story guest cabins they saw from the air, this wasn’t a large resort. The main problem with the resort was all of the buildings were set into the natural foliage, and it meant there were plenty of dark areas where the hunters could hide. Ip snarled lightly and he knew it meant hunters were near.

  ‘Okay people! Saddle up!’ He called to the team. ‘We got company.’

  Turning to Ip, he said, ‘Honey, go scare ‘em out.’

  They lined up ready to shoot hunters stumbling out from the foliage and he said sternly, ‘Don’t shoot Ip. It pisses me off.’

  Ip smiled and raced off following a paved path leading into the greenery surrounding the buildings. Immediately there was the sound of rustling and growling as hunters reacted to her presence.

  ‘Steady people,’ Mackenzie instructed. ‘Wait until they’re out in the daylight. Don’t fire wild with Ip running about in there.’

  The first of the hunters stumbled out into the daylight and immediately became confused. As ordered, the combat shooters waited until the hunter drew closer. The closest shooter called the shot, and with good accuracy, shot it directly in the middle of the face. It wasn’t a brain stem shot, but the hunter was now permanently blinded, lacking both teeth and a mouth to bite anyone. The combat shooter then put the hunter down with a well-aimed shot to the back of its head.

  ‘Nice shooting!’ Benny said loudly.

  ‘Thanks dude,’ the shooter replied with more than a hint of pride.

  More hunters were stumbling into the flat patch of land they were standing in and the real shooting commenced. As usual, in the daylight, it was a crapshoot and the combat shooters became increasingly excited by their target practice. He didn’t bother to join them. He didn’t need the practice, and firing a gun had long lost its thrill. Judging by the dirty and torn remains of their clothes, many of the hunters looked to have been guests of the resort. Some were still wearing brightly colored bathing suits, but their dried, hardened skin was now a sickly tan color and it created a grotesque contrast.

  With twenty-three hunters lying on the grass, they were down, but still moving and the shooters finally ran out of targets. Leaving Mackenzie and three other shooters to keep watch over the bird, he directed Max and Benny plus three of the shooters to follow him and together they followed Ip’s path. The paved walkway split into many paths that weaved around the private guest cabins and it wasn’t entirely clear which one would lead them to the central hotel. They moved as quietly as anyone can when wearing a fully loaded SPCS vest with ammo, machete and handgun. On either side of the path were small shrubs and plants that somehow survived under the umbrella of leaves the trees provided. It was cool and slightly damp and insects scattered as they accidentally brushed the bushes.

  Hearing loud rustling ahead, he aimed his weapon in the direction of the sound and said quietly, ‘Hold your fire.’

  Listening closely, he heard Ip’s familiar delighted, but meaningless chatter followed by crashing and banging.

  ‘Honey! Whatcha doin’?’ He asked loudly.

  Ip appeared from around the corner of the path and then disappeared again. Lowering his weapon, he said to the team, ‘Let’s go see what she’s found.’

  When they rounded the corner, he saw it opened into a huge open-air foyer filled with rattan chairs and low tables. On the left was a large reception desk that looked as if it was made of bamboo. To his right was a glassed area claiming to have a cashier and internet area. Directly in front of him was the remains of what must have been an upmarket restaurant. Even though it was a large area with a roof, other than a small office area behind the bamboo reception desk and the small glassed in bank and internet area, there were no walls. He walked across the large room and up several steps, until he was standing in the restaurant. From that position he could see why there were no walls. The view from the open-air restaurant was magnificent. The beach and sea stretched in front of him, and he could hear the soothing sound of the slow waves lapping the shore and smell the salty freshness of the water.

  Shaking his head, he asked, ‘Who the hell ever got to live like this?’

  Max snorted and
replied, ‘Not on my paycheck.’

  ‘Yeah, well it was above my pay grade too,’ he said dourly.

  He’d travelled a lot with the army, but they didn’t send them anywhere as nice as he’d seen since the end of the world. They often went to exotic places, but only ever got to stay in grim looking army bases. From the restaurant, he saw Ip was on the beach. Shouldering his weapon, he walked onto the beach to see what she was doing. Walking up to her, he realized she was looking past him and he turned and saw in between all the trees and shrubs, were a long row of well-hidden guest cabins.

  Sighing, he said, ‘I guess we’re gonna have to check every single one.’

  Taking her hand, he said, ‘Come on, honey. Let’s go find a map.’

  In reception they found a guest flyer proudly claiming 115 guest cabins with three swimming pools, three restaurants, sauna, gym, day cruises, tennis, beachfront services and 24-hour room service.

  Max radioed Mackenzie, who was waiting with the bird, and said, ‘Might as well put your feet up. This is gonna take a while. I’ll let you know when we need you to relieve us.’

  Walking up to the first of the guest cabins, they found the door wasn’t locked and they waited while Ip let herself in to clear hunters. After a few minutes she hadn’t come out and he walked up to the door and listened.

  Inside the room, he could hear vague rustling and he shouted, ‘Honey! Whatcha up to in there?’

  Getting no response and lifting his gun to eye level, opened the door and walked in, placing his back to the wall looking for any threats. He saw Ip was busy digging about in expensive luggage.

  Lowered his gun, he walked over to her and she looked up at him happily. Shaking his head and laughing, he said, ‘You’re jus’ nosey, honey.’ Still smiling at her, he called to the team, ‘All clear.’

  Walking in, they all stood looking around the room. It was on two levels, there was a bed on the top level and two steps that led to a lounge area with a wide glass window providing a view of the white beach they’d been standing on earlier. In one corner of the lounge area was a large three foot high marble Jacuzzi that easily fit three people. Obviously guests could relax in the Jacuzzi while enjoying a view of the sea. Opposite the Jacuzzi and against the wall was a comfortable sofa and coffee table. Looking back at the super king-size four-poster bed, he could see the room was obviously designed for romance.

  ‘Woah! Check this out!’ Benny shouted.

  Walking to the bathroom area behind the super king size bed, he saw the room had a separate bathroom, but unexpectedly the bathroom was not pitch black. Peering through the doorway he saw why. Beyond the room was a walled area with a tiled floor surrounded by small flowering plants, but no roof. It was an outdoor shower and Benny was fiddling with the taps, hoping they still worked. He was sure they wouldn’t work, but with a generator, they could probably get the water running again. Luxury cruise ship and now a five star resort.

  He chuckled and Max asked, ‘What’s funny?’

  Still chuckling, he shook his head and said, ‘We keep findin’ all this luxury stuff and then we wreck it.’

  Grinning at him, Max said, ‘Yeah the ship looks like it’s got a rat infestation.’

  She was right. Since they took over the ship, it was becoming a dented, stained and bullet-hole ridden rust bucket. Personally, he very much doubted it would last another year, not that he didn’t care. He figured people would relocate to bases on either the mainland or the islands before they managed to accidentally sink the ship.

  The rooms were empty and it only took them four hours to check them all. Aside from the hunters they initially found, all that was left of the guests were decaying hunter corpses. They must have run out of food and slowly starved to death. All the guest cabins were pretty much the same as the first they found. There were easily facilities for a thousand people providing they replaced the luxury king sized beds with more practical bunks and cots. The resort was fully wired and had plumbing, and with generators, they could probably get all the bathrooms and showers working. The other facilities could be used for storage and, with the additional land around the resort, they could put up further FOB style accommodation to further expand the site. He figured it could probably house up to two thousand people.

  Between this and the larger island next to it, he thought they had a viable solution to house the survivors and grow fresh food. Both islands were now clear of hunters and they could start moving people off their boats and onto the islands immediately. Heading back to the bird, they were about to climb aboard when he heard the crack of a gun and felt something thud into the ground at his feet.

  Feeling a now familiar twinge of irritation at being shot at for no reason by someone he didn’t know, he was about to dive for cover and return fire when he heard a man call out breathlessly, ‘Sorry about that….didn’t want you to leave.’

  A tanned bald man in his late forties huffed and puffed his way over a low grassy hill from opposite the resort. The man was dressed in a Hawaiian-style wraparound skirt with a grubby white t-shirt, and was carrying an old hunting rifle. He couldn’t believe this was the guy who’d almost shot him. The man looked like an aging hippy and he noticed the man was wearing a blue beaded necklace and leather bracelet, which only added to the look.

  With his M4A1 firmly pointed at the approaching man, he said, sternly, ‘Put your damned weapon down, asshole.’

  The bald man reacted by casually tossing his weapon on the ground, but continued to stamp across the grass breathing heavily. Un-fucking-believable, he thought and said angrily, ‘Stop! When someone has ya in their gun sights ya should stop! Jus’ how fuckin’ stupid are ya?’

  The bald man stopped and mumbled, ‘Oh yeah. Right. Sorry about that.’

  ‘And stop fuckin’ apologizin’,’ he said, sounding as frustrated as he felt.

  The bald man was now only ten feet away and he said apologetically, ‘Umm…sorry about the shooting thing. I thought you were going to take off before I got here.’

  Lowering his weapon and sounding slightly less annoyed, he asked, ‘Who are ya?’

  ‘Oh yeah. Right,’ the bald man replied hastily. ‘I’m umm…’ Trailing off, he seemed to be at a loss and then said, ‘Everyone calls me Baldy.’

  Behind him the combat shooters sniggered and he felt a wave of annoyance wash over him. Taking a deep breath, he asked, ‘What the hell are ya doin’ here?’

  ‘It’s my island,’ Baldy replied plainly. ‘I live here.’ Pointing to the resort behind them, Baldy said, ‘I own that resort. I used to live there until the hunters took it over.’

  ‘So where do ya live now?’ He asked.

  Turning, Baldy waved his hand vaguely at the other end of the island and said, ‘In my underground bunker over there.’ Facing him again, Baldy said plainly, ‘Couldn’t live here. There were hunters all over it.’

  Not understanding, he asked, ‘How did that happen?’

  Baldy explained, ‘We were doing fine here, but a boat turned up on the shore a few months ago. We thought there was no one on board, but I guess there was because next thing we knew the whole place was infected. I escaped to the resort storm shelter, but I only just made it alive. I’ve been hiding in it ever since.’

  Max was now standing next to him listening to Baldy’s story and she asked, ‘Why do you even have a storm shelter?’

  ‘Because there can be big storms through this area,’ Baldy explained. ‘The storm shelter is a fully contained underground capsule that can accommodate up to two hundred people. Sleeps forty people.’

  ‘What have ya been livin’ on?’ He asked, now feeling more curious than annoyed.

  Baldy shrugged and said, ‘It wasn’t tourist season when the virus hit. People wanted to get home pretty much immediately and they took the boats we had here and left. There were only forty people left. We had supplies for more and that lasted awhile and there’s plenty of fish.’

  Looking them up and down, Baldy was clearly studying
their ACUs and he asked, ‘So, I guess you’re the army?’

  ‘No,’ he replied firmly. ‘There’s no government or army left that we know of. We got about three thousand-odd people in boats out there and some people left on land, but nothing organized. Yet.’

  Looking at the dead, but still moving hunters in front of the pathways to the resort, Baldy said, ‘You certainly did a good job with those hunters.’

  ‘These people are combat trained,’ he explained. ‘We’re training people to be a fighting force to take back the mainland.’

  ‘Okay, so what are doing here?’ Baldy asked bluntly. Waving his arm to the West, he added, ‘Mainland is thattaway.’

  ‘We need this island,’ he replied bluntly. ‘And the one next door for survivors, so they can start farmin’ for food.’

  Looking a little taken aback, Baldy said, ‘I own this island. I’m not sure I agree with you moving thousands of people onto it.’

  He hadn’t expected to find anyone on the island and he sure as hell didn’t have time to find another one. Wishing TL was here instead of him, he said as politely as he could muster, ‘I’m gonna hafta insist. I got over three thousand people dyin’ out there, so ya gonna hafta deal with it.’

  Sounding surprised, Baldy asked, ‘Why are they dying?’

  Max answered for him and said in her blunt way, ‘They’re not living there ‘cos they want to or even know how to. It’s becoming impossible to survive on the land. They have no choice.’

  Baldy looked at Max apologetically and said, ‘I haven’t had any news from the mainland in nearly six months now, so I didn’t know.’ Brightening, Baldy added, ‘But I do know how to survive on this island, plus I could do with some company. It’s been a lonely few months. I’m not used to being on my own.’

  Thinking Baldy might be very useful if he knew how to get the water and electrics working in the resort, he asked, ‘If we can getcha power can ya get that resort workin’ again?’

  Baldy replied slightly indignantly, ‘Well I wasn’t on the maintenance team, but I kept it working for four months before everyone got infected.’