Hunter Wars Omnibus Edition (Books 1 - 3)

by SD Tanner

  Nodding, he said, ‘We’re headin’ out, but people are gonna start headin’ here as soon as we get back. Islands clear and it’s safer than stayin’ on their boats. We’ll start air liftin’ supplies tomorrow.’

  No longer looking indignant, Baldy asked plaintively, ‘Can I come with you?’ He added hastily, ‘I’ll come back with the supplies tomorrow and help people get settled.’

  Looking Baldy up and down and sounding horrified, Benny asked, ‘What? Dressed like that?’

  ‘Shaddup Benny,’ Max said archly. ‘It’s the end of the friggin’ world. Who cares how anyone’s dressed?’

  ‘Yeah, but he could die dressed like that,’ Benny pointed out. ‘Our pilot could barely land on a whole island. How’s he going to land on the helipad on the ship?’

  Mackenzie chuckled and said, ‘He has a point, Max. Benny is gonna crap himself to death.’

  Snorting, Max replied, ‘Then I ain’t sitting next to him.’

  They’re learning too well from us, he thought dourly. They bitch at one another as bad as we do. Slapping Benny on the back, he said, ‘That’s enough. Pilot’s fine and, Baldy, get on the damn bird.’

  CHAPTER ELEVEN: Old problems with old solutions (TL)

  ‘How are you getting on now?’ He asked.

  When they arrived over a month ago, Mullen, Ben, Tessa and Jen were assigned to one of the larger guest cabins on the ship. With Jen’s health issues, they were on the same level as the makeshift hospital on the ship. In their cabin they set up a bed for Jen in the lounge. Next to Jen’s bed was a cot, which he presumed was for Tessa to stay near her daughter. Walking in, he saw Jen was sitting on the balcony, wrapped in a quilt.

  ‘Settling in fine thanks, TL’, Tessa answered. ‘Everyone here has been very kind.’

  ‘You know you got rats on board?’ Mullen asked.

  Kat just gave him an earful about the rat problem and sighing, he said, ‘Yeah, I heard.’

  ‘Be quiet, Ian,’ Tessa admonished Mullen. ‘We’re very happy to be here and I think the sea air is doing Jen good.’

  ‘That’s good to hear,’ he replied genuinely pleased. Based on what Lydia told him about Jen’s condition, he doubted she would have a long life. The deterioration of her lungs was progressive and there wasn’t much they could do about it other than keep her comfortable.

  ‘What brings you here anyway?’ Mullen asked.

  Tessa gave Mullen a stern look and then smiling warmly at TL, she said, ‘You’re always welcome.’

  He was heading to the CDC that morning. It reminded him he hadn’t checked on Tessa and Jen for a few weeks and he said, ‘I just wanted to see how you’re doing, plus I’m heading back to the CDC today. Lydia tells me they have already made some progress.’

  Sounding surprised, Mullen asked, ‘So soon?’

  ‘I know. I wouldn’t have expected them to make any progress in just five or six weeks, but apparently they have,’ he replied. ‘They want permission to use volunteers to test the designer virus.’

  Looking shocked, Tessa asked, ‘Do you think that’s wise, TL?’

  He wasn’t sure. They needed the counter virus, but the idea of testing on living hosts disgusted him from the moment he heard how Ip was created. Shaking his head, he said, ‘Probably not, but we need the counter virus so I dunno what choice we have.’

  Tessa said, ‘I guess it’s not the same as before. People will get to choose if they’re infected with the designer virus. The problem for me wasn’t being infected. The real problem being held prisoner and being infected.’

  He was very interested to hear Tessa’s opinion. She’d been infected as had Jen, and other than the blackouts, Tessa seemed to be normal only now, she could kill hunters like Ip and Isaac could. Jen, on the other hand, was physically destroyed by the virus. He thought if anyone had a reason to object to what Farrington was doing, it was Tessa.

  ‘What are you saying?’ He asked curiously. ‘That you don’t see an issue with people being infected with the designer virus even if it could kill them or worse.’

  ‘What other choice is there?’ Tessa asked plainly. ‘Have you listened to the survivors stories? Because I have. I’ll admit I was angry with Farrington, but now I’ve spoken to the survivors, I know how bad it is out there and maybe we need what he’s doing.’

  ‘Will you be willing to tell people that?’ He asked.

  Tessa nodded and replied, ‘I’ll tell people the truth, TL. That it’s dangerous and they could die, or worse. But it’s up to them. I was infected and I’m still here.’

  ‘But you can’t go anywhere alone, Tessa,’ Mullen said bluntly. ‘You have blackouts and you can’t leave the ship.’

  ‘I know, but look at Isaac and Ip,’ Tessa replied. ‘They’re fine and because of them they’ve been able to pull together what we now have, and we need more of it. There must be tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of survivors out there who need help.’

  He agreed, ‘It’s true. It’s not as if life is safe anyway. You can be killed by a hunter or a designer virus. There’s no way to be safe anymore.’

  Mullen shook his head at him and asked bluntly, ‘Will you be willing to be infected, TL?’

  He hadn’t really considered it and he doubted Gears would agree to any of them being infected. They were short of experienced people to manage the workload as it was. ‘Not right now,’ he replied. ‘I’m needed for other work.’

  ‘But you’d consider it?’ Mullen asked curiously.

  ‘No,’ he replied bluntly. ‘I don’t want to give up being human.’

  ‘What are you saying?’ Mullen asked. ‘People like Ip and Tessa aren’t human?’

  Speaking bluntly again, he replied, ‘They’re changed. They’re not hunters, but they’re not entirely human either.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Tessa replied honestly. ‘I’m not who I was. I wouldn’t say I’m not human, but I’m certainly not the same. And someone like Ip seems to have more hunter in her than I do.’

  ‘What does that make them?’ Mullen asked. ‘Another species?’

  ‘Sort of, I guess,’ he answered. ‘Maybe that was the point of the hunter virus. To create another species. You’ve got to admit they have their strengths. This whole telepathy thing is a step above what we have as humans.’

  Sounding surprised, Mullen asked, ‘You think they’re a superior species.’

  ‘I wouldn’t say that,’ he replied. ‘There’s a lot more to being superior than having an additional ability. A dolphin can swim underwater in a way a human can’t, but that doesn’t make it superior.’

  Mullen shrugged and asked, ‘That’s true, but we’re superior to the dolphin, so are we superior to people like Tessa, Isaac and Ip?’

  ‘I wouldn’t say that either,’ he replied again. ‘I’ve not seen anything to indicate they’re of lesser intelligence, so perhaps this is just a type of genetic variation.’

  ‘Raises another question doesn’t it?’ Mullen mused. ‘What will their kids be like?’

  ‘It’s like any interracial mixing, I guess,’ he said bluntly. ‘Give it enough time, it’ll be so merged you won’t know one from the other.’

  Checking his watch, he realized he needed to get moving. Hatch would be taking him, Gears, Ip and Mackenzie to the CDC within the next ten minutes. ‘Is there anything you need?’ He asked.

  ‘No,’ Tessa replied with a smile. ‘We’re well taken care of. Thank you.’

  By the time he reached the helipad, Gears, Ip and Mackenzie were on board waiting for him.

  ‘Where the hell ya been?’ Gears asked grumpily.

  Ignoring his brothers’ bad mood, he replied, ‘Dropped by to see Tessa.’

  Walking into the underground laboratory at the CDC, they were met by the sound of a growling hunter. Instinctively he, Gears and Mackenzie pulled their guns from their shoulders.

  Ian and Louise, who’d been in the original CDC where Ip came from, immediately shouted, ‘No! No!’


  Looking annoyed by their overexcited response, Gears asked, ‘What?’

  ‘Please don’t shoot up the lab,’ Louise asked plaintively. Ian added, ‘Or our hunter.’

  He looked beyond the glass-viewing window and saw there was a hunter securely strapped to the table. ‘Where did you get that?’ He asked curiously.

  Lydia was walking across from another test room and she said, ‘Gift from Pax and Ted.’

  Snorting, Gears drawled, ‘They’re incurable romantics.’

  Lydia gave Gears a cheeky look and quipped, ‘You boys are all about the romance.’

  Walking into the room, he inspected the snarling and angry hunter. Like all hunters it stank of vomit and was firmly strapped down with handcuffs on its ankles and wrists, further securing it to the table. Drawing closer, its head started to vibrate manically and the bed shook with the violence of its rapid movement.

  Curling his upper lip at the hunter, he asked, ‘What are you doing to it?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Louise replied. ‘We need it for samples and scans.’

  By now Gears joined him to inspect the hunter and looking equally disgusted, he asked, ‘How are ya feedin’ it?’

  ‘We’re not,’ Louise replied abruptly. ‘They can live for weeks or even months without food. We don’t need to feed it.’

  ‘Why’d you tie it down like that?’ Mackenzie asked curiously. ‘Why don’t you just cut the brain stem? Then it’s no threat.’

  ‘Because that could compromise our samples,’ Lydia replied simply.

  Gears had clearly grown bored with the hunter and said curtly, ‘Betta keep Ip away from it.’ Walking out of the room, Gears said loudly, ‘Let’s talk!’

  They were joined by Farrington in the lounge kitchen area where Louise and Ian were now making coffee for everyone. Gears was hulking about in a chair he didn’t really fit in and Ip was sitting on the kitchen counter. He and Mackenzie sat opposite Lydia and Farrington waiting to hear what they had to say.

  Lydia opened the discussion and said, ‘Farrington has made good progress with the designer virus, but we’re at a point where we need to test it.’

  ‘I’m guessin’ ya don’t mean on lab rats or we wouldn’t be here,’ Gears remarked dryly.

  Lydia shook her head and said, ‘We could but that’s a long-winded approach to testing. We have to do a lot of tests, make a lot of assumptions, do a lot of detailed analysis that we don’t even have all the equipment for. Plus it takes years to complete and you end up in the same place.’ Lydia paused and added, ‘There’s always the final test on human subjects.’

  ‘That’s an over simplification,’ Farrington observed.

  Gears growled at Farrington, ‘Ya didn’t have a problem before.’

  Shrugging his skinny shoulders, Farrington replied, ‘I still don’t, but Lydia understated the full test process.’

  He knew Gears didn’t like Farrington or the process they’d agreed to follow. Seeing Gears was already in a foul mood, it probably wouldn’t take much to make him outright angry with Farrington and he decided to take lead on the discussion.

  ‘We need to run more tests on Ip while she’s here,’ Lydia said.

  Gears gave Lydia an unhappy stare and then nodded. Ip, Ian and Louise left the lounge kitchen area together and Gears called out after them, ‘Honey, don’t kill that hunter!’

  Turning back to Lydia, Gears asked bluntly, ‘So, ya want human lab rats?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lydia replied, equally as bluntly.

  Not wanting Gears to start a fight with Lydia about the morals of the situation, he asked, ‘What are the risks?’

  Lydia replied, ‘We don’t know. That’s the point of testing.’

  Gears sighed and asked, ‘What are the possible results Lydia, and how likely are they?’

  ‘People could die. People could be damaged. People could have almost no impact other than to carry the counter virus,’ Lydia replied simply. ‘We don’t know what the chances are of each outcome.’

  ‘What causes one result versus another?’ He asked.

  ‘DNA and immune system,’ Farrington answered. ‘The impact of the designer virus on the host depends on the condition of the host. Good DNA and a strong immune system results in less damage.’

  ‘The only people we got left are healthy people,’ Gears observed dryly. ‘The weak ones died already.’

  Lydia shot Gears a look and said, ‘That is unfortunately probably true now, but due to poor diets their immune system is likely compromised to some extent.’

  ‘Children have the best immune systems,’ Farrington suggested.

  ‘Ya may actually be the most disgustin’ human I’ve ever met,’ Gears said angrily. ‘Usin’ children is off the table, asshole.’

  Even Lydia looked shocked at Farrington’s suggestion and she said bluntly, ‘It didn’t help Isaac or Jen.’

  Wanting to stop any potential argument, he asked, ‘Are there any criteria people can be tested against to know if they have a better chance of surviving the designer virus?’

  ‘Not really and even if there was, we don’t have that kind of test equipment here,’ Lydia replied. ‘Or the skills to use it if we did.’

  Sounding frustrated, Gears asked, ‘So it’s guess work? ‘Cos that don’t sound any better than what the CDCs were doin’ in the first place. Are ya tellin’ me what they did was the only option?’

  Farrington replied, ‘That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you from the start.’

  ‘Not listenin’ to ya,’ Gears said glaring at Farrington. ‘You’ve got no credibility with me.’

  ‘Maybe he doesn’t, Gears, but I do and if you want more people to carry the counter virus then this is your only option,’ Lydia said steadily. ‘It’s not the best, but with the facilities and people we have left we don’t have any other options.’

  ‘Is there anything you can do to make it less risky for people?’ He asked.

  ‘The designer virus already has some mutations to create a less invasive virus,’ Farrington said enthusiastically. ‘And with more test subjects we could further refine the virus.’

  Sounding disgusted, Gears said, ‘Ya know your talkin’ about real people right? They’re not test subjects. They’re people.’

  ‘You really do need to keep that in mind,’ Lydia said to Farrington.

  ‘You can say that,’ Farrington replied honestly. ‘But it doesn’t change what we do or what happens as a result.’

  ‘How do we do this?’ He asked.

  Gears looked at him in surprise and said, ‘I didn’t know we agreed to.’

  ‘Yeah we did, Gears,’ he replied honestly. ‘There’s no other option. We’re losing this war. The super hunters are taking control of the land, and we’re losing so many people that at this rate we won’t have enough people left to fight.’

  Gears rubbed the scar on his face and nodding in agreement, he said, ‘We might not have enough now. I reckon we can remove the super hunters ‘cos there’s less of ‘em, but there are likely tens of millions of hunters and they’re a death sentence even without the super hunters.’

  Leaning back in his chair, Gears said, ‘There’s more of Ip’s people and we need to find ‘em, but there was only ever about thirty CDCs doin’ the tests so I’m guessin’ we’d be lucky to find another ten or fifteen people like her. We need the ability to create more people with the counter virus.’

  ‘We could ask them,’ he suggested. ‘Tessa is willing to talk to people and explain what it means and the risk they’re running.’

  ‘What does Tessa think?’ Lydia asked.

  ‘She thinks it’s something that needs to be done,’ he replied. ‘She thinks people need to know it’s not the worst outcome. That Ip and Isaac are doing fine and even she is, despite the blackouts.’

  ‘And Jen?’ Lydia asked sounding surprised.

  Sighing, he replied, ‘I guess not everyone is going to win.’

  ‘Is it up to us?’ Mackenzie asked. ‘Shouldn’t we just
tell people the options and the risks and let people decide for themselves?’

  ‘Kid raises a fair point,’ Gears observed. Turning to Mackenzie, Gears asked, ‘What would ya decide?’

  ‘I’m going to do it,’ Mackenzie answered firmly. ‘I’ve learned a lot being part of this mission, but the biggest thing I’ve learned is that covering my own ass is not enough. I’m young, got good DNA, I’m healthy and I’m willing to die every day for the good of the mission. This is no different from the risk of combat and I do that most days.’

  Both he and Gears looked at Mackenzie and grinned.

  Gears said decisively, ‘You’ve got balls Mackenzie. Alright. We take it to the people and let Tessa tell ‘em the truth. See what people wanna do, but…’ He paused to look sternly at Farrington. ‘We don’t force anyone in any way.’

  CHAPTER TWELVE: He was in a bind, he was way behind (Chuckles)

  Chuckles real name was Mark and he’d been a divorce lawyer before the virus had hit. Having spent a decade witnessing just how petty and low-minded people could get, he’d developed a deep cynicism about what motivated people to do anything. He’d watched women withhold access to children, men withhold money from mothers and people, who once promised to love one another to the death, go to court over a piece of furniture. He hated his job and had come to hate the people who came to him as clients wanting him to take their side over some petty piece of crap he didn’t give a shit about. It was his job to fan the fires of rage on both sides and drag their petty argument out. He was paid by the hour and long-winded arguments paid for his house.

  The end of the world bothered him less than he expected. The only problem he worried about was the constant threat of the hunters and he was less concerned about becoming a hunter, it was the pain of the transition that shaped his fear. The pain of being devoured alive terrified him. He wasn’t sure what Ruler, as he liked to be called, was. All he knew or cared about was the power Ruler had. He’d long since learned the way to survive in the world was to make yourself indispensable to the people with the power, and that was precisely what he planned to do now.