by SD Tanner
‘There’s a woman who says she wants to see you,’ Kat said.
Kat was standing outside the tent he now slept in. Since Ip died, he’d returned to an old way of living, where he slept rough, and he’d pitched his tent away from the crowds at the edge of the Marine supply base near the docks. Right now, Kat had woken him from a deep sleep and glancing at his watch, he saw it was three o’clock in the morning.
‘Couldn’t this wait, Kat,’ he grumbled.
‘The woman turned up at the gates about half an hour ago and said she needed to see you,’ Kat replied. ‘But she won’t come into the base.’
As he dressed, he asked, ‘Where is she now?’
‘Outside the gates,’ Kat replied.
Hunters were attracted to the activity at the base and at night, no one could step outside the gates. It was suicidal for anyone to turn up at the gates after nightfall.
Wearily, he asked, ‘How’s that possible Kat? The area is full of hunters at night.’
‘Not tonight it isn’t,’ Kat replied.
That piqued his interest and loosely tying his boots, he unzipped the door to his tent and stepped out with his flashlight and M4A1. It was a large base and Kat had driven to his tent in one of the small compact cars they used to get around the site. Climbing into the car, his bulky body spilled over into the driver’s seat and his knees were uncomfortably crushed against the dashboard. With so many people camping at the base, Kat drove slowly towards the bridge that led to the main gate onto the Marine supply base.
Knowing no one would willing wake him at the three in the morning, he asked, ‘What else did the woman say?’
‘She said Mackenzie sent her,’ Kat replied.
Mackenzie disappeared after he shot Ip and despite every scavenger and combat shooter keeping an eye out for him, no one had seen anyone who even remotely fit his description. They learned from the people recently infected with the designer virus that, with the improvements Farrington made, many retained their previous skills and it was possible Mackenzie could still drive. He could certainly still use a gun, he thought bitterly.
Sighing deeply, he said, ‘Ya shoulda led with that, Kat.’
There were two gates between them and the mainland and the sentries were in high towers behind the main gate. Driving up to the well-lit main gate, the sentry leader walked over to their small car and he could see beyond the second gate outside the base that the area was uncommonly free of hunters.
Clumsily pulling himself out of the car, he asked the approaching sentry, ‘Where is she?’
‘Outside the gates and across the road. She says she’s waiting for you,’ the sentry replied.
‘She say anythin’ useful,’ he asked curtly.
Shaking his head, the sentry replied, ‘Just said Mackenzie sent her and told her to speak to you.’
‘Did ya see Mackenzie?’ he asked grimly.
The sentry shook his head again and said, ‘No, I think she’s alone.’
That’s a shame, he thought. He really wanted to get his hands on Mackenzie, if only to find out why he killed someone who only ever protected him. Obviously, the designer virus severely damaged Mackenzie’s brain. Ip had worked closely with Mackenzie and he couldn’t believe Mackenzie was in his right mind when he shot her, and he certainly seemed insane last time he’d seen him at the CDC. He still wanted to know why he killed Ip and although he knew no answer would ever be satisfactory, he felt any answer would be better than none.
Turning to the sentry, he asked, ‘Where are the hunters?’
Again, the sentry shook his head and said, ‘I dunno. It’s fuckin’ weird. They’re usually really active at this time of the morning.’
By now they were standing at the first gate, but he couldn’t see a woman or any hunters. He knew he shouldn’t go outside the base to find her and it wasn’t safe, but he was curious. He indicated to the sentry to open the first gate and as the sentry closed the first gate behind him, he walked the twenty yards to the second gate.
Peering through the chain link gate, he tried to see any sign of movement and shouted, ‘Hello!’
There was no response and he thought maybe the woman had gotten bored and left, or was killed by a hunter.
He bellowed, ‘Are ya out there?’
His voice seemed to echo in the quiet of the night and he wondered if his shouting would bring hunters screaming towards his position. He waited for a minute, but there was no response from the woman or the hunters.
He called the sentry over and said, ‘I’m gonna head out there. See if I can find her.’
‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’ The sentry asked dubiously.
He knew it wasn’t a good idea, but he didn’t really care and said, ‘No, but I’m doin’ it anyway.’
The sentry studied him briefly, then said through his radio mike, he said, ‘Stand ready. Gears is heading outside the wire.’
Once the sentry opened the gate, he stepped through it and outside the security of the base. On the other side of the gate was an intersection of three wide roads that led away from the base. Beside the three roads were a few low buildings and beyond the buildings was mostly scrubland with a few trees. In the dark, hunters clustered outside the perimeter of the lit area around the gates and their jerky movements could usually be seen in the shadowy light. Tonight the area was still and he couldn’t see any hunters hiding in the gloom.
Walking to middle of the intersection, he called again, ‘Hello!’
This time his call was answered and a woman with shaggy blonde hair emerged from the shadows and stood on the road opposite the gate about thirty yards from him. She was wearing tight fitting dark pants and top with short black boots and he could see the long blade of a machete hung from her waist. In the distance and poor light, he couldn’t make out her features, but with the way she stood, he could have sworn he was looking at Ip.
Holding his gun ready so he could easily swing it into firing position and watching for movement in the shadows, he started to walk slowly towards the woman and called, ‘I’m Gears. I hear ya wanna talk to me.’
The woman was now walking towards him and as they drew closer to one another, he was again struck by how much she looked like Ip. It was uncanny, but he supposed they were both tall, lean and blonde with well-structured faces, so it was unsurprising there was a similarity. As he walked towards her, he saw she was wearing dark wraparound sunglasses, which he thought was odd given other than the lit gates, it was pitch black. By now, they were just five yards apart and they both stopped and stood facing one another.
He waited for her to speak, but she said nothing and he said, ‘Ya wanna’d to see me.’
The woman tilted her head and smiled and again he was struck at how Ip-like the movement was and he thought it was more than a little disturbing.
Peering at her, he asked, ‘Can ya talk?’
The woman frowned and said sulkily, ‘What a stupid question.’
Her voice was melodic and when she spoke, her words had a slight musical lilt. Struck by her voice, he asked, ‘Ya dragged my ass out here at three in the mornin’ to be rude?’
The woman huffed and said rudely, ‘Two stupid questions.’
Amused by her cheekiness, he asked, ‘Ya know Mackenzie? Or is that a third stupid question?’
‘I know Mackenzie,’ the woman replied. ‘He told me to meet you.’
The woman’s resemblance to Ip had already caught his attention and she obviously knew something about Mackenzie. He wanted to talk to her, but they were standing outside the gates and it wasn’t safe and he said, ‘We shouldn’t be out here. Let’s talk in the base.’
The woman frowned and asked, ‘Why?’
‘Hunters, honey,’ he said patiently. ‘This place is crawlin’ with ‘em.’
Shrugging, the woman followed him as he turned and walked back to the main gates. While they walked the short distance, he glanced down at her blonde head and he could have sworn it was Ip calmly walking beside him as she alwa
ys had. The memory reminded him she was gone and that he walked through life alone, once again. They made their way back to the gate and the sentries let them inside. Kat was still waiting with the car and she looked at him quizzically.
Nodding to her, he said, ‘It’s okay, Kat. We’ll walk back.’
He and the woman walked along the long bridge to the base and he asked, ‘Do ya know where Mackenzie is?’
The woman replied, ‘No.’
‘But he’s alive?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she replied.
He thought she was about as informative as Ip ever was and asked, ‘Do ya have a name?’
‘No,’ she replied.
Chuckling, he said, ‘Don’t talk much, do ya?’
The woman answered his question by saying nothing and sighing, he asked, ‘Why did Mackenzie think ya should meet me?’
The woman said plainly, ‘He thinks I will like you.’
He chuckled again and asked, ‘He sent ya on a blind date?’
The woman frowned and said, ‘I am not blind and that is a third stupid question.’
Laughing, he said, ‘Ya don’t need to keep count.’
They reached the main living area at the base and he walked over to the kitchen containers where they always had coffee to go. Making two cups of coffee, he grabbed sugar and milk and indicated she should sit at one of the wooden picnic tables. At this time of the morning, few people were around, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before people would be moving about and the base would become a hive of activity. Sitting opposite the woman, he added milk and sugar to his coffee and then sat looking at her. She reminded him of Ip and although it probably wasn’t good for the grieving process, he found it comforting and he smiled at her. The woman seemed less interested in him and was now looking about the base curiously.
She was still wearing sunglasses and he suspected he knew why, but asked, ‘Why do ya wear sunglasses?’
‘The lights were bright,’ she replied.
‘Lights ain’t bright here,’ he said. ‘Ya don’t need ‘em now.’
In response, the woman reached up and removed her sunglasses and his suspicion was proved true. Her eyes were a deep blue on blue and there were no white to her eyes at all. She was clearly infected, which explained why she was so unconcerned about being outside the gate at night and why no hunters approached her. It didn’t explain why the hunters hadn’t attacked him, but he figured that maybe her presence scared them away. He’d met all the people Lydia infected and he’d never seen this woman before. He could only assume she was one of the people infected at the CDCs just after the virus erupted. If that were the case, then she was like Isaac and Ip, but that didn’t explain how she found her way here or why she knew Mackenzie.
‘You’ve been infected,’ he said. ‘You’re a hunter killer.’
The woman regarded him curiously and asked, ‘Why would I kill hunters?’
‘Hunters are the enemy,’ he replied plainly.
‘Hunters are dogs,’ she replied, equally as plainly.
He thought, she thinks like Ip did. The infected could easily kill hunters and they were of no concern to people who carried the counter virus.
Still studying her, he asked, ‘How do ya know Mackenzie?’
She pouted and said indignantly, ‘He killed me!’
That didn’t make any sense and he said, ‘Ya don’t look dead.’
She frowned and said sulkily, ‘He shot me in the head.’
He felt his gut tighten in surprise and he said angrily, ‘Are ya screwin’ with me?’
Seeming unconcerned by his anger, she asked plainly, ‘What does that mean?’
It was if a spell was broken and now he saw clearly. This strange woman turned up looking and sounding like Ip, saying she knew Mackenzie and now claiming to have been shot in the head. This was obviously some kind of set up, and he said angrily, ‘What the fuck are ya playin’ at. Are ya tryin’ screw with my head, ‘cos it won’t work? Ya ain’t Ip.’
Huffing at him, she replied sharply, ‘I never said I was. It is Mackenzie who calls me Ip.’
That wasn’t the answer he was expecting. It was Mackenzie who killed Ip, so why would he call this woman Ip? Now more confused than angry, he asked, ‘Why does he call you Ip?’
She sighed and said unhappily, ‘Mackenzie said he saw the futures and Ip had to die and he shot me in the head.’
Now completely confused, he asked, ‘How did Mackenzie see the future?’
‘I do not know,’ she replied bluntly. ‘He said I had to die, but I would come back.’
The woman just said Mackenzie believed she was the reincarnation of Ip and thinking it was absurd, he asked, ‘Do ya remember me?’
Looking disappointed, the woman replied, ‘Mackenzie said I might know you, but I do not. Mackenzie was wrong. Maybe I am not Ip.’
The woman appeared guileless and she seemed to be telling the truth. For some reason Mackenzie believed she was Ip, but that didn’t mean she was and the last time he saw Mackenzie, he hadn’t been in his right mind.
Sighing, he said, ‘So, Mackenzie says he saw the future and decided ya had to die, but he knew you’d come back again in another body.’
Nodding, the woman said, ‘Yes.’
Frowning, he added, ‘And then ya met Mackenzie and he told ya to come and see me.’
Nodding again, the woman said, ‘Yes.’
Wanting to understand the whole story, he asked, ‘Why did he want ya to see me?’
‘For your mission,’ she replied plainly.
That implied Mackenzie sent her to help them and he asked, ‘Does that mean you’ll work with us to kill the hunters?’
She sighed and said, ‘We are not human. Why should we help you?’
Given she was infected, he figured she was telepathic and suspecting he already knew the answer, he asked, ‘What do ya mean by we?’
‘My kind,’ she replied.
Staring at her intently, he asked, ‘Are there more of ya?’
‘Yes,’ she replied.
He suspected this woman was referring to their infected people from the CDC and he asked, ‘Where are they?’
‘Home,’ she replied.
Wishing she would be more forthcoming, he persisted and asked, ‘And where’s home, honey?’
‘Where the horses are,’ she replied.
Her answer fired a bolt of adrenalin through him. When Ip was kidnapped by Ruler, she described the Ranch as being home where the horses were, but only he and his brothers knew that was the way she referred to the Ranch and he asked, ‘You mean the Ranch with the house and the horses?’
Suddenly looking upset, she wailed unhappily, ‘My home is horrible. It is dead.’
Seeing her distress, he asked gently, ‘Ya mean there’s lotsa dead bodies there?’
Nodding vehemently and still looking dismayed, she said unhappily, ‘It is not good.’
‘How many of your kind are out there?’ He asked gently.
Seeming to calm down, she said, ‘Many.’
‘Are they there now?’ He asked.
Nodding, she said, ‘Yes, they are waiting for me.’
By now, dawn was breaking and the base was getting busy. The kitchen he’d gotten coffee from earlier was opening and about to serve breakfast. He saw Pax with his hair at all angles, walking towards them and yawning.
Waving him over, Pax looked down at the woman and remarked, ‘She looks like Ip.’
He was about to explain who the woman was when she suddenly squeaked happily and leapt from her seat, spun around and ran off down the alley between the containers.
Watching her disappear amongst the containers, Pax said, ‘She even does a good impression of Ip.’
Before he could tell Pax what the woman told him, she reappeared walking back down the corridor, only now she was with Isaac and they were holding hands.
Both were smiling happily and walking back to the table, she said with delight, ‘This is my brother.’
Isaac looked at him and said, ‘Ip’s not dead.’
He looked up at her and thought, maybe she is Ip. She didn’t remember who she was, but Isaac knew her mind and if he believed she was Ip, then it was quite possible she was. He didn’t know how that could happen, but he wasn’t sure he cared. In this new world, anything seemed possible and this was one of the few times he was grateful it was.
Standing up and looking down at her in disbelief, he said softly, ‘Hello Ip.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Information is power (TL)
‘He turned up like this,’ Lydia said. ‘One of the scavenger teams found him and brought him here.’
‘Why didn’t they take him to the base?’ TL asked.
Lydia looked at him as if he was being stupid and said, ‘Because he needed help urgently.’
Looking at the man with the buzz cut, he couldn’t agree more. They had four-pointed him and the man’s arms and legs were strapped to the table and he was screaming. His eyes were wild, his mouth wide open and he was endlessly howling with spittle drooling from his mouth. Lydia prepared another syringe of sedative and he helped hold the man still while she administered a second shot.
They both stood back to see if it would have any effect and it did. The man visibly quietened, his eyes glazed and the tension left his body. Suddenly, his eyes locked on TL and he said, ‘Ruler.’
There was no way the man could know that name unless he met him and he asked grimly, ‘Where is he?’
The man didn’t reply and his eyes were now drooping, he was clearly falling asleep. Turning to Lydia, he said, ‘We need to talk to him.’
‘Well you can’t,’ Lydia replied bluntly. ‘He needs to rest and he’s had enough tranquilizer to put down a horse. You’ll have to wait.’
Sighing, he asked, ‘When will he be awake again?’
‘I don’t know,’ Lydia replied. ‘At least a few hours.’
‘I’ll call Gears,’ he said. ‘He’s going to want to meet anyone who knows anything about Ruler.’
‘How do you know he knows anything about him?’ Lydia asked.
‘Just knowing his name is enough,’ he replied. ‘Plus there’s something going on here.’
