by SD Tanner
In the morning, as planned the convoy moved out early. Not needing air cover for the drive to the location, the birds wouldn’t fly out until the following day and wanting to keep the woman close, he kept her in the Stryker with him. Once they got to the location, he planned to set up a perimeter around the silo. The outer perimeter would consist of assault vehicles and HUMVEEs with the trucks inside the perimeter. The shooters would get out and cover the gaps between the vehicles. The Strykers would head to the silo and he and the team, including a dozen shooters, would break into the silo. He planned to take Ip to kill hunters and hopefully discourage them from attacking, but not feeling sure about her commitment to them, he was planning to take plenty of fucking big guns.
Overnight they pulled into a location just outside Chattanooga. With nowhere safe to stay, everyone slept in the vehicles. Like Ip, the woman flatly refused to sleep in their cramped vehicles and he didn’t blame her. Being stuck in a truck with a bunch of sweaty shooters didn’t appeal to him either. Many of their shooters were inexperienced with combat, and the sour stench of adrenalin-laden sweat in a poorly ventilated vehicle was unpleasant, even for a combat veteran like him.
Standing outside the Stryker he planned to sleep in, he said, ‘You’re welcome to join us, but I guess ya don’t need to.’
The woman sighed and said, ‘Neither do you.’
He suspected she was offering to keep him safe outside and asked, ‘Ya don’t wanna stay out here alone?’
Sighing, she fidgeted with the machete she wore on her belt and said, ‘No.’
Ip never liked sleeping alone either and even before they were a couple, they always shared the same bed. It hadn’t been his idea, but he’d never objected. In fact, he missed her company and was surprised how quickly sharing a bed with her had grown on him. He climbed on top of the Stryker and pulled her up on to the roof with him and they both sat in the dark watching the night.
He’d always wondered why Ip hadn’t like to sleep alone and asked, ‘Why doncha like sleepin’ alone?’
Shrugging, she replied, ‘I do not know.’
‘Ip never liked that either,’ he said.
Sounding confused, she replied, ‘You said I am Ip.’
Shaking his head, he said honestly, ‘I dunno who ya are, honey. Ya do seem to have her ways, but I dunno I wanna believe it.’
‘Why?’ She asked curiously.
He sighed and said, ‘I loved Ip. I know she weren’t exactly human, but she wasn’t not human either. She and me jus’ fit right.’
In the past month, he’d avoided thinking too hard about Ip. It was all a bit raw and it didn’t help him get through the day, so he’d put a wall up in his mind and put her behind it. Now taking the wall down just a little, he said, ‘I think there’s always more than one person we can make a life with, but there’s only ever one person who can make that life worth havin’ jus’ by bein’ who they are. That’s what I had with Ip. She was that one person who made me feel good jus’ by bein’ around.’
A feeling of loneliness washed through him and sighing deeply, he said, ‘I’d do pretty much anythin’ to have her back, but I won’t lie to myself. I honestly don’t see how ya can be her. Life don’t work like that. There’s no miracles on this earth.’
Turning to look at him, she said, ‘You think Ruler came back.’
‘We jus’ think he came back, hon,’ he said grimly. ‘I ain’t seen that little shit yet.’
‘He spoke to me,’ she replied plainly.
‘So you say,’ he said equally as plainly.
Without any hint of offence, she said, ‘You think I am lying.’
Shaking his head, he replied, ‘Maybe you’re jus’ confused. People infected with the designer virus can be damaged. Look at Isaac and Mackenzie.’
She shrugged and agreeing with him, she said, ‘Mackenzie is very different.’
Making himself as comfortable as anyone can on top of an armored vehicle and with his M4A1 laid across his body, he said, ‘Wake me up if there’s trouble and don’t let me get bit.’
CHAPTER TWENTY: Come into my parlor (Ruler)
‘Now we’re having fun!’ He said with a beaming smile.
Gray looked at him and asked, ‘We are?’
‘Well, I am,’ he replied sulkily. Gray can be such a bore, he thought, although he has been getting more interesting.
The nuclear bunker was a large underground complex with living quarters, shared areas for eating and relaxing and a large room dedicated to communications and planning. The communications room had several smaller meeting rooms leading from it. The bunker was designed to house and protect up to 220 people, but only a third of them ever made it to the bunker and Ruler had killed quite a few since. Initially they tried to communicate with the outside world, but quickly learned there was little they could do. Without the full complement of people, they didn’t have any greater ability to survive outside the bunker than anyone else did and the land above the bunker simply became too dangerous. There were more bunkers and for a while, they were able to talk, but with so little they could do, even that became pointless.
He was sitting in the middle of the communications pit at the main central table with Gray. The room was shaped like a half circle with three concentric half-ring tables that looked down into the middle of the communications room. If a person sat at one of the seats at the half-ring tables, they could look straight ahead at a screen that took up half the wall or downward at the podium. The room was designed for a person to stand at the podium and direct the people surrounding them to communicate using the main screen. In addition to himself and Gray, there were two super hunters sitting above them at half-ring tables and half a dozen hunters were restlessly roaming the room.
He’d sent Cry Baby to the area where he knew the CDC was located and he was kept well informed of events. For some reason they kept one of the super hunters in their CDC. They seemed to like playing with it, which didn’t bother the super hunter and was quite useful for him. He was pleased they put together quite a considerable force and were heading to the silo. Pleased was an understatement, he was actually in ecstasy and he could not remember the last time he’d been this excited.
Barely able to contain himself, he said delightedly, ‘Over one thousand people and they have so many toys with them.’
Still looking dubious, Gray asked, ‘Who are they?’
He regarded Gray with cold eyes and said, ‘Your enemy. They have bases across Florida and Georgia and they have islands, with about 30,000 people.’ Narrowing his eyes, he said, ‘Gears has more claim to being the POTUS than you do. If I don’t get rid of him, then you probably won’t be the bogus POTUS for much longer.’
‘What!’ Gray said angrily. ‘When were you going to tell me about this outfit?’
‘I’m telling you now,’ he said sulkily. ‘Don’t get angry with me. It might make me angry with you and you won’t like that.’
Looking suitably repentant, Gray asked calmly, ‘So what are going to do?’
‘I’m going to kill them,’ he replied plainly. ‘I’ve set a trap. They think I’m at the missile silo ready to launch a missile and they’re coming to kill me.’ Feeling even more pleased, he chortled happily and said, ‘This time they’ve brought three times as many killers with them. It won’t save them, but good effort, don’t you think?’
Gray looked confused and asked, ‘What do you mean this time?’
He waved his hand regally, felt the loose skin on his arm wobble, and said, ‘Oh, we did this once before.’ Frowning at the memory, he added sulkily, ‘Bitch imp tore my throat out.’
Still confused, Gray said, ‘But you’re not dead.’
He sighed at having to talk to someone as stupid as Gray without the benefit of being able to kill him and said with exaggerated patience, ‘Well, of course not and now they think I’m at the silo.’
Clearly still confused, Gray asked, ‘Why would they think that?’
Cheerfully, he replie
d, ‘Because I sent Cry Baby to tell them that.’ Frowning at the memory of his lost pet, he said sadly, ‘Of course I miss Cry Baby. I’ll have to get a new pet, but I did rather like him. He wasn’t so easily broken.’
‘As who?’ Gray asked.
Giving him a meaningful look, he replied, ‘You.’
Obviously deciding to ignore this slight, Gray asked, ‘So, they’re heading to the silo in force?’
He smiled happily again and said, ‘Oh yes, they are indeedy.’
Curiously, Gray asked, ‘What are you planning to do when they get there?’ Who are they going to fight with and why did they send so many people just to get you?’
Feeling somewhat offended, he replied haughtily, ‘I’m very dangerous you know. They know I’ll surround myself with hunters and they can’t get to me without going through my army of hunters.’
‘But you’re not there,’ Gray replied.
In a loud theatrical voice, he said, ‘But they don’t know that.’ Casually, he added, ‘But my army of hunters are there.’
‘But won’t they be able to kill the hunters?’ Gray asked dubiously.
He sighed and said, ‘I don’t see how. There’s over three hundred thousand of them there. It’s an unfair fight, but I don’t see why it has to be a fair fight.’
Shaking his head, Gray asked, ‘Why don’t we send Hull with his army?’
He snorted at the suggestion and said tartly, ‘Because his army are useless. They’re drag queens with guns. You can’t underestimate these dogs. They’re unexpectedly resourceful.’ Feeling his rage rumble, he added, ‘This time they die. Even if they make it through my hunters they can’t survive a nuclear explosion.’
Eyes widening in alarm, Gray asked sharply, ‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s a missile silo, you moron,’ he said rudely. ‘What do you think is in a missile silo?’
Gray said anxiously, ‘You can’t explode a nuclear missile. You’ll kill us all!’
Frowning, he said petulantly, ‘Don’t tell me what I can’t do. It’s very annoying.’
‘Seriously,’ Gray said firmly. ‘The nuclear fallout will kill everyone. We’ll die of radiation poisoning.
He hadn’t thought of that, and now he knew he didn’t care. If anything it was an unexpected bonus and smiling, he asked politely, ‘Your point?’
Looking desperate, Gray said, ‘You’ll die too.’
He frowned and said sulkily, ‘I will not.’
‘You can’t fire the missile,’ Gray said firmly.
‘I know,’ he said petulantly. ‘I’m not going to fire it. I’m going to detonate it.’
Shaking his head and sighing, Gray said, ‘That means the same thing.’
Bored with the conversation, he asked, ‘Why are you so worried anyway?’
Looking shocked, Gray replied in disbelief, ‘Because I don’t want to die and you’ve just told me you’re about to detonate a nuclear missile close enough to kill me and everyone else with radiation poisoning.’ As Gray spoke, he became agitated and shouted, ‘Are you fucking crazy?’
He stood regarding Gray and thought, I could kill him or I could use him. Undecided which option to choose, he said, ‘You don’t have to die.’
Gray was visibly shaking and he said, ‘Yes I do. If you detonate a nuclear missile then I, along with everyone else within hundreds of miles, will die. And not a fast death either. It’ll be a lingering death.’ Taking a deep breath, Gray said firmly, ‘You cannot detonate that missile.’
Leaping to his feet, Gray said, ‘There’s a whole fucking world for you to control. Those missiles can give you control of the whole world. You need what I’m doing here, so you can have the whole world.’
Oh dear, he thought, the silly man is negotiating with me which means he really is worried. Laughing happily, he said again, ‘You don’t have to die.’
Shaking his head in disgust, Gray asked, ‘Why do you keep saying that?’
‘Because you don’t,’ he said, emphasizing the word you. ‘But I do like your global plans. I’d like to keep you a bit longer.’ Smiling, he added, ‘You could be my new pet.’
Gray didn’t answer other than to walk towards the door, but before he could walk through it, three hunters blocked his path. Gray turned and said, ‘I don’t want to die.’
Rolling his eyes dramatically, he sagged his shoulders for effect and said, ‘You don’t have to die.’
With an angry look, Gray asked, ‘How do I not die if you detonate the nuclear missile?’
Smiling, he said, ‘You can become a hunter.’
‘That’s not much of an option,’ Gray said sourly. ‘And I can do that anytime. I don’t need your help.’
‘Well, that’s not strictly true,’ he replied casually. ‘If you want to be a beast then that’s true, but if you want to be in control of the beasts then you’ll need my help.’ He added brightly, ‘It’s sort of like being immortal.’
Gray studied the super hunter in armor that was sitting at the table near him and asked, ‘It’s not human and if it’s immortal, why’s it wearing body armor?’
‘Their bodies can die,’ he replied. ‘But they can’t.’
Looking disgusted, Gray asked, ‘Where do they go?’
Stating the obvious, he replied, ‘They get another body.’
Now sounding puzzled, Gray asked, ‘Where from?’
Sighing, he replied, ‘You ask too many questions. It’s boring for me, but if you must know, there are plenty of bodies waiting to be taken over. They’re empty. Waiting for a rider to ride them.’ Shaking his head, he added, ‘Although apparently there’s a quality issue, but you’re going to help me fix that.’
Raising an eyebrow, Gray asked, ‘I am?’
He didn’t want to keep answering stupid questions, nor did he wish to kill Gray today, but his rage would if the man didn’t stop asking stupid questions. Today he planned to enjoy a special sort of destruction, one that didn’t come along every day and he wasn’t going to waste his pleasure slaughtering the mindless.
Standing, he said, ‘Not today. Today I have other plans. I’m busy. Go away.’
‘But if you detonate that missile I’ll die,’ Gray replied anxiously.
‘I told you what you can do about that,’ he said impatiently. ‘If you don’t want to join the ranks of the powerful, then you’ve only yourself to blame.’
‘That’s my choice?’ Gray asked incredulously. ‘Be infected with a deadly, mind destroying virus or die of radiation poisoning?’
‘At least you have a choice,’ he replied casually. ‘You’re really quite ungrateful. It’s almost an admirable quality. Now go away before I make you go away.’
Gray’s eyes widened and he turned and left the room. Stupid little thing, he thought, it’s as if he believes his life is meaningful and I might care. Humans are such narcissists. It’s always all about them. What about me, he thought unhappily? They never think about anybody else but themselves.
Ruler speaks: Hello imp
Ip speaks: What do you want?
Ruler speaks: Is that any way to greet an old friend?
Ip speaks: Just because I killed you does not make us friends.
Ruler speaks: Just for that I’ll kill you back. Tag! You’re it!
Ip speaks: And if you do I will be back for you.
Ruler speaks: Why do you fight the humans’ war?
Ip speaks: Who says I do? I have no fight with you. Do not bother me. We are not friends true.
Ruler speaks: Which side are you on in this game we play?
Ip speaks: There are no sides for me today.
Ruler speaks: You are not quite the same little imp. You have changed a bit since your little blip.
Ip speaks: Is that what you call a bullet to the head? A little blip?
Ruler speaks: You sound offended little one. I’d invite you home to me, but you would not come.
Ip speaks: I have a home and you are not there. I seriously doubt that you care.
Ruler speaks: The time has come for us to part.
Ip speaks: I think it is best we stay apart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Hit the road Jack (Mackenzie)
Oh no, he thought, not now.
The Harley Davidson swerved wildly and he fought to gain control of the motorcycle. Straightening the motorcycle, he blinked as if clearing his vision would clear his mind. Pulling over to the side of the road, he kicked it onto its stand and swung his leg over the seat. Pulling his helmet off, he sat down in the dirt and put his head in his hands.
Looking up again, the motorcycle and road disappeared and he was once more looking down at the convoy of a hundred vehicles. He could see Pax and Captain Ted each standing on top of a Stryker and Gears and Ip were standing on top of another. Hunters were attacking and it was a manic scene of violence, like nothing he’d ever witnessed before. This time his point of view was from one of the birds. He looked out from the bird and saw there were at least three hundred thousand hunters as far as his eye could see and they were all focused on making their way to the convoy.
I fixed this, he thought, I killed Ip to stop this future from happening. Why is this still happening? It didn’t make sense. Before he could ponder the question further, he looked down and saw the doors over the concrete silo were opening. Even though he wasn’t actually there, panic ripped through his body and he saw the missile deep within the silo and knew what would happen next. The missile detonated and the explosion climbed up the silo tunnel and forced its way through the opening, funneling smoke, fire and light high into the air. The bird he was in must have been caught in the nuclear blast and he found himself smothered in a white light. Abruptly the road and the motorcycle came into view again and he was alone by the side of the road.
He didn’t understand. This was the future he killed Ip to avoid and it shouldn’t be happening. Still not knowing how to control his precognition, he cast about in his mind desperately seeking other paths and different visions, but nothing appeared. It was as if this future was preordained and there was nothing he could do to change it. He’d left Ip at the Marine supply base and told her to ask for Gears and he was confident Gears would see the reborn Ip for who she really was. He thought his job was done and the future where they all died was averted and he could leave to find his own path. Clearly, he was wrong and there was another problem. Thinking hard, he decided he needed to get to the missile silo.
