Hunter Wars Omnibus Edition (Books 1 - 3)

by SD Tanner

  He was five hours from the silo and when he arrived, it was quiet. Nothing was moving and it looked as if nothing was about to happen there either, but he knew better. Just as his visions had shown him, the silo was a small, squat concrete bunker, which he knew, contained the control room. He hid the motorcycle nearby in a smattering of trees and trudged back to the concrete bunker. He still had the Beretta he stole from the CDC and used to kill Ip, but otherwise he was unarmed. On reflection, he realized he hadn’t planned well, but then how could he? He didn’t know when the battle would happen and felt an urgent need to be here and do whatever he could to avert the deaths he saw happening. He never wanted to kill Ip and he couldn’t accept he killed her for nothing. If it cost him his life to save the people who cared for him, then it was a price he was prepared to pay.

  As he walked to the bunker, he sensed the hunters hiding in the surrounding forests. His newly acquired skills were still a mystery to him. Like Ip, in his mind he saw the stars that were the minds of others like him, but unlike Ip, they were not always there. It seemed when he had a vision of the future, it was as if he was really there. The frame of his real life disappeared and the stars went with it. It meant his ability to talk to others of his own kind was unreliable and he had a bad connection, which frustrated him. When he agreed to be infected, he hadn’t realized the abilities didn’t come with a reference manual and he had to learn by trial and error how his abilities did or didn’t work. More dangerous was his inability to control his visions and they would come over him without warning. Suddenly the real world he was standing in would disappear and he would be somewhere altogether different. So complete was the replacement of his real world, he often forgot where he was and was shocked when he returned. It was another frustration and his assumption that being infected would give him more control over this new world was proving to be false.

  Standing outside the bunker, he pulled his gun from his belt and cautiously pulled open the door and slipped in. The lights were on and grey metal stairs led down from a small entrance platform. Quietly, he moved down the stairs with his ears and eyes alert for any movement or sound. He reached the grilled platform at the bottom of the stairs and a hunter approached. He touched it to kill it and caught its body, laying it down gently and quietly. To his right, the grilled floor seemed to have two doors leading from it and both doors were slightly ajar. To his left, the grilled floor continued down a long corridor and at the end, was a wall he suspected led to another corridor. He reasoned the corridor probably led to the missile silo. He could not hear anything other than the vague shuffling of hunter bodies moving around the rooms.

  He wasn’t sure how a missile was detonated, but decided the two rooms to his right were most likely the control rooms for the missile and it was these rooms that needed to be cleared. With his gun ready, he crouched slightly as he walked silently towards the room. When being sneaky, Pax taught him not to be where he was expected and he didn’t walk down the middle of the grilled floor, but to the far left, creating as small a target as possible for a man of his bulk. Once he reached the first door, he flattened against the wall and slowly peeked into the room. Looking into the room, a hunter caught sight of his movement and not seeing him as prey, lost interest and returned to its mindless mooching. There were several hunters in the room, but no humans, so he straightened up, walked in and quietly killed them.

  Just as he thought, the room was a control room and the grey metal panels attached to the walls were obviously used to manage the missile. He thought they looked like something from a cheap 1960’s science fiction film and he was surprised that these were the controls for a nuclear missile to be used in the twenty first century. Oddly, they didn’t seem to be in use since none of the lights on the panels were lit. They looked like they hadn’t even been touched since the 1960’s. The place looked antiquated and he was starting to wonder if he was at the wrong missile silo. Seeing nothing more of interest, he decided to check the next room and assumed he might find the more modern looking equipment he expected to be used to fire a nuclear missile.

  Turning and again walking quietly out of the room, he felt the bite of a blade as it slid between his ribs and deep into his chest, puncturing his lung. The blade hit home and he found himself staring into the blue on blue eyes of a super hunter. His knees began to buckle and his right hand reached for the super hunter as he slid to the floor. Fuck, he thought as he fought for control of his body. The super hunter grabbed his hair, yanked his head back and prepared to cut his throat. His gun was still in his left hand and without aiming, he pulled the trigger repeatedly.

  The hand let go of his hair and he felt more than saw the super hunter’s body jerk as the bullets travelled up through its gut and pelvis, lodging deep inside its torso. Its body slumped against the wall and visibly shaking, it slid down and collapsed until it was seated, legs sprawled and eyes open.

  Coughing blood from his bleeding lung, he muttered, ‘Asshole.’

  Surprisingly, he felt no pain. His breathing was badly compromised, but he was more conscious than he expected to be. He was paralyzed and his body was refusing to move, but he glared at the super hunter and it glared back at him, equally as injured as he was.

  ‘Fuck you,’ the super hunter replied.

  With blood bubbling from his throat, he gurgled as he spoke and said, ‘You can talk.’

  The super hunter was obviously unable to move either and it continued to glare at him, but said nothing. Even though he was going to die, he wanted answers. He wanted to know what it was and why it was so hell bent on killing them.

  ‘What are you?’ He gurgled, and fresh blood spilled from his mouth and down his shirt.

  The super hunter looked at him balefully and said, ‘Death.’

  Still surprised he was conscious, he said, ‘Not an answer. Try again.’

  The super hunter’s was blood leaking and dripping through the grilled floor and it said, ‘We are your future. You belong to us.’

  ‘Who’s us?’ He asked, now feeling incredibly tired and wishing he could sleep.

  Smiling, the super hunter said, ‘Your home is our new hell.’

  Still struggling to breathe, he said, ‘I don’t understand.’

  The super hunter shrugged awkwardly and said, ‘Your hell is our new home.’

  ‘You talk shit,’ he replied, but exhaustion was starting overwhelm him. His chest felt like it was being crushed and he was giddy and lightheaded.

  ‘We are moving in,’ the super hunter said. ‘You belong to us and you will feed us.’

  He still didn’t understand, but he wasn’t sure why. His head was becoming foggier and he struggled to get enough oxygen to his brain. Maybe I’m dying, he thought, or maybe this asshole is talking shit. His body felt as though it was vibrating and there seemed to be a persistent rumbling noise. Dust was falling from the ceiling, making it even harder for him to breathe. The noise was growing louder, the vibration more intense, more dust was falling, and he vaguely felt movement all around him.

  As his breath became shallower, his head slumped forward and he mumbled, ‘Feed you?’

  Before he lost consciousness, he heard the super hunter say, ‘When you despair, we feed.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: The mouse that roared (Gears)

  ‘Hatch!’ He called through his mike. ‘Get ya fleet in formation!’

  ‘It’s not a fleet, Gears,’ Hatch replied dryly. ‘It’s a bunch of people who can almost handle a bird.’

  ‘I don’t goddamn care whatcha call ‘em, Hatch,’ he replied bluntly. ‘Jus’ get ‘em under control.’

  He was standing on top of a Stryker and the woman was standing beside him as he turned full circle surveying the situation. The drive to the missile silo had been uneventful. Just the usual flat tires and refueling. As planned, Pax was standing on top of the other Stryker and he could hear him shouting orders to the leads for each vehicle. Captain Ted was standing on top of an assault vehicle also shouting orders.
Between them, they were ordering the vehicles to form a tight perimeter around the concrete platform of the silo. He knew it was a matter of time before the hunters would attack and they needed the perimeter formation to defend the assault team going into the concrete silo. Assuming Logan’s intel was accurate, Ruler was right under their feet and by now he would have heard the ruckus above him. It wasn’t possible roll in with a hundred armored and heavily loaded vehicles without making a hell of a lot of noise.

  Satisfied with their progress, he called, ‘Hatch. Get ya ass down here. I need to get aboard and take a look from the air.’

  ‘Roger that,’ Hatch replied. ‘But ya ain’t gonna like it Gears.’

  Hatch brought the bird down in the newly forming perimeter and he grabbed the woman and pulled her on board with him. Nelson was already on the bird and as Hatch lifted into the air, he looked down and saw why Hatch said he wouldn’t like what he saw. Looking out at the sea of hunters surrounding the convoy, he estimated there had to be well over three hundred thousand of them ready to attack. He could only assume somewhere amongst them, were super hunters controlling their movement. It was brilliant daylight, but these hunters were standing in the bright sun, all facing the convoy, lined up and ready.

  ‘What are they waiting for?’ Nelson asked.

  ‘No goddamn idea,’ he replied grimly. ‘But we need to cut a hole through the pack.’

  ‘There’s no way we can do that,’ Nelson replied. ‘They’ll swarm us and, even if we got through, they’d chase us. There’s no way out, Gears.’

  He couldn’t think of a way out either. Even if he could convince the woman to kill the hunters for them, she couldn’t kill enough of them. They might be able to cut a path through, but with so many hunters, Nelson was right and they would swarm repeatedly until they were out of ammo and overwhelmed. They simply didn’t have enough weapons or shooters to shoot their way out. He could see now that he had led them into a trap.

  Sighing deeply, he said, ‘I know, but we’re outta options unless ya have a nuclear bomb, Nelson.’

  Nelson frowned and asked, ‘How would that help? We’d be blown to hell too.’

  ‘It wouldn’t save us,’ he replied pragmatically. ‘But at least they’d die with us.’

  ‘That’s it, Gears?’ Nelson said calmly. ‘We’re all going to die today?’

  Rubbing the scar on his face and despite the adrenalin coursing through him, he felt deeply tired and he said calmly, ‘Looks like it. Hatch! Take us down.’

  Hatch landed back where he’d taken off from, inside the perimeter. He climbed out of the bird with Nelson, then turned and looked at the woman. She was trying to push past him to climb out of the bird to join them and with one hand, he firmly pushed her back onto the bird.

  He said, ‘No, honey.’

  He doubted she could hear him over the sound of the rotors, but she glared at him and he figured she got the message. Holding her firmly, he leaned close to her ear said, ‘I need ya to stay with the bird. I can’t do what I gotta do if I’m watchin’ out for ya. Will ya do what I’m askin ya to do? Please.’

  Her expression turned from anger to utter dismay and she reached out her arms, wrapped them around his neck and slipped out from the platform of the helicopter. Her hug surprised him and out of habit, he returned her hug and said, ‘The hunters can’t hurt ya, honey. Make sure ya know when to leave this shitfight.’

  The situation was hopeless, but he felt oddly comforted that this woman was by his side. As he and the woman walked back to Nelson standing in the middle of the perimeter, they were quickly joined by Pax, TL and Captain Ted.

  ‘Screwed again are we?’ Pax asked dryly.

  TL asked, ‘So, what’s the plan this time, Gears?’

  He didn’t have a viable plan and he said steadily, ‘Gonna have to cut our way out.’

  Snorting, Captain Ted said, ‘That won’t work. We’ll be fuckin’ swarmed.’

  He sighed and said, ‘I know that, dumbass. I’m not stupid.’

  ‘Ya gotta plan where we get to live?’ Pax asked plainly.

  ‘Nope,’ he answered. ‘I don’t got one of those today.’

  ‘Awesome,’ Captain Ted said happily.

  ‘Ya some kinda freak, Ted,’ Pax observed. ‘But we love ya anyway.’

  He, Pax and Captain Ted ordered the vehicles into convoy position again. He would have liked to break into the concrete bunker, but if there was even the smallest chance some of their shooters could get out alive, he was willing to abandon their original mission to give them that opportunity. It was a long shot, but he was reconciled to taking it.

  They rearranged the vehicles again, forming two columns with the armored vehicles with the heavy weapons topping and tailing the convoy. Shooters were taking position on the hoods and roofs of the vehicles. Nelson waved at him and jogged over to his position at the front of the convoy.

  Blocking his radio mike, Nelson said, ‘You need to say something.’

  Blocking his own radio mike, he asked, ‘About what?’

  ‘We won’t survive this without divine intervention,’ Nelson replied bluntly. ‘You need to talk to them.’

  He wasn’t following Nelsons point and they didn’t have time to be giving speeches. Frowned again he asked, ‘About what?’

  ‘Tell them what you believe, Gears,’ Nelson said plainly.

  Nodding, he unblocked his mike and said, ‘Let’s kick ass!’

  The vehicles slowly rumbled forward and the hunters edged nearer. He could see the line of the advancing hunters drawing ever closer. It would be a matter of minutes before they would explode into manic vibrating motion and launch themselves at the convoy. He knew if that many hunters attacked, they would all die. The time has come, he thought, at least I’ll die with my gun in hand and that’s better than drowning on that goddamn boat.

  He was about grab the woman and have her climb down the hatch into the Stryker when she asked, ‘Why did you do that?’

  Standing back up on the Stryker and holding his balance while it slowly trundled forward, he asked, ‘Do what?’

  Looking confused, she said, ‘Try to save me when you will die.’

  He looked past her at the hunters that were now within firing distance and still slowly moving closer. They were a seething mass of vibrating, angry teeth and he could see their fists pumping with barely contained rage. It would be a matter of moments before they erupted in violence and he pulled his M4A1 up into firing position, ready for the onslaught.

  ‘I don’t want ya to die, honey,’ he replied, while holding his gun at eye level and waiting for the inevitable attack.

  Still sounding confused, she asked plaintively, ‘Why do you care? You do not know me.’

  Something odd was happening. The hunters had stopped advancing and were once again standing still, but now much closer than before and well within firing range. They stood around the convoy, hundreds deep, all facing their prey, clearly waiting for the super hunters to order them to attack.

  ‘Whatdaya think’s goin’ on,’ Pax asked.

  ‘Dunno,’ he replied. ‘But our enemy likes to fuck with us.’

  Caught up in the battle, it took him a moment to realize the woman was tugging on his arm. Without taking his eyes off the hunters, he asked, ‘What, honey?’

  ‘Why do you care if I die or not?’ She asked.

  Briefly taking his eyes off the hunters, he looked at her and said, ‘Because you’re an innocent and ya deserve a life. You’ve done nothin’ wrong.’

  Without waiting to hear her reply, he turned back to watch the hunters and was ready to kill to defend their lives and die doing so. The hunters still stood with barely restrained energy when, as if given a signal, the first thirty rows of hunters turned abruptly in unison and stood facing the hunter horde behind them.

  ‘What the fuck are they doin’?’ Pax shouted down his mike.

  Equally confused, he replied, ‘You know what I know, dumbass.’

  Without
warning, the hunters facing outwards erupted and snarling, howling and screeching they attacked their hunter brothers.

  Sounding shocked, Captain Ted shouted, ‘They’re fuckin’ killin’ one another.’

  Hunter on hunter was a savage sight. Their unrestrained fury, so lethal to humans, was an equal battle between hunters. He watched as one hunter formed its hand into a claw and plunged it into the stomach of another, gutting it with an upward sweeping motion. Black visceral goo erupted like a fountain, flung high into the air. The injured hunter was still not down and it retaliated by tearing its attacker’s throat with its teeth. Hunters don’t die easy and the battle between hunters continued, even as the hunters inflicted horrific injuries on one another. Any hunter that did fall was crushed under the violent movement of the warring hunters and unable to rise, their bodies were slowly pummeled to a pulp.

  Through his radio mike, he could hear some of the shooters were retching and the stench of vomit was thick in the air. The sight of bodies, still shaped like men, being torn to pieces in front of them was shocking. Despite his long combat history, he didn’t think he’d ever seen anything as violent as what he was now witnessing.

  Stunned, he muttered to no one in particular, ‘Better them than us.’

  TL replied somberly, ‘That could still be us if our hunters don’t win.’

  While they stood watching, silent and still, the battle between the hunters raged on with a seemingly eternal brutality. Some hunters made it through their defending hunters and he heard sporadic gunfire as shooters brought them down and then their guns would fall silent again. The ground where the hunters fought was becoming slick with their black goo and hunters slipped and fell into the crushed bodies of their brothers, only to join them as they too were crushed.