Hunter Wars Omnibus Edition (Books 1 - 3)

by SD Tanner

  It didn’t make any sense. Why were they attacking one another? Why had the first thirty or so rows of the hunters that ringed their convoy chosen to turn on their brothers and defend them? He lowered his weapon and saw the woman was now turning steadily, left then right, while she surveyed the entire perimeter. Her expression was blank and her eyes were unblinking. Watching her, he recognized the impassive expression, the intense focus and he knew she was a super hunter.

  Not wanting to disturb her concentration, he said, ‘Hatch. Get them Hellfires and HYDRAS workin’ for us.’

  ‘Whatdaya want me to shoot at, Gears?’ Hatch asked.

  ‘Any buildin’s or high points in the area,’ he replied. ‘There’s super hunters out there and we need to kill ‘em.’

  ‘What’s goin’ on, Gears?’ Pax called.

  He gave a barking laugh and said, ‘We got ourselves a super hunter, Pax. She’s usin’ our enemies’ weapons against ‘em.’

  ‘I always did like Ip,’ Pax declared. ‘She’s fierce.’

  She was always that, he thought and ordered, ‘Hold the lines! Shoot anythin’ that makes it through, but conserve ya ammo. There’s a lot of ‘em.’

  He could hear Hatch and his birds raining hell down on anything they thought might be an observation site for a super hunter. Slowly, he thought he could detect some effect. Beyond their line of defending hunters, others were becoming disoriented, breaking off their attack and drifting in different directions. He assumed their controlling super hunter had fallen victim to the bombs Hatch and his team were dropping. The violent brawl between the hunters was slowly subsiding until once again, they were surrounded by a ring of hunters facing their position, but standing idle, only now many bore the scars of deep injuries. It seemed odd, but he was almost worried for his fellow hunter soldiers who fought so well for their lives.

  Next to him, the woman seemed to relax a little. She stumbled slightly, unsteady on her feet and he caught her by the waist. As she leaned back into his arm, he could feel her body was trembling and he thought she seemed exhausted.

  The woman glanced at the hunters that stood facing them and said, ‘Scat!’

  At her command, now disoriented by the daylight, the hunters became directionless and drifted away.

  Still supporting her to stand, he said, ‘Thank you.’

  She gave him a tired smile and said, ‘You did no less for me.’

  He smiled at her and through his radio, he said, ‘Pax, Ted, that little shit is still in the silo. We need to go kill him.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Best laid plans… (Gears)

  There was no need to break into the concrete bunker. It was already unlocked. Pax pushed the door open and he moved onto the grey colored metal platform and peered down the metal stairs that appeared to lead to a corridor. Cautiously, he walked down the stairs, alert for any movement and Captain Ted and Pax followed him.

  At the bottom of the stairs to his right, he saw two open doors leading to other rooms and between the two doors, were two bodies. Both were slumped and drenched in blood. Ignoring the bodies, he moved to the room directly in front of him and said quietly, ‘Cover me.’

  Bursting into the room, gun ready to fire, he opened fire at the hunter that launched itself at him. Pax immediately joined him and they both fired rapid rounds directly at the head and body of the hunter. Black, viscous fluid exploded from its body and with the sheer force of the bullets, it was pushed back and pinned against the equipment behind it. It crumpled to the ground and they both ceased fire. The hunter lay untidily, still moving, but now missing the top half of its head and it was faceless and utterly disabled.

  Poking his head in the doorway, Captain Ted said, ‘Nice job, jackasses. You busted the equipment.’

  Looking up from the hunter, he could see Captain Ted was right. The grey panels of the equipment in the room were puckered and ripped with bullet holes.

  Not sounding apologetic, Pax said, ‘Oops.’

  Turning to face Captain Ted, he said, ‘We got more rooms to check and two bodies out there. Doncha think ya should be doin’ that, dumbass.’

  ‘Room next door is empty,’ Captain Ted replied. ‘Just a couple of completely dead hunters.’

  ‘Who the hell killed ‘em?’ Pax asked. ‘Only the infected can completely kill ‘em.’

  Now he was annoyed, Captain Ted should have been watching their back and not wandering into rooms on his own. According to Logan, Ruler was somewhere in this bunker and he didn’t think either of these two idiots were taking the situation seriously.

  ‘Do either of ya dumbasses remember what we’re doin’ here?’ He asked angrily. ‘Ruler is supposed to be here.’

  ‘I doan think he’s here, Gears,’ Pax replied. ‘That sonofabitch woulda made his presence known by now.’

  That was probably true, but he still felt discipline was going to hell and said, ‘Stay focused will ya. We ain’t been lucky lately.’

  ‘We were fuckin’ lucky up there,’ Captain Ted said, flicking his head upward.

  They moved back into the corridor and it was obvious to him the bunker was empty and everything in it was dead. He heard footsteps on the stairs they came down earlier and immediately aimed his gun until he saw a pair of short black boots appear, then long black clad legs and finally a blonde head peeked out at him.

  ‘I told ya to stay up top,’ he said brusquely.

  Ignoring him, Ip pushed past him to the body slumped on the floor and said, ‘Mackenzie needs a doctor.’

  Assuming they were dead, he hadn’t paid any attention to the bodies on the floor and he said, ‘They’re both dead, honey.’

  Ip lifted Mackenzie’s head, his eyes opened, and turning to him, she said, ‘He is part hunter. We are harder to kill than humans.’

  Mackenzie started to cough and as he did, blood splattered from his mouth landing on Ip. Ip nodded and turned to him again and said, ‘Mackenzie says the future has not changed. The bomb will explode. Stop it.’

  ‘There’s nobody in the control rooms,’ Captain Ted said.

  He looked at the other end of the corridor and said, ‘Maybe they’re in the silo.’

  Now worried, they made their way down the long corridor to what they assumed must be the missile silo. The corridor turned sharply to the right and there was a second shorter corridor leading to a heavy looking grey door. Feeling a sudden surge of adrenalin, he began to run. Every instinct in him told him that Mackenzie was right and the whole place was about to explode. Without caution, he pulled the heavy door open and was confronted by the top third of a large nuclear missile. Around the missile were four metal grilled platforms and on two of them, were two men frantically working on something inside the missile.

  ‘Stop!’ He roared, but neither man indicated they had heard him.

  Aiming his gun at the man to his left, he said, ‘Step away from the missile or I will end your life.’

  The man continued to ignore him and aiming for the man’s legs, he shot them out from under him. The man didn’t cry out or even look at him and simply struggled back onto his now severely damaged legs and reached inside the missile again. There was something wrong with the man and he didn’t seem to be aware of where he was, or his situation. Realizing he would have to stop the man regardless of his condition, he shot him at point blank range through the head. This time the man fell over the low railing and he heard the thump of the body landing somewhere deep below them.

  Turning to the second man, and not wanting to kill another man who was clearly not in his right mind, he said, ‘Stop! Seriously!’

  This man also ignored him, but Captain Ted put his M4A1 down and said, ‘Let me try and get him.’

  The four platforms leading from the missile were not joined and there was a three-foot gap between each platform. Beneath the three foot gap was the long tunnel of the missile silo and it was at least a sixty-foot drop to the ground. Captain Ted would need to lean out over the gap and grab the man.

  Pu
tting his own weapon down, he said, ‘See if ya can grab this guy. We just need to get him away from the missile.’

  While he and Pax held onto his belt, Captain Ted leaned across the three-foot gap until his thighs were suspended on the metal bannister. Stretching as far as he could reach, Captain Ted managed to grab the man’s arm with one hand and he pulled him a few inches closer so he could hold the man’s arm with both hands. Yanking sharply, he pulled the man away from the missile and after pulling him even closer to him, managed to get both hands under his armpits. The man was struggling feebly, still trying to get inside the missile to finish whatever it was he was doing.

  Grunting, Captain Ted said, ‘Now, what?’

  He wasn’t sure. They’d managed to get the man away from the missile, but it was taking all three of them. He and Pax were still holding onto Captain Ted who was in turn, holding onto the man. We must look ridiculous, he thought irrelevantly.

  ‘Pull him over,’ Pax said.

  ‘But he’ll fall,’ Captain Ted replied.

  ‘It doesn’t matter if he does,’ he replied pragmatically. ‘It’s either this or we’re gonna hafta shoot him.’

  The three of them proceeded to tug and pull the man over the metal bannister and Captain Ted grunted, ‘Don’t fuckin’ drop me.’

  ‘Quit bitchin’,’ Pax said rudely. ‘Yer lucky TL ain’t here. He’d push ya.’

  ‘What’d I do to him?’ Captain Ted complained. ‘He stole my girlfriend.’

  ‘Doan talk shit, Ted,’ Pax grunted, as he helped pull Captain Ted and the man to safety. ‘She weren’t yer girlfriend.’

  Still panting slightly, Captain Ted grinned and said, ‘I know, but he still stole her.’

  ‘Do ya two idiots ever stay on point?’ He asked abruptly.

  The man was lying on the platform, now looking dazed and staring up at them. Crouching down next to him, he asked, ‘Ya okay?’

  ‘Where am I?’ The man asked. ‘And who are you?’

  ‘I’m Gears,’ he replied. ‘Who are you and what were ya doin’ to the missile?’

  The man began to shake and sounding shocked, he asked, ‘I’m Mike and I was about to detonate it, what the fuck is wrong with me?’

  He batted the man’s shoulder and said, ‘Nothin’. Someone had control of ya head is all.’

  They helped the man to his feet and returned to where Mackenzie was. Ip had his head in her lap and looking up at them, she asked, ‘Did you save us?’

  He smiled at her and said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  ‘Mackenzie needs help,’ Ip said bluntly.

  Dropping to one knee next to her, he examined Mackenzie and said, ‘I ain’t sure I wanna save him. He did shoot ya in the head.’

  ‘You do not mean that,’ Ip replied.

  She was right, he wouldn’t let Mackenzie die. He and Pax grabbed Mackenzie, hauled him onto his feet between them and as he did, he said, ‘Ya right, honey, but I ain’t feelin’ sorry for him.’

  Before they left the silo, they had Mike make sure he disabled the missile and then he and Ip flew Mackenzie back to the CDC while the convoy took the long trip back to the base. Lydia said that any normal person with injuries as severe as Mackenzie’s would have died, but the infected were part hunter and as Ip had pointed out, they didn’t die as easily as humans did.

  While Lydia worked on Mackenzie, he and Ip went to see Logan who was still recovering from his ordeal with Ruler.

  ‘How ya doin’ now, Colonel?’ He asked.

  Looking far healthier, Logan was sitting at a picnic table outside the CDC enjoying the sun and he looked up at him and said, ‘I told you not to call me that.’

  ‘I know,’ he replied, as he sat down opposite Logan. ‘And I won’t call ya sir.’

  Logan chuckled and said, ‘Too right. It makes me feel old. How did the mission go?’

  ‘Aside from it being a trap that nearly killed us all…it went real well,’ he replied honestly.

  ‘Did you kill Ruler?’ Logan asked.

  He shook his head and said, ‘Like I said, it was a trap and he wasn’t there.’

  ‘Lousy trap if you’re still here,’ Logan observed.

  ‘No, it was a good trap, but we have some very odd forces on our side that Ruler, and we, didn’t know about,’ he replied candidly.

  Looking over at Ip, who was sitting next to him, Logan asked, ‘Am I looking at one of those forces?’

  He wasn’t sure what to introduce Ip as and he said, ‘This is Ip. She leads the army of the weird.’

  ‘They do not like to be called that,’ Ip remarked dryly. ‘They think you are weird.’

  ‘What do they want us to call ‘em?’ He asked.

  ‘The humans call them the Infected,’ Ip replied.

  He didn’t know there were any humans at the Ranch and curious, he asked, ‘What humans?’

  ‘Humans have joined us,’ Ip replied simply. ‘The Ranch is safe from hunters.’

  ‘I can understand that,’ Logan said. ‘Lydia has agreed to infect me.’

  Surprised, he asked, ‘Why do ya wanna be infected. We need experienced soldiers. I was hopin’ ya might help us manage the shooters.’

  Logan shook his head and said frankly, ‘Sorry son, but after being screwed over by Ruler I want an edge. I’m gonna kill that sonofabitch.’

  He nodded and said, ‘Well then ya helpful to us either way.’

  ‘Since you left I’ve remembered something else,’ Logan added. ‘There’s a refugee camp in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and if my memory is right, I think the POTUS is there.’

  That shocked him and he asked, ‘The President is alive?’

  ‘I don’t know if he is or not, but I know they referred to the man running the camp as the POTUS,’ Logan said. ‘My memory from that time isn’t reliable, but I’m sure there is a camp and there is someone they called POTUS.’

  He sighed and said, ‘We need to check it out. If the President is still alive we need to know that and if it’s a cover for something Ruler is doing, we need to know that too.’

  Logan nodded and said sincerely, ‘I’m told you and your brothers were in the Army when all this came down.’ He nodded and Logan continued, ‘I just want to say, you men are doing real well. You’ve achieved what we were under orders to do. A part of me feels like I’ve failed, but a bigger part of me is proud at least some in our ranks got it together.’

  He and his brothers tended to only see what they didn’t do right and rarely took notice of what they did do well. Given he just marched a thousand men and women into a trap, he wasn’t feeling too smart and he said, ‘We’ve been lucky.’

  ‘Bullshit,’ Logan replied firmly. ‘You’ve been determined, willful and resourceful. Keep it up, you’re doing a hell of a job. I hope I can help you give ‘em heck once I’m infected.’

  Although he agreed to take Ip back to the Ranch, Lydia wouldn’t be able to leave until the next day. He suggested to Ip that he take her to the cruise ship for the night where she could also meet Tessa and Jen. In the heat of the battle and watching her defend them as she always had, he no longer questioned who she was. It didn’t make sense, but then he figured very little did these days and for all of the insanity the world had to offer, this was an insanity he could get on board with. No longer doubting who she was, he wondered if he could help her remember who she’d been. Keeping her safe in all ways was a priority before she died and he felt the same priority now she was reborn and returned to him.

  ***

  Hatch flew them to the ship and as the bird flew across the water, Gears put one arm around her shoulders and pointed into the distance. A large white ship gradually appeared out of the blandness of the blue sea and she smiled. For some reason seeing the ship pleased her, but she didn’t know why. Once they landed on the ship, Gears walked her through every level and as they walked people looked at her in surprise, but they didn’t speak to her. It made her wonder if she was invisible.

  ‘They do not see me?’ She asked. />
  Gears smiled at her and said, ‘No, honey. They just dunno who ya are and some of ‘em probably think you’re Ip and old Ip didn’t used to speak.’

  ‘Old Ip?’ She repeated curiously. ‘Was I old?’

  Laughing, he said, ‘No, I just mean the previous incarnation of you.’

  Reincarnation seemed an odd concept to her. She wondered if it was possible. She did have fragments of memories that she couldn’t place, but thought that perhaps they were from the woman she was before being infected with the designer virus. It didn’t bother her whether she was a woman who lost her mind when infected or a woman who’d lived before. None of it struck her as important. She was here now and happy to be alive.

  On the way to the suite where Gears told her that she and he lived, he took her to see two other people who were infected with the designer virus at another CDC. Tessa and Jen lived with the soldier who protected them at the CDC called Ian Mullen. She walked in and Gears introduced her to Tessa and Jen, who was lying on a bed in the lounge of their cabin.

  Confused, she asked Tessa, ‘Are you infected?’

  ‘Yes,’ Tessa replied warmly. ‘I was infected at a CDC like you.’

  Looking at Tessa, she saw the woman had the brilliant blue eyes that was the most obvious sign to a human that someone was infected, but to another infected person the blue eyes were the least of the signs. Every infected person, whether they were infected by the designer virus or the hunter virus, had telepathy to some extent. The hunters had the least, but the super hunters and those infected by the designer virus were quite telepathic and they lived as stars in her mind. All the people who were infected with the designer virus shone brightly, but those infected by the hunter virus were dark stars and Ruler’s star was darkest of all.

  ‘Do you speak with your mind?’ She asked curiously.

  A look of concern flashed across Tessa’s face and she said, ‘I have blackouts and they think I may be communicating telepathically, but I don’t remember anything about it.’