by SD Tanner
‘Damn thing stinks,’ Captain Ted complained. ‘Why the hell do they smell so bad and why the hell do we have to have three of these fuckin’ things in here?’ Looking at Ip, he added, ‘Can’t you just grab some when we stop?’
Ip huffed and said, ‘You complain a lot.’
He chuckled and said, ‘I think she jus’ called ya a whiny little bitch, Ted.’
Giving Ip a dirty look, Captain Ted said, ‘I liked you better when you didn’t talk.’
Gears was watching the cameras and said, ‘Shaddup all of ya. There’s somethin’ goin’ on out here.’
They all crammed around the screens to look at the grainy pictures and they could see the hunters were about ten yards away, but appeared to be starting to cluster around their armored vehicle.
Dourly, he commented, ‘Yup, that ain’t right.’ Elbowing Ip, he asked, ‘Do ya know where the super hunter is?’
In the cramped space, Ip tried to pull away from his elbow and said resentfully, ‘No. Why would I?’
Finding her fun to annoy, he said, ‘Ya used to. Guess ya ain’t as smart as ya used to be.’
Wincing, Captain Ted asked, ‘Pax, the woman is controlling the three hunters behind you. Do you think you should be annoying her?’
‘Will ya all shaddup!’ Gears growled. ‘Dunno why I work with ya idiots. We’re surrounded by enemy, in mortal danger and ya’ll fightin’ like kids.’
Looking offended, Ip kicked his boot and said, ‘It was him.’
Sighing deeply, Gears turned to Ip and asked, ‘If ya dunno where the super hunter is, how are we gonna kill it?’
Huffing, Ip replied blandly, ‘This is your plan.’
Pax frowned and grumbled, ‘Ya used to know where they were by bein’ able to see what they’d been seein’.’
Ip shook her head and said, ‘I do not touch the dark stars.’
‘Whatdaya mean?’ Gears asked patiently.
Ip replied, ‘My kind are bright stars. Ruler and his kind are dark stars.’
Sighing, he remarked dryly, ‘Gettin’ information outta her is like pullin’ teeth.’
Giving him a warning look, Gears said, ‘Shaddup Pax.’
Looking back at Ip, he asked, ‘Why doncha talk to ‘em?’
Struggling to find the words to explain her feelings, Ip replied, ‘They are…not right. They obey Ruler. Ruler is….damaged.’
She didn’t seem to know anything and she clearly didn’t want to talk to the super hunters or Ruler. Perhaps she’s right, he thought, they probably wouldn’t tell her anything anyway. She killed Ruler last time they met and although she didn’t remember it, Ruler probably did. He doubted she and Ruler would have anything useful to say to one another.
‘You’re a great help, Ip,’ Captain Ted remarked dryly.
Huffing, Ip climbed to the back of the vehicle and wrenched the door open.
‘Shit!’ He shouted.
‘Goddamn it,’ Gears yelled
It was too late, Ip disappeared into the darkness and he could see hunters were running towards their vehicle. Crouching in the doorway, they all aimed their guns, ready to fire. The gunner was already firing at the oncoming hunters.
Gears said, ‘Watch ya fire. Don’t shoot her.’
Feeling annoyed, he retorted, ‘Why not? Ya puddy tat jus’ opened the goddamn door.’
Glancing at him, Gears asked, ‘So ya do think it’s Ip?’
‘Not the time, bro’,’ he replied firmly.
Rather than start shooting as he expected, Gears stepped out of the vehicle and he shouted at him, ‘What the hell are ya doin?’
‘Gotta hunch,’ Gears replied, and he walked forward into the darkness and stopped.
Immediately eight hunters stopped the attack on their vehicle and formed a guard around Gears, snarling and growling at any hunters that drew too near. Shaking his head, he climbed out of the vehicle and joining his brother, he said, ‘That was risky, bro’. Yer trustin’ this new Ip a bit much, doan ya think?’
Ip and Captain Ted joined them in the middle of the ring of protective hunters and he asked, ‘So, now what?’
Shrugging, Ip said, ‘You cannot hunt in your ugly truck.’
‘Do ya know where he is?’ Gears asked Ip.
Shaking her head, she said, ‘He sees you. He sees green.’
‘Ya mean he’s in the forest?’ He asked her.
She nodded and Gears said, ‘Let’s start walkin’.’ To the driver and gunner, he said, ‘Follow us, but don’t shoot us.’
They walked through the forest and in the clearer areas of the forest, the vehicle kept pace a short distance away. Hunters were moving around them, but none approached and he asked, ‘Why ain’t they attackin’?’
‘You are pack,’ Ip replied simply.
‘Why do they think that?’ Captain Ted asked.
‘I tell them you are pack,’ Ip replied simply.
Captain Ted snorted and said dourly, ‘Then we better make sure you don’t die or we’ll be fucked.’
Frowning, he remarked, ‘That’s not the only reason we shouldn’t let Ip be killed, Ted. You can be very ungentlemanly some days.’
Snorting, Captain Ted said rudely, ‘If we die in order of IQ, you’re doomed, Pax.’
Grumbling, Gears said, ‘If ya don’t fuckin’ shaddup, I’m gonna kill all of ya. Will ya pay attention to the job we’re doin’ here!’
Before he could deliver a stinging retort, the hunters around them erupted into the same manic violence they witnessed at the missile silo. Dropping low and forming a circle, they started firing at the hunters that were breaking through their own ring of protective hunters, but it was a shambolic fight. They couldn’t tell which hunters Ip had control of and which she didn’t and at times, they were shooting their own hunters.
Shouting over the sound of the gunfire, Gears said, ‘Pull back to truck.’ To the gunner, he called, ‘Coming in! Watch ya fire!’
Making it back to the safety of the vehicle, they climbed in and before they could pull the doors safely closed, three hunters pushed their way in with them.
Angrily, he said, ‘What the fuck, Ip?’ Get ‘em outta here.’
Ip pushed him firmly in the chest and said, ‘You need them. They will fight for you.’
He understood. Ip was using the hunters like armor and they went into the danger ahead of them, taking the brunt of the fight. Grinning, he said, ‘Yer not so stupid, but ya shoulda picked healthier hunters.’
The hunters that joined them in the vehicle had been fighting hard and through the deep rips in their flesh, they were leaking black viscous fluid that stank of vomit.
Alarmed, Gears ordered, ‘Stay back from ‘em.’ Turning to Ip, he said, ‘Ip ya can’t use ‘em in this condition. They can infect us.’
Realizing Gears was right, he and Captain Ted pulled back from the leaking hunters and he said, ‘We all gotta lot to learn, Gears.’
Looking grim and nodding, Gears returned to looking at the screens and said, ‘We know the sonofabitch is out there and he can see us so we can see him.’
Once again, they crowded around the screens and looked for where the super hunter could be hiding. There were two heavily forested areas near them and they agreed that the super hunter could be hiding in either.
‘Problem is, if we miss the sonofabitch, he’ll run and we’ll hafta find him again,’ Gears said.
Captain Ted shook his head and said, ‘I did not hang my ass out there for nothing. No fuckin’ way are we letting him escape.’
Gears nodded and said, ‘Agreed. Then we gotta hit both sites at once. We’ll get the gunner to take one and we’ll take the other on foot with Ip.’
After instructing the gunner to fire to the front and right of the vehicle, once again they prepared go outside into the night where the hunters were still roaming. The other location for the super hunter was to the middle and left of the vehicle close to where they had just been. Ip opened the door, the leaking hunters leapt out, immediatel
y forming a defensive ring around the door, and more hunters joined them to reinforce their line of defense.
Having only seen the hunters as enemy, he remarked, ‘Damn this is weird, but we need to make ‘em wear a collar or somethin’, so we can tell ‘em apart.’
‘How would that work?’ Gears asked impatiently. ‘They’re not tame, Pax. They’re bein’ controlled. Now quit thinkin’ and start soldierin’.’
Captain Ted snorted and said, ‘Umm, I don’t know what they taught you guys in the Army, but in the Marines they taught us to think when we do that.’
Rolling his eyes, he said rudely, ‘No they didn’t, dude.’
‘Screw this shit,’ Gears said abruptly and taking aim, he started to unload into the dark forest in front of them.
Not sure what he was shooting at, he and Captain Ted followed suit, but he wasn’t sure shooting up the forest was going to do much for them. While they fired, hunters started in their direction only to be cut down either by their continuous fire or by their brother hunters under the control of Ip. The night lit up with tracers as they and the gunner unleashed a barrage of gunfire at the forest. While they fired, they paced forward into the deepening forest and after a few minutes of continuous fire, Gears lowered his weapon and said loudly, ‘Look at the hunters.’
The hunters were no longer advancing, but were aimlessly wandering around the forest, grumbling and growling at one another and showing no interest in them.
Gears said grimly, ‘We either got the sonofabitch or he ran off. Let’s look around.’
Poking around the now ripped and torn area of forest, they found an explosion of bright red blood about twenty yards from where they’d been standing. Searching through the forest, they found an armored corpse of a super hunter, its body riddled with bullets.
Once inside the armored vehicle again and heading back to the ferry, Gears said, ‘Now we know we can get ‘em even in the dark, but we need to do this better.’
Captain Ted nodded in agreement and said, ‘We need to be better kitted out with night vision gear.’
Agreeing with Captain Ted, he said, ‘And get some decent lights on these assault vehicles.’ Looking down at the pools of black viscous fluid left by the damaged hunters, he added dourly, ‘And we need to teach Ip some rules about her pets.’
Gears turned to Ip and asked, ‘Do ya think that was the only one on the island?’
‘I do not know,’ Ip replied blandly.
Curious about the bright and dark stars she talked about, he asked, ‘How many dark stars are there?’
Shrugging, Ip said, ‘Many, but not all are…walking.’
‘Do ya mean there’s more ‘em than have bodies,’ Gears asked.
Ip nodded and Gears turned to them and asked, ‘I wonder why they don’t all have bodies?’
It took them over a week to clear the island of every hunter and they only ever found one super hunter. While they cleared the island, they found thirty-two of their shooters that died trying to clear the island the first time. No one really wanted to talk about what must have happened to the other seventeen. As he promised, they found a spot at the top of small hill, overlooking the sea and they fenced off a graveyard where they buried their fallen.
Standing from the vantage point of the hill and looking at the sea and land, he supposed they were lucky to have cleared such a large island without losing more people. Although he’d been angry with Ip and the Infected, even he had to admit they worked hard to clear the island with them. Perhaps it takes time to learn, he thought, mistakes will be made and must be forgiven. That thought reminded him of BD and not for the first time, he wondered if he would ever forget her and move on. Although he missed her, he never regretted having her in his life, even if losing her meant he now knew his life was a lonely one.
Joining him in the graveyard at the top of the hill overlooking the sea and the land, Gears said, ‘Thank you.’
Surprised, he turned to his brother and asked, ‘What for?’
Gears looked him in the eye and said honestly, ‘I know I screwed up tryin’ to take the island without the Infected. Guess I didn’t wanna believe we were screwed without ‘em and I didn’t think they were comin’ back.’
Nodding, he said equally as honestly, ‘Yeah, well, I didn’t think Ip’d be back either.’
Turning to look at the island, Gears chuckled and said, ‘Nope, didn’t see that comin’ either, but I guess this is the way of the future. Together, with the Infected, we still stand a fightin’ chance so we gotta learn to live and fight together.’
Earnestly and with genuine concern for his brother, he said, ‘Nothin’ is known anymore, bro’ and we’re all jus’ learnin’ as we go. You’ve gotta cut yerself a break some days. We’re doin’ alright.’
Nodding, Gears replied, ‘Logan told me that.’
Nodding firmly, he replied, ‘That’s ‘cos we are.’ Looking down at the freshly dug graves, he added somberly, ‘But it ain’t comin’ for free. Some of us are payin’ a high price.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: Dance of the drag queens (Hull)
‘I don’t like the man, but I want control of those bases,’ Gray said bluntly.
‘He’s not a man,’ he replied dourly. ‘You told me that and I agree with you. Dunno what he is, but he ain’t human.’
Gray snorted angrily and said, ‘I don’t fucking care what he is, Hull. For the moment, we have common objectives. He wants those guys dead and I want those bases.’
‘I thought you wanted him dead,’ he replied flatly.
Narrowing his eyes, Gray said, ‘Maybe later, but not right now. Tell me how we can attack those bases.’
He and Skunk had checked the bases out and learned a lot. These guys were organized. They had two bases down in Jacksonville, both ex-military bases and well defended from the hunters. With all the people there dressed in ACUs, armed and trained, he figured they could muster up nearly twenty thousand people in any fight. They were a force to be reckoned with and his undisciplined human army of only five thousand couldn’t beat them in a fair fight. Not that he intended to have a fair fight with anyone. He preferred to stack the odds in his favor.
‘These guys have an army and we don’t,’ he said bluntly. ‘As Ruler says, I gotta a lot of drag queens with guns.’
They were sitting at a table in the recreation room of his barracks and Gray leaned forward and said furiously, ‘I don’t care if they have the fucking Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, just tell me how you plan to take over the bases.’
He sighed, in the past month Gray had gone from being a frightened, but arrogant man to a vicious killer. Ever since Ruler went mad killing everyone in his bunker and moved to the refugee camp, the whole set up had disintegrated even by his low standards. His men had followed his orders and captured people from all over the state, weeded out anyone they could use and handed the rest over to Gray and Ruler. Some of the people they captured were killed, but most lived in terror. He often contemplated leaving, but both Gray and Ruler left him alone to do as he pleased. Even so, he wasn’t in control. The insanity of the camp was corrupting his men, destroying any hope of discipline and making it impossible for him to build a real army of any sort.
Sighing, he said blandly, ‘Our greatest asset is the hunters. Their bases are well secured and cut off from the mainland. The main Marine base only has a single road leading to the island. The Navy base is attached to the mainland by a small strip of land they’ve blocked off with containers. There’s no easy way into either base.’
‘You’re not answering my question,’ Gray said bluntly. ‘Get to the fucking point.’
Looking grim, he said, ‘We can’t break into the bases without breaking the bases.’
Gray glared at him impatiently and said, ‘What the fuck does that mean?’
His recon of the bases had shown him they were well armed, had air power and a lot of heavy armaments they knew how to use. There was no way they could be attacked by land and i
t would be impossible to get any reasonable sized force close enough to them before they would be blown to hell. If he went in by air, he could never land enough troops before their helicopters would be bombed out of the skies. The whole set up was well secured and if he’d been a different sort of man, he would’ve been happy to join them. As it was, he had a very easy set up with Ruler and Gray and saw no reason to give it up. It suited him to take the bases rather than join them and he put a lot of thought into how they could do it.
Leaning forward in his chair so there was now only a foot between them across the table, he said, ‘We use the hunters. The strength of their bases is no one can breach their defenses and that’s their weakness as well. If we drop half a dozen hunters on each base, they’ll create chaos, kill or infect most of their troops and then we can breach the perimeter using our human army.’
Gray stared at him intently and hissed, ‘I don’t want the land, you fucking idiot. I want the weapons and the people.’
Matching Gray’s intense stare and without blinking, he replied flatly, ‘The hunters won’t kill everyone and there are thousands of people on two islands that we can take once we have their bases under our control. And I’m not proposing to bomb the bases, so whatever weapons and supplies they have will still be intact.’
Leaning back into his chair, he added, ‘You’ll get what you want.’
Seeming mollified, Gray smiled and he noticed the man’s teeth were yellowing and looked more like fangs than teeth.
Now sounding calmer, Gray asked, ‘When can you get it done?’
He knew that would be Gray’s next question and said, ‘I’m still pulling together the pilots for the helis and training the guys to use the weapons.’
‘How long is it going to take?’ Gray asked, sounding impatient again.
It had been nearly a year since the outbreak and everything had been sitting around, not being maintained and effectively rotting. Finding helis had been easy, finding engineers to get the helis working hadn’t been and it didn’t help when Gray and Ruler killed the people he needed. It hadn’t been easy finding the pilots or working helis. He also needed the super hunters to control the hunter army or his own people would be killed by the hunters. His army was not an army at all. They were a bunch of thugs with guns and he was okay with that, but he knew they didn’t have the discipline or skill he needed to mount a serious offensive on such well defended bases.
