Doomsday Hunter

by Eric Vall

  “This will be important.” Natalie rustled around inside of the backpack and then came back up with a small black leather holster covered with metal studs. “Here.”

  I took the holster from the Scavenger, fastened the clips to my waistband, and then slid the Beretta inside.

  “Is there anything else that you-” I began, but Natalie cut me off with the wave of her hand.

  “I picked up another pistol and holster for myself,” the blonde woman explained, “but, other than that, it’s all ammo. I wasn’t sure what you could handle, so I just stuck with the Beretta.”

  “Can’t we just go back and grab a shotgun or another AK or something?” I questioned.

  “No time.” Natalie shook her head. “How did you do on supplies?”

  “Just call me Survivorman,” I chuckled and patted the bag. “Because the things in this bag are going to help us through whatever we run into out there in the wilderness.”

  “Then we should be on our ways.” Natalie nodded firmly. “The night is young, and we still need a vehicle.”

  The Scavenger tossed the bag onto her back and then headed toward the far end of the encampment. When we finally got to the pier where the nautical transport was located, she threw up her hand and silently ordered me to stop.

  In the moonlight, I could see there were two men stationed at the edge of the boat’s stern. Both of them were dressed in long black trench coats and brandished shotguns in their arms, and more importantly, they both looked like dudes we didn’t want to be messing with.

  This might not be as easy as I had hoped.

  Chapter 9

  “What do we do here?” I questioned under my breath. “Should we try to sneak out into the water and swim around them?”

  “Swim?” Natalie gasped. “In this lake? Do you have any idea what sort of mutated, horrific creatures live down in its depths? They make the Rubberfaces look tame by comparison.”

  “Okayyyyy… ” I noted. “Then do we try to knock them out?”

  “Just follow my lead.” The blonde woman rolled her eyes. “And let me do the talking. I don’t even know if those guys know who you are yet.”

  The Scavenger woman stood from our hiding spot, brushed herself off, and then marched toward the pier.

  I was right behind her, but my heart was hammering in my chest as we approached the two men and their deadly weapons. Then I heard the shotgun rack, and I froze in place.

  “Identify yourselves,” a cold, emotionless voice demanded.

  “It’s just me.” Natalie raised both her hands into the air. “Natalie Carr.”

  “And him?” the guard grunted and motioned toward me.

  “This is Hunter,” she explained. “He’s the survivor I picked up in the Fallen Lands.”

  The man on the left didn’t seem relieved to hear my identity.

  “This guy, heh?” he slurred in a nasally voice, and I realized these guys were slightly drunk. “John was one of my best pals, you know… He died saving a punk like you?”

  “It wasn’t his fault,” Natalie argued. “If anything, it was mine. I was the one who crashed the dune buggy.”

  “It’s nobody’s fault,” I interjected, “other than the Rubberfaces, of course.”

  “Shut up!” the guard barked. “I don’t wanna even look at your face right now. What the fuck are you two doing all the way out here in the middle of the night? Looking for a quiet place to rattle each other’s bones?”

  “With this guy?” the other man scoffed. “Natalie, you could do so much better… ”

  “That’s not why we’re here!” Natalie retorted. “We left some supplies on the buggy, and I wanted to retrieve them before the next patrol goes out.”

  “That’s it?” the man with the nasally voice scoffed. “The next patrol doesn’t go out until tomorrow afternoon. Why are you here in the middle of the fucking night? It makes you look really suspicious, ya know… ”

  “Yeah,” the second guard agreed. “Taking a stranger out onto our boat in the middle of the night? What are you trying to pull?”

  “Other than his dick?” the first guard snickered.

  “I’m not--” Natalie growled, but then she took a deep breath and recomposed herself. “I just need the supplies from the buggy. Hunter’s only been with us for a few hours, so he doesn’t even have a cot or tent to sleep in.”

  “Not our problem.” The second man shrugged. “You were the ones who decided to party the night away instead of setting him up with a dwelling like a responsible adult.”

  “I am a responsible adult!” the blonde woman spat. “I was celebrating the life of our fallen brother. What were you two ‘responsible adults’ doing during that time, hmm? Drinking out here alone and jerking each other off in the hull?”

  “We were tasked with guarding our ship,” the second guard hissed. “You know, so that nobody stole our precious cargo out from under us?”

  Uff-dah. I could see this situation was quickly getting out of control, and it was about to boil over if I didn’t intervene.

  I may not have known much about the Scavenger way of life or their daily routines or anything like that, but there was one thing all my years of pest control had prepared me for.

  How to deal with angry customers who were seconds away from tearing my head off.

  “Whoa, whoaaaaaa,” I said as I put on my best “customer service” voice and stepped in between Natalie and the guard. “Let’s all just simmer down here. Surely we don’t need to resort to screaming at each other?”

  Both the guards and Natalie went silent as they looked at each other with perplexed eyes. A long moment passed where nobody said a word, until the man on the right finally spoke up.

  “Is this guy serious?” he asked Natalie as he gestured to me with his thumb.

  “When it comes to defusing potential problems between coworkers,” I played it up, “I’m always serious.”

  “Hunter?” Natalie whispered. “What are you--”

  “Co-workers?” the man on the left scoffed. “This guy and me? I’m a fucking Scavenger General. I’m two whole ranks ahead of this guy here.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” the other guard demanded. “We do the same shit night after night, together. You think just because you got some fancy-ass title you’re better than me?”

  “I never said ‘better.’” The first man shrugged. “Just more qualified, that’s all.”

  “What the fuck, dude?” the man on the right growled.

  “You know, gentlemen… ” I continued my diffusive charade, “if there’s some confusion as to who’s got authority over who, you might want to go talk to Marcus. He could sort this all out for you once and for all.”

  “Are you trying to pull one over on us?” the left guard demanded as he narrowed his eyes at me. “You think we’re a buncha idiots?”

  “I would never imply that,” I lied as I put my hands up and shook my head as sincerely as I could. “I’m just saying that, when you have an organization as hierarchical as the Scavengers, things can get a little confusing from time to time… ”

  I gave Natalie’s shoulder a quick nudge and hoped she’d play along.

  After she shot me a scowl that could peel paint, the blonde woman must have realized what I was trying to do.

  “You know… I’m technically a Scavenger Quartermaster,” she explained. “I out-rank both of you, so neither of you guys should be questioning me.”

  Quartermaster outranks General? This really was a strange dimension.

  “Uh-uh, Natalie.” The man on the right shook his head. “You’re not getting through, no matter how many of your fancy credentials you flash in our faces. Marcus told us to guard the boat, so that’s what we’re doing.”

  “So, you guys just listen to everything Marcus says?” I tried to fish for a solution. “Without question.”

  “Duh,” the guard scoffed. “You really still got a lot to learn, stranger.”

  “You’re in luck, then,
” I admitted. “Because Marcus is the one who told us to retrieve the stuff from the dune buggy. It’s apparently very important to him.”

  The guards looked skeptical, but there was something else plastered onto their stupid faces.

  Fear. Just name-dropping the Scavenger leader was enough to make them reconsider our suggestion.

  “Why didn’t you start with that?” the left guard asked as he frowned at me suspiciously.

  “It’s the golden rule of negotiating,” I chuckled, “don’t name drop until you absolutely have to. It makes you look desperate.”

  “He needs the stuff in that dune buggy,” Natalie pleaded. “It’s very important.”

  “What is it, then?” the man on the right questioned. “I can go get it for ya if it’s really so important.”

  Dang. That didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped.

  “Marcus was very adamant we were the ones to deliver it to him,” Natalie lied. “If you’d just--”

  “And you will deliver it to him,” the guard snorted. “But Joey here’s gonna be the one who grabs it off the vehicle. You know the rules, Natalie. Nobody enters the boat at night.”

  I could see Natalie was fuming underneath her faux calm demeanor. She was ready to just snap and beat the crap out of both these guys, and I needed to intervene before we got into a scuffle we might not win.

  “Look,” I sighed and feigned annoyance, “I know you’re just trying to do your jobs, but so are we. Marcus wanted us to be the only ones to handle the precious cargo in that dune buggy, and we’re not going to let anyone else touch it. So, please, just let us do what we need to do, and we can all walk away happy. More importantly, Marcus can walk away happy.”

  “You remember what happens when Marcus isn’t happy… ” Natalie reminded the guards.

  Both of the men looked at each other and gulped. Finally, the one named Joey let out a deep sigh.

  “Looks like we got ourselves a Texas-style standoff here,” he observed. “Tell you what… You guys all stay right here, and I’ll go talk to Marcus. Then, once I get the okay straight from the source, I’ll consider letting you on board.”

  “Fine,” Natalie huffed.

  It wasn’t what we had hoped for, but it was a start.

  Joey continued to grumble to himself as he wandered past us and headed down the pier.

  It’d take him a little bit to get to Marcus’ dwelling, but the clock had now started.

  Think, Hunter… I guess if killing them with kindness and name-dropping the manager didn’t work, I was gonna have to go full-on manipulative.

  “Why are you letting him go?” I demanded as I turned back to the remaining guard. “You know what he’s going to do, right? He’s going straight to Marcus, and then he’s going to promptly throw you under the bus.”

  “That’s right!” Natalie played along. “Joey’s always looking out for himself. That’s why he’s never been promoted at any point in his career. I’m sure he’s thinking up some convoluted story that will get all three of us into trouble.”

  “Then it’s a good thing you guys are here to back up my claims, huh?” The man raised an eyebrow, unphased by the threat.

  “You think we’re going to back up your claim?” I laughed. “Dude, Natalie and I are screwed either way. It’s just a matter of if you want us to take you down with us.”

  “I mean, you did offer to let us on the boat, after all… ” The blonde woman shrugged.

  The Scavenger’s shotgun quickly raised to attention and aimed straight at Natalie’s face.

  “You think you’re gonna be able to get away with framing me?” he growled. “The Scavenger Council will see straight through your bullshit.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Natalie grinned. “Now this, on the other hand--”

  The blonde woman grabbed the barrel of the shotgun, tossed it to the side, and then kicked the guard square in the stomach. As he doubled over in pain, Natalie threw her hands onto the back of his head and then brought it down hard against her knee.

  Blood shot from the man’s nose as he recoiled in agony and stumbled backward. Before he could reorient himself, though, Natalie spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of his head.

  The man’s eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed to the ground, and his gun slid across the deck harmlessly.

  “Here,” Natalie mused as she scooped the weapon off the ground. “You wanted something with a little more firepower, right?”

  The Scavenger handed me the gun and then motioned for me to keep moving.

  As I walked past the fallen guard, I nudged him gently with my foot. He was still breathing, but he was out cold.

  “Uh… Is he going to be alright?” I asked with a gulp.

  “He’ll be fine,” Natalie snorted as she walked further onto the deck, “but he’s going to have a splitting headache when he wakes up in a few minutes.”

  “A few minutes?” I gasped. “Will that be enough time?”

  “It has to be,” she admitted with a sigh. “Now, help me find the keys. Usually, we leave them in the boat or with the guards.”

  “What are we taking?” I questioned as I looked around at the vehicles before us. “You know, if we took the chopper, we could probably completely bypass the forest completely.”

  “Not a chance,” Natalie argued. “Like I told you before, the chopper is only for emergencies. We may be stealing a vehicle, but I’m not leaving my brethren out to dry.”

  “So, I guess that means the entire boat is out of the question too, huh?” I noted, and Natalie’s stern glare gave me a silent answer.

  “We’re taking a dune buggy,” she reaffirmed and nodded to the body in front of me. “Preferably the one that’s not damaged. But we can’t do anything if we don’t have the damn keys.”

  “Oh, right,” I chuckled as I looked down at the unconscious guard.

  I squatted down and slipped my hand into the guard’s pockets. However, all I found were a few cigarettes, a pack of chewing gum, and a small locket with the picture of another Scavenger inside of it.

  No keys.

  “They’re not on him,” I called out.

  “Fuck!” Natalie shot back from inside the tiny garage. “They’re not in the ignition, either. They were probably with Joey.”

  Well, crap.

  “What happens if Marcus and the gang get here before we have a chance to escape?” I questioned, even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

  “It depends on how pissed off he is,” the Scavenger explained nonchalantly. “If it’s one of his good days, he might lock us in the sauna tent for the night. But if he’s in a bad mood? Well… I don’t even want to think about what’ll happen if he’s in one of his bad moods.”

  Great.

  The timer continued to tick down. If we didn’t move quickly, we were going to have the entire camp of Scavengers breathing down our necks. And, if Natalie’s warning to the guards was any indication, having a pissed off Marcus coming after us was the last thing we needed.

  Then it hit me. Karla.

  “Karla!” I hissed and hoped the voice in my head could hear me.

  I was wondering when you’d come asking for my help again, the woman’s voice answered coyly.

  “Haha,” I grumbled. “Do you know how to hotwire a vehicle?”

  Hunter, my father’s been training me for Doomsday scenarios since I was seven years old, she mused. I could hotwire a moped in my sleep if you asked me to.

  “A simple ‘yes’ would have been enough,” I muttered. “How about a dune buggy? Can you walk me through how to hotwire one of those?”

  I can certainly try, she promised. Dune buggies are actually one of the least complicated things to hotwire, mostly because their wires are left pretty exposed.

  I dashed over to the vehicle Natalie was standing beside, and then I quickly fell down to my knees, took the bag off my shoulder, and retrieved the flashlight from within. Then I used the light to l
ook up underneath the dash, and sure enough, all of the wires were there, protected by absolutely nothing.

  “I see the wires,” I announced to Karla. “What do I do from here?”

  Detach the cluster of wires from the steering column, she explained.

  I reached up, grabbed the small piece of white plastic that attached to the ignition switch from behind, and yanked it free of its harness.

  “There are only three wires,” I tried to describe what I was seeing. “A red, a black, and a purple.”

  Wow, that’s the model they have? Karla chuckled to herself. These people would be so easy to rob.

  “Focus, Karla,” I growled.

  “What are you doing, Hunter?” Natalie snapped behind my back. “They’re going to be here any minute!”

  “Working on it!” I hissed back. “Keep talking, Karla… ”

  You’ll want to cut them free of their current arrangement, strip all three of them, and then twist the purple and red ones together, the woman in my head continued.

  “Natalie, do you have a knife?” I asked the Scavenger beside me.

  Natalie reached down into the pocket of her shorts, fumbled around for a moment, and then pulled out a small pocket knife.

  “Will this work?” she asked. “It’s serrated.”

  I nodded and then grabbed the blade.

  I unfolded the knife and then cut off the three wires, one-by-one, and my hands were shaking like mad as I trimmed the rubber casing off each one, careful not to let the wires slip through my sweaty palms.

  Surely, by now Joey had spoken to Marcus. It was only a matter of time before they would send their men to the boat, and then we would be royally screwed.

  Once the copper wires underneath were exposed, I twisted the purple and red together.

  “Alright, now what?” I asked the disembodied voice in my head.

  You’re almost there, Karla stated flatly. Now that you’ve got that… just tap the exposed part of the black wire to the exposed part of the red wire. But only tap it quickly. If you hold them together for too long, it’ll overload the battery.

  “Oh, shit!” Natalie gasped and pulled her AK into her hands. “They’re coming, Hunter!”