Transformation: Zombie Crusade VI (9 page)

The first sign of the creatures was a howl that carried across the frigid air from the direction of the base, a nerve-rattling hunting cry that was almost immediately matched from a pack working along the north side of the interstate. For all of his experience fighting hunters across half the continent, Luke’s instinct was to seek out and destroy the monsters in the area, but the commander within understood that he would be doing nothing but jeopardizing the mission if he chose to take that type of action. He gave the order to retreat instead.

The troops immediately sought concealment amid the countless cars and trucks on the highway, ducking down and moving as quickly as possible back toward the road that would lead them northward to their camp. Howls were now resonating back and forth across I-30, but the soldiers’ skillful use of the available structures on the road made it hard for the hunters to pin down their location. Luke knew the good luck couldn’t last, and, sure enough, a few minutes later word filtered back that a large pack was moving toward them from the east. If they tried to leave the interstate they would be seen and pursued, but if they continued along the route leading to the river they’d soon be in contact with the approaching pack. Luke decided that his best course of action was to eliminate the immediate threat.

As he quietly worked his way forward to his point man, Luke saw the monsters flitting through the burnt out cars and trucks a few hundred meters ahead. He whispered to his scout, “Got a count on them?”

“Nine, sir, could be off by one or two, but I’m pretty sure there’re only nine of them coming.”

“Good work,” Luke patted the man’s shoulder awkwardly. He was trying to embody the spirit of a commanding officer in the field, but it felt forced. He decided to skip the pleasantries. “We have four squads strung out behind us, and I need you to let them know that I’ll be conducting an ambush up here in a few minutes. Tell them to hold in place and keep a sharp lookout.” 

The point man looked around for a moment. “Sir, you only have three soldiers with you.”

Luke smiled. “That’s more than enough for what I have planned; now get moving.”

As the man took off to carry out his orders, Luke scanned the area ahead and quickly found a place that would work well for what he had in mind. Two semis had crashed at slow speed into one another, effectively closing the westbound lane of the highway. The trailers they’d been hauling now stuck out at angles away from one another, creating a rough V-shape pointing eastward from the spot where the cabs had crashed. Luke grabbed the three men with him and issued another set of orders. “I need a set of eyes on top of each of these trailers, and I need a volunteer to stay close behind me.”

“You’ll be trapped down here, sir,” one of the men protested.

“No,” Luke explained, “the hunters will think we’re trapped in here. This is my trap, and they’re the prey. Just watch what you see here; learn from it, and keep an eye on the flanks and rear. Now who’s with me?”

The soldiers each looked doubtful, but the man who’d spoken up a moment before stepped forward. “I’ll stay down here with you, Captain.”

“Good,” Luke responded, handing him a halberd. “Stay about two feet behind me and mirror my movements. If one of the creatures gets around me, pierce it right between the eyes. Now, everybody get into position.” Luke moved out to a point where the V-shape was at its widest, and that’s when he saw the alpha of the pack sniffing and looking around just fifty meters in the distance. After taking one last look to make sure the soldiers were exactly where he wanted them to be, Luke tapped one of the empty trailers with the tip of his bow. The sound he made was relatively quiet, but the closest hunter heard the noise and jerked his head in Luke’s direction until his eyes picked out the man behind Luke, slowly stepping back into the shadows created by the trailers.

The monster gave a guttural roar that signaled the presence of food to his pack-mates as he charged the obviously trapped prey. The sound died in the flesh-eater’s throat as Luke’s first arrow passed through the beast’s face before skittering into a charred wreck a few meters away. The rest of the pack was closing now, but three more arrows flew in four seconds and suddenly only five of the beasts remained. Luke was fairly certain he could kill all of these hunters with his bow alone, but arrows could be hard to come by, and the axe tended to make a terrifying impression on those who saw the young captain employ it in combat for the first time.

Luke considered the position of the soldier behind him and decided that not being viewed as prey had some serious drawbacks. He didn’t like using someone else as bait, and he actually missed the ability to taunt and infuriate his adversaries. He stifled a growl and threw the trench axe at the leading hunter with such power that the creature’s head literally seemed to explode into the faces of the following beasts. Next, Luke drew two short folding knives, one in each hand, and expertly flung them in unison. Each pierced an eye of an attacking hunter, and the two flesh-eaters dropped to the ground. The remaining two creatures seemed to hesitate, and Luke turned to the stunned young man behind him. “Mind if I borrow this for a moment?” he asked rhetorically, gently removing the halberd from the speechless soldier’s hands. Luke took two steps forward, turned sideways, and swung the newly acquired weapon in a graceful arc that cleanly decapitated the closest hunter. The final monster turned to run, but Luke leapt forward and grabbed it by its hair. He pulled its face into a crushing blow from his knee that sent dozens of shards from broken facial bones into its brain, killing it before it struck the ground.

With the entire pack down, Luke calmly walked to the edge of the trailers and retrieved his axe. Then he returned to the pile of dead and dying hunters to doubly finish them off, one by one, with efficient strokes that easily cleaved skulls in half. Following one last look to make sure each and every flesh-eater was dead, Luke looked up at the men on top of the semis and waved his fingers in a flippant gesture calculated to bring them down while showing that he was completely unruffled by the savage fight he’d just won against nine prime hunters.   

The three men had all taken part in what were essentially exterminations outside of liberated settlements, but none of them had ever seen an individual take on a group of flesh-eaters and actually survive. In this case, Luke hadn’t simply survived; he’d basically exploded in an orgy of violence that had shredded an entire pack in less than a minute of action. The soldiers were shaken and speechless, but Luke knew they’d find their voices long before returning to camp. By sunset, every recruit would know that their enigmatic commander, the young man who wore mirrored motorcycle glasses at all hours of the day and night, was nothing less than a super-hero.

CHAPTER 8

As Luke had predicted, every soldier in their small army had heard of his exploits by the time the evening meal was finished. He had now single-handedly killed a pack of twenty hunters with nothing more than a knife and his fists, but he wasn’t concerned about exaggeration this time around; he wanted his troops to know what he was capable of. He also wanted to give them a sense of confidence and hope; a gift that he hoped would last beyond the coming battle. He had been able to control the circumstances of every fight he’d ordered his soldiers to take part in up to this point in their development, and the thought of any of them being hurt or killed during these orchestrated, small-scale skirmishes had never really entered his mind. Now, they were going to try to take over an army base five miles from the river, and he knew he was going to have to order some of these young, trusting rookies into harm’s way. The knowledge troubled him, though he had always known this day would come. The only condition he’d placed upon himself before having to make such decisions was that each and every soul under his command would know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that their leader would ask nothing of them he hadn’t already faced himself.

              Also as predicted, Gracie wasn’t happy with his ostentatious display of combat skills against an entire pack of prime hunters. “Everybody knows you’re the most lethal warrior on the planet, Luke, you shouldn’t have put yourself or those newbies in danger like that.”

              Zach accepted Luke’s behavior with a shrug that indicated his unconcerned agreement with his buddy’s choice, but Maddy was angry that part of her company had been taken into a combat situation without her being a part of the operation. “Look, you’re the one who’s been teaching us about chain of command and establishing authority over the troops. Don’t you see that it cuts both ways? How do you think I look to my squad leaders when I come back from a humanitarian mission and learn that half of my company was outside the stakes?”

              Luke managed to appear apologetic. “Maddy, you’re right, and I’m sorry; it won’t happen again.” He turned to his wife, “Gracie, it’s one thing for the recruits to see me in training, or hear about things that happened before they met me, but for their own sakes, I think it’s important that they all know, for sure, that I’ll never give them an order that I wouldn’t, or couldn’t do myself. It seems to me that would be the first lesson of leadership 101.” He paused a few beats for emphasis, “And baby, it won’t be the last time I end up in situations like that. Yeah, I command an army now, but there’ll still be circumstances where I’m the only one with the instincts and skill to get the job done without people getting killed.”

              Gracie looked far from satisfied with Luke’s explanation, but they both knew that he spoke the truth. Finally, she stepped to him and held him close for a moment before moving back a pace. “So, did you learn anything while you were out there?”

              Luke nodded and made eye contact with Zach, then Maddy. “Watkins may have exaggerated numbers, or maybe not, but the situation seems to be what he said it was. There were survivors in town trying to signal us with mirrors, the roads are as bad as we’ve ever seen, and there are definitely plenty of hunters prowling around the depot. We need to figure out how to conduct clearing operations without getting a bunch of our people killed.”

              “What’s the terrain like near the base?” Zach asked. “Rivers, creeks, hills?”

              “I didn’t see high ground that struck me as anything special, and there’s no major water over there.”

              “These folks have never fought without a line of retreat available,” Maddy observed.

              “Might have to this time,” Luke explained. “It’s gonna happen sooner or later anyway.”

              “Maybe not yet,” Gracie offered.

              “What are you thinking about, babe?”

              She was still miffed about Luke fighting nine hunters by himself, so she didn’t mind sounding snarky. “Since when do you care about what I think?”

              Luke sighed, “Really? Aren’t you the girl who figured out how to build the wall that saved Vicksburg?”

              “Uh, yeah, I am . . . too bad Jack or somebody else like him isn’t around to actually care about my ideas and opinions.”

              Zach abruptly stood up. “I hear nature calling—feel free to continue the conversation without me.”

              As Zach sprinted away, Maddy yelled after him, “Coward!” She then turned to Luke and Gracie. “I’m gonna go try to convince my squad leaders that I’m not a lame-duck company commander after what happened today. You two can bicker without an audience.”

              The newlyweds watched their friends disappear into the gloom before resuming their disagreement. Luke decided to strike first. “I hold every life here in my hands, but I’m learning on the job just like our recruits; I made a decision I thought was best, in the long run, for everyone. I wasn’t trying to disappoint you or disregard your concerns for my well-being. You keep telling me that I was born to lead, but it sure seems like you don’t trust my judgment.”

              Gracie was quiet for a minute, then sighed in resignation. “You really know how to take the fun out of a fight. You do realize it’s my job now to worry about you?”

              Luke smiled. “Wouldn’t want it any other way, and I don’t want to fight with you.”

              “I don’t want to fight with you either, but since we sorta already started fighting, maybe we can spend some time officially making up later.”

              Luke grinned and wrapped his arms around Gracie. “Maybe I should be inconsiderate more often.”

              She laid her head on Luke’s chest. “Did I ever tell you that you were my first serious boyfriend?”

              “About a hundred times.”

              “Baloney! Maybe a dozen, tops.”

              “So what are you trying to say?”

              “That I love you, more than I can describe, and I’m a newlywed at seventeen, and you’re all I have in the world, and I can’t help but be worried, even if you have a good reason to put yourself in danger like you did today.”

              Luke ran his fingers through her hair. “You know that I’m not really in danger anymore, right?”

              Gracie frowned and pulled away from her husband. “I’m pretty sure you can survive another bite, but I can’t be a hundred percent certain. Plus, there are a lot of ways to get killed these days. Your blood won’t save you from a broken neck, or being mobbed and crushed.”

              Luke reached out and took Gracie’s hand. “Come on; I want to show you something.” He handed her a pair of NVGs. “Put these on, armor up and grab your weapons too.”

Gracie squinted at Luke, but she didn’t question whatever he had in mind. She followed his instructions and let him lead her through the defenses and across a relatively open field that never took them far from the river. After five minutes, Luke peered about and seemed satisfied with whatever he was looking for. He handed Gracie his bow. “How far can you see with your optics?”

“I can see that tree-line to the west; I suppose that’s several hundred meters away.”

Luke was looking in that direction as well. “Actually closer to two-fifty, but depth perception sucks with these NVGs.”

Gracie was unimpressed. “What’s your point?”

Luke didn’t say a word; he just took off at a dead sprint toward the trees.

Gracie followed him with her eyes, confused at first about what he was doing, then simply wondering how in the world he was running so fast. Luke reached the woods and turned around, covering the uneven ground effortlessly and with inhuman speed. When he returned to her side his breathing was even, and his expression serious. “How long was I gone?”

Gracie stuttered. “Uh, I uh, I wasn’t keeping count . . . maybe twenty seconds?”

Luke nodded. “Probably closer to thirty, but it doesn’t matter. I just covered five hundred meters, at night, over unfamiliar ground, in half the time an Olympic athlete could do it on a track in perfect conditions.”

Gracie’s eyes grew wide, “Are you sure about that?”

“You saw for yourself, and that’s just the beginning. Try to draw that longbow.”

Gracie had never been very accurate with Luke’s bow, but she’d used it enough to know that the one she held in her hands was new, and greatly modified. She was only able to pull it back about eight inches. “What the hell? What’s the draw-weight on this thing?”

Luke could only shrug. “I’m not even sure, something over two hundred pounds; I can pull it back all day long and not even get sore.”

“Is that normal?”

Luke pursed his lips, silent for a moment as he considered the question. “Everything I’ve read about medieval English and Welsh long-bowmen says that their draw-weights were usually over a hundred pounds, but I know that every pound above that became exponentially harder to draw. I’m guessing that none of them could have pulled this bow all the way back.”

“So, far from normal,” Gracie quietly observed. “Whatever normal is.”

“This morning I sent an arrow through a huge hunter’s face, and it passed through the back of the skull and flew away like it hadn’t hit a thing. I didn’t strike an eye-socket; that arrow broke through the front and back of solid bone like it was cardboard or something.”

“And your axe?”

Luke shook his head slightly. “I threw it today, just for the heck of it, and the hunter’s head literally exploded from its torso. I killed five of those hunters with a folding knife and my bare hands; I didn’t really need the knife, and the fight wasn’t even close.”

Gracie was subdued when she pointed out Luke’s other advantage. “It’s not really a fight if they don’t attack you, babe. How did you get those hunters today to come after you?”

Luke stared at the ground. “I, uh, had two men on top of semi-trailers above me, and another one on the ground, behind my back. I assume the hunters kept coming for those guys.“

“You used our rookie-troops for bait so you could prove what a bad-ass you are?”

Gracie had a look of disbelief on her face, but Luke knew that expression could flip to one of fury if he didn’t satisfactorily answer the question. Of course, he’d already explained why he needed to fight the creatures in front of the new recruits; he decided to not try using that excuse again.

What he did do, was try a different tactic. This one came right out of Gracie’s playbook. “Do you believe those men were in any danger?”

“That is not an answer!”

“Your question was rhetorical.”

Gracie’s eyes, which had been merely simmering for a few minutes, flared with anger once again. “No! It wasn’t a rhetorical question! So give me an answer; do you believe it was okay to use our men as bait?”

“Yeah, Gracie, I believe it was.”

Her anger seemed to drop several degrees. “Why?”

“I interviewed every one of our soldiers, just like you did. I care about every one of them, just like you do. But someday, we might have to order them to make a diversionary attack, or stand and fight to the last so others can retreat. At least today I knew they weren’t in any real danger, and I’m pretty sure you know it too.”

Gracie nodded, a bit of sadness in her gaze as she quietly explained, “That’s all I wanted to hear, Luke. There’s nobody out here to train any of us on how to be officers and leaders, so we have to teach one another.”

“You’re right. And Gracie, I’d give anything to just have the hunters attacking me like they used to do.”

“Luke, think about it. It’s another tactical advantage for us. You could walk right into the middle of a horde, set up a bomb, and walk right out again. I get that you’re super strong, and you run like the wind. I know that you only sleep about three hours a night.” She started to tear up. “What I don’t know is how you’re going to feel about me if you keep turning into Superman and I’m just boring old Gracie.”

“Hey,” Luke gently protested, “I’m just a physically improved version of my old self. I’m still the same clueless idiot I’ve always been—at least when it comes to being a considerate husband.” He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “You’re the light in my life, baby. Physically I’m a bit super-human, but psychologically, emotionally, I’m still the same guy you fell in love with. And I can guarantee that I need you now more than I ever did before.”

Luke pulled back a few inches so he could gaze into Gracie’s moonlit eyes. “Honey, I’m figuring a lot of things out as we travel west, but you’re close to my heart every second of every day. We’re building something new out here, different from anything Jack and Carlson have created. And we’re gonna need this army of ours, soon. I know something big is out there, or will be very soon. Something bigger and badder than anything we’ve seen so far, even at Vicksburg.”

A chill ran down Gracie’s spine, and she shivered. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared, but I know I can face anything with you by my side.”