“Another interesting observation. A lack of produced melanin doesn’t just affect energy input but alters the overall physique of each infected. No matter who we once were or what race we might have been described as, HBRS has rendered our shells into a uniform, homogeneous genus.”
–Mother, “Notes on HBRS-15.21”. 2 Years After.
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“Are you prepared, Liam?”
He nodded, lowering the binoculars while still watching the structure in front. “Aye, mate. Just keep these hollows busy, and we’ll do the rest for you. Piece of piss, really.”
Ezekiel grinned. “Do not allow your hubris to put your life at risk today. Remember that you not only must protect yourself but your daughter as well. She is more precious than you can know.”
Leah clapped in agreement from the carrier on Liam’s back.
Liam grumbled. “You don’t trust me either, yeah?”
She giggled.
He gave her tufts of hair a rub. This familial treason would have been more disconcerting had she not been so willing to stay on her father’s back, where she belonged.
“Please be serious,” Ezekiel said. “Your daughter is more important than you know.”
He met him in the eyes. “Let me make one thing again clear to you, Ezekiel. My daughter is the most important person in this world, and that will never change.”
He nodded. “Very well. Allow these sinners to follow my lead then, and exploit the void their absence creates. I will do what I must to keep their attention until we succeed.”
Ezekiel advanced slowly, assault rifle in hand, with the safety off. Liam checked the straps of his leather hardsuit to ensure Leah was properly secured, confirmed the quantity of ammunition in his pistol, and lowered the football mask they’d found a few days back, with the brim padded with plastic. It was far from the protection of his acrylic visor, but beggars couldn’t quite be choosers after losing that during the first Inquisitor attack.
The herd of hollows continued their shambling, oblivious to the three coming for them.
Now, this was the sort of teamwork that Liam preferred. After weeks of a combative relationship when Ezekiel dragged the two of them on their death march and refused to hear alternatives, Liam thought his only escape would only occur through his captor’s death. But an ambush by a group of Hunters brought the truth of their circumstance into perspective. Liam needed Ezekiel just as he needed him to see this journey through. There were too many dangers to account for, and neither had anyone they could trust in this untamed, savage wasteland. Without the other to lend support, neither would see this through, and both were still bound by the same objective of seeing his daughter return to safety.
Liam could not forget what Ezekiel had done to drive his family to this point, but past grievances were irrelevant. He had to do what he must to keep his daughter alive.
No matter what.
That was what made this find so valuable. As chance would have it, the pair had happened upon a wilderness lodge turned military relief center. Though their occupants had long since fallen, the two managed to see the supplies that they’d gained were mostly intact. MREs and bottled water remained wrapped in plastic atop wooden pallets, and the temporary barricades still held firm. Hell, Liam wouldn’t have been able to spot this goldmine at all had a tree not collapsed through one of the walls. There was no telling what other presents remained inside.
Of course, that still left the army of hollows between them and there.
Ezekiel fired a round into the air when he’d cleared enough distance. The hollows hissed and turned his way. From the cover of a thicket, Liam bid his time.
It took several minutes for the hollows to be shepherded properly. With his wounds now healed, Ezekiel moved with trained efficiency, gunning down some of these monsters to buy himself distance while merely bashing the ones who drew too close. Leah goggled from Liam’s back, but otherwise kept quiet enough. She’d been getting quite used to all the gunfire of late.
Moans grew and ceased as Ezekiel slaughtered their enemies, but the path forward soon turned clear enough. Liam leaned out of bushed and crept forward. Only the slightest rustling of leaves heralded their arrival, almost indistinguishable from the wind. He winced with a few ill-placed steps, the dull throb of his stab wounds a gentle reminder of the death he’d narrowly avoided with this last attack.
The lodge stood over three stories in front, with varnished, wooden walls that had long since lost their color, and a modern tiled roof that was now chipped and peeling. Boards anchored over shattered windows and vines wormed their way into the walls, sprouting flowers and berries every so often. After so much time combating the elements, only the outer walls remained somewhat intact.
Liam stepped over a collapsed chain-link fence and closed the final distance, suppressed pistol in hand. As much trauma as the attack inflicted at the moment, one nice bit about getting ambushed by Hunters was that they left a plethora of tools behind with their deaths. Guns and ammo, knives and swords, grenades and flashbangs. Liam might not have been this well-equipped since they’d escaped Cheyenne.
He reached the opening. Decayed wood spilled out where the tree had crumbled through. Dust and leaves faded out into a moldy, carpeted floor that slowly gained more order the further into the structure it rolled.
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Liam peered deeper into the mess, but it was difficult to make out the full size and scope. This area appeared to be the lobby, and light fell onto the pallet of MREs and water bottles, but darkness clung to the edges. The windows were boarded most heavily here. Very little light slipped through, leaving only shadows along the boundaries. Moans echoed out from this vacuous space.
Hollow moans.
Can’t have everything easy, I suppose. Part of Liam thought about braving the darkness. The food wasn’t all that far, and his leather hardsuit could tilt bites aside from the joints. He could be in and out before they grabbed him.
But then he remembered the infant on his back and knew that no level of unnecessary risk was acceptable. Not for her.
So Liam pounded on the wall instead. Hisses arose in answer as the occupants of this place shambled his way, drawn by the sound. He made a few steps back and took aim with his pistol.
One by one, the hollows marched into daylight, only to drop the instant they appeared. Their movements were sluggish and predictable, and Liam wasted no time putting them down. A half-dozen entered his killing field, each collapsing on top of the last. He reloaded his spent magazine once finished and waited for more movement.
Only silence answered.
“Mommy’s not the only one who is good with a gun, eh?” Liam asked. “Your dad’s gotten quite proficient as well.”
Leah snorted, unimpressed.
“Fine then, you can handle the next batch that comes our way. But for now, I guess we just get what we came for.”
With the immediate area clear, Liam drew his knife and went to work, delivering a couple extra stabs to each hollow’s head, lest his shots have only knocked them out. Once satisfied, he wiped the blade down and crept inside. His feet squeaked against the moldy carpet, and his ears pricked at the world around him. Ezekiel’s gunshots echoed occasionally, but there was no other noise of note.
His tongue clung to the dry roof of his mouth, and Liam made for the pallets. A single slice from his combat knife was all he needed to tear through the plastic shielding. He wrenched open a container and ripped a bottle out, then quickly raised his improvised visor and poured the bottle, letting the water flow over his face freely. His tongue savored each drop. Oh, how sweet this fresh water tasted against his parched lips.
Leah whimpered behind.
“Don’t worry, love,” Liam said. “I’ll get you one soon enough.”
She let out another cry, this one louder than the first.
He looked over his shoulder. “Bloody hell, Leah. Wh–”
A silhouette had materialized from the darkness, slithering its way from the cover of the shadows. As Liam turned around, the hollow lunged forth.
All in one motion, Liam ditched the empty bottle, drew his pistol, and fired. The hollow dove into cover. Light fell across its face, revealing the slightest hint of scarlet in its pupils.
Dreg, he realized. That was a dreg!
He sprinted for the exit, not even bothering with the knife he’d left aside. No more thoughts were needed. Hollows were difficult enough to manage on their own. Undead that held the slightest degree of intelligence were another matter entirely.
“Ezekiel!” he shouted once in the forest. “Ezekiel! Ezekiel!”
“What is it, Liam!?”
Liam ran for the noise. Over a hundred hollows were following him, but he managed to evade their attacks with ease. Like a dog shepherding sheep, he weaved back and forth without the slightest degree of concern.
Liam drew as close as safety allowed. “We have to go, now!”
Ezekiel grimaced, his eyes still tracking the hollows. “What about the sinners?”
“Forget about those fucking things! They’re not the threat. I ran into a dreg back there, and I don’t know where it went!”
It took him a moment to recall their lingo, but his jaw dropped when the realization set in. He jogged away from the herd without another word.
The two rounded the nearest hill.
“You have no food,” he pointed out.
“No, I don’t. Didn’t get to keep the water either.”
“Shall I collect them both for you? I have no fear of this demon.”
Liam shook his head. “No, it isn’t worth the risk.”
“Did we not recently combat an entire crew of Hunters?” Ezekiel asked. “Why do you quake in terror to a single dreg?”
“Just because we lucked out before, doesn’t mean we should thrust ourselves into every fight. This isn’t some war we’re waging. This is wilderness survival. You don’t expose yourselves to predators unless there is no other option but a certain death. Believe me, I have spent a lifetime in places more hazardous than here.
“And in this circumstance, the dangers are only compounded. Since that dreg knows we know about him, there’s no telling how he’ll react. He could have fled the area already, or he could be lying in wait for you to leave us undefended.” He studied the trees around him and swallowed the lump in his throat. “For all we know, an entire pack could be out there. Unlike other enemies, dregs are capable of adjusting tactics like any rezzer, but they blend it with hollows very easily. Were we to split apart in the hopes that you can find and defeat the bastard, he might very well use the opportunity to get to us.” He sighed. “It simply is not worth losing our lives over.”
“You’ll both go hungry,” Ezekiel said.
“Aye, we will. For today, anyway. But with those hollows closing in, there’s no other choice. Either we leave this alone, or we put Leah’s life back in jeopardy. I cannot allow that. Not after almost losing her before.”
He nodded. “I understand.”
The distance increased from the lodge, along with the vital supplies it held. Leah began to cry before long, craving sustenance that could not be given. But Liam could not help but smile the further away they went.
Whether his daughter knew it or not, she’d saved his life today.