Chapter One
The Survivors sat in the Safe Room, bored out of their minds. Francis and Nick played cards, Bill and Ellis shared childhood stories, Coach and Louis sat around and talked occassionally, and Rochelle and Zoey watched the Infected stumble around in the rain outside. It was like a monsoon out there, the wnd alone knocked over some of the ambling Infected. It was mostly Commons because it seemed that the Specials detested the rain, but they did see a few Hunters and Huntresses playing in the rain. It was funny to see, it reminded them of puppies romping around in puddles. Some were mischievious enough to try to involve the Commons in their games, which never ended well for the Commons they decided to play with. Most either drowned in the puddles they were knocked into, or feasted on by packs of the small Specials. Hunters and Huntresses seemed to love the rain, and they barked at eachother like dogs, sitting on poles with their tongues lolled out the side of their mouths. They saw one Boomer, but what they saw happen to it made them cringe and feel bad for the poor thing. It had apparently got caught in the storm and was walking around. It attracted the attention of the Hunters and Huntresses in the area and the Survivors were astonished by how many flocked to surround it from above, at least thirty, perching on light poles, stop signs, everything. Then the Boomer slipped in a puddle and landed on his front. It seemed to be a kind of signal to the other Specials, who all let out the most sinister hunting screech the Survivors had ever heard and then they pounced. Boomer chunks flew into the air, a finger here, a toe there. The little demons yelped their pleasure and soon there was nothing left. They dispersed and to the Survivor's disgust, the only thing left was a puddle of bile that was quickly washed away by the rain. From out of nowhere, a terrifying scream filled the air that made all movement outside, aside from from the rain of course, stop. The Specials seemed to shrink away, whining like kicked dogs and even the Commons seemed to comprehend imminent danger. All of the Infected turned their attention upward, somewhere above the Safe Room. By now, all of the Survivors had dropped what they were doing and went to the door and haphazardly boarded up windows to see what was going on outside.
"Is it a Tank?" Rochelle asked.
"No, sounded like a Hunter. But I haven't found one that sounded quite like that before." Coach answered.
"I've never heard one sound so pissed off." Bill muttered, staring out onto the street. A few Hunters had started to back up with something like fear in their eyes. But it was too late. The biggest Hunter any of the Survivors had ever seen jumped off the of the roof of the Safe Room and started ripping and slashing at anything that moved. Within seconds, all of the Commons were dead and he started in on the Hunters and Huntresses. They couldn't get away fast enough. The Survivors had never seen such carnage and the sounds the large Hunter was making were frightening even to the war-hardened Bill. In two minutes flat, all of the Hunters/Huntresses that had been in the area were lying in pools of blood. The Hunter wasn't satisfied. He screamed in fury and continued to claw at the dead Hunters and Commons. The Survivors watched, slack jawed. The Hunter stood up tall, on his legs. The Survivors had never seen anything like him. He gave them a frighteningly intelligent look of pure hatred before screeching that horrid cry of rage again and leaping away. The Survivors looked at all of the dead outside. It was unbelievable. In less than five minutes, that one Hunter had completely demolished the Infeced population, leaving at least 150 dead Infected, both Commons and his own kind, in his wake. They hoped to never see that particular Hunter again.
"Did I really just see that, or am I in a nightmare?" Rochelle asked her friends, who looked back with pale, frightened faces.
"You're not dreamin', Ro. That really just happened." Ellis answered shakily.
"We have got to get out of here, before we run into that, that monster again." Zoey said, sitting down. There was something so wrong about this, they should have been cheering, happy. But instead, all anyone could feel was cold shock and abhorration. But they all agreed. They had to get out before he found them again, and in the pit of their guts, they knew that no gun or bomb would stop him.
"You're back." Witch said, surprised, when the door opened and Hunter came stalking back in.
"Of course, love. I will not leave you alone for too long when I should be here. How's Myracle?" He answered, looking around for his daughter. The beast inside had fallen silent, and now he felt bad for blowing up the way he had.
"She's in her crib taking a nap. She ate her lunch just after you left. To be honest, I didn't expect you to come back." She admitted, going and wrapping her seemingly frail arms around his waist. She rested her head against his chest, saddened that she would never feel warmth from his body again, would never hear a heartbeat in his chest.
"I'll always come back, Ivory." He answered tenderly. Then, they both froze.
"I remembered your name." Hunter whispered, looking down at his equally shocked Witch. Witch's, Ivory's, eyes filled with tears and she hugged him tighter. Her small body was racked with sobs and he held onto her as if letting go meant death. He rocked her back and forth gently.
"You remembered my name. I can't believe it." Ivory sobbed happily. She hadn't been that happy since the day Myracle had been born.
"Now you should remember my name." Hunter joked, picking Ivory up bridal style. She giggled, tightening her arms around his neck. He winced and she looked down at his neck, her eyes widening. She gently touched the bite in his throat, flinched back when he hissed with pain. The wound was open and starting to scab over, but very painful.
"Put me down. I need to bandage that." Ivory said, fretting about the wound. And wondering how her little angel could have inflicted it. Hunter obliged and sat on the bed behind him. He was beginning to get a little dizzy, probably from the amount of activity he'd done while losing blood. Ivory came back with bandages and disinfectant. He flinched upon seeing the disinfectant. He could remember how bad that stuff stings from when Ivory had used it on him before. And poor Ivory had to use it on him a lot, and she was constantly scared for him whenever he came home with so much as a scrape. She almost had a heartattack the day he came home with bullet holes in him. Of course, they had both been certain that he was about to die. That was also the day they conceived Myracle.
"You should really be more careful, Daniel!" Ivory shouted at him, a flush over her cheeks. They looked eachother in the eyes.
"You just said my name. That is so nice, that you only remember my name when you're mad at me." Hunter, Daniel, said, looking sad. It really did hurt that she only remembered his name when she was mad. Ivory stood stock still, her mouth open in shock. She couldn't speak.
"I, I think I'm going to go hunting. Can't have Myracle going hungry again, can we?" Daniel said with a bitter chuckle. Ivory found her voice.
"Danny, wait. I didn't mean-." She was cut off when she placed a hand on his arm and he moved away from her.
"No, no. I need to think. I'll still be back, though. I promise." He said this last part in a whisper, eyes on the ground. Before Ivory could answer, he leaped out the window and was gone. Ivory stared out, heartbroken, as Daniel jumped away more quckly than he usually did until she couldn't see him anymore. Usually he didn't go that far. Ivory sat heavily down on the bed, feeling cold. She rubbed her clawed hands up and down her arms before just completely collapsing onto the bed. She pulled the blankets over herself to try to get warm, but warmth still evaded her. She stared at the wall with one thought in her mind.
"I just drove away the man I love." She whispered to thin air. The silence echoed back at her, echoed in her ears. She started sobbing, cursing herself for her thoughtlessness. In the city, the sun was going down and she sank down deeper in the covers, and cried herself to sleep.
The Survivors were settling down to sleep when something heavy landed on their roof, waking everyone. They could hear quiet noises. It almost sounded like someone crying. The heavy thing jumped off the roof and landed just outside the metal door. Ellis got up and walked over to the door, shotgun in hand. When he shone a flashlight outside, he was surprised to see the monster Hunter outside crumpled on the ground. It wasn't obviously injured, but it just laid there, it's face turned toward the door. It put a clawed hand to it's face to block the light from it's eyes and made a pitiful moaning sound. If it wasn't for what they had seen earlier, the Survivors would have felt sorry for him. Then he surprised them all.
"If it wasn't for that fact that I promised Ivory I would be back, I would beg you to kill me." He moaned in a growling lilt to Ellis. The Southerner started, almost shooting the Hunter, who was picking himself up off the ground slowly, moving like a tired old man though he didn't look any older than 22. Ellis saw the bite wound in his neck and thought that maybe he was dying.
"Are you alright?" Ellis asked, just to see if he would answer. Zoey came up behind Ellis and tried to look over his shoulder.
"Is it another Survivor? Let him in." She said.
"No, it's that big Hunter from earlier. The one that slaughtered the others." Ellis asked, guarding her protectively. Daniel barked a bitter laugh.
"A mated pair of humans? Ahh, you are a rare commodity in this city. You should leave before someone other than me finds you." Daniel said, to which Ellis and Zoey both blushed. Zoey peered over Ellis' shoulder at Daniel warily.
"Are you hurt?" She asked. Daniel shook his head sadly.
"What happened to your neck, man? From what we saw earlier, I'm surprised the Infected were able to touch you, let alone bite you."Ellis asked, genuinely curious.
"My daughter bit me while I was holding her. It unleashed the beast in me, which is what you people unfortunately saw." Daniel answered. Zoey gasped, more surprised that the Hunter had a daughter than anything.
"Why don't you come in here, man? Get ya outta that rain atleast." Ellis asked. For a moment, Daniel looked surprised. Then, he was suspicious.
"If I come inside, you're not going to try to kill me, are you? Cause I gotta tell you, people have tried that before and it never ended well. And I don't want to kill you." He asked.
"Nah, we ain't gonna do nothin' like that. We just never found an Infected that could talk before." Ellis explained. Daniel nodded, satisfed with the answer. He stepped inside the Safe Room behind Ellis and Zoey. The other Survivors looked at him and got to their feet, guns raised.
"Get back. He's Infected!" Francis yelled at Zoey and Ellis.
"We know that. He's that Hunter we saw earlier, his name's Daniel." Zoey told him.
"Oh, you're naming them now?" Francis sneered, aiming at Daniel's head. The Hunter's eyes narrowed and began to glow.
"No, they didn't name me. My mother did, obviously." He growled. Francis cursed and almost dropped his AK-45 in surprise.
"Holy shit, you can talk?" He asked. Daniel shrugged.
"Yes, I can talk. I'm smarter than the other Infected." He answered, clearng his throat to try to stop the growling quality in his voice. He couldn't get rid of the growl.
"You seemed real upset when you came here. What happened?" Ellis asked to change the subject. Daniel averted his eyes, staring at the ground.
"I got into a fight with my wife. It was pretty bad." He answered. The women in the group immediately felt bad for him, but the men were just astonished to find he had a wife.
"Your wife? Is she Infected, too?" Coach asked. Daniel nodded.
"Yeah. She's a Witch, and I love her so much. It hurts to know that I make her mad so often. I wish I didn't have to." He sighed.
"What were you fighting over?" Rochelle asked gently.
"Well, we've been fighting on and off all day. We first fought because she doesn't think I'm a good husband because I have to leave. The other Infected, they would never understand our relationship. I'm so scared that they'll hurt her, and there'll be nothing I can do. Then we were fighting because she remembered my name when she was angry at me. You see, we don't remember a whole lot from our lives before we were Infected. I remembered her name earlier today when I was comforting her because she was scared. She only remembered mine because she was scolding me for being reckless." He finished his lengthy explanation and everything fell silent.
"I'm sorry." Zoey said, for lack of anything else to say and because the silence was getting uncomfortable.
"Your wife, is she that woman you mentioned earlier, Ivory I think?" Ellis asked to get the conversation started back. A warm smile crossed Daniel's face and his eyes softened.
"Yes. Ivory is my wife, if you can believe it. If you met her, you wouldn't. She's so beautiful and good, I don't know how she could have married someone like me, someone with a temper like mine." He answered. The Survivors didn't say anything, because they'd already seen that temper in action.
"And you should see our daughter. She looks a lot like her mother. She'll be a Witch, too, when she grows up. I should bring them to see you guys, they're harmless." Daniel continued enthusiastically. Ellis looked at the hole in the Hunter's neck, but said nothing. Daniel seemed to sense Ellis' uncertainty because he laughed nervously and put a hand to his neck.
"Well, Ivory's harmless. And Myracle is usually an angel, but even I can't be around her when she's hungry." He explained. The Survivors all nodded in understanding. Daniel sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I should be getting home before Ivory starts worrying. I'd never hear the end of it!" He laughed. He started for the door.
"Wait! I got one more question." Ellis said. Daniel obliged and turned around, frowning in confusion.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"What you did earlier, you know, when you killed all those other Infected. Why did you do it?" Ellis asked. Something darkened in Daniel's face, his eyes turned red.
"That's simple. I hate them. I absolutely hate the other Infected, especially the other Specials. They are the reason I can't really be with Ivory the way I want to be. They are cruel, and they'd hurt her and our baby if they found out about us. I mean, all Witches have a Hunter to protect them, and they're usually mates as well, but we're the only ones who actually love eachother."He explained, his growl even more prominent. The Survivors all nodded gravely, understanding.
"I'll get going now but how long are you guys staying here? I'd like to visit again and bring Ivory and Myracle so you can see that not all of the Infected are as horrid as most." Daniel asked.
"I guess we'll stay here until the supplies run out. How about you bring them by tomorrow, if you can assure us that they won't hurt anybody. I really don't want to have to kill them." Coach answered and Daniel was once again reminded that he and his family weren't the same as these people. He nodded.
"That sounds great. I'll bring them by tomorrow." He confirmed. The Survivors all nodded and said their goodbyes, curious at how many intelligent Infected there really were.
Daniel jumped into the window soundlessly and looked around. Myracle was still asleep in her crib, and he could vaguely see Ivory's frail outline in the sheets on their bed. He smiled softly and undressed quietly. Once he was down to his boxers, he slid into bed next to his sleeping wife. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. She snuggled into his chest in her sleep and he smiled warmly at her.
"Goodnight, Ivory. For once, I'll be here when you wake up." He whispered to her, kissing the top of her head before going to sleep himself.
When morning rolled around, Ivory was the first to awaken. She was pleasantly startled to find herself in her husband's arms. She carefully removed herself, trying not to wake him, but his arms tightened around her waist and pulled her back.
"I'm not letting you get up. Too comfortable." Daniel muttered sleepily into her hair. She smiled and kissed him.
"I have to get up and give Myracle her breakfast." She told him.
"It can wait." He said, suddenly rolling his body to where he was on top of her, his weight pinning her to the bed. He kissed her fiercely. And then Myracle started wailing. Daniel groaned and rolled off of Ivory, onto his back. The cries of their daughter had killed the moment. Ivory laughed and pecked her husband on the lips before forcing herself up and out of bed to tend to Myracle. She padded along to the closet and retrieved a hand, going to put it into her daughter's crib. Daniel got up and followed her in, wrapping an arm around her waist as they watched their daughter savagely rip apart the hand.
"As much as I love that little girl, I miss our alone time." He told his wife. She put her head on his shoulder and smiled lovingly at their 10 month old girl.
"It'll get better as she gets older. Hell, we might actually get a night to ourselves in about 17 years." Ivory laughed. Daniel groaned again and buried his face in her hair.
"I can't wait that long." He groaned. Ivory laughed and stepped out of his arms.
"And what would you like for breakfast?" She asked him. He sighed.
"I don't know. I don't want any human parts, so I guess I'll go hunting. I'm in the mood for Smoker. How about you?" He asked, jerking his pants on while at the same time trying to pull on a clean hoodie. He looked over to his wife for help from a tangled mess of clothes. Ivory laughed softly and went to help him. In a couple of minutes, he was fully dressed.
"Oh, and after I get back, I want to take you and Myracle out to meet some people I met yesterday. It's safe and I think they can help us." Daniel told Ivory, quickly cupping her cheek and giving her a peck on the lips before going to the window.
"Alright, but you need to hurry back. Oh, and I want some Tank. Haven't had any in a while, come to think of it, I haven't had any since I was pregnant with Myracle. But I'm seriously craving it." Ivory told him. Daniel stopped at the window, eyes widening.
"You want Tank meat? I thought you hated that stuff. And it's really hard to get. I don't know where to find one." He told her, looking at her suspiciousy. She shrugged.
"If you can't find any, that's fine. I'll be fine with Smoker. And I normally do hate it. It's so, I don't know. I just really want some right now." She told him. He nodded, eyes still narrowed. A vague feeling of deja vu settled in the back of his mind, but he ignored it. He jumped out the window and went to look for a Tank. After looking for a few blocks, he found one, and luck was on his side. It was injured, and the Survivors were still shooting it. He heard the tell-tale sounds of a Spitter. His eyes widened and he jumped quickly to where the Survivors were.
"Hey! I'll deal with the Tank, but there's a Spitter somewhere that needs taken care of!" He shouted at them. They looked up in surprise and Ellis nodded.
"Alright, thanks for the help and the warning, man!" He shouted back. Daniel nodded at him and went to work on the Tank. The Survivors left to find and deal with the Spitter. The Tank didn't put up too much of a fight before he went down, but he did get a good shot in at Daniel's chest. He sent the Hunter flying into a building. Daniel lay there for a minute, winded and in shock, before the pain set in. He screeched, alarmed when blood flew from between his lips. He struggled to get up, but fell back down when red hot pain seared through his torso. He forced himself to his feet, wrapping in arm around his chest and grunting. He forced his legs to move toward the Tank. He cut him up and stuffed some of the meat in his hoodie. The rest he would leave for the Survivors, if they cared for it. He walked a short distance, unable to jump, before he had to lean on a building. More blood bubbled between his lips and he breathed heavily, shallowly. He got dizzy and would have sat down, if not for his injuries. He took in a deep breath and bit his lip before pushing at his ribcage to check how bad his injuries were. He screamed in pain again, finding a whole side of ribs broken and crushed. One of them had probably ruptured his lung, which would explain the bleeding.
'Oh, hell. How am I supposed to get home to Ivory?' He asked himself. His vision was beginning to blur and his body suddenly felt numb. He sank to the ground and was out before he knew it.
The Survivors finished off the Spitter and were beginning to walk back to where they'd last seen Daniel to thank him again when Zoey screamed.
"Oh, my God!" She shouted, eyes wide. She pointed to a building with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. Confused, the other Survivors turned to look at what had startled their friend so badly. What they saw was horrible. Daniel was laying in a pool of blood in the shade of an old building, his right side completely crushed in. It was caved in and they could see bone fragments sticking through in places. Blood trickled steadily from his lips. Rochelle ran over to him with a medkit, but Coach grabbed her arm.
"No, let me check him first. Ain't no sense in wasting a medkit on a dead man." He told her grimly. She looked uncertain, but nodded. Coach knelt down and felt for a pulse from Daniel's neck before he remembered that he was Infected. So, he checked to see if he was breathing instead. He was, but barely. Coach sighed grimly and stood up.
"There ain't a whole lot we can do for him now but get him back to the Safe Room and make him as comfortable as possible. I don't think he's gonna make it." He informed the others. Ellis rubbed Zoey's back and she buried herself in his arms. She wouldn't look at the mortally wounded Hunter.
"There's got to be something we can do besides that." Rochelle argued angrily. Coach just shook his head at her.
"Anyone mind helpin' me get him up?" Coach asked the others.
"I would carry him, but Zoey needs me right now." Ellis replied apologetically.
"I'll get him." Nick grumbled, going to scoop up the injured Infected to everyone's surprise. He picked him up carefully so as not to cause him anymore pain than he probably already felt. They trudged back to the Safe Room in silence. No one could think of anything to say. And then it began to rain.
"Dammit. As if today wasn't bad enough. I hate rain." Francis grumbled. No one said anything else. They reached the Safe Room and closed the door behind them. They didn't lock it in case anyone had to go back outside. Nick laid Daniel on a cot and stepped back so someone else could check on him. Bill went and knelt down beside the fallen Infected, poked at his side for a moment.
"Dammit. I'm not a field medic, but he needs someone to open him up and realign his ribs. They're shattered." He grumbled. Rochelle gave him a knife and some gauze. He gruffly thanked her and set about the messy business of surgery. A long hour later, he was just finishing stitching up the newly set wound when the door slammed open and a Witch ran frantically inside. As was their reflex, everyone raised their gun, but Bill held up a hand.
"Ivory?" He asked the Witch, who nodded quickly.
"Yes, I'm Ivory. Where's my husband? All I can smell is his blood." She asked, panicking.
"I'm sorry, ma'am." Bill told her, stepping away so she could see Daniel. She keened loudly, dropping to her knees beside him. She put her hands gently on his shoulder, minding the angry, red stitches in his side.
"C'mon, honey,wake up. It's me, Ivory. Wake up. It's alright, you're safe. Oh, dear God, what happened to you?" She sobbed. She leaned down and put her head on his shoulder and sobbed loudly.
"Jesus Christ, she's about the same age as my neice, just a little younger." Bill muttered to Francis.
"Yeah, and she's about to be a widow." Francis muttered back. Ivory whipped around, eyes glowing red.
"I heard you! Don't you dare say that! Danny will be fine, won't you honey?" She turned back to her husband, lovingly patting his face. She fretted over him for a few minutes before sitting up rod straight.
"Where's the bathroom?" She asked hurriedly, one hand over her mouth, the other across her stomach. Her face had a green tinge to it.
"Outside, hon." Francis said, pointing a thumb toward the door. She ran to the door and leaned out. The others could hear her puking her guts out. After a while, the retching died down into dry heaves and then they heard nothing from outside. Ivory came back in, leaning heavily on the doorframe and as pale as a sheet.
"You alright?" Rochelle asked her worriedly. Ivory nodded slowly, and then her eyes widened. She walked shakily over to Daniel's discarded hoodie and fished around inside the front pocket. She pulled out a huge chunk of Tank meat and burst out crying. She sank to the ground and hurriedly devoured the meat, sobbing wretchedly the entire time. Afterwards she pulled her skinny knees to her chest and rocked herself back and forth. Then she threw herself back at her husband, laying over him carefully. She sobbed into his chest and balled her hands up in the sheets they'd draped over him.
"I need you, Daniel. I can't do this all by myself. I can't! I'll die! And then what will be left for Myracle, just another little orphan baby without a parent in this world. She needs both of us. Wake up! If not for me, then wake up for your little girl!" She screamed, her voice muffled. There was no answer from Daniel, and there wouldn't be for some time.