Lycan Fallout: Rise Of The Werewolf (32 page)

“Witchcraft?” I asked her. I had to have some excuse to how easily she manhandled me.

“Whatever it takes to shut you up.” She sat next to me. She grabbed my hand, but I think it was more so that she could squeeze the living shit out of my digits if I started to say anything that might get us into trouble. I felt like we were in a zoo as seemingly the entire population walked by us; more than one would reach out and touch Bailey. I couldn’t blame them, if any among us looked like the gods of old, it was her. Bailey was statuesque, beautiful, dark, and deadly. She seemed none too happy to be the object of so much attention.

“If one more person tries to touch my hair, I will break their fingers,” she growled.

That seemed ">Tsizto endear the throng to her more.

“See! She can say some stuff and they’re not throwing stones at her,” I said, trying to further my case. Somehow, Azile made my pointer finger and pinkie touch. “Fine!” I blurted out.

Bailey stepped over the bench and nestled herself between Tommy and me; it seemed the crowd was in no great rush to get by our sides, and that she was marginally safer under our wings.

“Having fun?” I asked her.

She rolled her eyes.

People began to settle down. Rough, woven blankets were set down as they began to sit. The murmurs quickly diminished and then, somehow, the fire went from this blazing inferno to something you’d expect to see in a responsible Boy Scout’s camp
, although I’d never been to a Boy Scout’s camp, having had a problem with authority even back then. Well, to be honest, I never had the opportunity to join; I had been tossed from the Cub Scouts and banned from future events. It was a mess, just some political bullshit.

“Magic?” I asked Azile, pointing towards the flame.

“It is not magic, it is more a harnessing of the earth’s energy.”

“So
, magic then?” I winced as she squeezed my fingers.

“In the beginning,” Inuktuk spoke as she entered the structure, “the world of man was poisoned with the curse of
‘The Death’. This was his transgression for questioning the might of the one true leader. Man fought back, finding ways to extend lives unnaturally…even approaching the point of immortality.”

“Not all it’s cracked up to be,” I said so softly that even Azile with her bat ears couldn’t pick it up. Tommy looked over though and smiled sadly. He knew.

“The Creator watched as His wayward children played with a fire they could not control.” On cue the fire blazed up for a brief second, the crowd ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed.’ I noticed as Azile swiveled her head around; probably looking for the special-effects supervisor. “He became angry, His children had turned their back on Him, and like any good father, he needed to teach them a lesson. The dead were brought back to drag man down from their lofty perch.”

Inuktuk’s words were mesmerizing to the gathering. Women clutched children, men hugged their women. Eyes were wide with fright.

I wanted to shout what kind of God would do that, but that seemed wholly unacceptable. Man had been his own downfall; he needed little help from outside sources to destroy himself.

“The dead destroyed life, cleansing it away like the pestilence that it was.”

“This is rich,” I said, barely holding on to my rising anger. The cleansing away she so casually talked about were my family and friends. “What do you know about the cleansing?” I shouted. I think Azile broke one of my fingers as I stood.

The crowd had completely hushed as they all looked to me, I had interrupted something important, a ceremony they’d probably been having for years.

“I knew those people that were ‘cleansed’ as you so eloquently put it. They weren’t vying for God’s positions. They didnsitiThewidtht want immortality…they wanted to live and to love. They worked hard to provide for their families, they were normal people who put too much trust in a government that did not have their best interests at heart. So, don’t you stand there all high and mighty talking about how they were struck down by a vengeful God. You weren’t there. It was people listening to misguided leaders that got us in this world of shit! They spoke lies and the populace believed it, maybe because they didn’t think they’d be lied to,” I said, pointing at Inuktuk

“Michael, we are guests here,” Azile said from my side. “Who are we to question their beliefs?” She tried to pull me down and minimize the damage.

I was shaking with rage. “Beliefs mired in ignorance,” I said.

Inuktuk clamped her lips. I could tell she was not used to having her authority questioned. Her eyes bore into me. Bailey stood up as a few armed guards began to move in from the periphery.

She waved them away. “It is not often that we can talk about The Purge with someone who was actually in attendance.”

Had I not been so focused on my rage I would not have missed her reference of ‘often’
. She did not say ‘We have never had the opportunity to talk about The Purge with someone who was actually in attendance.’

“Well, then isn’t it your lucky day,” I told her.

“May I continue?” Inuktuk asked. “This is more a story of our origins than of your struggle to survive.”

“Yeah, let’s get this over with,” I told her.

Azile sat, rubbing her hand across her face. I followed suit and sat. It was many long minutes before Bailey felt comfortable enough to join us.

“What is it about Tynes’ that always feel the need to protect your ass?” Bailey said softly in my ear.

“I must be winning you over,” I told her. I was slightly uncomfortable as I realized we were still being watched intently.

“I’m listening,” I told Inuktuk.

“When the world seemed at its darkest, one man arose,” Inuktuk said, and as a practiced chorus, the crowd chanted, “Samir, Samir, Samir.”

“Samir?” I asked. “Fuck that sounds familiar,” I said, hardly above a whisper. I saw Azile’s lips moving, I think she was prepping an incantation that would keep me wrapped head to toe in heavy cloth if I so much as made a move to scratch my nose.

“The Great French architect,” Inuktuk continued, “came forth from the Wild West and, with his Golden Arches, lit the way for a new people.”

The chorus started again. “Landians, Landians, Landians.” They were swaying to their words.

“What do they put in the water around here, I could go for a glass.”

“Talbot, shut the fuck up,” Bailey said.

“Ah…there’s the Tynes blood line ringing forth,” I said to her.

The pieces started falling into place and it started with a pickle. Samir worked at McDonald’s. The great French architect was more of a Fry Tech than an architect. I’d h itean>ad an encounter with him many long years ago. It was a bad day at that point in my life, but nothing in comparison to the ones that were merely right around the corner. Was it all just some elaborate cosmic joke that he would survive the zom-apoc to create this community? I’d like to say yes, but I don’t put much stock in coincidence.

Samir, a hard working immigrant from India, had destroyed my McDonald’s order that had quickly spiraled out of control and into a pickle tossing fiasco. You’ll have to find one of my zombie journals for a clearer explanation.

Inuktuk continued. “He knew to
keep his people safe he would have to distance himself as much as possible from man’s modern ways. Away from the sky flyers, away from the spider web of information called ‘the net.’ Away from the poisons that were routinely injected into our bodies.”

He got that part right.

“He began to live off the land like our great ancestors did
, taking only what we needed, leaving the rest. We became one with the land, thus naming ourselves Landians.”

The chorus started up again, the whole Landians thing. Maybe with a little mescaline this could be palatable, just needed a drum circle and we’d be all set. She droned on for most of the night. I had zoned out a while back. I know myself well enough that if I had stayed tuned in I would have taken offense to something and voiced my opinion no matter the consequences. Somehow, being drawn and quartered didn’t fit well into my future plans.

“Where you been?” Azile asked.

“Huh?” was my informed response.

“Haven’t heard so much as a peep out of you, and I know I’m not powerful enough to keep you quiet for that extent of time,” she said, a look between a smile and concern on her face. I’ve got to admit, it was somewhat alluring.

“Different time,” I told her, trying to shake the cobwebs of old thoughts from my mind. The crowd around the fire had thinned considerably. The major players were still in play.

“My name is Amy,” the woman I only knew as Inuktuk explained when she discovered we were the only ones remaining. “Amy McNea, as a matter of fact. I took the name Inuktuk after I became their leader. Read it in an old book, most of it was falling apart in my hands, not sure if the person was male, female, good or bad. Could have been a dog for all I know,” she said with a smile. “But it sounded powerful, like a name that should be leading the last of the free peoples”

I agreed silently with her, there were names that inspired people to follow: Stonewall Jackson, Hannibal, Caesar, MacArthur, Jesus. How far would Fred have gotten?
Fred the Mighty!
I thought. It brought a smile to my face. What can I say? I’m easily distracted.

“We have kept an eye on the Lycan as they have moved further east. Their numbers remain relatively low,” she said.
“Certainly not enough to threaten man.”

“Normally I would agree with you, Inu—”

“Amy, please. Inuktuk is such a mouthful, and it’s nice to hear my given name from time to time.”

“Amy,” Azile corrected. “Something has shifted in the mindset of the Lycan. No longer are they content to stay in their corner of the world. Their new leader has decided that he does not want to lurk in the shadows. He wants for power, for absolute power…and is turning man against his own kind.”

“Looks like you’ll get your ‘cleansing’ after all,” I said bitterly.

I think Amy wanted to pull her black knife out and ram it down my throat. Funny how pissed off people get when you talk about the destruction of the folks they love.

“Really, Michael that is the best diplomacy you can muster?” Azile asked.

“I’m the muscle,” I told her, getting up and walking away from the proceedings. I swear I could feel her gaze boring into the back of my head.

Want some company?
Tommy asked telepathically.

I was thankful for the request but told him ‘no’.
Keep an eye on Oggie
, I told him I was going for a walk.

I walked out of the large tent structure. The village had settled down for the night. It, however, was far from unaware. Sentries hidden in shadows and camouflaged to match their
surroundings were everywhere. I wondered who could possibly be resting with so many of them watching for danger. I just wanted out, out of the village and out of the predicament I had found myself in. I was pissed at everyone.

If Azile had just left me alone, I was fairly confident I could have ridden the whole damn war out untroubled. What the hell does a Lycan want with an Old One? Now I had given them reason to hunt me down. I wanted to rip this settlement from its moorings. I could destroy dozens of them before they would even know what hit them, before even Azile could manage a defense.