Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 74

Xun paused on the rise, to let everyone catch up to him. He had taken to jogging ahead, trying to learn from Byrd how to move through the brush. Below him he could see the compound, surrounded in snow from the storm that had blown through last night. But as he looked, it seemed odd to him. No one was walking around, doing the daily tasks that were required to keep everyone alive.

Glancing out towards the waters, he could see that there weren’t any boats out fishing either. The warning in his gut was screaming something was wrong.

“It doesn’t look right,” said his father, pausing to look over it as he had.

“It’s not. There should be people moving all over the place, but there isn’t.”

“Maybe a sickness?” asked Gerald, pausing with Craig and the two kids.

Byrd circled back when she noticed they had stopped moving.

“I think we should sneak in, instead of just marching in. If something bad is going on, I would rather not get surprised.”

Xun looked at his dad, and nodded in agreement. Thinking hard, he nodded to himself, and headed out, without checking with the others. He knew they would follow him, and he needed to get back inside as quickly as possible to make sure his friends were okay.

Heading towards the water, he made sure they stayed deep enough in the woods that if anyone on the wall was watching, they wouldn’t see them. Once they got to the water, he tossed his bag into an empty boat, and waited for everyone to get inside.

His stomach was churning in worry. He hadn’t seen any guards on the walls, and there wasn’t anyone at the docks at all. They were wide open for an attack if any werewolves came along. What had happened? He hadn’t been gone that long.

All the possible scenarios rolled through his head as they rowed the boat around the wall that jutted into the water. Had there been a sickness that killed people off? Had the werewolves found them? Could the vampires have found a way to get here and take everyone? Was Rick, Hayden and Willow alright? What about the rest of Gerald’s people? Xun could tell they were worried about them.

Making sure the tide wouldn’t take the boat, they headed towards the compound as the last of the light left the sky. Sneaking around the buildings, to see the fields, covered in thick snow, Xun could hear the animals hollering from their barns. Should he check on them?

Shaking his head, they could wait. He needed to find out how the people were doing. If the animals died, they weren’t as important as his friends. The others followed his lead, because he knew this place far better than they did.

Pausing beside a door, he waited for the others to catch up. Matilda was the one that moved the slowest. Both the kids were still weak, but Tommy seemed to be keeping up better then her. It was probably the wolf, but none of them commented on that.

Turning the handle, Xun peeked inside, to see that it was dark and quiet. Letting everyone in, he moved towards a small light further back. Owen was bent over his desk, sewing a couple of stitches into a large hide. From his vantage point, it kind of looked like a tent, but Xun wasn’t sure.

“Xun! What are you doing here?” He spoke in a rushed hurry, quickly recognizing him, and motioning for him to follow him.

They didn’t waste any time, cramming into a small office, even further into the building. There was a small fire burning in an oven in the corner, that they were grateful for.

“What’s going on? Where is everyone?” asked Xun in a whisper.

“It’s Mary. She’s gone crazy. Max is in the hospital, from some attack, and his son Alex is trying to get everyone to join him to lead a revolt against her. Apparently, she killed Jerome, but that’s just what Alex is claiming. She says it was the same attack that put Max in the hospital, and has already found the culprit, and placed them in jail.” He glanced quickly at Gerald, but didn’t say who the culprit was.

They could all guess that she used one of his people as the scape goat.

“Where is everyone at?” Xun asked, trying to keep him talking. They didn’t have much time for him to feel uncomfortable.

“Mary has ordered everyone to stay in their rooms, while she hunts down and finds Alex and his gang. She has a lot of the guards behind her, and rumor has it that she’s collecting the women and putting them in the barracks to keep them safe. I think it’s a cover up, but what do I know?”

“How are they getting food and water? They can’t stay in their rooms forever!” exclaimed Gerald in horror.

“That’s the idea. If Alex doesn’t want them to starve or get sick, he’s supposed to turn himself in. This has only been going on for a couple days.”

“What were you doing out there?”

“There’s been some talk amongst some of us, that maybe we need to leave and find a different place to live.” He said this last bit, looking away, as if he was ashamed of his decision.

Xun grabbed his arm, and forced him to look him in the eyes.

“If Mary is causing trouble, we need to deal with her. This is the best compound I have ever lived in, barring the stupidity of the leadership. If you guys leave, this compound will crumble from the inside and countless lives will die.”

“Xun’s right,” said Craig.

“The people outnumber Mary and her guards. They’re hungry and thirsty. They’re ready to listen to us and help us go against Mary. We need to find Alex, and get this revolt off the ground. It’s time we do something to fix all this foolishness.”