Gravewalkers: Blood Fog

Gravewalkers

Book Six

Blood Fog

Richard T. Schrader

Copyright © 2013 Richard T. Schrader

Copyright © 2022 Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

Contents

Devil’s Honor

Wages of Ithaca

Demons Within

Miracles

Penthesilea Bold

Praetor

Conflict of the Orders

Chivalry Rises

Bonnie Blue

Bottled Genies

Again the First Time

Chapter 1: Devil’s Honor

Cutter led Jinglebells’ army of ghouls to war. Their rabble of a march made a considerable ruckus even while still out on the streets. It grew even louder as they laid siege to the pigeon coop office tower.

The cunning of Jinglebells had lured his enemies onto his home ground, surrounded them with a legion of his loyal soldiers, and then successfully trapped them there. Soon he would tighten his grip and then kill Critias along with all his companions.

The combined strength of so many eager infected hands made short work of the roll down garage door barrier that kept the army out on the street. After they split the metal mesh vertically, the ghouls pulled the whole thing down entirely.

The car park entrance made for a wide avenue of invasion as the whole army of infected surged inside. Ghouls explored every corner and cranny as they worked their way up through the building. Their hunt was on for human meat.

Critias and his companions still climbed the stairwell on their way to the roof when they heard the garage gate give way. They hadn’t specifically heard the barrier fail. It was more that they discerned a noticeable change in the sound quality of the ghouls’ screams. There was a marked difference from the noise they made while outside on the street as compared to when the sound started to rise from the interior parking levels where the freaks were undoubtedly already on their way up.

None of them heard any agonized complaints from that cowardly pirate they found in the trunk of a car. He was no less trapped inside the building by Cutter’s army, and they had abandoned him to his disarmed doom. It was possible that the man had screamed because the ghouls finally found him. No one would be able to hear it over the voices of so many agitated infected.

Critias remained confident as he said, They are not onto us yet.

He knew how to interpret the tone of ghoulish voices. They had a sort of language that communicated their moods to each other. It was more of a flocking behavior similar to birds, that any one ghoul took its directions by noticing the nearby behavior of seven others. No one ghoul or starling was captain of their swarm, but together they became an artificial intelligence that moved as a single organism, even if their total numbers were in the tens of thousands.

The sounds that the ghouls currently made were still the hooting that told other infected that they searched for suspected food. The call meant that a hunt was on and it told other ghouls what places were already being explored so that they spread out more effectively. It was only a matter of time before one of them flushed prey into the open.

When the first of them actually spotted something to kill, it would call out in a more enthusiastic pitch. That shriek would summon any nearby infected to investigate. When those voices joined in, the whole ghoul army would know to follow.

The next sound that got their attention could only have been one of the giants kicking down a stairwell door. Dan had glued some of them shut with his bottles of sixteen-pound urethane.

Since the door opened into their own stairwell, the impacts had a thoroughly frightful dooming drum coming up from the deep darkness quality. There was great energy in the blows that left no one in doubt about who would win the contest between destroyer ghoul and metal fire door.

Something far bigger than any human was down below them and it clearly wanted to see them dead. When it showed up, the creature would not be alone. The symphony of excited howls indicated that there would be many hundreds of regular infected.

The summer heat made their stairwell stifling. Ghouls were immune to fatigue short of literal dehydration and they could endure even that with the time to adapt to arid climates. None of Critias’ companions were so fortunate. They hurried up many flights of stairs while they wore thick body armor and carried heavy equipment. It was hard exercise even for people in good athletic condition.

Whatever the cause, heat or fatigue, they didn’t make much progress before the door down below gave way. There was a gust of rank air that wafted up. They did not have to wonder if the ghouls were now in the stairwell below them.

Cutter proved that he had personally kicked in the door because he shouted up through the building.

Gunfighter! Did you think you would catch my master so easily? Now it is you that has fallen into his trap. See how you flee like a frightened squirrel before me!

Critias shouted back down the stairwell, I thought you would have learned your lesson by now, boy. You know that when I see you, I’m going to pepper your ass with really big bullets. It’s a wide world, son. Just turn around, start walking, and don’t ever look back. We don’t need to do this. Just look at how big you are now. You don’t need anything from anybody. Just walk away. Find a new home. Don’t make me kill you!

There was a pause, a time long enough to make people wonder if the talking hunter would actually just drop the whole thing and then leave town for greener pastures.

You know I can’t do that, Cutter finally replied sort of meeting Critias half way. He saved me once. I just can’t turn my back on him. It has to be this way!

Let’s do this then, Critias shouted back down. This town isn’t big enough for the two of us!

Cutter roared for his army to charge.

A great throng of ghouls howled with lust for human blood. The army of runners had heard Critias shout back. They launched up the stairwell at a tireless sprint. The infected knew no fear nor felt any exhaustion. They ascended at better than twice the speed of mere mortal men.

We are short on time, Critias told his team. Just keep climbing and meet me at the top.

After that instruction, he took off to run three stairs at a bound. Critias had preparations to make. That would take time; he needed to reach the roof that much sooner. His companions knew him well enough to know that he was not abandoning them. Critias had come with a plan; for it to work, time was of the essence.

Critias finally stopped on the second floor down from the roof and then exited the stairwell. He went down the central hall on that level and then turned onto the outer corridor that had the floor to ceiling exterior glass. He stopped midway and then looked out that window.

Colonel Davis’ team was there waiting in the maintenance attic of the adjacent shopping complex building directly across the street. They had already removed the glass from the building on their side. A broad open space left them free to shoot their rifles. They could also enjoy the cooling breeze while waiting for the action to begin.

We see you, Hiram radioed to Critias.

This is your kill zone, Critias told him. I am going to sever the stairs above this floor and then bait them into this location. We are about to give them some skydiving lessons.

By the time the rest of Critias’ companions came up, he put the final touches to the explosives he rigged to the stairs going up to the uppermost floor of the building. If his design worked properly, the ghouls would have no direct access to that topmost floor or to the roof beyond.

They’re getting close, Carlos huffed, out of breath after the harsh climb under a pack in all that heat.

He asked, You want to frag these assholes or what? I have a satchel charge that will give them something to cry about.

Critias hurriedly waved for everyone to continue on up to the top floor above his demolition area.

No, he told Carlos. Let them come. I already talked to the colonel. We’re ready for them. What I need is for you to get the door to the roof open.

Tell that ignorant pirate bitch up there that we are her one chance to live, so she better cooperate. If she refuses, tell Hiram to fire a grenade up there or something. While her head is down, just blow the door off its hinges and then kill her.

The ghoul army clogged the stairs as a mob that flowed upward. Cutter had lured most of the free eaters out of the coliseum when he carried the packinghouse cauldron where they could see it. The naked dummies were always game for a free meal. They had followed even though the pot had been empty.

Critias didn’t want the ghoul army to focus their limited minds on the idea that they wanted to get to the roof where they could eat his friends. Before they got close enough to see where they had gone, he backed off and then detonated his cutting charges.

He had used a two-part canister sprayed explosive from his marshal supplies. The bottom layer was a yellow colored ribbon with the texture of toothpaste. A second nozzle simultaneously covered over the top of the yellow strip with another explosive that had the appearance of white shaving cream foam.

When Critias signaled his postage-stamp sized detonator, the stiffened outer coating formed the tamping blast that then focused the under charge into a slicing beam of force that cut steel reinforced concrete like cheese under a wire.

Most of two stairwell landings and an entire flight of steps fell away with a loud bang and an accompanying billow of dust. The second boom was when the wreckage landed on the intact stairs below.

The door to the roof was open when Critias arrived. The female pirate was not a bad looking bird at his first glance. They had taken her guns away, but other than that, she was unrestrained and wisely kept quiet. On his way to grab one of the bags with the ropes and climbing gear, Critias saw a second pirate, a male with a bullet through his skull.

Critias tossed Bean a repelling harness, Put this on.

He then looked to Carlos for an explanation, Did you install the new asshole into that guy’s forehead?

That’s how we found him, Carlos answered with an innocent and bewildered shrug. Either the woman killed him or he checked himself out.

The pirate woman spoke English when she told Critias, I shot him because he was going to trade me to one of those talking creatures. I know you don’t believe me, but they talk, and it wanted to marry me or something.

We know they talk, Critias told her with little time for conversation. That is why we came here. I want to kill him. It’s not as if we came out into this shit because we valued your stupid ass. If you want to live, just keep your mouth shut and stay out of our way.

As Bean started to put on the climbing gear, he asked skeptically, Why do I have the feeling that I’m not going to like this?

Critias looked to Yeti, You up for this?

Yeti was in no hurry to volunteer to do anything as he mumbled, Well, I’m uh.

I want to take Alice out tonight, Bean bargained while he fitted his straps apparently determined to go.

If you live, I’ll think about it, Critias sort of agreed. You are going over the west side. You have nothing to worry about because I’ll be holding your rope the whole time and Colonel Davis has you covered from a perfect position.

Bean asked, What about the ghouls? He still didn’t understand what Critias had in mind that he would be going over the side of the building.

Ghouls can’t fly very well, Critias informed Bean as if that was pertinent good news. He anchored the climbing rope to a repelling ring he attached to his mechsuit and then he connected the rope to Bean’s climbing harness.

With them both prepared, Critias started to lower Bean over the side of the building. Critias let out rope until Bean went past the uppermost floor that no longer had any stair access and he didn’t stop until Bean was outside the window where Critias had paused to look out at Colonel Davis.

Cutter’s ghouls had climbed until they reached the missing stairs. From there they left the stairwell by the door Critias had propped open for them. They quickly moved out onto the office floor to search for the humans. Dozens of them were already in the hallway when Bean came down on the outside of the glass.

They didn’t immediately see Bean owing to the sun shade properties of the window tint. That was until his boots made a squeak against the glass.

Upon closer inspection, they finally saw him and it made the infected go wild with bloodlust. They flung themselves at the window to pound their way through it and the glass didn’t disappoint because it cracked straight away.

Bean cried out, Holy shit!

He had genuine concern since he currently stood on the cracked glass that would soon vanish beneath his feet. The ghouls swarmed only a foot away from him and all of them fully intended to have him for lunch. Bean had never been so close to so many ghouls and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Critias shouted at him, Run side to side like a swing!

Most of the action came from Bean when he started to scramble to the side, but Critias did his best to work the pendulum from his end. Bean had plenty of motivation to get away from that breaking glass. He only got so far in one direction before gravity pulled him back the way he came. Being as far down as he was, that was still a pretty wide arc for him to work with.

Critias had a good grip on the rope as he gave a power heave at the right moment. The force put Bean into a spin, but it also accelerated him as he swung back in the other direction.

Bean spun around in time for him to run a few steps before he made a jump. As Bean leaped over the cracked glass, the furious ghouls blew the window out so that the whole disfigured sheet of safety glass tumbled away to take the long fall to the street below.

The ghouls in the rear pushed ahead, which inadvertently shoved their front companions out the window. Those ghouls in the front had nothing to grab onto for safety but their companions behind them, which they did.

As Bean tumbled through space just out of their reach, dozens of ghouls clung to one another and shrieked as they plummeted out the high window.

Just as Critias had said, the ghouls didn’t fly nearly as well as they exploded into bloody mash when they hit the street twenty floors down. From that height the impacts were clearly audible. Their meat even bounced, at least it did until enough undead corpses had accumulated that the newcomers nosedived into the ever growing pool of permanently disabled ghouls.

When Bean swung clear again, Colonel Davis and his whole band opened fire at the ghouls that still hung on at the open window ledge.

The Gravewalkers shot out the knees of those in the front to knock off as many of the infected as they could. The wounded pulled at those behind them when they lost the ability to stand.

A continuous outpouring of flailing ghouls made room for more that still rushed up the stairwell to join in. The whole army of them was on its way to investigate the frantic feeder calls directed at Bean. As long as the foremost ghouls called out that they had located a human to eat, the rest continued to surge up from behind to join in the frenzy. Oblivious of the danger, those in the rear pushed those ahead of them until they went out the open window to drop from the sky.

Bean had a lot of momentum when he swung back across the broken window. He kept his feet against the wall that time so that he leaped at the proper moment to put some distance between himself and the gap.

The ghouls who had yet to take the fall watched Bean with a hungry anticipation for his return. They waited for him to come back into range then they all reached out at once to snatch him. As Bean sailed past just out of their grasp, a great mob of ghouls spilled out from the broken window once again to take the death plunge.

The killing method seemed so foolproof that Bean began to taunt the ghouls as he flew past their window. His cackling cries of excited mockery worked so admirably well that it whipped the ghouls into a psychotic frenzy.

Some of them wanted to kill him so badly that they just deliberately leaped from the window to get that extra needed distance to grab Bean out of the air. They would have gotten Bean too if it hadn’t been for Colonel Davis and his squad of elite snipers who interrupted those leapers with their timely marksmanship.

The same blind stupidity that had allowed Cutter to bring the ghouls to the building just by showing them an empty cooking pot also allowed Critias to use the promise of an easy meal to lure them out an open window.

Bean’s near miss when the ghouls leaped at him had changed his mind about taunting them to try. He decided it would be better if he just concentrated his efforts on keeping out of their reach. With each swing past their open window, the ghouls spilled out in flailing gobs until their numbers dwindled to a trickle.

The broken bodies of Jinglebells’ army formed a terrible mound of twisted flesh on the sidewalk below. Such was the height of their falls that their impacts upon the merciless cement proved to be invariably pulverizing.

Like so many squashed tomatoes, their combined blood formed a clearly visible wash that literally flowed along the gutter of the street before it finally vanished down a storm drain. It was a ruddy mess worthy of the Tomatina festival in Buñol.

Critias hauled Bean back up to the roof. Once he was safe, he radioed for Colonel Davis to shoot over a line so that they could set up a slide rope for departure.

A naval issue rifle-fired cord flew over the roof of their building. Hiram’s people used it to pull across a full strength climbing rope to stretch between the two buildings only slightly elevated on Critias’ end.

There were some straggly ghouls that had wandered elsewhere in the building only to arrive late at the broken window. Hiram’s attentive snipers shot those down to rob Jinglebells of any obedient servants.

Somewhere down inside the building, Jinglebells rang his bell to rally his troops. It was the signal that Critias had waited for to begin their real mission. They were there to kill the bell ringer once and for all.

Critias waved for the pirate woman to come forward, Put on a harness. You’re going first.

Everyone else started to put on a harness too. It would be more than a twenty floor drop beneath them when they took the slide across to Hiram’s building.

Critias told everyone, I’m going down to kill Jinglebells and then I’ll be right behind you.

Tony instructed Blue, You guys go on across with the girl. He told the Japanese ambassadors the same thing, We’re going with Critias. You get across and I will be along in a minute.

Carlos already had a rope set up for them so that they could climb down past the broken stairs. After they went down Carlos’ rope, they climbed over the collapsed rubble.

Jinglebells rang for his troops again only louder, which seemed like a positive sign that the bell ringer wondered why all his slaves refused to answer his summons. The sound gave Critias a good impression about how far down in the building the Watcher was, so he headed further down the stairs.

We need to get to him before he gets back onto the street, Critias urged the others on to greater haste.

This talker of yours seems to know how to stay out of your grasp, Polat observed as though he believed that Watchers were real.

Somewhere between when Cutter shouted at them and the testimony of the pirate woman, Polat came to the conclusion that it had to be true.

The Turk warned, Back on the streets, he will be able to call up plenty of reinforcements by making any noise at all.

After a moment’s consideration, Polat added, At least Carmen will be happy that you brought back the pirate girl. Polat made it sound like he expected Jinglebells to escape.

Critias caught the jibe, I didn’t come here for that damn girl. Jinglebells is not going to escape my trap. If the rest of you can’t keep up, you should turn back and then hook up with Colonel Davis.

Tony Banjo had a sudden inspiration, I think he will want to be in the parking area. We haven’t seen his other hunters yet. They would have space to move around in there and an easy way to get back to the street. It also has enough light for them to be able to see clearly.

Let’s keep after him, Carlos voted not to turn back. I have hardly got my dick wet yet. We came here to knock some heads, right?

Keep up as best you can, Critias told them as he vaulted over the railing to drop Carmen style down the eye of the stairwell.

For a moment, he imagined that he had her with him and had no doubt that she would have been able to keep up with him and then some. Carmen was a great partner to have and she would have been of value to him then.

Critias had a momentary pleasant feeling when he realized that Polat had been right; Carmen would be pleased when he brought home her pirate girl.

Tony had guessed wrong. Jinglebells was not down on the fifth floor parking level. The bell ringer was on the ninth floor where he had his secret escape exit. He could reach the rooftop of the adjacent building on the east side, which was opposite the view from where Colonel Davis had positioned himself to shoot into the west side windows.

Jinglebells had two objectives in his strategy. He wouldn’t put himself in danger ever again by personally confronting his enemies, and he wouldn’t find himself backed into a corner against their devilish guns.

Cutter stood nearby where he listened at the open door into the stairwell. He heard the humans as they rushed down the stairs in pursuit.

They’re coming, he warned his master.

You know what to do, Jinglebells instructed. They think that I underestimate the Devil’s trickery, but I know my enemy. Go and remind them why they hide in that tower!

Cutter took up his makeshift sword that he had leaned against the wall. He had to duck as he squeezed his way through the door into the stairwell. There was no mistaking the sound of their boots as they stomped down the stairs above him in their rush. Even though the men were on their way to him, Cutter started down the stairs himself to stay ahead of their assault. Jinglebells had a plan for him to follow.

The giant yelled up to taunt them, Are you coming, gunfighter? You should have killed that man when he failed to kill you. Perhaps there is much he can teach us about your cowardly guns and bombs.

Still in pursuit, Critias shouted back, If you like bombs, here is a free lesson!

A contemporary hand grenade banged and clanged as it bounced down the central eye of the stairwell in its crazy trajectory. When the grenade exploded, Cutter let out a howl of anger and surprise.

None of the shrapnel had struck the giant Watcher because he had already gone through the broken door into the fifth floor garage. That way was clear for Cutter because it was the same route that he had used when he brought the army inside.

They are probably behind us, Critias warned the others since he realized that Cutter wanted to lead him into some kind of trap.

Polat volunteered at the door to the ninth level where Jinglebells hid, I’ll check this one. I think he came out from here.

Critias supported the notion, Somebody go with him.

I’ll go, Manny Giles followed Polat to search the ninth floor.

Tony followed Critias while Carlos and Wolf broke off to check the eighth floor for any ghouls that might fall in behind them.

Critias bypassed the next two floors on a hunch that they were empty.

When they reached the open doorway to the garage that Cutter had entered, Tony commented, Maybe we should have brought Carmen along for this.

Cutter called to them, Yes, where is the sword angel, little coward?

He was close enough that he easily heard them talk.

I was hoping for a real fight against a true warrior, blade against blade. Carmen and Verloc would never hesitate to face me on equal terms. Not you though; you like to hide far away and then shoot at me with your guns. You have no balls, gunfighter.

Critias knew that Cutter spoke the truth as best he knew it. It wasn’t idle insults and lies that he based on nothing. Neither Carmen nor Verloc would have hesitated to fight Cutter under any terms the Watcher offered. Carmen would probably even prefer to use her sword.

He had felt earlier that he was already on an unprofessional day. As a marshal, Critias worked for Jim and the good of the people; as such, he should tell anything to Cutter that the giant wanted to hear and then shoot him in the head. After that, he should find Jinglebells and shoot him in the head too.

Critias was not supposed to indulge his sense of pride or farm for glory. He was supposed to get his work done and then go home with all his companions alive and well. With that in mind, Critias was not in a professional mood.

One advantage that Critias believed he had, something that Jinglebells would not understand, was that real hunters spent many years as they polished their skills. Jinglebells supersized freaks were unfamiliar with their new size and strength. They lacked the fine agility that only came from proper experience.

As much as a new hunter hated the aggravation of having to chase cats and rabbits to get a meal, that kind of critter capture effort was what made them agile. Large as Jinglebells’ destroyer monsters were, it didn’t make them the equal of Grendel. They would be slow and clumsy brutes that Critias would be able to handle.

With that small advantage in his favor, Critias felt confident he would be able to get the better of Cutter even if the loud-mouthed giant wasn’t alone, which he probably wasn’t, since why else lead Critias into an ambush.

Go get your woman, Cutter taunted further and he even genuinely laughed because he believed Critias feared him. She would not be afraid to face me like a man while you cannot. You probably dress up in her underwear, you dickless pansy.

Polat and Manny Giles had a choice to go left or right once they were on the ninth level office floor. They felt a breeze that came in through broken windows they couldn’t see. There were fresh tracks of dirty feet aplenty all over the carpet and there was an unmistakable smell of unwashed ghouls as though they gathered nearby.

Giles couldn’t overlook that he didn’t know Polat. If the downfall of mankind had proved anything, it was that the worth of a person didn’t show in their former career. Revenue quota cops and greedy politicians had been the first to fail against the Outbreak, the first to turn rotten with cowardice. They had been the pinnacle of uselessness.

Giles knew that fighting ghouls was not so different from hunting lions. When the enraged beast charged out of hiding, there was a thin second to think about the drama of the moment or to take proper aim and then put a bullet between the predator’s eyes. It was only one or the other.

He already knew that they had picked a floor that had trouble on it. Manny wanted to know that Polat wasn’t some antsy Nancy Yeti type of guy who had more ambition than the balls to react when a lion charged. He gave Polat a simple glance that contained all those thoughts because Manny would not break their silence to say it aloud.

Manny’s answer came in Polat’s silently confident nod. The Turk remained cool and professional like a man who had faced worse situations countless times before.

Polat used a hand signal to tell Manny that the ghouls were to the left of them around the corner of the outer hallway. He indicated that they should go right instead to circle around and then blast the lot of them.

It wasn’t Polat who had doubtful second thoughts about the confrontation; Giles wouldn’t bring any either.

When they moved around the way that Polat suggested, they discovered that there wasn’t any proper hallway along that side of the building. It was more of a collective office space subdivided with flimsy cubicle walls that were too soft to withstand any abuse and too short to offer cover if they stood up straight. The outer windows down that side were intact. Though the glass had a lot of dirt, they still let in plenty of sunlight so man and ghoul alike could see clearly enough.

Some ghouls had gathered around a hunter all the way down at the distant corner. The destroyer-juiced giant held the remains of the car trunk pirate in his rufescent grasp while the lesser ghouls tried to snatch away some bloody meat. The enormous brute gnawed on the ragged human remains like it was a sloppy fudgesicle.

Jinglebells unexpectedly made his presence known. The bell ringer had to be just around the far corner from those ghouls. He stood close enough that he spoke to them in an irritated tone.

Get after them, the Watcher demanded and then he added a ring from his bell to reinforce the command. There is plenty of meat for you all, you ignorant heathens.

The demands fell on deaf ears because the super hunter and the ghouls already squabbled over human flesh. They were not in any hurry to give up the bird in the hand for his two in the bush.

Whatever doubts lingered in Polat about the legitimacy of ghouls that talked, he couldn’t deny what he had just heard. Someone had attempted to converse with those creatures and suffered no attack because of it.

Polat unfolded the stock on his Shipka submachinegun to improve his ranged accuracy and then he leaned out from cover just enough to let them have it.

On first impression, Giles took the Turk’s weapon for being a half-plastic open bolt piece of shit that seemed unsuitable for shooting up a steroid freak hunter. Giles carried a customized automatic assault rifle of the