Chapter 49 Gunner and the Horde

Chapter 49 Gunner and the Horde
Gunner scratched under Rat’s chin from where he sat on his shoulder. They were five floors up and a few buildings away from the hospital's front gate. A few hours ago, he watched his woman walk through those doors alone, and since then, everything has been quiet.
With his keen vision, he noticed something quite strange; all the women seemed to have the same build. Although they were all dressed differently and seemed to have different responsibilities, even the way they walked was the same. Watching them interact was like watching women walking around with a mirror. They all spoke and emoted the same, as if they were just a reflection of the other woman.
It creeped him out.
The only refreshing thing he saw was that the men were not obsessed with the women. It was like watching people before the real decline of humanity. Just humans working together, instead of the insanity men seemed to have succumbed to now.
He paced the dusty floor, leaving ploofs in the air with every step. There was something about this place that just didn’t seem right. Something besides the identical women and the way the men ignored them.
He watched as the man who had greeted his lovers left with a convoy of men and women with rifles on foot. They had his tank, which he found not only annoying but absolutely frustrating. He hated leaving that behind; it was the safest way to travel with Trigger. He wanted it back, but he had greater concerns now. Were they looking for him? Would Trigger or Cue allow them to even know he was out here? If they knew he was here, did that mean they were in danger?
He watched as the group slowly passed his building, their guns raised and eyes focused. But the leader was looking up. For a moment, Gunner thought he was looking right at him, the small secret smile on his lips hiding something more.
They began a grid search, groups of four breaking from the main group and searching down alleyways and sewer entrances. They were loud, very loud. They made not a single effort in moving with stealth. It was as if they were trying to call the zombies out on purpose.
It worked slowly, on zombie woke on the ground, slowly rising on shaking limbs as it raised itself off the ground. It was instantly collared with a metal bit placed between the teeth. They hauled the zombie up and added it to a chain dangling off the back of the tank. 
He watched in utter confusion as they did it with any zombie they found without prejudice. The sound of their screams behind the tank was getting louder and louder. It almost seemed like they were screaming for help.
It worked; all around them, more and more zombies approached. Some slowly, some screaming and running with their arms flailing and teeth gnashing. Now, the convoy began to shoot. They were calling out the zombies with their own kind and then killing them. The screaming got louder and louder, even as it made less and less sense to him.
A sound that Gunner had come to know and fear echoed off the building.
It was the cry of the Cretin that had been following them. Gunner grabbed a broken window seal and leaned out, looking toward the sound. 
He watched the dark man swinging from business signs and jumping off the top of old cars. He ran like a beast, with the arm strength of a chimpanzee and the speed of a cheetah; he moved over the destroyed remnants of the great city as easily as walking.
Gunner looked back at the convoy right as the leader grabbed a different gun off the tank and aimed it at the Cretin. 
Were they going to kill him?
Gunner felt a pang of something, almost sorrow. Since finding Cue, they had not met a wild horde or even a stray. Having this Cretin stalking her had given them a sense of safety he had never experienced since waking up in the tent with his creator. 
From the moment he grabbed Trigger and escaped the zombie horde that had destroyed her settlement, they had been overrun with zombies. There were times they couldn’t leave the tank for days. There were times when the tank was so overwhelmed that Gunner had to pick the crushed skull of a smashed zombie out of the barrel and peel its arms off the muzzle. It had tried to get to the tank from inside the giant weapon.
A loud bang followed by a shrill whistle rang out, and the Cretin went down with a red feathered end of the dart sticking out of his chest. From mid-air, he fell, landing on the ground hard and sliding several feet.
Immediately, the zombies went crazy. With no one to control them, they went every which way. Searching only for food and survival, they tore into the convoy without hesitation. Now, humans were screaming.
Gunner felt no sorrow for them. They were out here hunting for what, sport? Gunner sucked his teeth and scowled in disgust. The leader didn’t care about his convoy; they were just fodder for him. He ran forward with a few guards keeping the zombies off of him. 
Alone, he hauled up the bigger man and started to drag him back to the tank. They hauled him on top of it, and the few surviving members of the convoy got into the tank as it began to reverse back to the base. 
Gunner watched in disgust as they ran over the zombies they had chained to the back of the tank. Seems their only purpose was to draw out more of their kind. The horde followed the tank all the way back to the base, the screams growing louder and louder as they grew more crazed the longer their master was gone to them.
He looked down at the carnage left behind. The women he brought with him were all being torn apart and eaten alive by zombies. Mercifully, he used his lasers to put them out of their misery. He let the zombies eat, feeling almost sorry for them, too. What that man had just done made no sense.
To sacrifice one’s own people, especially women, made no sense to him. It did, however, make him very concerned for the women inside. It had been hours with no sign, which meant it wasn’t safe for them to leave or for him to come in.