《Lord Slayer》


 Traitor Confirmed

    Chapter One


    Jonathan Slayer looked over the parapet of the wall that surrounded the capital the streets were empty in the desolate wasteland that had once been the capital of an entire state. One lonely infected stumbled down the street, it was a decrepit thing not one of the dangerous fast ones or ¡°freshies¡± as they were commonly called. The name came from the first days of the infection when people thought they moved faster because their corpses were fresher that hadn¡¯t been true of course as had much of what we had initially thought about them.


    ¡°Should I shoot it Sir?¡± asked one the wall-guards raising his longbow and knocking an arrow to it. Guns were only taken out in times of emergency or carried by the elite of the guards, bullets were too precious of a resource to be wasted and the materials it took to reload the bullets once spent were both rare and dangerous to acquire.


    Slayer held up a hand. ¡°Not just yet, wait for it to get closer I don¡¯t want the arrow being wasted and its shaft shattering its nearly fall and the foraging parties will have difficulty getting the fletchers new shafts soon,¡± he said calmly and the guard lowered his bow.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a freshy? It might be pretending to be a shambler I¡¯ve heard that some of them do that so they can pounce on you when they get close,¡± he said his arrow still at the ready. That had been another mistake believing they were all stupid and brainless creatures it wasn¡¯t tell they had wiped out half the armed forces that we had learned differently, they certainly weren¡¯t as smart as a human but the freshies had the intelligence of predator and tactics of lion or wolf by the time the military had realized that it had been to late they had been outnumbered three to one and with the infected mixed in with survivors airstrikes hadn¡¯t been possible and then there just wasn¡¯t enough of an army and only bands of survivors like ours were left those who had managed to build walls or occupy and fortify buildings.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so son,¡± the man said answering the guards question. though he was younger than the guard the older man took no offense at the familiar phrase it did not do to take offense at Lord Slayer.


    Although his official title was governor of district one; only the other governors and the senators of the Nebraskan Republic called him that though, in his district he ruled with absolute authority much to the distaste of the senators who lived in the capital. He was a lord here no matter what his title might be and most people excepted this, except the senators and other governors. the senators were a constant irritant in the twelve years he had served as governor, they debated endlessly and tried to squeeze him for power and privileges to make changes but Slayer would have none of it, he would not have the people¡¯s safety jeopardized by politics and politicians who didn¡¯t know one end or a sword from another.


    His status was not one of permanence but one that was re-elected every three years, he had lost an election six years ago due to one of his rivals on the senate stirring up trouble but the idiot who had replaced him had botched the job so badly that he had gotten more than a dozen men killed in a fight with the rebels and had hanged himself shortly afterword¡¯s. The senate had practically begged him to take his job back and fix the major crisis they were in but Slayer had agreed to it only on one condition, any matter that had to do with district one would go through him, and him alone.


    The guard let his arrow loose once the shamble was within twenty yards and it jerked sharply and then toppled to the ground. A cleanup crew with meat-pikes, long poles with meat hooks on the end, would come by and drag it away to prevent the spread of disease. There were several pikes used by the infantry guards, meat-pikes were one of the utilitarian ones, used to prevent being bitten by infected that were only lying on the ground and might roll over and sink their teeth into your arm or leg once you got close. The meat pike sank into the flesh at the shoulder and hooked under the bone all at a safe distance.


    There was a screech of tires and a black jeep rolled down the street, it skidded around potholes and piles of debris and five men sat in its back, an American flag flew in the air tied to a pole on top of the car. The wall guards ducked low behind the metal parapet wall on top of the outer wall. This was one of the most dangerous places to be constructed ten years ago wall three had been attacked and breached hundreds of times, it was only a ring of cars stacked three high and covered with sheet metal and a wooden scaffolding to walk along. Wall two had been breached a couple of times in the last eleven years but wall one had never been defeated, anyone who got on the other side of that wall died the moment his feet had touched the ground. Only the rebel¡¯s agents could get behind it to try to sabotage the Republic.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    The guards pulled out arrows from their quivers and knocked them to their bows. A bell was run to alert the guards in the barracks and shouts could be heard as they pulled on their light coin male and helmets buckling their swords and quivers to their waists.


    Guns roared as the rebels began firing at us the wall gave us some shielding but two men fell back one with red staining his black uniform pouring out of his shoulder, the other with a stomach wound. Both were pulled off the wall and rushed to the capital tower and the infirmary.


    ¡°On my command aim and fire!¡± Slayer shouted as the jeep continued to pepper the walls with bullets, it obviously intended to race by and leave them weakened with dead and wounded but he didn¡¯t intend to let it get away.


    ¡°Ready the fire launchers!¡± came a cry from below the walls behind Slayer.


    ¡°Pull, Aim Fire!¡± Slayer shouted and the singing of bowstrings filled the air and a dark angry swarm of arrows fell and hit the jeep men screamed but the driver continued moving, but not for long. Behind Slayer came another command to fire and a glass bottle flew in an arc over the wall, it struck the jeeps hood the impact igniting the phosphorous on the bottle which lit the homemade napalm of Styrofoam and gasoline. The jeep swerved as the driver was blinded from the flames over his windshield, it hit a particularly deep pot hole at an angle and the jeep flipped and skidded along the street. There was a moment of silence, a figure climbed out of the jeep tried to make a brake for it but two thin boney arms latched around his leg as he ran past a abandoned car. Teeth bit into his leg and he went down screaming.


    Slayer the encounter had been brief but these types of attacks were all to common the rebels always drawing new recruits with their promises to return the old America and its way of life to the country. he did not suffer from these delusions nor would he suffer those with them either.


    ¡°Put him out of his misery then kill the infected, pile their bodies with the rest of the corpses,¡± he ordered sweeping his black cloak around and walking down the wooden steps followed by one of his two bodyguards who couldn¡¯t even be heard except for the whisper of their red cloaks. The guards were necessary as Slayer had been the target of no fewer than sixty assassination attempts from rebels and he suspected from a few of the senators though he had never been able to prove it. He was alzo the main target in battles between the Republic and the rebels.


    Slayer began walking through the gardens that filled the space between wall three and wall two, in this day and age space between walls where people could live in safety was the most valuable resource. A man in a wheelchair pushed by another man with a hook in place of his had approached Slayer from the opposite direction stepping and rolling past rows of squash, tomatoes and beans and corn. The man in the wheelchair carried papers and the other man scanned the area as if ready to be attacked.


    ¡°Jamal, Jay what brings you out here?¡± Slayer addressed the two men nodding first to the one in the wheelchair and then the man with the hook in place of a hand.


    Jamal looked around and then gave a slight nod to Slayer and lifting two fingers, a signal. ¡°We¡¯re free to talk, no-one has entered the gardens yet and Captain Rasp had the area cleared ten minutes ago.¡± He said. ¡°I take it from the two men in the infirmary that the attack did come as we predicted?¡± he said.


    ¡°Yes, our test has been conclusive I scheduled two parts of the wall to only be lightly guarded by three men. That schedule was made two days ago, plenty of time for whoever is supplying the rebels to get the information out, I brought around a guard patrol and had Captain Rasp do the same on the other side of the wall just as you suggested, were they attacked as well?¡± Slayer asked.


    ¡°No this was a quick raid probably wanting to grab our food supplies,¡± Jamal said nodding to baskets of corn and squash covered in blankets waiting to be brought in as they had for the past week, purposely left there to tempt the rebels to make such an attack. ¡°If you investigate the jeeps wreckage I¡¯m sure you will find several ladders and ropes to help carry the baskets back over the wall before the guards were able to stop them they would have set a snipper on the walls to give them cover and pin the guards in the barracks while the rest grabbed their loot and ran.¡±


    ¡°A risky wager they might have attacked another part of the wall and gotten the food left out there,¡± Slayer pointed out.


    ¡°I doubt it these two locations were too tempting, besides I had tracking devices placed in every basket we would have found the rebels and then dealt with them, if there were any alive perhaps they could give us the identity of the traitor.¡±


    ¡°I doubt they knew his name these were just grunts but now we know it¡¯s one of the guards so that at least narrows it down from the entire district,¡± Slayer said his fingers stroking the hilt of his long single edged sword.


    ¡°It could be a family member or friend someone the traitor is close to and got the information out of,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°No, the schedule is only looked at by the officers and I gave instructions for them not to inform anyone until the following evening, that¡¯s too soon to be a low-ranking guard and too few people for the information to become gossip so soon. We have a traitor and he is one of our officer¡¯s I can feel it. Jamal, I want you to make use of your resources and spies, make a list of likely suspects and start having them followed.¡± Slayer ordered.


    ¡°And those we don¡¯t suspect?¡± Jamal asked with a look towards Slayer knowingly.


    ¡°Have them watched as well, we can¡¯t take chances with the Republic¡¯s safety, when the traitor is found I will deal with him personnel and he will regret the day he ever betrayed the Republic.¡± Slayer said his left hand forming a fist that tightened in anger that was reflected in the fire behind his eyes.

 Head Master

    Chapter Two


    Rasp stood outside the walls as his class of future guards stood on the wall watching him. He wore his flexible leather and wood armor lacquered black. He awaited the incoming rebel attack eagerly as he stood past the wall on the pretense of teaching Plague Combat to his students. A lone infected, a shambler, staggered towards him snarling and snapping its teeth.


    ¡°Plague Combat as you know revolver around three principles, avoiding being bitten or grappled, crippling the opponent, and most importantly destroying the brain,¡± he said stepping to the side and spinning his leg out tripping the infected. Then he stepped within its reach allowing it to grab one of his legs.


    You have all practiced breaking from an ankle grab in class but until you¡¯ve been tested you can¡¯t know how you¡¯ll react to panic,¡± Rasp said his voice coming out like his name in a rasp from his scorched lungs like someone who¡¯d smoked too much. He stepped on the hand grasping the ankle and twisted his leg and pulled out where the infected¡¯s grip was weakest, just between the thumb and fingers.


    ¡°Your test when you become guard is not truly a test of your ability to kill infected don¡¯t be fooled by those who boast of how many they killed on their test, this is a test of the mind to see if you can stand fast on the ground beyond the wall not just from the top of it,¡± Rasp said in his sinister voice his student¡¯s having to strain to hear him.


    He quickly walking around the infected grabbing its leg and flipping it on its back and lifting the leg into the air. He swung his right leg over the infected leg putting the infected to his back as the wedged the freshies leg in place between his legs, then he pulled hard and broke the leg with a snap.


    ¡°Put an infected down and it can¡¯t chase you but don¡¯t let that fool you, as long as they can bite they are still a threat,¡± Rasp said going down on a knee and grabbing both sides of the infected¡¯s jaw, ¡°there is a reason we practice ankle break but until you¡¯ve broken the skull or stabbed it through its brain you haven¡¯t won.¡± Rasp held the infected jaws apart as it tried to bite through his armored gauntlets, ¡°never try this technique unless you have strong gloves or gauntlets on if you can¡¯t get ahold of those and are trapped without walls wrap your hands in layers of cloth or find thick material to protect the palms of your hands, don¡¯t try it if you have any open scrapes or wounds on your hands you don¡¯t want to become a carrier and become infected when you catch the flue.¡±


    Rasp ripped the infected¡¯s jaw off and its snapping ceased as it jaw was only connected by a few strands of muscle and skin. ¡°you must always have a weapon on hand, a blade of at least twelve inches, carry it with you go to bed with it and put it under your pillow on your nightstand but it you don¡¯t have a knife there are other ways to break its skull.¡± Rasp snatched a rock from the ground grabbing it in both hands lifting it above his head and then bringing it down with all his strength to the side of the infected skull breaking through the bone and the infected spasmed as the main body of the parasite took damage and it dissolved killing its mate with the acidic red fluid.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    He stood and there was a screeching of tires in the distance, with his back to the wall Rasp allowed a smile to come across his face then he held out a hand, ¡°spear,¡± he ordered.


    The rebels in the Humvee speed down the cleared street a lone guard in black armor stood in their path and they pressed on the gas intent on running him down, then the guard turned around revealing the skull mask protecting the lower half of his face and the red trim of his armor. The rebel paled.


    ¡°It¡¯s him,¡± he gasped.


    Rasp¡¯s arm snapped forward with the spear flying, shattering the windshield of the Humvee, and impaling the driver. The rebel on the roof of the Humvee opened fire and the street explode with noise and shards of stone. Rasp rolled to the side as the Humvee spun and crashed into a wreckage of a car flipping on its side. Rasp pulled his twin kama from his belt. There was a groan and a rebel stumbled out through the broken windshield and staggered to his feet raising a pistol, he fired but his arm shook and bullet missed him entirely.


    The back door of the Humvee slammed open and a automatic rifle opened fire on the walls and there were a few screams. The gun men stepped around the corner of the Humvee and Rasp threw the kama in his left hand taking the rebel in the chest. He swung the kama in his right hand into the other rebel¡¯s shoulder causing him to drop the pistol and he lifted up, bringing the rebels to his tip toes. Rasp grabbed the rebel around the throat with his left hand and squeezed crushing the man¡¯s trakula and dropping him leaving him to die choking on the ground.


    The two other rebels stumbled out of the burning Humvee coughing but Rasp moved like the wind gliding in slashing one across the throat and kicking the other one in the chest and knocking him back against the wrecked car the Humvee had crashed into. The rebel groaned as Rasp retrieved the kama imbedded in the rebel he had taken in the chest. The rebel stumbled back to his feet raising his gun in week hands and Rasp kicked the gun to the side with a circle kick than slashed the rebel across the throat cutting halfway through his neck and then removing his head with the kama in his right hand and the headless corpse toppled to the ground.


    Rasp¡¯s chest heaved with anger and exertion, he reveled in the death of every rebel he killed, the scars on his body were a constant reminder to him of what they had taken from him and left him to become.


    Rasp grit his teeth closing in his eyes as he heard his mother and sister scream as they were violated, he felt the warm blood of his father on his face as he lay bound in a pool of it as it seeped from the knife in his chest. He heard the roar of the flames as his home burned down around him felt the pain in his wrists where he broken free from the handcuffs and pulled a wet cloth over his head. He felt the burning the endless pain as a beam broke overhead showering him in fire and coals, setting everything but his head on fire. He was trapped in the prison of his body and mind every rebel death was like breaking a link of a spiritual chain that bound him as he took vengeance.