Tribulation (Soulless Wanderers, #0) Read online

  Tribulation

  Soulless Wanderers Prequel

  Drew Strickland

  www.drewstricklandbooks.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

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  About the Author

  1

  Daniel was tired.

  He had one task in front of him and nothing else to worry about. Get to the bunker.

  The others were on their own, and he was glad to have it that way. They had been too much trouble for him anyway. He could only think about getting himself to safety.

  He walked through the trees, crunching on the leaves with his boots. He didn’t even care to cover up any sound. If anything was out here, let it come. Just as he thought it, he seemed to have been answered.

  To his right, a low growl sounded in his ears. He spun quickly, seeing a man frothing at the mouth. At least, he used to be a man. Now, his eyes were blank, just as all the others were. He was soulless. The frothing dead man came forward, but Daniel stepped to the side. Even though he was tired, he still had it in him to survive.

  Daniel grabbed the man from behind his head and drove his skull into the nearest tree. The blood stain left on the trunk looked like a butterfly against the bark. A butterfly with bits of brain sticking to its wings.

  Daniel let the body drop and turned. He smiled, seeing the small path mostly covered by leaves. It was hard to make out, which is why Daniel liked it, but he knew it well. It reminded him of the first time he ever saw the bunker. His smile suddenly turned sour.

  It also reminded him of why he was better off alone.

  The new world may be a better fit for someone like him, but there were still some rules to be followed leftover from the old world, especially for a man like Daniel.

  2

  A decade before the apocalypse.

  * * *

  The Arizona night was cool. It was a welcome change from the afternoon heat earlier. The flashing lights of the construction barrier lit up the sidewalk as Daniel walked down it. The roads were always under construction here. Sometimes, they expanded the roads, like when a new housing development went in, or a builder bought the lot next to the road to put in more commercial buildings. However, it was usually just roads being repaved.

  Daniel stopped walking and looked around. Far in the distance, he could see lights in a building and the tiny bodies of people hanging outside it. It looked to be a coffee shop, but from where he was, he couldn’t be too sure. All he knew was they couldn’t see him. The bright lights of the building made them visible, but the flashing yellow light barely made it bright enough for him to see and he was in the middle of it.

  Daniel checked around and ran a hand through his brown hair. It felt a little grimy from the day, and he thought he should wash it when he got home. He had read about people not washing it that much, but he had always been a daily washer. Supposedly that was bad for the hair and scalp, but he hadn’t encountered any problems with it. Besides, how was he supposed to leave the product in his hair all night and try to style it the next day?

  Daniel shook his head. Definitely not the time to think about washing your hair, Daniel. He needed to stay focused on the task at hand. His blood pumped quickly through his body, and he could feel the vein in his neck pulsing in his skin quickly. He was nervous, that was for sure, but he didn’t know why. This was something he had done before. Still, killing someone was not second nature to him, yet.

  In the distance, he could see the silhouette of his target. He’d been following him for a few blocks now. Daniel knew he usually took a walk around this time of night and wouldn’t be expecting anyone to interrupt him. It was the perfect time to do this. He stepped lightly and continued to follow the man in front of him. The shadow from the distant street lamps and flashing construction barricades quickly took him back to his first kill.

  Daniel closed his eyes for a moment, trying to capture that same feeling. It was a cool night after a warm day, just like it was for him now. There hadn’t been much planning in it, but it also wasn’t sloppy. He could remember following the man down the road, except it wasn’t a road, it was near the train tracks. He felt the blood pumping inside, his nerves all over the place.

  That day hadn’t been much of a day before, but when the stranger had crossed his path, he knew it would be special. The man had been angry, he had been sad, and most of all, he had been rude to Daniel. Daniel didn’t react on emotion, no, it was the opposite. He had been very collected when it came down to it. There was no rage involved. Sure, he had been nervous, but it was more from the excitement.

  The tracks were tucked away where nobody could see them. It was only Daniel and the vagabond. Daniel wasn’t cruel. He didn’t torture. He only wanted the blood. He remembered, he could almost feel it at that moment on the street. He could feel the hot, sticky warmth splatter from the man and onto himself. There was no better exhilaration than knowing he was in control of everything. To feel the final pump of blood come from someone was the ultimate ecstasy.

  Daniel stood on the sidewalk, slowly opening his eyes. The memory a distant reminder of the task at hand. It seemed he was always chasing that high of the first time. While it may never feel as pure, it was still worth it. He looked around, realizing his fuck up. He no longer had eyes on the target.

  Daniel put his feet to the pavement, picking up his pace. Where did he go? He looked down the alley to his left, but there was nobody there. Daniel hadn’t been in his head that long. How could he have gotten away so quickly?

  There was no sound, no footsteps in the night, no breathing nearby. It was silent, except for Daniel’s own breaths, coupled with his increasing heartbeat. He really had fucked it all up now. He was too in his head and let the mark get away from him. At least Greg had no idea this was the plan tonight. He didn’t have to let him know he screwed up the hunt. This would be his own little learning lesson.

  Greg wasn’t going to be mad, but Daniel knew it would turn into a reflection on himself and some other bullshit lesson he just didn’t want to listen to. He was going to have to try again at another time and location. He would be sure that his target couldn’t get away that time.

  Daniel turned around, facing the dark alley he had just looked down. Still nothing. He shrugged and started walking. Before he could get one foot in front of the other, he felt the flat coldness of a blade pushed against the back of his neck and the hot breath of someone behind him. A hand clamped his shoulder, the grip tight. There was no way of getting out from this, and Daniel knew it. He froze in his tracks, waiting for what came next.

  3

  “You’ve been following me,” the man behind Daniel said.

  Daniel hung his head low, knowing he was caught. “Goddammit, what gave it away?” Daniel felt the blade pull away. He spun around and looked at Greg, who held the knife while grinning.

  “Not sure when you started, but you started drifting off and looking around like a madman. You’re lucky it was just me. Anyone else would have been freaked and bolted, or worse, maybe they’d have used the knife.” Greg’s face was hard to read in the dark, but Daniel thought he saw disappointment on it through the flashing lights from the construction barrier.

  “I was only caught because you are just that good. You’re the only one
I know who can best me, for now.” Daniel believed it to be true. However, Greg was right about drifting off and looking like a madman. That was why he ran the tests with Greg. At some point, his mentor wasn’t going to always be better than him.

  “I do love the flattery, but you’re also full of shit,” Greg said with a big smile. Daniel was relieved that it wasn’t a strong disappointment and he could relax.

  “Now that you’ve intruded on my night, let’s go sit down. Grab something to eat?”

  Daniel’s stomach growled at the mention of food. He was so worried about stalking Greg that he had been too nervous to eat. “Sounds good.”

  “Good, cause you’re buying,” Greg said, folding his knife and sticking it in his back pocket.

  —-

  Daniel sat in the booth of the small diner Greg had chosen to eat at. He had never been here, but according to Greg, they had great coffee and pancakes, which was an odd order so late at night. Daniel shrugged it off as one of Greg’s many quirks.

  Another quirk was Greg’s aversion to a dirty booth. Daniel watched Greg, from his seated position, as he stood over the table and inspected the top. Then his attention went to the booth. He grabbed a napkin from the dented dispenser on the table and wiped the booth out. Daniel didn’t see anything come off of the seat, but it seemed to satisfy his friend, so he didn’t comment.

  “Damn employees don’t know how to wipe down a booth properly,” Greg said as he sat. He checked the table one last time before resting his arms on the top.

  “Everything good?”

  Greg shot Daniel a look. Greg definitely had a thing about dirty booths, but he also had a thing about people pointing it out. Greg only nodded and quickly changed the subject. “You gotta get out of your head, Daniel.”

  “I was just trying to get the jump on you. You’re a lot different than an average guy on the street.”

  “Maybe, but I didn’t know you were following me for a while. You brought the attention on yourself. What were you thinking about?”

  “All of it, I guess. How it feels when I’m in control. Making sure nobody sees me. Getting away clean.”

  “All very good points. But you gotta let it go. All of that stuff you can worry about when you’re planning, but when you are out there, it has to be natural. If it’s not, then you’re going to trip on yourself.”

  A waitress with a name tag too covered in grease to read set two waters down on the table. “You boys know what you want to order, or you need a few minutes?”

  Greg looked up at the woman interrupting their conversation and smiled. “Hey there, I could definitely use a coffee and some of those amazing pancakes they make here.”

  She jotted it down and brushed a few loose strands of hair from her face. “What about you, handsome?” She turned to Daniel.

  “Uh, I’ll, I guess I’ll have the same.” Daniel looked at her name tag and tried to read it. “Clydine is it?”

  She twisted her face in confusion, seeing where Daniel was looking. She followed his gaze to her name tag and laughed. “No, it’s Cynthia. Damn greasy burgers they make here always splatter up on me.” She wiped the name tag, smearing the grease so it showed her name a little better but still difficult to read.

  “Okay, then Cynthia.”

  “You gonna tell me your name or you just gonna leave it hanging in the air?”

  Daniel had never had much interaction with someone flirting with him. Really, he didn’t have much interaction with friendliness at all. It wasn’t really what he liked to focus on. “D- My name?”

  “My friend’s name is Danny,” Greg interjected. “He gets a little tongue tied when a pretty lady, such as yourself, grills him for information.” Greg’s smile stretched wide across his face. “I’m Gregory.”

  Cynthia’s pale white cheeks flushed bright red. “Thank you, Gregory.” She turned to Daniel, still red. Daniel only smiled. “Danny, then. I’ll have both of your coffees and pancakes out in a jiff.” Her smile faded a little after her comment and headed to the kitchen, shaking her head. Daniel had no idea why she became flustered.

  Greg lowered his voice to a whisper, seeing Daniel’s oblivious look. “She’s probably embarrassed because she thinks you’re cute. She just said she’ll have our pancakes out in a jiff and thought it sounded stupid, so she is kicking herself right now for saying it.”

  “How—”

  “You gotta spend some time with people, Daniel.”

  “Danny?”

  Greg smiled. “Take a page from my book. Gotta keep your worlds separate. Hang out with people, be who they want you to be. Hell, it’s kind of fun. But when you’re you at night, it’s completely separate and pure.”

  “I don’t want to hang out with people,” Daniel said. “I don’t want anything to do with them. They don’t understand me and that’s just fine. You’re the only one who knows.”

  Greg slapped his hand to the table. “Daniel, this is very important, so I want to make sure you hear me. You need to be around people. If you become a hermit, living out in the middle of nowhere forever, nobody will accept you. That may be fine by you, but you’ll get caught. Hell, you probably won’t even kill anyone again because people will keep their distance. Is that what you want?”

  “It doesn’t sound that bad,” Daniel said. It really didn’t, either. He could be alone, never being bothered by anyone again. Just him and his thoughts.

  “It would drive you crazy. Sure, at first it would be nice. Not being bothered and just being in your own thoughts. It sounds kind of cathartic, actually. But then it would come, that thirst. That want for the blood. What happens then? You’d miss it too much and need to venture out. You have a bloodlust in you and you can’t deny that.”

  “I don’t want to have friends and go to parties or go on dates, though. That sounds like a waste of time. I just want to kill.”

  “You don’t have to do any of that. You just need to make nice with people out in the world. Don’t be so awkward. Oh, and Daniel, sometimes the end of a date is actually a pretty great thing.” He winked at Daniel as Cynthia came back to the table.

  “Here are your coffees.” She set them in the middle of the table. “Anything else I can get you for now?”

  “No thanks. I think we’re good, Cynthia,” Daniel said, glancing at Greg. He turned his attention back to the waitress. “Maybe when you come back with the pancakes, though, you can bring another smile with you,” he managed to choke out and finish with a wink of his own.

  Cynthia giggled and covered her mouth. “Sure thing, Danny.” Her face was red again, and she turned away.

  “Okay, that’s great,” Greg said.

  “Yeah? It felt awful.”

  “I mean, it was cheesy as fuck, but it’s a start, Danny.”

  Daniel shook his head, hating this new lesson Greg was giving him. But he knew he was right. He had to fit in. He didn’t need to make any friends, at least not anyone who didn’t understand him. Greg was the only person who could fill that role, and he definitely was glad he could trust someone like him.

  “You’ll have to make sure to brush up on all of Danny’s people skills. I have a surprise for you this weekend,” Greg said, taking a long sip from his mug. If Greg decided it was going to be a surprise, it must be something good. He usually wasn’t one to withhold information. Daniel could hardly wait to find out what it was.

  4

  Daniel sat in the passenger seat of the Bronco while Greg drove. Neither one of them had spoken much during the drive, which wasn’t a big deal, but the questions ran through Daniel’s mind at a constant rate. Where were they going? What was the big surprise? Why had they been driving so long? There were a number of different times Daniel had thought about breaking the silence between them, but it had been so long and calm that he decided better of it. Not that Greg was a closed book. Actually, it was just the opposite. But if Greg had decided it was to be a surprise, well, then there was no point in trying to gain any information from him. He
was like that when he made his decision about something.

  Daniel took a sip from his water bottle. He was starting to get a little hungry and was hoping they were nearing the end of the trip. Greg had driven them far out of the city north. Daniel had watched as the city turned to desert, then the desert turned to forest. He hoped the forest wasn’t going to turn to mountainous snow, but if it’s what Greg wanted, then there was no point in fighting about it, especially in his own head. He would go wherever Greg took him and that was that.

  Finally, Greg cleared his throat, breaking the stale silence in the vehicle. “You know, I brought the Bronco because of where we’re going. It’s not the most inconspicuous ride, but once we’re there, we probably won’t be using it much anyway.”

  “I hadn’t thought much about the truck,” Daniel replied.

  “Just about where we’re going I’m sure.” Greg smiled and looked at Daniel. “You haven’t even asked about where I’m taking you.”

  Daniel shrugged. “I figured I’d find out when we’re there.”

  Greg turned down a windy dirt road from the main road. “That’s a good take on the situation.”

  “I guess. I’m just starting to wonder more about food than where we’re headed at this point.”

  “Fair enough, but it’ll be worth it. I’ll cook us up something nice when we get there.”

  “Then it must be close, I’m guessing,” Daniel said, hoping for the smallest ounce of information from Greg.

  Greg stopped the truck. “A lot closer than you thought. Hop out, we’re here.”