Farmer's Creed Read online

  Farmer’s Creed

  Book Five of The Fallen World

  By

  Christopher Woods

  PUBLISHED BY: Blood Moon Press

  Copyright © 2019 Christopher Woods

  All Rights Reserved

  * * *

  Learn more about Christopher Woods at:

  http://soulguard4.wixsite.com/christopherwoods

  * * * * *

  Get the free Four Horseman prelude story “Shattered Crucible”

  and discover other Seventh Seal Press titles at:

  http://chriskennedypublishing.com/

  * * * * *

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  * * * * *

  Cover Design by Elartwyne Estole

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  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

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Epilogue

  About Christopher Woods

  Connect with Christopher Woods Online

  Connect with Blood Moon Press

  Excerpt from Book One of The Devil’s Gunman

  Excerpt from Book One of the Turning Point

  Excerpt from Book One of The Shadow Lands

  Excerpt from Book One of The Darkness War

  * * * * *

  Chapter 1

  Gary scowled as he looked toward the horse that carried his cousin’s body. He still remembered the exact moment she’d been shot. He’d been looking straight into her eyes when it happened. Sheer chance that she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time during that gun fight.

  He saw her pause and usher the children forward. Then she followed. That small amount of time was all it took to put her in that fateful spot. What followed was something he would remember until his dying day. It was as if everything had stopped for that instant, as Zee caught her and eased her to the ground. Pete wailed in horror, but Zee just held her for a moment.

  Zee had stood up in that hail of bullets and walked down the street like some unstoppable force. It gave him chills as he remembered the look on his face after the last one fell. His face was stone cold and his eyes, well, his eyes had looked dead.

  “I may have lost more than you,” he muttered, looking at the wrapped bundle across Kennedy’s back.

  Dagger, the huge black horse Zee always rode, snorted and tossed his head. Gary could feel the huge horse underneath him, tight as a coiled spring. The big black hadn’t been happy when they’d started home, and his person had walked down that street into who knows what.

  “You know what I’m saying,” he mumbled and patted the horse’s neck. “I sure hope we haven’t lost him.”

  He noticed Grady slowing down, letting the horse that carried Pete and the two children pass him. Kennedy passed him, and he fell in beside Gary.

  “We’ll camp up here where we saw the creek on the way in,” he said. “Still a half day’s ride left to get back to the Farms.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Gary said. “Do you think they’ll be back?”

  “The Pratts?” he asked. “They will. They’re all too damn tough to die.”

  “The guy said there were a lot of men left in that building.”

  “They have a lot of guys, but Zee and Pop have a Jimmy.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like what Jimmy did,” Gary said. “It was like one of those superheroes from the old comic books.”

  “Can you imagine a whole army of guys who could do that?”

  “Completely insane,” Grady answered.

  “They used to talk about Agents back when I was in school,” Gary said. “The teachers were always leery about saying too much when talking about them.”

  Gary turned sideways on Dagger as the big black horse looked to his left. “Holy shit!”

  “Jesus Christ!” Grady said as they saw Jimmy run by them, carrying Zee.

  He was coated in sweat and barely acknowledged them as he ran by.

  “Go, Gary!” Grady yelled.

  Dagger needed no encouragement as Gary kicked him in the ribs. The big horse surged forward after the running figure. As Gary and the big horse moved up beside Jimmy, Gary yelled at him.

  “Put him on the horse, Jimmy!”

  Jimmy look sideways at him and nodded. He raised Zee up to place him in front of Gary. Zee was pale, and his clothes were sodden from the blood he had lost.

  “Need…food,” Jimmy said with a grunt.

  Gary reached behind him, pulled the saddlebag that held his MREs from across Dagger’s back, and threw it to Jimmy.

  “We’ll get him there, Jimmy!” Gary yelled.

  Jimmy nodded and slowed his pace to let the horse run ahead with his brother. He pulled the saddlebag open and ripped the top off of an MRE. He didn’t even bother to use the heater in the package. He just shoveled it in.

  Gary held Zee tightly and muttered, “Run, Dagger. Run like the wind.”

  He could swear the big horse understood what he said, because he felt the muscles strain even harder beneath him, and they flew down the road.

  Zee’s head lolled back, and Gary heard him muttering.

  “Jesus,” Gary said as he pieced together what the man had said.

  “Killed them all…I’m coming, baby.”

  “If there’s a God up there,” Gary muttered, “please don’t let him die. Without him, I’m afraid we’re all done for.”

  If there was one person in this whole screwed up world who could keep the farms alive, it was the man in front of him, who was riddled with bullet holes. He had no idea how many times Zee had been shot, but Gary had seen four holes in the back of the blood-soaked shirt before he’d dragged him into place on the horse.

  Dagger ran on as the daylight began to fade.

  * * *

  He could feel the horse’s lungs straining as t
he big black horse below him ran through the gate to the farm. Gary had tried to pull him up several times, but the big black gelding wouldn’t slow. He was covered in lather and sweat, but he wouldn’t quit.

  “Just like your master,” Gary murmured.

  As they neared the center of the makeshift town, Gary yelled for help. He steered Dagger toward the Infirmary as Doc came running from the door.

  “Jesus!” he exclaimed. He was looking behind Gary as he pulled Zee from the horse. “Pop?”

  “Don’t know,” Gary said as he slid off beside Doc.

  “You take care of that horse,” Doc said. “I have him.”

  He nodded. Doc hauled Zee into the Infirmary.

  Gary wanted to go inside, but Dagger was sweat-soaked and needed attention after such a long run. The horse would run himself to death for Zee.

  He led the gelding toward the barn. He’d have to walk the horse for a bit to keep him from cramping. A trip by the water trough helped. Then Jimmy ran into the compound. He was still covered in sweat, but he no longer looked like some sort of ghoul as he had before.

  Gary wasn’t sure what they’d put inside Jimmy, but he sure ate a lot more when he used his Agent skills. And he’d used a lot of energy running that far with Zee in his arms.

  Jimmy stopped beside him.

  “He’s in with Doc.”

  “Have any more of those rations?”

  “I have some more in the barn. I keep a bugout bag there. I’ll restock it later; use what you need.”

  Jimmy nodded and entered the barn.

  “Damn,” Gary muttered and patted the horse’s shoulder. “He ate six of ‘em, boy.”

  Dagger snorted.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He laughed. “Shit, I’m talkin’ to the horse.”

  Dagger snorted again.

  “Now you’re just makin’ me look crazy.”

  He spent thirty minutes with the horse, brushing then feeding him. He kept looking at the Infirmary, afraid to go in. Jimmy had gone in after he’d eaten three more rations. Finally he took a deep breath and entered.

  “…needs blood.”

  “Where’s Delilah?”

  “Fifty miles away, at the dam.”

  “And I’m the only other with the right blood type.”

  “Yes.”

  “You know they changed things. The nanites are in the blood. When they placed the first batch in my body, it hurt me. They feed off the host until they reproduce themselves enough. It would do the same to him. But if it works, they’ll heal him.”

  “In his weakened state, he might not survive it,” Doc said, “but he damn sure won’t survive without it.”

  “Do it.” Jimmy sat down and placed his arm on the table.

  “Can I help?” Gary asked, looking at his cousin lying on the table.

  “We’ll need another IV for a nutrient drip,” Doc said. “Do you know where the equipment is?”

  “Yes, Sir. Deli’s been teaching me.”

  “Then get it and let’s see if we have a chance to save this man.”

  Sometimes a chance is all you have in this Fallen World.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 2

  “He’s gone again!”

  “Damnit!” Doc cursed. “Get the paddles.”

  Gary handed them to Doc. This was the third time Zee had died on them.

  “Clear,” Doc warned.

  Zee’s body jerked, and then his heartbeat was back. All three times, one jolt with the defib had brought him back. Each time he lasted a little longer than before.

  “What if the nanites are using the electricity?” Gary asked.

  Doc’s mouth dropped open.

  “Outta the mouths of babes,” he muttered. “Every time we zap him, he lasts longer. I wonder if a steady, low-voltage charge would help.”

  He dug in a drawer and pulled out a square box. “TENS unit. Used to help with pain by sending minor shocks through the muscles to relieve tension.”

  He placed the unit beside Zee and attached the small pads to his shoulder muscles. “If these tense up, they won’t rip wounds. Just about anywhere else might.”

  He turned the unit on, and Zee’s shoulder muscles twitched. They didn’t twitch long.

  “I think they’re taking the electric charge,” he said. “Unit’s still going, but no more muscle twitches. Let’s turn it up and see if we can feed the damn things something besides him.”

  When the unit was on full power, the shoulders twitched again, so Doc backed it off a bit.

  “Now all we can do is wait. Be ready if he goes again.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Gary sat down next to his cousin’s husband. He missed her already and knew it would be even harder on Zee.

  About an hour later, he heard Doc speaking from the front of the Infirmary.

  “Welcome back, Pete.”

  “Doc?”

  “Grady said you passed out on the road back,” he said. “Said you weren’t eating.”

  “She’s gone, Doc.”

  “I know, Pete.” Gary heard Doc moving around. “I did the examination.”

  “God, they did things…”

  “I know,” Doc said gently.

  “I saw them carrying Zee,” Pete said. “Is he still alive?”

  “For the moment,” Doc said. “Man’s putting up a hell of a fight right now.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Pete said. “I watched him die right there with her. It was like his soul just drained out of his body. Walked down the center of that street…”

  “Rest, Pete. You have a lot of healing to do yourself.”

  “I need to tell him what they…”

  “Pete, I did the exam.” Doc was quiet for a moment. “He can never know.”

  “What?”

  “You say you saw the soul drain right out of him. I saw that boy when he came back from the war. That’s what you saw out there. She brought him back from that. If there’s any hope of our Zee returning to us, he can’t know what was done to that girl. If he knew, he’d go back to the city. If he goes back like that, he’ll never return. He’ll kill and kill until they kill him.”

  “I see what they did every time I close my eyes,” Pete said quietly.

  “And you’ll have to keep that to yourself. I told Grady to have a talk with those kids. He won’t be ready to know any of that for a long time. One day he might, but…”

  Zee’s body jerked.

  “Doc!”

  Doc ran back into the room. “Pull the leads off. Looks like they’ve had all the juice they want.”

  They watched him settle back down after the leads were removed. His heartbeat was slow and steady.

  “I think they finished replicating,” Doc said.

  “Do you think they’ll heal him? Even if he’s not an Agent?”

  “I have no idea, but that’s the best heartbeat he’s had since coming in, and that says something is working.”

  “Jimmy said it may not work, even after replication. If they register him as a normal man, they may not repair him.”

  “We’re in uncharted territory, son,” Doc said. “We’ll just have to see what happens. You can go back to the patrols if you want. Delilah should be here later today, and I think he’s past the worst of it.”

  “Alright, Doc.”

  Gary looked once more at his cousin. “Wonder if he’ll thank us or damn us for keeping him alive. I think he intended to die.”

  “He may not appreciate what we did, but his daughter needs a father.”

  “Yes, she does,” Gary said. “She needs him now more than ever.”

  “We all need him, even if many of us don’t know it.” Doc motioned toward the door. “I suspect things will change a great deal when Pop gets here tomorrow.”

  “I have no doubt,” Gary said with a dangerous look in his eye that Doc had never seen there before.

  “You’re channeling Zee, boy.”

  Gary shook his head. �
�No, I saw what was out there, and things will change. If the Council had let the Farmer’s Guard go after them, she’d still be alive. We have to stand together as one, or we’ll fall one at a time. The Guard isn’t going to stand for it a second time. I won’t stand for it a second time, Doc. It has to change.”

  “You sound like him.”

  “He’s been saying it for over a year. He said it from the start. He also said his role would be as an enforcer. People wouldn’t like him, they would fear him, but it was the role he was willing to play to assure survival for as many as we could. He’s in no shape to do that right now.”

  Doc looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

  “I’ll back whatever Pop decides to do, and the Farmer’s Guard is with me. I spoke to Grady and several of the others. If it comes down to it, they’ll stand behind Pop. If that’s not enough, there’s Jimmy. He’s a Pratt, and regardless of whether he has the emotions or not, he has the memories of who he was. He’ll stand with Pop.”

  * * *

  Kendrick rode into the compound at the head of fifteen Farmer’s Guards. They’d been sent as soon as Zee was brought home. Jimmy rode just behind his father. He looked a great deal better after refueling his body with an enormous amount of food.

  Gary motioned to the waiting Farmer’s Guards, and they fell in behind the others. There were close to a hundred of them. They followed Kendrick Pratt to the Council Hall, where they all took up positions around the square.

  Kendrick dismounted and nodded to Gary as he joined the older man. Grady Conners joined them, and they pushed the doors open.

  “We’ll need to address the situation as soon…”

  Kendrick’s clothing was worn and bloodstained.

  “Excuse the interruption,” he said. “I have something you need to hear.”

  “Kendrick,” Hollis Drager said. “Let me be the first to offer my condolences on…”