Chapter 69: Primitive Society

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Primitive Society

Chapter 69: Primitive Society

After the Carter family finally settled back inside their vehicle, Seth Brundle pulled on a pair of examination gloves and crouched beside the bodies of the desert mutants. The attackers had worn little more than filthy scraps of clothing, and once Seth examined them properly, it became obvious that no two bodies were malformed in exactly the same way. Twisted limbs, asymmetrical skulls, unusual growths, and other abnormalities varied from one individual to another, yet all of them had possessed enough strength to keep charging after injuries that should have dropped ordinary men.

Driven by scientific curiosity, Seth made a limited field examination of one of the bodies. He studied the chest, bones, and muscle structure before clicking his tongue in amazement. "The skeletal density is extraordinary, and the muscle fibers are much stronger than normal. They’re almost like naturally occurring failures of a biological-weapons program."

As Seth continued examining the corpse, however, his fascination gradually gave way to confusion. "Something’s wrong. This doesn’t match what we saw with Leatherface or the other cult-modified subjects." Axel Vance and Lionel Cosgrove stepped closer when they heard the change in his voice.

"What’s different?" Axel asked. "Could this be another version of the cult’s work?" Seth shook his head and pointed out that Leatherface’s body had shown signs of unnatural alteration layered over an originally human structure, while these mutants appeared fundamentally different from birth.

"The Sawyer modifications looked acquired," Seth explained. "There were signs that something had been changed after development, but these people look like their abnormalities formed naturally as they grew." He stood and looked toward the surrounding desert with a much more serious expression. "What bothers me is that people with abnormalities this severe should usually have major health problems, yet every attacker we saw was physically powerful."

Axel immediately caught the implication. "So you don’t think somebody built them one at a time." Seth nodded and said the evidence looked more like a self-sustaining population whose unusual traits had continued through generations, although he could not determine the exact cause from a few bodies beside a gas station.

"If that’s true, we may not be walking toward a laboratory full of modified subjects," Seth said. "We could be walking toward an entire clan that has lived out here for decades." That conclusion made the desert around them feel considerably less empty.

The rest of the night passed without another attack. Axel, Seth, and Big Bob Carter rotated through the watch while the Carter family remained close to their vehicle. When dawn finally broke across the New Mexico desert, everyone looked exhausted but relieved to have made it through the darkness.

Axel stood near the road as Bob gathered his family and prepared to leave. Ethel, Lynn, Doug, Brenda, Bobby, and baby Catherine climbed back into the vehicle, all of them looking more than ready to abandon the desert forever. After one final warning from Axel not to stop for anything strange, Bob started the engine and drove away toward the route they had taken the previous day.

Lionel watched the Carter vehicle disappear and stretched with a long yawn. "This trip has a talent for dragging random people into our problems." Axel glanced toward the empty road and replied that innocent travelers becoming shields, witnesses, or victims was exactly the kind of chaos hidden organizations benefited from.

"Groups like this survive by making themselves look like part of the surrounding population," Axel said. "By the time we reach wherever they’re living, don’t assume everyone we see is one of the people who attacked us." Seth gave him a look and replied, "Then we figure out who actually poses a threat before somebody decides to eat us."

Before leaving, Lionel turned his attention toward the abandoned convenience store. The owner had vanished, the door remained locked, and nobody had returned during the entire night. Lionel looked at the shelves visible through the glass and decided that wasting perfectly good food would be a greater crime than forcing the door.

A short while later, he emerged carrying canned goods, crackers, bottled water, and anything else that could survive the heat. "Consider it compensation for emotional distress," he said while loading everything into the truck. Axel looked at the mountain of food, then at the enormous healing wound hidden beneath Lionel’s shirt, and decided arguing would accomplish nothing.

They continued deeper into the wasteland as the desert changed around them. Loose yellow sand gradually gave way to cracked earth, dry gullies, strange rock formations, and long stretches of terrain that looked untouched by civilization. After roughly another hour of driving, Axel suddenly hit the brakes.

Several dozen yards ahead stood a crude marker made from animal bones, scraps of fabric, and pieces of weathered wood. Dark-red symbols had been painted across it, while several dead wild animals lay beneath the structure in various stages of decay. Flies swarmed around the remains, making the entire thing look less like decoration and more like a warning.

Seth climbed out with gloves on and approached carefully. After studying the marker for a moment, he looked back toward the truck. "This fits what we saw last night. Crude materials, aggressive symbolism, and a very obvious message that outsiders aren’t welcome."

Axel scanned the completely open terrain beyond the marker. He could not see houses, vehicles, smoke, power lines, or any other obvious sign that hundreds of people might be living nearby. "Something feels wrong. We gear up before going any farther."

Neither Seth nor Lionel argued.

They prepared their field equipment from the truck, carrying enough supplies for a dangerous search without assuming they could return immediately. Lionel took the heavier support weapon because his altered body could tolerate the weight more easily, Seth carried one of the rifles and his scientific gear, while Axel kept the enchanted chainsaw secured within reach alongside his own firearm. Once everything was ready, they continued along a darker strip of hard-packed ground that appeared to have been used repeatedly.

The route ran forward for several minutes before the land ahead suddenly seemed to disappear. Axel slowed the truck and stopped well before the drop. "We walk from here."

They shut off the engine and approached on foot. Only when Axel reached the edge and lowered himself carefully did he realize they were standing above an enormous crater. He looked down, and for several seconds none of the three men said anything.

There was no isolated research facility waiting below.

There was a settlement.

Dozens of crude structures filled portions of the crater, assembled from scrap metal, broken lumber, torn fabric, vehicle parts, and whatever else could be scavenged from the desert. Other inhabitants had carved or expanded living spaces directly into the surrounding rock, creating caves and tunnels throughout the crater walls.

A massive fire burned near the center of the settlement. Several mutants gathered around it while cooking the carcass of a large animal, and many more moved between shelters performing different tasks. Some repaired tools, others worked animal hides, while still more carried water, scavenged materials, or food between the caves.

This was not a temporary camp.

It was a functioning community.

Near one cave entrance, a heavily built mutant woman with an extra finger on one hand sat caring for an infant whose skull showed the same unusual traits seen among the adults. Other children moved around nearby under the supervision of older members of the clan. Whatever had happened in these hills, the population had clearly been surviving and reproducing here for generations.

Lionel swallowed as he looked across the crater. "How many people are down there? A hundred? Two hundred?" For the first time since the gas-station attack, his usual joking tone had disappeared completely.

Seth pulled out binoculars and slowly surveyed the settlement. "I can see somewhere around a hundred and fifty adults outside, but that doesn’t include whoever is inside the caves." His expression became unusually serious as he continued studying the activity below.

"They have a primitive-looking society, but it isn’t disorganized," Seth said. "There are obvious divisions of labor—hunters, people working tools and hides, childcare, food preparation." His binoculars shifted toward one side of the crater before stopping. "And I think I found whoever is in charge."

He handed the binoculars to Axel.

On the far side of the crater stood an elevated platform assembled from pieces of construction debris, twisted steel, and scavenged lumber. At its center was a crude throne surrounded by piles of bones and trophies. Sitting there was a mutant who was not nearly as tall as some of the warriors below, yet his arms and upper body were exceptionally thick.

Unlike most of the clan, he wore an old leather jacket that was still mostly intact. His face carried obvious mutations, but enough recognizable human structure remained around his eyes and brow to make him somehow more unsettling than the others. Axel immediately thought of the wounded attacker from the night before and the warning he had managed to speak.

Father.

Seth stared down into the crater again. "That has to be their leader." In the horror story Axel remembered, the mutant patriarch was known as Papa Jupiter, leader of the clan that had survived around the abandoned nuclear-testing region.

Seth shifted his attention toward the crater itself. "And this entire depression may be connected to the old testing program. The region around here was used for nuclear testing, and the people behind the original settlement apparently remained around the mines and abandoned facilities instead of leaving." His conclusion matched the history of the mutant community from the nightmare Axel was beginning to recognize.

Axel frowned as he looked over the settlement. "They’ve been living out here for decades?" Seth could only shrug because determining the real effects of the environment would take far more than binoculars and a roadside examination.

Lionel lowered himself beside them and looked down. "Whatever caused it, they’ve clearly adapted well enough to keep having children." He grimaced at the settlement and added, "Not exactly my idea of a healthy neighborhood."

Before Axel could respond, the mutant on the throne suddenly moved.

Papa Jupiter raised his head.

Across several hundred yards, his gaze seemed to lock directly onto the ridge where Axel, Seth, and Lionel were hiding.

Axel’s expression changed.

"Down."

It was too late.

Papa Jupiter rose from the throne and released a deafening roar that echoed across the entire crater. Every conversation and movement below seemed to stop at once as dozens of faces turned toward the ridge.

"Intruders!"

His voice rolled through the settlement.

Then he pointed toward Axel’s position.

"Children! Bring them to your father!"

The crater erupted.

Mutants poured from the caves, shelters, and narrow passages all at once. Some were massive and broad enough to resemble the attackers from the gas station, while others were thin, fast, and built for scrambling across the rocky terrain.

Within seconds, the entire settlement seemed to be moving.

A tidal wave of screaming mutants charged up the crater slope toward Axel, Seth, and Lionel.

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