October

by Dave Rowlands

  It seemed that a large group of raiders had led the Dead to the Sanctuary in order to trap the Rangers in place, and eventually kill them all off, so that they could do as they wished with the surrounding towns and settlements. Now that they were free, there would be retribution it seemed. I couldn’t blame them. The entire purpose of their organisation was to help those in need; there were a great many in need in this world.

  A small group of Rangers went out into the fields, cutting large strips of fresh flesh from their Meat-Beasts, and began barbecuing the meat. I ordered mine rare and felt so much better as the bloody food found its way down into my stomach. German Doctor watched in fascination, claiming that colour returned to my cheeks as I ate.

  The Leader of the Rangers, a tall thin man with a massive beard, came to thank us personally for our assistance, as we’d saved nearly fifty people with our timely actions. The Kid and Criss-Cross got every bit as much enthusiasm with their handshakes of gratitude as German Doctor and I, and we were all welcomed to stay with them for as long as we wanted.

  Journal of A.G.

  The Queen seemed happy to see me. Bitch. She apologised for my eye, as if that makes it all better, and for the imprisonment. Deathwish had been right, at least, she wasn’t going to lock me up again. I’m not sure how I’d have coped if she had, to be honest. But this is something that I’m doing for the baby, not myself. Sometimes you make sacrifices for your kids that you would never make for any other reason.

  So, she found me an empty house that I could share with Giant, Viking and Valkyrie and the Dog. Deathwish told us that he’d come and visit all the time, and I doubt I could’ve stopped that even if I had wanted to.

  I asked him quietly about The Master and Mistress, and Maiden, only to be told that nothing had been heard from them for a couple of weeks. That in itself was not unusual, but just a couple of days before their silence there had been reports of strange occurrences further out than their fortress of a former shopping centre.

  I suggested that we should take a trip out to visit them in the coming days, Deathwish agreed immediately. It was something that he’d planned, but he doubted if he would be able to gather more than one or two other locals for the trip. He wanted at least four people. Giant told him that wherever I went, she was going as well. Viking and Valkyrie could take care of the house and the Dog while we went south.

  October 15th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  The Rangers, for the most part, were wary about The Kid. Criss-Cross as well, for that matter. They allowed us free reign of their facilities, though, so we were all able to get a hot shower. Well, apart from our Klee-vics companion, he found the concept of cleaning oneself with hot water simply amusing. Apparently, his species had their own method. But then, they coated their own arm blades in their faeces, so they’d likely have a different idea of cleanliness.

  The Leader wanted to meet with me, find out what I’d seen, where I’d been, things like that. He was aware that there were several different species of extra-terrestrials invested in the planet these days, making him unsurprised at Criss-Cross’s presence, though he’d never met any of them personally. I told him about Fluffy and his kind, figuring that the Klee-vics was better able to introduce him to his own species.

  He showed me around their impressively stocked armoury, telling me that they could do with some assistance with these raiders as he did so. I really didn’t want to get involved with another war between factions, but he told me that they’d have been watching the whole time as we’d rescued the Rangers. At least, I reasoned, I was definitely on the side of the good guys… So, I agreed to help them.

  German Doctor wandered about the place, examining those that required it, making certain that everybody was healthy. They’d been without medical care for longer than their Leader had cared to say. The Survivor told me, though, that they’d lost their own doctor shortly after she’d arrived with The Lad. Some raiders kidnapped him, forcing him to work for them. He had initially refused, she told us, then they’d begun removing parts of his body that he didn’t need to perform his duties…

  The Rangers had launched an all-out assault in order to retrieve him, but by the time they actually got to him, all he wanted was to die. The raiders that had abducted him had begun feeding him parts of his own anatomy. He had been nothing more than a torso with a pair of arms and a head by then, and The Leader had put a bullet through his skull in an act of mercy. Then, they’d cleared out all the raiders in that particular location.

  noon

  The Survivor had radio duties today, now that they could access the radio shack, so I gave her the frequency that would allow her to contact the Network of the Living that we’d been responsible for instituting. I was able to gather some information about some old friends, Scout had found her way back to Coober’s Nest, Doctor was capably running the show in Melbourne at The School, The Puller was having some difficulties up in the Empire. The Colonel had convinced Apocalypse Mum that she’d make a better advisor than leaving her up top as a buffer between AR-18 and The Righteous.

  The real surprise had been Static; The Mech-Tech’s radio operator had survived the disastrous drop into the gully that The Elephant had suffered and had scavenged the communications equipment and set herself up with the surviving members of Viking’s clan in an abandoned town near the crash site. She told me that there had been no sign of Viking or Valkyrie, so she assumed that both were still alive and well. My squad were dead, though. She’d seen most of their bodies herself.

  No sign of Apocalypse Girl, other than what I’d found myself. Her jacket, bag full of lighters, and my sword. I attempted to get in touch with Adelaide, succeeded in speaking with The Master briefly, discovered that they were having troubles of their own, unrelated to The Queen. She still remained unaware that The Maiden was still alive. He told me, once I’d informed him of my own situation, that I’d be more than welcome to come back and help him keep his fortress secure. I laughed, saying that I’d have to go through The Queen in order to get there, and at this time, that was not happening. He understood that better than anyone possibly could. He and The Queen had known one another very well indeed, with the Maiden as the fruit of that union.

  evening

  The Kid and Criss-Cross were making themselves useful; scouting around outside Sanctuary, searching for signs of these raiders that had been responsible for the Dead. They both had far superior night vision to any of the rest of us, though my own seemed to be improving. I’m not certain whether that was a good thing or not… I found myself almost wishing that I hadn’t split The Disciple in half after he’d bitten me, so that I might have a better idea of what might be happening to me. German Doctor was no real help, she only suggested that I keep her on hand to document the changes as they occurred, and to put me down if I turned feral. She had her doubts that I would.

  I lay awake, planning my next move. I’d help the Rangers with their war against these raiders. That I’d already committed to. Then, assuming I survived, and was capable of making conscious decisions, I’d continue on to Perth. I could at least keep on with setting up the radio network. Even if Apocalypse Girl was truly dead, that was something I could do. It would help people.

  Journal of A.G.

  Deathwish found a couple of other people that had known The Master and Mistress, and the four of us went on, as he put it to The Queen, a patrol to the southern edges of her kingdom. Bitch knew something was up, that much was obvious, but didn’t try to stop us. Didn’t even ask for any further details, just told us to “have fun” whatever the fuck that meant.

  So, we left, taking The Sherriff’s jeep. Deathwish was glad that he had access to one of the few vehicles left inside The Wall that wasn’t actually part of it, but we had to travel at a snail’s pace. And head in almost the opposite direction, at first. Once we’d made it up the top of the hills bordering Adelaide to the south, we were free to head west once again. Deathwish explained it as having to do as he had sugges
ted… If Her Majesty discovered that he’d just gone straight to The Master’s Fortress, he’d be in the shit.

  As it was, we made it there shortly before sundown. The pair of extra hands that Deathwish had found were quiet, unassuming people, one tall and skinny, the other shorter, though equally thin. Neither seemed like they’d be much use if we encountered any Dead. Not that it was likely, not here.

  The Queen had cleared the roads well in her early days, her first Sherriff had made a good start at removing them from the insides of the buildings that they’d been locked inside, and Book had made a decent attempt at following his example. Deathwish, it seemed, was following well in their footsteps. He had a number of stories about buildings cleansed, though thankfully there had been no more Ghouls to contend with.

  We made it to The Fortress about an hour before sundown. The Master greeted us with open arms, though his Mistress seemed less happy to see us. The Maiden, on the other hand, just wanted to know where the Dog was. I didn’t blame her, to be honest, I missed the slobbery beast. Maybe we should’ve brought him along…

  So, we feasted on deep fried Cthulhu rings, much larger than pre-apocalyptic calamari would have been, but just as tasty, and chips. It made a nice change from Meat-Beast.

  After we finished our food, The Master told me the good news.

  He’d been speaking with Book. My man was still alive!

  October 16th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Overnight I heard far distant, yet familiar sounds; the haunting shrieking howls of Dingoes. I saw them in my mind, hunting their prey, likely human, hopefully the raiders responsible for locking down The Rangers’ Sanctuary with a horde of the Dead. Visions came to me of our escape from Adelaide under the tyrannical Queen, the incursion from the north of Dingoes led by a massive, hulking General that was much larger than those that had followed it. The Dingoes that Elder had allowed inside the city, sabotaging The Wall. That had been the reason I had to take the old man’s head, in the end. Except that it hadn’t, for some reason I couldn’t fathom, been the end for him.

  I watched the sun rise through the window above my bunk, seeing that yellow orb ever so briefly poking through the almost total cloud cover surrounding the world, and I pondered just exactly how he managed to keep coming back. He was no ghost, that much was certain; his ability to brew tea at the very least rendered that theory false. Maybe he was right, and this world was no more than his own dream. Nightmare. Whatever.

  Breakfast was first on the agenda. The Leader of the Rangers welcomed me to his own table with a grin around a mouthful of toast. Older children served as the adults seated themselves around what looked nothing so much as a military mess hall. Several of the adults looked to have been in the army, I had come to recognise a soldier’s bearing by now, though The Leader lacked the stiff back and no-nonsense attitude that I’d become so familiar with since the world had ended.

  “I didn’t ask for this job,” He told me when I asked, washing his meal down with some hot coffee. “but these guys, they know sense when they hear it. There was a vote; it was all very proper… Nobody else was even nominated!” He chuckled, his eyes sparkling with humour. “Well, except for the guy I suggested. He had my vote, naturally, but since I was the only one… Well, yeah…” The Leader looked almost embarrassed.

  “Where is he?” German Doctor wanted to know. “How did he take it?”

  The Leader’s amusement turned sour. “He was our doctor.” We ate the rest of our meal in awkward silence after her apology.

  noon

  Criss-Cross and The Kid returned from their scouting mission sometime after breakfast, as German Doctor was performing physical examinations on the younger Rangers. Those that she let go went off to be trained with whatever weapons they chose, many choosing guns, many more picking up a bow and quiver full of arrows. It almost felt like I was back in The Commune with Apocalypse Girl, back before we knew just how bad things really had gotten.

  The Lad wanted me to show him how to use an old sword that he’d dug up from somewhere, an old cavalry sabre that probably hadn’t felt the touch of a human hand in over a century, perhaps longer. I tried to beg off (I’m no blade master) but The Leader suggested that, since I was now one of his group, I should do what I could at the very least.

  We found a couple of sticks that were roughly the right size, and I showed him a few tricks. At first it seemed as though he just wanted to play around with whacking the sticks together, but once I was able to get the idea across that the whole point was to kill your opponent, he picked it up quicker than I would have thought possible. Survivor watched us carefully when not turning the head of a target dummy into a pincushion. She might have been a better shot even than The Twin.

  I was taking a break from training The Lad when The Kid came up to me, drawing me aside from the others. He told me that he’d found traces of the raiders, but that hadn’t been all; he thought he’d found signs of the other alien presence, the ones responsible for mutating most of the wildlife that we’d seen, the Dingoes, Dragons, Drop-Bears, and the like. There was an area to the north, he told us, that no Dead could enter. Even he had experienced difficulty getting inside, though he’d managed to get closer than the ring of corpses standing around. Criss-Cross had gone further inside, though not far. His species and theirs were not precisely on friendly terms, but he’d been able to confirm that they were, indeed, the Mutators that I’d been wondering about for several months.

  evening

  I told The Leader about my friends’ efforts, though keeping mostly to their news about the raiders. I wanted to have a look at The Mutators’ compound, if I could get near the place, but his primary concern was a large group of bandits terrorising the people that he’d sworn to protect. So, I told him that my scouts had found a trail that they could follow, but I wanted to check things out myself. He nodded, slowly, chewing his Meat-Beast steak thoroughly as though chewing over his decision.

  He agreed, though he wanted me to take Survivor and The Lad with me. There was a car that we could use, one of several that they used for their own patrols, with a radio installed. He also insisted that we arm up properly.

  “I’ve heard noises in the night, I want you able to take out any threats out there,” He told us. “Dingoes always used to be a pain for farmers, these days they’re a real fucking menace.” He was not wrong about that. “I just wish I knew how they got to be the way that they are now.” I told him that if I found out any details, he’d be the first to know about it. He grinned. “It’s more important to know where they are and how to deal with them right now, mate.” I couldn’t agree more.

  Journal of A.G.

  Book is alive! I’m still finding it hard to process, even a day later. But, on the other hand, shit has been going down here. There were reports from down south, according to The Master, disturbing reports. So, given that his Fortress was technically part of The Queen’s Realm, and Deathwish was Her Eye-Gouging Majesty’s Sheriff, he had to continue on. Master and Mistress both wanted me to stay with them, citing unknown dangers to the south, but I felt just as safe with Deathwish and his Deputies.

  So, off the four of us went. Up the hill, and out into what could only be described as The Wilds, these days… what used to be outer suburbia. Roving gangs were fairly common, though they knew enough to avoid any representatives of The Queen, and only Her people would have a working vehicle in these parts.

  We came across the remains of one such group, some beginning to turn in Death. They were horrendously mauled, worse than anything I’d seen the Dead responsible for so far. Their bones clearly visible, gnawed carcasses that had clearly been devoured while they were still alive. The taller Deputy vomited loudly at the sight of it, wiping his beard clean and glanced over again only to chunder once again. The smaller guy didn’t even look closely, but he had the greenish tinge of someone that wanted to empty their stomach of everything that they’d ever eaten.

  “What could have done this?�
� Deathwish asked of nobody in particular.

  We moved on from that grisly sight after putting down the Dead, making sure those that hadn’t begun to rise never would, and found another similar sight a few kilometres away. Limbs, gnawed to the bone, and a few Dead that had managed to slowly crawl away from the patch of bloody ground in search of fresh Living flesh to dine on. There were a few weapons lying about the place, and a single solitary carcass; the remains of what seemed to be a rabbit that had been blasted apart by a shotgun.

  A larger than normal rabbit with a mouth packed full of tiny serrated teeth sharper than those of any shark.

  October 17th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  We drove north, Survivor behind the wheel, the Lad keeping a careful eye out for any Dead, Raiders or mutants. Criss-Cross sped ahead of us, directing us to our destination, while The Kid kept up the rear, loping along almost casually yet managing to easily keep up with the vehicle. Every now and then we’d turn down a hill or drive through a depopulated town and I’d lose sight of him, but I still knew precisely where he was. One perk of nearing Death, it seemed, was a connection that I shared with my good, Living-impaired friend.

  The plan we’d devised was simple enough; Criss-Cross would lead the three of us to the Mutator’s compound, The Kid would lead the Dead off in the direction that he’d found traces of Raider activity, and the rest of us would make our presence known. Criss-Cross, though his species and the Mutators had a slightly unpleasant history between them, had assured us that they’d not come out shooting. They were, he had informed us, a science-minded species, and would always talk before it came to hostilities.