October

by Dave Rowlands

  I went with Deathwish and The Maiden to The Queen’s former Casino Palace, showed her the Plague-bunny carcass. She was not amused. Tears of joy were shed at the reunion of Her Majesty and her daughter, however. She reached out, grabbed my hand, whispered a ‘thank you’ that was almost immediately followed by an apology for treating me and Book like shit when we’d first come.

  I didn’t even have to suggest sending help to The Master, The Queen ordered a hundred people to The Fortress to back him up, led by Deathwish. Viking and Valkyrie volunteered, as did I. Master and Mistress both, after all, were my friends. The Maiden, however, was happy to stay behind with her mother.

  Before I left the Palace for the house that I shared with Viking and Valkyrie, The Queen took me aside and asked me to thank The Master for taking such good care of their daughter, and to kick him in the balls for not letting her know that she was still alive. I assured her that I’d thank him, and she smiled. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive her for my eye, but after this, I think we can get along at least. That helps, since I plan on staying here for the foreseeable future…

  October 19th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Shortly after waking, I felt The Kid’s presence in my mind, loping in our direction at top speed. At the rate he seemed to be travelling he’d be back at Sanctuary by noon, maybe a little past then. The Lad wanted to practice with his sword some more, so I made sure to put aside some time after breakfast to go out into the yard with him, under supervision of Survivor. I’d come to learn that the two of them had been all but inseparable since she’d found him while on the run from a particularly nasty cult that had risen in the ruins of Perth in the early days after the Dead had risen.

  The Leader sent patrols out, an attempt to find out the status of any nearby enclaves of the Living, work out if any of them needed assistance, and how best to help if they did. Surely the Raiders had not wiped out every group that they’d been helping, they were thieves and bandits, not necessarily murderers, despite some of the carnage that we’d seen perpetrated by them on our way in.

  German Doctor continued giving medical aid to those that required it, though most of their issues were due to temporary inaccessibility to food, there were a few minor illnesses and injuries that she needed to take care of. She was overjoyed at the news that she’d soon have the opportunity to meet with The Administrator, though she loved any opportunity to poke around inside Criss-Cross’s head in an attempt to learn more about his species, discussion with another more scientifically minded extra-terrestrial was to be anticipated and savoured.

  noon

  The Kid was drawing closer. He’d sent a message to me letting me know that he’d found the Raiders and would tell us more when he arrived. A patrol had returned with news that a small group to the west had been all but wiped out, they brought the two remaining survivors back to Sanctuary so that German Doctor could give them a once over, she said they were suffering more from shock than anything else. They’d been hit only a few days ago, though they were unable to specify exactly when, having hidden from those responsible and unwilling to venture out of their hiding place until they were sure the Rangers had come.

  One thing they had confirmed; the Raiders brought along a large group of Dead with them. It seemed they were happy to set the Dead on the Living wherever they went, though from what the survivors had said, the Raiders had brought a much larger horde to occupy the Rangers than they’d taken to their settlement.

  The Kid arrived shortly after the patrol had returned, his news was interesting. He’d discovered the Raiders’ main base, at least there were a large group of them present, and left them with the Dead that had surrounded the Mutators compound trying to batter down their gates on all sides. He grinned as he described the panic that he’d seen and heard inside their base.

  The Rangers’ Leader felt conflicted about leading a horde of Dead to their base on a couple of counts; they used the Dead as a weapon fairly often, and it seemed likely that they’d only lead them back to Sanctuary in time. The Kid assured him that if that happened, he’d be able to turn them away again, maybe stir them up against the Raiders leading them.

  evening

  Shortly before sundown the Administrator arrived in a small floating capsule that silently sped through the air and landed in the centre of Sanctuary’s courtyard. She exited the vehicle, waved to me in greeting and was immediately surrounded by Rangers that didn’t quite point their weapons directly at her.

  I welcomed her to Sanctuary, introduced her to The Leader and German Doctor. The human scientist almost immediately began asking all about The Administrator’s species, wanting to know absolutely everything all at once. Both of them, eyes bright with excitement, walked off talking quietly.

  “Well, someone’s got a new best friend,” The Leader observed, watching the pair as The Administrator showed German Doctor her transport capsule. He ordered a pair of his men to keep an eye on the newcomer, but from a respectful distance. The last thing he wanted was to make an enemy of someone with vastly superior technology. “I never believed in aliens, now I’ve met two. The world’s a funny place, isn’t it?”

  I couldn’t agree more.

  Journal of A.G.

  We set off for The Fortress again this morning, this time with a much greater force. The Queen armed us with weapons from the armoury beneath her Palace and gave us all her good wishes before we headed out. Two large buses carried most of the troops, I rode in Deathwish’s jeep along with Viking, Valkyrie and Apocalypse Dog. Giant remained behind in Adelaide, she’d been given a job training people for combat and other emergencies.

  It was definitely a good thing that The Queen had ordered the roads clear throughout her domain, as we were able to make good time to The Fortress as a result. Barely an hour of fairly slow travel time, making certain to keep eyes on everything on the journey, and most of that time was spent making our way out of Adelaide itself. Several checkpoints had to be passed, every one of them full of locals that wanted to wish us all luck.

  The Master watched us approach from a wall of his Fortress, hands behind his back.

  “I trust my daughter is safe with her mother?” He greeted me. I told him that she was. He nodded. “I wouldn’t have asked you to do that, but I have a feeling these Plague-bunnies of yours are going to be more of a problem than they should be.”

  He told us that he’d sent people out yesterday and they’d still not reported in. One group had radioed in briefly, their broadcast being cut off by a terrible gurgling scream and the sounds of gunfire. I shuddered; having seen those teeth up close I could imagine the speed with which they’d be able to strip the flesh from a person.

  Maybe I should’ve stayed behind with The Queen and Maiden…

  October 20th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  The Administrator went back home after spending a good few hours blowing German Doctor’s mind with tales of other worlds, other species, various technological advances that were light-years ahead of anywhere Earth would have gotten to… As a result, she had a lightness of step and a twinkle in her eye such that I’d not yet seen in the normally logical and rational woman.

  The Leader wanted to send patrols to the Raider’s compound, with The Kid to guide them, just to see how they were faring with the mass of shamblers that he’d led to their front doorstep. I offered to go along for the journey, with Criss-Cross insisting on covering our flank. Survivor and The Lad both wanted to go, but The Leader shook his head, telling the young man that he needed to stay behind and practice with his sword, and that Survivor should teach him the art of the bow.

  Now that German Doctor had attended to everybody’s health in Sanctuary, she was free to accompany us on an excursion, and insisted on joining us. Just in case we get separated, she told me, she’d want to be in a position to find me before anybody else. She also insisted on checking on the state of infection of my shoulder before we went out.

  Fresh Meat-Beast was slowing
the process, though not as well as the tea that Elder had made for me over a week ago, and we decided that it was for the best that I continue eating it for as long as I could. The last thing any of us would want is for me to suddenly start craving the flesh of the Living while out in the field. Especially while out with a bunch of Rangers that didn’t know the scope of the whole story.

  noon

  The Kid led us at a rapid pace, he seemed able to move faster than most vehicles in the rough terrain and was constantly waiting impatiently for the rest of us to catch up. The only one not subject to the ground upon which we travelled was Criss-Cross. His scaled, insectoid limbs carried him even faster than The Kid was capable of moving, though he kept pace with us, about fifty metres or so to one side. Every now and again I saw him speed off to investigate something, then he’d return to his position, or possibly move to our other side.

  We would have been more comfortable and much faster travelling along roads, but there was the potential of all manner of vehicles crashed in a multitude of ways, any of which might prove a goldmine of supplies, or a death sentence with the potential for lingering Dead, or a Raider ambush party. It was a gamble that nobody was willing to take, besides which The Kid had the horde of Dead in his mind, a rotting beacon telling him where to go.

  As we travelled, I felt the horde myself. They were occupied, that was about all I could tell, that and they were not moving anywhere. Something had their attention, something that they could feast on. At least we could be certain that the Raiders weren’t in a position to come for us, not right now. Though they may still have groups out and about, cut off from their home for the time being.

  evening

  We set up camp a kilometre away from the Raider’s base. They’d fortified a sheep station in a similar manner to the farm that the Rangers called Sanctuary, though they’d decorated the place with still moving corpses strung up on telegraph poles, nailed to road signs and heads nailed to the fence posts, brain intact so that the teeth gnashed at everything and nothing.

  The large group of Dead that The Kid had led here surrounded the station, making some small effort to gain entry. They knew, I knew, that a bunch of Living were inside, and they wanted their flesh for their supper. I felt a small part deep inside of me that wanted to join them, tear into the sweet human flesh with my teeth… Only a tiny part of my being, easily ignored for now, but it was there. And fucking disturbing. German Doctor looked concerned when I told her about it, pulling out some Meat-Beast steaks and cooking them as I gave her the news.

  I asked The Kid if he ever felt like that, he admitted that he had in the beginning, just after The Commune fell, and a few other times since then. Only when large groups of Dead were near and had the scent of the Living, though. His words gave me some hope that it would pass.

  I felt a little more myself after having eaten, thankfully, and German Doctor handed me some Meat-Beast jerky to keep me going in case it happens again while we spend the day examining the Raider’s outpost in the following days.

  Fortunately, because we were all new and some of us were a little stranger than most of the Rangers were used to, the four of us had a fair bit of space to ourselves. I told Criss-Cross to keep an eye on me, and if I looked like I was about to snack on German Doctor while we were camped, he was to stop and restrain me. He nodded, though he seemed a little confused as to why exactly he’d need to…

  Journal of A.G.

  Deathwish ordered one of the groups of scouts to take both jeeps to the south and find The Master’s men. Rather, what remained of them. It was looking grim, nobody else had radioed in after the group that had encountered the Plague-bunnies yesterday. The Master had sent out three groups of five people, he told us, and he could not afford to lose any of them. He knew as well as I did that there were likely fifteen dead men out there on his orders, and he visibly bore their weight.

  I tried to distract him as much as I was able, asking about his history with The Queen and The Maiden, how he’d met the Mistress, anything to take his mind off of what he viewed as his greatest mistake as a leader. I had some idea how he felt, and I certainly sympathised, but the last thing he needed was to blame himself for any of it. He couldn’t have known how vicious these mutant rabbits could be or have any idea how many there might be of the little bastards.

  Deathwish gathered his Deputies that remained, as well as the other leaders of various groups from Adelaide, sat with The Master and his lieutenants and me, and we began discussing strategies for dealing with the Plague-bunnies.

  “Fire.” The Master offered up after we’d considered that they’d likely be in a large group, and all bunched up. “We should make as many firebombs as possible, Molotov cocktails and the like. Burn the little bastards.”

  Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Deathwish’s men called in on the radio. They’d found the remains of one of The Master’s scouting parties, including a survivor that had managed to lock herself in a nearby car and watched as the Plague-bunnies ravaged her companions. Deathwish ordered that she be taken back to The Fortress immediately, and that the other jeep continue on searching for any other possible survivors from the other two groups.

  A short time after noon the first jeep returned. The woman that had survived was a wreck; she’d seen hundreds, thousands probably, devoured by the Dead, but had been utterly unprepared for the onslaught that she’d witnessed by the mutant rabbits. “Like land piranhas” she described them, saying that they “stripped the flesh down to the bone in seconds” and that she could still hear the terrified wails of agony from her friends.

  The only other thing that came out of her was something about “the drumming, drums of death coming for us” whatever that might have meant. The Master suggested that she go and try to rest, sending The Mistress to comfort her and keep her company. She nodded, taking the terrified woman by the shoulders and leading her deeper into The Fortress.

  October 21st Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  The Raiders had themselves an electrified fence. It was quite an experience, feeling a dozen or so Dead getting shocked by it every few seconds as the horde pressed the leading few up against it. Not precisely pleasant, but definitely something that I’d not felt anything similar to in all my years on Earth.

  The Kid and I glanced at one another every time we felt the crackle of Dead frying against the fence, turning the few that had brushed against it back around and into the milling group to be replaced by some fresh ones a moment later. Then the new Dead get themselves zapped, turn around and rejoin the horde and the process starts again.

  Through binoculars we watched a small group of Raiders making an attempt to herd the horde, trying to corral them and turn them around. It was going supremely badly for them, one being grabbed and torn to pieces as I viewed the procedure. Another looked as though he was about to suffer a similar fate, but swiftly dodged out of the way of the gnashing Dead teeth, all the while being liberally coated in his mate’s blood and viscera.

  According to what I could see, there were far more Raiders than we had Rangers in our party, so The Leader’s Lieutenant decided that the best course of action would be to try to get someone into their compound to attempt to sabotage the electric fence. This would, he surmised, result in the Dead pressing against it to not be zapped and turned back, so that the entire horde would simply knock the fence down and ravage the Raiders inside their base.

  noon

  A short while after a quick lunch of Meat-Beast, Criss-Cross, The Kid and I offered our services. I rode the Klee-vics at top speed around and behind the sheep station with The Kid loping along beside us. We’d surveyed the location as best as we were able, following the direction of the power cables attached to the fence with our binoculars, determining that the fence was controlled inside a small shed in the heart of the compound.

  With attention focussed on the horde of Dead at their front door, we figured slipping in the back would be fairly simple, especially since we could p
ass without attracting any attention from the shamblers, and easily hop over the fence at the rear.

  “I haven’t done anything like this since getting hammered with a bunch of escaped convicts,” The Kid chuckled. “Let’s hope this goes as well as that did, yeah?” I clapped his shoulder, grinning. We didn’t need to infect anybody this time, just take down their electrical grid, but I had a vision of him back in the days when we’d first met; a young lad barely saved from Death by the sacrifice of a kind old lady, quickly moving between groups of criminals and taking swigs from their booze bottles, infecting hundreds of them before he arrived back at The Commune, very drunk.

  We made our way to the electrical shed unopposed, finding it secured with a heavy padlock and chain. Criss-Cross slid out his arm blades, placing both between a link of the chain and wrenching them apart. The chain snapped with a popping sound, falling to the ground with a clatter. I opened the door and saw the haphazard wiring looking as if it was already about to blow; as each successive group of Dead touched the fence it sparked and fizzled.

  Taking a small lump of plastic explosive and a timer that Lieutenant had shown me how to use during lunch, I combined the two and attached it to the underside of a console, setting it for detonation after a couple of minutes, then the three of us began making our way back out.

  Just as we made it to the rear fence, the electrical shed exploded, sending splinters flying for hundreds of metres. One struck me in the shoulder, just below where Disciple had bitten me, but I was able to maintain my grip on my Klee-vics friend as he skittered over the fence and back around to where the Rangers had hidden themselves.