October

by Dave Rowlands

  After a morning filled with multitudes of these kinds of hurdles, we finally came across a decent stretch of open road and made some decent distance towards our goal, travelling for a good hour uninterrupted until the motorcycle simply sputtered to a halt. None of us had any mechanical training, and obviously there would be no roadside assistance available. So, we had to resort to travelling on foot once more.

  noon

  We stopped where our motorbike died, had a bit of lunch. Criss-Cross zipped around the immediate area, seeing what he could while The Kid meditated and sought out any Dead. Once German Doctor and I had finished eating we took our supplies, loaded them up on our backs and began trudging west once more.

  An hour or so down the road we came across a small car, bright orange in the muted sunlight, ancient and dented almost beyond recognition. Keys in the ignition, driver’s door wide open, owner nowhere in sight. I called out, waited for a response… after a few minutes we decided that the vehicle had been abandoned.

  I tried the key, it turned, the engine tried its very hardest to start, but other than a brief sputter it failed. Then I noticed the fuel gauge; the tank was empty. We’d left the motorbike behind, dead, but the spare fuel we’d gathered we were still carrying. I extended the pouring mechanism of the canister, opened up the fuel tank of the car and began to pour.

  Once done, I turned the key once more, the engine roared to life satisfactorily. German Doctor jumped in the passenger side, The Kid folded himself up into the back seat. Criss-Cross was left to run alongside us once more.

  evening

  We didn’t get very far. The ancient vehicle consumed petrol at a rate unheard of, running dry nearly an hour later. The Kid got out of the car, began pushing with Criss-Cross’s assistance, and we made it to the next town before full dark. Hoping to find a petrol station of some kind there, we rolled silently in amongst the Dead that milled about, oblivious to our presence thanks to The Kid.

  We decided that we’d have a better chance of finding anything useful in daylight, so located the nearest house and went inside. A few Dead roamed the rooms and corridors, easily dispatched by a few swings of my katana, and we made ourselves at home overnight. It was the first time in a while that we’d had the opportunity to actually sleep in a real bed inside a house. German Doctor checked the water, all that came out of the taps was a thick blackish sludge that would do nobody any good.

  “Ahh well, no shower before bed,” she lamented with a slight smile. “Would have been nice.” I certainly didn’t disagree.

  The Kid made sure that our rest would be uninterrupted, our Klee-vics friend wandered throughout the town seeing what he could find in the way of supplies. We were running low on bottled water, so he considered that his priority.

  Journal of A.G.

  Too many of The Master’s people, and Deathwish’s, had died yesterday during the Plague-bunny onslaught. Now most of them roamed around the exterior of The Fortress, some trying to get in, most just wandering in a vain search for flesh.

  It was a simple enough matter to deal with them, though time-consuming. The Master took care of it personally, as most of the Dead were his own people, allowing one in at a time, stabbing through their heads with a large knife, then Viking and Deathwish would drag the corpse over to a growing pile that would be disposed of once we were able to get outside safely again.

  Valkyrie reported in to The Queen via radio, found that Giant was on her way with reinforcements that would be here within the hour. The order was reiterated that all non-combatants were to be evacuated back to Adelaide once she arrived.

  I relayed The Queen’s orders to Deathwish, who agreed with them, wiping grime and soot from his face with one equally grimy soot-covered hand, succeeding only in smearing more onto it. The Master also thought it was a good idea, throwing a clean towel at Deathwish’s head. They were done with the corpses on this side of The Fortress; three more trouble spots to go, then they could start thinking about corpse removal.

  Once Giant arrived, driving a truck filled with recruits, she opened fire on the Dead outside The Fortress, making short work of them. As I walked to the truck to be evacuated, I saw thousands of Plague-bunny carcasses littering the carpark, now nothing but charred flesh and fur with massive, sharp teeth.

  “This what you were dealing with?” Giant kicked one over gently. “Nasty… We’ve got a few flamethrowers on hand, so we should be alright if any more come. We’ll let you know how things go down.”

  I took a seat in the back of the truck with Apocalypse Dog and The Mistress, who seemed relieved to be leaving. I didn’t share her feelings; I wanted to be there to help out as much as I could. The Queen would have none of it, though, I knew that much already. Once the truck was full of women and children we began to move out. I looked out, back at The Fortress, saw Deathwish and The Master carrying charred corpses of their friends to a large pile outside to be properly cremated.

  We got back to Adelaide a short while later, being greeted personally by Her Majesty and Maiden, both of whom spent more time saying hello to Apocalypse Dog than any human. I couldn’t blame them, though…

  The house was empty now, with just me and the Dog. A year ago, I wouldn’t have minded that, but now… Now I’d gotten much closer to many more people than I’d ever thought possible. I missed Viking and Valkyrie, I missed Giant… Most of all I missed Book.

  October 25th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Criss-Cross found a few bottles of water in his search, as well as some canned food. German Doctor and I broke our fast on baked beans and Meat-Beast jerky, then we began looking around the town in an attempt to find some fuel for our new vehicle. The Kid and Criss-Cross accompanied us, the former occupying the Dead that we came across while the latter casually stabbed them through their brains as we searched the town.

  We came across a service station on the other side from which we’d entered, several Dead wandered between the pumps, a few more inside. Easily dispatched, we were able to check the tanks, finding that there was indeed fuel available. As a group, we found our way back to the beat-up old orange metallic beast, pushing it down the main street of the town.

  Once we’d filled the tank, we entered the service station to look for some more supplies, finding that the place had been ransacked long ago. Bullet holes riddled the walls, old blood stains covered the floor. There was nothing there to take with us; the shelves and fridges had been stripped bare.

  noon

  Travelling in the aged vehicle was neither comfortable nor pleasant. Springs poked up through the seats trying to gouge at our buttocks, the suspension was so bad that we felt each and every individual bump in the road, and the speedometer wobbled so badly that there was no way to tell how fast we were going.

  At the very least, we were moving far faster than we would have been able to on foot. Most of the time. About once an hour we had to stop and get out just to relieve our aching behinds, The Kid included, and German Doctor and I would switch out driving.

  During one of these rest periods, Criss-Cross casually mentioned that we were being followed. He was unsure who was tailing us, just that we were being pursued by somebody. We checked our weapons, made certain they were all working adequately, got back in the car and continued on, keeping an eye out for easily defensible positions.

  evening

  We came across another tangled mess of a multitude of varieties of destroyed vehicles just after dark. As we navigated our way past them, Criss-Cross doubled back on our path to check on our pursuers, finding that they’d made camp a short distance behind us. He was unsure exactly who they were, still, but got close enough to ascertain that they were indeed following us and meant us harm.

  German Doctor suggested that we make use of the wreckage to set up an ambush for them, so we began moving the vehicular carnage as best we were able, creating barricades and blockages that would prove difficult to pass, especially while being shot at. As we heaved the metallic wreckage into pl
ace, I lamented the loss of my squad; Maori, Wall, Scar and Giant would have been particularly useful here… Viking as well.

  Finally, it was done, and those of us that required real rest could finally do so. Criss-Cross went back to keep an eye on our followers, assuring us that he’d race back the moment they began to move so that we’d have ample warning. The Kid, on the other hand, climbed atop the side of an overturned truck cab and began searching mentally for any nearby Dead, summoning them to complicate things for our ‘friends’ behind us.

  Journal of A.G.

  The Mistress came to visit me today, though I think she just wanted to talk to my Dog more than me. I didn’t mind, really, seeing them together gave my brain something to think about other than what might be happening at The Fortress, or worrying about Book and whether he was even aware that I was still alive and well.

  Maiden stopped by as well, with a couple of guards that kept an eye on her the entire time. Apparently, The Queen didn’t entirely trust her daughter not to run off back to her father. Not that I blamed Her Majesty, I certainly preferred The Master’s company to that of the bitch who took my eye.

  Apocalypse Dog was quite pleased with all the company, naturally, slobbering all over everyone, including the guards that accompanied Maiden. He wandered from person to person accepting attention with a big doggy grin on his face.

  Towards nightfall I checked with the radio operators, just to see if there was any news from The Fortress yet. The only report had been made this morning, saying that there had been no further attacks by the Plague-bunnies, but that they were keeping prepared just in case.

  I realised just how impatient I had become, or maybe I’d always been this way… It was increasingly difficult to just stay at home and out of the way while my friends were in danger. I wanted to be out searching for Book more than anything in the world. I’m sure I’d hear word of him, or from him, eventually; it didn’t help the way I was feeling though. The way he’d just frozen while that Flame approached, it had been the most disturbing thing I’d seen in a year that had been full of nothing else.

  October 26th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Criss-Cross woke us up telling us that our pursuers were on the move. German Doctor and I unlimbered our assault rifles, hiding behind wrecked vehicles for cover while The Kid kept his position atop the cab of an overturned truck, directing the small group of Dead that he’d gathered overnight around and behind us. Our Klee-vics friend kept a position on the other side of the wreckage, staying low and blending in with the rocky terrain, arm-blades out and at the ready.

  They came into view, a small convoy of three vehicles, stopping well back from the barricade we’d created. Four men stepped out of the lead station wagon, another four people each from the vehicles behind them. They began to approach slowly, their own weapons at the ready. I fired off a single warning shot, ordering them to tell us why they were following.

  “We’ve picked up a trail of some folks that wiped out our home,” their leader shouted back at me. “They somehow led a group of Dead to our place; a couple of folks snuck in and took out the power for our electric fence and that let the Dead pass. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

  Another Raider spoke up. “Our little group was out on a job when we heard the explosion, came back home as fast as we could, found the place overrun. We found some weird tracks and followed them, they led us here.”

  The group of Dead that The Kid had gathered slowly moved up behind the Raiders, quietly shambling up to the pair in the rear. The only warning that they had was a brief gurgling scream as Dead teeth tore out the throat of one of them, the other was able to turn around and back up, firing as he retreated.

  We took the distraction and opened fire as the rest turned to deal with the new threat, gunning down the pair of Raiders that had been talking. Criss-Cross flew into the fray, arm-blades slicing through flesh as the unprepared Raiders focussed either on the Dead behind them, or German Doctor and I ahead. In moments it was over, all twelve lay dead, The Kid’s Dead feasting on their bodies.

  noon

  We went through their vehicles, finding an impressive arsenal of weapons, plenty of ammunition that we could use, and about a week’s worth of food and water for those of us that required it. Plus, enough fuel that we were able to fill the tank of the orange abomination. We briefly discussed the merits of rearranging the wreckage in order to get one of the Raider vehicles through, decided against it for the sheer amount of work it’d take.

  The Kid had organised his Dead into a small group, sent them off down the road a bit so they’d not be tempted by Living flesh, and held them still while we rummaged. The Raiders, after most of them got back up, he sent to join them as well. Two had been killed with clean head shots, one had a Klee-vics arm-blade that had sheared through his skull, so they wouldn’t be getting back up again.

  Criss-Cross was out scouting some more, making certain our flanks were secure and that nothing had been alerted by the gunfire and screaming. The sounds of Dingoes off in the distance had me a little bit on edge. The Dead we could control, at least The Kid could, but the mutated fauna of the new world was always a chancy prospect.

  evening

  We’d managed to make it another hundred or so kilometres towards our goal, pulling over every so often due to massive discomfort and to switch drivers. German Doctor complained loudly that we should have made some effort to get a better car than this orange piece of shit while we’d had the options available, and to some extent I agreed with her, but we had to make do with what we had.

  The Kid had let his small group of Dead go hours ago, his control did not extend over great distances; basically, as far as he was able to see was as far as he could manage. He mentioned a few times that he felt Dead nearby, and a couple of times I saw some on the side of the road, but never in large numbers.

  We flew through a couple of completely abandoned towns, one that had been gutted by fire, one that had been gutted by the Dead. The third one was in reasonable condition, and we decided to spend the night there. The Kid and Criss-Cross went on their usual scouting runs, German Doctor and I arranging food for ourselves.

  Journal of A.G.

  News from The Fortress today. Nothing good, though… Another Plague-bunny attack had occurred, with more casualties. Giant had one chew on her leg before she’d managed to tear it off and needed a few days to recover, so she was on her way back. Deathwish drove her back along with a few other wounded people in the afternoon. The Master was still holding to his land, though, he’d put too much effort into that place to abandon it now.

  The Mistress and Maiden were both concerned about how things were going in their home, they both had people that they cared about other than The Master living there. Friends, family… Deathwish didn’t know the residents well enough to give them a whole lot of news, though.

  Giant’s wound was impressive; the flesh was completely gone where the killer rabbit had struck. She claimed it had only been attached for half a second before she’d shot it off her shin, and the bone bore scratch marks where the thing’s teeth had scraped it. She maintained that she’d be back on her feet and in the fight in no time. The Queen ordered that she be taken to the medical centre in the facility beneath her Palace and given the best treatment.

  October 27th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  We left the town still heading west. After a while, we found that the road had been rendered completely impassable; there was wreckage as far as the eye could see. People fleeing Perth when the shit had first hit the fan, I figured, cars crammed end to end, smashed into one another after having been rear-ended by larger vehicles. What remained was a sea of destroyed transportation littered with the Dead.

  German Doctor looked at me, her glance telling me that there was no way she was willing to pick her way through all of that. I agreed, asking The Kid how many Dead were down there. He went blank for a moment. When he came back to us
, he reported that there were more down there than he felt he could control easily. Criss-Cross mentioned the other thing that had been on my mind; there were likely traps down there, as well as it being the perfect place for an ambush.

  So, we backtracked to the town and began heading to the north, hoping to loop back around after a while. It wasn’t long before we realised that if this road did indeed loop around, it wasn’t happening for a while. We resigned ourselves to continued lengthy travels in a supremely uncomfortable vehicle.

  noon

  After nearly another hundred kilometres we were once again heading in the direction of Perth, snacking on Meat-Beast jerky while we travelled. Before long we found another equally nasty impediment to our progress, a massed group of Dead just standing in the road, several hundred metres deep. The Kid tried to get them to move, I could feel his effort from the back seat, but they just stood there, staring out towards the south-west.

  “It’s no good, I can’t make them budge,” He sounded worried. “Something’s got their attention, though, I don’t think they even know we’re here.”

  I carefully got out of the car, looked around for a vantage point, found one in the form of a low hill and began clambering up it quietly. It did me no good; I could not see past the horde of Dead, though I did see that further down the line they were shuffling forward slowly. Slowly for Dead, that is. In about an hour or more the ones at the back might start moving, but not with anything resembling speed.