Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 5): May

by Rowlands, Dave

  Anno Zombus

  Year 1 May

  Dave Rowlands

  For everyone I've ever discussed the end of the world with...

  May 1stYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Upon awakening we began ransacking the house, searching for anything that might have been left behind that might be of some use. Apocalypse Girl had already been up for a while before I roused my own aching bones, thoughtfully making tea for everybody from the remnants of the pack that the mysterious Aboriginal dude had found for us. Sister sat outside in the dawning gloom on the swing, idly moving back and forth slightly as she chatted with Archer.

  We broke our fast on some various canned goods that Valkyrie had discovered in one cupboard, baked beans mainly. The Kid avoided eating, naturally, as he no longer seemed to need sustenance of any recognisable sort, though the rest of us dug in with enthusiasm, devouring the cold yet nutritious glorp with gusto.

  Viking found, after breakfast, a spare wheel that would fit the mini-bus well enough, which at least accounted for one flat, though nothing could be found to fix the other. Valkyrie suggested removing that wheel, then finding and plugging the puncture before refilling the damn thing. The two norse-looking types got to work while the rest of us set about making a small pile near the mini-bus of whatever we were thinking about taking along with us.

  noon

  One wheel replaced, the other taking a while and much debate about what to do with the fucking thing. At one point Apocalypse Girl simply suggested that we find some other form of transportation, only to end up on the receiving end of a pair of sharp glares from the blonde giants. Sister spoke briefly to The Kid who vanished with surprising speed up the driveway to the house, returning a couple of minutes later with the swing, torn down from the tree branch that had supported it.

  Thanking the mutated young man, Sister took the plastic seat from the chains that had held it aloft, throwing the chains down next to Viking with a clang. “There's your wheel.” She said in a matter-of-fact tone. Viking smiled up at her, wrapping the chains around the remnants of the wheel, securing them as best he was able. He then took the mini-bus for a test run up the road and back again, careful to avoid hitting things this time. The chains held well, and we began loading up the mini-bus with supplies, mainly fresh clean clothing and blankets. A small amount of food, whatever cans hadn't been eaten with breakfast.

  “ It's strange, though,” The Kid said to me, as I handed him a backpack full of clothes that he loaded in the rear of the vehicle. “When I ripped that swing down, the tree's branch just kind of disintegrated where I was pulling on the chains. Like it was all rotten or something.”

  Before much longer we were back on the road, Valkyrie insisting on driving so that we get there in one piece, Sister's chain loudly letting us know that it was still working as a temporary wheel, but that we would be well served searching for something better, soon.

  evening

  The mini-bus got us through the afternoon of travel, but once darkness fell we thought it wise to pull over to one side of the road and rest for the night. The Kid offered to keep an eye out for Dead while the rest of us sleep, as he has no need, so he unfolded himself out of our transportation to take up a position off the road. Viking swore under his breath, Valkyrie shuddering as he passed them. Once he had left, Sister said to the pair of blonde giants, “He also knows how we all feel about him. I can see it in his eyes. What happened to him?” That last was directed at me.

  Apocalypse Girl told his tale, though, sparing me from doing so. He had been bitten one day, before the Cold came, just a tiny scratch really, and we had loaded him up on antibiotics. Even so, he had died eventually, and had been resuscitated on the spot. His saviour, however, had died horribly shortly afterwards. The Kid, it had turned out, was incredibly infectious, able to spread the plague of Death faster and further than any Dead, but as he was in control of himself only he chose when and where that was going to happen, barring a couple of unfortunate incidents early on.

  Archer took over for her, telling how The Kid had wandered through the camp of a huge group of bandits that had escaped from a local prison that were planning on overrunning the commune, infecting many of them, causing chaos and inflicting casualties in massive numbers. He told of The Kid's self-imposed exile and his own rescue after the Greyhound blew up.

  May 2ndYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Once we awoke this morning we ate quickly, The Kid inspected the chain, making sure it was still nice and secure before hopping back in the mini-bus and we were off once more. It wasn't long, however, before Sister mentioned that the fuel gauge was running low. Asking if anybody knew these parts at all, and if they knew of a service station anywhere near and receiving no real reply, she swore and kept on driving.

  While travelling I asked The Kid why he chose that old abandoned town in particular. He shrugged, saying that he had felt it was a place that the Dead avoided for whatever reason the very moment we had first set foot there. “You know how I lost myself a couple of times in the early days? That hasn't happened since I started staying there. I think it might be a kind of safe zone for some reason.” His tone turned from serious to amused. “Maybe something happened there once?” I told him that I had felt something there, also. “Who knows what it could be, man, all I know is that I feel safe and in control there, more so than anywhere else.”

  The mini-bus rolled to a halt and I looked up. Sister had pulled into a service station while we had been talking. There were quite a few Dead around, but nothing that we couldn't handle. The Kid told us that he wanted to try something out, so he left the vehicle first, alone, walking up to the Dead who ignored him totally and utterly. The Kid drew himself up to his full height of somewhere near eight feet, stretching out one taloned hand to the group of Dead milling around the open garage.

  As one they turned to him, staring at him. His hand closed, approximating a fist and the group of Dead moved almost into a formation. Slowly he turned, and step by step the Dead shambled in that direction, almost directly towards the mini-bus at first, but then The Kid altered his stance subtly and they began shuffling off into the road, going back along the trail that we had carved through the grey snow. He held his position for several more minutes before loping back to the mini-bus. “I had no idea I could do that!” He grinned, showing a maw filled with sharp, pointy teeth. “They should be gone for a while, but they might come back at any minute too. Better fill up while we can, hey?”

  noon

  The Dead didn't return. Whatever The Kid did worked like a fucking charm. Not only did we have more than enough time to fill up the mini-bus, but we discovered a spare wheel that we were able to use to replace the chain and a nice stock of food. Potato chips, chocolate, sugary carbonated beverages of various colour and flavour. We avoided opening the milk fridge for obvious reasons. There was also a reasonable supply of fresh bottled water, which we took.

  Archer made sure to take all of the cigarettes, though none of us smoke them, but he suggested that we might be able to use them in trade at some point. He also nabbed a couple of decks of cards that he found in one display and a small magnetic chessboard. Apocalypse Girl grabbed all of the lighters, as seemed her habit, she had hundreds, possibly thousands of the fucking things by now.

  Viking spent some time in the garage, gathering up a bunch of tools that might come in handy out on the road, as well as several bottles of oil and other various vehicular vital fluids while Valkyrie rooted around for anything that could potentially be useful as a weapon. She was remarkably successful, especially after discovering a pump-action shotgun and a couple of boxes of shells sitting in the office.

 
Just as we had finished loading up the mini-bus and were all piling on in, The Kid pointed to something, out behind us. The Dead had returned. He strode out towards them, hand raised as before, but they ignored him this time, they were intent on the feast set out before them.

  I pulled my katana out at the same instant that Viking drew his mighty hammer. The Dead were moving slowly towards us, so the two of us went out to meet them, each of us dodging out to one side as we drew near. This seemed to confuse the Dead, and while they were trying to decide whether Viking or I seemed tastiest, or at least, closest, their heads were being sliced apart or pulverised. The pair of us alone took out the entire group of seventeen Dead without breaking a sweat, then we, along with The Kid, hopped aboard the mini-bus as Apocalypse Girl drove it near.

  evening

  “I still don't understand why it didn't work the second time, though!” The Kid was still beating himself up over not being able to control the group of Dead a second time. Apocalypse Girl shook her head, rolling her eyes at me. This was about the fifth time he had brought it up since she had allowed Archer to take the wheel. “Maybe it's just that they didn't know we were there the first time?” Sister suggested. She and The Kid had become fast friends, though she was still leery of getting too close to the gigantic semi-Dead teen. “So when they came back they were hungry, maybe. Or else they knew they were being tricked? Are they that smart?”

  “ No. They aren't smart at all. That's why I could control them so easily, it was like slipping into a warm bath, except that it was a bath of mouldy rotting Dead brains.” The Kid sounded puzzled. Archer threw back from the front that it was probably that they could just smell fresh flesh. “I think so, too. The second time I tried it, all I could sense was hunger. The first time there wasn't anything there at all.”

  “What other talents have you developed?” Apocalypse Girl wanted to know. The Kid smiled his pointy grin.

  “ I don't really know. I think I can kind of feel out where large groups of them are. There's a whole big mess of them to the north-east, for instance.” Archer pointed out that was the direction we were headed in. I mentioned that meant we would probably need to punch through them in order to get to The Facility. “Maybe. I can also see things that are going to happen to me, sometimes. I knew that if I sat around on that cairn where you found your sword that you'd come back there, and Iknewwhich day it was going to happen on. I also know where you're taking me and why, and that I have to go through with it.” He shrugged.

  “You said you knew where I was going to be, when you found me, too,” Archer pointed out from the driver's seat as he pulled over. “Too dark to keep on going tonight.” The Kid nodded. “Whatever's happening to you is happening for a reason, that's for sure.”

  “You're not the only one thatknowsthings, either, mate.” Viking pointed out. “Got a couple of mates back in Melbourne that knew these guys'd be coming along and drew up plans for a vehicle for them.” Stutter and Nutter had indeed known that we were coming, and had we left Melbourne in any other vehicle we would never have made it as far as Canberra, let alone returned alive. The Cold, or the Dead would have seen to that.

  “ Lots of things have changed, though,” The Kid said. “The branch that swing was hanging from seemed almost completely rotten through when I pulled the chain down. That's not right.” Sister told us that it had held her weight relatively easily. A rotten branch wouldn't have.

  “ What about those cow-things?” Apocalypse Girl pointed out. “They're obviously different now. And that tentacle thing we saw on the way to Canberra. These mutations are happening far too quickly to be normal.” She pulled out her phone, summoned the satellite image of the strange shapes above the clouds from which coloured lightning came. “I thinkthesethings have something to do with it.”

  “Maybe they do, maybe not. They don't have anything to do with me, though. Or your mates back in Melbourne, either, probably.” The Kid said. I couldn't help but wonder, though, what elsethey, whoevertheywere, were responsible for. I felt sure that we would find out in time. As long as we survive whatever awaits us at The Facility, that is.

  May 3rdYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  The discomfort provided by sleeping in the upright seats of the mini-bus was compounded by the fact that the snow had fallen so deep that travelling through it, at least with the mini-bus, was proving almost impossible. The Kid, at the moment, was loping ahead of the vehicle, using a shovel that we had found as a snow-scoop. It was painfully slow going, but at least there was forward progress being made. The mini-bus was cramped and small, at least with the seven of us loaded up inside of it, but at least the close proximity to other warm Living bodies rendered the Cold bearable.

  After a couple of hours like this, The Kid halted, insisting on a brief break. He didn't necessarily need rest, at least not to look at him, but he hadfeltsomething up ahead, he said. Uncertain as to exactly what it was, though fairly sure it had something to do with the Dead, he suggested that somebody small and light on their feet might like to run along ahead and scout things out. Sister immediately jumped at the opportunity, nearly flying out of the minibus and grabbing her bow and a quiver of arrows on her way.

  About an hour passed before she returned, by which time we had started to worry. She climbed up into the minibus, saying that there was a massive group of Dead up ahead, but that they were way too far away to be a real threat, at least not yet. The only real problem, as far as Sister could tell, was that this enormous horde of shamblers just happened to cover the very mountain that housed the Facility. All of their attention seemed focussed inwards, so we were able to assume that there was a similar situation as that which had occurred at The Think Tank. This meant at the very least, several thousand Dead to break through to reach relative safety. Very relative, if The Smart Couple's latest messages were to be believed.

  noon

  Apocalypse Girl's phone jangled. We had informed those at The Facility of our approach, and the rather bitey obstacle course that awaited us. Their reply was not particularly heartening. We know about the Dead topside. Not able to help with thinning their numbers unfortunately.A few minutes went by where the eight of us, The Kid having rejoined us after lunch, sat around looking at one another in utter despondency. Then the phone jangled once more. Secondary entrance. Head to the west on next road. Take the dirt path that heads north up the mountain. Lots of Dead that way too, but hundreds rather than thousands.

  Archer started up the mini-bus once more, the rest of us climbing back inside while The Kid returned to his snowshovelling duties. Going was still incredibly slow, though once we arrived at the western fork of the road and began travelling along it the snow appeared less dense on the ground, despite the fact that it still fell steadily. Sister mentioned it out loud, Archer reminding her that The Facility was supposedly housed inside a volcano, though he had assumed it to be dormant. Apparently it wasn't.

  evening

  We found the dirt path easily enough. The snow at this point, though it still fell just as thick, melted almost the very instant it touched the warm ground. Unfortunately this rendered the dirt path rather muddy. Apocalypse Girl sent The Smart Couple a message, informing them that we had arrived at the base of the dirt path, and that we intended to climb up it tomorrow. With any luck we would not take too much time getting up to the back door, and there wouldn't be too many Dead to handle. Perhaps The Kid's trick would work again, and we would be inside long before they returned seeking flesh. As we sat around eating our evening meal, we spoke of what may occur once we get inside The Facility. We knew that there were experiments being performed there on the Living. This was something that had to stop, to be sure. The Smart Couple would help any way that they were able, but Apocalypse Girl rightly stated that they might be in a position of complete impotence. We may very well be on our own once we get inside.

  Just as I was starting to doze off to sleep, a knocking came from without. Everyone inside the mini-bus jumped up into or
bit, before Archer opened up the door, pistol in hand. Elder, the strange old Aboriginal guy stood there in the snow, barefoot as usual. “G'day! Thought I'd at least knock before coming on in. Good thing, too, or this bloke might have taken me head off!” Archer put the gun away and Elder climbed inside. “I just needed to tell you fellas something. I know where you're heading, and I don't like the idea. It feels like some kind of trap to me.” I assured him that we knew all about it and were more than prepared. He nodded. “Yup, sure. I can tell you've got things well in hand, but just don't be too trusting of anybody in there that you don'tknow!” He smiled, showing a gap where two front teeth once resided. Apocalypse Girl asked him how he was able to keep up with us, him being on foot and us having access to a vehicle. Elder's smile broadened. “That's my special trick really. I already told you fellas a while back, I just kindasliphere and there. It's easier than you can imagine, really, but it isn't something that can be taught, not to just anybody. Finding tea where there isn't any is easier than that though. She can learn it...” His finger pointed at Apocalypse Girl. “But I don't know if she ever will.”

  “ It'd be pretty damn handy if I can learn it, but I don't see how it's even possible!” Apocalypse Girl said, chuckling slightly. Elder fixed her with a glare, saying that it is no laughing matter. She apologised. The old man's smile returned, almost as if it had never vanished. He then went on to say that these are things that either will happen or they won't. Just because he has dreamed something doesn't necessarily mean that it will come to pass.

  Elder stayed with us for a little while longer, maybe an hour or so, then opened up the door, bade us all goodbye and vanished into the darkness and snow.

  May 4thYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Sister was out scouting, counting up the relative numbers of Dead awaiting us at the rear entrance of The Facility. Apocalypse Girl was cracking the occasional joke about leaving this fucked up world behind, just drifting between dimensions until we can find somewhere safe, with few or preferably no Dead. The Kid was enquiring of any and everybody about Elder, where had we first met the guy, how was he able to just pop in and out the way he did. I told him what I knew and he shook his shaggy, limp-maned head in amazement.