by Jake Bible
“No problem. He’s stable and in fine health, except for, well, you know…”
“You two realize it’s my legs that aren’t working, right? My ears are just fine,” Jethro said, grimacing.
***
Olivia lit a small oil lamp and set it upon a hook in the cellar. June glanced about and except for a small cot in the corner, the earthen room was bare. Rebecca tossed a bag of supplies onto the cot and began to lay out blankets on the dirt floor.
“Cozy,” June joked.
“Safe,” Rebecca retorted.
“Of course. Sorry.”
“No apologies, dear,” Olivia said, latching the trap door behind them. June wrinkled her brow, puzzled. Olivia caught the look. “Some like to take the chaos of storms as an opportunity to indulge their, well, urges. Better safe than sorry.”
***
Shiner transferred the data from One. He calculated the speed and direction that Mathew was moving and concluded the pilot was heading for Windy City.
This was a mistake. Nothing waited for the living mech in Windy City. Shiner had watched that place fall; watched the UDC troops lay waste to the city/state then, after the troops had left, he watched the dead mechs descend upon the city/state, devouring any and all that may have survived.
For a living mech and pilot, Windy City was sure death.
Shiner gave One several commands and sent the mini-mech back into the waste.
***
Mathew backed his mech into the tight crack in the cliff. Crouching down he wrapped his mech’s arms about its legs, creating a defensive shield with only a small portion of the cockpit exposed.
He longed to activate his com and speak to Rachel. It wasn’t the separation that was killing him, it was the uncertainty. As far as he knew everything had gone wrong and he was the only mech pilot left alive. Except for Masters, Jay and the Rookie, but who knew what had become of them.
Mathew pushed his sensors to full and tried to get comfortable.
***
“Is that comfortable?” Themopolous asked Jethro, positioning the wheelchair in front of his control console.
“I feel like I’ve had the living shit kicked out of me, but yes, it’s comfortable,” Jethro answered, immediately setting to work on repairing the com breach.
“Good. I have a few autopsies to perform, but I’ll have my com ready the whole time. Call me if you notice any change, positive or negative.”
“Will do, Doc. Let me know if you need any help analyzing the findings. I know we didn’t get a chance to study the nanotech inoculations before everything went to shit.”
***
Blood, entrails, limbs, shell casings, clothing, glass, metal, plastic. The air filled with bits of zombies and debris, as Jay, Masters and the Rookie never let their trigger fingers rest.
The press to get through the front door, and at the tasty meat morsels holed up in the fight cage, was so great that it actually prevented the zombie mob from rushing in. The three men watched as the undead wedged themselves in the doorway creating the proverbial fish in a barrel scenario.
Before the back door finally gave way, all three actually thought they might make it out alive.
***
Mathew had just drifted off to sleep when a buzzing sounded in his cockpit. It wasn’t a proximity alarm, just a sensor reading demanding attention.
Groggily, Mathew checked the reading and cursed.
“Great, just what I fucking need. A waste storm,” he grumbled to himself.
He set about prepping his systems for full lockdown, making sure his environmental processors were going to be up to the task. The amount of dust and sand a waste storm could produce could easily overwhelm his mech if he wasn’t careful.
Satisfied he would be safe when the storm hit, Mathew closed his eyes.
***
June wrapped herself in a blanket and listened to the whistle of the wind above them. “When will the storm be here?” she asked.
“Hard to say,” Rebecca answered. “Could be an hour or more.”
Olivia handed June a wet rag. “Keep that near you, just in case.”
“In case of what?” June asked.
“You really don’t know shit,” Rebecca said, in a tone that put June on her guard.
“In case too much dust gets down here. Just put the rag over your mouth and nose and you should be able to breathe just fine.”
“Oh. Okay, thank you.”
***
Jethro’s head killed him. The pain was nearly blinding, but he pushed on. He glanced briefly at an external vid feed and groaned. What should have been the beginnings of a wasteland sunrise was now the murky tell-tale signs of a waste storm on the horizon.
“Commander?” Jethro called over his com.
“Yes, Jethro? You holding up?”
“Yes, sir. I think we may need to batten down. Looks like a storm is about a half-day off.”
“Thanks. I’ll get the others on it. Hang in there.”
“Yes, sir,” Jethro signed off, not noticing the blood slowly trickling from his nose.
Part Two- Leaving Hell & Leaving Home
“Can you two hold the front?” the Rookie yelled.
“Yeah. The way they’re wedged in there we can do this all day,” Masters responded.
“Or until we run out of ammo!” Jay added.
“Great, how about we avoid both of those scenarios?” the Rookie joked, kneeling and taking careful aim. He pulled the trigger methodically, placing a bullet between the eyes of each zombie he aimed for coming through the back door. Within less than three minutes not a body was twitching behind them. “Clear back here!”
Masters glanced over his shoulder at the Rookie’s handy work. “Holy fuck! Un-fucking-believable!”
***
Themopolous set the slice of the Sergeant Major’s brain upon the slide and the slide upon the scanner. She stripped the bloody gloves from her hands and tossed them into the incinerator bin.
She sat down in a nearby chair, the only chair in the autopsy room, and tapped at her tablet until she got the readings she wanted.
“That can’t be right,” she said to herself, double checking the readings. “Please, God, that can’t be possible.”
She grabbed a fresh pair of gloves, picked up her bone saw and started to remove the rest of the Sergeant Major’s skull.
***
Seated at his desk, Commander Capreze rested his head against his palm, studying what little data Jethro was able to retrieve from the UDC security personnel’s tablets.
“Sir?’ Bisby asked from the doorway.
“Yes, Biz?”
“All mechs and the main transport are prepped, loaded and ready for immediate evac if needed.”
“Thanks, Biz,” Capreze sighed.
Themopolous chimed in on the com. “Commander?”
“Yes, Doctor?”
“Where are the bodies right now?”
“Harlow and Rachel are taking them out to the pyre,” Bisby answered.
“Shit! Get them on the com now! The nanotech repairs the zombie brains! They aren’t completely dead yet!”
***
Rachel pulled the ATV in front of the funeral pyre, slung her carbine and hopped out. Harlow did the same immediately grabbing one end of a body bag as Rachel grabbed the other. They respectfully placed it and the others on the pyre, stacking one upon the other, the sunrise reflecting off the plastic.
“Should we say some words?” Rachel asked.
“You can if you-” Harlow stopped, staring at the bags.
“Baby Girl?” Capreze’s voice called over the com.
“Yeah, Papa Bear?” Rachel responded while watching Harlow un-sling her carbine as the top bag wobbled and fell to the ground.
***
“Commander?” Jethro called.
“Not now Jethro, we’ve got a situation on our hands.”
“Sir, I’m picking up transports right on the heels of the waste storm.”
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“Fuck. Are you sure?’
“Well the info is sketchy because of the storm, but I’m pretty sure we are looking at between ten and fifteen transports.”
“I’ll be right there.” Capreze sighed. “Doctor?”
“Yes, Commander?”
“I need you on the com with Rachel and Harlow. I’ve got a bigger priority right now.”
“Um, okay.”
“Just tell them how to kill those things and then get their asses back here.”
“Yes, sir. I’m on it.”
***
“Sounds like it’s passed,” Rebecca said. “Should be able to go up soon.”
June coughed against the dust swirling about in the earthen room. Her head was killing her and her body ached from abuse and fatigue. “Is there anything to eat?” June asked, regretting the question as soon as it came out of her mouth.
“There is, but you won’t like it,” Olivia answered. She pulled a pouch from her skirt pocket and took out three short, fat strips of jerky. She took one for herself, handed one to Rebecca and offered the third to June.
“I… I can’t.”
***
Harlow and Rachel watched as the body bags writhed and flexed, their contents trying to escape.
“Those won’t hold long,” Harlow said, taking aim.
“Hey, Base? What’s the order?” Rachel called.
“Rachel? Themopolous here. Listen, shooting them in the head won’t permanently kill them.”
“Since fucking when?” Harlow interrupted. “My reality is based on a head shot being a kill shot.”
“They have been altered. I think severing the head will kill them permanently. Or burning them completely.”
“So stick with the plan then?” Harlow asked sarcastically.
“Yes.”
Rachel grabbed the fuel can from the ATV and began to pour.
***
“Alright, this is how we do this,” Jay said, loading and packing weapons while the Rookie and Masters held off the bottlenecked zombie horde at the front door. “We take as much gear as we can. You two go first and I’ll hold them off with the flame thrower. I’ll follow as soon as you are clear.”
“Wrong,” the Rookie shouted back. “There are two mechs and I can’t drive either of them. The two of you are more important than me. I’ll hold them off with the flame thrower.”
“Either plan works for me!” Masters yelled as he reloaded.
***
Harlow surveyed the landscape as Rachel poured the fuel onto the shuddering body bags. “Not a single deader heading our way.”
“Storm’s coming,” Rachel responded tossing the can aside and pulling a lighter from her pocket. “They aren’t smart, but they know enough to take cover from a waste storm.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Rachel lit a starter and tossed it, instantly igniting the fuel soaked body bags. The plastic of the bags began to melt and fuse to the zombies, freeing them from their confinement.
“Okay, maybe we should have thought that through,” Harlow said.
“No shit,” Rachel responded.
***
Capreze stared at the screen. “I’m not seeing them.”
“Just watch…,” Jethro grunted, closing his eyes, his face tightening in pain.
“Jethro? You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just the excruciating head pain, that’s all.” He adjusted the focus on the vid screen, trying to filter through the storm’s interference. “See those blips? Those are transports. The red ones are UDC for sure. I don’t know what the green ones are.”
“How long?”
“Storm hits in a few hours, transports are maybe another couple hours behind that.”
Capreze patted Jethro on the shoulder. “Good catch. Keep me posted.”
“Will do, Commander.”
***
“Ready to do this thing?” Jay called out.
“Ready,” the Rookie and Masters responded.
The Rookie lifted the flame thrower and gave a quick blast towards the front door as Masters kicked out against the cage door. The door didn’t budge.
“Shit!” Masters yelled.
“Move!” Jay took aim with his shotgun and fired off four rounds, one to the lock and three to the hinges. The door tumbled to the ground and Masters and Jay opened fire, leaping from the cage. “Come on!”
The Rookie laid down a steady stream of fire, giving them a few more seconds then followed.
***
Mathew awoke to the sounds of a hundred rotted fingernails scratching at the metal of his mech as dozens of zombies clambered past his war machine and into the safety of the cracked cliff face. He held his breath as the last few passed over him and into the darkness behind.
Okay, don’t see that everyday, he thought. He checked his sensors and watched the zombie readings disappear further into the cliff. Looking up from his instruments he stared out into the wasteland. Directly into the Hell that was one of the largest waste storms he’d ever seen.
“Oh, shit…”
***
Themopolous watched in horror as the part of the brain she cut away was quickly repaired and replaced. She had the foresight enough to secure Crowley’s body and was glad she did so as the once dead undead Sergeant Major began to thrash and convulse as it’s brain became active again.
“That was faster this time,” Themopolous muttered.
“Hey Doc?” Rachel called over the com. “Will a head shot stop them at all?”
“Yes,” Themopolous responded. “But not for long. Drop them and burn them quickly.”
“Gotcha,” Harlow chimed in.
Themopolous heard gunfire before the pilots switched off the com.
***
“Holy fuck! Didn’t we already put those guys down!” Masters yelled as several of the former fight patrons, those still intact enough, began to get up and pursue the three men.
“What the fuck?!?” The Rookie bellowed, setting several aflame. “That ain’t fucking good!”
“Come on!” Jay screamed, as he was able to shove bodies out of the way, freeing the back door enough so they could close it behind them. “We don’t have time to count bodies! Let’s go!”
There was a large groan and a crack as the press of zombies at the front entrance became too great.
***
“Alright, Mechanic, the Commander wants you set up in the transport,” Bisby said, entering the control room.
“Hold on, I’m making progress on the source of that signal,” Jethro responded, fingers rapidly tapping at his tablets.
“No time. Capreze wants it done now. We are going to need to bug out as soon as the storm allows. You can work in the transport until we bail.”
Jethro rolled back from the console. “Fine. I need those three tablets and that interface box.”
“What the fuck’s an interface box?”
“For the mini-mechs.”
“I thought you lost those,” Bisby chuckled.
“Fuck you.”
***
Shiner knew the waste storm was almost on it, and could do quite a bit of damage, but the dead mech pushed on, following the live mech’s trail. As the zombie pilot inside itself deteriorated, Shiner also knew it was going to need help. The living pilot might be able to provide that help.
With the storm bearing down, Shiner finally got a lock on the living mech. Satisfied the mech wasn’t going anywhere until the storm passed, Shiner set to work securing itself some protection from the storm.
Shiner punched both fists into the earth and began to dig.
***
“Whoa, don’t catch your ass on fire!” Rachel cautioned as Harlow dumped the rest of the fuel on the now still deaders.
“Don’t worry about me, Rache. I can take the heat.”
Rachel laughed, climbing into the ATV. Harlow tossed the empty fuel cans into the back of the ATV and jumped in as well. The two pilots watched the bodies’ burn
, flesh melting and melding with the body bags. One zombie began to stir and Harlow readied her carbine, but the thing was still in seconds as its skull burst from the heat and its brain boiled into nothing.
***
Mathew braced himself as the storm front smashed into the cliff. Even tucked away, surrounded by rock, the force of the storm made his mech shudder. He double, triple and quadruple checked his environmental controls, satisfying himself he wouldn’t die by choking on wasteland dust and dirt.
He laughed to himself as his sensors picked up several zombies scrambling around his mech, despite the storm, drawn to the irresistible lure of fresh meat. They didn’t stay long as three of their number were brought down by debris. The waste storm had already switched gears from swirling dust to flying rock.
***
Capreze flicked through the geo-grid, debating which route and destination would be his people’s best chance of survival. Gauging the direction of the storm and what lay behind it, Capreze could only come to one conclusion: follow the rail further into the waste.
“Son of a bitch,” Capreze muttered.
“Commander?” Bisby asked.
“What? Oh, hey Biz. Jethro set?”
“Yes, sir and Harlow and Rache just pulled into the hangar,” Bisby answered, eyeing the Commander carefully. “Any idea where we’re headed yet?”
“Yeah, but no one’s going to like it.” Capreze turned the tablet and Bisby took a look.
“Ahhh, man…”
***
Masters tossed the last of their grenades into the fight room as the front door bottleneck finally broke and the zombies poured in. The Rookie sent a final stream of fire into the room then tossed the flame thrower after, hoping to add fuel to the fire.
Jay yanked on the back door, almost getting it closed before the grenades went off. The concussion from the explosion slammed the door fully closed, knocking all three men off their feet.
Masters’ ears rang and he felt blood trickle down the back of his neck as got back up. “We gotta move!”
***
“You want the good news or the bad news first?” Themopolous asked as she entered Capreze’s office. The Commander and Bisby looked up from their route plotting.
“Good,” Capreze said.
