by Jake Bible
“Oh, I’m not worried about that,” Jethro laughed also. “Ego has pretty much flown out the window now that I’m a digital God.”
“Huh-uh! Don’t even start with the God talk. I’ll unplug your ass in five seconds.”
“Yeah, but I wish you could experience this! It’s every mechanics’ dream! I am the tech!”
***
“We have everyone accounted for, Commander,” Lieutenant Murphy reported. “All Railers are inside the stronghold.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Capreze said from his mech. “I appreciate that. I know technically you don’t have to listen to a word I say.”
“You’re the ranking officer now, sir,” Murphy said. “The chain of command is important.”
“I commend your attitude, Murphy. Most people would throw the chain away when the world goes to Hell.”
“It’s when the world goes to Hell that we need that chain more than ever, sir.”
“Very true, Lieutenant.”
“Anything else, sir?”
“No, Lieutenant. Just keep your folks ready.”
***
“How far off are the deaders?” Jay asked Jethro.
“Two minutes and they’ll start coming over the ridges,” Jethro answered.
“And you’re sure there’s nothing you can do to stop them?”
“Nope,” Jethro replied. “Johnson’s death fried the communications relay. It must have been specifically calibrated to his brain waves. I’m trying to rebuild it, but there’s so much in here it’s hard to focus.”
Jay looked over at Jethro’s still body. “Don’t start going all schizo.”
“Not a problem.”
“What about the remaining inoculated zombies?”
“Running free across the wasteland for now.”
“How many?”
“A few hundred thousand.”
“Jeezus.”
***
The stronghold’s gun turrets came to life, all turning their attention on the East ridge.
“They here?” the Rookie asked Jethro.
“The first wave is,” Jethro answered. “You’ve got 13 coming from the East.”
The Rookie walked his mech away from the stronghold entrance. He bounced up and down a bit, getting himself ready. “I’ve got whatever gets past you.”
“Roger that,” Jethro acknowledged. “Just be careful. These guys have come further than the last. We’re talking deep waste here. I can already tell most of them are beyond berserk with hunger. Looks like they’ve even been fighting amongst themselves.”
***
“Well, you’re looking good,” Jay said. “How are you feeling? Any pain?”
“Yeah, but it’s almost like it’s not part of me,” Jethro responded. “I mean, I know my body has had its ass kicked, but it’s separate somehow. Does that make sense?”
“Disassociation,” Jay replied. “Your mind can now compartmentalize anything. It’s stuffing your discomfort away in some sub-system to deal with later. You want me to get the Doc?”
“No, she’s busy. Plus any painkillers will dull my brain. I don’t think we want me getting loopy when we’re all sitting on a few kilotons of nuclear material.”
***
“Jethro, how much longer before we’re armed?” Capreze asked.
“Just give me another minute, sir,” Jethro replied. “Like I just told the Rookie, these deaders are super fucking pissed. They’re the crazy ones, the deep wasters. I don’t know how they’ve survived this long out there, but you’re going to need every bit of firepower you can.”
“I understand. I just don’t like the idea of the Rookie out there alone right now. He doesn’t seem stable.”
“I can assure you, sir, that the Rookie’s brain wave activity shows not only stability but calm. The kid’s ready to kick ass.”
***
“Okay, I’m heading to the hangar to try to get Rachel’s mech operational in case we need it,” Jay said, stepping away from the control console and placing a hand on Jethro’s unresponsive shoulder. “Call me on the com if you start to feel weird.”
“Start? I’m way past weird!” Jethro laughed.
“You know what I mean dumbass,” Jay said, walking to the door. “I mean it, the second you even think you may be losing control you call me.”
“Will do Dad.”
“Fuck you, dip shit.”
Jay stepped from the room leaving Jethro’s body alone, but his mind everywhere.
***
“Here they come!” the Rookie shouted. “Fucking Hell! Look at ‘em!”
Over the East ridge 13 dead mechs charged. Many of them missing arms, cables hanging loose, struts bent at strange angles, their metal pitted with rust and deep gouges from God knows what. They shoved and raged at each other as they jockeyed for position, each trying to be the first to get at the meat.
“I’ve seen some fucked up deaders before, but these things are monsters!” the Rookie exclaimed.
The stronghold’s gun turrets opened fire. “Well, let’s shred these monsters!” Jethro yelled.
“Fuck yeah!” the Rookie responded.
***
Themopolous dashed from cot to cot, blanket to blanket, desperate to stabilize as many of the wounded as possible. She left bloody gauze and shouted orders in her wake.
The large caliber gunfire from the stronghold’s turrets made her and everyone else in the staging area jump. Railer children cried and clung tight to their parents and siblings. Themopolous shook off her startled shock and kept moving.
A hand reached out and gently, but firmly took her arm.
“Where do you need me?” June said. “I know Harlow has always been your go to assistant, but I’m ready to help.”
***
Intense, ravenous, hunger driven rage pushed the dead mechs towards the stronghold. As the Rookie stepped away from the entrance they stopped their in fighting and focused their attention on him. The weaker ones fell back as those more battle ready lunged forward, many directly into the oncoming turret fire. Chunks of metal and plastic were ripped from their 50-ton exoskeletons, exposing their infrastructure and vital systems.
The Rookie watched as Jethro systematically dismantled every single oncoming deader in a matter of seconds.
“Jeezus fuck,” the Rookie exclaimed. “The Outsider could have torn us all apart at any time, huh?”
***
“Wow, that was fun!” Jethro shouted.
Capreze and Shiner/Mathew stepped from the stronghold and took up positions on either side of the Rookie.
“Holy mother of God,” Mathew said quietly.
“That is quite impressive,” Shiner added.
“Knowing what you two are capable of, I’ll take that as a huge compliment there Shiner,” Jethro said.
“It was meant as one,” Shiner replied.
“You know we can handle this, right?” Capreze said. “I need to know you’re focusing on the mainframe.”
“Got it covered, Commander. I can be at several places at once. I’m running six levels of diagnostics as we speak.”
***
June left the Boiler child to rest with a group of other children while she helped Themopolous. She smiled at him as she walked away and he waved weakly.
The Doctor looked from June to the child and back. “What are you thinking, Pilot?”
June turned her attention to Themopolous. “About what?”
“The boy. He has no family here. You’ve taken him from the only existence he’s known. Are you going to raise him yourself?”
June’s brow furrowed. “I hadn’t really thought about that. My main concern was getting him out of the Boiler village. That’s all I cared about.”
***
“Commander?” Bisby called over the com. “Lieutenant Murphy has her team assembled and is planning on doing a security sweep of the stronghold. Just to confirm we actually are alone.”
“Sounds like a fine idea,” Capr
eze responded.
“I’m going with. Jethro’ll be systematically unlocking sections as we approach and, well, that little shit can take some getting used to. I didn’t want to leave them stranded while he babbles on about being a digital God.”
Capreze smiled. “That’s a good plan, Biz. Plus, you’ll be able to tell if Jethro starts acting funny. I’m still not comfortable with his integration.”
***
“Need this?” Marin asked, handing Jay the span-hammer he was reaching for.
“Thanks,” Jay responded, taking the tool. “You want to help?”
“Figured I would,” Marin said, grabbing a massive torque wrench as she eyed three fist sized bolts on Rachel’s mech’s left ankle. She let out a loud whistle and three Railers ran up, tools in hand. “I brought some back up.”
Jay studied the Railers suspiciously. “They know how to-?”
“Yep,” Marin cut him off.
“Well, what about-?”
“That too, Jay.”
“I bet they don’t-.”
“Yes, they do,” Marin laughed.
Marin motioned and the three set to work.
***
“Five more heading at us!” Jethro announced.
“You gonna let us take them on or are you…?” Mathew trailed off as ten RPGs screamed past the three mechs, heading straight at the attacking deaders coming from the West this time. “Guess that answers that.”
Each rocket hit its mark, crippling the deaders instantly.
“See? I didn’t fully take them out,” Jethro laughed. “I left you folks the kill shots.”
“Thanks,” the Rookie grumbled.
“Stand down mechanic,” Capreze ordered. “Let us handle combat, you stick with tech.”
“But, sir, I’m way more capable…”
“We’ll call you if we need you, Jethro.”
***
“This is the mess,” Murphy said to Bisby as they approached the large sealed doors. “I’m pretty sure it was dinner time when Johnson took everyone out, so this may not be pretty.”
“What’s waiting for us, Jethro?” Bisby asked aloud.
“The Lieutenant’s right. It isn’t pretty. You’re looking at several hundred corpses on the other side of the doors,” Jethro responded. “Hmmmm, weird…”
“What?” Bisby asked.
“Well, they’re actually corpses. Dead. Not undead. Not re-animated. Truly fucking dead. Hold on.”
Bisby and the Special Ops team waited for a moment.
“Jethro?” Bisby said.
“Just sit tight Biz. Something’s strange.”
***
“What is that?” Jethro processed to himself, while instantaneously analyzing the air samples from the stronghold mess hall. “That’s new.”
In less than ten seconds he had the analysis results. “Holy shit! Hey Biz?”
“Yeah, Jethro? Whatcha got for us?” Bisby rolled his eyes at the Special Ops team.
“Listen, I’m evacuating the air from the mess, but you all should probably suit up before going in there. There is some type of new neurotoxin floating about. That’s what Johnson used to kill these folks.”
“Why aren’t they zombies?” Grendetti asked.
“Not sure. I think it kills the virus also.”
***
“Enviro suits are this way,” Lieutenant Murphy said to Bisby. “Jethro, is the way clear to the suit lockers?”
“Yes, Lieutenant. All hatches are unlocked and there is nothing out of the ordinary in your path,” Jethro replied. “You are all set.”
“Thank you.” The Special Ops team set off down the hall away from the mess with Bisby following behind.
The wounded pilot soon was short of breath and leaned against the wall for support.
“You’re pushing it Biz,” Jethro said.
“I’m fine,” Bisby grumbled.
“No, you’re not,” Jethro said. “You’re pulse is through the roof.”
“Fuck you Jethro.”
***
“Whoa, where did that partition come from?” Jethro mused as he found a separate part of the mainframe his consciousness hadn’t penetrated yet. “Aren’t you some fancy schmancy code.”
The former mechanic inspected the partition from all angles before setting about accessing it. “Now, this won’t hurt a bit, I promise.”
Jethro gasped mentally and his physical body actually shook in the integration chair. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
He pushed a little harder and further immersed himself within the partitioned area.
“Unauthorized access. Admittance denied,” an automated voice rang in his head.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Jethro responded.
***
The Rookie kicked the terminated dead mech with his own mech’s foot.
“Leave it, Rookie,” Capreze said. “We don’t know what armaments the thing may still have and whether or not they’re stable.”
“Well, why don’t we blast them and set them off?” the Rookie asked.
“Because we may need to do that when the other deaders get here,” Mathew said.
“My scans indicate that all dead mechs have long been out of any type of ammunition,” Shiner added.
“See,” the Rookie said.
“It’s a learning lesson, Rookie,” Capreze said. “Jethro? When’s the next wave?”
Silence.
“Jethro?” Capreze asked again.
***
Bisby watched the Special Ops team clomp past him in their clunky enviro suits. “You guys go ahead,” he said, waving them on. “I’ll catch up in a bit.”
Specialist Sol gave him a thumbs up and Bisby could see the grin through the face plate. “No hurries, Pilot. Take a load off. You’ve earned it.”
The team stepped to the stronghold mess doors and waited. “Any time you’re ready, Jethro. We’re all suited up,” the Lieutenant said.
The doors remained closed. Bisby got to his feet and walked over to the team. “Hey Jethro! Open the fucking doors.”
Silence.
***
Proximity alarms echoed about the Commander’s cockpit. “Jethro?!? Where the fuck are you?!? We have incoming and I need numbers now!” Capreze waited but there was no response. “Jay? Come in.”
“What’s up Commander?” Jay answered over the com.
“I’ve lost contact with Jethro and we have hostiles on the way!”
“I’m on it!” Jay replied.
The Rookie turned his mech 360 degrees. “I don’t see anything, sir.”
“I don’t have a visual, either,” Mathew agreed. “Shiner?”
“There are many readings,” Shiner responded. “Ten from the East, nine from the West.”
“Well Rookie, time to go to work!” Mathew shouted.
***
“You got this?” Jay asked Marin as he clambered down from Rachel’s mech.
“Yeah, go!” she yelled.
Jay sprinted from the staging area and down the long concrete hall leading to the mainframe. When he reached the door he found it was locked tight. Pulling a screwdriver from his belt he pried the door control panel off. He took a quick glance at the wiring and laughed.
“That’s the best security they could come up with?”
With two wire snips and a twist he hot wired the door open and dashed inside. Random images flashed across the mainframe vid screens.
***
“What happened?” Timson hollered up to Marin from the bottom of Rachel’s mech.
“Don’t know!” she responded. “Something’s wrong with Jethro.”
“That’s not good!”
“No, it’s not!”
“Jenny!” Timson turned, looking for his daughter.
“What?” she yelled, busy wrapping her left hand with gauze, covering a nasty burn.
“Jethro’s down, which means the guns are down!” Timson shouted. “Come on!”
Jenny sighed then st
arted barking orders at any Railer that wasn’t wounded or tending to the wounded.
A group of eight, including Jenny met Timson at the stronghold entrance. They all nodded to each other then raced to the train.
***
Capreze watched the Railers run across the battlefield towards their train. “Timson! What the Hell are you doing?”
“Picking up the slack! With your man Jethro down you’ll need our guns again!”
Even though he didn’t like putting Timson and his people back in harms way, he couldn’t argue with the man. “Thanks. But, listen, if it gets too crazy I want you and your folks to get your asses back inside!”
“I think we can agree on that, Commander!”
“Sir!” Mathew shouted. “They’re here!”
Capreze blanched as he watched the dead mechs surge over the ridges, surrounding them all.
***
Grendetti and Kafar each pushed their weight against the crowbar they wedged into the mess hall doors. Grunting under the strain they fell back, unsuccessful.
“Shit! That door isn’t going anywhere!” Specialist Kafar huffed. “Where’s your tech guy?”
Bisby shook his head. “I don’t have a fucking clue. Jethro? Jethro!”
“Biz? It’s Jay. I need you in the mainframe room.”
“What the hell is wrong with Jethro?”
“I don’t know. Just get your ass here. I need your eyes on something,” Jay barked.
“Okay, calm down.” Bisby nodded to the Special Ops team and hurried away on still shaky legs.
***
“Back to back on me now!” Capreze ordered.
Shiner/Mathew and the Rookie backed their mechs up next to Capreze’s creating a triangle of mech firepower.
“Keep firing until I say break! Do not step away until then!”
“Yes, sir!” Mathew shouted.
“Gotcha,” the Rookie acknowledged.
“Affirmative,” Shiner added, making Capreze grin despite himself, knowing he now commanded a former deader by default.
As the dead mechs raged down the ridges, Capreze, Shiner/Mathew and the Rookie opened up with everything they had.
Hot lead and plasma blasts filled the air. The earth shook as the bolts and bullets found their marks.
***
“3 o’clock Jenny!” Timson screamed. “3 o’clock goddamn it!”
Jenny swung her gun turret about 45 degrees and opened fire on the dead mech only yards from her. The behemoth shuddered under the large caliber rounds, but kept charging, its dead fist reaching for her.
