Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 9): September

by Dave Rowlands

  The entrance of the AR-18 facility yawned open to admit our chopper, and moments later we landed. With a clank the hangar door closed high above us. Moments later I had Apocalypse Girl in my arms, Apocalypse Dog bounding about and barking his welcome, and then I was whisked away for debriefing.

  The Boss had already laid out a map for our convenience, all the sightings of Righteous movements pinned out, possible locations of bases marked clearly in red. Giant was more easily able to pinpoint where we had been, describing the ledge in detail and putting her finger on it almost instantly. To the north and a little to the east, maybe a hundred kilometres from the ledge was a small red dot, signifying a possible base. The Boss nodded once, then tapped the red dot. “So far, this is the most likely spot. There are one or two more, here,” she indicated another couple of potential hotspots. “And here as well. Thank you for the intel, guys, you’re dismissed.”

  Apocalypse Girl followed me out, throwing an arm around me as we walked. The two technicians we were mildly friendly with passed us in the hallway, nodding in greeting as we made our way to our quarters, Apocalypse Dog bounding along behind us.

  September 5th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Just as I was waking, Apocalypse Girl greeted me with a kiss. She’d been sitting next to the bed, staring at me, waiting for me to wake up. Times like this I almost forget that the world ended. After a while, we got dressed and left, heading to the mess hall for breakfast. Before we got so much as twenty paces down the hall, The Boss intercepted us. “We need to discuss your extra-terrestrial encounters again, I’m afraid.” She told us. The last thing I needed this morning. “Meet me in my office in an hour, I’ve got a few other things to go over first.” With that she sauntered off. Apocalypse Girl rolled her eyes.

  I had no idea what I was going to tell her that she didn’t already know. We encountered Fluffy the schrandfelths shortly after he crashed to Earth, healed him with the aid of his own technology, and spent a short while discussing the situation with him before he was beamed aboard another craft of his species. Other than that, there was another encounter, when I myself was beamed up. Neither of these were particularly lengthy, The Boss knew that, and I was pretty damned sure that I had told her everything that I could remember about it. Oh well, another useless meeting with my mother-out-law. Yay.

  The pair of techs were just finishing their meals, nodding at us in greeting once again, and Apocalypse Girl and I took their freshly vacated seats once we had appropriated some food for ourselves. While we ate, Tiny came to join us, The Twin following shortly after. The pair wanted to know what we discovered out there, if anything. The Twin had heard a few things about these Righteous freaks from some of the other soldiers around, she was less than impressed.

  I couldn’t really say all that much, just that we were close to pinpointing their main encampment. The Twin nodded at that, knowing full well that it may take some time to deal with them. Tiny, on the other hand, had only complaints about how her trainees were not progressing fast enough to suit her. Apparently, we were better students on the trip back from New Brisbane than The Boss’s troops. Most of them, anyway. She had a star student, she told us, a young man that almost had her the last time they sparred together. Almost.

  noon

  Apocalypse Mum offered me coffee, which naturally I accepted, and invited me to sit down across from her at her desk. The office was fairly Spartan, just the desk and a pair of chairs for one on one debriefings, and a couch upon which Apocalypse Girl lounged. A couple of maps adorned the walls, most notable amongst them being the location we were due to scout in a few days.

  “Tell me everything you can,” She asked me. “I know we’ve been through this before, but I need every last little detail that I can get in order to make an informed decision about these Visitors you’ve discovered. The Invader Moon could have been passed off as natural celestial phenomena, after all our own moon is not native to our solar system. The unusual approach vector, the fact that it slowed down before beginning its orbit, the fact that it has now settled into a position precisely 180 degrees away from our own satellite.”

  Taking a breath, she went on. “The Invader Moon is about half the size of our own, also precisely half as far from the earth, yet it keeps the exact same orbit, opposite our own moon.” She looked at me knowingly. “I don’t suppose you’ve spoken to your Schrandfelths friend about any of this, have you?” I told her that we hadn’t. “The thing I need to know, most of all, is whose moon it is. These Shadow creatures that you’ve assured me are native to our planet, how do you know for certain that it isn’t theirs?”

  “He didn’t speak to any of those Shadow guys, only I did that, Mum.” Apocalypse Girl interrupted. “The Shadow I spoke with was kinda weird, but I got the impression that they, or it, whatever, didn’t know anything about the new moon. It sort of seemed like it is the entire species, not just one of them. I dunno, it was fucking weird. But, one thing is certain. The Shadows aren’t hostile, only a little curious about us.”

  “Is there any way that you can get in touch with your alien buddy?” Apocalypse Mum asked me. I told her that it was a possibility, though from everything that had been going on, it was entirely possible that Fluffy’s entire species were keeping more than a close eye on all of us. We needed to find out more about the other two species, I told her. “Ah yes, the Terraformers and the Mutators. I think it is safe to say that both of these species are indeed hostile, even if your friends are not. Besides, what can a janitorial species really do to help us out?”

  “In any case,” She continued, her musing over now. “I would like you to try to get in touch with this … person that you know. If you can convince it to meet with me personally, I would be more than grateful.” I told her that I’d do my best, but that I would only do so if she guaranteed his safety. She smiled, almost as sweetly as I’ve known her daughter to. “It will be perfectly safe and secure here, don’t worry. Sure, we have plenty of people that would love to dissect and study it in detail, but believe me they will not lay a hand on it. I only want to interview it, find out what it knows about the other species’ plans for the planet.”

  I told her that Fluffy might not know a great deal about anything, but that I’d try to get in contact. For that, I asked The Boss’s permission to go topside in the evenings. She agreed instantly, provided that it was just me alone. I was not to remotely risk endangering her daughter’s safety in such a manner. Fluffy could beam me up and take me away forever and she will lose a good soldier and a valuable ally, not to mention her son-out-law. Her daughter was not to be risked at all. I agreed on the spot, and we were dismissed.

  “I’m going up with you,” Apocalypse Girl told me as we stalked out of her mother’s office. “I don’t care what she says. There is no fucking way I’m letting you up there alone.” I appreciated her concern. I also told her that I didn’t want her getting into any trouble on my account. Nor did I want to get into any trouble myself for her actions. We were still new here, despite her familial connections. “She won’t kick us out or anything, the worst that might happen is you get suspended from duty for a while. She’s only had one person killed outright as punishment since taking over here, according to everyone I’ve talked to, and that guy drew on her. Your squaddie, Giant? She was there if you ever want to ask her about it.”

  We walked to the mess hall in relative quiet after that, greeting people that we passed, some of whom we knew, most we did not. Valkyrie appeared at our side almost as if by magic, the tall, beautiful blonde woman bemoaning the fact that she’d been without Viking’s company for the last couple of days. “If he’s going out with you regularly, I want you to promise to look after him,” She told me in no uncertain terms. Laughing, I told her that I was far more likely to need him to look out for me, but that with six of us in the squad it was unlikely that any real lasting harm would happen to any of us. She didn’t seem very convinced, and made me promise anyway. Viking being probably my
closest friend of the post-apocalyptic world, it was an easy oath to swear. Valkyrie knew the truth of the wasteland that Australia had become, she had seen more than enough of the world. She knew that I meant what I promised, but also that promises of that nature were becoming increasingly more difficult to live up to.

  Valkyrie joined us for lunch, sitting next to an already munching Viking, greeting him with a kiss to the back of the neck. The rest of the squad, sitting around the table, guffawed loudly. They all knew full well that my two large blonde friends were married, but cared little. All they saw was fruit for laughter.

  “Saved you and your missus a seat, Boss-man,” Giant told me, patting the bench next to her. “Come on, I’m not contagious.”

  “Yeah, right,” Apocalypse Girl shot back at her without pause for thought. “If we sit that close to you we might all end up catching Tall from you!” The whole squad erupted in laughter and we sat beside my proportionately massive subordinate.

  “Look at the pair of you, though, you could use it!” Giant replied once the chuckles died down somewhat. “Now that there aren’t any supermarkets filled with little old ladies wanting me to get shit down from the top shelf for them, being tall is fucking awesome!”

  evening

  The rest of the afternoon was spent mostly relaxing. The Boss had a cinema set up a few months ago, at the request of some of the troops, constantly screening something. It all depended on what her people found while outside, really. This afternoon’s session was an older movie that somebody found with a bunch of others, a black and white movie about a cross-dressing serial killer. You know the one, the leading lady got herself stabbed in the shower in the first twenty minutes.

  So, after the declaration that said serial killer wouldn’t even hurt a fly, the credits rolled and we piled out. It was an interesting diversion, really, as the mummified corpse of the killer’s mother just sat there in her rocking chair. A surreal reminder that the Dead once just lay there, being no more than unmoving corpses.

  “One thing about my mum,” Apocalypse Girl began. “She’s always valued taking some personal time when you need it. She never ever has needed it, though, fucking superwoman that she is.” I detected respect mixed with resentment. This seemed to be a sore point between mother and daughter.

  The two of us went to the elevator, heading topside to watch the sunset and to try to get in touch with Fluffy. The blazing yellow orb descending over the western horizon seemed to bathe the world in a reddish glow, making it almost seem as though the world never ended, the Winter never happened. The large shambling horde of Dead we spotted off in the distance to the northwest ruined the image somewhat, though.

  I pulled out the radio, going through several frequency bands, trying to raise Fluffy as best I could. There was little luck, though I made contact with a couple of other groups of our acquaintance. Ginger was almost rabid about Scout returning, and The Principal had died, leaving Doctor in charge of The School in Melbourne. The Smart Couple were still in their secret, safe place, wherever the fuck that was. They still didn’t want to say until and unless we were headed right to them.

  The really interesting thing was speaking with Butler. The Queen had calmed down somewhat, was no longer wanting our blood, at least. She had realised that we were far out of her reach. Apocalypse Girl asked about our friend Deathwish, only to have the insolent young lad jump on the radio to confirm his own suspicions that The Queen would leave him alive, because, as he told us, ‘she liked him’. Signing off by telling Deathwish that we were in no way missing his unending supply of baked beans, and the flatulence that came with it, we went back down to the main facility when the sun had fully descended.

  “I told you to go up alone!” Apocalypse Mum exploded at us once the elevator doors opened. The sentry had a hard time meeting my gaze. As I did with Apocalypse Mum’s. “How can I expect you to obey my orders when it matters if you don’t obey this one?”

  In my defence, Apocalypse Girl told her that we had been through so much together that for us to spend so much time apart was unhealthy, especially just after I had been out for a couple of days on her orders. She trusted nobody but me, and honestly neither did I trust any but her. The Boss was fuming, but she said nothing. Instead, she spun about on her heel and stalked off into the depths of the facility. I had a feeling that this would not be the end of The Boss’s fury.

  September 6th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Jester was chomping at the bit to tell me something, but would not say a word until we got to the computer lab. For a little guy, he could surely move, Apocalypse Girl and I were having a hard time keeping up with him. Apocalypse Dog bounded between us, as if trying to hurry us along, sensing in some canine fashion what Jester was needing to show us. Or else just being doggishly excited. The two techs we knew vaguely were huddled over a counter, peering at a screen, muttering to themselves.

  “What is it?” Apocalypse Mum, storming into the lab, demanded to know imperiously. “And for God’s sake, somebody bring in some coffee.” I couldn’t agree more. She acknowledged me with a surly nod, her daughter with a maternally disappointed look. One of the techs dashed out, returning momentarily with a steaming pot of liquid, pouring out several cups for those of us that required it.

  “The Shadow Zone around Sydney.” Jester told us. “It vanished overnight. Now, look…” Sydney was no more. Shining metallic structures in bizarre configurations rose, taller than anything that had once existed there. The Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, for some bizarre reason, though the bridge had been destroyed, the two halves curling back on themselves, were otherwise unmolested. Two lonely examples of Humanity-that-was among what clearly had to now be Terraformer territory. “I have no fucking idea how long they took to build it, whether they drove the Shadow away or it left willingly, so don’t bother asking. All I know is what you can see here. Sydney is not ours, not anymore.”

  The way he said the words implied that even with the Shadow in place it was still once a human place. Now it was truly alien. Jester zoomed in, showing various creatures that could never have existed on a Human Earth. Swarms of insectoid critters scuttled about the place, everywhere. Their chitinous exoskeletons shone in rainbow hues as the sunlight reflected off of them. As we watched, the swarms constructed a new building, stacking themselves one atop the other, shining a bright white for a few seconds before reconfiguring themselves into walls, floors, ceilings for whatever was giving them their orders.

  Everywhere we looked, all we saw were these Builder Bugs, skittering along, forming new structures atop those already present. “I think,” The Boss mused, “That we’re watching the final stages of their construction now.” She turned to me. “And now we know something about these Terraformers. We’re going to need bigger bombs.” She turned away from the screen in disgust and stalked from the room.

  noon

  We took it in turns to watch the alien insects create their structures, metallic, yet somehow crystalline when finished. They created familiar configurations as well as bizarre, so we were able to surmise that whatever was programming them at least had a means of excreting their bodily waste as sewers built themselves, forming into corridors and rooms. Some of these rooms were for obvious purposes, there was a clear mess and kitchen setup, as well as what seemed a military barracks. Finally, after several hours of staring at the screen alternated with rubbing our eyes from the strain, we saw one of the Terraformers.

  Just under two metres tall, wearing a uniform not unlike those around me, though skinnier than a human, the Terraformer strode into what could only be a freshly constructed command centre from an elevator. The chest was broader, deeper, more massive even than Wall’s, but the legs were narrow as a toothpick, the lower abdomen bulging at the middle to accommodate the enormous torso. A mane of thick, bristly hair encircled a head sprouting three horns from a brownish looking, scaled dome. As it walked, I noted that the alien’s knees bent backwards, and that it had a kind of se
condary elbow midway down the forearm, allowing for a greater range of motion.

  “Call The Boss,” I heard somebody say to a nearby Viking, realising a moment later that I, myself, had given the order. “She needs to see this.” My friend darted from the room, returning a less than a minute later, Apocalypse Mum following in his wake.

  “Now we’ve seen the enemy.” Her words were delivered in a grim tone. One of the technicians began to suggest that they hadn’t seemed remotely aggressive towards us so far, only to be silenced by a glare. “They may have not been overtly aggressive, no. However, they still seem to think that they’re entitled to our planet. As far as I’m concerned, that fact alone makes them a hostile species. As the highest ranking member of any military organisation that I am currently aware of, it makes it my responsibility to kick their sorry arses off-world, back to where they came from!”

  The Boss’s little speech was met with general applause, The Colonel most exuberant amongst them. Apocalypse Girl and I joined, but I could see in her eyes that she was feeling the same way as I about the situation; there was fuck-all we could really do about it. Whoever, whatever they are, they would outstrip our technology by a wide margin. Personally, I held little faith that we would hold out in a firefight, as they would presumably be armed with laser or plasma weaponry. At the very least, their projectile and missile weapons would be far in advance of our own, and in a hand to hand encounter, with their extra elbows and far greater mass, I was not liking our chances of survival there, either.