by Jake Bible
“Don’t need to,” Masters replied, almost mirroring the same move. “Because all I hear is the sweet sound of an angel in this com.”
Harlow couldn’t help but smile. “I fucking hate you.”
“Oh!” Masters exclaimed. “It’s like an angel from above is sitting in my cockpit! Glory hallelujah!”
***
Missiles fell, the BTTs were relentless, the mechs pushed on, yet the army that came at them never waned. It was an unyielding onslaught of sheer numbers.
“Jay,” Marin called over the com. “How’s it coming? Our folks are losing ground. They’ll be to you shortly.”
“I’m working as fast as I can,” Jay grumbled as he dropped and set another relay. “Ain’t those nanobots working? That should slow them, down?”
“They are working,” Marin said. “Less and less of the undead troopers are self-repairing. But there’s just too many of them! You’ve got to hurry!”
“I ain’t fucking playing cards here, Marin!” Jay snapped.
“Jay Rind! Don’t take that damn tone with me, you old ass!” Marin barked back. “Our people won’t last much longer. Get your shit together and get that system up and running!”
“Jeezus, Jeezus,” Jay replied. “Don’t need to bite my head off. I’m almost ready.”
He ran a few more yards and set another relay. He checked all readings and readied the environmental containment shield.
“Time to get the fuck out of there!” Jay shouted over the full com. “I can activate as soon as you are clear and the Styleses blow themselves to shit!”
He heard confirmation from everyone except Murphy’s team. He checked his scans and realized the Hybrid was no longer showing up. He didn’t have time to wonder where the hell they had gone. They were professionals and could handle themselves.
***
The RPG slammed into Bisby’s cockpit, but he was able to turn in time, letting the impact roll off of him. But the explosion was close enough that every warning claxon in his cockpit blared and he watched as systems failed one after the other.
“Fuck!” he shouted. “Can’t I get a mech that doesn’t fucking break down during every single mother fucking battle? Is that too much to fucking ask for?”
“I got him,” Mathew said as he rolled under heavy caliber fire and came up blasting, sending two Cans falling to the battlefield. He ran at Bisby, but barely made it half way when the two Cans were back up on their feet and firing at him. “Fuck! This BC bullshit sucks!”
Mathew tried to work his way to Bisby, but he was cut off by another Can. He had to make a choice of staying alive or rescuing Bisby. It was a hard choice, but one with a clear answer.
“Biz, I’m sorry man!” Mathew shouted as he took several hits to his right knee. The hydraulics whined and he had to switch systems to keep from blowing the lines. “I can’t get over there!”
“Are you people listening?” Jay roared over the com. “Get the fuck out! I’m watching the numbers and we’ve barely made a dent! We need to nuke this shit before they can march to the Stronghold!”
“He’s right,” Styles 43 said. “We are setting our drives to critical. Only need about ten of us, though. That’ll wipe them out. Y’all better book it or you’ll get caught in the blast radius.”
“You heard the clone!” Jay shouted. “I ain’t fucking around! We have a very small window!”
“Harlow! On your right!” Masters shouted, but she didn’t see the attack.
Three transports converged on Harlow and unloaded their missiles at once. Harlow was able to duck a couple, catch and toss two back at the transports, but three hit her dead center. Her mech flew through the air in pieces as the missiles detonated.
“HARLOW!” Masters screamed.
Stomper ran past Masters and scooped up what was left of Harlow’s cockpit. “I have her, Pilot Masters. She is unconscious, but shows signs of life.”
“Get out of here, Stomper!” Masters yelled. “Get her to the train!”
“Yes, that is what I will do,” Stomper said as he turned and ran.
“We all have to get gone!” Masters shouted. “Can anyone get to Bisby?”
Masters tried to make his way to the downed pilot, but he was swarmed by hundreds of techno-zombies, their rifles sending automatic fire at his hydraulics’ junctions.
“Fuck!” Masters cried. “Anyone?”
“Leave me, Mitch!” Bisby shouted as he pulled his sidearm and kicked his cockpit open. Techno-zombies came at him and he put six down and leapt from his mech. He picked up a dropped rifle and turned and fired, emptying the rifle in seconds. He grabbed another and fired more, but he was surrounded. He backed up against his mech and tried to find an escape, but there was nowhere to go. “FUCK ALL YOU MOTHER FUCK-!”
“Biz?” Mathew shouted. “BIZ!”
There was no response.
***
“We must fall back also,” Hollow Eye ordered. “The humans are outmatched.”
“We can take these things,” Thunk said. “We can crush them all.”
“Hollow Eye is correct,” Shiner said. His mech took a direct RPG and he stumbled back, but was able to stay upright. Systems were critical, but nothing failed outright. “We are outmatched also.”
“I will not retreat,” Bad Shell said. He lifted a transport and tossed it into the air. He would have smiled if he could at the look on the transport driver’s face. As the transport tumbled through the air, Bad Shell took aim and blasted it apart sending fiery shrapnel raining down on two other transports and a hundred techno-zombies. One of the transports exploded in a fire ball that sent the machine flying straight up in the air. “I am doing fine.”
“I am not!” Awl Good called out as he was surrounded by six Cans. The Canadian mechs took aim and fired everything they had. Awl Good tried to duck under and roll, but he was caught by a Can and tossed back in the center. “Save yourselves! Live so that my final death can be worth something!”
The Cans surrounding Awl Good took friendly fire from each other, but their mechs just kept repairing. Awl Good was torn apart by heavy caliber gun fire. Slowly he was whittled down to scrap, his parts twitching until their energy was drained and spent.
“Retreat is cowardly,” Thunk said. “But final death is permanent.”
The mech turned and fought his way out of the battle, heading for the ridge and cover.
“You will never see glory!” Bad Shell called after him. “Coward!”
A missile hit the mech square in the back and his cockpit exploded outward, spraying the techno-zombies around him with hot metal. Most were taken out as the nanobots did their job, but some still repaired and kept marching and fighting.
“A waste of a good mech,” Shiner said. “We should not waste ourselves also.”
He turned and followed Thunk. Hollow Eye was right behind him.
“We are leaving the field,” Hollow Eye announced. “End this battle.”
***
Jay watched as several BTTs started their doomed descent to the battlefield. He was so transfixed by the sight of the willing sacrifice that he didn’t notice the proximity alarms until it was almost too late.
“Oh, fuck!” Jay shouted as barely dodged an incoming RPG. He spun his mech about and faced three Cans, their guns hot and firing at him. “Double fuck!”
Jay was able to roll to the side and return the fire, but his worst nightmare happened before he could do anything to stop it.
Three relays exploded as they were hit with RPGs.
“God dammit!” Jay shouted as he fought for his life. “The shield relays are down! Repeat! THEY ARE DOWN! Do not nuke the field! We can’t hold back the blasts!”
All but one of the BTTs was able to pull up and abort the attack.
“I’m too far critical!” Styles 27 said. “All controls are fried!”
There was a blinding flash and a second later Jay felt his mech lifted into the air. He could hear the cries of the others, but had no idea w
ho had gotten clear or not. As his mech skidded across the wasteland dirt he saw all systems shut down.
The EMP had taken out his mech. He just hoped it took out the enemy as well.
Fifty-Five
“Well we just lost all visual and audio on the mechs up north,” the Mayor said over the com. “That isn’t good.”
“Should we split and send some cyces back?” Dog asked as he sped across the wasteland towards the Three’s forces. “We can spare a few.”
“No point,” the Mayor said. “I’m guessing an EMP took out the surveillance. That means all machines will be down, even the enemy’s. There’s just the undead roaming wild up there now. I hope those pilots have some good rifles and ammo or they won’t be walking out of there anytime soon.”
“Fine,” Dog replied. “Then we push on as planned.” He checked the scans on his visor readout and noted how close the Three’s HAVs were. “Agnatha? Time to split and send your hundred to the left. Immy? I need you to the right. I’m going dead on.”
“Hey, cuz?” Immy asked. “You see the little blip?”
Dog double checked his visor and did see the blip he’d missed before. “That’s a small vehicle. What’s it doing out front of the others?”
“You’ll be finding out soon,” Agnatha said as she and her cyces peeled off from the pack. “Good hunting.”
“You too,” Dog replied.
“Try not to crash,” Immy giggled. “Rookie.”
“Oh, so now you’ll call me that?” Dog laughed. “You be careful, cuz.”
“Careful doesn’t exist in the waste,” Immy giggled again as her cyces peeled off.
Dog had to laugh to himself over the turn of events. He had one messed up family. It was incredible the lengths Eden went to hide their true nature just to see if he was who his uncle thought he was. He felt bad about killing the two guards at the Maze, but the Mayor had said they were going to be deader food anyway, they just didn’t know it.
“You ready for this, boy?” the Mayor asked. “You don’t have 50 tons of metal wrapped around you.”
“I’m also not stuck in a cage without weapons and a 300 pound deader coming at me,” Dog said. “I call this a draw.”
“Good way to look at it,” the Mayor replied. “You’re coming up on that blip.”
“Any idea of what it is?” Dog asked.
“It’s biochrome,” the Mayor said. “My techs have figured out that signature. Two life forms for sure.”
“For sure?”
“There’s a third that they can’t get a fix on. It keeps coming up as human then biochrome then human. Could be just some sensor interference.”
“Could be, but I’m not taking any chances. You see that blip act aggressive and let me know. We’ll blast it on the run. Won’t even stop to piss on the rubble.”
“Ah, there’s the Boiler talking,” the Mayor chuckled. “Don’t let that take over. Keep your wits about you.”
“I always do,” Dog smiled. That set the Mayor off laughing. Dog couldn’t help but notice that the Mayor’s laugh and Immy’s giggle were a lot alike.
Family.
***
“What are they?” Mr. Gein asked.
“They look like magcycles,” Charlie said. “A lot of them.”
“They are motorcycles, I believe,” Stone answered. “But adapted to the rigors of this wasteland, of course. I believe our ride ends here. Time to talk our way out of execution.”
“You mean talk our way out of mine and the jack’s execution,” Mr. Gein said. “You’ll wiggle out of it like you always do.”
Stone shrugged as he stopped the mag-skiff. “I am a survivor.”
The pack of cyces halted as one and they watched a single rider come towards them.
“You the advance team offering to surrender?” Dog asked as he stopped his cyce and flipped up his visor. “If so then I accept.”
“Wit in the wasteland,” Stone grinned. “Who would have thought? No, we’re not part of the army that is pursuing us.” Stone snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He snapped his fingers again and looked over his shoulder. “Don’t make me pull you out, jack.” Charlie stepped from the mag-skiff awkwardly in his warped shock suit. “That’s better. I need to speak to someone in charge. I have a deal to make.”
“Not in the deal making business today,” Dog said. “We’re in the ripping off heads and shitting down necks business.”
“Graphic and humorous,” Stone replied. “But hardly productive. As you can see I have one of the Americans here. Maybe one of the last. We need safe passage and he needs to keep his life. You let us pass and proceed to the ‘Stronghold’, I believe you call it, and we’ll make sure he doesn’t have an untimely accident.”
“Um, I’m sorry,” Dog said as he pulled a pistol from his hip. “Did you not hear that I’m not making deals? Kill him. See if I care. I don’t know Americans from shit.”
***
“Looks like that Dog guy is having a pow-wow with someone down there,” Styles 1 said as the BTT hovered over the cyces, waiting to see what move Dog made. “I’m picking up nothing but BC from those folks.” He zoomed in and scanned the three men. “Jesus, is that one of our troopers?”
Melissa leaned forward. “Put it on holo.” A detailed image of the mag-skiff, Stone, Mr. Gein, Dog and Charlie came to life in front of her. “Holy fuck! That’s Charlie Masterson!”
“Damn,” Styles replied. “Then that deal the other guy is trying to make may be worth something.”
“Wait…,” Melissa said as she looked closer. “I know that…no…”
She stood up immediately and stalked from the cockpit. “Land us.”
“Are you insane, girl?” Styles said. “If I land then we have to come out of stealth. That kinda gives away our hand.”
“We’re here to make BC suits as we come across the scraps once this battle starts,” Melissa snapped. “We weren’t going to be hidden forever anyway. Fucking land us!”
“Okay, okay, calm down now,” Styles said as he piloted the BTT away from the cyces and set it down. As soon as he took the aircraft out of stealth all eyes turned towards it. “There ya go. Naked as a jay bird.”
But Melissa didn’t hear him as she was already out of the BTT and running towards Stone.
***
“Damn if this isn’t a surprise,” Stone said as he watched Melissa close on him. “Ms. Bretton, I certainly didn’t expect you to be here.”
“You’re fucking dead, Stone!” Melissa shouted as her BC uniform morphed and she raised her forearm. She fired three shots and all hit Stone square in the forehead.
The man didn’t even stumble. His head quickly repaired and he shook off the affects.
“Those were some well grouped shots,” Stone said as Melissa skidded to a stop, stunned. “If I was real flesh and blood you’d have taken me out with the first one. But, as you can see, I am not flesh and blood.” He lifted his right hand and it shifted faster than Melissa could see. By the time she’d registered what Stone had done with his hand, the bullet had slammed into Melissa’s chest, knocking her onto her back. “I’m really just about the blood now.”
“Motherfucker,” Dog yelled as he aimed his cyce at Stone.
“Calm down, rider,” Stone said. “She’s just winded. I could sense the BC suit before she fired her first shot.” Melissa painfully pushed herself up onto her elbows. “See? Perfectly fine. Just making a point.”
“What’s…he want?” Melissa asked as she got to her feet. “What’s the deal?”
“Safe passage to the Stronghold,” Dog replied. “I’m guessing he wants to meet with Capreze.”
“And I thought all of you wastelanders were mutants and inbred morons,” Stone smiled.
“He rides with us,” Melissa said. “Or he dies here.”
“Well, I’m not so sure about the dying,” Stone said.
“I am,” Melissa replied. “Styles?”
“I have everything locked on the bastar
d,” Styles replied over the loudspeaker so all could hear. “Just say when.”
“You okay, Charlie?” Melissa asked, looking past Stone.
“Fine, Mel,” Charlie nodded. “Is my dad…?” Melissa shook her head. “Damn.”
“You ride with us and see this shit through,” Melissa said. “Then we take you to Capreze. That’s the deal.”
Stone locked eyes with Melissa for a few moments then nodded. “Fair enough. I have a feeling I could survive a ten thousand foot drop even if you wanted to toss me out of that aircraft.”
“I may put that to the test,” Melissa smiled. “Now get your ass inside.” Stone nodded and slowly walked past to the BTT. Melissa grabbed Mr. Gein by the arm. “Do I know you?”
“The name’s Gein,” Mr. Gein said. “I used to be someone. Now I’m nothing.”
“Let’s keep it that way,” Melissa said. “Being on my radar right now isn’t healthy for anyone.”
“Point taken,” Mr. Gein nodded and continued past.
“Good to see you, Mel,” Charlie said as he hugged her. “Did anyone make it off that beach?”
“Not that I know of,” Melissa said.
“Des?”
Melissa shrugged. “Trying not to think about it.”
“Me too. You coming?”
“Styles will get you settled,” Melissa said. “I have some work to do here.”
Melissa moved to the mag-skiff and started working on suits right away. Dog pulled up next to her.
“Sure we shouldn’t off the fucker now?” Dog asked. “Might be safer.”
“I don’t know what he is,” Melissa said. “So he stays alive until I do. That way I can make sure he stays dead when I kill him.”
Dog smiled and motioned for riders to come get their suits. “Sounds good.”
“Feels bad,” Melissa said as she finished converting the BC from the skiff into suits. “I’ll get more made once you guys start fucking up those HAVs. That’ll be plenty of BC for all.”
