by Jake Bible
“Great,” Masters said thinking of the zombie horde that was still below. And heading straight for the train because of them.
***
“Hold that still!” Moss shouted. “You drop that and we’ll all blow up!”
“Kiss my ass, Jonny,” Watts said. “I’ve got it steady. You just hurry up and bolt those straps down.”
“You’re going to kill us all,” Marin said as she watched the two mechanics bolt missile engines to the back of the rear train engine. “This will blow us to a million pieces.”
“Certainly will,” Jay said as he limped up to Marin. “Hey.”
“Still alive,” Marin nodded. “Good to see that. Any word on the others?”
“Nope,” Jay said. “If they’re alive then they’re in a world of shit.” Jay hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “We’ve got company.”
Marin turned around and squinted into the sun. “Ah, shit.”
“That ain’t gonna work,” Jay said. “Unless you have them angled perfectly those engines are just going to send this car flying off the tracks.”
“I don’t think so,” Watts said.
“Oh, well,” Jay said as he started walking away. “Your funeral.”
“Where are you going?” Marin asked.
“I’m gonna keep putting distance between me and those fucking deaders,” Jay said. “And I’m not getting on this train.”
“You’d rather get eaten alive?” Marin glared.
“I’d rather have a fighting chance than being on a derailed train when they come for me,” Jay said. “But that’s just me.”
“You really think this won’t work?” Watts asked.
“I know it won’t,” Jay said. “Plus, how are you going to coordinate them? You have no electronics! You’ll have to manually fire them all at once. Think you can really do that?”
Watts and Moss looked at each other.
“Yeah,” Jay grinned. “That’s what I thought. Marin, get your people to hoofing it. You have a small head start. Take that opportunity.”
“Ah, fuck,” Marin swore. “You two, get down. We need to evacuate.” They hopped down and Marin slapped them both upside the head. “I can’t believe you two talked me into this.”
“But, you-,” Moss started.
“Shut the fuck up,” Marin growled. “Go get weapons and water. We have a long fucking hike to make.”
Jay stopped where he was and looked up in the sky. “Well, I’ll be.”
“What?” Marin asked then the shadow fell over her.
“Those things sure are quiet,” Jay said. “Even when beat up.”
The BTT landed next to the train and the ramp descended. Masters helped Harlow down the ramp.
“Hey, Jay,” Masters said. “Looks like the train can use some power?”
“What’s wrong?” Jay asked, his eyes on Harlow. “Oh, sweet Jeezus…”
***
Jay had a hard time concentrating on what Marin and Styles 7 were discussing. His attention was fully on Harlow as Masters wiped her forehead with a wet cloth.
“Rind?” Marin snapped. “Are you listening?”
“No,” Jay admitted. “What?”
“Do you think this support structure will hold?” Styles asked. “And how long will it take to weld it together?”
Jay studied the rough schematics that Marin had drawn and nodded. “Yes and an hour if everyone works on it.”
“We don’t have an hour,” Masters said as he glanced out the train window at the mass of zombies. “Maybe twenty minutes.”
“What if we tow the train for the first few miles?” Styles 7 suggested. “Get us a little more breathing room?”
“We can rig a tow cable in a few minutes,” Jay said. “But how long can your BTT stay in the air?”
“Long enough to get us a ways off so we can then weld it to the front engine,” Styles 7 said. “But it will be a slow launch. I take off at full speed and I’ll destroy your train. Probably rip the front engine in half.”
“Then we get some guns and we hold off as many as possible,” Marin said. “Every able bodied person that can pull a trigger will be on the end of the train.”
“That won’t be needed,” Masters said. “I can provide a distraction.”
“How the hell are you going to do that?” Jay asked. “You have Harlow to look out for. You aren’t…going to…” Jay shook his head. “No, Masters. No fucking way.”
“She’s already gone,” Masters said. “Look at her, man.”
They all did and could see that Harlow was well on her way to turning. The bite from the techno-zombie not only was potent, but the strain used obviously had an accelerated incubation timeline. Harlow’s cheeks were sunken in and her eyes flicked madly behind her lids. Her skin had turned gray and her breathing was shallow and irregular.
“That doesn’t mean you have to die,” Marin said. “You have a whole life ahead of you!”
“No, I don’t,” Masters said. “You saw what happened to me the last time I thought I lost Harlow. I was a fucking mess!” Tears welled in his eyes and he struggled to speak. “I can’t. I just can’t. She’s the only thing that makes this life worth it for me.”
“Jesus,” Styles 7 said. “You’re gonna make me cry, man. That’s some fucking love right there.”
“No, it isn’t!” Jay said. “It’s fucking suicide and it’s bullshit!”
“Jay…,” Masters said softly. “I’m not coming with. I’ll sit up on top of that rear engine car. You guys leave it with me and Harlow. I’ll make sure the deaders come for me and you all have a head start.”
“You can’t shoot them all, Mitch,” Jay said, shaking his head. “They’ll tear you apart. What, are you going to eat your own gun? Fucking coward.”
“Eat my gun?” Masters laughed. “I’m Mitch Mother Fucking Masters. I’ll be going out in style, bitches.”
***
“Tow line is in place,” Jay said as he stood on the side ladder to the roof of the rear engine car. The car had been decoupled and was standing alone thirty yards from the rest of the train. “You sure you won’t change your mind?”
“Never been so sure about anything in my life,” Masters said as he sat on top of the car, Harlow cradled in his arms. He looked down through a roof hatch at what lay below inside the car. “This will be quite a show. Make sure you guys are watching.”
“I won’t take my eyes off of you,” Jay said. “I promise.”
The two men looked at each other for a while then both nodded.
“Crazy fucker,” Jay said.
“Grumpy old fuck,” Masters replied.
“See you in Hell,” Jay said as he climbed down the ladder. “Save me a seat.”
“I’ll keep it warm for you,” Masters said as he watched the wave of zombies coming at them. “Now move ass, Rind!”
Jay didn’t have to be told twice. He ran faster than he ever had before and grabbed onto the railing of the rear train car. He pulled himself up and gave a quick wave. The train lurched as the BTT in front started to slowly pull it away.
Masters gave a return wave then looked at the zombies. Quite a few had split from the main wave and were running towards the train. Masters picked up his pistol and fired a shot into the air. All undead eyes fell on him.
“Feeding time!” Masters shouted. “Come and get it!”
He set the pistol aside and pulled his knife, cutting a long gash into his forearm. He flicked the gushing blood off the car and onto the dirt below. The zombies picked up their pace as the scent of fresh blood hit their noses. Masters flicked more and more as his arm poured blood.
“Oooh, ouch,” he said. “I think I nicked something big.”
Harlow stirred and her face scrunched up as she caught a whiff of Masters’s blood. Her eyes opened slowly and Masters winced at what he saw.
“Ah, baby,” he said as he looked into the clouded, yellow eyes of a deader. “Oh, my sweet, sweet girl.”
He gripped her to
him as she started to become more animated. She struggled against his arms, her head twisting and twisting, trying to find the source of the delicious smell. Masters had to use all of his strength to keep her from full on attacking him. As the blood left his body he knew that strength was going to follow.
He glanced down at the pistol next to him.
“Almost time,” he whispered in Harlow’s ear. She jerked and snapped at his face. “Ah, fuck. What the hell, right?”
Masters looked out at the mass of zombies that had surrounded the train car. There were thousands and thousands and he felt them crushing against the car, their weight starting to rock the train car from side to side. The pistol slid slightly and Masters grabbed it.
“Okay, baby,” he said as he tilted his head, exposing his neck. “One last taste of Mitchy before we go.”
The creature that had been Harlow opened her mouth wide and clamped down on Masters’s exposed flesh. He held in the cry that almost escaped his lips and aimed the pistol down through the top hatch in the train car. He took careful aim, making sure he had the exact spot Jay had pointed out in his sights.
“I...love you,” Masters gasped as Harlow ripped out part of his throat.
Before he could choke on his own blood he fired.
The bullet hit the mark perfectly and the payloads from twenty-seven missiles exploded in a split second chain reaction.
***
Chief Mechanic Jay Rind wept openly as he watched the fireball soar into the sky. He knew Masters and Harlow had been vaporized and hadn’t felt a thing, but he couldn’t help thinking that he could have done something else. He could have come up with a plan that would have saved them.
Marin, by Jay’s side, looked at him as a small laugh escaped his lips. “What the hell can you find funny?”
“I just thought I could have done something,” Jay said. “I could have come up with someway that they didn’t have to die. But Harlow was bit? She’d already turned. I was born in this shit and yet my fucking ego thought I could fix her. I actually thought I could save someone that had turned deader. That’s what’s funny. Me.”
The flames from the explosion, and the blast wave that followed, wiped out a quarter mile worth of deaders. Marin nodded towards the destruction. “They gave us the space and time we needed. The train is up to speed and we’ll be at a safe distance soon. They didn’t die for nothing.”
“Yeah,” Jay said. “But they still died.”
***
“Ah, where the fuck are they going?” Bisby asked as he peered through binocs at the Railer train. “And what the fuck was that boom all about?”
“Beats me,” Mathew said. “But I’m glad I’m fifty feet up above all of those fucking deaders.”
“Eventually they’ll start figuring out that meat is up here,” Bisby said. “Then we’ll have a problem.”
“I don’t think so,” One Arm said. “I hate the dead. None will be allowed to climb me.”
“Works for me,” Mathew said. “Is there anything to eat in here?”
“Shut the fuck up, Matty,” Bisby snapped. “We’ll eat when we get to the Stronghold.”
“Ifwe get to the Stronghold,” Mathew replied.
Bisby didn’t argue with him.
Fifty-Nine
“Wounded to the infirmary!” June shouted as the BTTs landed. “Fucking move, people!”
Stretchers were hurried from the bellies of some of the BTTs and set on ATVs. The small vehicles raced inside the Stronghold, heading for the infirmary. Other BTTs unloaded cyces and riders, Immy and Dog among them.
“Jenny inside?” Dog asked as he walked up to Capreze.
“She is,” Capreze said. “She’s in the mess I’m pretty sure.” Capreze looked Dog up and down. “So, how does it feel?”
“How does what feel, sir?” Dog asked.
“To be a leader,” Capreze said. “Is it a rush? Do you have that surge of power running through you like you can do anything you want?”
“If by surge of power you mean does my ass hurt, my shoulder hurt, am I exhausted, hungry, stressed and pretty much scared out of my motherfucking mind?” Dog replied. “Then yes, that’s exactly how I feel.”
“Good for you,” Capreze nodded. “Welcome to the club.”
“Does it get easier?” Dog asked as they walked into the hangar.
“Nope.”
“Fucking great.”
“Hey!” Immy shouted. “You just gonna leave me here?”
“Oh, shit, sorry,” Dog said. “Come on. Let’s get some food before we have to get back to it.” He looked at Capreze. “Any word on when the deaders hit?”
“Scans are still sketchy because of the radiation,” Capreze replied. “But it’s going to be sometime in the night.”
“Fuck,” Immy said. “A night attack by the undead is never good.”
“No, it’s not,” Capreze agreed. “But we have some help with that.” He stopped and looked Dog square in the eye. “I’m gonna need you at your best. Think you’re up for it?”
“You know I am,” Dog said. “We can put riders on the line. They won’t be as effective at night, but they can still shoot and bullets don’t need a halogen to find their targets.”
“Thank God for that,” Capreze nodded.
***
“Still no sign of the Great Maker,” Brother Reynaldo said. “All Brothers and Sisters have reported in. He must have slipped away to save himself.”
“Colonel Maker isn’t that type of coward,” the Pope said. “He must have his own agenda.”
“The Stronghold?”
“Possibly,” the Pope shrugged. “But that is Capreze’s problem. Are the blood cannons ready?”
“Yes, JP,” Brother Reynaldo nodded. “Everyone donated. When the infidel dead arrive we will paint them red and our Disciples will tear them apart, sending each and every one to Hell.”
“Good,” the Pope nodded. “Tell the Brothers and Sisters to get some rest. This will be a big night.”
“Yes, JP,” Brother Reynaldo nodded. “It will be glorious.”
***
The voices in his head grew stronger and louder as the Great Maker made his way from familiar corridor to familiar corridor. The base smell of the Stronghold hadn’t changed in all the years he’d been gone and the olfactory triggers sent memories flying through his mind. He wanted to argue with the memories, to fight with the voices, but the Great Maker knew that none of it was real.
But it felt so real. So very real.
He’d feasted once more before hiding again and his body felt energized as he went from shadow to shadow, making his way so slowly, so carefully to the mainframe room. Oh, when he reached that room then the days of the blasphemous flesh would be over. It would be the true rising of the metal!
He rounded a corner and stopped in his tracks. A young boy stood before him, his eyes as wide and big as his abnormal ears. The two just stared at each other for a brief moment.
“Are you afraid of me?” the Great Maker asked. “You do not need to fear me boy.” The Great Maker looked about the corridor. “I used to play in this place when I was a child. I used to explore and run and pretend. Can you pretend something for me, boy?”
Stan just stood there, frozen with fear.
“Do you not speak, child?” the Great Maker asked. “Or has fear taken your tongue?”
Stan opened his mouth to show the Great Maker his lack of tongue to take.
“Oh, I see,” the Great Maker nodded. “Another victim of humanity’s kindness.” The Great Maker shook his head, his red eyes glowing brightly. “I would wager that there is no love lost between you and the blasphemers, am I correct?”
Stan cocked his head, questioning.
“Oh, you are too young to explain it all to,” the Great Maker. “But too old for me to allow you to go free.”
Stan took a step back and the Great Maker was on him. He grabbed the boy about the head, his hand clamped over the boy’s mouth. Stan’s fee
t dangled above the concrete as the Great Maker lifted him up.
“I should kill you and feed,” the Great Maker said, more to himself than to Stan. “But I am not a monster. I am not what they make me out to be. I’ll bring you with me.”
Stan struggled and the Great Maker smacked him hard at the base of his skull; he went limp instantly.
“Very good,” the Great Maker said. “I may be able to save you, boy. May be able to make you into the next generation that this wasteland needs so very much.”
***
The vid screens went completely dark for a moment and then flashed back to life.
“That was intense,” Jethro said. “I never could figure out how to defrag the entire mainframe without losing essential systems.”
“Just a matter of compartmentalizing each system then creating a redundancy so that nothing goes down,” Beth replied. “Then toss the redundancies once the defrag ends. This mainframe has more than enough storage to do this on a daily basis. Can’t you feel the increased speed?”
“Yeah,” Jethro said, breathless if he had breath. “It’s better than sex.”
“Oh,” Beth replied quietly. “About that.”
“What?” Jethro asked, shocked. “Hey, that wasn’t a proposition. I mean we don’t even have bodies. Well, technically I do have a body, but it would be like doing it with a deader since I’m kinda shriveled up and-... I should stop talking.”
“You can, but it doesn’t really matter,” Beth said. “I know what you’re thinking anyway.”
“Whoa...really?” Jethro exclaimed. “But I thought I’d firewalled our personalities. Did I miss something?”
“The firewall just blocked you from me,” Beth said. “Which I appreciate. But you left a few holes in the code that I can see right through.”
“Well, turn away!” Jethro said. “Oh, man, turn away! Don’t look through the holes!”
“I’m gonna have to ask,” Beth giggled. “What’s the Shocker? It sounds kind of kinky.”
