Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 3): March

by Dave Rowlands

  The Colonel ordered us to keep on firing, in fact to use up all the assault rifle ammo we had with us. We complied, many of the Dead facing us simply disintegrating under the onslaught. There were always more to replace them, however, a seemingly unending tide of walking Death that lusted for our Living flesh.

  Redbeard tossed grenade after grenade into the oncoming horde, scattering those standing, splattering the walls with a foul-looking, even fouler-smelling glorp. He ran out of explosives long before the hallway was clear of Dead, however, and finally picked up a spare wrench, and threw it at the leading Dead, knocking its rotting head from its shoulders.

  Seeing this, the newcomers among us charged the horde, melee weapons held high. Firecracker shouted at them not to be stupid, but one by one, they disappeared, making a tunnel through the Dead infesting our exit, and, drawing my sword, I quickly followed suit, Apocalypse Girl at my heels, the rest of our group behind her.

  We passed several newcomers that had fallen, The Colonel sparing one round for each of them that she saw to spare them any further pain as they were eaten by the Dead. My sword sliced through more Dead skulls than I could count, and yet suddenly, there it was before me. The gate, hanging from one small hinge, the grey gloom of day behind it beckoning me onward.

  I burst through the gate, Apocalypse Girl directly behind me, and we fell out into a huge, grey snowdrift, tumbling past still more Dead, the others falling with us, some of them past us. We picked ourselves up, quick as we were able, and started running to the east, past any Dead, killing those close enough, but not daring to waste any time with it.

  Junior was no fool, but nobody knew if he had even heard the plan. The best we could hope for would be that he waited until the last possible moment before detonating the nuke. When that last moment occurred, however, remained variable. We kept moving.

  At one point, I heard a scream from behind. Whirling around, I drew my blade to see Auntie being grabbed by several Dead. Her screams were drawing other nearby shamblers to her, almost sounding a Dinner Bell of the Dead. Boy stood, staring at her, mouth wide open, and two nearby Dead fell on him, tearing at his flesh with their teeth. Girl was nowhere to be seen, though we could easily hear her screams.

  Doctor and Nurse flew past me, stopping for nothing, and I turned back around to find Apocalypse Girl reaching for me to drag me along after them. Redbeard and The Colonel caught up to us easily enough, Sister running past them, dodging and weaving through the Dead like a professional after the couple from Japan.

  evening

  The devastation that the carpet of Dead had left in their wake was total, utter, and complete. Nothing remained of houses that they had torn through except an occasional wall left standing. There had been several victims of the horde, that much was evident by the fresh blood smeared here and there amongst the destruction.

  It did, however, make walking through the flattened suburbs of Melbourne an interesting and, at least in terms of travel, a swift journey. We managed to find a lot of familiar faces, though most of the newcomers had died breaking out of the tunnel. Foreman, one of the first to make a break for it, was far ahead of the rest of us, and had already started a fire in a relatively unmolested house that actually managed to still retain two walls that intersected with one another. This fire served as a beacon for the rest of The Think Tanks survivors.

  By the time Apocalypse Girl and I arrived with Redbeard and The Colonel, Doctor and Nurse were already there checking Sister and Foreman out for possible injuries. The four of us were next under Doctor's scrutiny. He smiled slightly, grunting with satisfaction upon declaring me fit and well. Nurse had just declared Apocalypse Girl healthy when Firecracker arrived, followed almost instantly by Archer and The Twin.

  We sat, watching the glow that had once been the sun sinking below the horizon when a new sun lit up the evening sky from a mountaintop to the northwest. Shielding our eyes from the blast as quickly as we were able, nothing could prepare us for the shockwave that followed. Those of us standing were knocked clean off our feet by a blast of intensely hot air. The two walls left standing of this house fell.

  When we regained our senses, we fixated on a plume of steam rising from what had once been The Think Tanks water supply lake. The Colonel surmised that the entire lake had probably been vaporised by the intense heat and radiation from the blast. Whatever the cause, it was the first bit of colour we had seen since the first snows had fallen.

  Above the remains of The Think Tank, a vibrant, brilliant rainbow of colour brought some hope into our dreary existence, caused by Junior's nuclear sacrifice.

  March 10 Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Eleven of us. Only eleven of us survived the war, brief though it was, and the escape through a hungry horde of Dead. Spat out into the devastation that had once been suburban Melbourne, we once more had to scrounge for food and other supplies. Apocalypse Girl at least had the foresight to grab her bag of lighters, so at least fire was not an issue, but with only one bag of food between eleven of us we were going to have a few difficulties soon enough.

  The carpet of Dead that had swarmed out from Melbourne had done us one favour, at least. The way they had flattened the neighbourhood made for easy travel, and we could see any stragglers and dispatch them long before they became aware of us.

  Doctor and Nurse had grabbed what medical supplies they had managed to scrape together, but the small Japanese man insisted they needed more. Looking at the bag full of bandages and antibiotics and syringes mixed with other assorted medical items that I am certain have names, probably long and hard to pronounce ones, I saw that he was correct. There was not a lot in there, and it was already a pitifully small bag.

  The Colonel wanted to continue towards Canberra, as had always been the plan in the first place, but agreed that the need for medical supplies outweighed everything else. We needed to find a hospital to raid, she told us. Sister wanted to take a small group and search the area we had found her, hoping that the devastation wasn't complete enough that the food stashes she had secreted around the place were still in place. Redbeard, Archer and The Twin offered to go with her, Archer assuring everybody that he would be more than capable of tracking our progress.

  Sister's group moved off, Archer promising that we would reunite by nightfall at the latest. The Colonel, Firecracker, Foreman, Apocalypse Girl and I, together with Doctor and Nurse, headed towards the still-standing remains of the city itself, massive buildings shrouded in gloom.

  noon

  We had stopped for lunch, closer to the city than I would have liked, but with more than enough visibility in case any Dead decided to join us for our meal. This was unlikely, however, as we had found and killed maybe a dozen stragglers over the course of our travels for the day. The closer we drew to Melbourne, the fewer Dead we encountered. It really seemed as if they had all just evacuated the city to try and get at us at The Think Tank.

  Almost as soon as we had finished filling our stomachs, Apocalypse Girl's phone jangled unexpectedly, making the seven of us almost leap out of our skins. Laughing, she showed me the message. Made it out alive. Hope you guys alright. Clearly The Smart Couple had found their way out. I sent a reply stating that eleven of us made it out. Moments later, the phone jangled once again in my hand. The message this time reading Only two of us. Making for The Facility. Join us there when convenient.

  We were all still sitting around grinning like a bunch of idiots when Sister and her group discovered us. They had managed to find four of the bags that she had hidden, the rest having disappeared, either taken by bandits or dragged away by the Dead as they trampled through the area. Still, we now had more food, enough for maybe a week, if we were careful with it. Next up, the medical supplies.

  evening

  We went just inside the city, finding a large building, a furniture shop with a smashed storefront allowing us access. Inside we found little, but some furniture that had been severely bled on a couple of months ago. As the blo
od was completely dry, with no further evidence of the Dead, we collapsed on the couches to relax for a while. The Colonel stood guard, at least for a while, until Redbeard came up with the idea of barricading the front window with a few couches. There were plenty around that we were able to pick and choose, the least comfy couches went into the window barricade, the more comfortable ones we moved into a large, loose circle and fell into them.

  Still, upon finding the back door locked up tightly, we figured that we should post a couple of guards on watch, Redbeard and The Colonel taking the first shift. Redbeard had taken the time to shave his head before we had left The Think Tank, but his beard remained. The Colonel pointed this out to him, and pulled out a pair of scissors from who-knows-where. In short order she had removed most of his facial hair, leaving about half a centimetre of beard so that his face wasn't too cold. She smirked the entire time.

  March 11 Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Waking up, I extricated myself from Apocalypse Girl's arms, going out into the deserted snow-covered streets to relieve my aching bladder. Steam arose from the stream of urine as it hit the greyish snow. A stray Dead wandered around in the distance, kicking up puffs of snow with each footfall. It hadn't noticed me yet, so I decided to sneak up on it and swiftly and silently dispatch it with my sword.

  Blade easily sliced through rotting flesh, skull and brains. Then I noticed the rest of them. Not many, no more than about twenty or so, but as I was alone, I slowly retreated. My foot came down on an aluminium can that had been partially hidden by the snow, and the noise generated was inordinately loud. I didn't even bother to check whether the Dead had heard, I ran for the furniture shop, knowing that they would at least follow the movement, but with ten other people backing me up we should make short work of this group.

  Sheathing my katana, I lightly vaulted over the couches blocking the broken storefront window, letting all those inside know about the Dead that were following in my wake. Apocalypse Girl, still half asleep, pulled her .45 out before even opening her eyes. The Colonel and Redbeard were ready for anything, as usual, Firecracker readying her sharpened iron bar for use. She and Foreman stood ready behind the barricade, he with a fucking big hammer in his hands. Sister, Archer and The Twin stood ready behind those of us armed with pistols, bow and rifles at the ready. Doctor and Nurse huddled behind them and we waited for the Dead to arrive.

  They never came. After a good fifteen minutes of silently waiting, hearing no sounds other than those of our own breathing, Apocalypse Girl stuck her head out to see what the fuck was going on, then she froze. A voice from outside ordered us to leave the shop at once.

  We did, only to be greeted by several armed people wrapped head to toes in heavy clothing, both for warmth and protection, I assumed. We outnumbered them by nearly double, but they had us at a major disadvantage, one of them pointing a rocket launcher directly at the storefront, the other five pointing various firearms at those of us they judged most dangerous. This meant that Redbeard, Archer, The Twin, The Colonel and I all had guns pointed at our heads.

  The one who had spoken ordered us to hand over our guns, promising that we would get them back in time, once we had proven ourselves to their leaders. Our melee weapons they decided to let us keep, in case the Dead came near, so that we could at least defend ourselves. My sword, however, they took from me, handing me a crowbar in its place. Sarcastically I thanked our 'hosts' and together we moved out, going to the corner around which I had seen the massed Dead, and into a manhole that one of our captors lifted open for us. I noticed, too late now, that the Dead had been chained in place. They hadn't ever been a threat to us.

  noon

  We were marched through the sewers, filled with shit but clear of Dead, and up another manhole before too long. Upon the surface I looked back, seeing that we had basically just gone under the chained Dead. Turning back forwards, I saw that the street was clean. No cars, battered, burned out or otherwise littered the road, even the snow was cleared away. A few broken down doors had been boarded up, other doorways lay empty of wood, still more held what appeared to be freshly made doors. People wandered around the place, doing normal people things that normal people do. There was no fear here, not of the Dead, at least.

  Eventually bringing the eleven of us to a large building, formerly a school, we were ordered to sit on the bench in what had once been the front office. I felt like nothing so more than a naughty schoolboy who had been sent to the principal's office for punishment. Again. Looking at Apocalypse Girl seated beside me, it was clear that she felt the same way. Redbeard attempted to speak, and was told to shut up for his efforts. He glared at our captors, but remained silent.

  One by one we were sent into the office, reminding me even more of a school punishment, with nobody allowed to talk to one another, so that we couldn't make up a story on the fly to tell anyone. When it came to my turn, I stood, walked into the office, and beheld an elderly man, tiny and bespectacled, seated behind a desk.

  “This used to be my school,” The Principal told me, “So, when the Dead started coming back, I decided that it was a far more secure location than my house had been. Alas my wife succumbed to one of the earlier attacks.” This had a rehearsed feel to it, so I assumed he used it on all the new arrivals. “But, we have gathered quite a few survivors here. I think the head-count is now over a hundred, we often get a few new people every day or so. Not everybody chooses to stay, of course, nor is absolutely everybody welcome, but those who fit in well are offered a position.”

  I asked him exactly what 'fitting in' entails. He smiled, saying that the people that lived here all respected one another, helped out when needed. He apologised for his scouts essentially abducting us, but that was their primary method for recruiting new personnel. Send out scouts, find new people, bring them back, then The Principal would talk to them, one on one. Anyone that didn't fit in would be escorted to the edge of their territory, and let loose. He smilingly told me that he had made a few enemies in his short time leading this community, mainly by letting the odd individual stay from some groups that would have preferred to keep them. Needless to say, most of these individuals had been female.

  I nodded, saying that the world had gone to shit, certainly, and a lot of survivors seemed to have gone to shit as well. I told him of our former companion, Biker, who had come from a group like those The Principal despised. He asked about the women in our group. I laughingly told him that if anybody tried anything like that with any of them, they were likely to lose their testicles in a hurry.

  Chuckling in response, he told me that I was more than welcome to stay. Pushing a button on the intercom on his desk, he asked someone to 'bring it in' and one of those who had grabbed us at the furniture shop came in a moment later, handing me my katana formally, with a bow. I accepted it gratefully, bowing in turn. He then led me outside, where most of the rest of our group was located. Only Doctor and Nurse remained on the bench, I gave the pair of them a smile on my way out.

  evening

  Only one of us didn't pass The Principal's examination. We were all as surprised as she herself was, but The Colonel was asked politely to leave The School. The Principal had an issue with military personnel, it seemed, as the majority of those groups that had been rejected consisted of military types. Archer had only just squeaked through by The Principal acknowledging that he had been conscripted into his war, but as The Colonel had willingly joined up, risen through the ranks, then he had reasoned that she must be of the same mentality as the rest.

  This rejection didn't bother her much, as her goal was still to reach Canberra, but the rest of us were pissed off royally by it. Apocalypse Girl nearly got herself thrown out by being overly loud about it, and most of the rest of us with her, until I calmed her down and told The Principal that if she had to go, then we would follow her. Doctor and Nurse, however, decided that they were going to stay. The School had far more people to care for than the nine of the rest of us, and therefore the
y could do more good here.

  The Colonel told us on her way out that she would hole up in the furniture shop for a couple of days, in case any of us decided we wanted to continue our journey north to Canberra. On the morning of the 14, she planned to head on out. If we joined her, her chances were much greater. If not, she wasn't fucking likely to survive on her own for long. Apocalypse Girl and I were the first to promise our aid, Redbeard, Sister and Firecracker backing us up. Archer and The Twin, however, like Foreman, were going to take some time to think about it before making a solid decision.

  Our captor took us on a quick tour while we still had some relative light left to see by. They had a supermarket nearby that they still used as a basic food storage area, having set up a generator to run the fridges day and night, a service station near that which clearly still contained a large reserve in it's underground tanks. There was a pub for the locals to relax in, though the booze had run dry weeks ago they still served tea.