Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 6): June

by Dave Rowlands

  Anno Zombus:

  Year 1;

  June

  by Dave Rowlands

  For the usual suspects...

  June 1stYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Apocalypse Girl was pissed off. I had told her late last night about Disciple'srequestthat I help him take out the Bosses of the Empire. She failed to see exactly why I should help someone that had abducted, imprisoned and raped dozens of women. She also failed to see that it was notthatDisciple that I would be assisting, but the man I had once known, or what remained of him. If anything did. Eventually she relented, however. As long as we took her with us.

  That, I'm sorry to say, Ifound unacceptable. These Bosses, no doubt, would be among the most heavily protected humans left Living. She didn't care, in fact used that exact argument against me. I told her that we would still find the Alice Facility before anything else, so that she had somewhere safe to wait for me, not to mention somewhere safe to have the baby if I didn't return. She didn'twantto be safe if I wasn't there, she told me. Infuriating woman. I told her that I would take Sister, Scout as well if need be. She gave me one ofthose looks, one of the ones that shrivels up everything inside of you, makes you realise that pissingthisone off would be worse than all the Dead in the world chewing on you. In the end I relented, telling her that we had so far seen this whole thing out together, and I didn't really want to leave her behind. I only wanted her to be safe, that was all. That, somehow, made things worse. So far this morning she had yet to say two words to me.

  Ginger wanted me to give him a hand with some more expansions to the Nest, having been in touch with The Colonel and hearing that a fairly large group of survivors wanted to move up to Coober, figuring that what had once been the incredibly hot centre of Australia would be less Cold than the rest of the world. If it was, we didn't notice it. In any case, Ginger told me he needed space for another twenty. The Colonel estimated that she would have them here within days.

  noon

  “Seems like your girl doesn't like me much,” Disciple greeted me as I laboured, bolting fresh supports in place. “Hell, it seems like nobody likes me much around here.” I wonder why that could be. His scarred visage grimaced in what might have been a smile. “Anyway, we need to plan this little expedition of ours.” I told him that I was busy, we can plan later. He laughed. “I've heard you're looking for a certain underground complex up at Alice Springs. Well, finding that place is the first part.” He turned to leave me to my work. “There, that's the plan so far.” His laughter haunted me long after he left. Dentist called me for lunch after an interminably long time spend labouring out in the Cold. I hadn't realised just how hungry I had been until I had finished my third bowl of Chef's delicious stew. After lunch, it was back to work with the expansions. Ginger was with me, wondering if the new expansions would be sturdy enough, would be roomy enough, would be warm enough.

  Eventually, it became too dark to work any longer, and we retired to the communal area. Apocalypse Girl was reading a story to the children, pausing briefly to look up at me as I entered. Her eyes told me that she hadn't forgiven me yet, but the smile on her lips told me that I was not completely doomed. Yet.

  evening

  Disciple wanted just the two of us, he and I, to go in alone. I told him that was utter insanity. Apocalypse Girl told him that she went where I went, there was no further need for discussion on the subject. Sister piped up that she went wherever we went. Sonny said he would not be left behind, and Scout, who had just popped in to let us know that dinner was ready, told us that she would be coming as well, if we would have her. Disciple didn't want her, but was alone. In the end, he stormed off in disgust to sulk alone in the newcomers' section. Despite being willing to share a grin of triumph with me, Apocalypse Girl still didn't want to talk, so I asked her for the radio. She handed it to me with barely a grunt and I went outside.

  Soldier had little news from The School, apparently The Principal was sick though Doctor assured everybody he'd be fine. Viking and Valkyrie had returned at last, arriving just this morning. The loss of Cyclops was a blow to the remaining Mech-Techs, though the return of their leader was cause for celebration. I asked him what he could tell me of The Empire, their organisation, anything he had heard that might be of some use. He could tell me little, just confirmed that they were led by a triumvirate, three people known as The Bosses. After Soldier I tried to contact The Colonel, resulting in a rather lengthy conversation with The Smart Couple. I told them what Fluffy theSchrandfelthshad said about the three alien species vying for control of the planet. Then the pair began asking all sorts of questions, none of which I was remotely capable of understanding, let alone answering. I also warned them of the Dingoes around here, describing one in detail as it prowled about below me.

  Signing off, I turned around to see Disciple staring at me. “So, you've actually met one. I had heard some of my friends talking about seeing one of their craft flying low during one of those freaky multicolored lightning displays of theirs, but...” I crouched low, ready to grab him and throw him to the Dingo below if he came anywhere near me. He chuckled quietly to himself. “If you wanted to know about The Bosses, why not just ask me?”

  I told him that I wanted some information of my own, so I knew what questions to ask him. Raising a charred eyebrow he gave me a questioning look, then nodded. “We'll talk more about all of this tomorrow. Right now I need sleep.” He said, ducking back inside the newcomers' section.

  June 2ndYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Scout woke me up this morning, asking Apocalypse Girl and I if we wanted to accompany her on a trip to get some fresh supplies. She lay out a map before us, showing the locations of several Meat-beasts that she knew of as well as a building about five hundred metres from the base of tower of the Nest. Apocalypse Girl wanted to know what was inside, Scout telling her that it had been set up as a hydroponic vegetable garden. It had been set up so that it was almost totally self-sufficient, but there was one man that stayed around to keep an eye on things.

  Chef had made a huge mess of porridge for breakfast, tasty despite being so bland. Dentist handed out massive chunks of fresh-baked bread beside her and the three of us ate our fill before descending the rope ladder to the ground. Scout vanished for a moment only to reappear behind the wheel of an old Land Rover that had been insulated somewhat against the Cold by blankets that had been stuffed inside the doors.

  It was an awkward journey, because bloody Apocalypse Girl was still refusing to talk with me. Scout seemed to find the whole thing amusing, but I just found it painful and annoying. Rather than drive in total silence, however, she turned on the stereo. “Had this installed about a week before the shit hit the fan,” She yelled over the music. It was the first heavy metal, indeed the first real music I had heard since using it to distract the Dead so that Apocalypse Girl and I could escape the chemist in which we had been trapped. “It's the only remotely new thing about this fucker!” She slapped the steering wheel.

  noon

  We arrived at the first of several Meat-beasts shortly before midday. Scout took out a huge knife and began hacking away while Apocalypse Girl stood watch for any Dead. I drew my katana and joined Scout in slicing away great chunks of flesh from this mutant former cow. After a couple of minutes, Scout declared that we had enough meat from this particular source and we should move on to the next.

  The second Meat-beast had clearly been savaged by Dingoes during the night, but there was plenty of regrowth already. Nevertheless, Scout suggested that we move on without harvesting anything from this one. The third was nice and fresh still and the meat cut away easily enough.

  The fourth Meat-be
ast on the other hand... It was alive, still, that much we could determine easily enough, but it had been burnt, scorched in fact, and attacked by something with nasty, sharp teeth. Scout paled, mouthed 'Dragon' and silently insisted that we move on and move on quickly.

  We climbed into the Land Rover quietly and drove on, heading to the hydroponic facility. The route that Scout had chosen took us in a fairly wide circle, but it was clearly one that she had travelled many times and knew well. This resulted in us making good time and we were at the hydroponic building about an hour ahead of schedule.

  There were several Dead trying to get inside through the main door, which Scout told us was normal and to not worry about them. Instead, she parked the Land Rover around the back of the building and we climbed up onto the roof using our vehicle as a makeshift staircase. From there, Scout showed us to a broken skylight in the ceiling that had a rope ladder descending from it.

  The room below was well lit, the man dozing off in a chair, cock in one hand, porn magazine in the other a disturbing centerpiece. Scout shouted a hearty “OY!” at him and he scurried to put himself away while his face turned crimson. He offered to show us around the place once he had regained his composure, which we accepted. He had run a hydroponic shop before, he told us, and didn't only sell to stoners wanting to grow their weed. So, one day, he decided that he would grow something other than marijuana himself, and set up this place. Two days later the first Dead rose. So he barricaded himself inside, trading with the locals up in Coober's Nest for fresh meat and fuel to keep his generators running.

  Gardener gave us the supplies that Scout had requested, handing him a sack of Meat-beast steaks that he promptly chucked in the freezer. We then retraced our steps, climbing back up to the roof of Gardener's building then down to the Land Rover, slicing apart a couple of Dead on the way down that had become too inquisitive.

  evening

  We pulled up at the base of the tower just as the shadows deepened to true blackness from merely being dark. Climbing the rope ladder that had been thrown down to us, we handed over the supplies to Chef, who accepted them gratefully, handing us each a bowl of stew in turn.

  Sister welcomed us back, Sonny at her side. Disciple glared from a corner. After dinner my former friend decided that he needed to berate me for leaving without telling him about it. I could have been killed, he told me, then where would we be? He'd not have anyone to help him take out The Bosses, for one thing.

  I sat alone with Disciple, asking him about The Empire, though in truth even he could tell me little. He had just gotten in contact with his friends up in Queensland shortly after The Abbott's group had been decimated, who had advised him to join or form a group and pacify Melbourne. The Empire shared a vision with The Colonel, a world with no more Dead.

  He only knew one Boss, he told me, and that would be the one we would target first. He had been a reasonably high-ranking member of a group of bikers before, and with the Dead gnawing on those higher than he in the food-chain he moved up to the top spot in short order. It was his order, Disciple reckoned, that had pacified Brisbane. He had found the other two Bosses in the wreckage of whatever organizations they had led prior to the world ending and together, they formed The Empire. According to Disciple, they had things well in hand in the areas under their control, thanks to swift, decisive action from the very beginning. People lived safe, happy lives in The Empire, he said. Who were we to take that away from them?

  June 3rdYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  We began preparing to leave this morning, gathering up what supplies we could, making sure we had plenty of clean water if nothing else. Scout had offered us the use of her Land Rover to get us to Alice Springs, though with all six of us crammed inside it was likely to be an unpleasant journey. Everything we were taking with us we had strapped to the roof-rack securely, so as to leave as much room inside the Land Rover as possible.

  Apocalypse Girl had decided that she was now speaking to me once more, telling me that trusting Disciple was a bad idea, reminding me that he was not the man I had considered a friend. I knew all that, I told her, but at the very least we needed some information about life within this new Empire. As we had been introduced to them through the depredations of Disciple and his Followers we felt that they were the 'bad guys' but since they had considered the actions of the Followers deplorable enough to kick Disciple off of his throne when they wandered into Melbourne and had since proven to be reasonable neighbours to our friends at The School... More information was needed, I felt, if nothing else. “So you're not even intending on helping me get rid of The Bosses?” Disciple asked, eavesdropping on our conversation. I assured him that I would do as he had asked me. I owed him that much, at least. He smiled his half-charred grin, his one good eye lighting up. “That's good. We're all better offwithoutthem in charge, shall we say. After what they ordered in Sydney...”

  That was not the first time I had heard Sydney alluded to in such a fashion. Traveller, when we had first met him on our way to Canberra, had just gotten his Daughter out before something had happened in Sydney, but he had been loathe to speak more on the subject. Disciple, on the other hand... I asked him.

  “It was not pleasant. I wasn't there, obviously, but I have heard stories. The Boss that we're after first came down with his army, cleared out all of the Dead in the entire city. They didn't put all of them down, though. They always take a few with them, just herd them up. Nobody ever told me why. Anyway,” Disciple looked hard at me with his one good eye, the other one weeping a milky white fluid. “They rounded up all of the Living that they could find, either individual survivors or groups. The individuals were better off, they were just offered 'join us or die' so pretty much all of them joined up.”

  Disciple's grin came nowhere near his eyes. “The groups, on the other hand, were all made to watch as their leaders were crucified. They had to stand and watch as their leaders were stripped naked and tied to stobie poles, light poles, billboards, whatever was nearby. Their leaders were set free just after they died and each group had to deal with their Dead leader their own way.” His grin faded. “Some of them couldn't do anything and were torn apart by the one person they trusted to protect them. After that, they rounded up all of the remaining survivors and offered them the 'join or die' thing. About half of those ones joined up.”

  He stood, turning around to look out into the grey wastes. “Then he had the city nuked.”

  noon

  Scout had gone off with Sonny and Sister to fill up the Land Rover with petrol, gathering any spare containers they could and filling them for the journey to Alice Springs. It was, after all, a nearly seven hundred kilometre trip through incredibly hostile territory and there were bound to be many delays on the roads, either due to Dead, Dingoes or traffic.

  Ginger had conscripted me once more into assisting with the expansions, asking me what I thought of Disciple. I told him that I felt he was no threat to Coober's Nest, but knowing his past as I did I was loathe to trust him. Ginger told me that Disciple had told him a few things about me, though he refused to say what, just pointed out that he considered it idle gossip until he saw hard evidence of anybody's behaviour. He did, however, point out that he inherently distrusted anyone that would spread such stories.

  “If you don't trust him, why are you going off into the unknown with the blighter?” Ginger asked at one point. I told him that I had my reasons. He nodded his red mop of hair. “Yeah, we've all got someone like that in our lives, or we used to!” He laughed quietly to himself. “Look, I'm only going to say this the once. Your missus is preggers, your mates are barely more than kids themselves. You'd be better off staying here than going off on any half-cocked schemes dreamed up by devilish insane burned up amputees, and you're more than welcome to. At least convince your girl to stay while you bugger off with your demon.”

  I told him that I hoped to convince Apocalypse Girl to stay behind at the Alice Facility once we get there, in fact once we find it,
I told Ginger, everybody from Coober's Nest should come and stay there. He shook his head, saying that he preferred living up high these days. Less chance of Dingoes and Dead being able to get in when you're four metres high. It would, he said, be good to have people like us as neighbours then, if we weren't living together.

  evening

  Chef could do wonders with Meat-beast, that much was true. When I complemented her, however, she only blushed and vaguely tried blaming the meal's success on various herbs that she had managed to keep on hand. Sister told her that she had never eaten so well in her entire life as here, which shut her up entirely. Her face turned crimson and her mouth opened and closed as if she were a fish gasping for breath, having been yoinked up out of her comfortably moist undersea environment to die on the shore. It took her a while to get over it.

  Dentist pulled out a bottle of whiskey, pouring the six of us a reasonable measure of the liquid each. We toasted the mission and each other, then we went off to sleep. Tomorrow would bring a new day, dark and gloomy as ever. Somewhere, in the distance, a Dingo shriekhowled.

  June 4thYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Chef made sure we went off with a decent breakfast under our belts, passing a package of jerked Meat-beast to me to stuff into my already full backpack before I descended the rope ladder to Scout's Land Rover.

  There was room enough for the six of us, even if it was a tight squeeze. Scout and Disciple took the front two seats, the rest of us crammed into the back like sardines. We drove through the remains of Coober Pedy, slowing as we drove past the mine where we had lost our truck. It was gone. Disciple pointed out the obvious, that there were other survivors around, not living in the Nest. As we drove, I felt eyes upon me, but when I looked there seemed only darkness through the window looking back at me.

  We drove onwards, leaving the town behind us as we travelled, following the few road signs that we could make out that told us how to get to Alice Springs. Nobody spoke a word.