Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 4): April (10 page)

evening

We left The Harvesters behind, hacking off huge hunks of heavily mutated, though tasty, former cow, feeling vaguely guilty about having sliced off as much as we had taken for ourselves.  Sister was driving, the dark day was blackening, when we ploughed straight into and through a huge group of Dead.  Bits of flesh flew as The Nightmare blasted into them, the windscreen was covered with congealed blood in an instant.  Sister shifted gear and rammed through even more Dead eventually slamming into
something
in the road.  Whatever it was that we had hit, it was not budging.  Dead clawed at The Nightmare's invulnerable metal exterior.  Hundreds of Dead.

“SHIT!”  Sister swore from the front.  I was trying to disentangle myself from Apocalypse Girl.  We had both gone flying when the collision had occurred.  “We're not going anywhere in this fucking thing, not now!”  Archer was already at the rear mounted gun, blasting away into the dark.  Viking was rummaging around in one of the crates of supplies that The Colonel had given us.

“AHA!”  He proclaimed, holding high an incendiary grenade in one hand, a bunch of flares in the other before flying up through the main turret into the night.  A few seconds later the side of The Nightmare got incredibly hot, Viking shouted out “Sorry!” and a flare flew behind, giving Archer something to see by.  Cyclops opened the side door, flying out bowling over a pair of burning Dead as another couple of flares found their way on either side.  Valkyrie's steel rod came out to clobber several Dead that were about to leap on Cyclops and Viking dropped down to join them.  I bolted out the passenger side door up front, pulling out my katana as I did so.  Apocalypse Girl took the main gun, blasting away while Sister leaped up beside her sending arrows into Dead heads as swiftly as the laws of physics would allow.

They all lay dead within minutes, by which time we were all nearly ready to join them.  Piling back into The Nightmare for what remained of the night, we discussed what options we had now.  It became evident rather quickly that without some form of transportation we would be pretty much fucked, but until morning we didn't know for certain what state Sister had left The Nightmare in.

April 21
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

It was not looking pretty.  Cyclops was muttering quiet curses to himself while looking at the damage, Viking not bothering to be so polite.  Sister had hit a derailed train.  From the looks of things, most of the Dead had been passengers, though a great many looked quite a bit 'fresher' than others.  Several Dead were still roaming around, but most had been put down in last night's slaughter.  These lone roamers I put down with Apocalypse Girl and Sister, as none of the three of us knew anything about either fixing an engine that had hit a fucking train at a hundred kilometres an hour, or for that matter anything about how to extricate said engine from the train that it had struck.

There was a town beyond the wreckage, one of the stops on the train's route.  Nobody there from the looks of things, but we had no option, we had to check things out closer.  Archer and Guide were working the other side of the train line, clearing away any Dead they found.  Guide was feeling a particular need to redeem himself after last night, as he had been knocked senseless by the initial impact and had been of no use in the fight.

Sure enough, by the time we arrived at the town, nothing but a few Dead were evident.  The five of us stood in the middle of the main road and shouted greetings for a minute or two, to draw out anybody, Living or Dead.  What we succeeded in drawing out was just Dead, however.  It looked, on closer inspection, as though this town had indeed had some survivors to begin with, but they had either moved on or joined the crowd at the train.  I suspected the latter.

noon

Several Dead were inside some of the buildings, as well, though not a great many.  One building still contained some cans of food, not to mention a few bottles of water, so we decided to use that as a temporary headquarters while we work out what the fuck our next move is going to be.  Archer kept watch on the place while the rest of us ferried our supplies from the wreckage of The Nightmare to the house in town, making sure to let Valkyrie know where we were likely to be when they were done.  She replied that as far as she could see, they were done already, but of course Viking and Cyclops didn't see it quite like that yet.  They still thought they could save her.

Shortly after we finished setting up in the new place, Apocalypse Girl's phone jangled.  No message, just an image, a satellite image by the looks of things.  There were several places where different coloured lightning had flashed.  Some red, some purple, some blue, some green.  Above each blast hovered a small dark shape.  I looked up at Apocalypse Girl, then at the others sitting at the table with me.  She sent a message back to The Smart Couple
Are you guys fucking with us or what?
To which came the response;
Not at all.  Images taken during last lightning storm.  Any progress on mutant tissue sample?
  Apocalypse Girl huffed in annoyance, replying
Temporarily out of transportation.  Trying to work something out.  Are these real actual UFOs?

The reply came at great length. 
Nobody here knows what they are, but they are flying so in that sense, yes.  Are they terrestrial or not?  Who knows?  Could they be trying to help in some fashion? 
Apocalypse Girl looked into my eyes.  I told her that whatever it was, it didn't matter.  We had other things to deal with.  Guide shook his head in astonishment, saying that he was having a hard time with all of this.  “You don't seem to have much of a problem coping with the idea of the Dead walking,” Sister pointed out.

Guide was about to let her have it when the trio of former Mech-Techs burst in, Viking exclaiming that “It's a brilliant idea, I don't know what the fuck your problem is, mate!” with Cyclops following him telling him that he was crazy.  Valkyrie's expression was one of mild amusement, mild admiration and mild annoyance rolled into one.  Archer wanted to know what idea.

“We're gonna take the engine out of The Nightmare, right, and attach it to a train car.  We'll need a fuel tank as well, of course, but there's all
sorts
of shit out there we can use to get this idea happening!  It'll work, trust me. Trust me!”  Viking sounded certain.  Cyclops told him that it was too much, that it couldn't be done.  Viking accused him of having no vision.  His friend swung a mighty fist, easily dodged and Viking apologised.  Cyclops jabbed out unexpectedly with his left, blackening Viking's eye.

evening

Archer had been spending the last several hours with Viking and Cyclops, drawing up plan after plan, trying to get this idea right.  They had the perfect train car, all they needed was within reach.  The three Mech-Techs and Archer would make this thing work, and work well.  The rest of us, Sister, Guide, Apocalypse Girl and myself, were going to be spending the next day or two at least in relative boredom. We would alternate patrols, Guide and Sister and me and my shadow, making a few rounds of the town before heading back inside before getting overly Cold.

It was a sound idea, from what I could make out.  The Nightmare was a bitch of a vehicle to drive, but she would be missed.  She had seen us safely to Canberra and back, then halfway to Adelaide before dying a foolish, needless death.  If some part of her could live on in some way, should it not be so?

I caught Apocalypse Girl looking once again at the photo that The Smart Couple had sent us.  It seemed unbelievable at first, but looking at the image myself...  I don't know.  Right now, I think we have far too many other issues on our collective plate to deal with.  If we have to deal with creatures from another world as well, then we fucking well will.  Our own Dead haven't put us down, you won't either!

April 22
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

Sister and Guide went out on patrol first thing this morning, as soon as the gloom allowed for visibility.  They came back an hour later, reporting just a few Dead, a couple of which came close enough to have to put them down, but some seemed perfectly content to just stand, staring at nothing.  When Apocalypse Girl and I headed on out for our own scouting run, we encountered a similar scenario.  Most of the Dead that had been around locally had been concentrated around the train, and consequently had come when The Nightmare had struck it, ringing the figurative dinner bell of the Dead.

Some of them, however, hadn't gotten that message, or had just wandered into town overnight.  Who knew how far some of these Dead could have travelled on foot, with their relentless, never ceasing search for fresh flesh?  Even so, we decided that it was better to put them down, rather than leave a potential threat at our throats, however fleeting our visit in intent or actuality.

We passed the platform at which The Mech-Techs were constructing The Bitch, which quite literally was the engine from The Nightmare bolted to the rear of the restaurant car.  Progress was continuing apace, with much swearing from both Cyclops and Viking, coupled with laughter from Valkyrie and Archer.  In the end we decided to quietly leave them to it, and find some Dead to kill.

Our search was not a long one, what seemed once a circus troupe of Dead wandered in from the west, almost as if they were parading into town, announcing their presence.  Only a dozen of them, but we still roused Guide and Sister to join in the fun.

noon

The four of us made short work of the troupe of performing Dead ones.  Thinking it a fine idea to discover their origin, we then set out to the west, along the road, following their shamblings in the snow.  It was not long at all before we found a large tent, erected quite some time previously.  Several groups of Dead wandered around, seeming almost as if they were going about their duties.  One scrubbed at a wall of a nearby port-a-potty with a rag, continuously going over and over the same spot, the one clean part of the whole messy scene.

Disgusted, I drew my sword and strode into the crowd.  It seemed almost like I was somewhere else, at least in my head, my body was right there, separating Dead from their meagre attempts at lives.  My mind was a blank, so focussed on the task of rendering death to the Dead was I.

When we were finished, we were able to look over the camp.  It had been a shambles before, but now it was just plain disgusting.  There had been a pen with animals out the back of the main tent, the cow had also grown into one of those hideously tasty meat-beasts, bursting through the wood of her enclosure.  The interesting thing was, none of the Dead had been anywhere near the meat-beast.  None of them had seemed remotely interested in it in the slightest.  Then, I don't remember any Dead trying to get a nibble on any of the sheep that we had fled the commune with, either.

evening

The work on The Bitch was nearly done.  In one day they had managed what many would consider impossible.  Hell, if the decision had been entirely up to me, with no other options given, I would have just considered going ahead on foot, though I would have followed the train tracks to be certain of our bearing.  This way we get to travel in comfort.

When asked why the restaurant car, Viking simply grinned and said “For the booze, of course!” before getting all serious and explaining that he was more easily able to put the fuel tank in an accessible location behind the bar of that particular car than any other.  That, and it had been the next in line, un-de-railed, uncoupled from the car in front of it and easily removed from the car behind.  We would be ready to leave this town in the morning, noon tomorrow at the latest.

April 23
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

Viking and Cyclops were up as soon as there was light enough to see by, Valkyrie following along with Archer a few moments later.  Somebody needed to watch their backs, as once they get going on a project nothing will shake their focus.  Guide wanted us to stay close by today, so he and Sister abandoned their patrol for guard duty.

The Cold had deepened overnight, the snow following suit.  We slogged through it nevertheless, Apocalypse Girl and I, intent on seeing what progress had been made so far on The Bitch.  We discovered an ungainly apparatus that chugged and blew shitloads of smoke but the four present were busily cheering their success in making the thing move forward a whole metre.  Viking assured us that we would be moving by noon at the absolute latest, and this thing could travel through the night as well, easily enough.

We left them to it, returning to the house we were sharing temporarily.  At least that had been our intent, initially, yet our steps faltered upon seeing a lone Aboriginal man, older than the hills themselves, leaning upon a staff, staring directly at us with eyes that looked as though they hadn't worked in decades.  Nevertheless he waved to us, beckoning us over to him.

He greeted the pair of us by name, saying that he had been following us for a while in his dreams.  Apocalypse Girl asked just how long.  The old man simply began cackling.  I insisted that he follow us inside, as he must be freezing from standing, barefoot, in the snow.  His laughter began anew, but he allowed us to relocate him.  I had the distinct impression that the end of the world had also been the end of this man's sanity.

Guide asked him if he knew anything about a town a while back that was free of Death once he got over the initial shock of seeing somebody new.  Elder simply began cackling again, then started rummaging around in the cupboards, muttering about how there had to be some tea around here somewhere.  We had already cleaned out the sparse supplies yesterday, I knew for a fact that there was nothing in that cupboard, yet he withdrew a small packet of teabags still sealed in plastic.  Sister set about boiling some water straight away.  Elder insisted that she boil enough for everybody as he reckoned the others would be done by now.