Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 3): March (6 page)

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 they 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.

A small medical centre stood on one corner, the sight of which excited Doctor and Nurse quite a bit.  They jabbered at one another in Japanese as they went over to peer in through the windows.  Our guide told them to go ahead and have a look inside, if they wanted, which of course they did.  Several kids ran around in the gloom, one of them coming up to me to ask if my sword was real.  I drew it to show him, and a bell rang out from the school while he stared at it in awe.  Another kid pulled him away, saying that they had better not be too late tonight or they'd get in trouble again.  The guide explained that the kids had a curfew, as occasionally a few Dead might break through one of the barricaded side streets.  They only had the chained Dead at their main entrance, to deter potential threats.  Other streets had varying degrees of defence, and defenders both.

Just as I was about to sheathe my blade, a scream emanated from somewhere ahead of us, ending in a gurgle as the throat was torn from the victim.  “Dead inside the perimeter!”  Came the cry, and I rushed towards the sounds, not caring who followed.

Several dozen Dead had broken down a chain-link fence at the end of an alley, many of them hunched over the still twitching corpse of their first victim, chewing away.  Far more had, by now, noticed that there were more possible meals around, and shuffled in our direction.  Charging into the Dead, Foreman at my side swinging his mighty hammer, I sliced and cut, removing a couple of Dead heads by accident, mostly hacking into their skulls.  In moments the Dead lay still, the barely living woman they had torn apart whispering for someone to kill her as she was taken away by a couple of volunteers, the rest jumping to work repairing the fence.

Our guide told us that he had never seen as large a group of Dead as the one we had just put down, not since the first few days in the heart of the city.  He had managed to make it to the school, had broken in and was the first person to have had a conversation with The Principal.  They had made the first barricade themselves, a couple of locals coming out of the woodwork to help upon seeing some movement outside that was not Dead coming to eat them.  Usually only three or four at a time might make it in, or somebody from The School might die.  Apocalypse Girl told him that they'd likely be seeing a few more in the near future, citing that huge explosion from The Think Tank as a reason the Dead would likely investigate.  Noises meant food to the Dead, after all.

The ten of us, Doctor and Nurse having rejoined us shortly after our encounter with the Dead, were led off to a pair of houses near to The School itself, which lay at the heart of this territory, five square blocks of peace in the heart of Dead Melbourne.

March 12
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

Though we set a watch up overnight, it was hardly necessary.  It made getting to sleep easier, knowing that Redbeard and Firecracker were making sure we weren't going to be eaten or worse as we slumbered.  The watch that Apocalypse Girl and I had shared last night had been as uneventful as ever, other than hearing the sounds of copulating couples in the distance.  That in itself had been unusual.  On those rare occasions where Apocalypse Girl and I … well … let's just say that we had learned the value of silence.

We gathered in the street, those few of us that had decided we were definitely moving on, and those who had come this far with us.  The Guide from the previous day, our captor, waved at us from across the street, gesturing at us to join him.  Breakfast this morning was canned fruit, not a wonderfully inspiring meal perhaps, but reasonably nutritious for all that.

Shortly after our meal, as Firecracker was relating our flight from The Think Tank through thousands of hungry Dead, The Principal arrived, stepping lightly through the snow to greet us with a smile.  He asked me to walk with him a while, Apocalypse Girl insisting on coming along.

The Principal nattered away as we wandered the perimeter of the lands he had staked out for his group.  Not much of it was relevant, mostly meandering mumblings of a mind that was lost, at least in part, in the past.  When we came to the area that we had helped to defend last night, however, he stopped, turned around and thanked the two of us for our assistance, complete with handshake.  He apologised for having The Colonel thrown out, saying that he had made certain that a small group from The School were keeping her company since we intended to continue our journey to the national capitol.  Apocalypse Girl pointed out, rightly, that had it not been for The Colonel we would have died long ago, and asked The Principal to relent.  Smiling apologetically, he shook his head and began trudging through the snow once more.

noon

Another group of Dead had attempted entry while we wandered the perimeter, much smaller than last night, and put down with a minimum of fuss.  The Guide had seen to the rest of our group, sharing food from the local supermarket with them, and resupplying us in thanks for our swift actions the night before.

Foreman was loudly ordering people around, making various improvements to the defences, dropping easily enough back into the role he had played before the world had gone to shit.  Doctor and Nurse ran about, checking those involved in the defence of the breach for all injuries, Dead bites primarily of course, but I saw a couple of freshly splinted arms and a couple of bandaged heads out there.  Those two were certainly busier here than they had been in The Think Tank, that much was sure.

I looked everywhere for Archer and The Twin, but was unable to spot them until Apocalypse Girl nudged me and pointed upwards.  They patrolled the rooftop of The School armed with a bow and pair of binoculars.  It was almost impossible to distinguish features in the gloom, but having spent as much time with those two as we had I knew them by their mannerisms.  Beyond them the clouds hung low, dark and heavy.

evening

In the house we shared with Redbeard and Firecracker, Apocalypse Girl and I spoke together awhile after dinner.  This was a community that we had a great deal in common with, we could live here and live well.  The Commune had felt like home for a while, brief though it had been, and The Think Tank had been comfortable, if sterile, but had never truly felt right as a place to
live
.  This School did.  Nearly half of our group wanted to stay here already, after all.  It was pretty clear that Apocalypse Girl wanted to stay too.  I could understand that, really.  A large part of me wanted to stay here as well.  The Principal had a quick wit and a keen mind, he was clearly a good leader.

I told her that I had made a promise to The Colonel, that I would help her make it to Canberra.  Apocalypse Girl didn't like this much, but eventually she saw reason.  I also told her that when we get to Canberra, The Colonel will go her own way, and the rest of us would be free to either go with her, or head for The Facility, or back to The School.  Wherever the fuck we wanted to go, basically.  As long as we're together.

Shortly afterwards, the nightly chorus of coupling began.  Shortly after that, Apocalypse Girl and I began a quiet little duet of our own.

March 13
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

During breakfast with The Principal I gave voice to our intention to return after our next journey.  He was not surprised at all.  Smiling, he welcomed our decision, but warned us that to the north were not only huge numbers of Dead, but several groups of raiders and thugs, bandits all.  One group in particular we needed to avoid, he told us.  They called themselves The Followers and they were led by somebody known as The Disciple.  They were a new group on the scene, but by all accounts they were savage and brutal killers that gathered women by the hundreds that they kept chained up to be used at their leisure.

I told The Principal then of The Abbott and Biker, and all that had entailed.  He looked grim, and told me that he had heard that The Disciple had been from a group that had been led by a religious figure called The Abbott.  The group had been wiped out, apparently, all save for one.  Apocalypse Girl and I exchanged a concerned look.  The Principal told us not to be too worried, as The Followers, though a fairly large group, were a good distance away and they mark their territory  clearly.  They enjoyed crucifying anyone who survives an encounter with them, it seemed, and their portion of the city was well-decorated with strung up Dead and dying.

The good news that he had for us was about another, far friendlier group, that The School occasionally had dealings with.  Calling themselves The Mech-Techs they specialised in automotive engineering, having started as a few mechanics surviving alone in a small chopshop on the eastern edge of town.  They had grown, as the odd survivor had discovered them, moved their headquarters a couple of times, and had recently returned to their starting location with a hundred people, heavily armed, and about twenty working vehicles most of which were reinforced and well prepared for the rigours of post apocalyptic Australia.  The Principal had heard recently that The Mech-Techs had even acquired a petrol refinery, but he wasn't sure he believed it.  Still, refinery or no, he advised us to seek them out and try to get a vehicle from them, if possible.

noon

Later on in the day, Apocalypse Girl's phone jangled with a message from The Smart Couple.  They had managed to hook up with another group of survivors, only three strong.  Still heading to The Facility, but they hadn't yet told their new comrades about it.  Apocalypse Girl told them in turn that we had a possible lead on a vehicle and would be moving out from Melbourne within the next couple of days.  Barely a minute after she sent this last text, her phone blorped once and died.  She swore, and put it away.

After a tasty lunch of freshly baked bread and stale cheese we, that is the ten survivors of The Think Tank, discussed the relative benefits of remaining with this community.  The Twin and Archer, together with our medical friends from Japan and Foreman had already committed themselves to staying, Firecracker and Redbeard had decided that heading to The Facility once we return from Canberra would be a better move.  Apocalypse Girl, speaking for me as well, said that we planned to stay here once we get back.  Sister simply shrugged, saying she'd decide later.  After all, those of us that were going with The Colonel had to make it there and back safely first.