Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 3): March (7 page)

Apocalypse Girl and I relayed everything that we had learned from The Principal at breakfast, both about The Followers of this Disciple person, and The Mech-Techs as well.  The news of the former was greeted with a mixture of disgust, anger and a little fear.  The latter, on the other hand, was met with a small celebration from the rest of us making the journey.

evening

Guide came in after we had eaten, telling us that a fairly large group of Dead had moved through the street that the furniture shop was on.  He offered to give us a hand cleaning them out tomorrow morning if we wanted him, as there were a bunch of Schoolfolk in there with The Colonel, keeping her company in her exile, at least temporarily.  I asked him what he knew of The Mech-Techs, and he replied by saying that all of those that he had met had been decent people, but harsh bargainers.  Apocalypse Girl wondered aloud what they might want in exchange for the use of one of their vehicles.  Guide looked mildly concerned for a moment, then shook his head slightly.  He said that no matter what it was, the price would be a high one.

Redbeard assured him that we would manage, one way or another.  Guide looked horrified when he realised Redbeard was suggesting stealing one of their vehicles.  He had heard of somebody who had attempted that very thing once.  The tale had spread around post apocalypse Melbourne like wildfire.  They had attached chains to the limbs of this unfortunate, yet profoundly stupid individual that were each in turn hooked onto the towballs of four vehicles.  They had then nailed what was left onto a billboard upon which they painted the slogan “This is what happens when you steal from The Mech-Techs!” in the would-be thief's blood near their main base of operations.  What was left of that particular person still twitched and gibbered, hungering for Living flesh, forever nailed up as a perpetual warning sign.

March 14
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

We had just finished packing, and had already breakfasted when the gunfire began.  Guide ran into our house shouting that the furniture shop was under attack from bandits, as well as the Dead.  The six of us rushed into action, Guide deftly showing us the way back through the sewers to the manhole around the corner from the shop where The Colonel lay under siege.

I was first up the ladder, lifting the manhole cover carefully.  I could see the legs of the Dead around the main barricade surrounding The School, and in the other direction nothing at all.  I slid the cover off of me, pulling myself up and extending my hand to help Apocalypse Girl.  Guide was up next, followed immediately by Sister, Redbeard and Firecracker bringing up the rear.  The gunfire had begun to recede into the distance, the bandits retreating, we hoped.  When we rounded the corner we discovered differently.

Dead littered the street, some walking still, most lying down dead.  We dispatched the few standing in seconds as we rushed to the furniture shop window.  I vaulted inside to see blood everywhere.  The Colonel was nowhere to be seen, the only people were what looked to be a few dead bandits, and a couple of Schoolfolk lying bleeding on the floor.  Guide rushed over to them, bending down to listen to the dying words of one man.  Redbeard began making certain nobody was going to get back up as Guide looked up at me, horrified.

“They said they're going to trade the women to The Followers for food”  He said.  We ran.

noon

The bandits left a trail an infant could follow.  Not only were they not covering their footprints in the snow, at least two of them were bleeding, one heavily.  We caught up with them in almost no time at all, seeing as they were also burdened with three captives, none of whom were particularly cooperative, one of whom had to be bludgeoned unconscious.  I could see The Colonel's bald head among the two standing.  There were only eight of the bandits left, and they had begun arguing, loudly, about exactly what to do with their captives.

One of them favoured taking them into a nearby building and having a little fun with them, he had a couple of his fellows already panting, one of them already groping the unconscious woman.  We began to move silently from cover to cover as another of his companions argued against it, saying that they should get them to The Followers before nightfall.  The Colonel had spotted us by this time, and was obviously trying to convince the bandits that the nearby building option would be a lot more fun than simply giving the three of them over to another group.  This kept the bandits looking in her direction, rather than ours, and we advanced closer again.

The one man insisting on delivering them to The Followers first threw up his hands in frustration, stalking off in another direction momentarily.  He then turned back, choosing unfortunately to turn in our direction.  Guide deftly put a bullet through his left eye as the rest of us opened up on the rest of the bandits.  The Colonel launched her fist into the throat of one of her captors, then she pulled his own gun from his holster and fed him two rounds at point blank range.  It was over in seconds.

Smiling, The Colonel thanked us for our timely intervention.  Guide went to check on his two Schoolfolk, while the rest of us checked the bandits for supplies while making certain they were all dead.

evening

Shortly before nightfall we found a likely looking building, a block of offices before the Dead rose, almost totally free of shambling corpses.  My sword made short work of the few that we discovered on the ground floor.  One of the Dead had a bunch of keys on its belt, having once been a security guard for this particular building and we were able to raid the guardroom thanks to this.  We didn't find a great deal, just a revolver with a box of ammo, a torch that the batteries had corroded inside of, and a couple of bottles of water.

Deciding that the ground floor meeting room was ideal for a temporary bedroom, we set up in there.  Guide and the other two women from The School were planning on leaving us the next morning, heading back home, and he showed me a relatively clear route into Mech-Tech territory, or at least it had been a couple of weeks ago.

From what Guide had told me it would still take us a couple of days, perhaps three or even four before we made it safely into Mech-Tech lands, depending on how clear of Dead the streets are, and whether we run into any more bandits.  Two days minimum.  Guide did, however, assure us that no matter how badly they treat thieves, they will give the same respect they are given.  As long as we act friendly, so will they.  He also told us to remember that there are over a hundred of them in case we start thinking of fucking them over.  Not that any of us have any intention of doing so.

March 15
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

Guide and his two Schoolfolk women moved out at the same time we did, after a quick breakfast.  We said our farewells, then the six of us moved on to the east, while they went north.  The streets were bare of Dead, at least for now, and no bandits were evident yet.  The snow piled high in the street, turning cars into strange grey humps in the middle of the road.  There was absolutely no breeze at all, the air hung still all around us.  High above, the clouds began to dance displaying a shower of lightning of different colours blitzing from one patch of roiling darkness to the next, some blue, some purple, one blast even seemed a brilliant pink.  As suddenly as it had begun, the display stopped, though the clouds themselves never stopped their motion.

We walked along the road, following the route that Guide had given us.  We saw no Dead, no Living, nothing at all other than drab grey buildings set against the darkened cloudy sky.  As we walked, The Colonel asked me about The Followers.  As soon as the bandits who had captured her had mentioned taking the women to them, the School women had started freaking out, resulting in one of them being knocked out cold.

“What are they Following?”  She asked.  I told her that they Followed The Disciple.

“Whose Disciple is he?”  She asked next.  Apocalypse Girl asked her if she remembered Biker.  The Colonel nodded, then realisation dawned.  “You mean...this guy is The Abbott's Disciple?  That's fucked up.”  We kept on walking in silence.

noon

Shortly after we had eaten our lunch in the shelter of an abandoned cafe that had been closed the day the world ended, we heard the engine of a car.  Very faintly, in the distance, to be sure, and only for a few seconds, but definitely it was a car engine.  As we were about to leave the cafe, however, our road became far less clear.  Shambling into view was a group of maybe fifty Dead, possibly more.  They hadn't noticed us yet, so we swiftly jumped over the counter and hid, hardly daring to breathe.

Apocalypse Girl, thinking quickly as ever, silently dragged us further back into the dark depths of the cafe's kitchen.  Redbeard was able to quietly close and barricade the door with a nearby fridge.  A small round window in the top of the door allowed us to see the progression of the Dead as they marched past like some kind of rotting corpse pride parade.  There seemed far more of them than there should be.

Silence reigned in the kitchen for what felt like eternity.  The Dead out front seemed to have just stopped, and most were simply standing around.  A few had moved dangerously near the entrance to the cafe, however, and when one brushed up against the door we all practically shat ourselves as the bell gave a little tinkle.

Sister investigated another door, heavily bolted, that led from the kitchen as we all breathed a heavy sigh of relief that the Dead hadn't been attracted by the sound of the bell.  She carefully unbolted it, opening it a crack.  Beckoning me over, she pointed to the door.  There was a staircase leading upwards into darkness.  I turned to confer with my companions, only to hear the damn bell jingle once more, this time violently as another Dead bashed against it.  Then it rang out again as we heard the accompanying music of shattering glass.  The Dead had finally noticed us.  Left with no time to make a rational decision about anything at all, we bolted up the stairs, Redbeard bringing in a chair from the kitchen to lean up against the knob in an almost certainly vain attempt to slow down the Dead that by now were bashing against the barricaded kitchen door.

evening

There was, thankfully, another door at the top of the stairs, this one only lockable from the inside.  We rushed through it, Redbeard locking it up as tight as it possibly could be.  I looked around for something with which to shore up the door with, finally realising that this must have been the home of whoever owned the cafe below.  The Colonel was already on top of it, however, trying to move a huge table over to the door by herself.  Redbeard and I jumped to her aid, tipping the table over and wedging it firmly against the door.

I looked out a window, to see a balcony that had once been home to various potted plants.  Looking around the flat, I noticed a door leading out to it from the other room and made for it.  Outside I saw across the road that several residents of that particular block of flats had decided to hang themselves from their balconies.  I warned everybody inside to watch out for Dangling Dead ones while we start balcony hopping.  We were unable, obviously, to make it to any of the balconies on the building across the road, but the one we currently occupied had plenty within relatively easy reach.

Three floors up and several balconies over, we decided that, since this flat was bare of Dead, had beds enough for everyone, and the hallway outside leading to the stairs up had been blocked with rubble that if we stayed quiet, and of course the fact that we were all completely fucking knackered, we should rest here overnight, and pray that the Dead had moved on by morning.

March 16
, Year 1 A.Z.

morning

They had not only not moved, but more had joined them, many many more.  It was almost as if the Dead knew exactly where we were, and that there was no practical way for them to get to us.  So they just stood around, packing the streets on all sides.  We had discovered a few Dead in some of the flats in this particular block, but most of the residents had either been away at the beginning of all of this, or else they had barricaded and fled some time later.

The entire top floor was at the very least safe.  For now.  Redbeard and I had gone through every single flat opening every cupboard and closet, searching for, well, anything really.  Anything we could use, any food, hell even a stray survivor.  We found nothing of any real use.  The former home of what could only possibly be classed as a 'crazy cat lady' contained over a dozen decomposing cat carcasses.  The poor little fuckers had starved to death.

noon

Sister found out that, of all things, the water and gas systems in one particular flat still operated.  She had tried all of the others, she said, but only this one seemed to work.  Apocalypse Girl had discovered two suitcases full of clothing, covered with dried blood, in a flat that Redbeard and I had cleared of the trio of Dead within.  The only thing sweeter than a
hot
meal was the opportunity to share a
hot
shower with Apocalypse Girl, then get dressed in some
clean
clothes.

The Colonel had found herself an easy way to the roof from one particular balcony, which conveniently had several cupboards of varying sizes stacked side by side to create a makeshift stairway.  This was clearly how the previous occupants had made their getaway.  She scouted the roof and returned with the news that we could indeed make good our escape from this particular building to the roof of another.  That building on the other hand, looked as if it only opened up onto the street most densely packed with Dead.

Firecracker had taken our old rags and deposited them in a corner of one flat, showing me where they were when I asked.  She wanted to know why I wanted anything with them now, after all she had almost thrown them out the window to the Dead.  That gave me the beginnings of an idea.  I closed in on the pile and nearly gagged on the stench.  It had been a while since our last change, but I hadn't had any idea they had been quite that nasty.  I told her not to throw them to the Dead unless I say so, and she nodded.