Dead Mech (13 page)

“Thank you, General. He was a great pilot
and friend. He’ll be missed by all.”

“Of course, of course…” the General trailed
off.

“Is there something else you wanted to
discuss, sir?”

“Well, Commander, yes there is… You see the
UDC has been working on a retrovirus.”

Capreze listened, his blood running
cold.

***

Bisby ducked low, swinging the rebar at Red
Legs, trying to take the dead mech out at the knees. Red Legs leapt
over the attack, twisting in the air, and brought the girder down
right at Bisby’s cockpit. Bisby raised the two clutches of rebar up
in an X, blocking Red Legs’ attack.

An alarm sounded, warning of possible
hydraulics failure.

Bisby ignored the alarm, putting all his
attention on fending off Red Legs as the deader slammed the girder
down again and again.

Red Legs roared.

“Fuck you too!” Bisby yelled, finally able
to roll away from Red Legs.

***

“Are all of your communication security
protocols in place Commander?” General Powell asked.

“Yes, sir. We are clear to speak
freely.”

“Good. Now, as I am sure you are aware the
UDC has been implementing full inoculation programs in all of the
city/states.”

“No, sir, I wasn’t aware.”

“Really? It came to my attention Dr. Lisbon
of Foggy Bottom had contacted your Chief Medical Officer regarding
the program.”

“I wasn’t informed, sir. I’ll speak with
her.”

“Oh, well, it’s of no real consequence,
Capreze. Is Dr. Themopolous available? I’d like her to join in this
conversation.”

“I’ll hail her, sir.”

***

Bisby came up firing, his plasma cannon
glowing red hot with each successive blast.

Red Legs agilely dodged to the left, taking
cover behind some debris. Chunks of ancient concrete and steel
filled the air as Bisby followed Red Legs’ movement, trying to aim
his blasts ahead of the deader.

“Fucking stand still!” Bisby yelled. And Red
Legs did, using the girder to block several of the plasma blasts.
The undead machine hurled the warped and melted chunk of metal
straight at Bisby.

Bisby brought an arm up to deflect the
attack, the collision forcing his mech to stumble backwards.

***

“Themopolous,” the Doctor answered, checking
Steve’s vital signs.

“Doctor? I have General Powell on secure
com. I hope you have a few minutes for to speak privately?”

Themopolous glanced at the doorway as Harlow
came in, sleepily stretching. She motioned at her com ear and
Harlow nodded, shooing her away and taking over Steve’s assessment.
Dr. Themopolous left the infirmary quickly.

“Of course, sir. I’m almost to my office
now.”

“Excellent, Doctor,” the General chimed in.
“I have some great news regarding the newly developed retrovirus
Dr. Lisbon informed you of.”

Themopolous froze and forced herself not to
be sick.

***

Red Legs took immediate advantage of Bisby’s
faltering and opened fire. Bisby took a graze to the right
shoulder, the smell of scorched metal overpowering his
environmental filters, as his mech slammed to the ground. He
checked systems and saw he had been lucky, sustaining only minimal
damage.

Quickly, Bisby tucked his mech back behind a
half buried transport, hoping the shell still had enough structural
integrity left to take the onslaught. Red Legs’s blasts began to
slow, the concussions weakening.

Bisby checked his scanners and smiled. The
deader was losing power.

“Okay,” he said aloud. “No more fucking
around!”

***

“I’m ready to proceed, sirs,” Themopolous
said, settling into her desk chair, apprehension clawing at her,
forcing her to keep her voice even.

“Excellent. I’ll keep this brief as I know
you are both busy,” the General said. “At approximately 1700 hours
tomorrow a supply train will be arriving with the inoculation for
your base personnel.”

“Sir?” Capreze said, stunned.

“Yes, Commander. We have already inoculated
all of the city/states and security outposts. Your base is the last
on the list. We didn’t want to rush the process, seeing as the
mechs are an integral part of our overall survival.”

***

Bisby rolled his mech to the right into a
tight crouch. Red Legs circled, trying to get the advantage, its
cannons glowing dully.

“Looks like you’re almost out of juice,
deader!” Bisby taunted. Red Legs roared.

Bisby sprang, his mech launching into the
air, twisting away from the cannon blasts. Three, two, one… The two
mechs collided in a ground shaking crunch.

Bisby didn’t lose stride, tucking his mech’s
left arm up under Red Legs and lifting it into the air. He brought
the right arm down fast, smashing at Red Leg’s cockpit, hoping to
crush the zombie pilot inside.

***

“Is there anything I need to have prepared,
sir?” Themopolous asked, her voice audibly shaking now.

“No, no, we have everything taken care of.
There will be two med techs to administer the inoculations and a
small security force to accompany them.”

“I’ll be sure and have accommodations ready,
sir,” Capreze said, picking up on Themopolous’ faltering poise,
hoping the General hadn’t.

“Not necessary, Commander. They will only be
there long enough for the techs to complete their work and for the
train to refuel and re-supply.”

“Well, sir, the Doctor and I will have the
base ready for them.”

***

Bisby raged as he pounded away at Red Legs’
cockpit hatch, so close he could smell the rot and decay.

The dead mech tried to ward off the blows,
but it was no match for Bisby’s close combat skills. For every
maneuver it tried to make, Bisby expertly countered, never letting
the bludgeoning slack.

After only minutes the dead mech’s power
reserves gave up and the giant machine became dead weight. Bisby
threw the deader to the ground and shoved his 50mm into the cracked
cockpit, ready to vaporize the barely moving zombie pilot.

“Biz?!? Talk to me!” Rachel crackled.

***

“Now, I do need to verify all base personnel
will be present,” General Powell said casually.

“Well, no sir. I have a team on a supply run
to Foggy Bottom as we speak. They won’t return for a few days.”

“Their names, Commander?”

Capreze hesitated. This wasn’t protocol.
There was no need for a First General to be inquiring about the
roster; that was why he had an assistant.

“Pilot Masters, General Mechanic Rind and
our new Rookie.”

There was a slight pause. “Excellent,
Commander. Thank you. I’ll let both of you return to your busy
schedules.”

“Thank you, sir.”

***

“Whatcha want Rache?” Bisby asked,
exhausted, trigger finger itching to depress and obliterate Red
Legs’s zombie pilot.

“What do I want?!? WHAT DO I FUCKING
WANT?!?” Rachel exploded. “I want to know that you aren’t deader
food! That you are still alive and in one piece! That’s what I
fucking want!”

Bisby took a deep breath and removed his
finger from the trigger. “Yeah, I’m in one piece. Red Legs is out
of commission.” Bisby undid his harness and opened his cockpit.
“I’m descending now to retrieve the head for Themopolous.”

“Be careful.”

Bisby snorted and climbed down his mech.

***

Capreze strode from his office.
“Themopolous? What’s your location?”

“I’m in my office. I was about to return to
the infirmary,” she answered over the com.

“Stay put. I’m coming to you.”

“Of course, sir. Is this about the
inoculations?”

“You’re Goddamn right it’s about the
inoculations!” Capreze shouted. “I’m almost to your office and we
are going to get a few things straight before that train arrives.
Let Harlow know you may be a while before you return. Copy
that?”

There was silence on Themopolous’s end.

“Doctor? Did you copy that?”

“Yes, sir, I copy. I’ll alert Pilot
Harlow.”

***

Mathew dozed briefly, his motor drive set to
auto and course plotted. A proximity alarm sounded and roused him
from his nap.

Instantly he was alert and checking all
systems. A quick scan showed a transport and what were possibly
three ATVs about six miles out. He couldn’t quite tell what they
were doing, but further readings confirmed the presence of a few
dozen zombies.

“What the…?”

He disengaged the motor drive and took
control of his mech, adjusting his course towards the source of the
readings.

“Let’s see what we got going on over here,”
he muttered to himself.

***

Bisby pried open the dead mech’s cockpit
with a short shovel. The zombie pilot squirmed in its harness, its
rotted teeth gnashing and grinding, its yellow, dead eyes never
leaving Bisby’s.

Bisby stared down at the abomination. “You
poor, sad sack of shit.” He thrust the shovel blade down into the
zombie’s throat and through its neck, severing the head.

He stood there for several minutes, just
looking at the decapitated zombie. “Who did you used to be?”

“How’s your progress, Biz?” Rachel
interrupted.

“Progressing fine, Mom.” Bisby slipped on
heavy, rubber gloves and bent down to retrieve the head.

***

“You want to fucking tell me why I learn
from a First General that my own Chief Medical Officer has known
about retrovirus inoculations, but decided not to fucking tell
me?!?” Capreze screamed, exploding into Themopolous’ office. “If it
was to make me look like a fucking asshole, then you fucking
succeeded!”

“Sir, it’s not what you think,” Themopolous
said quietly.

“Not what I think?!? How do you fucking know
what I think?!? I don’t even know what I fucking think right
now!”

Capreze stood there, chest heaving, his
hands planted on his hips. Themopolous refused to make eye
contact.

***

“Rache? Head’s retrieved. CPU and hard drive
also. All ready for Themopolous. Where you at?” Bisby said,
strapping back into his harness.

“I’m still a few miles off. Head towards me,
we should meet up in about 30 minutes.”

“Gotcha on my scope. See ya in a few.” Bisby
took one last look at the dead mech that was Red Legs. “You always
seemed tougher than that. Guess I’m just the better mech.”

Bisby started to walk his mech away from the
scene, but blaring claxons stopped him.

Hundreds of zombies swarmed from out of
nowhere, heading straight for Bisby.

***

Capreze glared at the doctor. “Fucking look
at me when I’m talking to you?”

Themopolous forced herself to meet the
Commander’s eyes. She studied his face for a moment and realization
dawned on her. “You really don’t know anything about this, do
you?”

“Have I been talking to my self? For a
doctor, you’re a fucking idiot!”

“So you have no clue that the inoculation is
just a smoke screen?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Nanotech,” Themopolous stated flatly.

Capreze’s confidence faltered. “What are you
saying?”

“The UDC is injecting nanobots into every
single person within their authority.”

***

Mathew watched the ATVs surround the fifty
or so zombies, driving them towards the large transport.

“Fucking Ranchers,” he muttered as he
lowered his binocs and slowly crawled backwards down the low rise
to his mech.

He was up, strapped in and hailing Jethro
within a minute.

“Whatcha need Matty?’

“Get me Capreze.”

“No ‘please’?”

“What is with you today Jethro? Daddy Jay
not around to rebel against so you have to act out towards me? Am I
your surrogate brother?”

“My brother died in my arms when I was
fifteen, asshole.”

“Really? Sorry.”

“No, not really. I’ll get Capreze.”

***

Bisby opened fire with his plasma cannon and
the 50mm, taking out the first wave of zombies as they surged
towards him.

“Rachel!”

“What Biz?”

“Get your ass here now! I’ve got hundreds of
undead coming straight for me! They are too close to take out!”

The swarm overwhelmed Bisby’s weapons and
smashed directly into him, the weight of the dead bringing the
mighty mech to the ground. Bisby sent a high voltage current
through his mech’s exoskeleton, hoping to fry the zombies off, but
only the first few were affected, melting a layer of rotten flesh
to his mech.

***

“Capreze here. Whatcha need Jespers?”

“Sir, I have confirmation of Ranchers. They
have a herd of zombies, maybe fifty, sixty total. Looks like
they’re heading for Timson’s Bluff. Shall I pursue?”

“No, let them alone. The UDC’s said that as
long as the Cults don’t bother us, we aren’t to bother them.”

“But did they say we couldn’t follow them? I
can do some quick recon and mark their base, in case we need to
come back.”

“What was that Jespers? You’re breaking up.
I didn’t hear a word of what you just said. Copy?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

***

“Are you okay, sir?” Themopolous asked,
seeing the worry on Capreze’s face as he severed the com connection
with Mathew.

“We’ve got Ranchers out near Timson’s
Bluff.”

“Timson’s Bluff? Ranchers aren’t usually
that close to us, if I’m not mistaken.”

“You aren’t,” Capreze said, sighing. “But,
first thing’s first, I need to know why you didn’t come to me with
this.”

Themopolous paused before answering. “I
wasn’t sure you could be trusted, sir. I was warned that this is
top level UDC.”

“Fair enough. So, now what?” Capreze
asked.

“I don’t know,” Themopolous answered. “But
we have to stop them.”

***

Bisby struggled against the weight of zombie
bodies piling onto his mech, but for every few he was able to crush
or toss aside, twice as many replaced them. He could hear cables
snapping, hydraulics cracking and his mech groan under the
weight.