Dead Mech (14 page)

A hairline crack appeared in his cockpit and
he was tempted to say ‘fuck it’ and start firing his sidearm
through the windshield at the zombie faces trying to gnash and gnaw
their way in.

Suddenly, above the noise of the zombie
swarm, Bisby could hear rapid gunfire. The weight on his mech began
to lessen quickly.

***

Mathew was able to track the Rancher
transport on his sensors and he guessed correctly: they headed
straight for Timson’s Bluff.

Unable to get any closer without his mech
being observed, Mathew shut down power and climbed from the
cockpit, carbine strapped to his shoulder and binocs in hand.

He stood facing the rough, steep surface of
the cliff, knowing that it would be a hard climb, but worth the
unobstructed, and unobserved, view of the Ranchers’ activities.

“I’m gonna be fucking sore tomorrow,” he
sighed.

Walking back to the mech he began unloading
climbing gear from a storage compartment.

***

“So how do these nanobots work?” Capreze
asked.

“I’m not sure to be honest,” Themopolous
replied. “The tech behind it has never been released into public
knowledge. In fact, last I heard, the UDC gave up on its success
years ago. Either this has been a completely classified project or
there was some recent breakthrough I didn’t hear about.”

“Either way, it’s a bit extreme to inject
those things into the entire population.”

“UDC population,” Themopolous corrected.

“What?”

“From the info I have seen, none of the
wasteland inhabitants have been injected.”

“Hmmmm….,” Capreze mused. “Why only the UDC
population?”

***

“Rachel?!? Is that you?” Bisby yelled into
his com. “Rachel?!?”

He slammed his fist against the console.
“Fucking piece of shit com! Jethro is fucking dead!”

The gunfire continued and zombies were now
visibly falling away. He shoved and fought, tossing many aside.

Without warning there was a crack and then
searing pain exploded in his right shoulder. “Mother fucker!”

Bisby looked down at the rapidly spreading
patch of blood. He abandoned getting his mech upright and cut open
his uniform. Tearing into his med kit, he slapped a compression
bandage on the wound, hoping it would stop the bleeding.

***

Rachel’s legs burned from the effort of
running her mech as hard as possible.

“Biz?!? Come in, Biz! Shit!”

She tried to lock onto his location, but her
sensor readings were all over the place.

“Goddammit!” she yelled. “Jethro? What the
hell is wrong with my systems?!?” She waited for the reply, but was
only met with static. “Jethro? What the fuck?!?”

She knew she was close, but with a lack of
proper sensor readings and no com, he could be just over a hill and
she’d run right past him.

“This just fucking sucks!” she screamed,
filled with frustration.

***

Bisby ignored the pain. Pain was for fucking
pussies that didn’t pilot 50-ton war machines. He forced his mech
upright and pulled the trigger, laying waste to dozens of zombies
still swarming his mech. Fluids and tissue splattered across his
cockpit, streaking the windows.

The whirling machine guns clicked empty and
came to a halt, barrels smoking. Bisby glanced at the weapons
levels. Empty. Everything.

Movement on the horizon: a mech. He wasn’t
sure if it was living or dead. Or if it mattered anymore.

All he had was his sidearm and he planned on
saving one bullet for himself.

***

“Ready to set camp?” Masters asked over the
com.

“As good a place as any,” Jay responded.

The Rookie stared out at the wide-open
expanse of wasteland. “Aren’t we a little exposed?”

“No, not really,” Jay answered. “It’s easier
to set a security perimeter.” Jay saw the look on the Rookie’s
face. “Listen, if you set up against a cliff or hill you have to
secure elevation, which means you have gravity working against you.
There really isn’t any safe place in the waste. Might as well keep
it open and make the zombies cover ground to get to you.”

***

“Fucking hell!” Rachel yelled as she nearly
toppled over trying to sidestep the mini-mech that came out of
nowhere and screamed past her. She slowed her mech and spun around,
having to physically observe the machine since her sensors were
still non-operational.

But, the mini-mech was gone. She came to a
full stop and turned 360 degrees, trying to spot it again.
Nothing.

“JETHRO!!!!”

“What?!? Jeezus, you trying to pop my
eardrums?” Jethro answered.

“Thank God the com is back up. Which mini do
you have out here?”

“What? I called Two and Four in. They’re
almost back to base.”

***

Mathew lay belly down just at the edge of
the bluff, peering through his binocs, not believing what he was
seeing.

What are the Ranchers doing loading
zombies onto UDC transports?
he thought.

He scooted away from the edge and back to
his climbing gear. He strapped on his repelling harness, tossed the
rope off the cliff side and descended.

He debated whether to alert Capreze now or
wait until he was secure at base. He had no idea what monitoring
tech the UDC transports had. Hell, he had no idea if they already
had his mech on their sensors.

***

“Am I just hearing voices or is the com back
up?” Bisby asked.

“My com was never down, it must have been
just you guys,” Jethro answered.

“Biz! What’s your location?” Rachel asked.
“Wait, never mind, sensors are operational again also. What
happened?”

“I don’t know, but it got pretty lonely out
here. I’ve got a visual on your mech, Rache. Turn around, I’m five
miles behind you,” Bisby said, randomly stomping on the zombies
that were still moving.

“Yeah, I got ya. Be there shortly.”

“Don’t bother. I’m doing a little clean up
and then I’ll head your way.”

***

The sun set quickly, turning the wasteland
into an appropriate blood red landscape.

“Hey, anybody still out here?” Mathew called
over an open channel.

“Matty? Why aren’t you at base?” Rachel
asked.

“I found something interesting. I’ll fill
you in back at base. You okay?”

“I’m fine. Things got weird, but nothing I
couldn’t handle.”

“I’m fucking fine too. Thanks for asking,”
Bisby grumbled. “Just got shot in the shoulder, that’s all.”

“Damn! You okay?”

“Yeah. We stopped and Rache patched me
up.”

“She’s good that way.”

“Yep. I’ll let you two talk in private. See
ya back at base.”

***

June was barely conscious when Chunks threw
her onto the skin rug. She knew she was in pain, but it seemed so
distant, foreign. Shock had taken over hours ago after the fourth
or fifth time Riley had raped her. She fought to keep her senses,
knowing any bit of information she could retain could save her
life.

“We found this one messing with the larder,
Boss,” Chunks said.

Two leather boots filled her vision as the
Boss stepped closer to examine her.

“What happened, Chunks?”

“Riley couldn’t wait, Boss. He had to have a
taste.”

“Call him in here.”

***

Rachel and Mathew walked their mechs through
the night, separated by miles, but connected by their com, each
listening to the other’s breathing.

A shooting star shot past the horizon.

“Did you see that?” Mathew asked.

“The shooting star?” Rachel responded.

“Yeah. Better make a wish.”

“It already came true.”

“I’m going to be sick,” Bisby
interrupted.

“I thought you were going to give us some
privacy,” Mathew stated, slightly annoyed.

“Yeah, well I got bored. Although I’m
beginning to think boredom is better than nausea.”

Rachel reached out and punched Bisby’s mech
sending him stumbling.

“Hey!”

“Sorry. Got bored.”

***

The Rookie was actually grateful when the
high-pitched keening woke him. The trip across the waste was
bringing up long dead memories, making his sleep fitful. He sat up
immediately, grabbing his carbine.

Floodlights from the mechs were triggered
and the Rookie had to squint into the light.

“What is it?” the Rookie called out.

“Couple wanderers broke the perimeter,”
Masters said, checking readings on his tablet. “All clear now. Go
back to sleep.”

“System staying strong?” Jay asked sleepily,
still wrapped in his sleeping bag.

“Everything checks out fine.”

“Good…good…,” Jay mumbled, already asleep
before he finished speaking.

***

“Boss?” June heard Riley say. She felt
searing pain between her legs as her bladder loosed.

“What’s the Law?” the Boss’s voice
growled.

“Huh?”

“The Law, Riley.”

“Well, she ain’t no virgin. I checked. I
figured you wouldn’t mind if I had some fun.”

Through her hazy vision, June watched the
Boss’s boots step away. There was a small metallic sound, a wet
gurgle then Riley, throat slashed and gushing, fell next to her,
his eyes wide.

“Chunks!”

“Yeah, Boss?”

“Dress this asshole for tomorrow’s
lunch.”

“Yes, Boss.”

It was then June saw the various tattoos
adorning the Boss’s boots.

“Couldn’t sleep, huh?” Themopolous asked as
Capreze stepped into the examination room.

“No. Too much going on,” He answered over a
mug of coffee, setting a second down for Themopolous. “I can see
you’re in the same boat.”

“I wanted to try to have some answers before
the pilot briefing.”

“And?”

“I should know in a couple of minutes.”
Themopolous lowered her safety goggles and picked up a rotary bone
saw. On the table before her was the zombie head Bisby had
retrieved. Flicking the saw on, Themopolos lowered the whirring
blade to the zombie’s skull and began to cut.

***

“Wake up sleepy head,” Rachel whispered into
Mathew’s ear.

“…huh? Wha?” he dreamily responded.

“Coffee’s all made, the mess is set up.
Let’s go for a sunrise stroll.”

“What time is it?” Mathew asked sitting up
from his bunk and grabbing his uniform.

“0530.”

“Really? You want to take a mech for a
stroll at 0530?”

“No,” Rachel answered coyly, stepping close
to Mathew and helping him into his uniform. “I want to take a
sunrise stroll with you at 0530. Privately.”

Mathew’s fatigued brain finally caught up.
“Oh, well in that case, let me brush my teeth.”

Rachel smiled.

***

Just before sunrise, Jay retrieved the
security poles handing them to the Rookie. Several times they had
to step past headless zombie corpses, their already rotted bodies
quickly decomposing in the constant wasteland heat.

“What the hell happened?” the Rookie
asked.

“Specially calibrated sonic frequency.
Little something I rigged up a few years back,” Jay responded.

The Rookie blankly stared at him. Jay
sighed. “Zombie brain composition is different than ours. I figured
out the frequency so that if zombies pass between two poles, their
brain is vibrated until ‘POP’. But, it only works on a small
scale…so far.”

***

“Jethro? Are you up?” Capreze asked over the
com, sipping from his coffee mug while he watched Themopolous
work.

“Of course I’m up. With Jay gone I’m on
double duty. I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” Jethro answered.

“Good to hear it,” Capreze laughed. “Listen,
I want you in the briefing this morning also, so don’t start any
huge project you can’t get away from.”

“Sure thing, sir.”

“Also, I need you to get everyone up and let
them know the briefing will be early this morning. We have a big
day ahead and need to be prepared.”

“Will do, Commander.”

***

Bodies intertwined, trying to become one.
Hands grasped, fingers gripped. Two sets of hips interlocked.

“Hey, Rachel? Have you seen Mathew anywhere?
I can’t get him on his com,” Jethro’s voice squawked.

“Oh, shit,” Rachel whispered. “Don’t move an
inch.”

“You’re the boss,” Mathew responded.

Rachel ground down on him. “Damn right.” She
flipped a switch. “Yeah, I have sight of him. He’s taking a walk
and a piss.”

“Roger. Wonder why he took his com off?”

“Who knows with that boy. He gets strange
ideas in his head.”

Rachel killed the switch, Mathew thrust
hard, making her climax immediately.

***

“Looks like Mathew’s on a morning walk,”
Jethro said over Capreze’s com.

“Without his com on?” Capreze asked.

“Guess so. You want me to go find him?”

“Yeah, go do that and let Rachel know we are
moving the briefing up.”

“Can’t you tell her over her com?” Jethro
asked.

“I could,” Capreze responded, a tinge of
annoyance touching his voice. “But, I’d hate to interrupt.”

“Interrupt? What do you…? Oh, yeah, right.
I’ll go get them right now, sir.”

“Thanks, Jethro. And Jethro?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Don’t let on that I sent you after
them.”

Jethro laughed. “Sure thing, sir.”

***

“Hey, Rache?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Why won’t you sleep in the barracks? Why do
you stay in your mech all night?”

Rachel uncurled herself from Mathew’s half
naked form, stretched in the cramped cockpit and kissed him deeply.
He embraced her, answering the kiss equally. Their lips parted and
she stroked his cheek, looking into his eyes. She pecked him
quickly and re-settled onto his chest.

“That’s not an answer.”

“Nope.”