Dead Mech (23 page)

Olivia and Rebecca’s shack had one collapsed
wall and the interior was in ruins. June looked out upon the rest
of the village and gasped. Many shacks were completely destroyed.
People were frantically digging through the rubble, trying to get
at those trapped underneath. Small fires burned here and there
adding their smoke to the already dust laden air, turning the
village into a surreal dreamscape.

June stepped out of the shack and wandered
among the wreckage in a daze.

“We suffer the same as everyone,” the Boss
whispered from directly behind her.

***

“Remember when this base was filled with
personnel? Twenty mechs lined in a row. Another twenty out
patrolling…” Capreze trailed off as he entered the hangar with
Rachel. “It’s changed a lot since we first came here.”

“It’s not your fault,” Rachel said.

Capreze turned to his daughter. “I know
that, Baby Girl. I just never thought the day would come that we’d
have to evacuate, to leave this place because we couldn’t defend it
on our own.”

“We’ll be back, don’t worry,” Rachel
soothed, squeezing her father’s arm before joining the rest of the
base staff standing at attention.

***

“They’re just people,” the Boss said,
gesturing at the carnage. “You can hate me, and rightly so…” He
leaned in close to June’s neck. “I am a bit of a monster.”

June squirmed away and the Boss caught her
arm tightly, pulling her in close. He grabbed her chin and forced
her to look out onto the village. “But don’t hate them. They’re
just normal people trying to survive, just like you and your mech
elite. Just like every living thing in the waste.”

Olivia cleared her throat from behind them.
“Are you about done?”

The Boss walked away laughing.

***

“We have less than an hour before the storm
hits us,” Capreze said, addressing the base staff. “All initial
readings show this to be one big mother fucker.”

Capreze studied the faces before him. The
resolve of the mech pilots, the worry of the doctor and the pain of
the mechanic. “With the speed it’s moving we should be able to bug
out within three or four hours, depending on the intensity of the
tail end.”

“We’re leaving before the storm passes?”
Themopolous asked.

“Yes. We need the head start and the cover
to beat the transports heading our way.”

***

The Rookie dropped through the hole, landing
in ankle deep filth. He flicked on his halogen and sprinted down
the sewer tunnel.

“I took out the first wave, but we have
maybe a five minute head start, tops,” he said, catching up with
Jay and Masters. “Do we know where we’re going?”

Jay tapped at his tablet. “Readings are
sketchy down here, but if we head straight we should hit the main
junction. Get topside and we are only a quarter mile from the
mechs.”

“Yeah, but what’s waiting for us topside?”
Masters asked.

“Probably the whole city/state,” Jay
answered.

***

Rebecca handed June a bucket. “Here, make
yourself useful.”

June took the bucket and looked around.
Rebecca took her by both shoulders, pointing here in the right
direction. “The well’s that way. Help with the fires.”

Taking June by the arm, Olivia took over,
holding a bucket of her own. “I can’t help you forever, girl. If
you don’t shape up soon, the Boss will toss you aside. Trust me, it
may not seem like it, but the Boss is all that’s keeping you from
being torn apart here. There ain’t no love loss for you mechies or
the UDC.”

***

“Double check time, people! We need to
prioritize,” Capreze stated. “Themopolous? You need to list all
supplies you think essential. Rachel? You’re on food. Harlow and
Biz? Weapons and ammo. We have limited space and weight means
energy used, so be careful and precise. The transport can recharge
as we go, but the mechs will need down time to recharge weapons
sytems. We may end up traveling at night and recharging and resting
during the day,” Capereze looked about at his staff. “Any
questions?”

“Where are we headed, sir?” Harlow
asked.

“Deep, pilot,” Capreze answered. “As deep as
we can.”

***

The villagers watched June like wild dogs:
wary, expecting her to hurt them, but ready to rip her throat out
if threatened.

June tried to ignore the stares, tried to
ignore her own pain and hunger, and focused on the task of fetching
water. She willed herself into mission mode, to put away her fear
and hesitance.

She stepped up to the well and filled her
bucket, but when she turned to leave she was relieved of her bucket
and handed an empty.

June took the hint and stayed by the well,
filling buckets as they were thrust at her.

***

“Hey Rookie?” Masters asked as the three men
made their way through the sewage tunnel. “Can I ask you
something?”

“What?” the Rookie responded.

“Back at base, when you and Harlow were
sparring?”

“Yes?”

“You let her win, didn’t you?”

The Rookie was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, I
did. But, not by much. She’d have been a champion in the fight
cage.”

Masters laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure she would
be. Hey, can you do me a favor?”

“Ummm, sure, whatcha need?”

“If we make it out of this, please never
tell her you took a dive.”

“You got it.”

***

June worked at filling and handing off
buckets until her arms refused to work. She slumped against the
well and someone pushed past her, taking her place as if she wasn’t
there.

“Come on,” Olivia said, once again coming to
June’s aid. “The fire’s are out, they’re just smothering the coals
so there aren’t any flare ups.”

June let Olivia help her to her feet and
took a drink of the water she was offered. “Thank you.”

“Over here,” Rebecca called and Olivia
directed June to a group of women, all busy working over a huge
cookpot. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

***

Mathew checked systems as he walked his mech
from the sanctuary of the cliff face and back out into the open of
the wasteland. There was some minor damage, but nothing that would
keep him from his mission or from defending himself if the time
came.

He calculated the timing of when the storm
hit him and when it passed by, figuring the mech base was right in
the middle of a world of shit of their own right now. Nothing he
could do about that now.

Mathew got his bearings and engaged his
motor drive. Next stop: Windy City.

***

Masters, Jay and the Rookie stood in the
sewer’s central junction. All three stared at the ladder that would
lead them up to the streets of Foggy Bottom.

“Who’s first?” the Rookie asked.

“Don’t look at me, I never thought this was
a good idea to begin with,” Masters said.

“Yeah, but you’ll think it’s a good idea
when we make it out alive,” Jay growled.

“And I’ll be proven right when we’re ripped
apart as soon as we’re topside. Funny how neither option fills me
with a warm and fuzzy feeling.”

The three stood there staring at the
ladder.

***

“Sir?” Jethro called from the transport,
already in place for the evacuation. “We should be able to bug out
in twenty.”

“Thank you, Jethro,” the Commander
responded. “Okay, folks, time to get ready. Rachel, Harlow? Get in
your mechs and take point. Bisby, Doctor? You two are with me. We
have one last task to take care of.”

Themopolous sighed and grabbed a med kit.
Bisby double checked his side arm then slung an auto-carbine over
his shoulder. The three left the hangar and made the short journey
through the base to the holding cells. To the zombies held
within.

***

The odor emanating from the cookpot made
June’s empty stomach churn and her mouth water at the same
time.

The women began to ladle out portions of the
stew and hand them out to villagers patiently lined up and waiting.
June averted her eyes, fighting her rebellious hunger.

“Here, girl,” Rebecca said pushing a
steaming bowl of stew into her hands. “You’ve been coddled enough.
Now eat.”

“I won’t eat this,” June protested, setting
the bowl aside.

“Won’t eat?” the Boss mocked, stepping next
to June. “You hear that everyone? Rachel, our mech pilot guest,
won’t eat!” the Boss bellowed.

***

“Sir? Do we have time for this?” Themopolous
asked Capreze as they stood before the holding cells containing the
deaders that once were the UDC med techs and train pilots. “I mean,
they are already dead.”

“I agree with the Doctor, sir. Fuck ‘em,”
Bisby chimed in.

“Do they look dead?” the Commander asked,
gesturing at the uncharacteristically docile zombies. “You saw how
they calmed down over the past couple hours. They are
different.”

“So what do we do?” Themopolous asked.

Capreze pulled his pistol and shot each
zombie between the eyes. “Let’s bag ‘em up and load them up.”

***

Two massive fists emerged from the storm
swept earth of the wasteland. Shiner reached up and pulled himself
from his hole, shaking the dirt and debris out of his limbs.

He scanned the surrounding area, hoping the
live mech hadn’t escaped him. He was relieved (another new
sensation) to find the mech at the far edge of his scope. He made
sure his jamming was in place and set off to pursue the live
one.

He calculated the heading, knowing what he’d
find. The live mech was still traveling to Windy City. And almost
certain death. Probably for them both.

***

The street was deserted. Not a car was
moving nor a pedestrian walking. The sounds of the city/state were
absent completely.

Jay, Masters and the Rookie noticed this
immediately as they emerged from the manhole.

“Um, I think I would have preferred a zombie
horde,” Masters whispered. “This shit’s creepy.”

“No shit,” agreed the Rookie.

Jay checked his tablet. “We’re only about
five blocks from the UDC hangar. This way.”

The three men set out in the direction Jay
indicated, their entire beings listening for the sounds of
approaching death.

“I mean it. This is fucking creepy,” Masters
whispered again.

***

“This mech brat, this privileged, spoiled
little daddy’s girl, thinks that our food is beneath her, that our
very way of life is beneath her. Should I stand for that?” the Boss
addressed the hungry, exhausted villagers.

June sat there, terrified, waiting for the
group to call for her head. But none spoke, none responded to the
Boss’s question. They all just glared at her, seeming to know what
would come next.

“No, we can’t stand for this.” The Boss
turned to face June “Until you eat…none eat.” He grinned, wide, and
swept his hands about, including the entire village.

***

“Should you start the mechs up?” Masters
asked Jay as they rounded a corner and saw the entrance to the UDC
hangar.

“What?” the Rookie asked. “I thought you
said you couldn’t remotely control the mechs?!?”

“Not with any accurate movement control,”
Jay answered, tapping at his tablet. “But, I can run the start up
procedure and have them both ready to go when we get in there.”

“You think they’re waiting for us in there?”
Masters asked.

“I’d be,” the Rookie responded. “Not that we
can guess how these things think anymore. All bets are off on that
front.”

***

Even though it was daytime, Mathew knew what
he was looking for and quickly spotted the same anomaly on his
sensors.

“What are you and why are you jamming my
sensors to your presence?” Mathew asked. He figured that since the
thing hadn’t made a move on him it couldn’t be a dead mech or
hostile waster. “What the fuck are you?”

He checked his headings and figured he’d be
almost to Windy City by nightfall. He wasn’t exactly sure what he
was going to find once he got there. He hoped the Commander was
overreacting.

He’d know soon enough.

***

Undead UDC troops poured from the hangar
door. Masters, Jay and the Rookie ducked into an alleyway, hoping
they hadn’t been spotted.

“Guess that answers the question of where
the troops are,” Masters whispered. “Waiting for us.”

“You say you can’t
accurately
control
the mechs, right?” the Rookie asked Jay.

“Yeah, so?” Jay responded.

“Well, we don’t need accuracy, do we? We
just need the mechs,” the Rookie smiled. “Can you bring them
through those walls to us?”

Jay grinned. “Sure I can. Let me check the
mechs’ positions…Okay, they’re ready.”

“Good,” the Rookie said. “Bring ‘em to the
streets.”

***

Bisby secured the four bagged, bound and
still unmoving deaders into an outer storage compartment on the
transport. “How long do you think until their brains rebuild, Doc?”
Bisby asked as he shut and latched the compartment hatch.

“Probably another hour or so. That seemed to
be about the length of time it took Sergeant Major Crowley’s brain
to repair the first time,” Themopolous answered.

“Good, plenty of time for us to be on our
way,” Capreze called from the transport.

“Speaking of ‘on our way’, sir, we need to
get moving or we’ll loose the storm cover,” Jethro said.

***

Concrete and steel exploded outward,
crushing many of the UDC troops as Masters’ mech burst from the
hangar.

“Get it close!” Masters yelled at Jay. “I’ll
get up in there and give you cover to get to yours!”

Jay shakily maneuvered the mech over towards
the alleyway.

“That’s as close as I can get it without
risking us getting squashed!” Jay said.

“Fine. You got me?” Masters asked the
Rookie.

The Rookie knelt by the mouth of the alley,
auto-carbine at his shoulder. “Ready.”