Dead Mech (29 page)

The snap of Rebecca’s neck echoed in the
pit. She could hear Olivia’s wail of sorrow immediately.

“Excellent,” the Boss smirked. “Alright!
Last fight!”

***

Mathew put the safety back on and
re-holstered his side arm as more gunfire erupted. His mech’s
systems were dead so he couldn’t check scanners. He was blind and
helpless while something unseen opened fire with what sounded like
50mms.

His mech shifted as the weight of the
deaders was lifted, their attention now on the new attacker. Mathew
un-strapped, grabbed his survival pack and carbine and reached for
the emergency hatch release. Even with his mech face down, the
hatch was supposed to separate enough for him to squeeze out. He
yanked hard.

Nothing.

Mathew’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

***

The Boss offered June a hand out of the pit,
but she slapped it away and dug her fingers into the earth, pulling
herself out. She turned away from him and looked for Olivia, but
she was gone, her bench seat empty. In fact, most of the seats were
empty, except for a few friends and family of the last two
fighters.

June felt the Boss’s arm slide across her
shoulders, turning her back to the pit and to him.

“That was a nice move down there,” he
whispered in her ear. “Don’t even think of trying it on me.”

***

Mathew could hear the battle around him and
he focused on the sounds, trying to piece together the fight in his
head.

He heard the blast of a plasma cannon and
the resulting explosion as the blast hit its target.

The 50mm guns never stopped firing and the
sound of metal being pierced and torn was near deafening.

Two more explosions shook his mech and then
one of the deaders slammed to the ground right next to him. Mathew
put his hands out to brace himself as he was shaken by the
impact.

And like that, it all went silent.

***

Every time June turned her head from the
last fight, the Boss grabbed her chin and forced her to look.

“I’ll slice your eyelids off, so don’t even
think of closing those pretty peepers of yours,” he growled. “I
want you to see how the rest of the world lives and dies.”

The fight was finished quickly, as a small
girl was put down brutally by a well muscled middle aged man. June
could swear the man enjoyed himself as he crushed the girl’s skull
with his boot.

“Well,” the Boss said. “I don’t know about
you, but I’m starving!”

***

Mathew held tight as his mech was flipped
onto its back and the cockpit hatch ripped off.

Stock still, he stared up into the battle
scarred features of a new dead mech. He was positive this one
wasn’t with the others.

He tried to reach over for his carbine,
although he knew the rifle would be ineffective against the war
machine. Immediately the deader lifted its right arm and shoved its
glowing plasma cannon at him. Mathew slowly pulled his arm
back.

He heard loud footfalls and his jaw dropped
as he watched mini-mech One stand next to the deader.

Commander Capreze could hear the pilots
joking and ribbing each other, a sound that always made him feel at
ease, no matter the situation. He approached the outer rim of light
the mechs shone over the camp when he heard a sound behind him,
like shifting pebbles.

The Commander spun about, his halogen
piercing the wasteland darkness. Nothing. He watched for a moment
then turned back to the camp and began to activate his com when the
hands grabbed his arms and covered his mouth.

He struggled in vain as he was pulled into
the inky blackness of the wasteland.

***

Mathew looked from the dead mech to One and
back again. The dead mech pushed the mini-mech forward and One
clomped over to Mathew’s mech. It reached down and yanked the
cockpit hatch off, tossing it into the Windy City rubble.

Mathew stayed perfectly still as One moved
back to the dead mech’s side. The deader’s cockpit opened and it
reached it’s massive fist inside, pointing to the zombie pilot then
at Mathew and back to the zombie pilot.

Mathew narrowed his eyes and cleared his
throat. “I’m not dead, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m not a
zombie yet.”

***

Bisby stared at the empty storage
compartment. “Hey Jethro?”

“Yeah, Biz?”

“Where are the perimeter poles?”

“The Commander decided to take a walk and
set them up himself.”

“Huh,” Bisby mused. He looked out into the
darkness of the wasteland night. “Are they active?”

“Yeah, I switched the perimeter on the
second he gave me the go ahead.”

Bisby started walking about the camp, his
eyes still focused on the wasteland. “Okay, so if the perimeter is
active and the Commander set up the perimeter then where is the
Commander?”

“Um, that’s a good question…”

“Yeah, ya think?” Bisby snapped.

***

The dead mech pointed to its zombie pilot
and back at Mathew again. Mathew shook his head.

“I don’t understand what you want,” Mathew
said. “Your pilot is dead, it’s a freakin’ zombie, there isn’t
anything I can do.”

The deader stomped its massive foot, shaking
Mathew about in his demolished mech’s cockpit. It moved closer,
grabbing a stray piece of Mathew’s mech, shaking the junked part
then tossing it aside. It pointed to Mathew again and waited.

“My mech is broken? Is that it?”

The deader pointed to its pilot and then at
itself.

Mathew stared then realization dawned.

***

“I’m getting nothing, Biz,” Jethro said from
the transport. “I’ve got sensors at full capacity and nothing.
However, the geothermal pocket below us could be messing up the
readings.”

“Could be?” Bisby barked. “You don’t get
paid for ‘could be’, Jethro!”

“I don’t get paid at all, asshole!” Jethro
snapped back.

Bisby growled and surveyed the darkness once
again. “He can’t have just disappeared! We’ve barely broken
camp!”

“What’s up, Biz?” Rachel asked stepping up
behind Bisby.

“Oh, Rache… I, um, didn’t hear you come up,”
Bisby stuttered.

Rachel eyed Biz for a moment. “What’s going
on?”

Bisby looked away.

***

Mathew’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You
want to be my replacement mech? You want me to get in you?”

To Mathew it looked like the dead mech
nodded, but that was crazy. Of course, talking to a deader was
crazy also. Not to mention the fact the deader wasn’t ripping him
apart and feeding him bit by bit to its zombie pilot.

“You already have a pilot,” Mathew said. And
almost before the words had fully left Mathew’s mouth, the dead
mech reached in, ripping out the zombie pilot from its cockpit. It
bent down, shoving the corpse towards Mathew.

***

Harlow uncoupled her schlong from the
transport, trying to ignore the banging and growling noises coming
from the storage compartment.

“Shut the fuck up, you deader fucks!” she
yelled, kicking the storage hatch. “Hey? Is this racket bothering
anyone else?”

“It’s bothering me,” Themopolous said. “I’d
like to sedate the creatures so I can study their new physiology,
but I can’t seem to find the Commander for his approval. Have you
seen him?”

Harlow looked about the camp. “Actually, no,
I haven’t.” She tapped her com. “Has anyone seen the
Commander?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out!”
Bisby responded.

***

“What do you mean ‘trying to figure out’?”
Rachel demanded, her eyes narrowing. “Where is my father?”

“How the fuck should I know?” Bisby barked.
“It’s not my job to keep tabs on the commanding officer, is it? I
was just as busy powering up my mech as you were with yours.”

“When did he go missing?” Rachel asked.

“After I activated the perimeter,” Jethro
responded.

Rachel glared at Bisby. “I thought that was
your duty?”

“He decided to take it on himself. I didn’t
know a thing about it. So back the fuck OFF!”

“Everybody calm down,” Harlow
interjected.

***

Shiner pushed its expired zombie pilot
towards the living mech pilot. The dense human wasn’t understanding
his request and Shiner didn’t have much time left. He could feel
the mental breakdown beginning already. He could last another hour,
maybe. He calculated quickly and realized he didn’t even have that
much time.

“I don’t think you understand how this
‘pilot and mech’ relationship works,” the living mech pilot said.
“You’re a deader, I’m not. End of story.”

Shiner grew frustrated yet again and tossed
the zombie corpse aside, its desiccated form breaking apart as it
impacted against the Windy City rubble.

***

Mathew flinched and scooted back from the
dead mech. “Whoa, calm down! No need to start tossing bodies
about.”

The dead mech pointed to its empty cockpit
again.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s possible. I’m
pretty sure you’d fry my brain.”

The dead mech stomped the ground with its
foot, shaking Mathew about. It leaned in close, over Mathew, both
massive fists set on either side of him.

“G-g-g-g-g… Get… I-i-i-innnnn…” the deader’s
loudspeakers crackled.

Mathew did everything in his power to keep
from pissing himself. The dead mech quickly stood, powering up its
plasma cannon. “O-o-o-orrrr… D-d-d-die…”

***

“Are you sure you can’t pick him up on the
scanners?” Rachel asked Jethro.

“Um, yeah, I’m pretty fucking sure since
that’s my FUCKING JOB!” Jethro shouted over the com.

“Hey!” Harlow barked. “Everyone shut the
fuck up!” She turned about then walked to her mech.

“Where are you going?” Bisby asked.

“Well, seeing as it’s nighttime and pitch
fucking dark out there…” She grabbed a hold of her mech’s leg and
started to climb. “…I figured we should light this place up a bit
more.”

Rachel and Bisby looked at each other then
sprinted to their mechs, climbing also.

***

Shiner’s sensors, though growing weaker,
picked up the movement immediately. Coming directly at their
position were hundreds upon hundreds of the undead humans.

Shiner struggled to power up all of its
weapons systems. Connections were becoming difficult. He
recalculated and realized the mental deterioration was happening
exponentially. He would cease to exist in a matter of minutes.

The human pilot held up his hands and Shiner
could see the fear. “Hey, no need to blast me, okay? Let’s talk
this out a bit more.”

Shiner pushed One. The mini-mech sprang into
action, running past the human and into the rubble.

***

“Whoa whoa WHOA!” Jethro yelled. “Small
lights for the camp is one thing, but you light up those mechs and
we’ll be spotted a hundred miles away!”

“Spotted by who?” Bisby yelled back. “You
already said we weren’t followed by the Ranchers.”

“Yeah, well, I also lost track of the
Commander. So maybe we shouldn’t be relying on me and my tech.
Maybe we should slow down and think this through.”

“Jethro’s right,” Themopolous agreed. “There
could be other dangers.”

“Like what?” Bisby asked as he and the other
pilots lit up the wasteland.

Surrounding them were thousands of
zombies.

***

Mathew turned about as One streaked by. He
watched the mini-mech leap over debris and dodge around piles of
concrete before disappearing into Windy City.

He felt the earth shake and turned back to
the dead mech expecting the worst. But, what he found surprised
him. The dead mech was down on one knee with one hand placed firmly
against the ground. The only description that came to Mathew’s mind
was that the thing looked sick.

The dead mech weakly pointed to its cockpit
again. Gunfire erupted deep within the burnt out city and Mathew
flinched.

Then Mathew heard them.

***

“Let’s light ‘em up!” Bisby yelled his
finger on the trigger.

“No! Wait!” Themopolous cried. “Look at
them! Look closely!” She ran pointing to the figures that looked
like zombies, waving up at the mechs. “Check your screens!”

Harlow zoomed in on part of the horde
surrounding them and gasped. “What the fuck?”

“What am I looking at here, Doc?” Bisby
asked. “Are those people? Zombies? What are they?”

“They’re our way back home,” Commander
Capreze interrupted over the com. “Power down, Pilots. I’ve got
some people you need to meet.”

Capreze stepped out from the front of the
horde.

***

Shiner heard more gunfire, but didn’t have
the capabilities to connect with One anymore. The mini-mech was on
its own.

The human began to back away from the
city/state until he bumped up against Shiner’s leg. Without turning
around, he asked, “Deaders are coming, aren’t they?”

Shiner tapped the ground to get the human’s
attention. The pilot turned about and looked at Shiner. It took
nearly all of his willpower to point, one last time, at his
cockpit.

The human glanced warily at Windy City then
back at Shiner.

“Yeah, I think I may be coming around,” the
human said.

***

Mathew grabbed a hold of the dead mech’s leg
and started to climb. He didn’t have to go far since the thing was
doubled over. Mathew strapped in and looked about the cockpit. It
was an old one, lacking in a lot of the upgrades and modifications
Mathew was used to.

“Okay, now what?” Mathew asked. The cockpit
closed and the cerebral integration panel lit up. “Seriously?
What’s to stop you from frying my brain?”

The dead mech shook and placed both fists on
the ground. The cockpit panels flickered, but held.