Dead Mech (3 page)

“Hey Sweetheart! What’s up?”

“Where are you?” Michelle’s voice was
frantic.

“Stuck in traffic baby. It’s Friday night
rush hour. What’s wrong? Rachel okay?”

“Yes, but you need to get home.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just talked to my dad. He said we need to
get out of the city right away.”

Capreze woke with a start; thankful the
nightmare didn’t proceed any further.

***

The two mechs stood on the ridge looming
over the valley below.

“You sure you picked up something?” Bisby
asked over his com.

“Positive,” Stanislaw responded, double
checking his scanners. Nothing.

“Hmmm, guess we have to go down into that
bake oven of a dust bowl and check it all out,” Bisby grumbled.
“You sure?”

“Yes, Biz, I’m sure,” Stanislaw snapped
back. “I don’t know why you’re bitching, this is why we’re
here.”

“Yeah, but the Rookie comes in today. I
don’t want to miss the fun.”

“
You
didn’t think being a Rookie was
much fun.”

“Shit rolls down hill.”

***

Chief Mechanic Jay Rind stood and stretched,
his back cracking and popping into line.

“Ahhhhh, that’s the shit,” Jay yawned,
turning to survey the mech hangar. He glanced at his watch. 0600.
“Damn, did it again.”

Jethro laughed, walking into the hangar
holding two cups of coffee. “You fall asleep in here last
night?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Jay replied, cracking
his neck and taking the offered coffee mug. He nodded his thanks to
Jethro and turned back to his workbench and the schematics lain
upon it. Jethro sidled up next to him.

“That’s some ballsy shit.”

“Don’t I know,” agreed Jay.

***

“Where you want me Stan?” Bisby asked,
watching Stanislaw’s mech stomp down into the barren valley.

“Stay put. Keep scanners at full and watch
for the ambush.”

“Listen, I know you’re the best and all, but
I don’t think anything is in this valley. We’re wasting our
time.”

“Never assume, Biz. That’s how I stayed
alive this long and following that advice will keep you alive just
as long.” Stanislaw’s scanners beeped. He checked the readings. “I
just shot you my scan. You seeing that Biz?”

“Yeah…looks like some crevice off to your
left. Hard to see from up here.”

***

Mathew walked into the barracks, towel
around his waist. The noises from Masters’ bunk made him stop.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake you two!” Mathew said,
tired of walking in on Masters and Harlow going at it.

“Just…keep…walking…pilot,” Harlow muttered
between grunts.

Mathew swore under his breath, walked
quickly to his bunk and grabbed his uniform. He turned and huffed
to the barracks door, trying to ignore the lump of sweaty flesh
that made up Masters and Harlow.

“Briefing in fifty, kids,” he called back,
walking into the hallway. “Don’t be too late.”

“OH GOD,” was all he heard in response.

***

“Whatcha see Stan?”

“Not sure. This is more than a crevice. It’s
a fuckin’ rift in the Earth’s mantle. Jeezus.”

Stanislaw set scanners to full spectrum.
What looked like a thin opening to a crack in the valley floor,
quickly opened up below into a massive cavern. A cavern able to
hold any number of dead mechs. Stanislaw backed away, powering up
his weapons.

“Hey Biz?”

“Yeah, Stan?”

“I’m not sure what I’m looking at here, but
I think we may need back up.” Stanislaw shot the data over to
Bisby.

“Shit! That cavern’s huge. Who knows what’s
down there…”

***

Capreze stood in the middle of the tracks,
cup of coffee in hand. He watched the dawn sun lift over the far
off mountains.

“Mornin’ Papa Bear.”

Capreze looked up at the mech to his left.
The cockpit was wide open, Rachel’s legs dangling over the edge. He
lifted his cup in salute.

“Mornin’ Baby Girl. You make this joe?”

“Yep.”

Capreze took a sip of his coffee and sighed.
“You have the gift.”

They stayed silent, each sipping from their
mugs.

Rachel looked to the distance, down the
tracks.

“Rookie’ll be here soon.”

“Yep. Hope he’s worth a shit.”

***

“Coming to you, Stan.”

“Stay up there. No point in both of us
getting ambushed.”

“Fuck that! How about you drop a couple
plasma charges down there and just frag it all.”

“What if it isn’t hostile?”

“We’re in the fucking wasteland! Everything
is hostile!”

Stanislaw pondered this for a moment, but
just for a moment. Proximity alarms blared in his cockpit,
interrupting his deliberations.

“Stan?!? What is it?!?”

Stanislaw checked his scanners. He pinged a
shape, large and moving. Moving fast.

“Not sure, hard to get a reading through
this rock.”

He aimed his plasma cannons at the
opening.

***

Dr. Hecate Themopolous sat in her windowless
office, head in her hands. She stared at the piece of paper laid
out upon her desk. Tears welled in her eyes.

She sniffed and wiped at her nose, grabbing
up the paper and ripping it to shreds. She tossed the bits and
pieces into the trash, subconsciously wiping her hands on her
uniform as if the message on the paper had somehow dirtied her
physically.

Her door chime rang. She stared at the
shreds lying at the bottom of her wire trashcan. The door chimed
again. She quickly wiped her eyes.

“Enter.”

***

The dead mech burst from the crevice,
exploding chunks of rock in its wake. It quickly gained its footing
on the valley floor, its one arm raised and glowing ready for
battle.

“Jeezus…” Stanislaw whispered.

“Stan!” Bisby shouted into his com, powering
up his own weapons, dropping his mech down into the valley. “I’m
coming down! Push it to the left, I’ll flank it.”

Stanislaw stared at the dead mech, watching
its zombie pilot thrash and howl in its cockpit.

“Biz, something’s not right…”

“No fucking shit Stan! It’s a deader with
one arm, that’s the definition of ‘not right’!”

***

Masters tried handing Harlow the soap. She
fumbled around, blinded by suds. Masters laughed, gripped her hand
with his and carefully placed the slippery bar into her open
palm.

“Thanks baby,” she smiled, still blind.

“No problem your Hotness.” He turned back to
the water, letting the warm spray beat down on his chest. “You
think Mathew was pissed?”

“Who fucking cares,” said Harlow, washing
the soap from her face. “They’re all just jealous cause they ain’t
got their own fuck buddy.”

“That all we are?”

Harlow stepped from her stream into
Masters’. “No, baby, that’s not all we are.”

***

Stanislaw piloted his mech into a crouch,
setting up the leap and slash move. He waited for his opponent to
take the bait.

It didn’t.

One Arm waited, watching Stanislaw,
calculating the possible attacks. Coming to a conclusion, One Arm
aimed its plasma cannon.

Stanislaw’s eyes went wide; he’d never seen
a dead mech react this way. His com crackled.

“Get the fuck out of there Stan! He’s too
close for you to dodge those blasts!” Bisby screamed into his ear.
“I’m too far away to take him out!”

Stanislaw knew all of this. And what his
fate would be.

***

Capreze stepped next to Jay and appraised
the schematics.

“You think this will work?” the Commander
asked his Chief Mechanic.

“No, but I plan on putting hundreds of
man-hours into it anyway,” Jay sniped, never making eye contact
with the Commander.

Capreze grinned and slapped Jay on the back.
“That’s the spirit! You need anything?”

Still not looking away from the schematics,
Jay handed Capreze an empty coffee mug. “She makes it every morning
and yet I’m always surprised what your girl can do with some ground
beans and water.”

Capreze laughed, took the mug and headed to
the mess.

***

The blasts came hard and fast. Stanislaw
dodged the first wave, but couldn’t side step his mech fast enough
to miss the second wave. The concussion knocked his mech back 300
yards.

Stanislaw struggled to right his mech.

“Hydraulics on my left leg are out!”

“I’m coming Stan. Hold the fuck on!”

One Arm moved in, firing twice at Stanislaw,
then whirled around, sending several blasts towards Bisby.

Bisby was far enough away to evade the
shots, but it slowed him down, wasting precious time needed to get
to Stanislaw.

“Stan! Stan?!? Jeezus fuck, can you hear
me?!?” Bisby screamed.

***

“Goddamit Jethro! What did I say about
coffee mugs ON the schematics?!?” Jay barked at his assistant
mechanic. “What did I fucking say?!?”

“Don’t do it?” Jethro responded sheepishly,
grabbing up his mug, leaving a coffee ring behind on the plans.

Jay smacked him upside the head. “Go double
check Harlow’s left hydraulics system, I think I heard a hiss when
she docked last night.”

“I already checked it,” Jethro answered.

“Then go wash the fucking thing!” Jay
roared.

“Wash a mech? Really?” Jethro asked. Jay’s
face turned beet red. “Okay, okay. Jeezus, calm down.” Jethro
stomped away, muttering epithets.

***

One Arm blasted Stanislaw’s mech twice more,
sending mechanized limbs flying in all directions. The live mech’s
torso lay smoldering on the baked earth. One Arm turned its
attention on Bisby.

Seeing the state of Stanislaw’s mech and the
dead mech’s new tactics, Bisby stopped his mech and set blast
anchors into the ground. He prepped the machine for full rocket
launch, intending on sending the one armed abomination to hell in a
million tiny pieces.

One Arm roared and charged. Bisby’s blood
ran cold at the inhuman sound coming from the dead mech’s
loudspeakers.

“What the fuck….?” Bisby croaked.

***

“Hey Matty! Come sit here!” June called as
Mathew finished loading his plate from the mess line.

Mathew glanced around, but the mess hall was
empty and he was trapped. He slowly made his way to June’s
table.

“Mornin’,” he nodded, fake smile in
place.

“Wow, did you hear Harlow last night?” June
asked conspiratorially. “She and Masters were non-stop.”

Mathew laughed. “This morning too.”

June’s eyes widened. “Wow. Must be nice
having someone all to yourself like that…”

Mathew kept his eyes down, preferring to
look at the pile of yellowish synth-eggs, than to look into June’s
inquiring eyes.

***

Bisby checked the anchors and set his mech
into a squat, bringing its body to a lower center of gravity. He
watched the dead mech rage towards him and braced for impact.

Twenty yards out, One Arm leapt, using its
mini-rocket boosters on its legs for extra lift. It raised its arm
high into the air.

Bisby, realizing what the dead mech was
about to do, disengaged his ground anchors, hoping he could side
step the falling mech in time.

Everything slowed. One Arm roaring, Bisby
scrambling, Stanislaw dying. It all froze for a split second in the
barren valley.

***

“Man, I never get over how good this coffee
is!” Masters crowed. “I mean, how do you grow something this tasty
in the fucking wasteland?”

He plopped down next to Mathew and June,
smelling of soap and smiling from ear to ear.

“Hey Baby? Grab me a muffin, will ya?” he
called over his shoulder to Harlow, still in the mess line.

“Will do Sugar Dick!” she called back.

Mathew shook his head, but couldn’t help
smiling. Masters raised his eyebrows in mock innocence.

“What?” Masters took a sip of coffee. “Can’t
two bad ass mother fuckers be in love?”

***

Bisby didn’t make it out of the way. The
impact of mech on mech was earth shattering. Literally.

One Arm came down just as Bisby had
disengaged his last ground anchor and tried to execute a tight side
roll. The dead mech smashed into Bisby’s cockpit; putting the two
close enough that Bisby could smell the rotted zombie pilot.

A massive crack appeared in the baked earth,
opening the world above to the world below. Both mechs tumbled into
the fissure, smashing at each other with iron fists, knees and
feet. The darkness swallowed them, their battle echoing, echoing,
lost.

***

Dr. Themopolous walked into the mess hall.
Finding Mathew she quickly moved to his side and bent down close.
“May I speak with you for a second?”

Mathew looked at the other pilots at the
table and then at the doctor. “Um, sure. I’ll see you all in the
briefing.” He stood and followed Doctor Themopolous outside the
mess.

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow when they
were alone. Doctor Themopolous cleared her throat, glancing around
to make sure they were unobserved. “You came from Foggy Bottom,
right?”

“Yeah…?”

“Have you heard from anyone there recently?
Any news of any…problems?”

***

Matilda placed a kiss on his cheek. “Bye
Daddy!” she said, skipping out the back door into the spring
rain.

Stanislaw got up from his chair, grabbing an
umbrella and followed his daughter. “Take this baby.”

“Awww, Daddy, the rain isn’t going to hurt
me,” Matilda complained. “It’s not like when you were a kid.”

Stanislaw smiled. “It’ll make your old man
feel better.”

Matilda laughed and reached out. Before she
could grasp the umbrella her skin started to melt from her arm. She
screamed, so did Stanislaw.

He was still screaming when he came to in
his burning cockpit.

***

“What are you doing?” Jay called up to
Jethro.