Dead Mech (62 page)

Capreze, sleepily realizing the voice was
coming from the com, grudgingly came awake. “Hello?” he coughed.
“Who is this? I can hear you.”

“Capreze? Jimmy! Is that you?” the voice
asked.

“This is Mech Pilot James Capreze, who the
fuck is this?”

“It’s Stan! Stanislaw! Man, I can’t believe
you made it out also! Holy Shit!”

“Stan? Jeezus, I thought I was the only one
left,” Capreze responded.

“I think we’re it, man.”

“Not quite, I got Rachel out with me.”

“Thank God for that.”

***

Commander Capreze came awake with a
start.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” Mathew
said, seated next to Rachel’s cot, his hand in hers.

Capreze ran his hand over his face, rubbing
the sleep from his eyes. “What time is it?”

“0700,” Mathew responded. “Everyone let you
sleep in.”

Capreze glanced at Rachel and smiled. “Well,
at least I’m not the only slacker around here.”

“If she can hear you, she’s gonna kick your
ass when she wakes up.”

Capreze chuckled. “I look forward to that.”
The Commander stood and stretched. “I’m gonna get cleaned up. Want
some coffee?”

“Sure.”

***

“Hey! Stop locking me out!” Jay shouted at
Jethro. “I’m trying to run a diagnostic!”

“I already ran it and fixed it, you’re just
going to fuck it back up!” Jethro shouted back.

“Boys! Can you please stop bickering for one
fucking minute!” Marin shouted, pinching the bridge of her nose,
trying to ward off the immanent headache. “You two are fucking
killing me!”

“Sorry, Marin,” Jay said sheepishly.

“Yeah, sorry Marin. Jay can be a real pain
in the ass sometimes,” Jethro said.

“Me? You’re the fucking pain in the ass!”
Jay shouted.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Marin cursed.

***

Capreze stepped into the stronghold mess
hall, heading straight for the coffee. “Morning,” he said to
Specialists Grendetti and Specialist Kafar.

“Morning, sir,” Grendetti answered, while
Specialist Kafar nodded.

“I can’t thank you guys enough for getting
this place in order,” Capreze said, indicating the mess hall.

“Well, after Jethro did a controlled fire
purge of the place, it really was just a matter of scrubbing it
down and hosing it off.”

Capreze lifted a cup of coffee to his lips
and sipped, grimacing.

Kafar laughed. “We can’t wait until your
girl wakes up. We’ve heard
her
coffee is legend.”

***

Capreze nearly ran into Marin as he left the
mess.

“Excuse me, Commander,” she said,
frowning.

Capreze eyed her carefully. “They driving
you nuts?”

Marin sighed. “They’re like fucking
kids!”

“How’s the data recovery coming?” Capreze
asked.

“Slow to nil,” Marin answered. “Every time
we think we’ve got something we find another dead end. Johnson was
pretty thorough with his safeguards. We’ll be lucky to recover one
percent of what was lost.”

“Too bad, that was the whole history of the
stronghold.”

“Plus, detailed medical records and weapons
research.”

“What about the satellite?”

“Jethro’s still trying to get back in.”

***

Mathew watched as the Railer mechanics
worked on yet another new mech.

“Hey Matty,” June said.

“Morning, June,” Mathew responded. “They’ve
done a great job. We’re gonna have more mechs than pilots unless
Themopolous and Jethro can get the new Reaper chips ready.”

“Listen,” June said. “I’ve been meaning to
apologize for a while.”

Mathew waved her off. “No apologies, June.
I’ve already said that.”

“Just hear me out.”

Mathew nodded and June continued. “I just
wanted to say I’m sorry for making things hard on you and Rachel.
It wasn’t fair. Okay?”

“Okay,” Mathew said smiling. “Unnecessary
apology accepted.”

***

“Jethro?” Capreze called over the com as he
made his way back to the staging area, two steaming mugs of coffee
in his hands.

“Yes, sir?” Jethro responded.

“Any more info on that neurotoxin?”

“No, sir. I can’t find a trace of it stored
anywhere. Johnson must have used the only supply.”

“Do you have any data on it at all?”

“A little from my analysis of the air
samples from before the Special Ops people torched the mess. But,
it’s sketchy at best.”

“Well, keep working at it.”

“Not a problem, sir. It’s on the priority
list, trust me.”

***

Jenny taped the picture of her father to the
train engine’s control panel.

“Systems are ready. We can depart at
anytime,” a Railer engineer said next to her. “We’re just waiting
on the mech.”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “I’ll hurry his ass
up.” Jenny tapped at her com. “Hey Dog Boy! You coming or
what?”

“Seriously? Is that going to be my
nickname?” the Rookie complained.

“Only from me. You can kick anyone else’s
ass that calls you that.”

“That’s a deal,” the Rookie laughed. “I’m
all powered up and heading your way.”

“Good. We’ve got some wasteland to
cover.”

***

Capreze stepped next to Mathew, handing him
a mug of coffee.

“Thanks,” Mathew said.

“You won’t thank me after you try it,” the
Commander warned.

Mathew took a sip and grimaced. “Yeah, I
take that back. Masters make this?”

“He made it yesterday before he took off
with Bisby, Harlow and Stomper,” Capreze answered.

The two remained silent for a moment before
Mathew spoke again. “Doc says she’s stable and doing fine, she just
won’t wake up.”

“I suggested we put her in a mech, she’d
feel more at home, but Themopolous disagreed.”

Rachel’s men sipped at their horrid
coffee.

***

“Mech coming through!” the Rookie called
out.

Capreze and Mathew stepped out of the way of
the battle machine.

“You all set?” Capreze said over the
com.

“Yep, it took us a couple weeks, but the
train, while a bit shorter, is running fine,” the Rookie responded.
“Jenny just ran the final test and we’re good to go.”

“Be careful,” Mathew said.

“Will do. We’re just going to my old village
and picking up those that want to leave. We’ll be back in a
week.”

The Rookie stepped his mech out of the
stronghold and over to the Railer train.

***

Lieutenant Murphy watched Specialist Sol set
the last pole.

“Perimeter is up, Commander,” Murphy
said.

“Excellent, Lieutenant,” Capreze responded
over the com. “I’ll alert Jay.”

“No need,” Jethro said. “I’ve already
activated it and all frequencies are programmed and broadcasting.
Any stray deaders will be toast if they cross the line.”

“I don’t like how he’s listening to
everything,” Sol said.

“I heard that Specialist,” Jethro laughed.
“I’ll stop, I promise.”

Sol looked at the Lieutenant and rolled his
eyes. Murphy slapped him on the shoulder and grinned as the two
Special Ops teammates walked back towards the stronghold
entrance.

***

Mathew took another sip of coffee, a shiver
of disgust shaking his frame. Capreze laughed. “You don’t have to
drink it, you know.”

“Yeah, I better get used to it though,”
Mathew responded. “You know, just in case…” He trailed off and
stared out into the distance.

Capreze cleared his throat. “You ever find
Shiner’s CPU?”

“Nope. We barely found any debris. Those
plasma charges must have nearly vaporized him. Jay and Jethro are
pretty pissed. They really wanted to study how he was put
together.”

The two men each took another sip and each
shivered, processing the month’s events.

***

“So,” Mathew broached cautiously. “You ever
gonna tell me what the Hell you and Shiner were talking about on
the battlefield that day?”

“Nope,” Capreze answered flatly.

Mathew furrowed his brow and turned his full
gaze on Capreze. “Sir, if it has anything to do with Rachel I think
I have a right to know.”

Capreze kept his eyes focused out, refusing
to meet Mathew’s gaze. “No, you don’t.”

Mathew stared a minute then turned away.
“Well, it was worth a shot. I know better than to argue with a
Capreze when you’re acting like stubborn asses.”

Capreze smiled slightly.

***

“Well, he looks fine,” Themopolous said,
lowering the boy’s shirt and making a couple of notations on her
tablet. “He’s still a bit malnourished, but he’s starting to
develop muscle tone and that’s a good sign. His back will never
fully straighten, but he may be able to walk without a limp in the
next few months.”

Themopolous set her tablet aside and looked
at June. “Has he chosen a name yet?”

June smiled and looked at the boy,
affectionately tousling his hair. “Yeah, he has.” She turned to the
Doctor and beamed. “Stan. He wants to be called Stan.”

***

“See,” June said, Stan’s hand in hers.
“Doctor Themopolous promised not to take any blood today. It wasn’t
so bad, was it?”

Stan shook his head and smiled up at
June.

“Hey, you two,” Capreze called out, coming
around the corner, two empty mugs in hand.

“Hello, Commander,” June greeted. “Going for
a second cup?”

Capreze frowned. “I don’t think anyone in
this place is brave enough for that.” He knelt down and offered his
hand to Stan. “I hear you’ve chosen a name. Welcome home,
Stan.”

“Is that what this is?” June asked.
“Home?”

“For now, yes,” Capreze answered.

***

“I am the glory, I am the glory, I am the
glory, I am the glory,” the Archbishop repeated over and over,
weeks lost in the wasteland having taken its toll on his already
questionable sanity.

A proximity alarm beeped and Wyble glanced
at it, not really comprehending the sound anymore. A shadow fell
over the windshield of the Rancher transport and the Archbishop
turned away from the control panel lazily.

Panic kicked in when he saw the mech coming
at him and he slammed on the brakes.

“Lord, hear my prayer! Please deliver me
from this one armed Demon!”

***

Masters brought the transport to a halt on
the ridge overlooking the barren valley below.

“Well, you were right,” Masters said to
Bisby seated next to him. “The thing has staked its territory.”

Bisby stared out the windshield at One Arm
far below.

“You sure you want this one?” Masters
asked.

“What’s better than a one armed mech for a
one armed mech pilot?” Bisby grinned. “I’m gonna make it my
bitch.”

“Okay,” Masters said. “I mean, Jay can build
you-.”

“Nope, I want that one and that one only. I
made a promise to myself and Stanislaw,” Bisby insisted.

***

“Will you speak to Masters soon?” Stomper
asked Harlow as they descended into the barren valley ahead of the
mech transport, taking the lead.

“Yeah, some day,” Harlow responded casually.
“I want him to squirm a little more though.”

“What he did was wrong so he has to be
punished?”

“Well, he has to learn his lesson,” Harlow
answered. “Mech pilots don’t fall apart when things get tough. Even
when those close die.”

“You are breaking his heart,” Stomper said
sadly.

“Did he tell you to say that?” Harlow asked
suspiciously.

Stomper was silent.

“Stomper?”

“Yes, he did.”

Harlow smiled.

***

One Arm jammed the last of the Archbishop’s
body into its cockpit, the zombie pilot greedily stuffing as much
flesh into its rotted mouth as fast as possible.

The dead mech watched the mech transport and
Hill Stomper approach, sizing up its attackers.

One Arm reached out and ripped a long
support strut from the Rancher transport, wielding it like a club.
It could see the mech transport pick up speed and its cannons turn
towards it.

The deader raised the strut, pointed at the
transport then at the Hill Stomper and charged, all ready for
battle.

One Arm roared.

Jake Bible lives in Asheville, NC with his
wife and two kids. He is the author of many published short stories
and the creator of a new literary form: the Drabble Novel. DEAD
MECH represents the introduction to the world of the Drabble Novel,
a novel written 100 words at a time. He has many stories available
as ebooks, including the collection,
Bethany And The Zombie
Jesus: A Novelette And 11 Other Tales Of Horror And
Grotesquery
.

Learn more about Jake and his work at
www.jakebible.com
. Links to
his Facebook fan page, Twitter and his forum can be found there, as
well as his weekly drabble release, Friday Night Drabble Party, and
his weekly free audio fiction podcast.