Dead Mech (9 page)

“It’s a deader!” Jethro crowed. “An almost
dead deader. These readings show the zombie pilot has nearly
starved back to death. And…”

“What?!?” Jay asked impatiently.

“The fucking thing is carrying Three!”
Jethro exclaimed.

***

“How are you and Mathew doing?” Capreze
asked Rachel.

“What? How? You…?” Rachel stuttered.

Capreze laughed. “Don’t act so surprised. I
am the base Commander, it’s my job to notice these things.”

Rachel snorted. “Well, good job, sir.”

“How’s the Rookie?”

“He’ll be fine. I think he’s a natural.
If
he can handle a mech.”

“Well, let’s speed that up. I want you and
Mathew out on patrol tomorrow. Take the Rookie with,” Capreze held
up a hand, cutting off Rachel’s protest. “I need to see how he
handles the waste ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.”

Capreze smiled. “Okay, send him in.”

***

Jay and Jethro watched the image on the vid
screen. A lone dead mech was methodically dismantling Three.

“What’s it doing?” Jethro asked.

Jay stayed silent then shook his head. “My
guess? He’s using the thing for parts.” The dead mech uncoupled a
power pack and stored it in its side cargo hold, confirming Jay’s
guess.

“Bump up the scans. I want more details on
its vitals,” Jay said.

Jethro tapped at the keys, increasing the
resolution. Instantly the dead mech stopped what it was doing and
quickly turned towards One.

“Shit. Did it just catch us spying?” Jethro
asked.

***

“Wasteland survival depends on one thing and
one thing only: clear thinking. Panic means death. Rushing means
death. Moving slowly means death. Not taking the time to assess
your surroundings, resources, abilities, and limitations means
death. You must think clearly to get yourself out of the
wasteland.”

Commander Capreze stood, offering his hand.
The Rookie, still at attention, looked at the hand confused.
Capreze chuckled.

“Son, I only offer my hand once.”

The Rookie quickly met Capreze’s grasp.

“Umm, sir?”

“Yes, Rookie?”

“Is that it?”

“Yep. That’s orientation. Good luck. You’re
dismissed.”

The Rookie left the Commander’s office
thoroughly confused.

***

“Get One the fuck out of there!” Jay yelled,
watching the image from One’s rear vid feed. The dead mech was in
swift pursuit, running all out to catch the mini-mech.

“I’m trying, I’m fucking trying!” Jethro
yelled back, his right hand on the main joystick control while his
left was busy trying to switch all power to propulsion. “Come on
little guy, come on…”

Jay reached past Jethro and tapped at the
control panel. “Is there enough power to fire RPGs?”

Jethro checked his readings. “Yes, but we
only have enough to fire once, so shoot them all!”

“Done!”

***

Rachel was waiting for the rookie outside
Commander Capreze’s office.

“Looks like you’re official now Rookie,”
Rachel beamed.

The Rookie frowned.

“What?” Rachel asked.

“I don’t know. I guess I was expecting
more,” the Rookie said.

“Some rousing soul inspiring speech designed
to make you want to fight for God, the UDC and City/State?”

“Something like that.”

“Trust me Rookie, when you get out in the
waste, you won’t need a speech. Just keeping your ass in one piece
is motivation enough,” Rachel laughed. “Alright, let’s go get shit
faced!”

“What?!? You have booze?”

“Best ‘shine ever made.”

“Thank God!”

***

“Fuck!” Jethro cried. “It dodged all RPGs!
Now what?”

“Self-destruct?” Jay said.

“Might as well.”

Jay keyed in the code. “60 seconds to boom
time.”

They watched as the dead mech caught up,
grabbing One and flipping it.

“What’s it doing?” Jethro asked. “Is
it…?”

The deader held something between its
massive fingers. They watched it toss the object. Ten seconds later
a flash filled the screen and the dead mech braced itself against
the blast. When the after affects stopped, it turned back to the
camera and waggled a finger. The screen went blank.

“No fucking way,” Jethro whispered.

“Operating a mech is only part of your
training, Rookie,” Jay slurred, sloshing ‘shine from a steel cup as
he, the Rookie, Mathew, Rachel and June sat around the fire pit
about 100 yards from the hangar. “You gotta know how to repair the
mech, salvage for parts and improvise when you can’t do
either.”

“Yeah, yeah, but when do I get to smash shit
and kill some…some…deader ass?” the Rookie asked, sipping from his
own ‘shine. “I’m fuckin’ ready now!” The Rookie leapt to his feet
then quickly sat back down. “This is good shit, Jay. Good…”

***

Doctor Themopolous inserted her security
chip into her tablet. With a few keystrokes she unlocked the
encrypted data sent by her colleague in Foggy Bottom. She hated
hiding it from Capreze, but she was told to trust no one, not even
the Commander.

She had needed to go over the information
yesterday, but the unfortunate death of Stanislaw and the chaotic
arrival, and subsequent medical needs, of the Rookie had put her
behind.

As she perused the data, her eyes widened
and she instantly knew why her friend was being so paranoid.

Dear God
, she thought.
What does
this mean?

***

“What the fuck is this shit made from?!?”
the Rookie yelled. “It ain’t synth. Where’d ya gets the
grains?”

“Oh, I gots my ways,” Jay answered,
exaggerating a conspiratorial wink. The Rookie furrowed his
brow.

“Are you hitting on me?” the Rookie
hiccupped.

“What…? Fuck you. You ain’t pretty enough
for me, bitch!” Jay laughed.

“I don’t know, Jay. I’ve seen you with
worse,” Mathew joked.

“Fuck you Jespers! He ain’t got no titties.
No titties, no Jay love.”

“On that note I’m going to pee,” Rachel
laughed as she got up from the campfire and walked into the
darkness.

***

In twenty years, the nightmare had never
lost its impact.

Commander Capreze tossed and turned in his
room, sheets tossed aside, the bed protesting his movements.

He moaned aloud, trying subconsciously to
rouse himself from images and memories he kept buried during the
waking hours.

Capreze fought his own mind. And as with
every night, he lost that fight. Was it guilt, shame, regret? Or
had his mind been trying to tell him something? Something he
couldn’t grasp when awake.

He flung out his arms, trying to push the
nightmare away.

With a cry he awoke to an empty room…

***

Retching sounds came from the darkness.
“What is that?” June asked.

“That’s Steve puking his guts out,” Rachel
answered, returning to the campfire. “He’s out there somewhere. I
heard him whimpering and then out it came.”

“What, did you eat one of your own
muffins?!?” Jay shouted into the night. He was answered by more
sounds of throwing up. “That’s right! How’s it feel now?”

“Hey, leave him alone. Steve doesn’t get out
much,” June got to her feet. “I’m gonna go check on him.”

“Careful, it’s spooky out there,” Rachel
mocked.

Mathew elbowed her in the ribs. “Be
nice.”

***

“Nanotech? What is the UDC thinking?”
Themopolous whispered, glancing around her office suddenly aware
she didn’t know how extensive the base surveillance was. She had to
watch what she said aloud.

She tapped at her tablet, bringing up her
side notes, adding notations as she analyzed the data. By the time
she was finished she was deeply unsettled.

The UDC had been injecting citizens of Foggy
Bottom under the guise of testing a new retrovirus, hoping to
finally bring the plague to an end. With that cover story it was
easy to find volunteers.

The truth was far more sinister.

***

“Okay, let me get this straight,” the Rookie
said, leaning dangerously close to the fire, then back out again.
“Whoa.”

Arms around each other, Mathew and Rachel
grinned at the Rookie. “Careful tough guy,” Rachel smirked.

“I’m…doing…fine!” the Rookie drunkenly
insisted. “But, wait, I have important shit to ask.”

“And you’re doing a great job there,” Mathew
chimed in.

The Rookie jabbed a finger at Mathew. “You
think you’re funny? Screwing the Commander’s daughter make you
think you can say anything? Huh?”

“Careful,” Mathew growled.

The Rookie held up his hands. “I’m sorry,
I’m sorry…that was rude…”

***

“Okay, fine,” Capreze said, finally
accepting the inevitable as he got up from the bed and made his way
to his bathroom. He splashed some cold water on his face, trying to
bring himself fully awake.

Capreze stepped from the bathroom, grabbed
his tablet and sat in the overstuffed chair in the corner of his
room, the one luxury he allowed himself.

“So, let’s see what the base is up to at”
–he glanced at the time displayed at the top of the tablet- “0130.
Sweet Jeezus…,” he muttered.

He tapped the security icon and scrolled to
the vid feeds.

***

“So the UDC puts killing deaders and zombies
before saving humans? That’s fucked up,” the Rookie said.

“It’s not that cut and dry, but yeah, pretty
much,” Mathew answered, pouring more ‘shine into the Rookie’s
cup.

“So what if, say, Six Flags was under
attack? Where does that fit into the UDC’s priorities?”

“That’s different. I’m talking about out in
the waste. It’s kill or be killed out here.”

“But what about all the survivor pockets?
Don’t they count?”

“As far as the UDC is concerned, if you
aren’t city/state, you aren’t people,” Rachel joined in.

“That’s fucked up, man…”

***

She needed to get a response to her
colleague, but Capreze would know right away if she sent a secure
message, so would the UDC for that matter.

She pushed away from her desk, exhausted and
frustrated. Then it hit her. She quickly grabbed her tablet and
started a requisition order for medical supplies she knew they
could only get when they traded with Foggy Bottom. Hidden in the
order would be her analysis and reply. She would give it to Capreze
in the morning telling him stock was low and was urgent that a trip
was made right away.

***

Rachel stood and stretched, dusting the dirt
from her backside. “Think I’ll walk back and get the ATV. Looks
like Jay could use it.” She glanced down at the Chief Mechanic
passed out on the ground. She turned from the campfire and peered
into the darkness. “Haven’t heard from Steve or June in a bit.
Think I’ll check on them first.”

“Careful. They may be having a moment,”
Mathew quipped.

“With the way she has the hots for you, I
doubt it,” Rachel scoffed.

Mathew rolled his eyes. “Oh just go be
responsible or something.”

Rachel blew him a kiss.

***

Capreze checked the barracks vid feed.

Masters and Harlow were actually sleeping
for a change. Bisby was crashed also. Mathew, Jane, the Rookie’s
bunks were empty. He expected to see Rachel’s empty since she
preferred to sleep in her mech most nights, but where were the
others?

The Commander flicked from one feed to
another. The rec room: empty. Mess hall: empty. Showers, latrine:
both empty. Hangar: empty also.

“Hmmm…,” Capreze muttered. “What are they up
to?”

He switched to external feeds and quickly
found what he was looking for. Flames flickered from the fire pit
as Capreze zoomed in.

***

“If the UDC could give a shit about the
people in the waste, then why don’t they order the mechs to wipe
out the Cults? Just fucking wipe them off the face of the earth,”
asked the Rookie.

“That, I’m not sure,” Mathew admitted. “My
guess is it keeps the gene pool fresh. I mean, how many humans are
left in the world, do you think? Three, maybe four million? All the
city/states combined equals only about two million people at last
count.”

“Nothing fresh about the gene pool with
those crazy fucks,” the Rookie muttered, anger tainting his
voice.

***

A scream came from the darkness. Mathew and
the Rookie straightened, suddenly considerably more sober than
before. Mathew tapped his com.

“Rache? You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m not sure what just
happened. I heard Steve scream…”

“That was Steve? Damn, he screams like a
girl.”

“Focus please!”

“Okay, sorry, focused.”

“By the time I got to him he was muttering
‘don’t take my balls’.”

“Is he hurt bad?”

“Yeah, he’s bleeding from his thigh quite a
bit.”

“Shit. Okay, you apply pressure and I’ll get
the ATV and the doc. Where’s June?”

“Not a fucking clue. Hurry.”

“Will do.”

***

Doctor Themopolous’s head nodded. She shook
it hard, fighting the drowsiness. She didn’t want to go against her
own medical advice and drink the coffee she had set on her desk,
but she really needed to finish the encrypted message.

Her com buzzed, the emergency tone bringing
her fully awake.

“This is Themopolous, what’s the
situation?”

“Hey Doc, it’s Mathew. We’ve got a problem
out by the fire pit. Steve’s cut, looks like it may have nicked his
femoral artery.”

Themopolous jumped from her desk and ran
from her office. “I’ll grab my kit and meet you in the hangar!”

***

Capreze debated whether to zoom in on the
base staff, but decided against it. He could have easily focused
the sensors and heard every word they were saying, even reading
them off their lips if he wanted.