Metal and Ash (Apex Trilogy) (4 page)

“Nope,” Rachel said as she looked out at the dreamscape of the wasteland. “You are in my head.”

“How?” Capreze asked. “And why now all of a sudden?”

“Because I’m getting close,” Rachel frowned. “Not me, but me. I don’t know what that means, but I do know that I’m getting way more active in here. Just wish I could wake up.”

“Me too, Baby Girl,” Capreze said. “I miss your coffee.”

“Oh, no! Who’s making it?” Rachel asked.

“Masters has been,” Capreze grimaced. “But I wouldn’t call it coffee.”

“Bummer,” Rachel said. “Well maybe when I get there I’ll wake up. You’ll have your coffee back.”

“I really just want you back,” Capreze said. Rachel didn’t respond and Capreze looked back up at the mech. The sun was too bright and he had to shield his eyes. “Baby Girl? Rachel?”

The mech wasn’t there. The base wasn’t there.

James Capreze wasn’t there.

***

“Jeezus!” Themopolous shouted as she hurried into the infirmary and over to Rachel Capreze’s bed. “When did this start, Jethro?”

“About a minute ago,” Jethro said through the com. “She just started seizing. I gave her oxcarbazepine and have been slowly increasing the dosage, but it’s not working.”

Themopolous grabbed a sedative gun from a tray by the bed and checked the dosage. She pressed the gun to Rachel’s shoulder and depressed the trigger. In seconds Rachel’s convulsions started to ease and then she lay still.

“I think I have her out of the woods,” Themopolous said. “Send me all data leading up to the seizure, okay?”

“Already on your tablet,” Jethro said. “Plus the last twenty-four hours of data in case she showed signs of this building.”

Rachel’s eyes shot open and her body bent upright violently from the waist.

“I AM TWO!” she screamed at the top of her lungs and then collapsed back into bed, comatose once again.

“Holy shit…,” Themopolous whispered. “What the hell was that?”

“Not a clue, Doc,” Jethro said. “But I recorded it. Sent to your tablet too.”

“That’s the first time she’s done anything but lie there, right?” a weary looking Commander Capreze said from the infirmary doorway.

Themopolous nodded, not surprised the commander had arrived.

“Something’s coming,” Capreze said. “She feels it. I feel it. We all have to be prepared.” He rubbed his face and turned to leave. “I’m going to go get some sludge called coffee, want any?”

“No, thank you,” Themopolous said. “And you shouldn’t either. You need to sleep.”

“You know me and sleep,” Capreze smiled wanly over his shoulder.

“I do,” Themopolous said as Capreze walked off. “That’s my worry.”

***

The walls dripped with moisture. Beads of green, gray water slowly worked their way down the rough concrete to a pool on the Stronghold’s floor. Lieutenant Nancy Murphy stared at the pool, its surface reflecting the harsh halogen light back at her. Every so often she’d click the halogen off and just listen to the sounds of the dripping.

“You’re gonna give yourself the creeps,” her second in command, Specialist Sol, said from the dark.

Murphy switched on the halo and blinked in the sudden bright light. Sol had his eyes shielded with his hand, but pulled it away once he’d adjusted.

“Capreze’s looking for you,” Sol said. “You’re down so deep that he couldn’t get you on his com.”

“How’s he looking?” Murphy asked.

“Like shit,” Sol grinned. “Just like all of us.”

“I fucking hate waiting around,” Murphy said. “I need a mission. Our team needs a mission. We’re Special Ops. We can’t just train all day and night.”

“I think that’s what Capreze wants you for, sir,” Sol said. “To give us a mission.”

Murphy reached out a hand and Sol helped her to her feet.

“He better be,” Murphy said. “Or I’m taking the team out into the wasteland to wipe out some deaders.”

“I hear that,” Sol said as he and the Lieutenant walked the rough hallway back up to the main levels of the Stronghold.

***

“Eat! My! Ass!” Chief Mechanic Jay Rind shouted as he slammed the spanwrench against the mech leg he was working on. “Fuck you!”

“Not going the way you want?” the Chief Railer Mechanic Marin asked as she came up behind him. She yanked the spanwrench from his grip and shoved him aside. “How about letting a professional handle it?”

“Show me one and I will,” Jay snapped as he shoved her back and took the spanwrench from her hand. “Now get out of my way.”

Marin smacked him in the back of the head. “Jay Rind! You never push a woman!”

“Once again, show me one and-,” Jay started, but shut up as he saw the look on Marin’s face. “Just kidding. Jeezus.”

“Now, before you break that spanwrench or I break your face, how about you tell me what’s going wrong,” Marin said.

“Hydraulic three won’t couple,” Jay said. “See. It fits fine, but it won’t turn. I’ve checked the threads over and over.”

Marin inspected the hydraulic coupling and frowned. “It’s in backwards.”

“What the fuck?” Jay growled. “What moron did that?”

“Take your pick,” Marin said, waving her hand towards the dozen or so Railer mechanics busy working on other mechs. The Railers were a nomadic group that rode and maintained the rails throughout the wasteland. Circumstances had led them to ally with the mech pilots, but none were happy being in one place for so long. The Railers lived by the motto: ‘The Railer train stops for nothing’. “They’ve gotten lazy since they’ve been off the train. All these walls are making them feel safe.”

“Maybe we need to scare the shit out of them a bit,” Jay grinned.

“Whatcha thinking?” Marin asked.

“Camping trip.”

“A…what?”

“Camping trip,” Jay said. “No mechs, no trains, no shelter. Just some mechanics, some guns, and a whole lot of shine.”

“What about the deaders?” Marin asked.

“That’s what the guns are for.”

“And how do you think we’ll get them out there? Have Capreze order them? They barely listen to me now.”

“That’s what the shine is for,” Jay smiled. “No one passes up a chance to sample Jay Rind’s moonshine.”

“Alright, but you get it cleared with Capreze.”

Jay waived her off. “Oh, that won’t be a problem.”

***

“Not a chance in hell,” Capreze said as Jay stood before him in his office. “I’m not sending the entire mechanic crew out on some bonding trip. Kick their asses to get them in line. Or I’ll do it for you!”

“That’s bullshit,” Jay said. “There is no goddamn reason why we can’t be gone for two nights.”

“I need all personnel here and working,” Capreze said. “The only active mech pilot I have in base right now is Jespers. That makes me nervous as shit.”

“Biz and the others aren’t back yet?” Jay asked.

“No, and the Rookie is still checking on his Boiler village,” Capreze said.

“There’s us,” Jay said. “We can go kick some… Oh, right.”

“See what I’m saying? If you are gone then that leaves the base’s defenses up to me and Mathew,” Capreze said, shaking his head. “Can’t risk that. Not with Colonel Masterson and the American forces hitting the coast soon. Spread too thin.”

“I’ve got the base 100% covered, Commander,” Jethro said over the PA in Capreze’s office. “It would take a hundred dead mechs to get into the Stronghold.”

“Which means we’d be trapped,” Capreze countered. “And don’t eavesdrop.”

“I can’t turn it off,” Jethro admitted. “I hear everything in this base. At least Masters and Harlow are gone. I don’t have to listen to them fucking. Well, fighting, I mean. They haven’t fucked since Harlow kicked his ass. I don’t know what would be worse to listen to, really. At least with fucking-.”

“Jethro,” Capreze sighed. “Shut up, please.”

“Shutting up, sir,” Jethro said.

“You could always call the Rookie back,” Jay said. “He’s needed here more than out there.”

“Nah, he needs to see what’s left of his village,” Capreze said. “Plus he’s helping round up survivors out there. We have no clue how many people are even left.”

“All city/states are obliterated,” Jethro said. “It’s only gonna be survivor pockets and people like the Ranchers. That and whatever other fucked up cults are out there. How many cannibalistic freaks can the wasteland hold?”

“Jethro?”

“Sorry, sir. I’ll go away.”

“Thanks.”

Five

The view from the top of the train was incredible and the Rookie never took it for granted. He loved watching the mesas and plateaus roll by as the Railer train sped down the tracks.

What he didn’t love was the ATVs that were following them along some of the ridges. They were hard to spot, but the Rookie picked them up immediately. They’d been keeping pace since he’d left the ruins of his old village.

“You know we can keep track of them with the sensors,” Jenny Timson, daughter of the late Railer leader, said as she crawled up from the hatch in the train car and took a seat next to the Rookie. “Unless you just like being a sitting duck.”

“They would have fired a long ways back if they were going to,” the Rookie frowned. “I just wonder what their game is.”

“No signs of the tracks being blocked ahead,” Jenny said. “So I don’t think it’s an ambush.”

“Famous last words,” the Rookie replied. “When it comes I want to be right here. It’s a little claustrophobic inside there.”

Jenny slipped her hand into his and squeezed. “I’m sorry we found your village destroyed.”

The Rookie shrugged. “It was bound to happen at some point. The Boss had made too many enemies in the wasteland. With him gone the village was easy pickings.”

“There’s a settlement a few miles up,” Jenny said. “Maybe some of them made it there.”

“Or maybe that’s who attacked,” the Rookie said then nodded towards the ATVs that had become visible again. “And maybe that’s who that is.”

“A lot of maybes,” Jenny said. “Come eat something. You’ve been up here all day.”

“Not hungry,” the Rookie said and felt Jenny tense. “But thanks. Want to stay up here with me for a while?”

“Sure,” Jenny smiled. “The wind feels good. It’s a bit stuffy down there.”

“Hey, Jenny?” a voice asked over the com. “We need you.”

The Rookie laughed and let go of her hand.

“I’ll be right down,” Jenny said. “Anything wrong?”

“Those tails we’ve had just blipped out. Like gone. Not a trace.”

The Rookie looked about the horizon and confirmed that there were at least four ATVs. Jenny saw the same.

“We’re looking right at them,” Jenny said.

There was silence for a couple of seconds. “Well, we aren’t seeing them anymore.”

“Crap. Hold on,” Jenny said.

“I’m coming with,” the Rookie said.

“No, stay up here,” Jenny insisted. “If sensors aren’t working then we’ll need your eyes.”

The Rookie nodded as Jenny climbed back down into the Railer train.

***

“Give me details,” Jenny said as she sat down at the control panel and watched the sensor screens. “They just blipped out?”

“Yeah,” Marcus Conroy, the new lead tech for the train, replied. “There then gone. But spotters can still see them.”

“Dog’s up top and watching them for us,” Jenny said.

“I thought he hates being called that,” Marcus said.

“He does, but I’m sure as shit not going to call him Rookie forever. And Razor is out of the question. He doesn’t ever want to be reminded of his cage fighting days.”

“You can’t come up with some cute nickname?” Marcus smiled.

“Like what? Pookems?”

Marcus held up his hands. “I don’t know. That’s between you and Pookems.”

The sensors chirped for a second then quieted.

“Did you see that?” Marcus asked. “They were back on the screen for a moment. Why?”

“I don’t know. Let me check in with, uh…”

“Your boyfriend?” Marcus smiled.

“Oh, shut the fuck up.”

***

“You see anything different?” Jenny asked over the com. “We had a reading for a split second.”

The Rookie kept his eyes on the ATVs that were following them. “Nothing new. They’re still there, keeping their distance, but holding pace.”

“Those aren’t normal ATVs,” Jenny stated. “They wouldn’t be able to maintain that speed for this long.”

“I’ve seen some fast ATVs,” the Rookie responded. “You get a mechanic that knows what they’re doing and you’d be surprised.”

“Not on that terrain,” Jenny argued. “I don’t care how good the mechanic is. We’re on a smooth track and their bouncing around the wasteland. There’s something going on.”

“You want to get gunners ready?” the Rookie asked. “Just in case.”

“Not yet,” Jenny said. “I don’t want to provoke them. Maybe they’ll slack off when we’re out of their territory.”

“What territory?” the Rookie asked. “There’s no one out here. The only survivor pocket that has ever been here was… Oh, fuck.”

“What?” Jenny asked, hearing the fear in the Rookie’s voice. “What is it? You know who this is?”

“It can’t be,” the Rookie whispered to himself. “No fucking way.”

“Rookie? What the fuck are you muttering about?”

“I thought it was Pookems?” the Rookie asked.

“Oh, shit, you heard that?”

“You kept your com on,” the Rookie smiled, hoping to joke the chill from his bones. “Just for the record I really do prefer Rookie.”

“Ok, fine, Rookie it is,” Jenny said. “Now about those ATVs?”

The Rookie hoped he was wrong. He would give anything to be mistaken.

“Rookie?”

“Yeah, yeah, I have an idea,” the Rookie said. “But it can’t be. The Boss ran them off and wiped them out. Every last one of them. He raped half our village to celebrate the win.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

The Rookie saw a flash from one of the ridges and instinctively ducked, waiting for the bullet to either hit him or whiz by. But that flash was followed by three others then nothing then two others.

“Fuck!” the Rookie yelled. “They’re signaling each other!”