Metal and Ash (Apex Trilogy) (62 page)

“I know,” Capreze said. “But I’m still sorry.”

“Thank you, sir,” June said. “Have you seen Stan?”

“Just passed him in the hallway,” Capreze said. “He’s been running around the Stronghold with that dog for days now. Doesn’t he ever get tired?”

“He just falls down,” June said. “With the dog on him. Those two won’t leave each other’s sides.”

“I’m going to the mess, need anything?” Capreze asked as he started to leave the infirmary.

“No, thank you,” June said. “But you’re in for a treat.”

Capreze raised his eyebrows, but didn’t ask.

***

“So Matty is convinced,” Rachel said.

“I’ll bet he is,” Bisby muttered under his breath.

“But I thought I’d prove it to all of you,” Rachel continued as she set a tray of steaming mugs on the table. “Because you can’t learn this from a mainframe. This is the real shit.”

Bisby, Jay and Mathew were the first to grab a mug and hold it up in the air. Dog, Immy, Charlie and Melissa followed.

“To the fallen,” Bisby said. “Those we knew and those we didn’t.”

They all lifted and clinked their mugs then took cautious sips.

“Holy fuck,” Jay sighed. “Oh, how I’ve missed that.”

“Welcome home, girl,” Bisby smiled. “I never doubted it was you.”

“Fuck you, you didn’t!” Mathew exclaimed.

“Shut the fuck up, Jespers,” Bisby growled.

“I think this is better than I remembered it,” Dog said. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to live in Eden without coffee.”

“I’ll send you a thermos,” Rachel smiled. “You’ll just have to come visit your old mentor now and again for more.”

“Or you can show me how to make it,” Dog suggested. “One last mentor duty?”

“Some things aren’t taught,Rookie,” Rachel laughed.

“Yeah, Rookie,” Bisby smirked.

“To the Rookie!” Jay laughed as he held his mug up.

“Ah, come on guys,” Dog frowned. “I’m gonna be like mayor and shit of a whole settlement. A little respect?”

Immy didn’t say anything, her eyes wide as she stared into the mug of coffee like she was seeing God Himself.

“I think I still prefer tea,” Melissa said. “I could die for a cuppa.”

“Get out,” Bisby said. “Just leave right now.”

“I miss tea also,” Charlie said, pushing the coffee mug away.

The table understood what he meant and they all nodded.

“What’s this I smell?” Capreze asked as he walked up to the table. “Is that…?”

“Here you go, Papa Bear,” Rachel said as she handed him a mug. “I dare you to fucking tell me I’m not your daughter.”

Capreze took the offered mug and inhaled. Memories flowed through him of times spent at the mech base before it was destroyed. He looked over the rim of the mug at the girl that was supposed to be Rachel.

“This won’t prove anything,” Capreze said stubbornly. He took a sip. His eyes closed and his entire body relaxed. “Oh…wow…”

“Wait for it,” Matty said.

“That’s…that’s…,” Capreze turned away. “Oh, man.”

“Paper Bear?” Rachel asked as she took him by the elbow and spun him around. Tears filled his eyes and he struggled to keep it together. “Ah, come here.”

She hugged him fiercely and he hugged her back, almost dropping the mug.

“Hey, Baby Girl,” he sobbed. “Welcome home.”

“Jesus,” Melissa whispered. “I didn’t think the coffee was that good.”

If looks could kill…

***

“So, small batches,” Beth said as she monitored the BC production. “We can handle small batches. Maybe a ton a month.”

“Better than none,” Jethro said. “You know, I’ve been thinking…”

“That’s all you do, dipshit,” Beth replied. “You don’t have a body anymore.”

“Yeah, that’s hard to get used to,” Jethro said. “I guess the body was only needed in the beginning. My consciousness was fully integrated for who knows how long.”

“Hard to let go,” Beth said. “I get that. Even though I really only had a body for a few years.”

“Which is what I was thinking about,” Jethro said. “The info I uploaded from Styles 1’s BTT showed me scans of that Stone guy. He had a completely BC body.”

“And you’re what? Thinking of making one for yourself?” Beth asked.

“Maybe for both of us,” Jethro suggested. “Get us out and about a little. Sure, being the all knowing mainframe is fun and all, but…”

“Let’s just get the production room squared away first,” Beth responded. “Then we’ll look into getting us bodies.”

“We can make those bodies anyway we want, you know,” Jethro said, a grin in his voice. “Likeanyway we want.”

“Yeah, I get your meaning,” Beth laughed. “Just calm down, horndog. One step at a time.”

***

Specialist Grendetti was upside down and backwards as he twisted the metal panel away from the mech and reached inside. “Hand me that ratchet.”

“Right here,” Specialist Kafar replied. “You almost got it?”

“Yep,” Grendetti said. “Just a couple more turns.”

He worked the ratchet a few times and then had the CPU free. “Here.”

Kafar took the CPU and placed it in the protected case with the others.

“You think Jethro can retrieve anything from these?” Kafar asked as he helped Grendetti up and out of the mech.

“He’s going to try.”

“This is it!” Specialist Sol shouted as he and Lt. Murphy carried the body that had been Shiner on a grav-sled over to the hybrid. “Get your asses over here so we can get the fuck out of this graveyard!”

Grendetti took one last look at the destruction around them. The fallen mechs were everywhere, not just the ones native to the wasteland, but the Canadian ones as well. From the looks of the torn open cockpits and the dried blood smeared everywhere, the Canadian Mech Pilots hadn’t done so well once the EMP took out their mechs.

He shook his head, imagining the terror they must have felt.

But then he smiled, thinking of the terror one Canadian had felt just a few days earlier.

***

Control’s soldiers poured into the command center of Outpost Tango Charlie and stopped in their tracks. Some turned and retched, others crossed themselves.

Hanging from the ceiling, his arms and legs pulled tight by wires so that he was in the form of an X, Norton was flayed open, his intestines drooping to the floor. They had been tied into knots and lit on fire.

“What the hell am I seeing?” their commander asked as he pushed past. “Why is everyone just standing…?”

His eyes found Norton. Then the words on the wall, obviously written in his blood.

“Greetings from the Wasteland, bitches. Call first next time. We’ll be waiting.”

“Oh, fuck…,” the commander whispered.

***

The last screams had died down minutes before and Stone guessed that there wasn’t man or woman alive in Monterey. Or on the ships in the bay that listed to their sides as they took on water.

Stone had had quite a fun time showing the Three’s forces just what they’d created.

He’d had more fun showing the Three in person. Their heads sat on the table in what had been their tent. He waved at them as he sipped the whiskey he’d found. He really wanted a pint of bitter, but the whiskey was nice. He took another sip as he lifted his feet up onto the table, nodding the glass at each of the heads.

“Gentlemen,” Stone smiled. “It has been a pleasure.”

A noise outside got his attention and looked towards the entrance to the tent.

Ms. Isely was shoved inside, her face battered and nearly unrecognizable. But Stone would have known that woman anywhere.

“Hello, mum,” Stone said.

Behind her walked Reginald, his face covered in as much blood as Ms. Isely’s. “Stone.”

“Reg,” Stone nodded. “Got yourself out of that pickle I left you in, eh?”

“It was tough, but doable,” Reginald nodded. He glanced at the Three’s heads. “Been busy, I see.”

“Needed to blow off some steam,” Stone grinned between sips.

“You murdered them all,” Ms. Isely nearly screeched between split lips and broken teeth. “You didn’t need to kill everyone, Stone.”

“Need, want,” Stone shrugged. “Such a fine line. So subjective.”

“Do you want the honors, Stone?” Reginald asked as his hand shifted into a thin, deadly blade and pressed against Ms. Isely’s throat. “I’ll defer to you. An apology of sorts.”

“Oh, Reginald,” Stone said as he got to his feet. “You never need to apologize to me. What happened, happened. Bygones and all that shite.”

“Very kind of you,” Reginald said as he quickly drew the blade across Ms. Isely’s throat. Her hands went to her neck and the blood spurted through her fingers and down her chest. She fell to her knees and tried to say something.

“Oh, just fucking die, you cunt,” Stone said and punched her through her face, his hand coming out the back of her skull.

He shook the brains from his hand and looked Reginald up and down. “Feel up for a trip, Reg?”

“Where to, Stone?”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to see what lies behind the wall of the Mexican Empire.”

“I do love a good mystery,” Reginald grinned. “And it’s not like they can stop us.”

“No, Reg,” Mr. Stone smiled as he took a long, deep breath. “No, they can’t.”

“What about Mr. Gein?” Reginald asked as they walked from the tent. “Should we get him?”

“You want to put the band back together?” Stone asked. “Didn’t think you were sentimental like that.”

“He can be useful,” Reginald replied. “He has a way of seeing things that sometimes we don’t.”

“That is true,” Stone nodded. “But how about we come back for him? Let him take some time to really think about what he’s done.”

“You don’t think those mech folk will kill him, do you?” Reginald asked as he turned some scrap BC into a nicely made BC ATV.

“Nah,” Stone said, nodding in appreciation of the ATV. “Very nice, Reginald.”

“Thank you.”

“I believe Capreze will keep Mr. Gein around,” Stone said as he got into the passenger seat. “Those two will have some very interesting conversations, I am sure.”

“I do not doubt it,” Reginald said. “Do we need anything?”

“Just the will to live,” Stone said and pointed south. “Which we have in spades.”

***

“What the fuck is that?” Jay asked as several Railers towed the Great Maker’s arachnimech into the hangar. “Where the hell did you find that?”

“Far side of the mountain,” a Railer mechanic replied. “Next to a service hatch that had been breached. We sealed the hatch and all others, but thought you’d want to take a look at this.”

“Fuck yeah I would,” Jay grinned then looked over his shoulder out of the hangar and into the wasteland. “But not right now. Get it plugged in and powered up. But secure the fucker! I don’t want it going all crazy and trashing the place!”

“Or killing people?” the Railer asked.

“Well, that would trash the fucking place now wouldn’t it, genius?” Jay snapped. “Get it secured then go get cleaned up. We have a service to go to.”

***

Several funeral pyres had been prepared and the last of the bodies had been carefully set on them as the sun slowly set behind. Jay had just finished pouring fuel between the pyres so that one torch would set off all pyres in a row.

“Ready,” Jay said as he stepped back to the group. “You gonna say some words?”

“Yes, Jay,” Capreze said, pursing his lips. “I’m going to say some words.”

“Figured,” Jay said as he pulled a jar from a cargo pocket in his uniform. He took a sip, shook his head and passed it down the line.

Capreze stepped forward and turned, looking everyone in the eye. “Some of you I have known for a long time. Some of you I have only known for a few days. Many of you I haven’t had the chance to get to know.” He looked over his shoulder at the pyres. “But I knew every single one of them. Not by their names they lived with, but by the actions they died from. Each and every one of the dead are heroes. And if there’s one thing I know, that’s heroes.”

He took a couple breaths and continued.

“Heroes don’t have to be brave. They don’t have to save someone just in the nick of time. Heroes don’t have to have mechs, or BTTs, or cyces. They don’t even have to fight. All a hero has to do is make a sacrifice that no one else can make. And that is what each and every single person we are honoring today has done. They made a sacrifice that only they could make. They gave their lives hoping that others would live. And even though their lives were cut short, they will live on and be remembered. As heroes.”

Capreze nodded and Jay walked forward and lit the line of fuel. The flames caught and circled around until each and every pyre was a blazing inferno. Long, bright fingers of flame reached into the sky, sending the smoke and ash up and away from the earth, finally giving those heroes a chance to go beyond the wasteland.

One by one, and in pairs and groups, people slowly left the pyres as the fires died down. Until all that was left was Capreze, Rachel, Jay, Mathew, Bisby, Dog, Jenny, Immy, Melissa and Charlie.

No one said anything. They had all seen more death than they had ever wanted and they didn’t need to comment on the deaths of those that burned before them. They waited until the sun had set and the glow of the pyres was all that illuminated the wasteland.

Jay reached down and opened a cooler at his feet. He handed each person their own jar. Everyone unscrewed the tops and waited.

“To heroes,” Jay said as he took a long sip of shine.

“To heroes,” everyone repeated and then took their own sips.

They all sat down and got as comfortable as they could on the hard dirt. They sipped quietly and watched the pyres slowly burn down. None of them would leave until their was nothing but dry ashes left.

It was the least they could do to honor the dead before they carried on with living.

The End

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