Dead Mech (20 page)

As Harlow approached the UDC troops she
could easily see that half of them weren’t breathing anymore.

“Shit,” Harlow exclaimed.

***

“You cook…children?” June exclaimed.

“Only the inbred and deformed,” Olivia
answered. “It’s how we survive.”

June shook her head in disbelief. “But
they’re children!”

“Most don’t survive past three or four years
anyway. We’ve figured out which afflictions are the worst and plan
accordingly.” Olivia lifted her eyes and looked June square in the
face. “We have to eat. Out here in the waste, our options are
limited.”

“What do you mean by ‘plan
accordingly’?”

Olivia set the salve aside. “We keep careful
records. We cross-breed to keep our numbers up and we inbreed to
keep our…stocks up.”

***

Jethro tried to sit, but Rachel pushed him
gently back. “Don’t try to move.”

“I don’t have a choice,” Jethro grunted,
slapping Rachel’s hands away. “Get me up. We don’t have much
time.”

“I thought you shut it off.”

“Shutting off the com system only delays the
signal. It can’t piggyback on our system. But that signal was
strong. All it will need is a power boost and it will get here on
its own. I have to repair the jam before whoever is sending dials
it up a notch.”

Rachel helped Jethro to his chair. “I’ll get
the Doc.”

***

“Don’t you dare judge!” Olivia hissed.
“Unless you’ve lived your life on the brink of starvation out in
the middle of Hell itself then you have no place telling folks how
to live their lives!”

June’s eyes misted over and she fought
another wave of tears. “But, they’re just children.”

“Tasty, too,” Chunks grunted from behind the
two women. He raised a blackened limb to his mouth and tore a piece
of the flesh away, smacking his lips greedily. “Tender. Not full of
those gamey hormones.”

June‘s stomach rebelled and she vomited what
little food she had eaten.

Chunks laughed.

***

“Okay, tech man, tell me how a room full of
people, all with Reaper chips, fry and then still come back as
zombies?” Masters asked Jay while he loaded a duffel with weapons
and ammo. “And why a group of UDC officers, who I assume were dead
when they came in here, were talking, walking and shooting?”

“Not a fucking clue,” Jay said poking one of
the UDC officers with his foot. The thing’s eyes opened and Jay
instantly put a bullet in its head. “Whatever caused this has
changed the entire game.”

“You guys hear that?” the Rookie asked.

***

Rachel rounded the corner to the infirmary
and nearly collided with her father.

“The com’s down,” Capreze said.

“Yeah, Jethro cut the power. Whatever signal
is trying to get in almost succeeded and nearly cooked Jethro’s
brain.”

Capreze stepped aside and gestured for
Rachel to continue to the infirmary. Both were just feet from the
door when gunfire erupted. The Caprezes burst into the infirmary,
side arms drawn.

“Holy fucking shit!” Rachel yelled as she
took in the scene.

Themopolous, bloody and half naked was
crawling towards the door while Harlow emptied her pistol into the
zombies lunging for them.

***

Bisby sat in his mech, stewing. “Fucking
base watch. UDC troops inside and I get fucking base watch.”

He lazily stared at his sensors as they
picked up nothing but an empty wasteland.

“I should be out kicking deader ass not
outside babysitting,” he muttered to himself. “This is royal
fucking bullshit.”

An alarm sounded in his cockpit, one that
Bisby hadn’t heard in a very long time. “Contamination breach?
Seriously?”

He double checked his readings and confirmed
that the base’s virus sensors had been activated.

“Hey! What the hell is going on in there?”
Bisby yelled over his com.

***

Mathew had been watching the reading on his
sensors for the better part of an hour. Or more importantly, the
lack of a reading. Something was trying to hide, to trick his
mech’s sensors into thinking there was nothing there. But, Mathew
had been in the waste at night too many times not to notice the
absence of information.

During the day he may never have caught the
anomaly, but night navigation was by sensor and feel, making every
little bit of data stand out.

Friend or foe? Was he heading into a trap?
Mathew couldn’t answer those questions yet.

***

Six of the eleven zombies came straight at
Harlow, the others fell on the still living UDC troops and began to
feed.

“Aww, Goddammit!” Harlow yelled as Steve’s
corpse leapt a gurney and sprang at her. She put two bullets in the
former cook’s forehead splattering blood and brains onto to the
other zombie’s directly behind him. No time for grief, Harlow
emptied her pistol, dropping four more.

“I’m empty!” Harlow screamed. Rachel shoved
her aside.

“Get the Doc out of here! I’ve got the
rest!” Rachel ordered.

Harlow and the Commander didn’t hesitate,
quickly helping Themopolous out the door.

***

“What do you want, Chunks?” Olivia
asked.

“Boss said he needs the extra room and
Rachel here is to bunk with you tonight,” Chunks said, between
mouthfuls of flesh. Chunks leaned in close to June, drops of grease
running down his chin. “He also said that if you try anything he’s
giving you to me. And I ain’t as sweet and tender as the Boss.”

June’s empty stomach convulsed and she dry
heaved over and over. Chunks snorted and started to walk away. “Oh,
yeah, looks like we may have a storm brewin’. Probably hit sometime
tonight. Better get prepared.”

***

“Shut up and listen!” the Rookie
shouted.

Masters rolled his eyes and started to
speak. “Shhhh!” Jay hushed.

A far off clanging echoed into the room. Jay
and the Rookie spread out, following the sound. They soon converged
on the same spot, a large reinforced door at the back of the
room.

“Where the fuck does that go?” Masters
asked, joining the two.

“The holding cells,” the Rookie answered.
“Where the fighters are kept.”

“Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me?!?”
Masters said. “Are they secure?”

A wrenching crash from the other side of the
door answered Masters’ question.

***

“Get me to Jethro now!” Themopolous cried
out, pain wracking her body as the Commander and Harlow carried her
down the hallway. Gun shots echoed from the infirmary and Capreze
winced.

“No, we need to stabilize you first,” Harlow
said.

“Bullshit!” Themopolous protested. “We need
to get Jethro’s chip out before it activates again!”

More shots cracked and Capreze focused his
gaze on Harlow. The pilot nodded and carefully helped Themopolous
into the Commander’s arms.

“Got her?” Harlow asked.

“Yes, just go help Rachel! I’ll get the Doc
to Jethro.”

Harlow took Capreze’s pistol and turned back
to the infirmary.

***

“Okay, we need to go!” Masters yelled,
sprinting for his duffel. “Let’s get the mechs and get the fuck out
of this shithole!”

The Rookie and Jay followed suit, each
grabbing what they could. Masters made it to the front door,
stopped, pulled an auto-pistol and began firing.

“Fuuuuuuuuuck!!” Masters roared. He kicked
out with his right leg, connected with something and slammed the
front door closed, the code pad turning from green to red as it
locked securely. “We aren’t going out that way!”

Pounding shook both doors and each began to
buckle inward.

“Mother fucker,” the Rookie mumbled.

***

Olivia helped June to her feet, steadying
her as she swayed a bit. June, not wanting to see the feed pen,
kept her eyes tightly shut as Olivia led her away from the water
trough.

“You can look now,” Olivia said, slightly
annoyed. “You won’t be able to ignore it forever though.”

“I don’t plan on being here forever,” June
responded, opening her eyes and keeping them averted.

Olivia didn’t respond, just continued to
help June navigate the rough ground.

A loud bell clanged from behind them and
June turned quickly, painfully, to find its source.

“Storm warning,” Olivia said.

***

“Get me the emergency med kit from the
hall,” Themopolous commanded as Capreze set her in the chair next
to Jethro.

“Give me a second,” Capreze responded, his
chest heaving with exertion. “I’m not as young as I used to
be.”

“No time for rest, Commander. You can pass
out once I get the chip out of Jethro’s head.”

“What the fuck?!? Chip out?!? No one’s
cutting my head open!” Jethro exclaimed, spinning his chair about,
a look of terror on his face. “I don’t do blades.”

“You do if you want to live through another
com breach,” Themopolous stated.

***

“Looked like the whole fucking city/state
was coming down those stairs!” Masters yelled, slinging a loaded
auto-shotgun over his shoulder as he began to load a second one.
“We’re fucked if that door gives way and from the looks of it it’s
just a matter of minutes.”

“How many fighters you think are on the
other side of the back door?” Jay asked the Rookie.

“Couple dozen, maybe more,” the Rookie
answered. “Why not just call the mechs here by remote?”

Jay and Masters looked at each other then to
the Rookie apologetically.

“That was a bluff, kid,” Jay said.

***

“Hold him still while I cut,” Themopolous
told the Commander.

“Hold me still?!? Aren’t you going to use
anesthetic?!?” Jethro cried.

“No time, Jethro. Sorry,” the Commander
said, grasping both sides of Jethro’s head firmly.

Themopolous swabbed antiseptic, tossed that
aside and picked up a scalpel, her hand visibly shaking.

“You sure you can do this?” Capreze asked
the doctor, seeing the tremor.

“Sure she can do this?!? What am I missing
here?!?” Jethro cried again.

“Oh, shut up you big baby,” Themopolous
barked as she placed the scalpel to the base of Jethro’s skull and
sliced.

Jethro started screaming.

***

Rachel pulled the trigger, blasting the back
of the zombie’s head across the infirmary’s wall. “That’s the last
one.” Rachel looked up, watching Harlow check the UDC troops that
hadn’t turned right away. “Any of those guys still alive?”

“The Sergeant Major is still breathing, but
he’s pretty shredded,” Harlow answered.

Rachel crossed to the infirmary beds and
systematically put a bullet into each of the newly dead troopers’
heads before stepping to Harlow’s side.

“Wheel that surgical cart over,” Harlow
said.

“Why? He’s a goner.”

“We may be able to keep him alive long
enough to get some answers.”

***

“What the fuck are we going to do?!?” yelled
Masters.

“Well we aren’t going to fall apart like
some UDC pansy ass! You’re a mech pilot dammit, act like one!” Jay
yelled back.

The Rookie eyed the fight cage. “In
there.”

“What?” Jay and Masters asked at the same
time.

“Load all the weapons and ammo into the
cage, shut the door and start blasting once the doors give.” The
Rookie started scooping up weapons and ammo and tossing them onto
the mat.

“We’ll be trapped!” Masters shouted.

“We already are!” the Rookie shouted back.
“Stop whining and start helping!”

***

Bisby stepped around the corner,
auto-carbine at the ready. He approached the infirmary
cautiously.

“If you aren’t dead you better speak up now,
‘cause I’m coming in firing otherwise!” He yelled.

“Hold your fire asshole!” Rachel yelled
back. “We’ve got blood and shit everywhere, so stay out unless you
want to go through decontamination with us!”

“Is everyone okay?” Bisby asked, just
outside the doorway.

“No. Steve had to be put down and all but
one of the UDC troopers are dead,” Harlow answered. “Go see if
Themopolous and the Commander need you in the control room.”

“Control room?”

“Yeah.”

***

“Almost have it… Almost… Shit!” Themopolous
yelled as Jethro began to convulse. “The signal must have gotten
through! Hold him down dammit!”

Capreze used his whole weight to try to keep
Jethro stable, but the mechanic’s body thrashed violently against
the Commander’s grip. “I can’t hold on!”

“Got it!” Themopolous tossed the Reaper chip
onto the control console and immediately set to work on closing the
incision. “Jethro? Can you hear me?”

“Ugggh…,” Jethro grunted.

“Good. There is still going to be some pain
while I suture you up, but you should be fine in a few
minutes.”

“Fucking ugggh…”

***

Masters wiped more gore from his uniform.
“We make it out of here alive we’re going to need some serious
decontamination.”

The Rookie laughed. “I’ve swam through
worse! We’ll be fine.”

“Swam? Who are you?” Jay grunted, hefting a
flame thrower.

“If we get out of here in one piece, I’ll
tell you both,” the Rookie said.

“I’ll hold you to that, Rookie,” Masters
said. Masters quickly pulled the fight cage door shut, locking it
tightly. “That’s all of it.”

The three men waited for the doors to give
way, hoping they had enough ammo to out last the onslaught.

***

Capreze tossed Themopolous a long jacket.
“You’re, um, a little exposed in the back. This should cover things
up. How’s your head?”

“I’m fine. Harlow is pretty good with a
needle and thread,” Themopolous put on the jacket, feeling behind
to make sure it covered everything. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Capreze responded. “Jethro, can
we activate the com?”

“I don’t see why not,” Jethro said through
labored breathing. “Signal already got through. Might as well be
fully operational while we figure out what the fuck is going
on.”