Dead Mech (36 page)

“Well, then open the com.”

Instantly Shiner accessed and opened the
mech com system. “We are connected.”

“Commander Capreze? Jethro? Anyone out
there? This is Pilot Jespers. Come in.”

“Matty?” Jethro replied. “Is that you? Holy
shit!”

“Hey Jethro! Good to hear your voice.”

“No shit, man. Where the fuck are you?”

“We’re a ways from you folks.”

“We? Who else is with you?”

“Um, you’re gonna want to get Capreze.”

***

“Capreze here. It’s good to know I can count
you among the living, Pilot.”

“Hey me too!” Masters interrupted.

“Mitch?!? Baby is that you?” Harlow
interrupted.

“You bet your sweet tits it is! And guess
what? I’ve got a brand new mech! And it’s fucking huge!”

“
We
are huge,” Stomper corrected.

“Right, sorry.
We
are huge!”

“Pilots? Who is with you?” Capreze asked,
caution in his voice. “What new mech?”

“Yeah, that’s going to have to wait, sir, if
Masters can keep his trap shut,” Mathew responded.

“Sorry. I’ll let you two speak.”

“Two? What is going on?” Capreze barked.

***

“Listen, I can’t go into too much detail,
but you have Rancher and UDC transports coming your way.”

Capreze glanced at Jethro and put a finger
to his lips for the mechanic to stay quiet. “We do?”

“Yes, sir. But it gets worse.”

“Worse? How?”

“Sir, every single person that was
inoculated is now dead and walking.”

“I’m sorry, Pilot, did you say every
person?” Capreze asked.

“Yes, sir. All city/states have been
overtaken and if they didn’t comply, they were destroyed. Windy
City is gone, sir.”

“And Foggy Bottom is now a deader army on
the march,” Masters added.

***

“Yes, sir, we have confirmed that there are
hundreds of thousands of deaders moving across the wasteland,”
Mathew said. “If you push scanners to full, you should be able to
pick up some of them.”

Jethro immediately began tapping at his
tablet. “Jeezus fuck! He’s right, sir. I’ve got at least 20,000
coming at us.”

Capreze looked at Mastelo and the council.
“You’ll need to move quickly.”

“You can count on us,” Mastelo affirmed as
they left the transport.

“Mathew, Masters, I want you on me now,”
Capreze ordered.

“No can do, sir,” Mathew responded.

“You better explain yourself, Pilot.”

***

“Well, sir, I have gotten myself in a bit of
a tech mess,” Mathew said. “Masters and I are on our way to find
Jay and the Rookie.”

“Jay? You lost Jay?” Jethro asked.

“We were separated when the Hill Stomper
attacked and the cavern mouth caved in, then the storm came and I
went all black-outy and-”

“Thank you, Pilot Masters, we get it: Jay is
missing,” Capreze interrupted.

“And the Rookie, too,” Masters added. “That
boy saved our asses! You’ll never guess what he can do! Holy
shit!”

“I’ll await the report. Now about this tech
mess, Mathew…”

***

“Harlow? Do you hear anything?” Themopolous
asked.

“Hold on,” Harlow said, muting her com.
“Hear what?”

“Exactly. The zombies in storage have gone
quiet.”

“I’ll be right down.”

Harlow grabbed a sawed off pump action
shotgun she kept in her cockpit and descended her mech.
Themoplolous walked cautiously to the transport’s storage
compartment and waited for Harlow.

“So, why do you think they stopped kicking?”
Harlow asked, leveling the shotgun at the compartment door.

“I don’t know,” Themopolous replied.

“We address Commander Capreze only,” four
monotone voices said in unison from the compartment.

Harlow pumped her shotgun. “Holy fucking
shit!”

***

“Unless I find Jay I’m stuck in a mech
cockpit for the rest of my life,” Mathew said.

“I understand your situation, Mathew, but I
want you and Masters joining us immediately,” Capreze ordered.

“I’ll stay and keep looking for them,”
Masters said. “My scanners are the only ones strong enough to track
the river anyway. Plus, I’m not hooked into the net as extensively
as Matty and Shiner.”

“No,” Capreze ordered flatly. “You’ll return
also.”

“With all due respect, sir, I just went
through some crazy shit with those two and I’m not leaving them out
here,” Masters responded.

***

Capreze pinched the bridge of his nose in
frustration. “Masters, I have given you a direct order.”

“And I am ignoring that order, sir,” Masters
replied. “You’ll have to shoot me when this is all over.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Masters! You know I’m
not going to have you shot! Just get your ass here now!”

“Sir! You have to come out here!”
Themopolous interrupted over the com.

“I am a little busy, Doctor,” Capreze
responded.

“The zombies in storage are speaking,
sir!”

Capreze sighed. “Of course they are.”

“They want to speak to you directly.”

“Of course they do.”

***

Capreze stepped from the transport and
approached Themopolous and Harlow. “Fine. Masters you continue
searching, but Mathew, I want you on me right fucking now!”

“Yes, sir,” both pilots responded.

“Oh, and Masters?” Capreze continued.

“Yes, sir?”

“Fuck you.”

“Understood, sir.”

The Commander stood looking at the storage
compartment. “Well?”

Harlow kicked the door.

“We address Commander Capreze directly,” the
voices said.

Capreze put the heel of his hand to his
forehead and pulled his sidearm. “That’s more than a little
unsettling.”

“No shit,” Harlow responded.

“Well, Doctor, will you do the honors?
Harlow and I will have you covered.”

***

Themopolous yanked the storage compartment
open and leapt back. Capreze and Harlow, pistols ready, watched the
four body bags shake themselves free of the compartment and fall to
the ground.

“We address Commander Capreze directly,”
they repeated.

“Speaking. Who the hell are you?”

“We are the hundreds of thousands, we are
the one, we are the Outsider.”

“How about I just call you Fuckhead?”
Capreze said.

The bags convulsed. “For that insult, you
will not become part of the one. You will not get the glory of
joining the Outsider. You… you… you…”

“I think I broke them,” Capreze said.

***

“You cannot break what is all knowing, all
seeing!” the deaders chorused.

“So what do you want?” Capreze asked.

“For all to be one and to undo the great
wrong!”

“You want us to submit to your control?”

“You will submit or you will die!”

“Yeah, well, fuck you,” Capreze said as he
stepped forward and silenced each body with a head shot. “Harlow?
Burn those.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hey, Jethro!” Capreze called stepping to
the transport door. “Open all channels.”

“Sir?”

“You heard me. I’m done with this chaotic
bullshit! Time to bring some order back to this fucking
hellhole!”

***

Capreze cleared his throat.

“Attention inhabitants of the wasteland!
This is Base Commander James Capreze. I just want to let everyone,
living and undead, know that I will no longer put up with your
fucking games. I will no longer put up with the Cults, cannibals,
the mindless killers and thieves. I will no longer allow myself or
my people to be the wasteland’s bitches, always having to clean up
everyone else’s mess. So come and get us, if you dare. We’ll be
right here.

“Oh, and Outsider? After I kick every last
mother fucker’s ass. I’m coming for you.”

The Rookie woke with a start, pain
enveloping his head and chest. He tried to move, but rivers of
agony ripped at his core. The world felt like it was rolling and
rocking and nausea joined the pain.

“Jay?” he moaned.

“Hush. Just relax, you’re safe for now. We
barely managed to get you out in one piece,” an angry voice
answered. An angry woman’s voice. “We lost a couple of our own in
the effort.”

The Rookie carefully rolled his head towards
the voice and opened his eyes to see the most beautiful and well
armed woman glaring back.

***

“What’s your name, pilot?” the woman asked
gruffly.

The Rookie glanced from her steely gaze to
the carbine resting on her lap and then at the room around him. He
could swear the walls were vibrating.

“Leave him be Jenny,” a man said, sliding
the door back and entering the room. He took his wide-brimmed hat
off, shook out the dust and tossed it on a chair. “He’s not our
prisoner and he doesn’t need to be interrogated.”

Jenny stood, glared at the man briefly and
stormed out.

“She’s a lot nicer once she has a meal and a
bath.”

***

“Howdy, I’m Crawford Timson,” the man said,
offering the Rookie his hand. The Rookie reached out painfully and
shook it. The man’s knuckles were gnarled and scarred. The Rookie
could tell it was a fighter’s hand. “And I’ve already been told
that I should call you the Rookie.” Timson smiled. “So, Rookie,
welcome back from the dead. How are you feeling?”

The Rookie ignored the question and fixed
his eyes on Timson’s. “How do you know who I am?”

The door slid open and Jay walked in.
“’Cause I told them, kid.” Jay smiled. “They saved our asses back
there.”

***

Jay flipped a chair around and took a seat
next to the Rookie’s cot, but turned to Timson first. “Marin needs
you in the engine ASAP. She’s got something on the scope and
freaking out a bit.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to get to know
each other later. Duty calls,” Timson said, nodding to the Rookie.
“If you feel up to it, you’re welcome to join us for dinner in my
car.” Timson grabbed his hat and placed it back on his head,
tapping the rim. “Gentlemen.”

The Rookie watched him leave. “So, what the
fuck is going on?”

***

“Well, kid, we got rescued,” Jay began.
“They were filling their water tanker when both of us flew out of
the mountainside in a rush of water and zombies. Guess that river
does come above ground. About forty feet above ground. Luckily the
pool below was deep.”

“Water tanker? We’re on a train aren’t we?”
the Rookie asked.

“Yep, and a fucking nice one, too. This
ain’t no Rookie Hell-ride.”

The Rookie slumped back and lifted his
covers slightly to peak underneath. “Naked. Great.”

“Yeah, you’re uniform is being washed,” Jay
looked at the ground and sighed. “We gotta talk.”

***

“They saw the brand, didn’t they?” the
Rookie asked.

“Yeah, we’ll get to that in a second, but
this first.”

Jay handed the Rookie a tablet and pressed
play on the audio cued up. The tablet replayed Commander Capreze’s
open channel speech. The Rookie listened twice before handing the
tablet back. “Well, that’s fucked up.”

“Looks like the wasteland’s going to war,”
Jay said.

“Have you tried contacting them?”

“I asked, but they aren’t letting me.”

“What? Why?”

“Because of that brand on your foot. Now,
mind telling me what that’s about and why these folks are so pissed
off?”

***

The Rookie averted his eyes from Jay’s gaze.
“Can I have some water?” he asked.

“No,” Jay answered flatly.

“What? No? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“You’ve been putting off telling me who you
are for too long. Fess up, kid or I let them toss you off this
train.”

The Rookie glared. Jay glared back.

“Fine. I’m a fucking Boiler! My grandmother
died helping me escape and I never looked back.”

“So, that’s how you ended up fighting for
Legit?”

“Yeah. Trust me the fight cage was an
improvement.”

“Damn,” Jay exclaimed, handing the Rookie a
cup of water.

***

The door slid open and a young woman peeked
in. “Mr. Jay?”

“Yes, Lucy?” Jay answered.

“Crawford needs you. There is something on
the scope that’s troubling.”

“Tell him I’ll be right there.”

“Okay. Thank you,” Lucy said, smiling shyly
at Jay. She turned her eyes on the Rookie as she left and the smile
faded.

Despite the pain, the Rookie shook his head
and pushed himself upright.

“Whoa, slow down, hoss,” Jay scolded.
“You’ll rip those stitches out of your chest.”

“I’m coming with.”

“Like hell you are! You need to rest.”

“No, I don’t. Now help me up.”

***

Jay slid the engine door open and offered a
hand to the Rookie, who refused it and stepped into the engine
control room on shaky feet, but under his own power.

“Why the fuck did you bring that Boiler
trash in here?!?” Jenny yelled. “He is not welcome here.”

Timson put a restraining hand on Jenny’s arm
as she reached to draw a pistol. “Calm down. Jay, thanks for
coming. Marin found some strange movement on the tracks several
miles down. We’d like your opinion.”

Jay stepped past Jenny and sat next to an
older woman in the pilot’s seat.

***

“What am I looking at?” Jay asked Marin. The
older woman pointed at a screen and her finger traced the movement
of a red dot.

“Watch that. It moves out and back, out and
back,” Marin said.

Jay studied the movement for a moment.
“Looks like it’s gathering.”

“Gathering? How?” Timson asked.

“Well, it’s almost like those old nature
vids of birds building a nest. Watch. See how it always comes back
to the exact same spot?”

Timson and Jenny moved in for a closer look.
The Rookie held back, leaning against the wall.

“Huh, look at that,” Timson said.