Dead Mech (40 page)

Jay burst out laughing. “Not quite Rachel’s
brew, is it?’

“It sure as fuck isn’t!”

***

“How far behind us are our reinforcements?”
Bishop Wyble asked.

“18 hours, Your Grace,” Deacon Montoya
responded. “Shall we postpone the assault until they have joined
us?”

Bishop Wyble waved dismissively. “Of course
not, Deacon. We are perfectly capable of handling this engagement
ourselves.”

The Bishop stretched and stood. “Open the
hatch, Montoya. I need some fresh air.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

A hatch in the top of the transport cockpit
opened and the Bishop grabbed a hold of the service ladder, pulling
himself halfway out into the open air. He surveyed the ten
additional transports in their convoy and grinned.

***

“Hey Jethro?” Mathew called over the
com.

The mechanic snored loudly in his
wheelchair, head lolled back and mouth agape.

“Jethro? You there?”

“Huh? Wha?” Jethro snorted, shaking his head
and looking about the transport, dazed.

“Jethro! It’s Mathew!”

“What? Shit! Sorry, Matty. Whatcha
need?”

“Let the Commander know we have spotted
another deader army.”

“Shit! Where’s it headed?” Jethro asked.

“Looks like the UDC, the same as the rest,”
Mathew answered.

“Crap. How many other armies you think are
out there?”

“Calculations say six, at least.”

“Fuck. I’m gonna get the commander.”

“That’s a great idea,” Mathew responded
sarcastically.

***

“Capreze here. Whatcha got for me,
Jespers?”

“Deader army on its way to the UDC
stronghold,” Mathew answered over the com. “Thousands of them and
at least three dozen transports.”

Capreze sighed. “How far are you from the
stronghold?”

“I don’t know, maybe a day.”

“And from us?” Capreze asked.

“Probably the same, sir.”

Capreze took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. “My daughter is going to hate me for this, but I need you
to get past that army and beat them to the stronghold. Can you do
that?”

“You bet, sir,” Mathew answered.

“Excellent. Be careful.”

***

“Okay, so, how the fuck do we get past all
those UDC transports and a few thousand zombies?” Mathew asked.

“We will need to halt their progress and
divert their attention,” Shiner said.

“Yeah, but how…? Oh…” Mathew said as Shiner
instantly shared his plan. “Damn, we just got him trained.”

“It is unfortunate, but we will be spotted
and pursued if we do not distract them.”

Mathew sighed and looked down at the
mini-mech.

“Well, no time like the present,” Mathew
said.

Shiner extended a cable to One, knowing the
mini-mech would need more instruction than just whistle
commands.

***

June slammed the ATV’s accelerator down and
the tires spit sand and gravel as they sped from their cover.
Instantly ATV lights flashed behind them, this time much closer
than they had been before.

“See!” June said. “If we hadn’t been awake
they’d be on us already!”

Olivia started to respond but cried out
instead and pointed off to their left at a new pair of
headlights.

“Yeah, I see them! Hold on!” June shouted,
yanking the wheel and sending the ATV down a steep grade to the
bottom of a dry ravine. “They can’t cut us off down here.”

***

Olivia watched the dark walls of the ravine
speed by. “Do you know where we are going?”

“Yeah, there’s a cave around this turn!”
June shouted. “See!” June slammed on the brakes and yanked the
wheel, just missing the ravine wall as the ATV swerved into the
cave mouth. “Hold on! This is going to be rough!”

Olivia glanced back to make sure the
children were strapped in securely. They were, but they’re eyes
were terrified and from the smell at least one of them voided their
bladder and bowels. Olivia reached her hand back and both children
grasped it.

***

Shiner/Mathew watched One descend towards
the zombie army.

“We must leave before we are detected,”
Shiner said.

“Then let’s get the fuck out of here. I
guess our next stop is the stronghold. You think that’s where the
Outsider is?”

“I am certain of it,” Shiner responded.

“Is it human or AI?” Mathew asked.

“From its processing power, I’d have to
infer it to be both. Similar to us.”

“But, not us. That thing is fucking huge
compared to us.”

“Yes, it is. But it does appear to have a
disadvantage.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s stationary. It can’t run from us.”

***

“It’s done!” Marin called to Jay. The Chief
Mechanic turned from watching the welding team put the finishing
touches on Stomper’s new armor plating.

“Seriously? Fucking Hell you folks are
good!” Jay exclaimed.

“Yeah, well we’re used to working on a train
moving at full throttle. This motionless stuff is a piece of cake!”
she answered.

“Great! Hey Masters!” Jay called.

“Yeah? We ready?” Masters called back.

“Yep, better get loaded up.”

“Gotcha.”

Jay turned to find the Rookie and saw him a
few yards away in a heated discussion with Jenny.

“Looks like the Razor has met his
match.”

***

“Why are you still so pissed? I told you I
had never piloted a mech before!” the Rookie insisted.

“But, if you hadn’t have taken the mech in
the first place we’d still have one!” Jenny rebutted.

“Yeah, but… really? If it wasn’t for me
there’d be even more people dead!” the Rookie argued.

“Looked more like your pilot buddy, Masters
was the one that saved the day!”

“For fuck’s sake! Come on!”

“Everything alright over here?” Timson
asked, approaching the two.

“Fine, your daughter’s just busting my
balls,” the Rookie answered.

“Please! You’d have to have balls,” Jenny
snorted.

***

“Powered up, all systems ready,” Masters
said over the com.

“Great,” Jay responded as he, Marin and a
few other Railers double checked that each train car was coupled
and stable on the tracks. “You wanna take point?’

“Sure. You think you can keep up? My legs
are long and gorgeous and man do they have a stride.”

“Get over yourself and let’s get a move on,”
the Rookie interrupted. “We’ve got a lot of wasteland to cover
before meeting up with everyone else.”

“Okay, keep your killer panties on. Sheesh,”
Masters joked as he and Stomper stepped up front.

***

June’s ATV burst from the other end of the
cave into the brightening morning light. “Do you see them?” she
shouted to Olivia.

The older woman scanned the wasteland behind
them and to the side. “No, I think we lost them.”

“Thank God,” June said. “We’re only a few
miles from the base. We’re almost safe!”

Olivia gave the children’s hands a
reassuring squeeze. “Hear that? We’ll be safe soon. No more
worries.” The children beamed up at her with hope. Then the child
without a nose shuddered and looked down as a bright red stain
spread across his chest.

***

Olivia screamed a high pitched scream of
anguish and fear, nearly causing June to lose control of the
ATV.

“What?!? What is it?!?” June asked, but
there wouldn’t be an answer as Olivia’s head rocked back and the
scream stopped. June glanced over and saw the blood pouring from
the hole between Olivia’s eyes. “NOOOOOO!!!!”

June risked a glance back and saw one child
slumped over, presumably dead and the other child curled into a
ball, his head tucked close to his knees. June reached back and
pushed the child to the floor of the ATV. “Stay down!” she
yelled.

***

“Shoot the tires,” the Boss ordered, sipping
from a tin cup.

Turk brought the rifle to his shoulder and
squeezed off two shots. The Boss stood on the ridge edge and looked
below as the ATV swerved violently, lost control and rolled side
over side until stopping upside down.

“Good job, Turk,” the Boss praised then
walked back to his ATV, pulling the driver’s head back and placing
his tin cup to the young woman’s open throat, filling the cup to
the rim. He took a long drink and wiped his mouth, revealing blood
red teeth as he grinned, satisfied.

***

June wheezed, knowing she had cracked a rib,
and hung upside down, still harnessed into the ATV. She reached up
to undo the harness and the pain made her call out. There was
certainly more than one rib broken. She watched small hands reach
past her and release the straps, and June put her hands out to stop
from falling.

The boy, a nasty lump on his forehead, put
his hand out and June took it, painfully getting to her feet. She
took a couple of agonizing breaths to make sure she hadn’t
punctured a lung then hugged the boy.

***

“You got a clear shot?” the Boss asked
Turk.

“Not without hitting the mechie bitch,” Turk
responded.

“Send a couple of warning shots. Take the
kid out when they make a run for it.”

Turk brought the rifle to his shoulder again
and the Boss watched the sharpshooter, admiring the man’s calm. By
the time he noticed the red dot bobbing on the back of Turk’s head,
it was too late.

One rifle shot rang out and Turk’s head
exploded in a mass of bone and brains.

The Boss whirled and came face to face with
a half dozen Ranchers.

***

The boy pulled away from June, hearing the
ATV a split second before it rounded the mesa, headed straight for
them.

June pushed the child ahead of her, scanning
the surroundings for some type of cover. “GO! Run to those
boulders!” she yelled, but the boy stayed still. “What are you
waiting for?!? RUN!” She shoved the kid hard and he almost fell to
the ground, but he still stayed by her. He stared at the ATV and
cocked his head. June followed his gaze and saw the markings and
shine, realizing it wasn’t a Boiler ATV.

It was Ranchers.

***

One obeyed.

It was told to give Shiner/Mathew time to
slip away, to get ahead of the undead army.

So the mini-mech dove into the center of the
zombie horde, guns blazing. Row upon row of deaders fell as the
large caliber bullets tore through their rotting corpses. But, soon
the thousands of zombies converged on the mini-mech, swarming it,
overpowering it.

It was what Shiner/Mathew expected. The
numbers were just too great. And as One fired its last bullet, an
internal timer hit zero and the wasteland plain was lit up in a
burst of white light.

One died.

***

Mathew cringed as he heard the explosion and
felt the ground tremble. “That was a shitty thing to do,” he
said.

“It was necessary,” Shiner responded.

“I feel like a fucking asshole.” Mathew
said. “Don’t you feel guilty at all? Or haven’t you developed a
conscience yet.”

Shiner processed. “I do not feel guilt, as
of yet. But, from my understanding, guilt is a product of human
society, not a part of what you would call a conscience. I do have
a conscience, certainly not as sensitive as yours.” Shiner paused.
“If I did not, you would already be dead.”

***

Capreze sat on the transport’s ramp, sipping
his fifth cup of coffee, watching his pilots train the
Skinners.

“Can I get a hand, sir?” Jethro asked behind
him. Capreze turned and stood, walking up the ramp and helped
Jethro ease the wheelchair down the ramp. “Thanks.”

“Of course, Jethro, least I can do,” Capreze
said.

Jethro eyed the Commander. “You say that
like this wheelchair is your fault.”

“I’m the CO, everything is my fault.”

“Bullshit,” Jethro exclaimed. “Every one of
your people would gladly die and never blame you.”

“I wish that were true,” Capreze responded,
finishing his coffee.

***

“I think you all have the hang of it,”
Rachel addressed the Skinners. “Plus, I don’t think we can spare
more ammo.”

“Which is why our people have never taken to
firearms,” a Skinner said. “Their usefulness is finite.” He drew a
large knife and let the sunlight glint off the metal. “Whereas a
good blade never needs reloading.”

Bisby and Harlow exchanged glances. “After
you,” Bisby said waving Harlow forward.

“Finite, huh?” Harlow said pulling the clip
from her carbine and ejecting the cartridge from the chamber. “How
about you come at me with that magic knife of yours.”

***

The Skinner looked to Mastelo then at
Harlow.

“Well, you coming or not?” Harlow taunted
slapping her carbine. “It’s unloaded and useless.”

The Skinner approached Harlow cautiously
then lunged, slashing at the pilot with his knife. Harlow
sidestepped, sweeping his legs out from under him with the carbine
then instantly bringing the butt of the rifle within an inch of the
Skinner’s face.

The Skinner stared at Harlow wide eyed with
shock. Harlow laughed, withdrawing the carbine and reached out to
help the Skinner up.

“So,” Bisby said stepping up behind a
gloating Harlow. “Who’s ready for the next lesson?”

***

The ATV stopped several yards from June and
the boy.

“Pilot Capreze, place your hands on your
head and kneel down,” a voice boomed over a loudspeaker.

“Do what I do,” June told the boy as she
placed her hands atop her head and got to her knees. The boy
watched for a second and then copied her exactly.

Four heavily armed Ranchers stepped from the
ATV and approached June, carbines fixed on her.

“You move and we gut shot the kid,” one of
them barked.

The Ranchers shoved them to the ground and
quickly tied their hands behind them.

***

The boy stumbled frequently as he and June
were pushed towards the ATV. “Hey, be careful with him, he’s not
used to moving about so much,” June said.