Giant wanted to know where we were going. If we could catch up with the rest of the Mech-Techs, which was unlikely, we’d be fine. She said. I disagreed. I love Viking and Valkyrie like family, but their sense of self-preservation was a bit off-target right now, if the last few days were anything to go by.
I thought about it for the rest of the day, as we sat near the wreckage of the jeep. Near, but very hidden. I thought at one point I heard a motorbike but figured I must have been dreaming. Giant was out scouting at the time, so I only had the Dog for company. I asked him what he thought we should do, but he just sat there wagging his tail at me with a stupid doggy grin on his face.
I was startled when Giant finally returned. I think I must’ve started dozing off. Not a good thing to do, considering. She had a smile on her face. Beckoning me to follow her, I did.
After a few minutes of sneaking about, Apocalypse Dog scented something, or someone and bounded off into the gloom of the ending day with a loud, friendly woof.
Static was being assaulted by the Dog’s tongue as we arrived at the fire, Viking and Valkyrie standing up as we approached, incredulous grins on both of their faces.
After a round of hugs, and some fresh Meat-Beast, we decided on a course of action. One that wouldn’t be possible if Book was with us, but I have no doubt that he’d understand. Maybe not approve, exactly, but he’d understand. I hoped.
We decided to head to Adelaide once again.
I was going to ask The Queen for asylum.
October 10th Year 1 A.Z.
morning
Well, my squad seemed to all be dead. Apocalypse Girl too… I’m allowing myself to entertain the possibility that somehow, she’s managed to survive this, but with the carnage that we’d discovered, plus her jacket and the bag of lighters that she’d held onto over the last ten months… It didn’t look very hopeful.
All we could do was move forward. To the west was a vast wasteland, devoid of pretty much everything, so we headed in a vaguely southerly direction. Until we came across the highway, that is, then we planned to go west once again. The Nullarbor was not to be travelled lightly; I’d made that journey once with my parents as a small kid… Nothing but sun and sand as far as the eye could see, very few tiny towns scattered about the place.
I felt a vague tickle at the back of my mind at one point… It felt somehow familiar, oddly enough, but it was an experience that I knew I’d never encountered before. I ended up ignoring it as best I was able, but after a little while it grew into an itch. An irritating itch, between my ears. I wanted to open my skull up and scratch at my brain, but of course that wasn’t happening…
I worked out soon enough what had caused the mental itch… We came across a small throng of walking corpses that had recently been snacking upon the inhabitants of one of those scattered towns. My blade took care of a few, though I was beginning to slow again. Criss-Cross accounted for the rest, with his handy blades. Once they were dead, the itch subsided almost instantly.
German Doctor asked him about them; whether they were some kind of tool made for the Warrior Caste of his species. He looked confused by the very concept. It turned out that all Klee-vics had the blades, no matter the caste. The brown slime that coated them was the next subject of discussion. The alien seemed hesitant to discuss it, but we all knew German Doctor would never relent until she got her answers.
It turned out that he, and others of his caste, would liberally coat their swordlike appendages with their own excrement before each engagement. It seemed universally toxic to every species the Klee-vics had encountered. He’d never heard of any method of dealing with the infection until the event of Viking’s homebrew.
At German Doctor’s slightly disgusted expression, he laughed. It was an odd sound, almost as alien as the expression accompanying the humour on his vaguely insectoid, slightly reptilian face. He informed us both that he had no need, or particular desire, to coat his blades in poo right now. With the only enemy being the Dead, there was little point; poison was useless against them, and it was a procedure that he did not relish.
noon
We still hadn’t come across the highway, though the ocean was visible in the distance. While German Doctor cooked up some of our Meat-Beast supplies, Criss-Cross scouted ahead. Without one or both of us on his back his speed was phenomenal; he’d returned before we’d finished eating.
“There is a town ahead.” He informed us. “I was careful to avoid detection. I think it best if the two of you go in without me. I’ll meet you on the other side.”
With that being said, I clambered onto the motorbike, German Doctor holding onto my waist. I disliked that she had taken to wearing Apocalypse Girl’s jacket, but I was just a little too large. It was tight on her also, but there was tight and then there was my chest and back simply being too broad after months of slicing apart the Dead with a sword.
The inhabitants were a little wary of outsiders, which I expected, but friendly enough once they realised that there were only the two of us. Again, I heard of the Rangers, the group that had apparently been saving people throughout the long, dark months of Winter, but once more nobody could tell me a location other than somewhere to the west.
They offered us a bed for the night, though we declined, saying that we had places to be, Rangers to seek out and a friend waiting to the west. The local leader looked almost upset, but I wasn’t in the mood to be tied down to a location again. Not after what had happened over the last few days…
evening
Criss-Cross found us without too much trouble a few kilometres outside of the town. He’d been scrounging for whatever he could find that might be useful, laden down with bags of the things he’d discovered. Meat-Beast steaks, freshly sliced, the blade with which he’d done the slicing (I was grateful that he’d not had to use his own) and a bunch of canned goods from the abandoned truck stop we met up at. A torch, devoid of batteries, that I discarded. He looked confused at this, asking why I’d throw away something that could be used against the Dead. Then it was time for confused looks from German Doctor and myself.
“It is not a weapon?” I laughed at this. “Humans elsewhere that we’ve encountered on other worlds use these, or devices similar, that project a plasma blade in a condensed magnetic field. It can also be used as a projectile.”
“This is nothing but a light source,” German Doctor told him in a lecturing tone of voice. “Wait, what was that about humans on other worlds?” The Klee-vics looked at her enigmatically and remained silent. This time, she would receive no answers. I didn’t care… the kid in me thought it was cool that humans elsewhere in the galaxy had, for all intents and purposes, lightsabres.
“G’day…” The word was loud enough to make me jump, turning around and half drawing my sword before I recognised a familiar face. “Yeah, put that away… I’ve felt it once before. That was more than enough.”
Elder stepped out of the shadows. I told him that I killed him. He reminded me what he’d told me before I cut his head off. More powerful than I could imagine, indeed.
He seemed amused by Criss-Cross, less so by German Doctor. He asked about Apocalypse Girl, patting my shoulder when he saw the expression that crossed my face and apologised for causing me pain. Then it was my turn to apologise, for killing him.
“That’s okay, mate. I’ve had worse…” He chuckled slightly, without much humour. “I’m bound to suffer worse again, too.”
I’d dreamed about him since he caused the Dingo attack on Adelaide, a few times, and told him so.
“Those weren’t dreams. Not as you’d understand them, anyway. This is…” He smiled. “Sort of. To some, at least.”
“A nightmare to those of us living through it.” German Doctor interjected vehemently.
“Yep! Too true.” Elder laughed. “I’ll let you guys in on a secret, though. Life is a dream. All of it. Sometimes you wake up in the middle of it. Then, well, then you can really do things.”
“What, like com
e back from the dead?” I asked, not really expecting an answer. He reached over and patted my shoulder.
“All sorts of things, mate. All sorts.” He pulled a cigarette out from nowhere, then with the other hand… Nothing happened. “Do you have a light?”
I reached into Apocalypse Girl’s bag and produced a lighter for him. He sparked up and took a deep drag on the cigarette, blowing a huge cloud of smoke out.
“Why could you not create a lighter the way you made that?” German Doctor sounded sceptical.
“Because, clearly, what I needed was already close to hand.” Elder grinned impudently. “Don’t you know anything?”
Thinking back to our first encounter with the old aboriginal man, that was when Apocalypse Girl first became able to reach into other dimensions, parallel Earths, and rummage for whatever we needed. It was an ability that had saved our arses on more than one occasion since that first encounter, though the first time she’d just discovered some tea in an empty cupboard.
I asked him if that meant that Apocalypse Girl had woken in her dream; he stared at me, unblinking, through a haze of smoke for a long moment, then nodded almost imperceptibly.
We sat in silence, then, after I built a small fire, Elder supplied a billy and boiled some tea that he found after fossicking in the pockets of his robe for about a minute. Drinking the tea gave me energy that I didn’t even know I needed, vitality that I was clearly sorely missing.
“That should see you right for about a week, brother.” He tapped me where The Disciple had nibbled on me. It hurt, this time. “Now I’ve got to go.” He stood up, dusted his robe off briefly, grinned at the three of us, turned around and left without a further sound, vanishing into the darkness.
“What a strange person.” German Doctor’s assessment was spot on.
Journal of A.G.
Viking and Valkyrie were devastated by the losses that they’d sustained. They’d not seen anyone other than Giant and me in the days since the Flame and the flood of Dead. Heading south-east we found a small town easily enough and were able to barter a couple of our excess weapons for a vehicle. A crapped out old Holden station wagon. Better than walking, though. Roomy enough for the four of us, as well. Five. Can’t forget the bloody Dog. Really hard to write this with said Dog licking my face.
I considered contacting my mother again, but realised quickly enough that my phone was still in my jacket. None of us had any desire to go back to get it; too many friends had died over the last few days, and the likelihood that we were able to find anything now…
So, we kept on towards Adelaide. We found our way to the highway quickly enough, following it along as it meandered to the east and south. It seemed like we were making better time than perhaps we should’ve been, not that I minded. Not really. We were all eager to put the past, and our losses, behind us.
I couldn’t help feeling that Book had managed to survive somehow. It was what he was best at, surviving… Without him I’d have died a hundred times over by now. Of course, without him I wouldn’t be pregnant and the size of a small whale, either. Or missing an eye, for that matter.
No, that wasn’t fair… That had all been on The Queen. She’s a bitch… but our best hope at the moment. If we’d had a radio, we might be able to contact her through Deathwish, one of the friends we’d made while in Adelaide… But she’d had the foresight to build a big fucking wall around the city, far enough out that it was connected by various outposts. She’d used cars, a lot of cars. It was actually a very colourful wall, almost a rainbow of protection for the inhabitants whose lives she’d been responsible for saving. I’ll admit, on paper at least, that I have a certain amount of respect for the things she’s accomplished.
But even so… Bitch took my fucking eye.
October 11th Year 1 A.Z.
morning
Elder’s visit gave me a little more energy, somehow. It was strange seeing him again, not that every time he’d popped up out of the blue had been particularly normal, but usually… Well, let’s just put it this way; most people, when you chop their heads off with a fucking sword, they don’t come back. Maybe there was something to this dreaming that he spoke of. If so, we lived in a nightmare now. One that, if not for Apocalypse Girl, I would’ve wanted to wake up out of a long time ago. Now… I don’t know.
I’ve decided that, since we didn’t find her out there among the dead, maybe there was some hope that she’d made it through, found a way to get to safety. I hope she found friends to help, too. As it stood, I had German Doctor and Criss-Cross to concern myself with. As travelling companions went… Criss-Cross was rather bizarre but seemed loyal at the very least. German Doctor, on the other hand, she was very stiff and proper. A hard person to relate to. Plus, she kept eyeing off Criss-Cross as if she wanted to dissect the Klee-vics and find out precisely what made him tick.
We moved on across the Nullarbor plain, more wasted wasteland than I’d seen so far. If not for the three of us racing across the landscape, nothing would have been moving whatsoever. There was such a lack of vitality that it seemed almost as if the entire land surrounding us was dead. Even with the clouds blanketing the world, allowing little sunlight through, this was the warmest temperature that I’d experienced since shortly before the Winter had begun. I doubt I’d relish the trip had we not had the cooling after effects of whatever Fluffy and his host of schrandfelths janitorial aliens had been doing.
German Doctor was clearly unused to the heat; though still wearing Apocalypse Girl’s jacket, it was open to the waist in order to allow more airflow. Criss-Cross seemed to almost enjoy the weather though. After we’d stopped for a bite of Meat-Beast German Doctor asked him about it. With an alien expression, he informed us that he preferred the warmth. It reminded him of his homeworld. Though, he continued, he’d prefer more moisture in the air.
noon
We found a larger town that had been either abandoned and looted, or obliterated either by the Dead or raiders. There was not a lot left. A few smaller houses, a supermarket with all the windows shattered; a quick glance told us that it contained nothing worth scavenging that we’d be able to take with us. The town hall alone remained untouched. Criss-Cross waited for us on the far side, just in case there were some locals left among the Living, though I held out little hope.
I hammered on the door of the town hall, waited a few moments, then pushed it open easily. German Doctor walked through, then fled back out almost instantly, hand covering her mouth. I stuck my head inside while she emptied out the contents of her stomach. The smell alone confirmed that this had been where whoever had survived what had occurred here had decided to die. Corpses littered the interior, all with neat holes through their heads, and the stench arising from their rotted flesh very nearly made me join my companion in vomiting up everything we’d ever eaten. I shut the door respectfully, then carved the words ‘Stay out’ into the wood.
The noise that German Doctor made while retching drew Criss-Cross into town, wondering what had happened. I just nodded in the direction of the large red-brick building, while attempting to assist my companion in standing straight and moving away from her pile of partially digested Meat-Beast. A few steps, and there was another, smaller puddle of stomach contents. Then after another few steps she doubled over again, heaving to no avail. Wiping her mouth after she’d regained her composure, she thanked me for my help, and we returned to the bike.
evening
We made camp a few kilometres away from the town, German Doctor still looking more than a little queasy, and refusing food as a result. Criss-Cross seemed mildly amused at this; his species, it turned out, had little reaction to rotting flesh, even that of their own kind. He declared that it could be used as a food source if needed, which very nearly set German Doctor’s chundering off once again. Mine too, if truth were to be told, and the chittering laughing sound he made proved that my Klee-vics companion was a fucking bastard with a fucking bastard’s sense of humour.
The alien hear
d a noise, quiet enough that neither of us mere humans was able to detect and motioned for silence before he sprang into action. He vanished into the shadows beyond the light of the campfire in an instant. I felt a tickle in the back of my brain as the Dead grew closer, growing and then fading as Criss-Cross ended their existences with his arm-blades. One entered the firelight before the pointy end of a Klee-vics blade burst through its festering visage.
It took him less than a minute to dispose of the corpses, to German Doctor’s great relief, and mine. She praised his hearing and initiative, thanking him for ridding us of the need to deal with them ourselves. I now know what Klee-vics embarrassment looks like. He replied that he was only doing what he deemed necessary for our survival, but he clearly enjoyed the praise. Having briefly served under General Fuckwit in the army that had been attempting to save Canberra from the Dead, I understood; praise for doing your duty was rare.
I felt another brief tickle. It felt subtly different, this time, and was gone almost before I realised that it was there. Perhaps another group of Dead wandering just out of my new-found detection radius. In any event, I didn’t deem it necessary to warn anybody. There seemed little point, as I was unable to determine distance or direction. I curled up near enough to the fire for light and warmth, as the night proved much colder than the day’s warmth had suggested that it might. The last thing I saw before falling asleep was German Doctor looking at me thoughtfully.
October 12th Year 1 A.Z.
morning
The fire’s embers still glowed when I awoke, and German Doctor was returning from finding a bush to go behind. Her distaste at having to do so was evident; she’d spent the majority of the apocalypse in the safety of AR-18, where they still had working toilets. I understood completely. It was my own turn after all…
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