Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 2): February

by Rowlands, Dave

  The Colonel already had a plan, and a good one, if a little simple. She, The Twin, Redbeard and I were going to come out of the main building, guns blazing, and cut them all down. There looked to be around twenty to thirty of them out there, though the way they moved made it difficult to be certain. The snow today was quite light, though I doubted we would see really heavy weather for a while yet, so we would definitely have the advantage of mobility. Apocalypse Girl said that she was coming with us, but The Colonel shook her head, saying that with her wound she could prove a liability. Apocalypse Girl looked as though she was going to argue the point, but The Colonel promised to watch my back and she seemed momentarily mollified.

  noon

  We exited the elevator easily enough, guns drawn, just in case the Dead had managed to infiltrate the building itself. Fortunately, they had not, at least not yet. We could see through the windows that the number of Dead inside the compound itself had risen already. There had to be at least fifty of the decomposing fuckers out there. This was not necessarily going to be hard, but it was going to take some time. The Colonel asked if anybody thought we needed reinforcements. I thought to myself that Junior would have a ball out here, but said that we should be able to take care of it ourselves easily enough.

  We took up position on either side of the double doors leading to the world outside, Redbeard asking what the plan was. I suggested that, depending on how things looked when we open the door, we make a run for the stairs leading to the helipad. We agreed on that, with the backup plan that if there were too many in the immediate vicinity we would clear the area around the door, and just hold position until the Dead were all dead.

  As the doors opened inwards, The Twin and I took one each, leaving The Colonel and Redbeard to unload on the approaching Dead. They blasted the few that stood before us, surprised suddenly with the appearance of a fresh meal, and we ran for the helipad, The Twin and I careful to shut the doors behind us. As soon as we had done that I had to thank myself for the foresight to shave my head clean of hair, as clawed fingers brushed across my scalp. Had I retained the matted mane of doom that I had removed I would certainly not be writing this entry now. The Twin killed my assailant with a neatly placed round through one eye and we followed Redbeard and The Colonel swiftly up the stairs. At the first landing I stopped, telling The Twin to continue. She ran on ahead as The Colonel and Redbeard opened up on the horde stumbling their way up the stairs to reach me and I pulled out my sword.

  I had chosen that precise location to hold the stairs because it was a blind spot. I couldn't see my three companions up there, they could not see me. That meant if some sneaky Dead found their way unseen to the stairs they could easily come up behind us and be gnawing on our arses before we could even sneeze. And it was getting pretty fucking cold up there, I might add, so sneezing was bound to happen sooner or later. Sure enough, before too much longer along came a Dead one, then another, followed by a couple more. It seemed as if one of them found something or, more precisely, someone, they might be able to eat others nearby took heed and followed suit. The first Dead to approach I met with my blade, in my right hand, slicing neatly through its skull, the second I waited until it was nearly upon me, then I put my gun, in my left, to its head and squeezed the trigger, sending rotting brains spattering onto the two behind it. This procedure was repeated much more quickly with the next pair of Dead, and my blade stuck in the head of the next one. Another approached from below that, before I could bring my gun to bear, was upon me. This dislodged my katana from its fellows head, but also from my hand. Just in time I managed to jam the barrel of my .45 between the teeth of the Dead, and we fell together.

  The gun went off, killing a Dead that was ascending the stairs behind my assailant, all the while keeping the jaws of my Dead assailant wide apart. It struggled to reach my flesh, drooling black strands of ichor onto my arms. I could see more Dead approaching from below, and knew my death and my Death came with them.

  The Dead on top of me fell silent, an arrow through its head. I rolled out from under it, kicking it down the stairs to slow down the other Dead on their way up. I knelt, carefully taking aim with my .45 and shot them all in the head, then I scooped up my katana, and made for the top, thanking The Twin on my way past her as she slung her bow on her back once again. “I couldn't do it with this,” She held up her pistol. “I knew I could with the bow...”

  The Colonel ordered Redbeard to hold the stairway while she told me the situation that she had seen. The Dead had gotten so densely packed on the road up to the facility that a large amount of them had basically gotten over the fence by literally walking on the backs of their fellows. She handed me a small pair of binoculars and pointed. Looking where she had indicated, I saw that she was correct. More piled over the Dead already present. Why a top secret facility like this had no more security than a double boom gate to enter the car park I had no idea. There weren't even severe tyre damage spikes, for fucks sake. “We need to take care of this, it could be a serious problem,” I told her. She replied that as far as she saw it, it already was way beyond serious. She and Redbeard could hold the fort up here, she said, but she wanted The Twin and I to go downstairs and gather a sniper rifle, a flamethrower and some gas masks.

  evening

  The Twin and I wasted no time in fetching the required items, and in no more than an hour, were in the elevator going back up to the surface once again. The Colonel greeted us as the doors opened, quickly taking the flamethrower and telling us all to don our gas masks. Gunfire came from without, in the general direction of the doors. Redbeard, no doubt. The Colonel told The Twin to take the sniper rifle and cover us with it, while the rest of us took care of the situation. She nodded, and ran off.

  The rest of us made for the gate, killing any Dead that we saw on the way there. Upon arrival, The Colonel asked us politely to keep the Dead off of her while she cleared them off the gate. Even with a gas mask the stench was horrendous this close to this many Dead, there were easily thousands out there. I could see that many wore suits, any of the Dead that had once been female wore what had once been ridiculously overpriced jewellery. I said to the others that we seemed to have found the people this place had been meant to house.

  “Good.” The Colonel said, grimly. “Politicians are responsible for too fucking many of my friends dying too fucking young. I am going to enjoy this...” With that, she raised the flamer, and began roasting Dead politicians. With that many Dead so close on fire, the stench was truly unbearable, and we left, heading inside. The Twin met us at the door, and we went under together. It was difficult for the four of us to eat after having smelled thousands of burning Dead, but we managed, and slept.

  February 9th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Breakfast this morning, then Smart Girl called The Colonel and I into a smaller computer lab. Apocalypse Girl followed, naturally, and the four of us gathered around a monitor, which she brought up a satellite image on. We immediately recognised the compound, and saw that the fires of the Dead still blazed strongly. We also immediately saw that the flames were only affecting the front few ranks of the Dead, and that there were many thousands behind them all surging forwards. Smart Girl pointed to another, much smaller, group of something moving. Clearly they had been attracted by the fire, as had the group behind that, and another group behind that one too. All of them moving directly towards the flames. Seven groups all told, moving towards us. She then switched over to thermal imaging.

  The Colonel swore. Apocalypse Girl pointed to the four groups glowing red and said, “So these ones are still Living, yeah?” Smart Girl nodded. “They're still days away, at least. What do we do? We've got to help them...” I tried to swallow, but my mouth was too dry. Smart Girl opened a fresh bottle of water and handed it to me without a word. Smart girl, that Smart Girl. I wet my mouth, and told her that after seeing the size of the horde at the gates yesterday all four of those groups were fucked. “We have to do something though! We can'
t just leave them out there alone!”

  “She's right. We do have to do something. We have to lock the fucking door.” The Twin said, slipping into the room. Apocalypse Girl and The Twin proceeded to argue the point back and forth for a few minutes, first quietly, then they started shouting. I tried to get between them to calm them down, but Apocalypse Girl shoved me aside. After that I just sat and watched.

  “Enough!” The Colonel shouted. They stopped, each looking mildly ashamed. “They're both right, each in her own way. We must defend our position, and we must do what we can to help those people. We have to make sure the road is clear, at the very least. That helps our security, and eases their passage.” She looked each of us in the eyes. “Above all, we have to keep the fires burning. I realise that raises a whole host of other potential problems, but it keeps the Dead coming, and serves as a beacon to the Living groups out there, as well. If there are four groups out there in the immediate vicinity that can see this pillar of smoke by day and fire by night, then you can be sure as hell there are others out there who can see it too. They're going to come this way too. Believe me. We lock those doors and we're responsible for a lot of deaths.”

  noon

  The cold hit us like a fucking brick as we stepped outside. The Colonel, Apocalypse Girl, The Twin, Redbeard and I surveyed the scene. The compound remained clear of Dead, though the bodies from yesterday's cleaning spree still lay about, here and there. The Colonel gave Apocalypse Girl her binoculars, and sent her and The Twin up to the helipad to keep watch for both any approaching Dead, or Living. The rest of us, once again, went to the gate.

  Our work yesterday had been effective, not a single corpse in sight moved, and the flames had retreated down the line somewhat. Dead flesh burned easily enough, but the snow retarded the spread considerably. The corpses remained, yet when I kicked one, it disintegrated to dust and ash. The Colonel casually pulled a grenade from her belt, removed the pin and lobbed it gracefully into the horde behind the ashen dead. It hit one, who turned to see what had pummeled it, raising a semi eaten arm in our direction just an instant before it was blown to the hell that had rejected it, as well as about a dozen of its companions in Death. Everything behind them turned as one entity, and surged forwards. The Colonel threw several more grenades into the horde, blowing great chunks of dead Dead flesh skywards, and we all wore our gas masks as they drew ever nearer.

  We stood behind the boom gates, and as the Dead piled up against it, The Colonel once more applied a generous portion of fiery death to the mixture, resulting in another flaming pile of dying Dead, many of which already burned or smouldered from yesterday's efforts. The three of us stood back from the fire, though we appreciated the warmth, our nostrils objected strenuously.

  evening

  After a long, hot shower, and a hotter, tasty meal, we relaxed in the common room of our floor. Redbeard asked Apocalypse Girl how she had wounded her arm, and expressed disbelief that the Living would attack other Living given the circumstances. The Twin told him about the bandits who had assaulted the commune where we had first met her after that. He shook his head. After a few seconds thinking about it he asked, “How can we be sure one of the groups coming towards us isn't going to try something like that?”

  “We can't be sure of anything. We can hope that they are decent people, or at the very least remember how to behave like it, and that they appreciate the road being cleared for them. Or else, we'll have to kill them, simple as that.” The Colonel said, in a matter of fact tone. “We disarm them when they arrive, watch them for a couple of days, kind of a probation we can call it. Anyone that refuses to disarm can go back the way they came.”

  “Anyone who wants to live here has to live by our rules,” The Twin said. “We just have to agree what those rules are, I suppose.” There was general agreement to that statement. “Obviously the old rules of society no longer apply, not now, but if we're talking about starting a new society, which we are, really, we need some set of rules.”

  We decided on a few simple, yet classic, rules. No stealing, raping, killing, eating people alive, that sort of thing. All the basics now covered, we had to work out a form of punishment. The Colonel said one word. “Exile.” That suited us fine. Anyone who fucks up has to deal with it by spending the rest of their probably-now-very-short lives outside in the wide world, where the Dead roam. That should be deterrent enough, in my opinion, at least.

  We also agreed that tomorrow we would spend some time engaging in some target practice against the Dead, as other than Redbeard, the newcomers had little experience. The Children needed some real world experience, as did Auntie. The Twin needed more familiarity with her other weapons, she admitted readily enough, though she appeared loath to use anything other than her new bow. The Colonel had spent some time helping The Girl learn how to shoot, apparently, though where she had found the time I have no idea, and now she was a fair aim.

  Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day, at least. Checking the satellite images before heading off to bed we noticed that the first group had found the roadway leading up to the facility. They could begin their ascent first thing in the morning, but if they are smart enough they will send out a scout or two first. There was still the matter of the horde between us, however. There were no vehicles in the tiny carpark area, as most people would arrive by helicopter, so there was little chance of punching through the Dead ranks to get to them. The Colonel was bound to have some ideas, I'll have to remember to ask her first thing.

  February 10th Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  The flames had moved on down the line of Dead once more, yet several hundred at least stood between us and the group hoping to find shelter. The snow had abated, leaving the air crisp and cool, as long as you didn't get too close to a flaming Dead one, that is. On the big screen in the main computer lab, we saw the new group waiting for something. A small group of Dead were nearly upon them, and attacked as we watched from high above.

  I was all over fairly swiftly, as after six weeks of survival you get pretty good at killing the Dead. One of the newcomers moved slowly up the road, clearly scouting the way ahead, while the others remained behind. The scout returned back to his position before much longer. They spent some time discussing the matter at hand, then they turned to the dead Dead lying around them. It was difficult to see what exactly it was they were doing, but before much longer, the thermal images of the group moved up the road. There were seven of them, at least for now there were seven of them. By the time they reached the compound there would be a few less, if any reached us at all.

  The Colonel insisted that we try to do whatever we could to get them up here safely, and we made for the surface, heading immediately to the helipad to get a good look at everything. The Twin could see the seven newcomers through the scope of her sniper rifle, though she said the only reason she could tell they were the new group was by their movements alone. She told us that it looked as though they had covered themselves in Dead glorp as a disguise. The Colonel admitted that, since all evidence pointed to the Dead hunting by scent and sound rather than vision, it was a damned good idea. As long as they don't move too quickly, and the weather stays relatively clear. She suggested that we should go to the gates, maybe make ready a welcome for our new guests, something that will keep the Dead off their backs. Telling The Twin to cap a Dead one near us when the group of Living draws near, The Colonel, Apocalypse Girl, Redbeard, Smart Guy and I headed down the stairs.

  noon

  The Dead had swamped the gate once again, not quite to the point where they can simply walk into the compound, but that would not have been far off had we not arrived when we did. The Colonel flamed up those Dead who were at the fore, then we moved away from the fires to discuss our next move while the Dead burned. Apocalypse Girl pointed out a ledge along one side of the road where one or two of us could theoretically make our way down the line a little, maybe give the approaching group a hand up and quickly fuck off back to the compound
. Redbeard volunteered, and I offered to go with him, thinking that my sword could prove useful.

  Getting up there proved hairy enough, as we passed within reach of multiple Dead arms, many of which burned fiercely, but once we were up there their talons could no longer reach us. The downside, other than the rank odour, was that there was barely room enough for us to sidle along for the first twenty metres or so, after which it widened considerably. We were able to make good, swift progress down the side of the road, and saw the group cunningly weaving smoothly in and out from between Dead, covered in gore and slime, an instant before a Dead head near Redbeard exploded, showering his boots in rotting brains. The survivors saw this, and then us, moving slowly in our direction.

  Redbeard open up on the Dead nearest us with his dual .45s, giving me an opportunity to leap into the fray, katana drawn and at the ready. I cleared a swathe through the Dead, giving the new arrivals a chance to run past me and scramble up to where Redbeard waited, guns in hand. The seven passed me, the last one patting me gratefully on the shoulder, leaving a reddish-brown smear of stench-ridden muck behind. I cut down several more Dead, then almost flew back up to the relative safety of the ledge. Redbeard was reloading, the survivors already running past him, the ones in front already almost at the narrow part. I wiped the blood and brains from my sword onto my shirt, after all it needed a wash now anyway, then sheathed it, before following as Redbeard unloaded his fresh clips into the Dead, more for fun than for any real effect.