Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 4): April

by Dave Rowlands

  noon

  Several Dead were inside some of the buildings, as well, though not a great many. One building still contained some cans of food, not to mention a few bottles of water, so we decided to use that as a temporary headquarters while we work out what the fuck our next move is going to be. Archer kept watch on the place while the rest of us ferried our supplies from the wreckage of The Nightmare to the house in town, making sure to let Valkyrie know where we were likely to be when they were done. She replied that as far as she could see, they were done already, but of course Viking and Cyclops didn't see it quite like that yet. They still thought they could save her.

  Shortly after we finished setting up in the new place, Apocalypse Girl's phone jangled. No message, just an image, a satellite image by the looks of things. There were several places where different coloured lightning had flashed. Some red, some purple, some blue, some green. Above each blast hovered a small dark shape. I looked up at Apocalypse Girl, then at the others sitting at the table with me. She sent a message back to The Smart Couple Are you guys fucking with us or what? To which came the response; Not at all. Images taken during last lightning storm. Any progress on mutant tissue sample? Apocalypse Girl huffed in annoyance, replying Temporarily out of transportation. Trying to work something out. Are these real actual UFOs?

  The reply came at great length. Nobody here knows what they are, but they are flying so in that sense, yes. Are they terrestrial or not? Who knows? Could they be trying to help in some fashion? Apocalypse Girl looked into my eyes. I told her that whatever it was, it didn't matter. We had other things to deal with. Guide shook his head in astonishment, saying that he was having a hard time with all of this. “You don't seem to have much of a problem coping with the idea of the Dead walking,” Sister pointed out.

  Guide was about to let her have it when the trio of former Mech-Techs burst in, Viking exclaiming that “It's a brilliant idea, I don't know what the fuck your problem is, mate!” with Cyclops following him telling him that he was crazy. Valkyrie's expression was one of mild amusement, mild admiration and mild annoyance rolled into one. Archer wanted to know what idea.

  “We're gonna take the engine out of The Nightmare, right, and attach it to a train car. We'll need a fuel tank as well, of course, but there's all sorts of shit out there we can use to get this idea happening! It'll work, trust me. Trust me!” Viking sounded certain. Cyclops told him that it was too much, that it couldn't be done. Viking accused him of having no vision. His friend swung a mighty fist, easily dodged and Viking apologised. Cyclops jabbed out unexpectedly with his left, blackening Viking's eye.

  evening

  Archer had been spending the last several hours with Viking and Cyclops, drawing up plan after plan, trying to get this idea right. They had the perfect train car, all they needed was within reach. The three Mech-Techs and Archer would make this thing work, and work well. The rest of us, Sister, Guide, Apocalypse Girl and myself, were going to be spending the next day or two at least in relative boredom. We would alternate patrols, Guide and Sister and me and my shadow, making a few rounds of the town before heading back inside before getting overly Cold.

  It was a sound idea, from what I could make out. The Nightmare was a bitch of a vehicle to drive, but she would be missed. She had seen us safely to Canberra and back, then halfway to Adelaide before dying a foolish, needless death. If some part of her could live on in some way, should it not be so?

  I caught Apocalypse Girl looking once again at the photo that The Smart Couple had sent us. It seemed unbelievable at first, but looking at the image myself... I don't know. Right now, I think we have far too many other issues on our collective plate to deal with. If we have to deal with creatures from another world as well, then we fucking well will. Our own Dead haven't put us down, you won't either!

  April 22 Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Sister and Guide went out on patrol first thing this morning, as soon as the gloom allowed for visibility. They came back an hour later, reporting just a few Dead, a couple of which came close enough to have to put them down, but some seemed perfectly content to just stand, staring at nothing. When Apocalypse Girl and I headed on out for our own scouting run, we encountered a similar scenario. Most of the Dead that had been around locally had been concentrated around the train, and consequently had come when The Nightmare had struck it, ringing the figurative dinner bell of the Dead.

  Some of them, however, hadn't gotten that message, or had just wandered into town overnight. Who knew how far some of these Dead could have travelled on foot, with their relentless, never ceasing search for fresh flesh? Even so, we decided that it was better to put them down, rather than leave a potential threat at our throats, however fleeting our visit in intent or actuality.

  We passed the platform at which The Mech-Techs were constructing The Bitch, which quite literally was the engine from The Nightmare bolted to the rear of the restaurant car. Progress was continuing apace, with much swearing from both Cyclops and Viking, coupled with laughter from Valkyrie and Archer. In the end we decided to quietly leave them to it, and find some Dead to kill.

  Our search was not a long one, what seemed once a circus troupe of Dead wandered in from the west, almost as if they were parading into town, announcing their presence. Only a dozen of them, but we still roused Guide and Sister to join in the fun.

  noon

  The four of us made short work of the troupe of performing Dead ones. Thinking it a fine idea to discover their origin, we then set out to the west, along the road, following their shamblings in the snow. It was not long at all before we found a large tent, erected quite some time previously. Several groups of Dead wandered around, seeming almost as if they were going about their duties. One scrubbed at a wall of a nearby port-a-potty with a rag, continuously going over and over the same spot, the one clean part of the whole messy scene.

  Disgusted, I drew my sword and strode into the crowd. It seemed almost like I was somewhere else, at least in my head, my body was right there, separating Dead from their meagre attempts at lives. My mind was a blank, so focussed on the task of rendering death to the Dead was I.

  When we were finished, we were able to look over the camp. It had been a shambles before, but now it was just plain disgusting. There had been a pen with animals out the back of the main tent, the cow had also grown into one of those hideously tasty meat-beasts, bursting through the wood of her enclosure. The interesting thing was, none of the Dead had been anywhere near the meat-beast. None of them had seemed remotely interested in it in the slightest. Then, I don't remember any Dead trying to get a nibble on any of the sheep that we had fled the commune with, either.

  evening

  The work on The Bitch was nearly done. In one day they had managed what many would consider impossible. Hell, if the decision had been entirely up to me, with no other options given, I would have just considered going ahead on foot, though I would have followed the train tracks to be certain of our bearing. This way we get to travel in comfort.

  When asked why the restaurant car, Viking simply grinned and said “For the booze, of course!” before getting all serious and explaining that he was more easily able to put the fuel tank in an accessible location behind the bar of that particular car than any other. That, and it had been the next in line, un-de-railed, uncoupled from the car in front of it and easily removed from the car behind. We would be ready to leave this town in the morning, noon tomorrow at the latest.

  April 23 Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Viking and Cyclops were up as soon as there was light enough to see by, Valkyrie following along with Archer a few moments later. Somebody needed to watch their backs, as once they get going on a project nothing will shake their focus. Guide wanted us to stay close by today, so he and Sister abandoned their patrol for guard duty.

  The Cold had deepened overnight, the snow following suit. We slogged through it nevertheless, Apocalypse Girl and I, intent on seeing what progre
ss had been made so far on The Bitch. We discovered an ungainly apparatus that chugged and blew shitloads of smoke but the four present were busily cheering their success in making the thing move forward a whole metre. Viking assured us that we would be moving by noon at the absolute latest, and this thing could travel through the night as well, easily enough.

  We left them to it, returning to the house we were sharing temporarily. At least that had been our intent, initially, yet our steps faltered upon seeing a lone Aboriginal man, older than the hills themselves, leaning upon a staff, staring directly at us with eyes that looked as though they hadn't worked in decades. Nevertheless he waved to us, beckoning us over to him.

  He greeted the pair of us by name, saying that he had been following us for a while in his dreams. Apocalypse Girl asked just how long. The old man simply began cackling. I insisted that he follow us inside, as he must be freezing from standing, barefoot, in the snow. His laughter began anew, but he allowed us to relocate him. I had the distinct impression that the end of the world had also been the end of this man's sanity.

  Guide asked him if he knew anything about a town a while back that was free of Death once he got over the initial shock of seeing somebody new. Elder simply began cackling again, then started rummaging around in the cupboards, muttering about how there had to be some tea around here somewhere. We had already cleaned out the sparse supplies yesterday, I knew for a fact that there was nothing in that cupboard, yet he withdrew a small packet of teabags still sealed in plastic. Sister set about boiling some water straight away. Elder insisted that she boil enough for everybody as he reckoned the others would be done by now.

  noon

  Viking nearly jumped out of his skin when he and the others returned for lunch, though he recovered his composure more swiftly than Cyclops, whose single eye was nearly as wide as the empty socket. Elder had an unusual tale to tell, and I personally am having trouble believing it. For one thing, he claimed that the Dead don't exist for him. Oh, he has seen them, seen them kill and devour all of his friends. But, when he threw himself at them expecting to become dessert they left him alone. Nine cups of tea were poured, on time, the very moment that Archer and The Mech-Techs walked on in.

  “All I can say is that I walk in a different world to you mob,” Elder said by way of explanation. “That's why I could find the tea and you couldn't. That's why that town was free from the Dead after I asked their spirits to leave the town alone. That's why the Cold don't bother me. Hell, the Cold doesn't exist where I am either.” He cackled, drank some of his tea, then continued. “I really just wanted to talk to you fellas, get a feel of who you are. Now I know.”

  Viking told him that there was plenty of room in The Bitch, if he wanted to come along to Adelaide with us, though from the expression on his face the thought of travelling with an old, blind, crazy person was not one he relished. Elder declined the offer, however. “I'll catch up with you fellas some time in the future, I'm sure of that. Nah, you just leave me here and keep on doing what you're doing. You've got a chance, you mob do. Not much of one, true enough, but better than most.” With that moment of relative lucidity over, he simply began cackling once more.

  We glanced at one another, Viking motioning that The Bitch was more than ready to leave now, the only question was what to do with Elder. Through his cackling madness occasionally the words “leave me” could be deciphered, and so we did. There wasn't much else we could do.

  evening

  The Bitch was true to her name. Were it not for the fact that the seating was relatively well padded we might have been vibrated to Death and back again by nightfall. The fact that the fuel tank was inside was irrelevant at this point in time, but the fumes would make you dizzy if you got too close. Apocalypse Girl and I stayed all the way at the back of The Bitch, with a nearby window open so that at least we would be able to breathe.

  Judging from the way the land fell away behind us we were making reasonable time, better than we would have done on foot at the very least. Not remotely as fast as we should have been travelling, but nobody could have foreseen Sister crashing The Nightmare into a de-railed train. Anyway, provided the line was clear, we would be passing near the area the old prison and commune were around noon tomorrow. Archer was betting on being able to recognise enough of the local landmarks, even covered by snow and in perpetual gloom.

  Sister came back to sit with us for a little while, thinking that she would apologise for losing our transport, but I just laughed. She still had a lot to learn about the way of the world, even as it is now. Shit still happened, whenever and wherever it pleased. The world ending certainly had not changed that one. She just needed to know that nobody blamed her, that is all.

  April 24 Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  The relatively slow rate of travel of The Bitch was still more than enough to get us into what passed for familiar territory, in as much as I was used to seeing this scenery, just a little better lit, with fewer Dead and not so much snow. In other words, this was almost totally alien territory to me now, even though I had lived in these parts pretty much my whole life.

  We chugged along, going up hills were particularly painful, but going down the other side with not a lot of thought given to how the fuck we were meant to stop this bloody thing almost made The Bitch a rollercoaster of death, only with comfortable seating. Fortunately for the eight of us nothing lay on or across the tracks and we were unimpeded on our rapid descent from the hills surrounding the city of Adelaide.

  Unfortunately for the eight of us, however, once The Bitch began to slow upon our return to vaguely flat ground she hit something. When I regained consciousness there were several Dead surrounding the exterior of The Bitch, but nothing had managed to get inside. Apocalypse Girl had been relatively unscathed by this derailment, Sister on the other hand had a nasty gash down her left temple. Guide was just finishing up with cleaning her wound, asking for Apocalypse Girl to help him sew her up. Sister's face was as still as granite when the two of them sewed her up, though her eyes were telling me that it hurt a great deal.

  The whole car had taken on a surreal aspect, now lying on its side. Luckily there hadn't been a lot of fuel left in the tank, or I might have awoken to a firestorm. As it was, there was no way we were likely to be able to salvage anything from this wreck. Viking and Valkyrie were helping a groggy Cyclops to his feet, Archer was nowhere to be seen. I asked about him, Apocalypse Girl telling me that he had gone off to do a spot of scouting. I nodded as much as my throbbing skull would allow, then the man himself slid open a side door, now in the ceiling, and dropped down lightly. His wounded arm seemed not to bother him much now. He grinned with glee.

  noon

  We found ourselves having been prevented from any further travel by a wall that had been blown outwards from a military barracks that had clearly seen better days. There were no people around, neither were there a large amount of Dead. The dozen or so that had come out to investigate the sounds of The Bitch's crash weren't any issue at all, they lay dead behind us as we picked our way through the barracks.

  The armoury was largely bare, having been looted in the early days, but we were able to find some spare ammunition for our weapons. What had Archer grinning like an idiot, on the other hand, was not the several large unopened plastic barrels of fresh water, nor the water delivery truck that held them. No, he was happier about the army supply truck that it had crashed into. At the very least it had a radio, with which Archer contacted The School and The Colonel's mobile command centre while The Mech-Techs looked under the bonnet.

  It turned out that The Disciple had been true to his word. Several thousand 'friends' of his had descended on Melbourne in the last couple of days. However, they had stayed well away from our allies, at his word, and seemed more intent on setting up trading locations than anything else at the moment. Apparently these people were not in the least bit happy with The Disciple's methods, and in fact The Principal had received a formal letter of apolo
gy from the leadership of this mysterious group from the north, stating that they hoped that there could at the very least be mutual trade between the two groups.

  Some of The Colonel's scouts had reported seeing Meat-beasts fixed to certain locations out in the field. Interestingly enough, they seemed only to appear where there were people, and those people had been starving, sometimes near the point of death. Every Meat-beast that had been discovered was being harvested by somebody, and they were all more than thankful for the free meat. The Colonel had ordered tests run on the first one that they had encountered, beginning with running a geiger counter over it. Despite the obvious mutation it had hardly registered above normal background radiation.

  Viking and Cyclops were easily able to get the truck moving, and we were on our way, heading northwards to begin with. Archer was driving and would be more than capable of locating whatever remained of the commune, since he had lived there at least part time.

  evening

  We made bloody good time, but then the roads had been cleared. When Apocalypse Girl and I had fled the city, there had been abandoned cars littering the roads, now there were none. Some vehicles were parked on the sides of roads, some of these had clearly been used recently. We came to a road leading to the east, Apocalypse Girl making a point of saying that she was pretty sure we had come this way.