by Jake Bible
“I’ll bet he was,” Masters said.
“He was wrong because he did not follow the rules as set by the Great Maker,” One Arm said. “He damned us both. But most were not damned. Most became better.”
“Hold on,” Harlow interrupted. “That’s years before the first dead mech attacked any city/state.”
“Exactly,” Jethro said. “That’s the problem.” He thought his next words over carefully. “One Arm, you said you needed to tend to the children. Are the children alive?”
“Some are more alive than others,” One Arm replied.
“Did anyone else just hear the ‘became better’ part? No, sir,” Masters said as he shook his head. “Don’t like the sound of that. I’d really like to get down now.”
“If I’m stuck in here then you’re stuck with me,” Bisby said. “Get comfortable, Masters.”
The mech pilots all looked at the valley floor and Bisby knew exactly what was coming. He’d been there before.
“There is a lot of empty space below the valley floor,” Stomper stated. “It is a cavern of immense proportions.”
“Home,” One Arm said as he walked to a large crevice. “Time to tend to the children.”
“Oh, crap…,” Masters whispered as One Arm dropped into the crevice.
“Mitch!” Harlow shouted as Stomper approached the edge. “Bisby! Hey!”
“I’ve lost com,” Jethro said. “Whatever is down there is blocking communications.”
“I could punch through the surface,” Stomper said. “But I would more than likely injure Pilot Bisby and Pilot Masters.”
Harlow took a deep breath and then unstrapped herself. “I’m going in.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Jethro said. “If the info I have is right it is a nightmare down there.”
“Like how?” Harlow asked as she checked a shotgun to make sure it was fully loaded and then strapped her two long blades to her back. “Give me some details, Jethro.”
“Dead mechs didn’t happen because of a glitch,” Jethro said. “They happened because of a religion.”
“Like the Ranchers?” Harlow asked. “Worshipping zombies?”
“No, worse.”
“Worse? How the fuck could it be worse?”
“A group of mech pilots went missing years before the first deader arrived to crush and kill,” Jethro explained. “They went rogue and it was covered up.”
“Not surprising,” Harlow said as Stomper lowered her to the ground.
“What is surprising is that there were sightings of the mechs for years, but no one could ever get close enough to make contact,” Jethro continued. “My guess is because they were hidden down away from sensors.”
“Right where I’m looking?” Harlow asked as she peered over the edge of the crevice. Faint noises could be heard below, but she couldn’t make out what they were. “I can’t see anything, Jethro. I saw them drop in, but there’s nothing now.”
“Don’t go in,” Jethro pleaded. “Let me get back up to you.”
“That could be too late,” Harlow said as she studied the crevice, looking for a way down. “That all the story, Jethro?”
“No,” Jethro said. “The main mech pilot that was in charge of the squad was a Colonel Howard Maker.”
“The Great Maker?” Harlow laughed. “You have to be shitting me. Deaders are worshipping a mech pilot?”
“They’re worshipping a mech and its pilot,” Jethro said. “The info is vague, but I think this colonel may have achieved something like what I’m dealing with.”
“Oh, and what’s that?” Harlow asked as she saw her route and hooked a leg over the edge of the crevice.
“Immortality,” Jethro replied. “But he isn’t stuck inside a mainframe. He’s become one with a mech.”
Harlow didn’t respond.
“Harlow?” Jethro said. “Oh, fuck.”
Nine
“You’ll be in constant contact with Norton through the entire mission,” LaFrance said as he stood in the massive, dank tunnel next to a gleaming mech. “That will help, but once you get through the tunnels and into the wasteland you will be on your own. I can’t send anyone after you. Norton’s voice will be it.”
“I understand, Commander,” Shiner replied. “But you need not worry about me, I am from the wasteland. I was the first dead mech…in a way.”
“As a mech designed for wasteland combat,” Norton said over the com. “Not in BC form. This tech is new to all of us, so keep an eye on your systems at all times. The wasteland environment is harsher than anything we have tested you in. The second your mech starts to show any signs of failure you need to bail. If your mech shuts down you could be fused in there.”
“It would not be the first time my consciousness was trapped in a mech,” Shiner said as he started to walk forward. “I will be fine. There is no need to worry.”
“How do you think Capreze will react to you returning?” LaFrance asked. “You aren’t his favorite AI.”
“I believe he will put the survival of his people before our differences,” Shiner said. “He is an honorable man.”
“That’s what I’ve heard,” LaFrance nodded. “Good luck, Shiner.”
“You as well, Commander,” Shiner said as he switched on his halogens to illuminate the underground tunnel. “I will keep you informed.”
“Just Norton,” LaFrance said. “Only Norton. Anyone else from up here gets on your com you ignore them. My gut tells me we Canadians are in for our own shake up right quick.”
“Great,” Norton muttered.
“Not to be spoken about, Norton,” LaFrance scolded. “Nothing I’ve said here or what Shiner reports to you. All that matters is helping get that shield down.”
“I will do my part,” Shiner said. “You can count on that, Commander.”
“I know I can.”
***
“Okay, so we have about six preset modes your mech can change into,” Norton said over the com as Shiner walked his way deeper into the tunnel that was a good quarter mile below the surface. “Last recon showed the tunnel had some structural issues in zones four and eight. You may need to shift your mech to fit through those places.”
“Thank you for the information,” Shiner replied. “I am confident everything will be fine.”
“I’m telling you this because once you hit the locks the com will go dead,” Norton said. “We won’t reconnect until you are on the wasteland side. And even then it can be spotty. Knobel has com relays throughout the wasteland, but we haven’t had a deep mission in a good while to test them.”
“Except to retrieve my CPU,” Shiner said. “When Capreze took the UDC Stronghold.”
“No, even then we were com dark,” Norton replied. “We couldn’t risk being detected. Not with all that tech being activated.”
“I understand,” Shiner said. “I am used to keeping my own company, so do not worry about me if we lose contact.”
With complete integration with his mech Shiner didn’t need to check systems, hewas systems. But even with full integration, even with the ability to see/hear/feel what was in the tunnel on many different spectrums, Shiner was not at ease.
He was an AI and he knew that, but he had what the humans constantly referred to as a “bad feeling.”
“You doing alright?” Norton asked. “I’m seeing an energy spike and some system fluctuations. If I didn’t know better I’d think you’re nervous.”
“Cautious,” Shiner replied. He upped the power on his halogens and broadened the range, filling the tunnel with light.
“What’s up?” Norton asked. “I’m connected to your vids and I don’t see anything.”
“Who knows about this mission?” Shiner asked.
“No one other than you, OC, and me,” Norton replied. “Certainly didn’t want it getting out.”
Shiner walked another few yards then stopped. He powered up his weapons and waited as his mech’s arms morphed from smooth biochrome to heavy caliber guns. His
shoulders expanded and RPGs were loaded and ready.
“That’s a lot of firepower,” Norton said. “Are you sure you need it? Only two ways into the tunnel system and you just went through one. The other side is closed securely until you get there.”
“I don’t believe in taking chances,” Shiner said as he started walking again. He picked up his pace, trying to cover as much ground as possible.
He seemed to feel them before his sensors picked them up, telling him he was dealing with stealth tech. The tunnel erupted with gunfire and explosions and Shiner went to work.
***
Norton nearly ripped his com from his head as the assault rifles barked in his ear.
“Shit!” he shouted as he scanned the chaos that Shiner’s vids were feeding him. “Fucking idiots! Too early!”
Claxons blared throughout the outpost and Norton began checking all of his vid screens, trying to get a handle on what was going down.
“What the hell?” Morris shouted as he ran into the room, busy slapping a magazine into his AR-3850 assault rifle. He slung the rifle then pulled one 9mm pistol from his belt, checked the magazine, and did the same to the second on his belt before handing it to Norton.
“What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?” Norton asked, looking at the pistol like it was a deader ready to bite his hand off. “I don’t do guns.”
“You do now!” Knobel yelled as he pushed past Morris and checked the screens. “We are bugging out!”
“What?! Why?!” Norton asked, his head swimming from the vid screens in front of him that showed nothing but bright flashes and personnel scrambling about the outpost.
“We are under attack! Aren’t you seeing this?” Knobel said. “I don’t know who it is, but all personnel need to evacuate. We’re hitting the tunnel and heading south.”
“Fuck that!” Morris said. “I didn’t sign up to go walking around in that nuclear cesspool down there.”
“No choice!” Knobel said as he brought up a view of the exterior of the outpost. Hundreds of white clad troops were rushing the outpost, their rifles barking fire in the falling snow. “They aren’t taking prisoners!”
***
The dogs howled into the wind and Campbell had to shout at them several times to get them to quiet down. She was only able to save four of them before the attackers cut down the rest of the pack. But four was enough to pull the grav-sled she was busy steering around the outpost to a back hatch that led down to a bunker very few personnel knew existed.
She keyed in the code and a small door slid open, letting the drifted snow that was piled against it fall inside.
“Hold,” she commanded and the dogs stopped immediately. She undid their harnesses and pointed inside. All four sprinted into the darkness and Campbell quickly followed after.
***
“It’s what I feared!” LaFrance shouted into his com as he struggled into his thermal suit. “Control has sided with the Three!”
“Jesus…,” Blue Masterson responded over the com, stunned. “Can you get your people out?”
“They are already evacing, but I don’t think we stand a chance,” LaFrance replied. “Control’s troops are cutting everyone down.”
“Well keep fighting!” Blue yelled. “Don’t give-!”
The com went dead and then the power to the outpost followed.
“Fuck,” LaFrance whispered as he shouldered his rifle and slowly worked the manual crank that opened the sliding door from his quarters. “Fuck fuck fuck.”
LaFrance knew that when the emergency lights didn’t activate something beyond an attack was happening. A debate raged in his head: gather personnel and try to make a stand or assume it was an inside job and bug out ASAP. He was the commander of the outpost and was sworn by duty and honor to protect it at any cost.
Then the screams started as Control’s forces breached the outpost. Relentless gunfire directly ahead of him made the decision for LaFrance.
***
Shiner felt the worm try to penetrate his consciousness. It was hidden in the mech’s operations code and had been waiting for the signal to attack. He knew he couldn’t handle both the worm and the troops that were firing on him, so he uncoupled and leapt from the mech, severing the connection that would have allowed the worm to overtake his AI.
His BC body took hit after hit as all fire concentrated on him and he stumbled as he fell to the ground.
But unlike the metal he had been born into in the wasteland, the biochrome was malleable, responsive to his commands. His new body, his new being, reacted without separation and he formed his arms into long, sharp blades.
He came at the troops with a rage he didn’t know he held.
And they all fell.
***
Norton followed behind Morris and Knobel, the 9mm gripped firmly in his hand.
“Where are we going?” he whispered as they turned a corner at a crouch, waited, and then proceeded quickly to a door up ahead on the left. “Are we rendezvousing with your team, Knobel?”
“I have no idea where any of my people are,” Knobel replied. “We are getting to a sub-hatch that will take us down and out of here. The tunnel will be accessible from there.”
“So it’s just us three from here on out?” Norton asked.
“Yeah, dumbass!” Morris snapped. “Pay attention.”
“Oh, I am,” Norton said as he stood up and pointed the 9mm at the back of Morris’s head. He pulled the trigger. He then took aim at Knobel and fired again. “Maybe you two should’ve taken that advice.”
Norton activated his com as he looked down at the corpses and their splattered brains that covered the floor. “Norton reporting in,” he said over his com. “Knobel and Morris are neutralized.”
“We have 90% of the outpost secured,” a voice responded. “Still no confirmed kill on LaFrance or Campbell.”
“But the tunnel is secured, right?” Norton asked. “The worm should have activated by now and the Shiner bioborg incapacitated.” There was silence on the other end. “I repeat- the worm should have-.”
“We have lost contact with the forces in the tunnel,” the voice said. “Cannot confirm anything at this time.”
“Motherfucker,” Norton cursed as he turned and stalked to his control room. “All they had to do was take down one fucking BC mech. Is that so fucking hard?”
Ten
The trail wasn’t subtle. Blood and ATV tracks led off into the wasteland in plain view. Jenny worried about the amount of blood she was seeing and hoped the Rookie hadn’t been mortally wounded.
When she came across the first body she couldn’t help but smile. Whoever had been trailing them and then attacked, taking the Rookie with, hadn’t been prepared for who they were grabbing. The man’s face was crushed and he was missing an ear. Teeth marks were clearly visible.
“Ok, so where the fuck are you?” Jenny asked herself as she pushed scanners to full. “Why can’t I pick you fuckers up?”
She looked at her vid screen and the body at her mech’s feet. The man’s face was completely covered in primitive tattoos. Swirls and symbols nearly made his skin black/blue. She was born and raised in the wasteland and even though she grew up a Railer, on a Railer train, she’d thought she knew every tribe, cult, sect, and gang around.
She didn’t recognize the tattoos and that worried her more than the Rookie missing. Jenny continued to follow the tracks even though she had no idea what she was walking into.
***
As the sun began to set, the Rookie wished he could shield his face from the oppressive glare that was needling straight into his brain. He tried closing his eyes, but the blows to his head he’d taken made him dizzy and he was afraid he’d tumble from the ATV and be run over by the ones behind him, as he had been warned would happen. His hands were bound tightly behind his back and he gripped the ATV with his legs, hoping they didn’t hit a bump that would send him tumbling off the vehicle and to his death.
“He knew you’d be
there,” the ATV driver said, his black-toothed grin making the Rookie feel more nauseous than he already was. “He ain’t stupid, no, no, no.”
The driver’s pants, since he didn’t wear a shirt over his grungy torso, were cobbled together from everything including, but not limited to, synth-burlap, thin pieces of metal, rope woven together, and tanned, human skin.
The Rookie didn’t need to ask who the driver was talking about; he had a very good idea.
“He ain’t gonna like hows you killed Stemp back there,” the driver continued. “That’s gonna make him mad.” The driver looked over at the Rookie and his face was torn by his huge grin. “He’s fun when he’s mad. Makes the slits do dances and shit. Then we’s get to fuck.”
“Sounds great,” the Rookie said through swollen lips. He could feel the blood on his face flake off. The blood was still flowing from the wounds in his legs and arms where he’d been hooked and yanked from the train. He knew he wasn’t going to get a chance to tend to the wounds. Not with what was in store for him.
“He still eat his meals alive?” the Rookie asked.
“Don’t everybody?” the driver asked. “Ain’t no fun less they scream and beg.”
“Fucking shit,” the Rookie mumbled.
He had grown up in a cannibalistic hell with a father that ruled his village like it was his personal feeding trough and brothel, handing out punishment on a whim and making sure everyone knew that living was not a right, but a privilege to be taken away at any psychotic moment.
The man that lay ahead of the Rookie, waiting to embrace him in his own psychotic arms, was a million times worse.
***
A rusted metal wall loomed ahead as the gang of ATVs sped across the wasteland. No cover, no hills, no mesas or plateaus gave the structure any shade or cover. The massive wall, several stories high, was as much a patchwork of materials as everything else with the Rookie’s captors.