Metal and Ash (Apex Trilogy)

by Jake Bible

“No,” the Mayor said bluntly. “You can’t.”

  The Rookie reached down and pulled on the latch welded to the door. “So unlock this bitch and let me see what’s down there.”

  “You looking to get married?” the Mayor asked.

  “No, not at all,” the Rookie said. “I already have a girl.”

  “Yes, the one in the mech that followed you,” the Mayor said. “Too bad about her.”

  The Rookie whirled on the Mayor and grabbed the man’s shirt, pulling his face close. “What the fuck did you just say?”

  “Just that it’s too bad about your Railer girl,” the Mayor said. “We found the mech and it wasn’t in the best of shape. No sign of your pretty young thing.”

  “What do you mean by no sign?”

  “Well, you know the wasteland,” the Mayor smiled. “People just get lost all the damn time.”

  “Where is she?” the Rookie snarled as he shook the Mayor. “If you’ve hurt her I’ll rip you busy dick off and feed it to a deader down there.”

  The sounds of carbine slides being pulled back made the Rookie look about. Perched on top of buildings and houses were several heavily armed men, their weapons aimed right at the Rookie.

  “We’re too close together,” the Rookie said. “They fire and they’ll probably hit you.”

  “Probably,” the Mayor said and the Rookie barely noticed the nod. A shot rang out and the Rookie looked down at a divot in the ground between his feet. The Mayor smiled. “But probably not. You just don’t pay attention.” The Mayor carefully removed the Rookie’s hands from his shirt. “So full of fight and violence that you lose sight of what’s been said.”

  The Mayor stepped back and turned in a circle. He raised his hands then lowered them quickly. Shots echoed through Eden and the Rookie closed his eyes, his body locked in place, waiting for the round that would blow his brains out.

  When silence followed the Rookie carefully opened his eyes to a smiling Mayor. The man pointed down and the Rookie gasped. Spelled out in the dirt at his feet were the words, “Pay Attention, Asshole.”

  Even the comma was there.

  “You never asked what the boys learn while the girls are in the arena,” the Mayor stated. “Well I think those words should give you an idea.”

  “I’m guessing you all are good with guns,” the Rookie replied. “Noted.”

  “I hope so,” the Mayor said. “You wouldn’t want to forget that. Especially since you got running in your eyes. How far do you think we’d let you get before the kill shot ripped your skull open?”

  “I guess that depends on how bored you are,” the Rookie said.

  “I guess so.”

  ***

  Jenny waited until she knew the last sound she’d heard had been several minutes before. She slowly, carefully unlatched the cargo hatch and pushed it open, so aware that if she let it fall the clang would be heard for a long way.

  She peeked into the dark area and let out a breath she’d been holding for who knew how long. She slipped from the cargo bay and closed the hatch silently.

  “You must think we’re the dumbest folk in the wasteland,” a man’s voice said before the space was lit up by halogens. “What? You honestly thought we’d just drag this mech in here and not look in the cargo bay? Scanners showed you all nice and cozy from the get go, girl.”

  “Where’s the Rookie?” Jenny asked, sizing up the crew around here. Four men, each with a carbine pointed at her and a pistol on their hips. “You fucking take me to him right now.”

  “Slit thinks she gives orders,” the man laughed. “Slit really ain’t so bright.”

  “We really gonna throw her in there, Dizzy?” a second man asked.

  Dizzy, the first man nodded. “That’s what the Mayor said. The Rookie wants to find out about the Maze. Only way a man can do that is fight for a wife.”

  “Hoowee!” the second man shouted. “Looks like you’re gonna get married! I love a wedding!”

  “Shut up, Liggle,” Dizzy said. “I doubt there’ll be a wedding. This slit will be dead before the Rookie gets past the first Corner.”

  Jenny readied herself for the fight. She didn’t expect the hood whipped over her head and her legs knocked out from under her. Whoever had snuck up behind her was unbelievably quiet.

  “Pick her up and take her to the Nurses,” Dizzy said. “She’ll need to be prepped for the Maze.”

  Twenty

  “Have a sip,” Campbell said as she propped LaFrance’s head up on her lap. “You have to drink.”

  The man’s eyelids fluttered a bit and then he forced them open with only the strength of his will. “Out...post...?”

  “Don’t know,” Campbell said as she slowly tipped her canteen into LaFrance’s mouth. “Just a sip.”

  “Where...?” he started to ask, but a coughing fit, then severe pain shut him up quickly.

  “Broken ribs,” she informed him. “May have nicked a lung. Nasty concussion. Burnt to shit. Luckily all bullets went into the fucks that tried to take you.” His eyes searched hers then around their surroundings. “Where are we? A cave. A fucking cave. In the wasteland.”

  “How...?” LaFrance asked.

  “Shiner,” Campbell said. “He came back, found me with you in the sled, and got us down here.”

  “Found...?”

  “How about you just let me tell you the story,” Campbell smiled. “Save your strength.”

  LaFrance nodded.

  “I got four dogs into bunker 84A,” Campbell stated. “Yes, I know about bunker 84A. I’m the,was the, outpost engineer.” She gave LaFrance another sip. “I was able to monitor what was happening from the control station in there. Luckily it wasn’t hooked into the main system or Norton would have found me.”

  LaFrance’s eyes widened and Campbell put a finger to his lips.

  “Listen, okay? Yes, it was fucking Norton. He’s with Control. Fighting had pretty much stopped when you came screaming from the outpost, guns fucking blazing, running like a madman into the snow,” Campbell grinned. “Damn, it was fucking glorious! You must have taken quite a few out because you were able to get to a snow runner and were probably 100 meters away before they shot you off it. Fucking RPGs. I waited until it was clear, loaded up the sled with all the provisions I could get from the bunker, busted ass to you and then got you into the tunnel.”

  “Where I rescued your butts,” Shiner said as he walked into the cave. The bright chrome of his BC body was muted with yellows, grays, oranges and deep reds; the colors of the wasteland. “I butchered many men. They were fools to fight me.”

  “Yeah, glad you’re on our side,” Campbell said and LaFrance heard the deep honesty in her voice. She had been a hard-assed engineer, but even in his weakened state he could see she was struggling to keep it together. Campbell saw him watching her and glared. “I was doing fine until I had to save your ass.”

  “Thanks…,” he whispered. “What…now…?”

  “We wait,” Shiner said. “We are secure in this cave for now. I have scouted the entire area and we weren’t followed.”

  “Shiner’s come up with his own camo tech,” Campbell said. “You’d have no idea he was there even if you sat right on him.”

  “The biochrome is alive,” Shiner stated. “It wants to stay alive so it revealed all of its secrets to me.”

  Campbell and LaFrance’s eyes met, puzzled.

  “You said that earlier,” Campbell said. “Yeah, BC is organic metal and all, but it can’t think.”

  “I did not say it could think,” Shiner said. “I said it was alive. Like a fungus or other simple organism.”

  “It’s not alive, Shiner,” Campbell said. “Trust me, I’ve been working with BC my whole life. My mom was an engineer and her dad was an engineer.”

  “Then you should know better,” Shiner insisted flatly. “It is alive.”

  LaFrance coughed roughly and took a slow, deep breath, even though his ribs protested greatly. “Trust the bioborg,” he
said to Campbell. “He says…it’s alive…then it’s alive.”

  Campbell thought for a moment then nodded. “Alright. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised by anything now.”

  A couple sharp barks made Shiner spin about. “We have company,” he said, pointing back towards Campbell and LaFrance. “Try to get deeper into the cave. I will investigate.”

  “Watch the dogs,” Campbell said. “Keep them tight.”

  “They will stay by me,” Shiner replied. “The dogs like me.”

  ***

  Pitch black with one white paw and a white tip to his bushy tail, Coal stood at the ready, his teeth bared, faced away from the cave mouth, his hackles up. Next to him stood Lesh, a thick-furred blonde, her hackles up also.

  Behind the alpha male and alpha female stood Brand and Kook, shorter haired, brindle coated, and just as pissed.

  All four dogs were of the Spitz family, just as there ancestors were. Huskies, malamutes, shepherds, Samoyed, chows, all descended straight from the wolf. The dogs were trained to pull a grav-sled; but they were born to rip shit apart at a moment’s notice.

  “Calm,” Shiner said. “Sit.”

  They obeyed, their muscles twitching with violence, waiting for the next command. The direction they faced told Shiner where to look, but he didn’t really need their help as he saw the dust plumes from below the ridge the cave was in. He scanned the disturbance and counted six people, two women and four men, all armed, all looking up at him and the dogs.

  Rifles were raised and Shiner took a step back. “Inside,” he ordered and the dogs reluctantly retreated into the cave. He waited until they were gone then shifted his BC further until he matched the surrounding rock face perfectly. He saw two rifles lowered, puzzled looks on the shooters’ faces.

  The group conversed briefly, one of them pointing to the barely perceptible trail that lead up to the cave. Shiner would have frowned if his face wasn’t smooth. He did not fear the group –six humans against a BC enhanced AI was not a fair fight- but he feared where they came from and how many more humans there might have been. They needed safety and security until LaFrance could be moved. A pack of wasteland survivors was not convenient for their survival.

  “Hey!” a man shouted. “You come down now! Bring that meat with ya and we won’t blow your fucking heads off!”

  The group waited for an answer and when none came one of the rifles barked and a shot ricocheted off the ridge to Shiner’s left.

  The bioborg grunted and took three steps forward, taking him right off the edge.

  ***

  The man was about to shout again when Shiner landed directly in front of him, punching a foot deep divot into the earth. The bioborg didn’t even flinch as the men and women opened fire on him. Their bullets were deflected easily and he just waited until each rifle clicked empty.

  “You are finished,” he stated. “Please place the rifles on the ground and put your hands behind your heads. Then kneel down and do not move.”

  “What the fuck is it?” one of the men asked.

  “Dead,” a woman said as she threw her rifle at it and pulled a sixteen inch blade from her waistband.

  “As I was saying to my friends,” Shiner began as he watched the woman lunge at him. “I have recently discovered that by default I am alive.”

  Her head tumbled from her shoulders and bounced towards the others. None of them even saw Shiner move.

  “That was a harsh reaction, I know,” Shiner said. “But I needed you to pay attention.”

  “You’re going to die for that,” a man snarled as he came at Shiner.

  “Well, perhaps one day,” Shiner said as he ripped the man in half, sending his torso flying one way and his waist and legs another. “But that is purely academic as I am an original being.”

  The four that remained stood stock still. The smell of fresh piss and shit filled the air.

  “I can tell by your releasing of bodily fluids that I now have your attention,” Shiner said. “So let me ask some questions.”

  “You gonna kill us?” the remaining woman asked.

  “That will depend on your behavior,” Shiner said. “I would prefer not to, but then I also must realize that if I do not kill you I could be creating a situation where you alert others and then come back to destroy me. So my first question: how many of you are there?”

  “’Bout thirty,” one of the men, a tall bald man with small, black eyes, answered quickly. The others hissed at him. “What? Fucker’s gonna kill us if we don’t answer.”

  “And I know some of you may be thinking of lying,” Shiner said. “Do not. I can tell by your heart beats and rate of respiration whether you tell me the truth. Also by more subtle signs such as pupil dilation, nervous ticks, direction your eyes shift.”

  The humans shook before the bioborg. He studied them closely before asking his next question.

  “How far away are the others?”

  “Just a couple miles,” the woman said. “Back that way, down the dried creek bed.”

  “Now he’s gonna kill everyone,” a second man said, his face nothing but a massive, bushy red beard. “Kill us all.”

  “Two miles?” Shiner asked.

  “Yeah,” the woman nodded. “Are you really going to kill everyone?”

  “I have not decided,” Shiner answered honestly. “Take me there and do not fight me and your chances will improve.”

  “Jeezus,” Red Beard muttered.

  ***

  The blood had crusted and dried across Shiner’s smooth body before he was halfway back to the cave. Even with the capabilities of his AI mind he had spent the entire walk reliving the events over and over and over again.

  The red bearded man had introduced Shiner to the leader of the small group of survivors. Instantly the leader became interested in what Shiner was, where he came from, what he was made out of, and most telling of all, how valuable he might be.

  Shiner didn’t understand what the man had meant and had listed his skills for survival, protection, surveillance, all needed and valuable skills in the wasteland. The man had laughed at him and slapped him on the BC shoulder.

  “No, no, man,” the leader has said. “You ain’t understandin’ me. How much are you worth for sale or trade? You know, if we was to melt you down for scrap. Whatcha made from so I knows that?”

  Shiner felt the entire village encroach on him and his sensors showed an increase in endorphin levels and pheromones amongst the survivors. Violence was literally in the air.

  “I am made from a substance called biochrome,” Shiner had answered honestly since he had no reason to lie. “It is how most of the rest of the world is built. An organic metal alloy.”

  “Organic metal?” the leader asked as he tapped Shiner on the chest. “Like you’re alive? Not just some robot programmed to do tricks and shit?”

  The survivors had laughed. The joke was lost on Shiner.

  “It is funny,” Shiner said, laughing lightly to join in with the others. “I was discussing this with my companions and they do not believe I am alive whereas I do. What would your assessment be?”

  “My assessment?” the leader laughed harder. “My assessment? Hmmm, let me see.” Then he pulled his shotgun and placed it to Shiner’s head. The trigger was pulled and Shiner’s smooth face became a wide hole. “My assessment is that I could get something real nice for a hunk of metal like you.”

  Shiner had really wished the man hadn’t done that. He thought about the faces of the villagers, how they were covered in sores, crusted with dirt, showing definite signs of malnutrition, disease, slow death. He had felt sorry for them. That was true. He felt it.

  So when his head had self-repaired in a split second he did not attack. He remained calm, knowing that the leader had done what he had to to help his people survive.

  “I am not scrap,” Shiner had said. “So you will not be able to get a real nice hunk for me.”

  They grabbed him. His head was a giant hole one second and then
perfectly fine the next and the people still thought grabbing him would be a good idea.

  “I don’t know what you are,” the leader had spat. “But you killed two of mine and that can’t be forgotten.”

  “I regret that,” Shiner said. “But they attacked me. It was self-defense.”

  Shiner felt bad about that lie. He could easily have subdued them without killing them, but he did not have the patience to wait for their cooperation. He felt he’d needed to make a statement to move things along.

  “I am becoming more dangerous,” he said to himself as he continued to walk and revisit what had happened. “I am becoming more human.”

  That troubled him deeply. But not quite as much as what he’d done.

  “You keep talking,” the leader had said. “But you ain’t getting’ it, man. You’re already dead.”

  Shiner had needed to make another example. He hadn’t had time to mess with the man and come to an understanding. The microfilament shot from Shiner’s face, pierced the leader’s right eye then spread into a thousand smaller microfilaments and turned the man’s brain into jelly.

  It happened in less than a blink. The group that held Shiner didn’t notice a thing until the leader collapsed onto the ground, blood pouring from his eye socket, his ears, his nose. There was no stunned silence, just instant violence. The group switched from restraint to destruction and had started to beat and hack at Shiner.

  Anyone that was within two feet of Shiner was pierced through again and again as the bioborg shot microfilaments by the thousands from its BC skin. Screams were cut short as skulls were pierced. But many screams lingered as vital organs were punctured, leaving the victims to a slow, agonizing death. Although, as Shiner had though about it, a faster death than the slow one most were experiencing from their pitiful existence.

  That was all well and good, Shiner thought as he looked ahead and saw the ridge where Campbell and LaFrance were holed up in a fairly secure cave. But his next thought he didn’t have an answer for. Because the more he thought about it he couldn’t figure out why he’d turned and slaughtered the rest of the survivors. No more had tried to attack him. Instead, most had fled, realizing that their leader had gone too far and they were on there own.