Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 6): June Read online

  As Scout ducked away, past the Dragon's enormous head, she dropped into a low slide, picking up her shotgun once more as she ran past me, tapping me on my shoulder as if to tag me in as I drew my katana. The gigantic reptilian head snaked past Apocalypse Girl and I, still intent on devouring a tasty Scout for breakfast. The gonging sound resulting from Apocalypse Girl's mighty wallop rang out clearly in the late morning air and it turned towards her.

  I drove my blade deep into the Dragon's flank, adding to the damage that Machete had caused. An instant later, Disciple's blade joined mine inside the flesh of the beast. It roared in agony and twisted again, only causing more damage as Machete leaped onto the creature's back, stabbing down with her blade, deep into the things spine. Its legs collapsed, though the head snapped back and forth. As the Dragon burped out fireballs, we gathered around behind it. I climbed up onto its back and severed its head with a well aimed swipe of my katana.

  “Be advised:” came the belated call from The Colonel as we were cleaning off our weapons.“We have encountered gigantic mutated fire-breathing goannas. Repeat, there be Dragons here!” No shit.

  noon

  The interior of the Dragon's Lair was bare, apart from several large charred chunks of Meat-beast that it had stored for later. There was no lighting, nor was there any power to the elevator at the back of the building. We decided that we may as well move our equipment from the Land Rover inside and set up at least a temporary camp.

  Disciple suggested that we remove a couple of doors from some of the other buildings and replace the ones that the Dragon had torn off. I gave him Sonny to help him accomplish the task, telling him that it was a good idea. Anything that kept the wind and Cold out was a good idea. As he walked off, I called him back, saying that all of those doors were made of wood. He nodded, saying that they would get them all.

  Meanwhile, Apocalypse Girl and I inspected the elevator doors. Using Scout's crowbar we were able to pry them apart easily enough, but without light we could see no more than a ladder that descended into the abyss. Even with a torch we were able to determine little. Scout offered to go down and check things out for us, Sister wanting to go with her.

  Apocalypse Girl and I, with Machete helping, dragged the room into some semblance of order, setting a fire-pit in the middle and butchering and skinning the Dragon. Meat was meat, after all, and the hide of the thing was incredibly tough. Surely we could find some use for it.

  evening

  By the time the doors had been replaced we had plenty of spare door for firewood and were busily cooking up some Dragon. Funny how it tastes like chicken, though... Scout and Sister had returned, reporting that they found an elevator at the bottom of the shaft, sure enough, and managed to get inside the facility beneath us. Sister said that it had the same sort of feel as The Think Tank had, though it seemed much smaller. There were computer labs, living quarters and food stasis chambers all on the one floor. Plenty of room for up to about fifty people, though. The really good news was that it was all still fully powered up. Only the lift lacked electricity, it seemed.

  As Disciple suspected, they had also found some kind of transport tube on the only other level. That had been powered down, though, but Disciple told us that he should be able to get any systems running again without too much hassle. He might just need an assistant to do all the two-handed jobs, he said, nodding towards Sonny.

  We told The Colonel the location of Dragon's Lair, suggesting that she keep it to herself and that we could use it as a sort of emergency bolt-hole in case things went any more to shit than they already were. She agreed, saying that she would share the location with The Smart Couple and one or two other people.

  Shriek-howling Dingoes prowled the exterior of our little hideaway, making strangely inquisitive noises when they encountered the butchered, skinned remains of the Dragon outside. Then, one of them, larger than the others, kind of coughed a couple of times and the entire pack, seven or so from the individual shriek-howls that we had counted, flew off to the north.

  June 8thYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  I was rudely awoken by the sounds of the elevator moving. Disciple and Sonny had clearly had a bit of a rummage round in one of the other buildings and discovered the generator that powered the lift. When they came back in, looking all proud of themselves, I thanked them. I hadn't been looking forward to climbing down a ladder with my arm in its current state.

  When the elevator doors opened I felt a distinct sense of deja-vu, Sister had been right. It had the exact same feel as The Think Tank. Smaller, much smaller, but I immediately felt comfortable. Apocalypse Girl and I headed off to the computer lab, eager to see what they contained.

  On one wall was what seemed to be a map of the train system. It extended throughout the entire country, even extending under the sea both to New Zealand and New Guinea. One shaft seemed to go in the direction of Japan, another heading directly south from the mainland, towards Antarctica. In the middle of the country was a base designated AR 18, then this one to the east of it. The next station to the north was more or less exactly where Alice Springs was located. Another led from it, to deep within Queensland.

  Turning on one of the monitors, Apocalypse Girl confirmed that our access codes were valid for the entire network, for which we silently thanked The Smart Couple, and she delved their system thoroughly.

  noon

  Sister had Sonny and Machete help her out in the kitchens as she made a lavish roast leg of lamb for us from supplies that she had discovered in the stasis chambers. Eating Chef's food at Coober's Nest had inspired her, she told us as she handed us our plates. I loved every mouthful, I have to say, and I was not the only one.

  Apocalypse Girl told us that she had discovered something using the computers that we should probably all take a good look at, a couple of things, in fact. After lunch, we all crowded in around the computer lab, she brought up what she had found on the main screen.

  She had found a thermal image of Australia that showed thousands of little bright red dots all over the northern half of the continent. Apocalypse Girl suggested that they could each be a goanna that has mutated into a Dragon. Then she brought up a straight satellite image, showing the country in all of its bleak greyness. There was a lot of cloud cover as well, but nowhere near what there had been. “You might have been right,” She said to Sister. “Winter might be over. If so, we know why.” She flicked to another screen. This one showed an external view of the satellite. Next to it was a craft that seemed familiar, somehow. Then it hit me. It was the same design as the crashedSchrandfelthsship where we had encountered Fluffy. Apocalypse Girl panned the camera around, showing several more ships, some of the same design as the first, others vastly different. Behind them all was something massive and dark. I tried to ask what it might be but my mouth was too dry.

  Then, Apocalypse Girl switched to another satellite, turning on the electro-magnetic imaging system. This lit up several locations, several dozen places such as Alice Facility, Dragon's Lair and AR 18 were a bright, steady blue. There were others, on the other hand, that blazed a brilliant white. “No human facility is able to generate that much power. I think we might have just discovered the locations of some of the alien colonists.” One blazed just to the south of the steady blue of the facility we planned to enter The Empire through.

  I suggested that we send those locations to The Colonel, and scout out the one in Queensland when we get the opportunity to do so. Apocalypse Girl agreed, pulling out the radio as Disciple pulled me from the computer lab.

  He told me that although he could get the power running to the train system down below, the train itself was not present, so we would have to walk to the Alice Facility. Since the tunnel was a straight line, however, he reckoned on it taking no more than a day.

  evening

  We found ourselves quarters easily enough, Scout's estimate about this facility being able to sustain about fifty people seemed about right. Since there were only seven o
f us, we had more than enough room to find somewhere comfortable to rest. Disciple's choice was the closest to the stairs down to the train station, so he bade us goodnight by saying “Come and wake me up when you're all ready to go.”

  Machete wanted to stay with Apocalypse Girl and I, but she Apocalypse Girl managed to talk her into the room next door instead. Scout asked Machete if she minded if she crashed with her, as the poor girl seemed on the verge of tears on being told she would have to sleep alone. Strange girl. She can hack apart the Dead, Dingoes and Dragons alike but she's afraid to sleep alone.

  Sister and Sonny occupied neighbouring rooms, though Sonny suggested they share at first. Sister told him not to worry though, she'd come running if he screamed in the middle of the night.

  For the first night in quite a while, we weren't lulled to sleep by the shriek-howling of Dingoes.

  June 9thYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  The morning found us sleeping in late, or at least lazing around in a comfortable bed as long as we dared, until Machete ran in, Scout and Sister following close on her heels. “Come on, wake up!” She demanded of us, pulling on Apocalypse Girl's arm. I managed to convince the trio to wait outside while we got dressed.

  Sonny and Disciple waited in the kitchen, Sonny cooking up some bacon and eggs for everyone. Disciple, who had worked as a junior chef for a while, kept on making observations and criticisms of Sonny's technique, and I got the impression Sonny was just about to clobber my former friend when we entered.

  “About damn time you guys got up,” The hideously scarred villain greeted us with an equally hideous grin. “I suppose I can understand it, though, probably the first bed you've had for a while, yeah?” Apocalypse Girl glared concentrated death at him. “Anyway, we're gonna have to get going after breakfast. We should take along whatever supplies we can from here, too. It'll likely be at least a couple of days travelling along that damn train line on foot.”

  Scout allowed that at least we wouldn't have to be slogging it out through the snow and Cold and Dead, but Disciple shook his head. “Don't assume for a minute that we're ever going to be safe down here. Some Dead could well have found there way down here, easy. Or maybe another one of your Dragons, even.” She paled a little. “But, true enough, it'll be easy going apart from that.”

  noon

  The station below was empty and still. I suppose I was expecting to find normal train tracks, but instead there was a bare metal tunnel, three metres wide, every ten metres a ring of some kind encircling it. We couldn't see anything that might have travelled along it, so Disciple jumped down into the tunnel, beckoning us to follow him.

  Dragon's Lair fell further behind us with each step into the dark. When it became too dark to see comfortably, we brought out the torches, Scout saying that the batteries would not last long if we had to continually use them, so we agreed on a rotation. When Scout's torch's batteries began to die, Apocalypse Girl turned hers on and Scout changed her flat batteries over for fresh. We made good progress, as the tunnel was completely flat other than the regular bump of the ring, which Disciple thought might help power the trains. Machete was torn between complaining about being bored and being grateful that nothing is trying to eat us. Sister told her not to worry too much, it's still early. We might well need to hack something to bits before the day is over. Machete gripped her huge blade in both hands and kept quiet.

  We stopped for a rest shortly after noon, lighting a small fire more for light and comfort than any real need of warmth and ate a meal of Meat-beast jerky. When we were done, I felt eyes upon me from the darkness. Lots of eyes.

  The feeling passed soon enough, but I kept looking out ahead, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever lay before us. Apocalypse Girl noticed, asked about it, so I told her that it was probably nothing much to worry about, but she still kept one hand on her skillet, the other within easy reach of her assault rifle. When we were done with our meal, we moved on ahead, this time with weapons at the ready.

  evening

  Scout had moved on ahead, torch at the ready. It had been several hours since our lunch stop, with no sign of anything at all, but we all felt that same sense of being watched. Her cry from the darkness spurred us onwards, Sister pulling her torch out to supplement Apocalypse Girl's light. As we drew near, Scout shouted to us, telling us to be careful.

  Casting the beams of light around we saw these thin threads all across and over the tunnel, glistening with the same sticky substance that was holding Scout in place in the middle of the tunnel. She had reached out to touch the sticky fiber with one had and gotten caught, she told us, warning us to stay as far from them as we could.

  Apocalypse Girl pulled out one of her many, many lighters and sparked a flame, setting fire to one of the strands. It went up quickly enough, brightly showing hundreds more strands along the tunnel, getting more and more dense until it became a wall barring our way. Several of the strands, however, had huge spiders crawling along them, enormous fucking things, an arachnophobic vision of hell.

  “SHIT! Someone get me out of here, NOW!” Scout cried out, sounding terrified. Machete snatched the lighter out of Apocalypse Girl's hand and lightly jumped over a couple of strands, ducking under several more and set fire to the fiber holding Scout in place just as Sister and Apocalypse Girl opened up on the spiders with their pistols.

  The few nearest Scout burst apart as the bullets hit them, spraying her and Machete with an unpleasant looking goo, and the pair fell back, drawing their weapons. Apocalypse Girl rolled one of our few remaining grenades down the tunnel, under the strands of spiderweb. The explosion deafened us all, but cleared out a good chunk of the web-wall. Hundreds more spiders, babies really, poured out of the breach and swarmed towards us.

  Some of the larger arachnids leaped in the way of the youngsters, trying to eat up as many as they could, but they were swiftly overcome and devoured themselves, by their own would-be meals. Apocalypse Girl threw another grenade, blowing apart huge numbers of spiders, but still hundreds, thousands remained, more babies pouring out from the egg-sac that we had disturbed. Machete ran, ducking past the strands of web crossing the tunnel as she fled.

  The rest of us retreated in more orderly fashion, Disciple calmly shitting himself in quiet terror, Sister loudly wailing in disgust at the size of the spiders crawling after us. Each one of the babies would be the size of a fullgrown huntsman. As the few remaining adults drew closer Scout's torchlight gleamed off of the strip of red along the back of one of the spiders.

  Carefully, methodically, we took out the leading spiders then those that followed them. They were advancing faster than we could shoot them, but our constant retreat coupled with the occasional grenade thrown into the mix kept a more or less steady distance between us. Until, that was, Machete rushed back past us, flame-thrower in hand. She barbecued the spiders nearest us, then moved on, slowly, a continual blast of flame coming from her weapon. As the webbing and egg-sac went up a bright blaze accompanied it, along with the popping of whatever spiders remained within.

  We followed in her wake, crushing or shooting those few spiders the young girl had missed in her ferocious fireladen fury. By the time we reached her, she had dropped the now-empty flamer and was simply watching the remnants of the web burn with a strange expression on her face.

  “Nice work, kid,” Disciple told her. “I fucking hate spiders.”

  “I used to, too. But then Dead people started eating everyone. Spiders aren't so much after your mum has tried to chew your face off.” Machete said in a matter-offact voice. “Even if they are bigger than they should be.” She smiled, and we continued down the tunnel, stopping a few hundred metres away from the charred remains of the monstrous red-back spider colony.

  After dealing with the spiders we felt it would probably be a good idea to keep a double watch while some of us slept. Machete insisted on joining Apocalypse Girl and myself for our first stint. Fortunately, she understood the need for relative quiet, and refraine
d from asking nagging questions, as children sometimes have an irritating habit of doing. I suppose it's something I might have to get used to, anyway.

  June 10thYear 1 A.Z.

  morning

  When we awoke Disciple and Sonny, who had the final watch, had buggered off somewhere. They had not taken any supplies with them, so we assumed that they hadn't gone too terribly far. Sister and Scout went ahead a short way, calling out for them.

  They found them without any incident, it turned out that they had heard noises from further along the tunnel and gone to investigate. What they had found was a single, solitary Dead one, facing away from them, staring off into the darkness. Sonny was still standing over the remains, wiping his cricket bat clean on its clothing by the time Apocalypse Girl, Machete and I arrived on the scene.

  Searching the corpse, though incredibly unpleasant, revealed an access card for the AR 18 base and some identification revealing that this person had once been a general. He had apparently opened his wrists, several months ago from the state of his carcass. I put the access card away in my backpack and we moved on, munching on some jerky as we walked, once we were a good distance away from the stinking corpse.

  noon

  Mostly uneventful, no more Dead on the line, no spiders, no Dragons or Dingoes, so we were in relatively high spirits, especially with the general warmth of the tunnel system. Disciple was sullen, as always, but the rest of us were fairly chirpy.

  Scout was asking Machete where she had come from, it turned out she and her family were from Tasmania, they had decided to take a holiday around Australia, as some lunatics seemed to think was once a good idea, and were in Darwin when everything went to shit. As soon as that had happened, her father tried to get them both as far south as they could manage.