Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 5): May (12 page)

May 25thYear 1 A.Z.

morning
Sleeping on a mattress was something of a novelty for us, these days, and we took full advantage. We didn't move an inch until Dentist, this morning, came to take us to breakfast. Last night, our interrogation, though taking a friendly form, had been interrupted. The conversation had turned to Dingoes, Meat-beasts and other mutations that we had encountered once we went back inside, so Ginger wanted to pick things up again over toast and tea.

Scout insisted that she had seen a Dragon, one day, while out scavenging for supplies. Everybody laughed, though her eyes flamed. At the very least, she believed it. Everybody laughed, that was, except Ginger. He told everybody off, saying that without Scout they would all be dead a hundred times over. Even he, himself, had been saved by the plucky young woman. The day the Dead had risen, Ginger had been the town drunk, Scout a seventeen year old delinquent trying to get him to go and buy her booze.

Together, they saved everyone in town that was left Living and once Ginger sobered up, he stepped up and became the leader the community clearly needed. Whether Scout had truly seen a Dragon or not, it didn't matter to him. He'd be on the lookout for the bloody things anyway, just because it's Scout saying it. He asked us our tale, which we told without
embellishment, though we omitted a few things. Sonny still didn't know anything about our encounter with Fluffy, in fact the three of us that were there still were unsure of what to think about all of the things it had told us. It was concerning, if nothing else, but for now we had other concerns.

Once we were finished, Ginger, Dentist, Scout and Chef looked at one another. After a few moments Ginger nodded. “Alright, then. This is what I've decided. You lot can have your weapons back whenever you go outside, which also means that you're all welcome to come and go as you please. Leave them in the bucket while you're in town, though, please.” He looked at each of the four of us in turn. “Yeah, I reckon you'll fit in well enough here, anyway. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you want. You'll be safer here than out there,” He motioned out to the north, towards our goal. “In any case, you'll no doubt be wanting this back.” He handed me my blade. I thanked him.

noon
I found Scout outside, watching the horizon with her binoculars. She handed them to me without a word, pointing towards the north. Through them I could see a patch of charred ground. From this distance it was hard to say how large it was, but it seemed fairly big. “Dragon did that.” Was all she said. I had seen a few mutations in the last few months that I would have not believed otherwise and told her so. She nodded. “When you head out to look for this place near Alice,” She began, “I want to come with you.”

She followed me back to our room, telling me how she scouts around. She uses a small motorbike, she said, takes only a crowbar and a pistol and an empty backpack and, most importantly, a watch. She has an alarm set for two hours after she leaves, at which time she turns around and comes home with whatever she has found. On the off-chance that she discovers a survivor, she brings them back immediately. That had happened twice, so far.

They had plenty of tools and equipment here at Coober's Nest, not to mention access to vehicles used to transport massive machinery, so anything too big to fit in her pack she simply marked the location on a map and sent 'the boys' out for it the next day. She was often on the lookout for more pieces of large scrap that can be used to expand the town, or its support structure.

evening
Apocalypse Girl, it seemed, did not like Scout much. She didn't like the idea that she would be coming with us when we left here, but accepted it readily enough. Sonny had been so terrified of his first sight of a Dingo that he was scared to continue, but he swallowed his horror and agreed that he was coming along too. Sister just nodded. She would be with us no matter what.

At dinner, chef having roasted what seemed to be the meat of several pigs up, I told Ginger of our plans, Scout informing him that she wanted to come along with us. He nodded. Asking when we were planning on leaving, he helped himself to a portion of crackling. That, we told him, we hadn't decided yet.

We gave Ginger the radio frequency used by our Schoolfolk and military allies, telling him that the survivors of this apocalypse needed to stay in touch, or else humanity was completely fucked. He couldn't agree more. The only snag, he told us, was that in their haste to get electricity and freezers up and running, they had neglected to bother with a radio. But, he told us, he knew exactly where one was. At the head office of the mine that his brother's wife's cousin's auntie's step-son owned. On the far side of town.

May 26thYear 1 A.Z.

morning
Scout came to get us shortly after what passed for dawn these days, taking us into the communal room for breakfast before we made our way across town. I told her that she should bring supplies for a couple of days, plenty of warm clothing and water. “We shouldn't be more than about six hours, there and back, though,” She said, sounding a little confused.

“
One thing I've learned is never to assume anything is ever as simple as get in, get whatever we're after, get out safely and alive again. Things have a way of going spectacularly fucking wrong these days, or hadn't you noticed?” Apocalypse Girl snapped at her. Scout blinked. Apocalypse Girl calmed herself somewhat. “All I mean is, prepare for the worst. You coming in the truck with us, yeah?” Scout nodded.

We loaded up the truck with everything we would need, Ginger helping us out, handing us our weapons at the last. “You take good care of her, you hear me?” He motioned towards Scout. “She's important, here.” I promised I would look after her and we bade him goodbye.

noon
Sister took the wheel, Scout sitting beside her, directing her. We saw a few small groups of Dead ones shambling around, never more then about four or five in any one mob. None of them posed any threat to us, so we passed them by. Driving carefully, we made it to the mine in a little under the three hours that Scout had predicted earlier.

“
The foreman of this mine kept his radio in his office at all times, you see,” Scout was telling us as we put down the few Dead milling around the office building. “Except when he had to go and deal with some bullshit, that is. He'd take it with him then.” I kicked the door open a moment later. There was a Dead one seated at what I assumed to be the foreman's desk. Apocalypse Girl splattered its head with her Frypan.

Scout looked around, searching the office. Sister and Sonny kept watch at the door, telling us that we had attracted the attention of several Dead, that the groups we had passed on our way out here seemed to have followed us, as well. Scout swore under her breath. “I was afraid of this. He must be somewhere else in this building.” Apocalypse Girl had to ask for confirmation, that we were looking for one of the Dead carrying a radio, who could be any-fucking-where in this building. “That's right. Any-fucking-where. In here, or out
there
.” She pointed out the open door.

evening
We shut the door, barricading it with the desk, then retreated further into the building. I put my sword through the face of one Dead that wandered the corridor then began to try doors leading from it. The first one was securely locked, the second leading to a tiny supply cupboard. The third opened up into another office, or rather several cubicles that had been partitioned off from one another, giving the
illusion
of a real office.

We found a couple of Dead ones, one sat at a computer that was likely deader than it was, splattered their brains all over with cricket bat and crowbar, then we dragged their stinking carcasses out into the hallway, ducking back inside before another Dead one wandered around the far corner. Blocking the doorway with whatever we could we hoped that nothing noticed our passing.

We huddled together in the corner of the room, having created a small enclosure for ourselves out of the partitions and a couple of desks that wouldn't fit behind the door. Had Scout been here alone, she told us, she felt she would have been some things dinner before long. Figuring that the best way to calm her down would be to keep her talking, Apocalypse Girl asked her what had happened when the Dingoes arrived.
“
There were a bunch of people that had managed to hole up in an underground hotel.” Scout began her tale. “The Dead had already torn the above ground part to shreds, but they just couldn't figure out how to get inside. I knew a couple of people that were trapped in there, so we talked over our mobiles.” She took a deep breath. “I was talking to one of them when the first Dingo got inside. The screams were...”

She took a moment to compose herself. “Six people were ripped to pieces in another room. My friend couldn't bear to go out there until morning. The next night they came back to finish the job. Seventeen people in two days killed and eaten by fucking big mutant Dingoes.” The silence was broken by a shrieking howl in the distance.

May 27thYear 1 A.Z.

morning
Our little cubby made from desks and partitions still held when we awoke. A couple of Dead had gathered in the hall outside the room we were in, though they weren't actually trying to get at us yet, so we took our time getting ready. Apocalypse Girl was swinging The Frypan in preparation for Sonny to open the door. She nodded, he turned the handle, she guided them into the barricade one at at time, battering their heads to a pulp with one well-aimed swing apiece.

Before we left, Apocalypse Girl found a coat-hanger somewhere. She bent it, twisted it around, fashioning a hook that she attached to her belt. From this hook she hung The Frypan, saying that she was getting sick of always having to get it out of her pack.

“
Where to now?” Sister asked Scout. Seeing her shrug she went on. “This is your fucking mission, you've got to have some idea where we can find a goddamn radio in here.”

“
It all depends on where the foreman was when he, well, when he died.” Scout said. “If we're lucky, he'll be in this building somewhere. If not, we might have to start looking outside. Maybe even in the mine itself.”

noon
We decided to go back to the first, locked door in the corridor. Kicking it in with a well placed boot we discovered what looked like a records room. Scout said that it had probably been locked up tight for years, ever since they transferred all of their files to their computer system.

We methodically went through every room in the place, finding more Dead in the toilets, a bunch in the canteen as well, two of which occupied the kitchen area. None of them were the foreman we sought.

That left the garage, according to Scout. Finding the way easily enough, we filed into the garage as silently as we were able. My sword found the brain of one Dead that lurked near the door, Scout's crowbar lodging deep within the skull of another that came to investigate the disturbance. Sister slipped past their carcasses to close the roller door to the outside, attracting the attention of three more rotting shamblers. They met a messy end at the hands of Sonny and his cricket bat as Sister drew them back towards us.

Scout checked each and every carcass, shaking her head when she was done. None of them had the radio that we came here to find. That left the main compound, outside. There were easily a couple of hundred Dead out there, though none of them realised there were a few walking meals in their midst just yet.

evening
Deciding there was nowhere near enough light left in the day to start on the massed ranks of Dead outside, we stacked the carcasses like wood in the garage. Scout kept apologising for this taking so much longer than it should have. Apocalypse Girl told her that she was used to things not going according to plan anymore. She was looking at me while she said it, smiling to herself. That always worried me.

We decided to go back to our cubby in the offices, as it was still quite a defensible position and we were yet to give away our position. Sister snuck a peek of the situation in the main office, returning to us she shook her head. She said that a lot of Dead seemed to have followed us in there. Probably just locals that wandered in, seeing a few shambling after us, she thought.

In any case, they weren't acting like they knew food was nearby, so we still had some time to sneak around a little more. They would no doubt realise we were there in the morning. As we sat around, we discussed possible tactics for dealing with the Dead. Our plans were punctuated every now and then by the distant shriek-howl of a Dingo.

May 28thYear 1 A.Z.

morning
We decided that exiting through the garage was probably a smarter alternative to almost certainly being eaten in the front office. Scout took another brief glance in that direction, returning to tell us that the Dead had seemed to multiply. Sister and Sonny rushed to the front of the building, drawing the attention of all the Dead in the area, bringing them to the front office while Apocalypse Girl, Scout and I made certain that the exterior of the garage was clean.

By this time we had abandoned all hope of getting to the radio that Scout had told us about, we thought only of our lives by this stage. On the other side of the roller doors, however, just past a small, as yet oblivious ocean of Dead, lay the solution to all of our woes. Through the grey we could clearly see the massive yellow hulk of an earth mover. I asked Apocalypse Girl if she thought she could drive something like that. “I can drive anything. Besides, not like we have any real choice, do we?”

noon
Most of the Dead wandered off towards the front of the building, or as close as they could get, sensing
something
was happening on the other side of the fence. Somehow they always knew when other nearby Dead were onto a fresh meal. We had, meanwhile, climbed up onto the roof, from there it was a short run to the ladder leading to the cabin. There was room up there for the five of us, maybe one or two more.