Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 8): August (10 page)

August 26
th
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

Shit.  I don't really know how to do this.  Umm, okay, first things first.  My eye hurts like hell, what's left of it, anyway.  If that isn't enough of a clue, this is Apocalypse Girl writing now.  I don't suppose it really matters who writes what in this damn journal anyway, seeing as this is clearly the end of the world, but what the fuck, my man started it so I'm going to continue it on his behalf, at least until he comes back to his senses, however long that might be.

Right.  How did it happen?  No fucking clue.  I was scratching the dog's ears when Book, my man, suddenly stiffened up like, I don't know, something fucking stiff.  Viking reckoned he saw a Shadow for half an instant, dropping from the ceiling to Book's shoulder, but I'll have to take his word for it, cause I saw shit.  Now Book is standing stock still in the middle of the room staring at people, one at a time.  Usually me.

Anyway, I told everyone that I'd take care of him, of course.  Apocalypse Dog is keeping us both company, Deathwish is guarding the door with Jester, though from the hallway.  I can't blame them.  If it weren't Book, I'd likely be out there with them, too.  Tiny, Machete and The Twin are all in here with us, too.  To protect me, they reckon, or at least to protect the baby.  I know I shouldn't complain about it but this fucking child... I just wish he, she, whatever, would just hurry the fuck up and pop out already.  The baby is slowing me down a lot.

Everyone else is out searching for something different.  The Master and his men are looking for fuel so he can keep his generators running at his Fortress, Apprentice, Viking and Valkyrie are all looking for a chemist, or at least some antibiotics.  She told me just before closing the door behind them that they'd raid people's luggage if they had to.  After all, nobody needs it now, do they?

noon

Still nothing.  No word from anyone, yet.  Jester and Deathwish came in to check on us a couple of times throughout the morning, the latter leaving us with a whole heap of cans of baked fucking beans so that we could have something to eat, at least.  Food is food, after all, but come on...some variety would be nice, Deathwish!  Oh well, it's not like I can control what I find, whenever I search kind of …
between
dimensions.  I just put my hand in, fiddle around a bit and whatever I pick up comes with me.  That's the only way I can describe what I do.  Sort of like an interdimensional lucky dip.

Book is speaking now, in a whisper.  “
dry.
” he said, a few minutes ago.  I poured some water in his mouth, but it just dribbled out the sides.  So, I tried some more.  This time, he seemed to swallow some.  I was so totally not cut out to be a nurse.  Fuck, that reminds me, I am going to have to change his bandage again, soon.

“You.  I know you.”  Book's words shook me from a light doze.  He was staring at me.  No, not Book's words, though spoken in his voice.  “No,
he
knows you.”  A quizzical expression furrowed my man's brow.  “He, she.  Gender.  Sex.  Interesting.”  His eyes rolled back in his head.  When they lowered a few seconds later, he said “Dry.” once again.  I reached out towards him, offering a bottle of water.  He took it, raising it to his lips.  Nothing came out, but then he hadn't even popped the top.  I showed him how.

After he finished the entire fucking bottle, over a litre of water, his eyes found me once again.  Tiny and The Twin backed away from him, towards me, in case he became a threat.  I doubted that he would.  Machete took Apocalypse Dog out for a walk.  I told her to take her time.  And Deathwish and Jester.  If I wasn't safe with Tiny and The Twin, I wasn't safe, period.  The Twin had proven herself time and time again, to both me and Book.  Tiny, not so much for me, but
he
vouched for her.  That was more than good enough.

evening

Still no real change in Book's behaviour.  At one point he pointed at my belly and uttered the word “baby,” but other than that he had been silent as the grave, just standing, watching.  He didn't even blink.  I had to show him how to do it, which, having only one eye, was awkward.  He seemed to feel the need to wink at me every few moments, first with one eye, then the other.

Everybody had checked in by now, at least.  They were all as worried about Book's bizarre behaviour as I was, or nearly so, and Apprentice had found an almighty stash of antibiotics and other medicine.  There was enough there that I suggested leaving most of it behind for The Bitch Queen and her lackeys.  At least he allowed me to feed him and give him some medicine, though he would not let me look at his leg.  In fact, he seemed confused as to what a leg might even be.

Viking had suggested knocking him out so I could take a look at his wounds, but I promised him that if he did, he'd be the next to lose an eye.  He laughed, the chuckles sounding particularly nervous when he looked into my face.  We would wait, I told them.

August 27
th
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

Still no real change with Book.  I asked him if his leg was hurting, he just looked at me strangely and asked what hurting even meant.  So, I tried the term pain.  Then, discomfort.  Then, I simply asked him how his leg feels.  “What means 'feels'?”  He enquired.  Fuck.  This is going to be annoyingly difficult.

I tried to tell him what had happened to his leg, saying that it had been damaged when a Dingo tail sliced it open.  “Flesh.  Leg.  Damaged flesh is pain?”  He asked me.  I told him that damaged flesh can certainly cause pain, yes.  “Damaged eye is pain.”  He stated.  I told him that yes, my eye had hurt like hell when it was removed.  I don't think I've ever experienced pain like it, in fact.  He raised his hand to his chest.  Other than his eyes and face it was the most he'd moved since yesterday, when this first started.

“Damaged eye is pain
here
.” He told me.  My breath caught in my throat.  I told him that was a different sort of pain.  Worse, in its own way.  “Here hurts more than leg.”  I asked him what he was doing.  “Stand.” was the only reply I received.

This time, the girls waited outside while Deathwish, Jester and Viking sat with us.  The Master was outside with his men, making certain that no Dead were able to cause any harm to anyone.  I could hear the occasional burst of gunfire through the window.  We ate, and again I spoon-fed Book his baked beans and antibiotics.  He wanted to know, in his stunted way of speaking, what the pills were for.  After a few minutes I was able to convey the message in a manner that he'd understand.  “Stop more leg damage?”  He asked for confirmation.  I nodded.

noon

I finally got the nerve to ask Book what had happened to him.  “Shadow.”  He thumped his chest.  “See mans, follow mans.”  He motioned, including both Viking and himself in the gesture but quite specifically excluding Deathwish and Jester.  “Others too, follow them.”  Somehow he was able to make a gesture that encompassed Tiny, The Twin and Apprentice, though the three of them were not actually in the room.  A Shadow is possessing my man.  Now we know.  What the fuck do we do about it?  I have no fucking clue, there.

Over the next few hours, Viking and I attempted to teach Shadow-Book some language skills, with some limited success.  I was able to ask it where it had come from.  It spoke, using Book's mouth and tongue, saying that Shadow had always been.  Shadow was eternal, it told us.  It had encountered man before, though it took little notice.  Man was just something that occupied the surface of Earth, not even something Shadow would bother with.  Shadow existed in the dark places, underground, primarily.

Then, man started dying.  Man became Dead.  That made Shadow take notice, alright.  Finally, Shadow could lay claim to parts of the surface of the Earth.  Only places that man would never set foot again.  Places such as Sydney, where Shadow first noticed Book and Viking and the others, as The Tortoise trundled through Shadowzone.  So, Shadow
moved
them.  And studied them.  Now, Shadow wanted to talk.  Shadow was curious about man.  About woman.  About
baby.

evening

Shadow-Book was quite quiet.  He had not really said much since admitting to curiosity towards humanity, just observed.  I asked it if it could access Book's memories.  Shadow-Book said that it could but that it felt wrong to do so.  I asked if Book was still in there with it.  Shadow-Book replied that indeed he was.  So, I asked it to leave him, which it said it could not do, not yet.

“You said you came from underground.  You've always lived there?  Here on Earth, I mean?”  Deathwish asked Shadow-Book.  It turned my man's face to stare blankly at the young man.  Everyone present felt a wave of confusion, Shadow-Book was wondering why the man would ask a question that had already been answered.

So, I asked it something new.  I asked about Fluffy and the
schrandfelths. 
Shadow-Book seemed to know nothing of them.  Then, abruptly, it said “Goodbye.” and left.  I watched as it sort of seeped out of Book's torso and head, lifting up into the ceiling, where it proceeded to clump near the window and gather itself before shooting out into the darkness of the night sky.  A moment later Book collapsed.

Then, he raised his head weakly, speaking softly.  “Fucking hell, I need a piss!” My man was back!

August 28
th
Year 1 A.Z.

morning

I have to say, though my body feels not just like it has been possessed by some strange Shadow and forced to stand in the one place for two days straight, my mind feels oddly relaxed.  At least part of me got some rest, it seems.  I have no actual recollection of anything that happened, but Apocalypse Girl and the others filled me in quickly enough.  My leg, though stiff and still quite painful, was healing up nicely enough.  Apparently, Shadow possession is good for keeping one still.

The Master came into the security room, telling us that his end was done, they had scavenged enough fuel to keep the generators at The Fortress running for many more months.  Plenty of time to work out details for perhaps taking and holding an oil refinery or two, he told me.  This was a man truly in his element,  a born leader.  When I told him as much, he grinned with a hint of a blush.  “You guys are more than welcome to settle down with us, you know,”  He told us.  I laughed.  “Yeah, I know.  Too close to The Queen.  I get it, totally.  Fuck, if she knew our kid was still alive, she'd likely go to war with me to try and get her back.”  We shook hands and he left, bringing with him his small army of thugs.

Now, all that was left to do for us was to find a suitable plane and fly the fuck out of this place.  Which left one rather important question; could any of us fly?  I asked it of everybody present.  Apocalypse Girl raised her hand slightly.  “I can drive anything, so I'll give it a go.  I've been up in a glider a few times, and taken the wheel of my mother's light plane a lot.  Also, I've had a go on some proper commercial airliner sims.  Not that we're taking anything
that
big, at least I fucking hope not.”  She seemed a bit put out when Deathwish mentioned her missing eye.  “Fuck that, if you're so worried, you can co-pilot.  I seriously doubt we're likely to run into much other air traffic, you know!”

noon

A few Dead still straggled, stumbling and shambling around on the tarmac outside.  Planes stood proudly, as if the apocalypse had meant nothing to them, though not a one was easily accessible.  Several police cars stood out, so we looted them, taking whatever we could.  One shotgun and a couple of pistols, some ammunition for each.  A forensics kit.  Apocalypse Girl picked up a set of handcuffs from one very dead policeman, winking at me as she did so.  Or maybe she was blinking.  Hard to say.  Scout and Machete, with Apprentice, wandered the place, making certain that nothing bitey came up to us for a nibble as we searched.

Finally, after a couple of hours searching, all that remained were the hangars.  Noting that the sun was already heading for the western horizon, and considering the size of the hangars, we decided on searching these tomorrow.  We were safe enough in the security room for another night.

evening

“I've made a decision.”  Deathwish announced.  “I can't go with you guys, The Queen needs someone to tell her that it's safe to scavenge here, after all.  And to tell her about the Sheriff.”

“That psychotic bitch will just kill you though,”  Apocalypse Girl told him, lifting her eye-patch for emphasis.  Deathwish grimaced at the sight, then shrugged.

“Nah, she likes me too much.  I'll be fine.  Besides, if she locks me up or anything, The Master'll hear about it soon enough.  He owes me more than a few, he'll get me out of it.”  Deathwish told her.  “And if she has me executed, well, I hope it's as quick as your old mate was.  In any case, you're gonna need a new co-pilot.”

“True to your name, at least,”  Apprentice observed.  “What about you?”  She asked Jester.  He burst out laughing, trying very hard to treat the question seriously.

“You've seen how she treats me.  A dwarf, wearing a chicken suit, running around making jokes in the Adelaide Apocalypse?  Come off it, no fucking way am I going back
there
.”  Came the reply, and gales of laughter.  “See?  I don't need a funny suit or shitty jokes to make people laugh at all!”

So, we had our last meal together, rich with the fart-inducing goodness that is baked beans.  Deathwish offered us a bunch of cans to take with us, though we refused.  We did, however, find a purveyor of fine beverages in the main airport terminal, one of many such shops, and looted it.  Normally, at a going away party, I'd get pretty fucking hammered, but tonight... Eight months spent dodging the Dead was enough for me to know that I wanted to be in total control of my faculties.  Tomorrow, we find a plane to outfit, fuel up and fly away from this wretched place.