Giant spoke, thoughtfully. “Look, we’re out here for the next twenty-four hours, give or take, right?” We all agreed that it was so. “We may as well head out and have a look for ourselves. Either we’ll find some signs of these Righteous, or we won’t. Up to you, of course, Chief.” She nodded to me, respectfully.
She was right. I knocked once again on the door of the church, which the priest opened yet again. I explained to him that we were scouting out the location of the Righteous camp. A flash of hope screamed across his face at the speed of light before disappearing behind the furrowed brow of his fear once again. Nodding his understanding, he slammed the door on us once again.
evening
There were signs of local raiders everywhere. Empty beer cans and broken bottles littered the landscape, spent shells scattered here and there. Rotting corpses, with various injuries to their heads, some with comparatively fresh looking bite wounds. Eventually we came to a plateau, accessible only from a narrow ledge. The Righteous had clearly been making use of this as a campsite, though it seemed a while since anyone had been there. There was an almost perfect place to park a large number of small vehicles at the bottom of the ledge that wound its way up and around to the plateau. Up top, a fire pit and considerably large windbreak stood testament to the regular use of this location.
“This seems as good a location as any to spend the night,” Viking suggested. It was indeed a brilliant camping spot, and the Righteous had thoughtfully stacked a large quantity of fire wood by the windbreak. “As long as we keep watch for Dead and nutters, we should be fine.”
Maori handed out our dinner, yummy military field rations. I had hoped that I was done with such fare after Canberra, but it seemed I was mistaken. At least, when heated through thoroughly, the taste was bearable. An army, it has been said, marches on its stomach. Unfortunately, that was quite true. I really would have preferred that they march on their tastebuds. At least
this
army.
“If only we had a Meat-Beast handy,” Viking mused. I was nodding my agreement when Wall mentioned that they eradicated them whenever they came across one. “That’s fucking crazy man! They’re fucking good eating, they are, plus they regenerate. And the Dead stay well away from them, too. You can live off a Meat-Beast for months in the middle of the world’s biggest horde, long as you’ve got water and fire to cook it up.”
September 4
th
Year 1 A.Z.
morning
The sun peeled my eyelids apart, burning into my retinas as I awoke. More military rations for breakfast, though we had coffee at least. That was something. Viking took his duties seriously as my second, it seemed, barking unnecessary orders to the others. For the most part, they took it in good humour, Giant saying that it was always good having a newbie to laugh at, thinking they don’t know their jobs. Only Scar seemed unamused.
We had only just finished packing up our shit when what sounded nothing so much as a lawnmower entered audible range. It was followed by another, then a third. Scar jumped up, following the sounds with his eyes, one hand clapped over his brow to shade his gaze from the sun as he looked to the east.
“I can see three vehicles, it looks like motorbikes with a sidecar,” He began. “Perhaps two, maybe three people per vehicle. Hard to say, they are still very far away and the sun is at their backs currently. They are, however, definitely heading in this direction.”
I told everyone to hide behind the windbreak, out of sight. When they arrive at the campsite, we should easily be able to get the jump on them. Viking and Giant both clearly approved of this idea, though Maori and Wall preferred the idea of a stand-up fight than an ambush. Scar wisely pointed out that our mission was far more important than ‘playing nice with religious zealots and bandits’ and that ‘we would be better off eradicating their sort completely from the Earth’ to ‘make room for people that actually want to just get along, for a change, without all the bullshit about control.’
By keeping an eye and an ear out we were well able to monitor their approach. From our elevated position we could see everything, there were six men heading this way. They parked their vehicles at the base of the ledge, one complaining loudly about the long, steep climb up to the plateau.
noon
The six of us kept very quiet, very still, as we listened to them converse. Much of the conversation revolved around certain sexual acts that they had engaged in with various women before the world ended, a little about this group or that, encounters with other survivors, many of whom had clearly come off second best, or not at all, upon meeting members of The Righteous. Giant, closer to me than anyone else, fumed. I could tell that she wanted nothing more than to tear them limb from limb. Fortunately, the group moved off after a couple of hours and we were able to move freely once again.
“Man, I hate that shit,” Giant grumbled, working the stiffness out of her neck muscles. “Vastly prefer to be killing fuckers like that rather than listening to their bullshit. As a general rule, you can tell if someone’s worth knowing by what they talk about amongst themselves.” Personally, I couldn’t help but agree. In the two hours that they were meant to be ‘scouting’ for their leadership, they drank and smoked more than I used to on a three day weekend.
Still, at the least, we were well able to follow their tracks, ascertaining that they were based a few hours to the northeast of our current position. With several other groups of scouts out and about, The Boss should be able to work out where they kept their camp. Deciding that we were done for the day, I ordered everyone back to town.
evening
There was a small group of Dead that caught our scent that we had to force our way through on the way back, nothing too concerning. Scar charged headlong into them, scattering the mob, Giant and Maori mere seconds behind. The trio pulled large survival knives from their belts, stabbing them again and again into the skulls of the rampaging Dead. The entire horde, perhaps twenty or more, were all on the ground, remains of their brains leaking from their devastated heads, before the rest of us got anywhere near.
Wiping their blades clean, the three of them watched as Viking and Wall dragged the corpses off two by two and dumped them in a hastily dug pit. They had been burning the carcasses until now, but a few words to Apocalypse Mum about my theory of cremated Dead causing some or most of the environmental damage we have been seeing prompted a change of standing orders regarding disposal of the Dead.
Once we made it back to town, Giant radioed that we were good for pickup, a few moments later we saw one of The Boss’s choppers almost silently gliding down out of the sky, barely two minutes after that we were airborne once more. A short while later I could see Uluru appear in the distance, growing closer and closer with each passing second. My excitement grew, I would soon see Apocalypse Girl once more. It seemed almost forever since I had last seen her, though in reality it was barely two days. Knowing that I had a two day on, four days off rotation was small comfort, but small comfort is better than none at all.
The entrance of the AR-18 facility yawned open to admit our chopper, and moments later we landed. With a clank the hangar door closed high above us. Moments later I had Apocalypse Girl in my arms, Apocalypse Dog bounding about and barking his welcome, and then I was whisked away for debriefing.
The Boss had already laid out a map for our convenience, all the sightings of Righteous movements pinned out, possible locations of bases marked clearly in red. Giant was more easily able to pinpoint where we had been, describing the ledge in detail and putting her finger on it almost instantly. To the north and a little to the east, maybe a hundred kilometres from the ledge was a small red dot, signifying a possible base. The Boss nodded once, then tapped the red dot. “So far, this is the most likely spot. There are one or two more, here,” she indicated another couple of potential hotspots. “And here as well. Thank you for the intel, guys, you’re dismissed.”
Apocalypse Girl followed me out, throwing an arm around me as we walked. The two technicians we were mildly friendly with passed us in the hallway, nodding in greeting as we made our way to our quarters, Apocalypse Dog bounding along behind us.
September 5
th
Year 1 A.Z.
morning
Just as I was waking, Apocalypse Girl greeted me with a kiss. She’d been sitting next to the bed, staring at me, waiting for me to wake up. Times like this I almost forget that the world ended. After a while, we got dressed and left, heading to the mess hall for breakfast. Before we got so much as twenty paces down the hall, The Boss intercepted us. “We need to discuss your extra-terrestrial encounters again, I’m afraid.” She told us. The last thing I needed this morning. “Meet me in my office in an hour, I’ve got a few other things to go over first.” With that she sauntered off. Apocalypse Girl rolled her eyes.
I had no idea what I was going to tell her that she didn’t already know. We encountered Fluffy the
schrandfelths
shortly after he crashed to Earth, healed him with the aid of his own technology, and spent a short while discussing the situation with him before he was beamed aboard another craft of his species. Other than that, there was another encounter, when I myself was beamed up. Neither of these were particularly lengthy, The Boss knew that, and I was pretty damned sure that I had told her everything that I could remember about it. Oh well, another useless meeting with my mother-out-law. Yay.
The pair of techs were just finishing their meals, nodding at us in greeting once again, and Apocalypse Girl and I took their freshly vacated seats once we had appropriated some food for ourselves. While we ate, Tiny came to join us, The Twin following shortly after. The pair wanted to know what we discovered out there, if anything. The Twin had heard a few things about these Righteous freaks from some of the other soldiers around, she was less than impressed.
I couldn’t really say all that much, just that we were close to pinpointing their main encampment. The Twin nodded at that, knowing full well that it may take some time to deal with them. Tiny, on the other hand, had only complaints about how her trainees were not progressing fast enough to suit her. Apparently, we were better students on the trip back from New Brisbane than The Boss’s troops. Most of them, anyway. She had a star student, she told us, a young man that almost had her the last time they sparred together. Almost.
noon
Apocalypse Mum offered me coffee, which naturally I accepted, and invited me to sit down across from her at her desk. The office was fairly Spartan, just the desk and a pair of chairs for one on one debriefings, and a couch upon which Apocalypse Girl lounged. A couple of maps adorned the walls, most notable amongst them being the location we were due to scout in a few days.
“Tell me everything you can,” She asked me. “I know we’ve been through this before, but I need every last little detail that I can get in order to make an informed decision about these Visitors you’ve discovered. The Invader Moon could have been passed off as natural celestial phenomena, after all our own moon is not native to our solar system. The unusual approach vector, the fact that it slowed down before beginning its orbit, the fact that it has now settled into a position precisely 180 degrees away from our own satellite.”
Taking a breath, she went on. “The Invader Moon is about half the size of our own, also precisely half as far from the earth, yet it keeps the exact same orbit, opposite our own moon.” She looked at me knowingly. “I don’t suppose you’ve spoken to your
Schrandfelths
friend about any of this, have you?” I told her that we hadn’t. “The thing I need to know, most of all, is whose moon it is. These Shadow creatures that you’ve assured me are native to our planet, how do you know for certain that it isn’t theirs?”
“He didn’t speak to any of those Shadow guys, only I did that, Mum.” Apocalypse Girl interrupted. “The Shadow I spoke with was kinda weird, but I got the impression that they, or it, whatever, didn’t know anything about the new moon. It sort of seemed like it is the entire species, not just one of them. I dunno, it was fucking weird. But, one thing is certain. The Shadows aren’t hostile, only a little curious about us.”
“Is there any way that you can get in touch with your alien buddy?” Apocalypse Mum asked me. I told her that it was a possibility, though from everything that had been going on, it was entirely possible that Fluffy’s entire species were keeping more than a close eye on all of us. We needed to find out more about the other two species, I told her. “Ah yes, the Terraformers and the Mutators. I think it is safe to say that both of these species are indeed hostile, even if your friends are not. Besides, what can a janitorial species really do to help us out?”
“In any case,” She continued, her musing over now. “I would like you to try to get in touch with this … person that you know. If you can convince it to meet with me personally, I would be more than grateful.” I told her that I’d do my best, but that I would only do so if she guaranteed his safety. She smiled, almost as sweetly as I’ve known her daughter to. “It will be perfectly safe and secure here, don’t worry. Sure, we have plenty of people that would love to dissect and study it in detail, but believe me they will not lay a hand on it. I only want to interview it, find out what it knows about the other species’ plans for the planet.”
I told her that Fluffy might not know a great deal about anything, but that I’d try to get in contact. For that, I asked The Boss’s permission to go topside in the evenings. She agreed instantly, provided that it was
just
me alone. I was not to remotely risk endangering her daughter’s safety in such a manner. Fluffy could beam me up and take me away forever and she will lose a good soldier and a valuable ally, not to mention her son-out-law. Her daughter was
not
to be risked at all. I agreed on the spot, and we were dismissed.
“I’m going up with you,” Apocalypse Girl told me as we stalked out of her mother’s office. “I don’t care what she says. There is no fucking way I’m letting you up there alone.” I appreciated her concern. I also told her that I didn’t want her getting into any trouble on my account. Nor did I want to get into any trouble myself for her actions. We were still new here, despite her familial connections. “She won’t kick us out or anything, the worst that might happen is you get suspended from duty for a while. She’s only had one person killed outright as punishment since taking over here, according to everyone I’ve talked to, and that guy drew on her. Your squaddie, Giant? She was there if you ever want to ask her about it.”
We walked to the mess hall in relative quiet after that, greeting people that we passed, some of whom we knew, most we did not. Valkyrie appeared at our side almost as if by magic, the tall, beautiful blonde woman bemoaning the fact that she’d been without Viking’s company for the last couple of days. “If he’s going out with you regularly, I want you to promise to look after him,” She told me in no uncertain terms. Laughing, I told her that I was far more likely to need him to look out for me, but that with six of us in the squad it was unlikely that any real lasting harm would happen to any of us. She didn’t seem very convinced, and made me promise anyway. Viking being probably my closest friend of the post-apocalyptic world, it was an easy oath to swear. Valkyrie knew the truth of the wasteland that Australia had become, she had seen more than enough of the world. She knew that I meant what I promised, but also that promises of that nature were becoming increasingly more difficult to live up to.
Valkyrie joined us for lunch, sitting next to an already munching Viking, greeting him with a kiss to the back of the neck. The rest of the squad, sitting around the table, guffawed loudly. They all knew full well that my two large blonde friends were married, but cared little. All they saw was fruit for laughter.
“Saved you and your missus a seat, Boss-man,” Giant told me, patting the bench next to her. “Come on, I’m not contagious.”
“Yeah, right,” Apocalypse Girl shot back at her without pause for thought. “If we sit that close to you we might all end up catching Tall from you!” The whole squad erupted in laughter and we sat beside my proportionately massive subordinate.
“Look at the pair of you, though, you could use it!” Giant replied once the chuckles died down somewhat. “Now that there aren’t any supermarkets filled with little old ladies wanting me to get shit down from the top shelf for them, being tall is fucking awesome!”
evening
The rest of the afternoon was spent mostly relaxing. The Boss had a cinema set up a few months ago, at the request of some of the troops, constantly screening something. It all depended on what her people found while outside, really. This afternoon’s session was an older movie that somebody found with a bunch of others, a black and white movie about a cross-dressing serial killer. You know the one, the leading lady got herself stabbed in the shower in the first twenty minutes.
So, after the declaration that said serial killer wouldn’t even hurt a fly, the credits rolled and we piled out. It was an interesting diversion, really, as the mummified corpse of the killer’s mother just sat there in her rocking chair. A surreal reminder that the Dead once just lay there, being no more than unmoving corpses.
“One thing about my mum,” Apocalypse Girl began. “She’s always valued taking some personal time when you need it.
She
never ever has needed it, though, fucking superwoman that she is.” I detected respect mixed with resentment. This seemed to be a sore point between mother and daughter.
The two of us went to the elevator, heading topside to watch the sunset and to try to get in touch with Fluffy. The blazing yellow orb descending over the western horizon seemed to bathe the world in a reddish glow, making it almost seem as though the world never ended, the Winter never happened. The large shambling horde of Dead we spotted off in the distance to the northwest ruined the image somewhat, though.
I pulled out the radio, going through several frequency bands, trying to raise Fluffy as best I could. There was little luck, though I made contact with a couple of other groups of our acquaintance. Ginger was almost rabid about Scout returning, and The Principal had died, leaving Doctor in charge of The School in Melbourne. The Smart Couple were still in their secret, safe place, wherever the fuck that was. They still didn’t want to say until and unless we were headed right to them.
The really interesting thing was speaking with Butler. The Queen had calmed down somewhat, was no longer wanting our blood, at least. She had realised that we were far out of her reach. Apocalypse Girl asked about our friend Deathwish, only to have the insolent young lad jump on the radio to confirm his own suspicions that The Queen would leave him alive, because, as he told us, ‘she liked him’. Signing off by telling Deathwish that we were in no way missing his unending supply of baked beans, and the flatulence that came with it, we went back down to the main facility when the sun had fully descended.
“I told you to go up
alone!
” Apocalypse Mum exploded at us once the elevator doors opened. The sentry had a hard time meeting my gaze. As I did with Apocalypse Mum’s. “How can I expect you to obey my orders when it matters if you don’t obey this one?”
In my defence, Apocalypse Girl told her that we had been through so much together that for us to spend so much time apart was unhealthy, especially just after I had been out for a couple of days on her orders. She trusted nobody but me, and honestly neither did I trust any but her. The Boss was fuming, but she said nothing. Instead, she spun about on her heel and stalked off into the depths of the facility. I had a feeling that this would not be the end of The Boss’s fury.