September 10
th
Year 1 A.Z.
morning
Sleep and I were not friendly last night. I kept having visions of
schrandfelths
and Terraformers swarming all over the place, invading AR-18, nightmares that I could not wake from. The screaming of terrified technicians haunted me until Apocalypse Dog began licking my face. In fright, I threw the poor mutt from the bed, waking Apocalypse Girl. She was not amused.
My squad awaited in the mess hall, already suited up and ready for action. This time we were to meet the Mech-Techs from Melbourne, guiding them the last fifty or so kilometres through the wastes surrounding our base. Viking looked pleased that we would be meeting up with his friends, and I confess to feeling happy about seeing Stutter and Nutter once again.
On the way up to the helipad, in the elevator, the pilot asked me what, if anything, he should keep an eye open for. I told him that he would likely see a large contingent of strange vehicles, many modifications designed for surviving the wasteland that Australia had become. As I spoke, the pilot noticed a massive cloud of dust to the south of us, turned that way without a word.
noon
The Mech-Techs had outdone themselves this time. Stutter and Nutter stood proudly at the base of an escalator that led up to the control station of what could only be described as The Elephant, an enormous conglomeration of assorted vehicular flotsam and jetsam that was essentially a small mobile city. The base of the beast was liberally coated in the remains of Dead that had been between Melbourne and us. The tank treads on the four base legs tore up any asphalt that they encountered, but Dead flesh simply turned to soup as The Elephant passed over them. The escalator served as the vehicular monstrosity’s trunk.
Maori and Giant stood and stared from the base for a moment as the rest of us ascended, then they began to move. The top of this damned thing felt uncomfortably high, then Nutter opened up a door for us and we were inside what had the feel of an old ship captain’s cabin. I said as much to the two Mech-Tech engineering geniuses and they blushed, Stutter eventually pointing out that had been their original intention.
Before long we were on our way back to the north. The six of us in my squad stayed in the cabin for the most part, though Viking and I went up front, standing between the solar panel ‘ears’ on either side of The Elephant’s head, to share a joint that one of his crew had passed to him on our way up. For such a large vehicle, and for being so high up on the damned thing, it was quite a smooth ride. Stutter and Nutter had definitely done well this time.
evening
Giant and Wall were arguing about whether we should incorporate The Mech-Techs into the AR-18 facility a couple of hours after Nutter called us down to dinner. He had, naturally, dreamed that this kind of vehicle was going to be needed at some stage, also that he and Stutter would be needed, as with all the rest of their group, and we discussed it at length as we ate. Giant wanted to keep as many people as was possible out of AR-18, where Wall saw incredible value in the creations that the pair of them had designed, especially when I told them of The Nightmare and The Tortoise.
In the end, though, Viking shut them both up by reminding them that it was The Boss’s decision in the end, but that he’d be formally applying for asylum on behalf of the entire group as soon as we get back to base. In any case, surely they could use several dozen assorted mechanics, engineers and technicians. That put an end to the discussion.
September 11
th
Year 1 A.Z.
morning
The Elephant was almost painfully slow, lumbering along the land on either side of the road like its namesake. At this rate we might make it back home by tomorrow evening, not that I minded particularly, it was good to catch up with Stutter and Nutter, not to mention the rest of the Mech-Techs that we had left behind in Melbourne, many months ago.
The wind held a chill, a leftover from the Winter, that seeped into my bones as I stood at the helm. The Elephant was set up like an old sailing ship, a galleon perhaps, with the helm at the back, above the Captain’s cabin. There were cameras everywhere, a bank of monitors that showed everything around The Elephant, near and far, high and low. Stutter, when he chewed the words out, told me that the height had been necessary to avoid Dingo attacks, the monitors needed to see terrain as well as the inevitable hordes of the Dead.
Maori and Wall alternated with Giant and Scar scouting on motorbikes that had been stashed in a mobile garage that occupied the majority of the bulk of The Elephant. There were a fair few miscellaneous vehicles used for various forms of scouting inhabiting the garage, not to mention a couple of Utes for foraging. The Elephant was basically a small, mobile city, made by Mech-Techs entirely for Mech-Techs. Mutter made it clear that he and his comrade had known that Viking needed not just an exceptional vehicle, but the entire group as well.
noon
I felt strange, this high off the ground, so I spent most of my time in the Captain’s cabin with Viking. The rest of the squad hadn’t found anything remotely interesting, just a few smaller Dingo packs and a couple of groups of the Dead. The former they exterminated with prejudice, the latter they exterminated out of disgust and necessity.
Static, the Mech-Techs radio operator, had noted some strange reports south of Adelaide, some of the smaller settlements that The Queen had dealings with had simply vanished, completely and utterly. The people had just disappeared, nothing but blood left behind. She noted also that there were similar reports from settlements to the far west.
The radio network had expanded, now covering almost the entirety of the coastline of Australia, as well as several of the more prominent inland locations, and news was flooding in daily. Static had her hands full regulating the flow of information, but seemed to be thriving under the circumstances.
Static took me aside at one point, telling me that Ginger had been in contact, leaving a couple of messages for Scout and myself. No doubt he was wanting Scout to at least report in, if not return home by now. In any case, I felt Static should deliver that one personally upon our arrival at AR-18. So, I asked for my message.
“Ok, you might think this one is a bit strange, I certainly did…” Static seemed almost sheepish in her desire to not deliver the message. A moment later she took a deep breath and continued. “There have been Dead rocking up at Coober’s Nest, right?
Naked
Dead. Apparently in the thousands. Ginger reckons that they’re coming from the northwest, maybe from somewhere in the desert, who the fuck knows, and then wandering off to the south. Anyway, he wanted you to know about it. Apparently he thinks you’re some kind of problem solver.”
Ginger would not have been the first to call me that. Ironically, before the Apocalypse, my life had been in shambles. Now, it seemed, I had purpose. Or at least, someone that needs me to look after her. I’m going to admit it, right here. I’m only here for Apocalypse Girl and that baby of ours. The only reason I can think of for helping someone else is so that they help us in return. So far, this has been fairly consistent. Only The Queen, in Adelaide, had felt differently. Had she not been quite so radical in looking out for her own settlement, I think we might still be there, to be honest.
evening
I thought long and hard about Ginger’s news of naked Dead folk wandering around the Nest. They must have been drawn there by the noise, then finding nothing and nobody to eat I assume they wandered off to the next possible location. Still, what kind of insanity results in thousands of naked Dead people wandering around together?
Discussing the matter with Viking and Giant, we decided that we’d take a brief detour, head to the west a ways and sent out some scouts. The enormous blonde man gave the command, and The Elephant swung around slowly to the west. The Captain’s Cabin seemed a little lop-sided for a moment as first one, then the other ‘foot’ went over a raised section of terrain, a small hill or pile of rocks most likely.
I radioed AR-18, telling them that there would be a delay, asking to speak to Apocalypse Girl. Her voice sounded a little strained, and perhaps a little hoarse as she asked if everything was alright. I told her about the message from Ginger, that we’d be checking it out, and that she’d practically shit herself when she saw what Stutter and Nutter came up with this time. I heard a loud, excited bark as I spoke. We allowed a few minutes for personal talk, then I signed off and walked out onto the main deck.
It was really difficult not to think of this beast as a sort of land-ship. The escalator that we rode up to the deck folds up neatly whenever The Elephant is in motion, for practicality’s sake, as otherwise the technologically mastodonic trunk would prove an awful impediment. The Mech-Techs truly had outdone themselves.
September 12
th
Year 1 A.Z.
morning
I dreamed of Elder last night, an odd dream, but then he had been an odd individual. He kept saying that I needed to
see,
that I needed to
know.
However, when I asked him what I needed to know, he simply smiled at me in silence as his head slid from his severed neck. Every time this happened I would wake in a cold sweat, only to doze off back into the same fucking dream, every fucking time.
Was this a message from beyond the grave? Was it just my own mind trying to resurrect the ghosts of my past? Elder had been a friend, certainly, though I had known him only a short time. To have been the one responsible for executing the poor old dude… That had been a waking nightmare just by itself. Maybe it was just my subconscious expressing guilt… Fuck knows.
The Elephant kept lumbering along to the west, Static keeping an ear to the radio and an eye on the multitudinous screens in the cockpit. Driver operated mainly by compass, Static occasionally barking out instructions, such as “Avoid the big-arse rock to the left,” or “Watch out for that tree,” but The Elephant was able to pretty much flatten almost anything in its path.
There seemed nothing but dry, empty terrain before us, though we found a handy Meat-Beast on the way. Driver parked The Elephant over the Meat-Beast, hit a couple of buttons and manipulated a few levers and The Elephant squatted over the former cow. Mech-Techs lined the upper decks, manning the weapons placed strategically around it and a crew of four dropped almost onto the Meat-Beast’s back with large knives, carving off great hunks of flesh.
noon
Ahhh, fresh Meat-Beast steak for lunch… A delectable meal indeed. Not something that we dined on frequently at AR-18, but my favourite dish of Apocalyptic Australia. The Meat-Beast had been butchered in short order, we were back on the road almost before we stopped. At least that was how it had seemed.
After travelling for another few kilometres, we discovered signs of the Dead. A large group had shuffled through here, that was certain. Viking, Giant, Scar and I were examining their tracks while Wall and Maori followed in their bare footsteps. Every other group that we had come across had been at least partially clothed, I think every Dead one I had seen had been wearing shoes. This was a gritty, sandy dirt that had been trampled by many thousands of bare feet.
The sounds of a pair of motorcycles heralded the return of my two scouts, both of whom were signalling like crazy as they approached. Riding their bikes up into the garage, the pair then ran up to us, sheer terror on their faces.
“They’re coming! They heard the bikes and they’re coming for us!” Wall looked as though he had seen his very own personalised Death. “They should be here within the hour, and fuck me there are a
lot!
”
I ordered everyone back into The Elephant, and we began to make preparations for a siege of the Dead.
evening
The horde came, as Wall predicted, almost an hour after their return. Stutter and Nutter seemed far calmer than they had any time I’d seen the Dead mentioned around them. Asking them why, Nutter simply said that there was next to no way that they’d be able to make it anywhere near any of us. He was spot on there, that’s for certain.
How many there were I have no idea. It was far from the largest group of the Dead that I had seen, that honour belonged to the carpet of Death that had followed us all out of Melbourne after our first trip there. This mob was different, somehow. More than that they were all naked, though that was bizarre in and of itself. How a group this large and this naked would have come to be I have no idea.
As they approached, I took up a position manning a large-calibre machine gun. In all honesty, normally I would have preferred to be down in the thick of it, slicing away with my sword, but in this case I felt much more secure up here with all of this mounted firepower.
The Dead were many times many, but we had plenty of ammunition. More than enough. Dead heads exploded as we opened up on them, showering their shambling, smelly companions with brains and tiny bits of skull. Not that their companions were in any position to complain, as within mere seconds they were brought low as well.
The massacre, as I hesitate to refer to it as a battle, lasted only a short time, maybe an hour, maybe slightly more. The blasted things just kept on coming. There seemed no end to them whatsoever. Eventually, though, we realised that no more were coming, and that those that had come weren’t moving any more.
I went down to the ground with my men as Static and Driver prepped The Elephant to move on, back to our original heading. Together we poked and prodded at the rotting remnants that lay before us. There was something…
“Hey Chief!” Maori called. I wandered over to him. “Looks like we’ve got a couple of twins here,” He was correct, the two deceased Dead ones before him did indeed look the same, the only real difference being the locations of the head wounds that had destroyed them. Viking and Scar drew near.
“This is weird,” Scar sounded concerned. “These two look just like that one, there,” He pointed. It was indeed another Dead ringer. “Triplets, maybe?”
I suggested that they take some samples back to AR-18, maybe German Doctor might be able to make some sense out of the bloody things. I was more than a little concerned, but then since meeting Apocalypse Girl my world had thoroughly changed. The Dead coming back to try eating everyone was a small part of it, really.
The Elephant moved on, towards AR-18. We’d be there in a day, perhaps two. As long as there aren’t any more delays, that is.
Strange… As I sit here writing this, a helicopter has been spotted by one of the lookouts. A helicopter that seemed to be carrying a caravan.