Dead Mech (33 page)

“You like the pack?” Chunks asked, turning
it back and forth. June could immediately tell from the marks and
tattoos that the leather was human, not synth. “Took me a year to
get the right strips together to make it. It’s my baby.” Chunks
picked up a medium size knife, bone handle, double edged blade and
approached June. “Don’t worry, bitch, I won’t cut deep.” He grinned
and kissed the blade. “But, I may take a nipple.”

***

The Boss hopped into an ATV waiting for him.
“Drive to the top of Bronner’s Ridge.”

The young man driving nodded. “Yes,
Boss.”

“Keep your fucking mouth shut!” the Boss
snapped. “Just drive.”

The young man faced forward and stomped on
the accelerator. The Boss reviewed the footage on the vid cam,
growing excited. “Stop here.”

The ATV halted in front of a small shack.
The Boss got out and kicked in the door. The driver averted his
eyes, but he could hear the screaming as the Boss had fun with
whoever was unlucky enough to be in the shack.

***

June, battered, bruised, humiliated,
ignored, forgotten, murder and blood on her hands and grief in her
head, had had enough.

“You really are pathetic people,” June said,
gritting her teeth as Chunks slashed out, cutting across her
belly.

He watched the blood well and smiled,
placing a finger to the drops and licking it off the tip. “Save
your fuckin’ breath, bitch. I’m gonna cut you, no matter what you
fuckin’ say.”

Chunks slashed again, this time across
June’s thigh. She refused to cry out and bit down on the inside of
her cheek, focusing on the pain, using it.

***

The Boss buttoned his pants as he left the
shack, hopping back into the ATV. “What are you fucking waiting
for? Get us to the top of Bronner’s Ridge.” He casually wiped blood
from his knuckles.

The young driver started to respond, but
remembered himself and kept his lips tightly sealed. The Boss
leaned back into the ATV’s seat and closed his eyes, taking a deep
breath and sighing. “It’s moments like this that make me glad to be
alive.”

He opened his eyes, looking upon the dark
wasteland as the ATV began to climb. “It’s good to be king.”

***

Chunks, thoughtful, stepped back from June,
surveying his handy work like a painter does his canvas.

“You’re pretty good with a knife, huh?” June
asked, her voice shaking with pain and anger.

“The best,” Chunks grinned.

“You know what you’re not good at,
though?”

Chunks eyed June for a second. “What’s that,
meat?”

“Tying a decent fucking knot!” June yanked
her hands free from the bindings and dropped into a crouch on the
floor. Chunk’s eyes went wide with surprise and he hesitated one
second too long. June took advantage, kicking out with her left
foot shattering Chunk’s left kneecap.

***

Chunks went down hard on his shattered knee,
the pain engulfing his brain. He crumpled to the floor, screaming.
“You fucking bitch!”

He watched the naked, bleeding pilot spring
at him and his head rocked back as first her right fist, then her
left connected with his face. She battered at him and he tried to
bring his hands up to defend himself, but she shoved him into the
dirt and straddled him, pinning both arms against his torso.

Her bloody nudity no longer excited him.
Fear was all he knew as June’s fists struck again and again and
again.

***

June had been so emotional at times she
actually would see red. During her rookie train test. When she
found out about Rachel and Matty. When Steve grabbed her tit in the
wasteland. But, not while she unleashed on Chunks. No, she was
crystal clear.

“Fucking bitch, huh?” she yelled. “You can’t
think of anything more original to say, you stupid fuck?!?” Each
word was punctuated by her fist hitting Chunks’ face. She kept at
it until the only sound coming from the cannibal piece of shit was
a wet gurgling as he began to choke on his own blood.

***

“Stop here,” the Boss ordered. The young man
did as he was told and the Boss stepped from the ATV and grabbed a
large case from the back. He walked a couple feet from the ATV, set
the case down and surveyed the night sky.

“That would be north, right?” he asked the
driver. The young man trembled. Should he answer and risk death
because he spoke or should he stay silent and risk death for not
answering? The driver chose to look up into the sky and stay
silent.

The Boss nodded to himself, crouched and
opened the case.

***

June stripped Chunks, taking his clothes for
herself.

She finished lacing the boots and stood,
looking down at the pathetic henchman.

“Wanna know something?” she asked. Chunks
just choked and gagged on his own blood in response. She stepped to
his knife case and pulled out a 12” skinner with a serrated back.
“I’m pretty good with knives, too.”

She straddled him once more, but this time
facing towards his feet. “Little dick. Why am I not surprised?”

Screams from the helpless were commonplace
in the village, so June didn’t worry when Chunks began to shriek as
she started cutting.

***

The Boss finished setting up the transmitter
array. “Come here.”

The driver approached slowly. “I’m not gonna
fuckin’ hurt ya. Get your ass over here.”

The Boss shoved the vid cam into the young
man’s hands as he moved quickly to his side. “Push that button
there when I say so.
Only
when I say so.” The driver
nodded.

The Boss sat himself in a folding camp chair
in front of the array. He tapped at a small tablet, opening all com
channels.

“Greetings mech base! This is the Boss. Can
you read me?” The Boss waited for an answer.

***

“Bishop? Bishop Wyble? I hate to disturb
your sleep, Your Grace, but we are receiving a transmission over
open channels from the Boss,” Deacon Montoya said.

The Bishop stirred from his slumber and sat
up in Capreze’s bed that he had taken for his own. “The cannibal?
What does that Boiler piece of trash want?”

“Well, Your Grace, he wants to talk to
Commander Capreze. He says he has his daughter Rachel.”

The Bishop became fully awake instantly.
“Has his daughter? Well, doesn’t this make things interesting. Can
you transfer the feed to the monitor in here?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

***

The Boss was more than surprised when the
face of Bishop Wyble appeared on his tablet’s screen. “Well, I’ll
be dipped in whore shit! If it isn’t the Archbishop’s very own cock
polisher! What the fuck are you doing there, Wyble?”

“Boss. Or do you actually have a civilized
name now?” the Bishop sneered.

“You can call me God, you zombie worshipping
fucktard.”

“Well, this is pleasant as always,” Bishop
Wyble sighed. “What do you want Boiler?”

The Boss flinched at the slur. “Don’t call
me Boiler,” he growled.

The Bishop ignored the Boss. “Tell me about
the Capreze woman.”

***

June moved from shadow to shadow until she
reached the remains of Olivia’s shack. Blankets had been hung to
replace the missing wall and June quietly slipped inside.

“Olivia?” she whispered. “Olivia?”

The older woman stirred upon the bed and
June heard the distinctive sound of a pistol being cocked. “Tell me
why I shouldn’t kill your murderous ass?”

“I’m truly sorry, but you can hate me later.
Right now I’m getting you out of here,” June said.

“Can’t,” Olivia laughed and swung her legs
over the edge of the bed so June could see. “The asshole took my
feet.”

***

“Before talkin’ business, I’d sure like to
know why I’m looking at you and not the Commander,” the Boss
said.

“He ran like a frightened child. The glory
of God was too bright for him, so he retreated into the wasteland
like the heathen coward he is,” the Bishop laughed. “The base is
now under the ownership of His Excellency, The Archbishop.”

“The Archbishop’s there now?” the Boss
asked.

“He will be,” Bishop Wyble answered, growing
impatient. “Now, about that business…”

The Boss smiled, lacing his hands behind his
head and leaning back. “Play the vid,” he ordered the driver.

***

June found a tattered bag by Olivia’s bed
and began stuffing clothes into it. “You don’t need feet,” she
said, handing the bag to Olivia as she picked up the woman and
slung her over her shoulder. She felt the fatigue of the past few
days and knew when the adrenaline wore off she was going to crash
and crash hard.

June grunted under the strain, but kept her
footing and moved as quick as she could out of the shack and into
the village.

“OK, which way to the ATVs?” she asked.

“Out past the fight pit,” Olivia
answered.

***

The Bishop stared at the image on the vid
screen. “Is this being recorded?” he turned and asked Deacon
Montoya.

“Yes, Your Grace,” Montoya responded.

“Excellent,” the Bishop said, licking his
lips, his face flushed. The vid ended and the Boss appeared back on
the screen. The Bishop groaned with disappointment.

“So, I was gonna bargain with the Commander
directly, but I’m thinking now that you may be interested in this
brat. Might help you get Capreze to come crawling right back.”

Bishop Wyble grinned. “That may be the only
intelligent thing I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth.”

***

The Boss ended the transmission and sighed.
“I’d say that went well, wouldn’t you?”

The young driver stayed quiet.

“Oh, come on, you can speak. Don’t you think
that went well?”

“Um, yes, Boss. It did,” the young man
stammered.

The Boss stood and approached the driver.
“You did understand what I was saying, right? You understood the
deal I made with the Bishop?”

“Yes, Boss. I understood.”

The Boss sighed. “That’s too bad, son.” He
pulled his blade from his belt and slashed the driver’s throat. The
young man crumpled to the ground, blood spurting across the
wasteland dirt.

***

June carefully set Olivia down next to an
ATV and plopped next to her, struggling to catch her breath. She
finally stood and helped Olivia into the ATV’s passenger seat.

“You got your pistol?” June asked.

Olivia showed her the handgun.

“Good. Keep it ready, I’ll be right
back.”

“Right back? Where are you going?” Olivia
asked, alarmed.

“There’s more coming with us,” June
said.

Olivia eyed her for a moment. “You can’t
bring them children.
We
probably won’t survive out there.”
She gestured out into the waste. “
They
certainly won’t.”

“Maybe. But, I’m going to give them a
chance.”

***

The Boss casually collapsed the transmitter
array and set it back in its case. He tossed it into the ATV and
rummaged around the back for a bit until he found what he was
looking for.

He walked over to the dead driver and placed
a small cup to the corpse’s throat, squeezing along the vein until
the cup was half filled. Standing, he downed the blood in one big
gulp, wiped his mouth and tossed the cup away.

“Alright, let’s go get that bitch loaded
up,” he said aloud as he hopped into the ATV and started it up.

***

The two children stared at June listlessly
as she snapped the flimsy lock on their cage.

“I’m going to get you out of here,” she said
quietly. “There’s a better place for you out there, away from
here.”

One of the two looked out into the waste.
June cocked her head. “You can understand me?”

The child, June wasn’t sure if it was a boy
or girl, nodded slightly.

“Can you speak?”

The child shook its head ‘no’.

“Can you walk?”

The child nodded, again.

“Good,” June said as she reached in and
scooped up the other child. “Follow me.”

***

The Boss whistled tunelessly as he got out
of the ATV. He stepped into the shack then into the back room. His
whistling stopped immediately as he surveyed the scene.

The first thing he noticed was the massive
pool of blood. The second was the headless corpse in the blood. The
third thing was the knife case with the words, “Open Me” written in
blood on the side.

“What the fuck?” he growled.

He snatched up the case and whipped it open.
Inside was the head of Chunks, dead eyes staring up and cock and
balls stuffed in his mouth.

Jimmy ran through the house, grabbing
essentials while Michelle took care of baby Rachel.

“I can’t get a hold of my Father!” Michelle
cried. “He won’t pick up.”

“You can’t think of that right now. We have
to focus on getting out of the city,” Capreze called back. “We have
to get to safety.”

“What’s going on?” Michelle said, rushing
into the living room with a day bag and a crying baby. “What
attacked the city?”

Jimmy turned to look at his terrified wife’s
face.

“Sir?”

Everything started to fade, the color
washing away as the voice yanked Capreze awake.

***

“Your Grace? We are receiving a transmission
from the Boss,” Montoya said, gently tapping the Bishop on his
shoulder. Bishop Wyble stirred and looked out the transport
windshield then at the Deacon.

“Well, about time. How late is he?” Wyble
asked.

“Two hours, Your Grace.”

“Remind me to have him fed two pounds of his
own flesh when this is all over, as penalty for making me
wait.”

“Of course, Your Grace. A fitting
punishment.”

“It is, isn’t it?” the Bishop agreed waving
his hand impatiently. “Put the Boiler through.”

A grainy image of the Boss appeared upon the
windshield.