Dead Mech (52 page)

The mech dove under the first wave of
missiles, letting them rocket past then came up firing.
Shiner/Mathew watched the scope as the missiles changed course,
doubling back on the mech.

Shiner/Mathew double pumped its massive legs
and leapt.

***

“Jeezus Christ made of gravy,” Grendetti
swore as he watched the mech twist in the air, one arm firing
plasma bursts back at the encroaching missiles and the other arm
unleashing hot 50mm lead upon the UDC transports below it.

The sniper turned his head away from the
eyepiece as the first of the missiles were destroyed. Once the
flash was gone he returned his attention to the mech and gasped as
the battle machine came down atop a transport, crushing the hull,
but was back on its feet in a blink, continuing its assault.

“Hot damn,” the sniper said.

***

Still firing, Shiner/Mathew executed a
backflip off the crushed transport, landing feet first behind the
machines. It ducked down as the missiles intended for it slammed
into the vehicles that had fired them.

The concussion sent Shiner/Mathew rolling,
but the mech was soon back up, grabbing the aft ends of two more
transports. It swung them around like children’s toys, tossing the
transports high into the air above the mass of zombies. Two well
placed plasma blasts ripped the transports apart sending hot
shrapnel down on the undead, thinning their numbers considerably,
while the rest of the zombie horde charged.

***

“Open fire goddammit!” Murphy yelled. “Stop
gawking and start killing! Those things are gonna overwhelm that
mech!”

The Special Ops team did as ordered and
truly began their assault on the deader army.

“Remember, head shots are no longer
permanent on the inoculated! Take out the legs first, try to
immobilize them!” the Lieutenant shouted. “Steady fire! Controlled
bursts!”

“This ain’t our first dance, sir,”
Specialist Kafar responded over the com. “You can save your breath
for when we’re really slacking!”

“If you’re ever really slacking I’ll save my
breath and use my boot, don’t you worry, Kafar!” Murphy
promised.

***

Shiner/Mathew began to quickly back away
from the first wave of zombies, dropping plasma charges in its
wake. Once row upon row of attacking zombies covered the charges,
Shiner/Mathew lit them up, the detonations shooting body parts into
the air like undead geysers.

The mech mowed down another three rows with
a non-stop onslaught from its 50mms, stopping only to let the guns
cool so they wouldn’t overheat and jam. Alarms warned that power
was draining from its plasma cannon, so the mech launched all of
its RPGs into the horde painting the landscape with even more limbs
and offal.

***

“Shit! Here they come!” Specialist Sol
yelled as many zombies turned their attention from the mech and
onto the other sources of gunfire. “Get ready people!”

Dozens of undead scrambled up the rocky
slope towards Sol and he slowed his breathing, making every trigger
pull count, going for head shots just to buy some time. He yanked a
fractal grenade from his belt, pulled the pin with his teeth and
tossed it below. He continued to fire while counting to four then
ducked his head as the grenade exploded on the fifth second.

“Fuck yeah! Bring it you deader fucks!”

***

Specialist Kafar took out as many of the
undead as he could before a dozen were on him. He fought like a mad
man, punching and kicking anything that was within his reach.

Deader hands clawed at the Specialists body
armor, trying to get at the flesh beneath. Jaws clamped down on his
arms, but the teeth merely broke off in their rotted gums, unable
to penetrate the material.

“Yeah, how do you like that tech, mother
fuckers?!?” Kafar screamed freeing an arm and yanking a steel baton
from his belt. He extended the collapsible weapon and set to
work.

***

Knowing he was unable to re-load in time,
Specialist Austin had tossed aside his carbine and already had his
batons extended. With brutal grace he crushed undead skulls,
shattered knees, femurs, forearms and anything else unlucky enough
to come within his reach.

He kicked out, knocking zombie into zombie,
creating a space of death around him. The deaders began to pull
back, circling the Specialist, looking for an opening.

“Well, look at y’all learning,” Austin said.
“You’re a little faster on the uptake than your average deader,
ain’t you?”

The zombies growled and hissed, their dead
eyes filled with rage.

***

The deader tackled Lieutenant Murphy about
the waste, knocking her to the ground.

“Fuck!” she swore, thankful for the
protective helmet as the zombie’s jaw tried to clamp down on the
tinted face plate.

More deaders piled on top of her and the
weight threatened to crush her chest, squeezing all the air from
her lungs. “A little help!” she yelled over her com.

Within a second, the deaders began to fall
as one by one their heads exploded, coating her face plate until
the world was a grey red blur.

“How’s that, sir?” Grendetti’s voice
asked.

“Perfect, Specialist. Thanks.”

***

Nguyen screamed when his back twisted and
snapped as three deaders hit the back of his legs and several more
rammed his chest, nearly tearing him in two. “Oh, God, no!” he
called out.

“Nguyen!” Sol shouted, desperately trying to
fight his way to his teammate.

“Sol! Please! Oh, God, I can’t feel my legs
anymore, man! Someone help!”

“Crap! I can’t get a mercy shot through his
helmet!” Grendetti called over the com.

The deaders hammered at Nguyen’s body,
unable to get through the armor. Within seconds the Specialist
hemorrhaged to death as his body was beat into pulp.

***

Sol rolled two grenades towards Nguyen’s
corpse and the pile of deaders still attacking it. He dropped to
the ground, as the explosions made sure his fallen teammate
wouldn’t return as an enemy.

“One down, sir!” he shouted to Murphy over
the com.

“Who?” the Lieutenant responded.

“Nguyen, sir,” Sol answered. “I cleared the
corpse.”

The 2
^nd
in command got to his
feet and took the few seconds he had to survey the scene. All about
him, raging zombies swarmed, many coming for him. He watched the
other Special Ops members struggle and grapple.

“Grenades people! Let’s end this quick!”

***

Shiner/Mathew sensed the grenade explosions
about it as the Special Ops team tried to fend off their attackers,
but the mech was never distracted as it laid down a steady stream
of fire from its flame thrower, roasting a hundred zombies at
once.

Its 50mms cool enough now to keep from
seizing, the mech opened fire once again, ripping undead bodies
into shreds.

Shiner/Mathew kept at it until the guns
clicked empty and whirled to a stop, smoke curling from the ends of
the rotating barrels.

The mech stood, looking upon a dead sea of
broken, dismembered and scorched zombies.

***

Maniacal laughter erupted from the
stronghold’s loudspeakers. “Such ferocity! How I would love to take
you as mine! Send you out into the wasteland and destroy all that
defy me!”

Shiner/Mathew turned slowly, the two
consciousnesses splitting back into their less integrated forms.
“It’ll never happen,” Mathew growled.

“Oh, yes, I am quite aware of that,” Johnson
said. “For that was only a taste of what is in store. Almost a
diversion, an amusement!”

“I didn’t find it very funny,” Mathew
stated.

“Then you certainly aren’t going to laugh at
the next course!”

“Mathew,” Shiner said. “They are all
here.”

***

“Sound off!” Lieutenant Murphy ordered as
she pulverized the skull of her last zombie with the heel of her
boot.

“Specialist Sol, all fingers, all toes!”

“Specialist Austin, all fingers, all toes,
cracked rib!”

“Specialist Kafar, all fingers, all toes,
hyper-extended knee!”

“Specialist Grendetti, all fingers, all
toes!”

Murphy sighed. “Godspeed Nguyen.”

“Godspeed,” the rest of team said in
unison.

There was a brief moment of silence then the
Lieutenant was back to business. “Full inventory now! I want to
know what we have left for when the next army gets here!”

“Yes, sir!” the team shouted, again in
unison.

***

“How many am I looking at?” Mathew
asked.

“The numbers are so great it is impossible
to get a full count,” Shiner responded.

“Estimate dammit! We’re not setting the
fucking table for dinner!”

“I do not understand the reference. I am
unsure what table settings have to do with-”

“SHINER!” Mathew roared, interrupting the
AI.

“You have access to this information, but my
estimation is close to three hundred thousand, give or take ten or
twenty thousand.”

Mathew gulped. “Transports?”

“Those I have an exact count: 57,” Shiner
said.

“How much time?” Mathew asked, knowing the
answer.

“None,” Shiner replied.

***

Each member of the Special Ops team made his
way to the Lieutenant, putting down deaders as they could, knowing
many were going to rise again soon unless they could torch all the
bodies.

Once re-grouped, they removed their helmets,
savoring the fresh air on their sweaty faces.

“What are we looking at?” Murphy asked as
Sol sat next to her.

“Not good,” the 2
^nd
in command
said. “Nearly all of the grenades are gone and we each have enough
ammo to last maybe five minutes.”

“At least we have a bullet each,” Austin
said.

“Last resort only,” Murphy snarled.

***

Mathew could feel the ground vibrate all the
way up in the cockpit from hundreds of thousands of deader feet.
The rumble of the transports could be heard also, making the air
hum as the colossal army of the dead moved towards them.

“Hey folks?” Mathew shouted. “You’re gonna
want to get behind me!”

Murphy and her team stood and watched in awe
as the approach to the stronghold was covered by row after row of
deaders. Not a single member of the team waited for Murphy’s order
as they each grabbed up their gear and sprinted towards the
mech.

***

“Submit and I’ll spare you,” Johnson
said.

“Ain’t happenin’ freak!” Mathew shouted.
“I’m thinking death is a better option.”

“Death? No, I don’t plan on killing you. I
plan on overpowering you, so your uniqueness may be studied,”
Johnson laughed. “The Lieutenant’s team however, will be slowly
ripped apart, their innards eaten while they watch.”

“Yeah, not thinking that’s part of the plan,
either,” Mathew replied. “Tell your army to halt or I set the
self-destruct and you’ll have nothing to study.”

Johnson’s cackle once again filled the air.
“Then self-destruct! Your dissection was only to be an amusement
anyway.”

***

“Whoa! Did he just say we’re going to have
to watch while they eat our guts?” Austin asked. “I vote for
self-destruct right now, please.”

“No, no one’s self-destructing!” Lieutenant
Murphy shouted.

“Excuse me?” Mathew said. “I make the
self-destruct call here.”

“Shut it mech!” Murphy ordered.

“Um, okay,” Mathew said. “You’ve got the
floor.”

Murphy turned to the stronghold. “Johnson,
listen, you’ve got to stop. If you kill everyone then you will be
alone. Alone inside with nothing but deaders left out here.”

“Oh, no, Lieutenant, there are pockets of
humanity still out there. Pockets uncorrupted by UDC lies!”

***

“That guy’s fucking nuts,” Specialist Austin
mumbled.

“Insanity is relative,” Johnson responded.
“Mainly relative to the one that holds the power.”

“Which would be me since I just set the
self-destruct,” Mathew said. “I don’t know if it’ll penetrate the
stronghold, but I sure hope it fucks up your day.”

“I cancelled the self-destruct,” Shiner
said.

“What? You don’t get to make that call. I’m
the pilot,” Mathew said angrily.

“But, my consciousness will cease to exist
as well. I have as much an interest in surviving as you do,” Shiner
insisted.

“But, we can’t beat those numbers!” Mathew
yelled.

***

“Are those numbers accurate?” Timson asked
staring at the scanner readings.

“Yeah, they are,” Jenny responded. “There
has to be at least 300,000 deaders waiting at our destination. We
are going to tear right through them in less than an hour.”

“Jay? Can your disc handle that many?”
Timson asked.

“As long as those fucks are within the wave
radius, yes, it can handle that many, but I don’t know how long
they’ll stay down,” Jay responded over the com.

“It’ll buy us some time,” Capreze joined in.
“We’ll destroy as many as we can before they get back up.”

***

The Special Ops team waited while Shiner and
Mathew had their internal argument.

“What’s going on?” Specialist Sol asked,
glancing warily as the deader army moved closer. “Are we gonna blow
up or what? Those things are getting a little close.”

“Just keep your sidearm handy in case you
need to take care of yourselves,” Lieutenant Murphy told her team.
“I don’t know what the mech is doing.”

“Hey, do you feel that?” Grendetti asked.
“Is the ground shaking?”

“Um, the ground has been shaking for a
while! There are a couple hundred thousand deaders marching towards
us!” Sol yelled.

***

“What is that?” Timson asked, pointing at
the scope. “It’s huge.”

“It’s Masters,” Marin answered. “He’s just
arrived at the stronghold, looks like.”