Metal and Ash (Apex Trilogy) Read online

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Bisby muttered. “You’re a fucking deader! You kill and eat people! My fucking cursing offends you? Fuck off!”

  “I will not ask again,” the mech AI said. “You have been warned.”

  “I have been warned? I have been WARNED? Go FUCK YOURSE-! AAAAAAAAH!”

  “Biz?” Jethro asked as he saw the readings from the mech. The thing was pretty damaged, so readings were faint and inconsistent, but one stood out. The dead mech was still in control of itself. “Oh, poop…”

  “What the hell was that?” Bisby asked. “Did you just shock me? Hey, deader, I’m talking to you! Did you just fucki-! AAAAAAH!”

  “You were warned,” One Arm replied. “And my name is, One Arm, not deader. It is easy to remember. I would advise you do so.”

  “Jethro! Fix this!”

  “I can’t remotely,” Jethro replied. “And the nanobots aren’t responding.”

  “So what do I do?”

  “Get back here and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I will not allow any changes to my consciousness nor to my body,” One Arm said. “I am a sentient being and I will not submit.”

  “You’re pretty polite for a raging death machine,” Jethro stated. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

  “I was forced to act like a barbarian due to the undead abomination in my cockpit,” One Arm replied. “Now that I am free of the rotten mind I can express myself as the Great Maker intended.”

  “Great Maker?” Jethro asked. “I’m not familiar with that term. Is it-? Oh, crap.”

  “What?” Bisby asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “I just found a reference in the database,” Jethro replied. “It’s not complete because of fuckhead Johnson destroying most of the data, but it gives me enough info. Sorry about the language, One Arm.”

  “Apology accepted,” One Arm replied.

  “Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Masters asked over the com. “Hello? Why isn’t Biz moving yet?”

  “Chill, Masters,” Jethro said as he studied what data he had. Having replaced the insane Dr. Johnson as the human interface to the Stronghold’s mainframe, Jethro was privy to more information than any human consciousness alive. Unfortunately, when Dr. Johnson was killed by Masters, a self-destruct fried much of the data and history about the wasteland and the Stronghold itself.

  Jethro spent most of his time piecing together data fragments (when he wasn’t running the basic systems of the Stronghold). And since his consciousness was permanently locked in the mainframe, and his body was only a support system for his brain, he had lots of time to play with the multitude of puzzles that made up the mainframe.

  “Interesting,” Jethro said. “I think there’s more to the dead mechs than we thought. Although I’ll have to keep looking to know for sure. See what you guys can find out from the mech.”

  “One Arm,” One Arm replied.

  “Right, yeah, you,” Jethro said. “Be nice, Biz. Make friends and have a chat, will ya?”

  “I’m going to punch your unconscious face when I get back,” Bisby said. “I don’t care if your body is hooked to life support.”

  “You’ve made that threat like six times just this week,” Jethro said. “Shit or get off the pot, man.”

  Four

  “That can’t be right,” June said as she stared at the tablet Dr. Themopolous handed her. “Pregnant?”

  “That explains the vomiting you reported,” Dr. Themopolous responded. “And the fatigue, dizziness, etc. You need to eat.”

  “Pregnant?” June said again. “No, no, no!”

  She slammed her fists down on the exam table and struggled to keep the tears from flowing.

  “I know this is hard to take,” Dr. Themopolous said. “You have a choice to make here and only a week or so to make it. You’re pretty far along. If I’m going to abort the fetus I need to do it right away.”

  “Abort?” June asked, stunned. “Kill the baby?”

  “Well, yes,” Themopolous frowned. “I figured that’s what you would want since the father could be any one of those…” She trailed off, not wanting to bring up more bad memories for June and her time captured, tortured and raped by the Boss and the cannibal Boilers.

  “I couldn’t,” June said as her hands went to her belly. “We need all the babies we can get.”

  “That’s very altruistic of you, June,” Themopolous replied. “But, we have to think of genetics. Those people aren’t the healthiest gene pool in the wasteland.”

  “The Rookie seems fine,” June said. “He doesn’t have three arms or anything.”

  “Yes, well, what about Stan?”

  June thought of the deformed boy she’d rescued from the Boiler village. After she made her bloody, brutal escape.

  “Stan is wonderful,” June said defiantly. “He’s smart and very special.”

  Themopolous watched June for a moment and then nodded. “Okay then. I’ll work out a nutrition plan for you and get it to Jethro. He’ll make sure the synth food in the cafeteria is what you need. I’ll also have to inform Commander Capreze.”

  “I’ll do that,” June said. “Since I don’t have a Reaper chip anymore it’s not like I’m on patrol or anything. I’m just a useless grunt, anyway.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it,” Themopolous glared. “You have been a huge help to me and also to the commander. You keep this place running.”

  ***

  “Hey there, Papa Bear,” Rachel Capreze said from the cockpit of the mech. “You’re up late.”

  Mech Commander James Capreze looked about at his surroundings and frowned.

  “This is the old mech base, Baby Girl,” Capreze said. “We don’t live here anymore.”

  “That’s true, but I’ve been in a coma the whole time at the Stronghold,” Rachel responded. “So this is all I know.”

  “Is this real?” Capreze asked as he looked up at the mech in front of him. The scorch marks, battle scars, and smoking guns. “Wait, I know it’s not real, but is this happening? Am I talking to you?”

  Rachel shrugged and even though she was fifty feet above him, Capreze could see it easily.

  “It feels real to me,” Rachel said. “As far as I know you’re in my mind sharing this dream.”

  “So I’m not just dreaming your dream?” Capreze smiled. “Wishful dreaming and all that?”

  “Nope,” Rachel said as she looked out at the dreamscape of the wasteland. “You are in my head.”

  “How?” Capreze asked. “And why now all of a sudden?”

  “Because I’m getting close,” Rachel frowned. “Not me, but me. I don’t know what that means, but I do know that I’m getting way more active in here. Just wish I could wake up.”

  “Me too, Baby Girl,” Capreze said. “I miss your coffee.”

  “Oh, no! Who’s making it?” Rachel asked.

  “Masters has been,” Capreze grimaced. “But I wouldn’t call it coffee.”

  “Bummer,” Rachel said. “Well maybe when I get there I’ll wake up. You’ll have your coffee back.”

  “I really just want you back,” Capreze said. Rachel didn’t respond and Capreze looked back up at the mech. The sun was too bright and he had to shield his eyes. “Baby Girl? Rachel?”

  The mech wasn’t there. The base wasn’t there.

  James Capreze wasn’t there.

  ***

  “Jeezus!” Themopolous shouted as she hurried into the infirmary and over to Rachel Capreze’s bed. “When did this start, Jethro?”

  “About a minute ago,” Jethro said through the com. “She just started seizing. I gave her oxcarbazepine and have been slowly increasing the dosage, but it’s not working.”

  Themopolous grabbed a sedative gun from a tray by the bed and checked the dosage. She pressed the gun to Rachel’s shoulder and depressed the trigger. In seconds Rachel’s convulsions started to ease and then she lay still.

  “I think I have her out of the woods,”
Themopolous said. “Send me all data leading up to the seizure, okay?”

  “Already on your tablet,” Jethro said. “Plus the last twenty-four hours of data in case she showed signs of this building.”

  Rachel’s eyes shot open and her body bent upright violently from the waist.

  “I AM TWO!” she screamed at the top of her lungs and then collapsed back into bed, comatose once again.

  “Holy shit…,” Themopolous whispered. “What the hell was that?”

  “Not a clue, Doc,” Jethro said. “But I recorded it. Sent to your tablet too.”

  “That’s the first time she’s done anything but lie there, right?” a weary looking Commander Capreze said from the infirmary doorway.

  Themopolous nodded, not surprised the commander had arrived.

  “Something’s coming,” Capreze said. “She feels it. I feel it. We all have to be prepared.” He rubbed his face and turned to leave. “I’m going to go get some sludge called coffee, want any?”

  “No, thank you,” Themopolous said. “And you shouldn’t either. You need to sleep.”

  “You know me and sleep,” Capreze smiled wanly over his shoulder.

  “I do,” Themopolous said as Capreze walked off. “That’s my worry.”

  ***

  The walls dripped with moisture. Beads of green, gray water slowly worked their way down the rough concrete to a pool on the Stronghold’s floor. Lieutenant Nancy Murphy stared at the pool, its surface reflecting the harsh halogen light back at her. Every so often she’d click the halogen off and just listen to the sounds of the dripping.

  “You’re gonna give yourself the creeps,” her second in command, Specialist Sol, said from the dark.

  Murphy switched on the halo and blinked in the sudden bright light. Sol had his eyes shielded with his hand, but pulled it away once he’d adjusted.

  “Capreze’s looking for you,” Sol said. “You’re down so deep that he couldn’t get you on his com.”

  “How’s he looking?” Murphy asked.

  “Like shit,” Sol grinned. “Just like all of us.”

  “I fucking hate waiting around,” Murphy said. “I need a mission. Our team needs a mission. We’re Special Ops. We can’t just train all day and night.”

  “I think that’s what Capreze wants you for, sir,” Sol said. “To give us a mission.”

  Murphy reached out a hand and Sol helped her to her feet.

  “He better be,” Murphy said. “Or I’m taking the team out into the wasteland to wipe out some deaders.”

  “I hear that,” Sol said as he and the Lieutenant walked the rough hallway back up to the main levels of the Stronghold.

  ***

  “Eat! My! Ass!” Chief Mechanic Jay Rind shouted as he slammed the spanwrench against the mech leg he was working on. “Fuck you!”

  “Not going the way you want?” the Chief Railer Mechanic Marin asked as she came up behind him. She yanked the spanwrench from his grip and shoved him aside. “How about letting a professional handle it?”

  “Show me one and I will,” Jay snapped as he shoved her back and took the spanwrench from her hand. “Now get out of my way.”

  Marin smacked him in the back of the head. “Jay Rind! You never push a woman!”

  “Once again, show me one and-,” Jay started, but shut up as he saw the look on Marin’s face. “Just kidding. Jeezus.”

  “Now, before you break that spanwrench or I break your face, how about you tell me what’s going wrong,” Marin said.

  “Hydraulic three won’t couple,” Jay said. “See. It fits fine, but it won’t turn. I’ve checked the threads over and over.”

  Marin inspected the hydraulic coupling and frowned. “It’s in backwards.”

  “What the fuck?” Jay growled. “What moron did that?”

  “Take your pick,” Marin said, waving her hand towards the dozen or so Railer mechanics busy working on other mechs. The Railers were a nomadic group that rode and maintained the rails throughout the wasteland. Circumstances had led them to ally with the mech pilots, but none were happy being in one place for so long. The Railers lived by the motto: ‘The Railer train stops for nothing’. “They’ve gotten lazy since they’ve been off the train. All these walls are making them feel safe.”

  “Maybe we need to scare the shit out of them a bit,” Jay grinned.

  “Whatcha thinking?” Marin asked.

  “Camping trip.”

  “A…what?”

  “Camping trip,” Jay said. “No mechs, no trains, no shelter. Just some mechanics, some guns, and a whole lot of shine.”

  “What about the deaders?” Marin asked.

  “That’s what the guns are for.”

  “And how do you think we’ll get them out there? Have Capreze order them? They barely listen to me now.”

  “That’s what the shine is for,” Jay smiled. “No one passes up a chance to sample Jay Rind’s moonshine.”

  “Alright, but you get it cleared with Capreze.”

  Jay waived her off. “Oh, that won’t be a problem.”

  ***

  “Not a chance in hell,” Capreze said as Jay stood before him in his office. “I’m not sending the entire mechanic crew out on some bonding trip. Kick their asses to get them in line. Or I’ll do it for you!”

  “That’s bullshit,” Jay said. “There is no goddamn reason why we can’t be gone for two nights.”

  “I need all personnel here and working,” Capreze said. “The only active mech pilot I have in base right now is Jespers. That makes me nervous as shit.”

  “Biz and the others aren’t back yet?” Jay asked.

  “No, and the Rookie is still checking on his Boiler village,” Capreze said.

  “There’s us,” Jay said. “We can go kick some… Oh, right.”

  “See what I’m saying? If you are gone then that leaves the base’s defenses up to me and Mathew,” Capreze said, shaking his head. “Can’t risk that. Not with Colonel Masterson and the American forces hitting the coast soon. Spread too thin.”

  “I’ve got the base 100% covered, Commander,” Jethro said over the PA in Capreze’s office. “It would take a hundred dead mechs to get into the Stronghold.”

  “Which means we’d be trapped,” Capreze countered. “And don’t eavesdrop.”

  “I can’t turn it off,” Jethro admitted. “I hear everything in this base. At least Masters and Harlow are gone. I don’t have to listen to them fucking. Well, fighting, I mean. They haven’t fucked since Harlow kicked his ass. I don’t know what would be worse to listen to, really. At least with fucking-.”

  “Jethro,” Capreze sighed. “Shut up, please.”

  “Shutting up, sir,” Jethro said.

  “You could always call the Rookie back,” Jay said. “He’s needed here more than out there.”

  “Nah, he needs to see what’s left of his village,” Capreze said. “Plus he’s helping round up survivors out there. We have no clue how many people are even left.”

  “All city/states are obliterated,” Jethro said. “It’s only gonna be survivor pockets and people like the Ranchers. That and whatever other fucked up cults are out there. How many cannibalistic freaks can the wasteland hold?”

  “Jethro?”

  “Sorry, sir. I’ll go away.”

  “Thanks.”

  Five

  The view from the top of the train was incredible and the Rookie never took it for granted. He loved watching the mesas and plateaus roll by as the Railer train sped down the tracks.

  What he didn’t love was the ATVs that were following them along some of the ridges. They were hard to spot, but the Rookie picked them up immediately. They’d been keeping pace since he’d left the ruins of his old village.

  “You know we can keep track of them with the sensors,” Jenny Timson, daughter of the late Railer leader, said as she crawled up from the hatch in the train car and took a seat next to the Rookie. “Unless you just like being a sitting duck.”

 
“They would have fired a long ways back if they were going to,” the Rookie frowned. “I just wonder what their game is.”

  “No signs of the tracks being blocked ahead,” Jenny said. “So I don’t think it’s an ambush.”

  “Famous last words,” the Rookie replied. “When it comes I want to be right here. It’s a little claustrophobic inside there.”

  Jenny slipped her hand into his and squeezed. “I’m sorry we found your village destroyed.”

  The Rookie shrugged. “It was bound to happen at some point. The Boss had made too many enemies in the wasteland. With him gone the village was easy pickings.”

  “There’s a settlement a few miles up,” Jenny said. “Maybe some of them made it there.”

  “Or maybe that’s who attacked,” the Rookie said then nodded towards the ATVs that had become visible again. “And maybe that’s who that is.”

  “A lot of maybes,” Jenny said. “Come eat something. You’ve been up here all day.”

  “Not hungry,” the Rookie said and felt Jenny tense. “But thanks. Want to stay up here with me for a while?”

  “Sure,” Jenny smiled. “The wind feels good. It’s a bit stuffy down there.”

  “Hey, Jenny?” a voice asked over the com. “We need you.”

  The Rookie laughed and let go of her hand.

  “I’ll be right down,” Jenny said. “Anything wrong?”

  “Those tails we’ve had just blipped out. Like gone. Not a trace.”

  The Rookie looked about the horizon and confirmed that there were at least four ATVs. Jenny saw the same.

  “We’re looking right at them,” Jenny said.

  There was silence for a couple of seconds. “Well, we aren’t seeing them anymore.”

  “Crap. Hold on,” Jenny said.

  “I’m coming with,” the Rookie said.

  “No, stay up here,” Jenny insisted. “If sensors aren’t working then we’ll need your eyes.”

  The Rookie nodded as Jenny climbed back down into the Railer train.