Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 9): September by Dave Rowlands Read Free Book Online

time.  There really was nothing for the pair of us to do there, so we left.  Apocalypse Dog was grateful that someone actually came out of the computer lab.
     
    evening
    Trying to take it easy was never a simple task, even before the world ended.  Now it was all soldiers trying to take my time away from me.  In this instance, it was Maori and Wall.  The pair wanted to go topside and try to infiltrate The Righteous.  They were easy enough to join up with, by all accounts, just a little rabid and territorial.  They also didn’t like it when members of their organisation tried to leave.  I still told them it was a bad idea.  Grumbling about my decision, they nevertheless respected it and removed themselves from my presence, only to be replaced by The Colonel.
     
    “Is there anything you can tell me, anything at all?” The small woman stalked about the room like a caged tiger.  “I’ve been going mental without any news.  Now, with Sydney, I just don’t know.  How do we deal with these things?”  I told her what I could, which was not a lot.  Even then, I was yawning more than talking.
     
    After The Colonel came an influx of regular troops, men that I had seen and served with around Canberra.  It was amazing that many of these people were still alive, all things considered.  There had been an awful lot of Dead encountered by both them and us in the intervening months, not to mention all the bandits and ghouls and mutants of various strains.
     
    In the end, I was not able to make my nightly radio run.  Just too damned tired for any of that shit.  Christ, I can hardly keep my eyes open now as it is.  Sleep beckons.

September 8 th Year 1 A.Z.
    morning
    I had a dream last night.  That almost never happens, not anymore, so I usually take notice whenever it does.  In this particular dream, I watched myself swinging my katana down upon Elder’s unprotected neck.  I stop just shy of slicing into his dark skin, just short of seeing the blood spurting from his severed stump of a neck.  Then, I ask him why he was letting me kill him.
     
    “You’ll work it out sooner or later, mate.”  Elder’s eyes sparkled as he winked up at me.  They shone even brighter than the sun reflected off of my sword.  “Everything has to happen the way it happens.  There’s no point in struggling, you’ll only make it worse for yourself.”  Then, the dream resumes, my blade descends, Elder’s head goes flying.  As in reality, both head and body vanish, leaving only a red-stained robe and a pair of grotty thongs.
     
    Then, Apocalypse Girl was shaking me awake.  I was nearly late for my briefing with The Boss, and that simply would not do.  So, I scrambled into my uniform and we made our way swiftly to the The Boss’s office.  Apocalypse Dog thought it was some kind of race, tried to trip me up a few times, until we found Jester and were able to leave the dog with someone of a similarly small and mischievous stature.
     
    The Boss was impatiently pacing back and forth when we arrived, the rest of my squad already there and awaiting orders.  “Ah, good,” Her voice was dry.  “Now that we’ve all decided to show up…”  She launched into a series of instructions.  We were going out on another scouting expedition, this time to find The Righteous camp for certain.  We needed to find out approximate numbers, what sort of weaponry they used, anything and everything we were able.  As before, we would have a two day window after drop-off to accomplish our mission.
     
    “Remember this, if nothing else,” Her voice was weighed down by the gravity of her statement.  “We need information.  We don’t need bodies.  If it comes to a firefight against a superior force, withdraw.  As I said, we need to know their capabilities.  If you guys don’t come back we can’t get that information.  Dismissed.”
     
    noon
    Another tiny little town in the middle of nowhere.  Fucking wonderful.  All the locals