Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 5): May by Dave Rowlands Page A

and darkness, all alone. He was off to find Archer's Daughter, he told us. We all wished him luck, then we ate. Sonny was more than a little confused as to where the bread had come from, so Apocalypse Girl tried to explain it to him. By the expression on his face he was even more confused after the explanation.
    “ What happened to him?” Sonny wanted to know, once The Kid had gone well and truly out of earshot. I told him all that had occurred back at the commune, the tiny scratch of a Dead one's teeth on his leg, the Deaths of his friends and Kindly Lady. Apocalypse Girl took the story further, telling of how he had infected almost an entire army of convicts that were descending upon the commune after having broke out of a nearby jail. Apocalypse Girl and I chose first watch, wrapping ourselves up as warmly as possible to ward against the Cold. There was nothing around, not within visual range at least. Not that visual range was particularly far these days. We had a couple of torches with which we were able to light up the surrounding area somewhat, though, honestly, they didn't do much.
    To kill some time, Apocalypse Girl whipped out the radio, checking in with Soldier at The School. There was no real news, just more of the same. The Empire was consolidating their position in Melbourne, actually making things safe for the Living. Soldier was quite impressed by their effectiveness, in fact. There existed an uneasy truce between The School and The Empire, both sides leaving each other more or less alone apart from the occasional meeting between The Principal and an Imperial Ambassador. At least The Empire were better neighbours than The Followers had been.
    May 21stYear 1 A.Z.
    morning
Thanks to The Kid's ill-timed departure, the first we knew we were in trouble was when Sonny awoke us with a scream. Fortunately it was little more than a squeak that the Dead outside failed to notice, thanks to the incredible job that Viking and Valkyrie had done insulating the truck from the Cold. There were easily a hundred of them out there, shambling along in their sluggish fashion. They seemed uninterested in us, however, preferring to stagger off down the road, creating furrows in the snow.
    Deciding that we shouldn't take any chances, Apocalypse Girl got behind the wheel. Gunning the engine to life, she attracted their attention. Telling Sonny to be careful not to get bitten, Sister slid out the window, climbing up onto the roof of our vehicle. I handed her assault rifle to her on request, which she promptly used to gun down a good dozen or so of the stench-ridden throng before Sonny and I jumped out, cricket bat and katana in hand. The noise of the engine and gunfire from the front of the truck caught and held fast the attention of most of the Dead, though a couple came at us, sensing a meal was near. Sonny flattened a couple of heads with his bat, I sliced a couple apart and we proceeded to clear the exterior of the truck in short order. As we heaved the dead corpses of the Dead off the road Sonny asked me why we didn't just burn them, like everybody else was doing. I was about to answer him when the downpour began. Rushing back into the dry warmth and safety of the truck, we were still drenched by the time we made it inside.
    noon
The deluge was as intense as we had seen them before, creating a layer of dark grey sludge at the base of the windows. With little to do to pass the time, Sister fished around in her pack for a little while, eventually, triumphantly, displaying a deck of playing cards. After a few hands of poker, gambling with our spare
ammunition, Apocalypse Girl and I grew bored and retreated into the cabin.
    “ What is with this fucking rain, anyway?” She asked of nobody in particular. I shrugged, not having an answer. “At least this one doesn't have any coloured lightning. That kind of freaks me out a little bit. Especially having seen where it comes from.” I couldn't agree more. She began cleaning her guns,