officer when the man had gone irrevocably insane.
The Smart Couple were close on her heels, throwing their arms around first Apocalypse Girl, then Sister, then me. Machete was then quite thoroughly hugged as well, just because she was there, really.
The Colonel barked orders for her men to fortify the position, set up a squad of guards to watch the main entrance and issued orders that nobody was allowed in without her say-so. Then, she and our scientific comrades followed us inside and underground.
noon
The Colonel wanted to gun Disciple down once she learned who he was, but didn't when Apocalypse Girl talked her down. Even so, my former friend was warned to stay the fuck out of her way, and if she hears of him doing anything like what he and his Followers got up to in Melbourne she wouldn't hesitate next time. He knew she meant it, too, offering up none of the usual smartmouthed bullshit that he would have to anyone else. Disciple was understandably eager for us to be on our way after his encounter with The Colonel, but, at least in part purely to be a bastard, I told him that we would leave tomorrow morning. I wanted to spend some more time with Apocalypse Girl before leaving her behind.
The Colonel talked about the ingenuity of the people of Coober's Nest, how impressed she had been that so many had managed to survive not just the Dead but the mutants that had begun to roam the wastes that the central regions of Australia had become. She was equally impressed by Digger, having come through his tiny town of survivors. They had offered assistance and had eventually left a small squad behind to help them fend off Dead and mutants, though Digger had stubbornly refused at first. It was only after The Colonel had mentioned her grandfather, whom Digger had known well, and some of his exploits in Tobruk and New Guinea that he had relented and afterwards, they had parted as firm friends, saluting one another respectfully. The Smart Couple had managed to synthesise vast amounts of the inoculation for the Dead Plague and they had been certain to vaccinate everybody that they could, military or civilian. The fact that several of The Colonel's men had been savagely mauled by the Dead and bore the scars to prove it while remaining quite polite and not trying to eat anybody was convincing enough for pretty much everyone. Nobody wanted to become one of the Dead after all, and the ability to withstand being bitten was, to say the least, a huge advantage.
evening
Apocalypse Girl and I spent some time with The Smart Couple in the computer lab, catching up for the most part. Smart Guy had managed to discover a way to make a mobile phone battery last almost indefinitely, installing it in Apocalypse Girl's phone, which she wanted me to take with me. “So we can keep in touch,” she told me as she handed it to me. We sent a couple of test messages to each other just to make sure she was familiar with the procedure using the computers, though we had the radio as well, it would serve as a good backup and we could use it for more … private and intimate communications. About thirty or forty civilians had decided to come along with The Colonel, some of these from Coober's Nest, including Dentist and Ginger. The red-headed Irishman claimed that they were only visiting, but the pair were mightily impressed with the medical facilities and stasis chambers. Ginger was already thinking, he told me privately, about setting up a trade route between here and Coober's Nest, using places like Digger's Trench as stopover points along the way.
The Colonel decided to use Alice Facility as a base from which to strike against the Dead, though there were precious few of those left in the immediate area, this meant that she would be sticking around for at least a week or so, long enough, hopefully, for Disciple and I to complete our mission in The Empire and return via train. If she had to go anywhere, she would make certain that the others here realise
The Smart Couple were close on her heels, throwing their arms around first Apocalypse Girl, then Sister, then me. Machete was then quite thoroughly hugged as well, just because she was there, really.
The Colonel barked orders for her men to fortify the position, set up a squad of guards to watch the main entrance and issued orders that nobody was allowed in without her say-so. Then, she and our scientific comrades followed us inside and underground.
noon
The Colonel wanted to gun Disciple down once she learned who he was, but didn't when Apocalypse Girl talked her down. Even so, my former friend was warned to stay the fuck out of her way, and if she hears of him doing anything like what he and his Followers got up to in Melbourne she wouldn't hesitate next time. He knew she meant it, too, offering up none of the usual smartmouthed bullshit that he would have to anyone else. Disciple was understandably eager for us to be on our way after his encounter with The Colonel, but, at least in part purely to be a bastard, I told him that we would leave tomorrow morning. I wanted to spend some more time with Apocalypse Girl before leaving her behind.
The Colonel talked about the ingenuity of the people of Coober's Nest, how impressed she had been that so many had managed to survive not just the Dead but the mutants that had begun to roam the wastes that the central regions of Australia had become. She was equally impressed by Digger, having come through his tiny town of survivors. They had offered assistance and had eventually left a small squad behind to help them fend off Dead and mutants, though Digger had stubbornly refused at first. It was only after The Colonel had mentioned her grandfather, whom Digger had known well, and some of his exploits in Tobruk and New Guinea that he had relented and afterwards, they had parted as firm friends, saluting one another respectfully. The Smart Couple had managed to synthesise vast amounts of the inoculation for the Dead Plague and they had been certain to vaccinate everybody that they could, military or civilian. The fact that several of The Colonel's men had been savagely mauled by the Dead and bore the scars to prove it while remaining quite polite and not trying to eat anybody was convincing enough for pretty much everyone. Nobody wanted to become one of the Dead after all, and the ability to withstand being bitten was, to say the least, a huge advantage.
evening
Apocalypse Girl and I spent some time with The Smart Couple in the computer lab, catching up for the most part. Smart Guy had managed to discover a way to make a mobile phone battery last almost indefinitely, installing it in Apocalypse Girl's phone, which she wanted me to take with me. “So we can keep in touch,” she told me as she handed it to me. We sent a couple of test messages to each other just to make sure she was familiar with the procedure using the computers, though we had the radio as well, it would serve as a good backup and we could use it for more … private and intimate communications. About thirty or forty civilians had decided to come along with The Colonel, some of these from Coober's Nest, including Dentist and Ginger. The red-headed Irishman claimed that they were only visiting, but the pair were mightily impressed with the medical facilities and stasis chambers. Ginger was already thinking, he told me privately, about setting up a trade route between here and Coober's Nest, using places like Digger's Trench as stopover points along the way.
The Colonel decided to use Alice Facility as a base from which to strike against the Dead, though there were precious few of those left in the immediate area, this meant that she would be sticking around for at least a week or so, long enough, hopefully, for Disciple and I to complete our mission in The Empire and return via train. If she had to go anywhere, she would make certain that the others here realise
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