Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 6): June by Dave Rowlands Page A

that Apocalypse Girl, Sister and Scout were running the show.
    After dinner, Apocalypse Girl wanted to spend some time alone.
June 15 th Year 1 A.Z.
morning
Checking my backpack for the umpteenth time I secured Apocalypse Girl's phone, Scout's crowbar and the massive blade that Machete had given me. I checked that I had plenty of ammunition for my gun, grabbed a handful of lighters from Apocalypse Girl's own stash that, by now, would be nearing the thousands. Apocalypse Girl and Machete had refused to leave my side until I stepped on the train, which made
preparations slightly difficult, but it might be a while until I return.
    Disciple awaited me at the train station, already packed and ready to go. Sonny, Scout, Sister and The Colonel waited with him, all but Sonny looking askance at Disciple with suspicion, The Colonel especially promising death for any betrayal. Three of The Colonel's men stood behind her, awaiting her orders.
As I said my farewells to my friends, The Colonel called one of her men forward. Jarhead took a stiff stance as she ordered him to make certain that I make it home safely. He saluted, then took position behind me. “That uniform might be a bit conspicuous, mate,” Disciple told him. Jarhead swapped clothing on the spot with Sonny, then took up his weapons. “Military grade weapons could be a dead give-away, too,” Jarhead grunted. Scout offered her shotgun in trade for his assault rifle. After swapping over supplies of ammunition, Jarhead stood to attention directly behind me. “Okay, if you're going to walk around looking like you've got a pole up your arse we're dead for sure. Relax, mate.” He relaxed, a little. Disciple sighed.
    noon
The train was reasonably straightforward to use, just a matter of forwards and backwards, really, at differing speeds. Even on the slowest setting, however, I felt that we were moving far too quickly into the unknown.
    Jarhead wanted to know where exactly we were headed, Disciple simply shrugged. “We'll find out when we get there, I suppose. It's somewhere near Brisbane, that's all I know. You know the mission?” Jarhead said all he was told was make sure that I made it back alive. “Well, we're going to take out the three Bosses of The Empire.” Jarhead looked unimpressed. He told Disciple that might be his mission, but it was not Jarhead's. I was starting to like this guy.
I asked him what he thought about heading into Imperial territory. Jarhead shrugged. “I don't think anything about it. I'm here to protect you, that's all. As soon as I heard you were heading off somewhere alone, I volunteered straight away.” I was taken aback slightly, so I asked him why he chose to volunteer. “Mate, after you bashed some sense into me when I got those soldiers killed, I figured I owed you one.” Looking at the man, finally recognising him, I realised that I should not have attacked someone that large. I had clearly not been thinking that day. I mumbled an apology which he smiled and waved away. “I deserved that beating. It taught me something about the importance of human life.”
    evening
We continued down the tunnel at a pace far too rapid for my liking, though Disciple claimed it would have been completely safe to crank it up to full power. Jarhead stood with me, however, and we kept it nice and slow. The carriage we were in, though it obviously contained some kind of engine, was totally silent as it glided about a foot above the floor level of the tunnel.
Nothing but darkness lay before us, and we ate in silence. After we were done with our meal, Jarhead asked Disciple what had happened to his arm and face. A scarred visage stared at him, unblinking, for the longest time, when he finally spoke. “It was about two weeks after the first Dead got back up. I was with this group led by a bit of a religious zealot, who called himself The Abbott.”
    Disciple's eyes took on a haunted look as he continued. One day, he told us, while some of the men that