Chapter Six

The Unholy Zombie Daughter Of Lucy

Una's body spasmed for a moment as Sib shocked her once again. Lasting just long enough to wake her.

“Sorry about that,” Sib began. “You’re not really in pain, I was just giving your sense of feeling a jumpstart. But while in Dreamland I’ve been thinking of old Earth zombie movies and realized a few things. Like… how in the heck do zombies know who not to eat? I mean, if your body is rotting, your ability to see would fade pretty quickly. And don’t get me started on their sense of smell. How a zombie would be able to smell anything other than themselves is beyond me. Also, if they’re so hungry for brains and flesh, why don’t they ever finish off their victims? I’m just saying, there would be more skeletons than zombies. Hay, are you ignoring me?” Una’s reply came in a weak grunt. “Oh, right…” Moments later the pain seemed to melt away, her body becoming numb to the point she wanted to just sleep. “What little nanites in your body was a tad limiting so while you were sleeping I pulled them from the severed Chaton fingers! Aren't I smart?”

“I hate my life,” She whispered.

“Depressing!” The little AI brother cheered, joyfully. “I have good news! You can move without getting blown up. I made them blind and deaf… kinda. Uhhh… refrain from any sudden movements and you’ll be a-ok!" Una began turning her head to the right, and out the corner of her eye were a pair of Chaton combat boots, split open and layered with fungus. "The bad news is, the other dummies left you here to die."

"That's what I would've done," She said, mouthing the words.

"And that's why you're also a Dummy." Slowly, Una rose to her feet, coming to stand right next to the twisted fungus-covered Chaton corpse. Looking away from it, she could see many others standing among the trees, motionless without making a sound. Sib went on to say, "If this was a movie they would be moaning and groaning instead of standing like statues."

Before taking a step, Una looked over the forest floor, checking for any hazards that sought to trip her or worse. After spitting in death's face for the second time in just a few hours, she was pretty sure she'd pissed off the Grim Reaper.

"Tell me something useful."

"Uhh… if you drink water while on the toilet, nothing happens! Aaaand I think I'm picking up chatter from a Sergeant, care to hear?"

"Yes," she whispered, doing her best to subdue her excitement around the explosive Chaton around her. Her earpiece began to crackle, making her hate the Queens even more for such low-grade technology. Only feeling this way because it was made clear they had better technology but weren't allowed to use it.

"14237, do you read?"

"..."

"Damn, even braindead Chaton are fucken worthless. Get another Chaton-scout out to the fabricators. That damn ship isn’t falling fast enough and her Majesty is growing impatient. We're just gonna shoot it down."

Una listened while keeping her eyes focused on the infected Chaton around her, side-stepping one after another. The Orc couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as she stepped from the Chaton minefield. Not because she was currently no longer at risk of being blown up but because of what she heard.

“Wha, what the heck did you do?” Sib asked with suspicion. “Your stress levels just dropped. Only the Chaton are permitted drugs just so you know.”

“She said the Captain is still alive.”

“Oh… right well sure, that’s cool, I guess. I kind of already knew that.”

“You already knew!?” Una snapped, speaking just loud enough that one of the infected Chaton turned in her direction. The Orc noticed this and started her march to put some distance between her and the exploding Chaton.

“Hey, you big dummy. I said KIND… OF… Mmmm, never repeat what I’m about to tell you. And I’m only telling you this to keep your stress down and to keep you from doing anything stupid. If the Captain dies… your home world will be razed and the closest planet will get turned into a wasteland.”

“... I don’t give a fuck, Sib. I was born in space on a fucking ship to kill shit. Why would I give a damn about this world or a backwater planet that just learned to make gunpowder? I just want to complete my mission and go home. Now who in the hell's voice was that a few moments ago? Sounded like an Orc.”

"That’s the spirit, you jerk,” Sib chimed. “That was an Orc Sergeant. Would you like to contact her so you both can compare whose skin is greener?”

"That signal, where's it coming from?"

"Zaras's nose was pretty on the mark. Should be straight ahead."

Without warning, Una made a mad dash forward. The forest floor was riddled with snags that sought to trip her. Yet Una's Sib-infused boots uprooted plants or shredded everything in her path. The massive trees that towered above her blocked out most of the blue sky for miles and miles so she didn't realize her destination was the foot of a mountain until the last minute.

"Sib, where are the others?"

"How about I tell you where a high voltage wall is, you big dummy?!" Unsure if she could slow down fast enough, Una panicked and dropped herself to the ground. Tumbling into a front flip. Finally sliding to a stop on her back, her dirty boots inches away from touching the wall of thick logs and wiring. “Congratulations, you're alive! You should really learn to pay attention."

"Why is there a wall?" She asked, immediately regretting the question.

"Because someone built it, duh!" He laughed, clearly having the time of his life.

"Right, how about the others?"

"The other walls?!" He said excitedly.

"Kaida and Zaras,"

"Unknown!" He sang cheerfully. "I kind of figured they would be here somewhere."

Una scanned from left to right, searching for the closest tree and branch to the wall. Picking one, she used Sib's added strength to leap straight up and clamp hold, almost splintering the branch. While she found her enhanced strength to be amazing, what she saw over the wall was a surprise in and of itself. The few Orcs on the other side of the wall were dressed in the same uniform but inverted colors. Buildings made from logs were scattered throughout the camp with a few of steel dotting here and there with demonic nuns making up the majority of the population. Each nun had a disgusting fleshy antenna reaching toward the sky from the back of their necks. Una had approached the camp at an angle so the entrance was far to her left with two guards standing on the inside. They seemed on edge by the infected nuns that shambled aimlessly around the camp. One of the guards snapped and aimed her rifle at the infected nun's head when they got too close, threatening them to get back to their post at the artillery rail guns that were stationed around the camp. The infected nuns slowly fled, while placing their hands over their heads. They were well aware of the threat but their motor skills were far too impaired to move too quickly. Una was sure if Kaida saw this, she would snap. Not that she cared much for her own demonic kind but the fact that such treatment was coming from an Orc might be enough to send her over the edge. At the back of the camp was a mountain that had been carved into, creating a massive hole with two guards there as well. Those two seemed a bit more relaxed, bored even.

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"Screw that, why are the damn pure bloods here?”

“The Orc-kin?”

“Who else would I be talking about?” Una asked.

“I don’t know, I don’t have eyes, Dummy! I have to use like… a lot of math to just barely compensate. The Orc-kin are also here because they were selected for the first emergency deployment. It’s unknown if they’ve been infected.”

“Doesn’t matter, that Sergeant said she wanted to shoot down the ship. That’s all the reason I need to kill that adopted bitch, after I finish the mission. She also said “Her Majesty,” is a 2nd in command down here?”

“Highly unlikely due to the distrust of each XO. Leaving the Captain alone for too long is the last thing on each XO’s mind not including Alais.”

Una’s blood began to boil at the mention of Alais’s name.

“If I can just figure out where the objective is, we’d be done with this.”

“Then just go inside! I’ll even invert your uniform. There, done and done!” He said.

“And if they’re infected, they'll know I'm not, right?”

"Oooh yeah, I forgot. Zombies communicate with a special handshake and if you mess up three times, you'll get locked out of being alive, Dummy." Swinging her legs, Una flung herself over the electric wall and landed with a thud behind a cabin. “Hey, ow?”

“What, what is it?” Una whispered.

“Know how I’m keeping pollen away with electricity? Well, it seems the Orc-kin was smart enough to do the same thing with the wall. So it’s likely they’re not infected.”

“Treason,” Una spat through gritted teeth while peeking from behind the log cabin.

"Hey, Dummy! I said likely! Zaras was infected when we found her but wasn't impaired. The same could've happened to the Orc-kin. SOooo, treason or not, your objective remains the same!”

Listening to Sib’s nagging, something finally dawned on her. The tallest thing she could spot was the radio tower, coming from a wooden cabin on the other side of the base, left of the entrance into the mountain.

“The Star Seeker is massive,” She said.

“Wha… why yes it is, congratulations, that kind of observation will earn you a shiny new medal, not!”

“So nothing on this planet should be strong enough to EMP the Star Seeker,” She explained, her anger somehow taking a backseat.

“I’m sorry, but do you not see the big rail guns? Are your eyes broken? I can’t even see them and I know they’re there.”

“Rail guns that were deployed after the EMP with the rest of the emergency deployed units?”

“... Beep boop,” He sounded like a kid pretending to be a dumb robot. “New objective! Contact the Star Seeker about a possible saboteur! Boop beep.”

“And how the fuck do I do that?”

“You,”

“There’s a radio tower on the other side, could we use that?”

“Yes!” He said a little too excitedly.

“Good, might even be able to use it to contact Kaida and Zaras if they’re not already dead.”

She gave her clothing a once over to make sure she wouldn’t stand out from the other Orc-kin. Una took a deep breath and walked along the length of the cabin, seeing that it was bigger than she thought.

“What the hell are you doing!” An Orc-kin shouted, causing Una to freeze the moment she stepped out into the open. Slowly glancing to her right she saw two guards jamming their rifle muzzles into the head of an infected nun. Although she was impaired, moving painfully slow, the infected nun was determined to get her black bible back from the Orc-kin. Like Kaida, the demonic nuns all carried the bible of Lucy, a demonic bible that helped strengthen their faith in their devil Queen and rewarded with the ability to enchant things. “You devil-worshiping bitches should be happy we let you live. Now back the fuck up or I’ll tear your arms off!”

Out of nowhere, the closest infected nun went flying a few feet across the dirt after receiving a hard stomp from Una.

“Shit,” The Orc-kin said.

While the Orc-kin was distracted by the impressive kick, Una snatched the unholy bible.

“Stop wasting your time,” Una said while watching the nun she kicked slowly get up to her hands and feet.

“And who the fuck are you supposed to be?”

“The wasting time police?”

“Yes,” Una said before making her way over to the nun. Now closer, she could get a better look at the fleshy antenna sticking from her neck. Even though she was on her hands and knees, the antenna still pointed toward the sky. Una gave her another hard stomp to the ass, sending her sliding further and further across the dirt and grass until she reached the radio cabin. Una peeked inside, seeing an unattended receiver, transmitter. Stepping back over to the infected nun whose tag read 6278. The nun whimpered on the ground, covering her face, so she didn’t realize Una offering her the demonic bible back. Starting a bit longer and bathing in her sister’s pathetic glow.

“Hey, tell her this!” Sib chimed. “Umm… Upon Lucy's hour of necessity, one is chosen to rise from… the grave! It’s from the book.”

“Why would I do that?”

“To make her feel better, duh! Zombie or no, if a Small is scared or sad you make them feel better… if it’s just a little.”

“What the hell is a Small?” Una asked.

“Just say it and stop asking questions.”

Una took a deep breath, studying the wooden cabin for a few moments before speaking;

“Upon Lucy's… hour of necessity, one is chosen to rise from the grave.” The whimpering immediately stopped as 6278 slid her hands from her face to gaze upon her book before staring at Una in stunned silence. Not wanting to waste any more time, Una pushed the book into 6278’s hands before entering the radio cabin.

"Isn't it odd," Sib began. "That the infection affects each species differently?"

"I don't care, can you generate authorization codes?" Una droned while her hands flew over the controls.

"Yes, I can! The temporary code is,” Taking a deep breath, Sib began to blow a raspberry that almost made Una pop a rage-fueled blood vessel in her brain. "How about YOU tell me why you can't contact the Star Seeker using radio waves."

Through gritted teeth she said;

"I can't contact the Star Seeker because the ship’s offline."

"Ding ding ding!"

"... One day, I hope you get a body so I can strangle your little neck."

"Then I'll make sure to have a fat neck like you!" He laughed. "Someone's behind you by the way."

Una snapped her attention towards the door wanting very much to put a bullet in someone's head. Who she saw standing there was 6278 holding her book close to her chest and leaning, surely due to a broken rib or two or three.

"Get the fuck out of here," Una spat. It caused 6278 to hesitate before finally moving close as she pointed a finger toward the ceiling. Her mouth opened but no words came as the infected nun struggled to speak. Giving up, 6278 opened the black bible and pointed at the text. "Yeah, I don't really give a fuck, get lost," Una said, pulling her sidearm and aiming it in her direction. Figuring she'd get scared and run off, instead what she did was hold up the book over her face as if it was gonna block a bullet. She pointed at a line of text, she was persistent in getting Una to read. Una slowly gave it a glance. "For Lucy spoke unto her daughter as if from a mirror that had yet to shatter. Forced to bear Lucy's cross, a pain like no other that burns the flesh when reborn from an unholy womb. Be she soothed by the touch of Adam." Una’s glare twisted into a scowl at the thought of having her time wasted. 6278 began to lean forward more and more before toppling over. She scraped past Una’s right thigh and thumped into the floor, flat on her face.

“She took your knife, maybe you should pay attention,” Sib said.

“And you just let her take it?” Instinctively Una sidestepped and checked her leg for the knife and any cuts.

“Need me to wipe your butt while I’m at it? I don’t need to explain myself to you,” he said defensively.

The infected sister planted both palms on the dirt floor of the cabin. Una noticed both hands were empty as she slowly got to her feet, soon realizing that the infected nun had the blade jammed deep into her chest, right into her heart. 6278 began to whimper as the smell of burning flesh filled the cabin. The fleshy infection that reached towards the ceiling like an antenna had started to burn away along with 6278’s clothes, hair, eyes, and skin. 6278’s body was slowly burning away inch by inch and yet no smoke could be seen. The demonic nun slowly held out her hand, her palm facing the ceiling as she whispered in a soft eerie tone. A sound that made Una put up her guard, unknowingly channeling generations of Orcs who understood demons were a threat.

“This is 19836, provide authorization.”

"I'm the daughter of Alais, 2218. I'm,"

"Not authorized," She raised her whisper of a voice, dragging out each syllable.

"Wh… listen you bitch, there's someone fucking with the ship's power from the inside! And the damn Orc-kin are trying to blast it out of the sky."

"Not… authorized!" She said, this time with venom.

"Sib, help me out," Una said.

"Uhh… ask your sister or something," Sib said.

"Ask my…" She was about to snap only when she realized she should contact Kaida. "Good idea, can you connect to the tower?"

"Of course not! That thing is like… hundreds of years old. Just hit that small switch on the right three times, umm… set the dial between fifty, betwEEN… fifty aaand turn down the volume to one, low enough for me to hear and transmit to you." The moment she did, Kaida could be heard swearing in Una’s headphones. “She had her earpiece set too high,” Sib chuckled.

“4273, It’s 2218,”

“You’re alive? That’s great, I take back everything I said about you needing to die,” Una checked over her shoulder at the doorway wearing a confused look on her face. “Because if I have to suffer in this PIECE OF SHIT HELL HOLE, then so should you.”

“Listen, I’m speaking with 19836,”

“I don’t know who the fuck that is so fuck her and fuck you,”

“You should know,” Una yelled through gritted teeth. “She’s speaking through one of your own. She’s just standing here burning alive.”

The coms went silent for a moment before Kaida asked;

“Where are you?”

“The Orc-kin, they made a base at the foot of a mountain. I’m in a cabin directly under a radio tower.”

“You went in too? Shit, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Do not try to speak with her or she may blow your ass to hell.”