August 31
st
Year 1 A.Z.
morning
With more char grilled Serpent for breakfast, I began to wonder, not for the first time, about Apocalypse Girl's mysterious contact. My thoughts, however, were interrupted by the sound of helicopters approaching. Three of them, from the north-east, flying in formation. As we watched, they came nearer, coming down in perfect unison. They kept their rotors engaged, stirring up the sand of the riverbed so much that it stung our eyes.
From the lead chopper came a man wearing what looked like a military uniform, though black, complete with black beret. Keeping his hand near his sidearm, he greeted us from a safe distance, asking for Apocalypse Girl by name. She stood, identifying herself. “You can come with me, but the rest of these are in the others.” She said no. Flat out no. If I wasn't coming in the same chopper, she told him, then he could fuck off back where he came from. “I've been told you're a bit stubborn. Fine. I suppose the dog's coming in our chopper too?” Apocalypse Dog barked, happily. Apocalypse Girl simply nodded.
“The rest of my friends had better be coming to the same place.” Apocalypse Girl sounded more dangerous than I'd ever heard her before. The man, whose uniform had absolutely no identifying marks or insignia whatsoever, sighed. He assured her that they would indeed be going to the same place. AR 18. She waited until the rest of us were aboard our respective helicopters before climbing up behind me.
There were a couple of other soldiers in the chopper with us, both holding some serious firepower. Neither spared so much as a glance for either us or the dog, and when the man boarded the helicopter we all took off, again, in unison.
noon
We were in the air for several hours before our destination was visible. Uluru, also known as Ayer's Rock. The man, who had identified himself via radio as a Brigadier, let them know that we were coming and to open the bay doors for our rides. As we descended, I noticed that the Rock itself was opening up, just wide enough for the three helicopters to enter, as always in formation.
We landed, the pilot turning off the rotor, and The Brigadier told us to remain seated. The landing pad descended, down, further than I wanted to be. I had had more than my fill of these underground facilities, to be honest, but safe is still safe. Unfortunately, in our experience, underground facilities were rarely completely secure.
After an interminable length of time, the descent ceased. We were allowed to leave the chopper, though told to stay together. The Brigadier stayed with us while his men trotted off to wherever it was they needed to be, telling us that we'd be seen to momentarily. He truly was a man of few words.
A short while later a familiar face turned up, every bit as scarred as I remembered. The Colonel greeted Apocalypse Girl and I with a friendly hug, saying that it was good we'd finally come to our senses and joined her there. “The Boss wants to see you both, so you'd better come with me. I suppose you'll be wanting a shower first, yeah?”
evening
Finally cleansed of Serpent innards, and wearing clean clothes, I accompanied Apocalypse Girl and The Colonel to a conference room. This place was vastly different from any other underground base we'd seen yet. The ceilings were higher, significantly so, almost three times the height of the others, the walls seemed carved from stone, rather than made from slabs of cement.
The Colonel began speaking. “When we arrived, we weren't exactly welcomed with open arms, you know. It helped that we have the formula for the Dead vaccine, in fact I've been reliably informed that it was the only reason we were allowed in at all.” She smiled wryly. “Nobody is meant to know about this place, you see. It's older than anything known to man, possibly hundreds of thousands of years old, according to The Boss.”
Arriving at the conference room, The Colonel said goodbye. “This is as far as I can go at the moment. The Boss wants to see you alone. I'll be around, don't worry about that.” She turned around and stalked off. I could tell she was unhappy with her position here, it was evident in her stride.
As we entered the room, the only other occupant turned around. She looked remarkably familiar, for some reason that I just couldn't put my finger on. She walked over, not even sparing me a glance to begin with, and wrapped her arms around Apocalypse Girl. “About time you got here, girl.” She told her. Then she turned to me. Her eyes studied me intensely and suddenly I knew why she looked familiar. I had been staring into a younger version of that same face for eight months now. “So. My daughter tells me that you've been helping keep her alive. That's about the only reason I'm not going to kneecap you for knocking her up!” Apocalypse Mum told me. I think I might really be in the shit here.