Read Online Metal and Ash (Apex Trilogy) by Jake Bible - Free Book Online

any city/state.”
    “Exactly,” Jethro said. “That’s the problem.” He thought his next words over carefully. “One Arm, you said you needed to tend to the children. Are the children alive?”
    “Some are more alive than others,” One Arm replied.
    “Did anyone else just hear the ‘became better’ part? No, sir,” Masters said as he shook his head. “Don’t like the sound of that. I’d really like to get down now.”
    “If I’m stuck in here then you’re stuck with me,” Bisby said. “Get comfortable, Masters.”
    The mech pilots all looked at the valley floor and Bisby knew exactly what was coming. He’d been there before.
    “There is a lot of empty space below the valley floor,” Stomper stated. “It is a cavern of immense proportions.”
    “Home,” One Arm said as he walked to a large crevice. “Time to tend to the children.”
    “Oh, crap…,” Masters whispered as One Arm dropped into the crevice.
    “Mitch!” Harlow shouted as Stomper approached the edge. “Bisby! Hey!”
    “I’ve lost com,” Jethro said. “Whatever is down there is blocking communications.”
    “I could punch through the surface,” Stomper said. “But I would more than likely injure Pilot Bisby and Pilot Masters.”
    Harlow took a deep breath and then unstrapped herself. “I’m going in.”
    “I wouldn’t do that,” Jethro said. “If the info I have is right it is a nightmare down there.”
    “Like how?” Harlow asked as she checked a shotgun to make sure it was fully loaded and then strapped her two long blades to her back. “Give me some details, Jethro.”
    “Dead mechs didn’t happen because of a glitch,” Jethro said. “They happened because of a religion.”
    “Like the Ranchers?” Harlow asked. “Worshipping zombies?”
    “No, worse.”
    “Worse? How the fuck could it be worse?”
    “A group of mech pilots went missing years before the first deader arrived to crush and kill,” Jethro explained. “They went rogue and it was covered up.”
    “Not surprising,” Harlow said as Stomper lowered her to the ground.
    “What is surprising is that there were sightings of the mechs for years, but no one could ever get close enough to make contact,” Jethro continued. “My guess is because they were hidden down away from sensors.”
    “Right where I’m looking?” Harlow asked as she peered over the edge of the crevice. Faint noises could be heard below, but she couldn’t make out what they were. “I can’t see anything, Jethro. I saw them drop in, but there’s nothing now.”
    “Don’t go in,” Jethro pleaded. “Let me get back up to you.”
    “That could be too late,” Harlow said as she studied the crevice, looking for a way down. “That all the story, Jethro?”
    “No,” Jethro said. “The main mech pilot that was in charge of the squad was a Colonel Howard Maker.”
    “The Great Maker?” Harlow laughed. “You have to be shitting me. Deaders are worshipping a mech pilot?”
    “They’re worshipping a mech and its pilot,” Jethro said. “The info is vague, but I think this colonel may have achieved something like what I’m dealing with.”
    “Oh, and what’s that?” Harlow asked as she saw her route and hooked a leg over the edge of the crevice.
    “Immortality,” Jethro replied. “But he isn’t stuck inside a mainframe. He’s become one with a mech.”
    Harlow didn’t respond.
    “Harlow?” Jethro said. “Oh, fuck.”
     
     

 
     
     
    Nine
     
    “You’ll be in constant contact with Norton through the entire mission,” LaFrance said as he stood in the massive, dank tunnel next to a gleaming mech. “That will help, but once you get through the tunnels and into the wasteland you will be on your own. I can’t send anyone after you. Norton’s voice will be it.”
    “I understand, Commander,” Shiner replied. “But you need not worry about me, I am from the wasteland. I was the first dead mech…in a way.”
    “As a mech designed for wasteland