Free Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 9): September by Dave Rowlands Page A

were no Echidnae or Serpents around, or any other nasty surprises, then settled down to wait for our wayward, prodigal scout.
     
    We heard him long before we saw him, the engine revving overtime.  Static tensed up as the bike drew nearer, stopping right in front of us.  Soldier dismounted and saluted me with a smile before falling over into Static’s waiting arms.
     
    His left forearm was bloody, having sustained lacerations from some bladed horror.  Pus, coloured a deep brown, seeped from the wounds.  I ordered Viking to take him up inside and see to having his wounds cleaned while Static and I attended to his bike.  Once inside the garage, I scooped some of the brown pus-like substance into a small plastic container, knowing that German Doctor would want to take a look.  Soldier’s a tough nut, with any luck he should pull through this.  If not, well, we will at least have his body for German Doctor to examine.

September 14 th Year 1 A.Z.
    morning
    There was a problem with cleaning out Soldier’s wound with water; it seemed to generate more pus.  Eventually Soldier called enough, claiming that he’d just be happy with a beer.  Opening it, he spilled some into his wound; within seconds the pus in the wound began foaming.  It overflowed from Soldier’s arm onto the floor as he screamed in agony.
     
    A few minutes later the wound was clean.  There was no pus remaining in the largest slash on Soldier’s arm.  Astounded, he poured the rest of the beer in the rest of his wounds, gritting his teeth as his arm foamed up.  Eventually he passed out from the pain.
     
    Viking and I glanced at one another, he shook his head.  The Elephant’s movement generated a slight sway from side to side, gently rocking Soldier’s bed.  I hoped that he at least gets a decent amount of rest.
     
    noon
    Soldier has been resting peacefully for the last few hours, Static making sure to pop in and look at him every few minutes.  I spent several hours staring at the several identical Dead heads that we had found; out of the entire group, there were seven relatively undamaged heads that were exactly the same in every respect.  The only difference between them was the wound placement.
     
    “Hey,” Soldier gasped, weakly from the bed.  “Never thought I’d see you again,” He sat himself more or less upright, leaning on his uninjured arm.  “How’s that lady of yours?”  I told him that she was doing very well, though very pregnant.  “Awesome.  As long as she’s safe.”  The smile on his face turned serious.  “We need to talk about Sydney, mate.”
     
    “Those fucking monsters that have taken over the place,” Soldier started, “They’re tough… Real fucking tough.  Avoid their blades, whatever you do, they’re covered in this brown muck that just feels like its burning.”  He looked at his arm.  “And apparently only Viking’s own homebrew is the only thing that’ll get it out of your system.”
     
    I asked him how many of the Terraformers he had encountered.  He told me that there was only the one.  There had been a bunch of insectoid things, they had formed a small structure in record time that the Terraformer used as a platform to open fire on them, using a rapid-fire automatic weapon that seemed to shoot out small spines.  He and another scout had slunk around, in an attempt to flank the thing, and it had simply dropped its firearm and pulled a couple of blades from a twin sheath on its back.  The next few minutes were a blur, Soldier told me, with the other scout suffering horrendous slashes to her torso, and he had wrestled with the Terraformer.  It had slashed up his arm pretty badly with its claws, and Soldier had managed to get away.  Barely. 
     
    He told me that the things claws were also covered with this brown muck that burned horrendously.  Most of the wounds on his arm were from the claws alone, with a single swipe that was clearly a very sharp blade.  I watched as