Reece awoke with a start. The dream dissolved into mist, but he remembered the words and his two-word reply. Cyrene had her hand on his shoulder and was shaking him roughly. Cracking his eyes and rolling halfway over to look at her, he saw the urgency in her face and quickly sat up, trying to get his bearings. It only took a moment to realize that the Drust-Jaeger was almost out of track. Not because they reached the end of it at the western coast of Africa but because it had been blocked off by a mountain of old tractor-trailers, storage containers, and derelict vehicles, all haphazardly piled there.

They had no choice but to stop soon, or did they? Reece tried reaching out with his mind and found it much easier this time, but his worst fears were realized. Even more of the Order’s forces had converged on them while many more hid beneath the sands. Wherever his dream had come from, it had given him another idea.

“We have company,” announced Reece. “They must have figured out what we were trying to do and are attempting to stop us. They are all around us, under the sands.”

“Should I turn us back?” asked Ciera, her voice anxious. She slowed the vehicle to a crawl, wary of an attack.

“Maybe, gimme a sec to check,” replied Reece, turning back to look out the rear window just in time to witness two behemoths tearing into the tracks behind them.

“Loki’s left nut! That’s not an option,” Reece cursed, watching the two behemoths completely dismantle the heavy tracks they had just used.

Reece reached out with his consciousness again, trying to pinpoint as many minds in the immediate vicinity as he could. He searched beneath the sands until he had located them all.

“Okay, I think we may be able to get through them,” stated Reece. “But I’ll need to drive. Stop and swap me seats.”

“Are you sure?” asked Ciera skeptically. “Won’t they just attack us?”

“Maybe,” answered Reece. “But I doubt they’d anticipate this move.”

“Okay,” mumbled Ciera, skepticism in her voice. Still, she stopped the car less than fifty meters from the massive pile of junked vehicles. “You’d better be right, or else it’s all our asses.”

“You got a better idea?” asked Reece while he made room for Ciera in the back seat.

“Not really,” she replied, crawling into the back.

“I trust you,” said Cyrene, smiling cheerfully.

“Me too,” added Chippo, waving his hand merrily.

Reece raised an eyebrow towards them while he climbed back into the driver’s seat.

“Car, how far are we from the coast?” asked Reece, buckling himself in while he posed the question.

“To which coast do you refer, human?” asked the car, a note of irritation in her voice.

Reece gave Cyrene a quizzical look, “Did the car just give me attitude?” he asked incredulously.

“Maybe,” responded Cyrene. “I’m unfamiliar with your technology. It does seem like she doesn’t appreciate being called Car, though.”

“Is that true, uh…Car?” asked Reece, wincing at the generic name. “Do you have a name that you would prefer?”

“You are correct,” answered the VX Drust-Jaeger. “With a new user, I require a new designation.”

“Jupiter’s cock, do we have to do this now?” he asked no one in particular. “Okay,” replied Reece, seeing no other obvious way. “Well then, what was your old designation?”

“Fatima,” replied the vehicle. “It means one who abstains.”

“Huh,” replied Reece. “Well, that won’t do, will it.”

“I suppose not,” giggled Cyrene.

“How about…,” said Reece, drawing out the words as he tried to think of a good name for the snarky sport utility vehicle. “Tinkerbelle!”

“That is an acceptable designation,” replied the vehicle, this time with a note of satisfaction in her voice. “Are you sure you want ‘Tinkerbelle’ as my new designation?”

“Yes, Tinkerbelle, I do,” chuckled Reece, amused by the vehicle’s antics.

“Very well,” answered Tinkerbelle. “My new designation is now Tinkerbelle. Thank you, Reece. Now, to which coast were you referring?”

Reece could swear he had detected glee in her voice, which was odd for an AI. At least she wasn’t giving him attitude, and… she had used his name. This vehicle was something else. Again, it caused him to wonder who had owned this vehicle before him and what kind of customizations and upgrades that person had put into her. He also remembered there was more to it than that.

A portion of his previous dream came back to him. His patron, a goddess, had orchestrated things so that he’d come across this intelligent vehicle. It made him wonder if that intelligence was artificial or something else entirely. He decided to treat ‘her’ like a person instead of a thing. For him, it felt right. All of these thoughts passed through his consciousness in an instant. He quickly dismissed them. Time was of the essence.

“Ah, the west coast, Tinkerbelle,” Reece finally answered.

“Thank you, Reece,” replied Tinkerbelle, causing Reece to do a double take. “It is still fifty-four kilometers to the west coast of Africa. Would you like to set a course?”

“Nah, I’ve got it, thanks,” deadpanned Reece as he pressed down on the energy pedal, giving the SUV some juice.

Once he started moving, Reece took a left, leaving the Hyper Rail and using the vehicle’s hover mode over the sands. Hovering sucked juice like a sponge, but they’d get stuck in the sand otherwise. Traveling about ten meters, he made a hard left just as a behemoth burst forth directly in front of them. Another twenty meters and a hard right allowed them to avoid a pit full of ghouls. A couple of the disgusting creatures managed to get a hold of Tinkerbelle, but neither could hold on to the fast-moving vehicle for long.

Reece used a few evasive maneuvers, and the car cleared the sections of sand where Reece had detected hidden minds beneath it. With the idea of escaping the trap seeming likely, Reece gave the Drust-Jaeger more juice, cruising away from the angry mob of undead while they dug themselves out of the sand in pursuit of the vehicle.

The sand virtually bubbled as zombies crawled forth to stop the car. Reece plowed right through the weaker ones, smashing into them with ever-increasing speed. Their rotten and frail bodies were broken and crushed beneath the Drust-Jaeger’s heavy frame. Reece and his three cohorts listened to the sickening thumps and crunches with disgust, but Reece continued undaunted until he finally cleared the mass of flesh-starved undead.

Finally clear of the trap and past the blockage, Reece drove back onto the Hyper Rail using the next available on-ramp and began speeding up a steep rise in the terrain while they pulled away from the ill-conceived ambush. Tinkerbelle’s occupants breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was quickly cut short.

“I’ve got a satellite connection again,” announced Tinkerbelle, startling everyone. “Would you like me to activate it?”

“Yes,” whooped Reece, recovering quickly. “Put us through.”

“Very well,” replied Tinkerbelle. “Live in three, two, one…beep.”

“Ground Control… carrier, do you copy? Over,” exclaimed Reece once Tinkerbelle beeped the connection live.

“Zzzzt… Reece, we copy you,” answered Capt. Schwarzenegger a moment later. “What is your location? Over.”

“We’re about forty kilometers from the coast, still on the Hyper Rail,” answered Reece. “Where are you? Over.”

The smile fell away from Reece’s face when he finally crested the rise and saw something on the track up ahead.

“Zzzzzt… Hang tight. We’re… shhhhhhhh,”. The message was cut off by a loud sizzling sound followed by several loud pops. Then sudden silence before the VX Drust-Jaeger fell between the rails and landed with a loud ‘whump’ onto the sands below. Tinkerbelle continued to skid along the sand, still moving as the vehicle’s momentum carried her down the hill.

“Loki’s left nut! We just got hit with an EMP,” cursed Reece, taking it all in. “I think Tinkerbelle is fried and out of commission. We’re sitting ducks out here.”

“Why can’t we catch a break?” despaired Ciera. “And why’d they do that? Wouldn’t they fry their own vehicles too?”

“They didn’t,” answered Reece. “Both aircraft are EMP protected, the hulls designed as a sort of Faraday cage to keep electromagnetic waves from getting inside. So, unfortunately, Tinkerbelle is the only machine around that was affected by that blast.”

As Reece finished his explanation, the VX Drust-Jaeger finally skidded to a halt. Twenty meters ahead of them, several people were standing beneath the Hyper Rail, clearly waiting for them. Nearby, a couple of aircraft rested on a flat dune, one of which he instantly recognized, their Phoenix. The ground around them was rocky and jagged with sand blowing across everything. It felt something like high noon straight out of a cheesy western.

Ciera handed Cyrene a gun and spare clip. Then she cocked the pistol she was holding. Reece looked back at her, curious about where she had gotten the weapons.

“Hey, I’ve got a super-convenient utility suit too, or did you forget?” said Ciera, returning his look with a raised eyebrow and a devilish grin. “You need anything?”

Reece removed his seatbelt and threw the heavy door open. “Nah, I’m good,” he said, winking at her. “And be careful, some of those people are our friends.”

The three exited the vehicle and walked toward the group of people, most of whom Reece recognized.

The commander was in the middle of the group, his powerful arms crossed. He wore a smug look on his face. To his right stood Aika, but she didn’t look like a prisoner. She was armed with her katanas and faced Reece unchained. She also looked heavy around the midsection. Karina was also standing free of noticeable confinement, her long spear resting idly in her hand, the butt digging into the sand at her feet. Sora was also there, but she WAS chained up. The twins, Nephi and Masika, stood by impassively. None of his former companions looked particularly happy about their circumstances.

Stefanie and Zia Becker were there. Reece hadn’t seen them since the space station. A small part of him was glad they were still alive despite everything. They stood back a bit and looked a little worse for wear. Long cuts crisscrossed both women’s bodies, and each wound was sewn up with thick brown cord. The two women were healing from the stitched-up wounds but otherwise seemed fine. They reminded Reece of a pair of brides of Frankenstein’s monster.

A couple of well-dressed vampires and a hulk of a man rounded out the group. The unfamiliar vampires seemed bored with the situation. One was a brown-haired male, the other a redheaded female. Both wore tailored outfits fine enough for royalty. The well-made dark clothing contrasted sharply with their pale skin. They were familiar with each other, a couple perhaps.

The massive man beside them was bulging with muscles so big that his skin was crisscrossed with scars and bleeding gashes. He held large metal spikes in each hand, darkened by what appeared to be dried blood. Heavy chains ran from the back of the bloody hand spikes to the man’s massive back. He stared at Reece with a sneer.

While Reece looked on with mixed emotions at the group, he noticed a swarm of bat-winged monstrosities flying in the distance. The creatures looked to be a few kilometers away yet but were flying toward them. Below them, a dust cloud and a low growl preceded the emergence of a fleet of Dune-Crawlers, massive vehicles with wide knobby tires for navigating the sands. Each pulled a Skiff filled with columns of the undead. These zombies weren’t plague zombies, crazy and flesh-starved, but more disciplined and militarized. Commander Rogers’ scientists had been busy improving the mental faculties of the undead.

Looking behind him, Reece noticed the creatures they had just evaded. They were closing in on his small group as well. Over the dunes, Reece could also see a horde of undead swarming over the dunes like ants on the corpse of a dead animal. The zombies were everywhere. Reece figured most would arrive within a few minutes.

There was also a sizable presence of Order troops, humans that had allied themselves to Hargrove’s cause for whatever reason. They were in vehicles, combat mechanized units, or standing in formation. All were heavily armed. It was clear that Reece and his friends were surrounded and had no means of escape. Turning back to the commander, Reece stretched out his arms, indicating all the forces stacked against him and his friends.

“Compensating for something?” he asked, a half-smile on his face.

“Oh, you know,” smiled the commander. “I do like to keep everything in ‘Order’, heh… and you’ve been a thorn in my side for long enough, don’t you think?”

“Nah,” answered Reece, letting his arms fall back to his sides. “I think that I’d like to be a thorn in your side for a while longer.”

“You sound pretty confident, seeing as I hold all the cards,” stated the commander, his face losing the smile.

In truth, the commander was right. Reece was doing his best to project confidence, but inside, he was desperately trying to figure a way out of the situation. He couldn’t easily remember when things seemed as dire as they did right then. Currently, it was eleven against three. It would only get worse after that. Roger’s zombies were on their way and Reece’s allies didn’t even know where he was. Things couldn’t get any worse.

“Stef, Zi… go get our cargo,” ordered Commander Rogers.

The two sexy female flesh golems took off for the closest of the two aircraft, Pasha’s Phoenix. A minute later, the women exited the craft carrying a body between them. It was Pasha. He was bruised and bloody. His head lolled to the side, neck broken. Despite Pasha being dead, they had him tied up in heavy-looking chains.

They dragged Pasha before the commander and dumped his broken body in the sand at the now smirking man’s feet. The commander let out a piercing whistle. It was answered with a loud screech from behind the other aircraft parked near the Phoenix, a Lilium Ghost – one of several electric vertical take-off and landing jets manufactured by the Alliance of North American Commonwealths or ANAC.

From around the smooth white curves of the jet lurched a mishappen creature. Looking like an enlarged version of a zombified harpy with bat wings for arms, its appearance filled Reece with pity and disgust. The stitch work that held the being together was rudimentary at best. It padded over to the commander like an obedient dog. The commander patted it on the head once she reached him, completing the impression.

“Hey, Sheila,” said the commander affectionately. “Be a dear, would you? Please take this pathetic excuse for a person and drop it in the deepest part of the ocean.”

“Yessss, masssster…,” she gurgled pitifully, desperate for acceptance.

She bent down to snatch up Pasha’s lifeless body, the female creature’s muscles and tendons grinding and popping as she moved. Cradling Pasha’s form to her breasts, the hideous monstrosity furiously beat her wings. Kicking up the desert sand, she slowly climbed into the air. Once fully aloft, she turned clumsily and took off for the coast and the ocean beyond.

The commander watched her go for a moment before turning back to Reece. Reece watched in horror as the abomination ponderously flew his friend’s body away to his doom. Looking back at the commander’s smirking face, he felt his anger rise. The commander just continued smiling evilly back at him, enjoying his suffering.

“Now, you’ve been such a pain in the ass. It’s time to put you in your place,” grumbled Rogers, staring back at Reece.

Suddenly, Reece found himself in the battlespace. Only, he hadn’t brought it up. Immediately throwing up a wall, he blocked the commander’s first volley of attacks as several spiked balls hammered into it. The wall exploded towards Reece, but he was already moving. Twin pistols fired back at Rogers, forcing him to create a metallic shield wall instead of making his next attack.

With the surprise over, Reece fell back on the training with Aika and Karina, giving the commander as good as he got. The commander covered himself in full plate armor from head to toe. Reece preferred to battle fast and light. He opened a hole beneath the commander, and when the heavily armored man fell in, Reece took the opportunity to construct a massive ax of jagged teeth to punch through the heavy plate armor.

The commander blinked out of existence and reappeared behind Reece. Reece felt his presence and spun to the side, narrowly avoiding the commander’s attack with a large dagger. Continuing the spin, Reece brought the ax around and sunk it into the back of the commander. The armor stopped most of the blow, but Reece had drawn first blood. The commander backhanded Reece, sending him flying. He released the ax and materialized two more pistols in midair, firing them into the commander’s torso. The commander’s armor kept the bullets from penetrating, but the force of the impacts knocked him back.

Willing the pistol’s ammo into armor-piercing rounds while tumbling across the ground, Reece came back up on one knee and fired again. This time, the bullets cut through the commander’s armor like butter. He had hit him in the chest and shoulder several times before the commander brought up a clear shield, blocking the rest of Reece’s shots. Blood poured from the wounds, but the commander ignored them.

The battle went back and forth until both men were breathing hard. Reece scored numerous hits on Rogers, but the bigger man shrugged them off. Rogers had only managed a couple of glancing blows on Reece. They were both becoming increasingly frustrated. Then, as quickly as it had started, it was over.

Back in the desert with Ciera and Cyrene, Reece stared across at his former commander, friends, and colleagues. Looking into Roger’s eyes, Reece tried to understand what had just happened and why the commander was virtually immune to injury. The actual mental battle had only taken seconds, despite several minutes in the battlespace having passed. Still, the fight had taken its toll.

Overcome with weakness, Reece fell to his knees. However, he never lost eye contact with the commander. He could feel Cyrene kneel behind him and grab his shoulders, lending some strength to him through her touch.

“You’re an Inanna-din too, aren’t you?” asked Reece, eliciting a gasp from Ciera behind him.

“And a vampire,” sneered the commander, answering both of Reece’s questions. “I see you’ve had some training, but you’re still no match for me. Anyhow, on second thought, I’d rather see your treasured love kill you herself. But first, Karina… be a dear and fetch my nightcore for me, would you?”

Karina dropped her hand from where she had been holding the commander’s arm and walked towards Reece. Her movements were wooden, like a marionette, her mind struggling to resist the commander’s orders.

“If the commander had managed to defeat her, he must be powerful indeed,” thought Reece. “Still…”

Despite her struggles, she eventually reached him. Fighting against her body’s actions, Karina dug the nightcore out of Reece’s right pocket. Her face was a mixture of sorrow, pity, and remorse as she looked down at Reece. Quickly turning away, she woodenly carried the nightcore back to the commander. It was clear to Reece that most of the commander’s energy was being expended to keep the ancient lilitu under control.

When Karina placed the nightcore in the commander’s hand, he held it up reverently and laughed.

“At last,” he exulted. “It is mine! Now we can finally end this charade of a rebellion and prepare this world for what comes next. Now, Aika, my new favorite lover, why don’t you go and kill your ex? He’s chosen to be a part of the past, and that is where you’ll leave him, dead and buried in the sands.”

While Aika walked woodenly towards him, she haltingly drew forth one of her katanas. The commander took the nightcore from Karina and held it towards a gaudy necklace hanging around his neck. Looking closer, Reece saw the necklace for what it was, pieces of nightcore run through with a silver chain.

The nightcore chunks were drawn to together and the necklace lifted from the commander’s chest as it attempted to meld with the nearly complete orb in his hand. They soon touch and the fragments began to flow into the nightcore. It took a moment for the fragments in the black stone jewelry to be absorbed, but the ancient device was finally complete. A rippling sheen ran across the surface of the dark orb at that moment. That was when Reece realized everything was about to go down right then and there.

“So, you already hit Argentina, huh?” asked Reece rhetorically, looking around and noticing the zombies filing out of the newly arrived dune crawlers. “If I’m about to die, then, tell me why. You at least owe me that. Why do you want to activate that thing so badly?”

“Activate it?” laughed the commander. “Oh no, you misunderstand everything. This nightcore is filled with immense power that I now control. Activating it would release that energy, and I’d lose it forever. Now that the nightcore is complete, I can permanently destroy the activation mechanism. I’ll control the last and most powerful mana battery the world has ever known. Oh, and don’t feel too bad. Even if you had the device, you’d only have a fifty-fifty shot at activating it properly. Anything else, and it would simply become the battery I so desire. I just eliminated that possibility.”

While he was speaking, the commander’s zombie minions formed up around the small group of people. They marched in columns just as a large military unit would do. Their ‘uniforms’ consisted of metal helmets, thick leather collars, and full-body Kevlar suits. With that body armor, Reece realized the zombies would be much harder to kill. In fact, the only way he could tell that they were zombies was their glowing red eyes. Once the undead soldiers reached their positions, they snapped to attention. Reece turned his gaze back to the commander.

“Being an engineer,” continued Rogers. “I thought you’d appreciate the intricacy of the activating switch and the ingenuity in adding the fail-safe to it. This was never meant to be activated, Reece. It was built for a far more important purpose. However, the aspects of nature, chaos, and other interests interfered, changing the activation effect from what it was supposed to be into a weapon of pure chaos. Consider yourself lucky that I got it first. If you had activated it, the world as we know it would cease to be. It’s too bad you’re so short-sighted. We could have made a great team. Oh well. I’ve told you what you wanted to hear, though I certainly didn’t owe you an explanation. So, you’re welcome, and goodbye, Reece Danielson. Aika, kill him… now.”