Read Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 9): September for Free Online Page B

scarpered out of the room, down the corridor, eventually ending up outside in the cold night air.
     
    It was Smart Guy, asking us once again, almost pleading with us, to join him and his counterpart.  He could still tell us nothing about where he was, not without our agreement to come directly to him, which I was unable to give.  The more I learned about the way this world worked, the more I wanted to join our genius friends.  The problem was, I had a duty here.  He knew about the Terraformers, obviously, they had access to the same few remaining spy satellites that hadn’t been knocked out of orbit yet that we were using here.
     
    All I could say was that if things get any worse, we would try to make our way to them.  As Apocalypse Girl’s pregnancy progressed the likelihood that we were going anywhere became closer to nil.
     

September 7 th Year 1 A.Z.
    morning
    I was clearly not the only one unable to sleep last night.  Much of the population in the mess hall were comparably bleary-eyed, every few seconds someone yawned, setting off a chain reaction among those nearest.  I myself was caught in three of these chain reaction yawns before making my way to the table at which my squad was seated.  If not for Apocalypse Girl’s shoulder forcing me into a seat, I might have succumbed to the third, most vicious yawn-chain and passed out entirely.  I had been thinking about my conversation with Smart Guy all night.  And the Terraformers.  And The Righteous.  And Apocalypse Girl’s pregnancy.  For fucks’ sakes, I was almost distracted enough that I nearly forgot about the Dead.
     
    Naturally the main topic of conversation was the new extraterrestrial threat that had taken Sydney from the Shadow overnight.  Their construction bugs were finally done and I was assured that I needed to have a look at the finished complex.  Someone was passing photos around, mainly different angles of the single Terraformer that I saw yesterday.  Wall was laughing at the suggestion that he might even lose against this thing in an arm wrestling match, though his chuckles sounded slightly strained.  Giant just sat there, studying the enemy, a grim expression on her otherwise formidably pretty face.
     
    Apocalypse Girl forced me to eat something, though I know not what, a mixture of exhaustion and trepidation stealing away what little ability my tastebuds had.  The coffee was what truly mattered most, anyway.  Blessed caffeine.  With a half dozen cups of blackness under my belt I felt much more able to face the day.
     
    noon
    The Brigadier was in fine fettle today.  He greeted the pair of us with a grin, thanking me for my words yesterday.  He was fine, he told us, no more of that suicidal thoughts rubbish.  No, his sidearm was for the Dead and aliens only, he assured us.  Then, he was back to barking orders at subordinates while they scurried about like ants doing his bidding.
     
    The computer lab was almost overflowing, no seats remained un-sat in, and there was precious little standing room.  Every screen showed the newly grown Terraformer base that now occupied all of Sydney.  The Harbour Bridge had now been incorporated into the main design, though the Opera House remained untouched.  A ring of Terraformer technology encircled it but nowhere did it connect.
     
    Zooming out we could see a sort of transportation network, tubes connected one part of the complex to every other section, what looked like large, dark figures speeding along inside.  I could only assume that they were more Terraformers.  Everything had a kind of sterile, metallic quality to it, as if a hospital turned into a city.
     
    Still, it seemed as if everyone had to have a look.  I saw The Colonel at one point, sticking her scarred nose into it, trying to gather what information she could.  There was, unfortunately, nothing new to be learned.  Just several thousand printouts of photographs to study and pore over for hours upon hours at a