by DB Daglish
Along the way they could see that indeed an earthquake had rocked the city, and quite recently too by the looks of the concrete where bits had fallen off. Once they climbed the steps they could see the burned-out remains of the old clubhouse, where trees now grew through the charred remains. Don smiled. He remembered Eric lighting that fire from the northern motorway as they stood outside the trucks to say farewell to the city. Moving across the lip of the steep drop-off he sat down for a while in the long grass that had since overtaken the whole area. They were still outside the fence area.
“So this was where you all lived?”
“Yep.”
“And that burned out house?”
“A young girl died in that fire. Candles…” and he shook his head. “She is buried just there,” and he pointed to a mass of wild flowers in one specific area.
“Hard memories?”
“Some. But way out over the city there is a building that we blew up on Taylor’s wedding night,” he said laughing at the memory of it. “We put a mini tanker in it and we were lucky not to suffer any injuries! It was quite a blast!”
“What is it with men and explosions?” she asked.
“Don’t rightly know Faith, but we do love destroying stuff that’s for sure!”
“You mentioned Taylor several times while we walked up here. Who is he?”
“Who was he? Yes…who was he! He died years ago up at New Haven and he was an amazing guy. After we found ourselves all alone, he pulled us together…” and a tear ran down his cheek. “I miss him actually…” and he sighed loudly before continuing. “I feel a little tired Faith, so I want to rest by the old building steps for a while. Feel free to wander around the gardens over there, see if there is anything we could take back.”
Pulling back some wire they stepped inside the compound to what, in effect, was now just a meadow full of long grass and wild flowers; an extension of those on Susan’s grave. Reaching the old building he sat down on what remained on the front steps and leaned back allowing the sun to warm his face.
The others had reached the beach by now, walking along the sand. A cool wind from the south made them feel cold so they climbed the sand dunes and walked along the road behind the beach where shelter could be found. Here too, there was evidence of earthquake damage where one old brick home had fully collapsed. Finally the esplanade came into view and they once again were exposed to the breeze. The seawall had now fallen down and some serious erosion had occurred to such an extent, one of the accommodation buildings was close to be undermined. Now walking back from the beach, they saw many damaged brick dwellings and one burned out home, an overgrown mess amongst it. Ryan and Karen looked but said nothing, preferring to keep their thoughts to themselves as they remembered Taylor. As they followed the road back into the city, they passed the building that Ben went to when the split occurred. But it was partially gone, the cliff had collapsed upon one end of it bringing it to the ground along with houses from above; one still teetering precariously on the edge.
Karen looked at Ryan.
“You know we may never see Ben or the others, except…if possible, at a distance!”
“Yeah. I’m sad just being here, and yet it will be harder up at New Haven. Tell me again why we came here instead of staying in Oz?”
“I’m not sure Ryan. Nostalgia maybe?” Karen replied.
He laughed cynically.
“This just brings painful memories!” and he looked toward all those who had joined them on the walk. “Let’s go grab Don and head back aye?”
They all heartily agreed for they were now chilled through with the sea breeze.
Faith took her time wandering up the road to an old viewing area with a stone wall and a plinth. From here she could see one or two down near the yachts below and she lingered a long time, lost in her own thoughts until the cool breeze had her return down to Zingari. She could see Don still resting in the sun on the steps and decided to explore the garden area in among old now tall and overgrown hedges. Most of the glass of the hothouses had shattered, either due to wind or the quake but there was much fruit hanging on the vines. Gathering some in her jumper she walked along the road past the old fence line, picking her way over the rubble to where Don was resting.
“Don, I’ve found some Kiwifruit. We used to call them Chinese gooseberries,” she said as she bent down and opened up her jumper to display the contents of her labor. “There are even some grapes, but I have nothing…”
Suddenly Ricki and Karen appeared along with all those who had gone to the beach. Soon all the stragglers from the hill climb were standing about.
“Come on old man,” Ricki said as he thumped his leg. “Time to wake up and go!”
But there was no movement. Suddenly Karen bent down toward Don and held her head to his face. In a panic her hand went to his neck. After a few seconds she cried out in a pained tone.
“Ohhh Don!” she cried, hugging him tightly for a long time as she whispered into his ear something no one else could hear.
So finally Don’s time had come. He had gone full circle in this new life. It was as if he knew somehow, and that this was the place to let go. Immediately Ryan asked for one of the younger ones to sprint down to those below and bring them up.
“Shouldn’t we take him downtown?” asked Samantha.
“No – we’ll put him to rest up here. I know just the place. I’ll go get some shovels now,” and he had four follow him to the shed area and over to the drop-off where Susan was buried.
It took an hour to dig the hole, and by this time everyone else had gathered. Karen found something in one of the houses across the street to wrap him in and they placed him on an old door taken from the same house and carried him aloft, as if in honor of a fallen hero, to where he would be laid to rest. The fence was cut and dropped so all those there could gather around.
Only two spoke because only Ryan and Karen were with him after ‘the event’. They spoke of his dedication to the community, his engineering skills in making things they needed in the early days, and his dry wit.
Karen could not bring herself to throw the dirt upon her old friend. Ryan then, was the one that began the process and once all sight of his friend was gone, he took Karen’s hand and walked with her back down to the boats below, leaving others to fill the grave in.
As they walked Karen began remembering moments with Don over the years.
“What about the time that shark came in the bay while Dee was playing in the shallows as a child?” he reminded her.
She laughed. “I remember that. I was down near the jetty and saw Don dive headfirst in past Dee and drag out a two meter shark onto the beach!”
“Yeah,” Ryan said, “It was like watching superman in action!” and they both laughed and were still laughing as they others arrived back.
Bringing up the name of Dee was also sad, with her death in the sinking. They kept that pain at bay by finding more to laugh about with memories of Don at New Haven.
That night they set a few more buildings alight in his honor. A wide variety of food had been gathered. Some cooking pots had been taken from a hotel, cleaned up, filled with wild vegetables and placed over the fire embers on the wharf out of the wind. A few large salmon were caught in the harbor and placed on sticks near the fire as well. Lastly, the fruit was consumed and they dragged more timber to the fire and stayed up as long as their eyes would allow. Some had found a bedding factory nearby and a huge pile kept them comfortable until a light rain began to fall.
The following day found the fleet sailing north as they aimed for Akaroa and somehow let those there know there had been a second outbreak. The weather had turned again and they sailed far out to sea to be away from the coast until the storm died down. It was the second day after leaving Dunedin that Janie noticed Lenny’s neck had more spots. She checked herself and motioned to Lenny’s while in the cabin and pointed to her neck as she pulled her shirt down to reveal what she had been dreading.
He came to her side of the cabin.
“I’ve already noticed it with three of us,” he whispered. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to startle anyone.”
“What are you two whispering about?” asked Willo.
Lenny showed him his neck.
“But you had this back in Melbourne didn’t you?” he asked.
“But not down my chest,” he said, “And look…” and he pointed to Janie who showed him her spots also.
“Damn! So it starts?”
”It seems so,” Janie agreed. “You three are safe but us and probably Ryan…”
“Ryan what?” he asked as he came below. “I’ve left Gloria and Faith at the helm for a while so I can get a drink. So...Ryan what?”
“You knew it could happen Ryan!”
“What…this?” and he lifted his shirt to expose some spotting across his chest and around his sides. “It started yesterday!” he said as he sighed.
“Well, we definitely can’t go into Akaroa now,” Janie said. Looking toward Willo, she raised her eyebrows. “You know that you guys are going to have to sail this boat yourself in a week aye?”
“Yes. I have already discussed that with Tia and Ho. If we are the only ones left, we will sail this one back to Sydney.” He had a sad look on his face. “I’m sorry guys!”
“It’s not your fault mate…and before you say it…It’s not your fault,” he emphasized.
“Well, we need to check with the other boats now. If someone on each yacht has it, it’s all over. Hopefully it’s just us as we’ve been confined in here - but I doubt it.”
That afternoon as the peninsula hills loomed before them, the schooner came to starboard of the others in the offshore winds. They waved at the lead boat until they came close enough to hear.
“Stay upwind of us,” Ryan called. “We’ve got it!”
“Got what?” Nim called from the Taranaki.
Ryan lifted his shirt, but Nim couldn’t see clearly enough.
“The new death!” he yelled.
Nim’s hand went to his mouth in shock. Few had thought about the second outbreak since Tasmania. Quickly he went below while keeping Mik at the helm. She looked scared. Death was something to fear, as far as Mik was concerned.
Soon Nim appeared on deck again. He went to Mik and spoke to her then lifted her shirt to expose her skin to the sharp sea breeze. He then shook his head at her.
“Damn,” Ryan muttered under his breath.
“Nothing here!” called out Nim.
“But I saw you shake your head at Mik. Has she got it or not?”
“No. None of us do! I was saying no!”
“Good news,” Ryan shouted back. “We will keep our distance and always down-wind. As we sail on you guys slow and check the others. If any have it, have them sail to starboard, and have them catch up with us ok!”
They received a thumbs-up and sailed on to watch what transpired behind them. It took some time and a few people seemed to scramble around on the decks.
“Damn!” Ryan said as another yacht moved away from the others. For the Southern Spirit now pulled to starboard and left the other two behind. “Damn!” he said again. For now it seemed that all on this journey that had come from up Zingari were going to die or had done so already.
Pulling into Akaroa harbor they waited for the other two. Chris had found a black tee-shirt, hoisting it up the mast as the schooner had done. The instructions were that should anyone show spots, they were to hoist something black.
Chris then took the Taranaki deeper inside the harbor toward the settlement. It seemed no one was out on the bay, so he pulled ashore to where they could see the settlement across the water and set fire to a house. Boarding again, he tacking toward the harbor entrance. It wasn’t long before some longboats were seen rowing toward them and they kept their positions in the southerly breeze, the Gloria and the Southern Spirit on the southerly position and about fifty meters apart.
Cautiously the longboat approached until they recognized the Southern Spirit. As they changed direction and rowed toward it, shouts went up from all the yachts, confusing those who were rowing.
Chris stood on the pulpit of the Taranaki and pointed for them to move to the south and upwind of them. He saw one he knew, but Harry recognized them all, keeping silent so they would stay away from his yacht.
“Welcome back guys,” a voice called. “A fire is an unusual way to announce your arrival!”
“Who are you?” Chris called.
“Dougie, where is Harry?”
Chris pointed toward the Southern Spirit and Harry waved toward the one he knew.
“Why did you ask us to come to you and not to one of our own?” Dougie asked. He seemed a little suspicious.
“Because you cannot go near them. They have another virus Dougie. We all might have. That is why you must remain upwind and if it changes you need to isolate yourself…in fact all of you need to isolate yourself for six weeks just in case.”
“I don’t understand?”
“We have something as dangerous as the first death Dougie…as bad as ‘the event!’”
Instantly Dougie put his hand over his mouth.
“Hell!”
“Exactly! But it’s ok. It’s unlikely you’ll catch it upwind or even downwind. We don’t know anything about it but picked it up in the land of Oz. We cannot ever come ashore because it could wipe out all of you in this country. Of the survivors over there, probably only five percent survived the second one.”
“Shit!”
“Indeed. Now we are going to sail away and you’ll never see us again. We will call in at New Haven and warn them if we can do so safely.” Chris said.
“Do you want us to do that for you then?” asked Dougie.
“Look, we will try to let them know, but if we don’t or can’t, let them know we love them and…let them know Fallon and Donny are on Lord Howe Island. We have some from there with us!”
“Lord Howe?”
“The island off Oz. They do not have the outbreak. They are clean and must stay that way. But do not, under any circumstances go anywhere near the coast of Oz…ever!”
“Ok mate. Damn, this is terrible.”
“Yes it is. We lost four on our adventure and we picked up seven, but it’s possible that only six will ever survive this…” and he stopped for a moment. “Now listen. Those two yachts have black flags because they have signs of it - so far we don’t. If we do survive, we still have to go back, we can’t go here or to Lord Howe…do you understand Dougie?”
He nodded and had a brief discussion with those on the longboat and then turned back.
“How about if we load a boat up with supplies and tow it here. At least your last days will be comfortable and if you survive, enough to get you back to Oz,” he suggested.
“Thank you Dougie. That would be awesome. But have no one else come out to us unless they stay well away and always upwind, but we would prefer no one comes back, even this close.”
Dougie nodded in understanding and took up the oars again.
“Oh…” Chris yelled out. “One more thing! Can you bring us some radios and spare batteries if you have any? Maybe that way we can talk briefly to those we know - both here and New Haven!”
He nodded and began to row quickly back to the communities base. The following morning they returned, a smaller dingy in tow, and keeping a greater distance than before, released it into the outgoing tide. Geo dived over board to push it closer and they tied it alongside.
Inside was food, fresh water, some wine, clothes, three radios and a supply of old rechargeable batteries. The notes that came with the supplies advised these were the last radios that worked and to keep the two tied with the red cord for New Haven. There were also notes and messages to them all, and especially to Harry. They used the third radio to thank them and talk about all that had gone on right up until Don’s passing. Harm was deeply moved. He had liked Don and as he was mid-sentence when the radio f
inally died.
Now they were isolated, and keeping it that way they left the bay, having the two black flagged boats lead the fleet up the coast. There was no rush but just two days later they were inside the Marlborough Sounds in the channel the old inter-island ferries used to ply. Only the Gloria and the Taranaki ventured further up toward the head of the sound. Tia and Chris were tacking close to each other until Tia suddenly dropped sail. Chris turned and came nearby.
“Tia?”
“Just feel nervous, that’s all!”
“Ok, but before I get closer, check everyone. Full body check and we’ll do the same.”
Whether on deck or below they stripped and checked each other over. Tia was the first to have her crew checked. As Chris reappeared she was smiling.
“You’re smiling?” he asked.
“Yes, and I hope you can too. We are all clean so far!”
“So are we. Strange that? Why some of us and not all of us?” he questioned to no one in particular. As he spoke he threw her a rope and the two yachts were tied together.
“So why are you so nervous?”
“They are my family,” she said. “Eleven of us left here - and of who is still alive - only six of us can even show our faces. I so much want to land and stay!”
“You know we can’t do that Tia!” Chris said loudly.
“I know, I know! Don’t get all worked up Chris. It’s my emotion, not my intent….Wow, that sounds so grown up aye!”
Chris put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry Tia. And you were grownup long before you left and you are stronger even now.”
“Andy is going to be pissed that Ryan got it!” she warned.
“Well, it is what it is. Now, are we going to do this? And if so, how? This is your home, you decide!”
Tia looked to Ho, Geo and Samantha for suggestion and support.
“Whatever you think best Tia,” they agreed simultaneously.
“Ok, the wind seems to have turned to the east more than the south,” she said.