Fear The Outback

by Stephen W. Cheshire

  “Oh my God!” Olivia screamed

  The car slammed into a rock and stopped. The wheel got caught on it. Olivia panted for breath. She looked forward, down the huge hill into the canyon below. She struggled to come to her senses. She shook her head as she tried to re-focus her attention to what was going on. “Is everybody okay?” she asked, looking back at her family.

  “I’m good. Yourself?” Spencer responded.

  “I’m okay,” Jett replied. Jett looked at Ethan.

  “Is Ethan okay?” Olivia asked

  Ethan’s eyes had opened after the sudden accident. Olivia smiled at him when she saw that he was okay. She then looked out at the river, watching it run below them. It led from Sydney to New South Wales. The water was glistening as the sun continued to climb into the sky over Australia. Olivia gazed outside as the sunlight sparkled. She then took another look towards the drop below.

  “Okay,” she stated. “One at a time, everyone slowly get out of the car.” No one answered her. “Well,” she said, “Come on.”

  Chelsea got took Ethan and got out of the car while comforting him. Spence and Jett followed Chelsea out of the car. Olivia slowly undid her seatbelt, unaware that the rock that was stopping the car from rolling forward and further down into the canyon was starting to be pulled out of the ground by the car. When Olivia started to move, the rock started to give way. Olivia’s eyes opened wide with fear. She sat back in the chair, scared stiff. She was too scared to even try and see if the brakes on the car would work.

  The car rolled forward.

  “Mum!” Chelsea screamed.

  “Shit,” Spence gasped.

  Olivia held onto the steering wheel and screamed as the car went over the side of the cliff. The rear bumper got caught on the edge of the cliff, stopping the dangling car from dropping into the canyon below.

  Olivia could only see the river below as it glistened in the sunlight. Spence and Jett ran over to the cliff. They looked over the edge and saw splashes in the river below from some rocks that had tumbled down. It was a very long way down.

  “Mum!” Jett screamed

  “Hey!” Screamed Spence “Go and get help,” he told Jett.

  “Who is around?” Jett replied. Jett then listened intently. He could hear something. He tried to figure out what it was. “Quiet,” he said.

  “What?” Chelsea, who had also reached the cliff, asked.

  “Shut up, man,” Jett snapped. Chelsea stood silent. Jett could hear a rumble in the distance. It seemed to be getting louder. “That’s a truck,” he said.

  “What?” Chelsea said. “Out here?”

  Jett ignored Chelsea. He ran over the dusty ground. Tired and afraid, it was a struggle for him to stay on his feet. He looked along the road, into the distance. He stormed into the middle of the crossroads. He looked to see a huge, red fire engine slowly driving towards them.

  Flynn looked out into the distance and saw the two figures of Jett and Chelsea. They were waving, trying to catch his attention. Flynn slowed down.

  “Hey!” Chelsea screamed.

  Flynn hit the brakes.

  “Were not infected!” Jett called.

  Flynn pulled up and stopped next to Jett and Chelsea.

  “What’s up?” Flynn asked out of the window.

  Chelsea struggled to speak. “My mum has been involved in an accident,” she said. “Her car is half-way down the cliff, upside-down.”

  Flynn looked over at the cliff.

  “Shit,” he uttered. “Show me.”

  Flynn drove onto the dry ground as the wheels crunched along it. He pulled up a short distance from the cliff’s edge. With the handbrake firmly on, he got out and went over to the edge of the cliff. He looked down at the silver car that was still hanging there. Lumps of rock were still falling from the cliff’s edge and dropping into the river.

  Flynn realized there wasn’t much time before that part of the cliff’s edge collapsed. He quickly ran over to the fire truck. He lifted the silver shutter so he could access the winch and some rescue equipment. He Slipped the harness clipped it to the winch hook.

  “Come on!” Chelsea panicked.

  Flynn ignored Chelsea. Focused on his rescue mission, he ran to the cliff’s edge again.

  “When I say,” he said to Spencer, “Hit the ‘up’ button.”

  “Got it,” he replied

  Flynn started to lower his body down the side of the canyon. The winch let him down slowly as he descended to the car. He could see the underneath of the car where it had slammed into the rock that was holding it up from dropping. He knew it was going to give way soon. Flynn lowered himself until he reached the car. He looked in at Olivia. She turned her head to the right, looking at Flynn as he came next to her.

  “Hey, you okay?” he asked.

  Olivia nodded; it was the only thing she could do. “Is my…” she panted.

  “They’re safe,” he said. “We need to get you out.”

  Flynn looked down. the rock holding the car was starting to crumble away. It was going to give way at any moment. Flynn opened the car door as the rock continued to break away from the cliff. He looked out into the distance of the river, where he noticed an object slowly drift towards them. He squinted his eyes and saw that the floating object was a boat.

  Rebecca looked ahead through her binoculars and saw the crashed car, Flynn next to it, and bits of rock falling from the cliff into the water. “Look!” she called out.

  Doug looked through his binoculars, seeing Flynn trying to get Olivia out of the car. The rock was dangerously close to breaking away from the cliff.

  Flynn looked at Olivia as she started to panic. “Okay, you can do this.”

  Olivia started to edge her way out of the car. The rock came loose.

  “Come on!” Flynn urged her.

  Olivia leapt out of the car onto Flynn.

  “Hang on,” he said. “I got you!”

  The rock gave way at that moment. Flynn watched as the car fell off the cliff along with the rock into the water, making a tremendous splash. The car started to sink and was slowly submerged into the river. Jett looked down over the edge and saw Flynn holding onto Olivia. They were dangling from the wire.

  “Okay!” Flynn yelled. “Pull us up!”

  “Okay!” Jett yelled, relaying the message to Spence, “Do it!”

  Spence hit the ‘up’ button. The winch started to pull Olivia and Flynn up. Flynn held onto Olivia as they reached the top of the cliff.

  “MUM!” Chelsea screamed.

  Olivia cried with joy as Chelsea and Jett hugged her.

  “Where's Ethan?” she asked. She spotted him before anyone could answer. “Oh, my God!” She praised.

  Flynn looked down over the cliff’s edge at the drifting ship. He looked to the left, where he saw a plain. He saw that he could drive the fire truck down there. He turned around and ran to the group.

  “Come on,” he said.

  “Wait, what?” Jett asked.

  “Come on!” he said again. Flynn got into the fire truck. Jett helped Olivia up off the ground.

  “I'm so sorry, Mum” Chelsea cried.

  “What for?”

  “I'm just so sorry.”

  Olivia didn't have the energy to even ask why Chelsea was so upset. They slowly walked over to the fire engine as Flynn started it up.

  “Where are we going?” Jett asked him once inside.

  Flynn pressed the accelerator down hard, speeding away from the crash site. He swung to the right where there was a small road leading downhill. Flynn locked his eyes onto this road. He then skidded to a stop and jumped out of the truck, looking at the boat as it drifted slowly along the river. He smiled at Rebecca as the boat steered towards the river bank where he was standing.

  “G’day!” Rebecca called.

  “Glad there are people still alive,” he said.

  “Me too,” Rebecca replied. As the boat came to a complete stop, she jumped off, followed by the Japanese man
and the skipper.

  Flynn looked at the small group of people as they got out of the boat. Flynn counted five of them.

  “Where you headed?” Rebecca asked him.

  “Anywhere. Just seeing where the roads take us.”

  Spencer walked over from the fire engine. He looked at Rebecca as she walked towards them. “Howdy,” He said

  “No thanks,” Rebecca said as she walked right past him.

  Spence looked up as Chelsea and Jett walked with their mum back towards the fire truck. Doug and the Japanese man slowly strolled along as well.

  “I’ll ride top,” Rebecca said.

  “Me too,” Doug chimed.

  Rebecca climbed onto the top of the fire truck from where she surveyed the area. The coast was clear. Not a single figure could be seen.

  Flynn reversed the fire truck onto the main road. He looked at Toby in the mirror. He gave him the wink as he slipped the truck into drive. The engines roared as they pulled away into the distance.

  Chapter Six

  Flynn looked forward out the front of the fire truck as they sped along the road. The fuel tank starting to run low again. It wouldn’t be long until they ran out. The road was bendy in this part of the outback. Flynn squinted his eyes as he looked into the distance. He saw a roadblock that had been set up—a mixture of cars and vans, blocking the road into a nearby town. He brought the fire truck to a stop. The group just sat in the truck, looking out at the roadblock.

  Phoebe looked up at the sign which read the name of the town ahead: ‘Tamagoroa.’ Phoebe sat in the back seat as Flynn looked at the line of vehicles at the entrance to the bridge that led to Tamagoroa. Now that the sun was well up into the sky, they were sitting ducks for any infected that may have been near.

  “We have to move them,” Flynn stated.

  “Agreed,” Rebecca replied. Rebecca got out of the fire truck.

  Flynn looked at Olivia, who was still shaking after her near-death experience, and then at Toby, who was sitting next to Chelsea in the back. “Back in a minute bro,” he said with a smile.

  Flynn and Rebecca, followed by Spence, walked from the fire truck over to the cars.

  “Stop” A voice yelled as the three of them approached.

  Rebecca froze and immediately raised her rifle. She took a deep breath, awaiting a figure to appear from behind the cars, but no one appeared

  “Who is it?” Flynn called out.

  “Nothing here that concerns you,” the voice said. “Now, turn around and head the other way.”

  “Hey, we just want to talk,” Flynn called

  “Turn around,” The voice warned, “or we will fire.”

  “Damn, man,” Flynn ranted, kicking the ground.

  Phoebe looked forward. She could hear people shouting at them. Phoebe stepped down from the fire truck.

  “Hey, wait!” Olivia ordered, fearing for Phoebe’s safety.

  Phoebe ignored Olivia; she walked over to Flynn, Rebecca, and Spence as the others followed her.

  “Phoebe, stay back!” Rebecca cautioned.

  Phoebe continued forward. she ran towards Flynn.

  “What are you doing?” Flynn snapped.

  “Trust me.” Phoebe stepped towards the roadblock. “Hey!” she screamed

  Flynn looked at Phoebe. “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  “Just trust me,” she whispered. Phoebe put her hands up walking closer towards the roadblock. “Is your mayor Boyd?” she asked. “Boyd Anderson?”

  There was a short pause.

  “Why do you need to know?” the voice asked.

  Phoebe took a second a think. “My dad is the—” she began to say, stopping abruptly.

  Flynn looked at Phoebe as she stood in the middle of the street. He knew what she was going to say to the people on the other side of the roadblock.

  “My dad was the mayor of Brisbane,” she called “Your mayor is Boyd Anderson, and he knows my father, Christian Juarez.”

  Flynn looked ahead at the roadblock.

  “Wait,” the voice called. There was a long pause. “Okay, you can enter,” the voice called, “but you must disarm and surrender your weapons to my people.”

  “Hey, we don't want any trouble” Flynn yelled. “Look, we got a soldier, here. I'm a fireman. If you got survivors, we can help.”

  There was another short pause. “Just lower your weapons,” the voice called.

  Flynn looked at Rebecca. “Do it,” he ordered

  Rebecca put her rifle down onto the ground. Flynn dropped the axe to the floor. The only sound that could be heard was that of the metal clanging on the road.

  “Okay,” the voice called. “Now, take two steps back.”

  Rebecca and Flynn stepped back away from the weapons on the ground. A figure started to slowly appear from behind the vehicles. He was a middle-aged tarty-shirt-wearing typical outback Australian. He was holding onto a twin barrel shotgun. He edged towards the group, looking through the sight of the gun. He reached down and picked up the rifle and axe.

  “Bring your fire truck through,” he ordered, “and don't do anything stupid.”

  Flynn walked back towards the fire truck as the car in the middle of the bridge was pushed back, allowing the fire truck to fit through. Flynn started the engine up and drove through the roadblock. he wound the window down and looked at the man.

  “Follow him,” the man ordered, pointing to a pickup truck ahead.

  Flynn didn't hesitate. He began following the pickup truck in front of him, keeping his distance. The road was bendy. Soon, the group could see a town.

  “So, is there hope for us?” Olivia asked.

  No one replied as they pulled into the town centre. Flynn and Rebecca looked at the town hall. It was a medium-sized building with stairs leading up to it. The mayor’s office was on the top floor. Flynn looked at Toby and Deserine. Toby was huddled up to his mum, fast asleep. Flynn shut the fire engine down.

  “Wait here,” he ordered.

  “Wait, what about you?” Deserine asked quickly.

  “I'm going to find out what's going on.”

  Rebecca got out of the truck as well. Flynn looked at the small group of people as they looked over at the fire truck, just staring at them as if they were from another world. Flynn spotted a young girl, aged around six or seven, locked to her mum's leg. She couldn’t take her eyes off of Flynn.

  Spence jumped down of the fire truck. “Agggh,” he said. “Need to stretch my legs.” Spence looked at the people as they looked back at him. “What?” he yelled. “Ain’t you ever seen an outsider before?”

  Flynn looked at Rebecca. “Come on.” Flynn and Rebecca walked up the concrete steps looking at the two spherical lights on either side of the stairs which clearly hadn’t been swept since before the infection began. Flynn noticed two police cars and a police officer guarding the entrance to the building.

  “Hang on,” the officer ordered.

  Flynn and Rebecca were frisked for weapons, and they were both cleared. They entered the building and walked along the shiny marble floor to a small set of steps which led up to the top floor.

  “Where’s the mayor’s office?” Flynn questioned.

  “Upstairs,” a voice said.

  Flynn and Rebecca walked up the concrete stairs towards the voice.

  Boyd Anderson, fifty-eight, looked out of the window onto the fire truck. He looked at the small group of survivors as they were gawked at by the people of the town. He slowly turned around and walked over to the table in the middle of his office. He walked up to the two men standing by the table who were awaiting his orders.

  “I want them survivors checked,” he ordered “Once that's done, give them some water and then send Phoebe up here in a few minutes”

  “Yes, sir,” one of the men replied. The two men left the office, storming past Flynn and Rebecca, who were now entering the office.

  Boyd looked at Flynn and Rebecca. “Nice to see there are some survivors out there,”
he said “Name’s Boyd, Boyd Anderson. I’m mayor of this town.”

  “Flynn,” Flynn said. “Flynn MacDonnell, and this is Rebecca Chambers; she is Australian army.”

  “Pleasure,” Boyd replied

  “We’re lucky to have found this town,” Flynn said. “Was getting worried a few minutes ago.”

  “Sorry about the fuss,” Boyd said. “I had to take precautions.”

  Rebecca looked out of the window into the streets. She could tell they had just recently laid the road. “It’s quite a nice town,” Rebecca stated, “compared to some of the other outback places I have been to.”

  “Thanks,” Boyd said. “It was the beginning of the New Perth Project.”

  “New Perth Project?” she asked.

  Boyd walked up to his desk. He pulled out a small leaflet and handed it to Rebecca. It had a picture of the town on the front.

  “New Perth Project?” she asked again.

  “Yes,” Boyd replied.

  “What is that?” Flynn asked.

  Boyd walked over to a map of the town on the desk.

  “The New Perth Project,” he explained, “is—well, was—a government investment into some of the suburban places in the outback. It was an investment in making sustainable living within the outback of Australia. Tamagoroa has running water from natural springs under the ground, a power plant just on the outskirts, a hospital with facilities to save people from having to travel into cities for health and medical treatment…”

  “So, basically,” Rebecca said, “you have been staying away from the big cities.”

  “Yes,” replied Boyd.

  “What’s your population?” Flynn asked.