Fear The Outback

by Stephen W. Cheshire

  “Get down!” Rebecca yelled again to Spencer. Rebecca pulled Spence to the ground. The bullets penetrated the pipes, fuel gushed down from them as the power box on the wall sparked.

  Spence gave Rebecca a smile while looking up at her. “Go start the truck, darling,” Rebecca told him,

  “With great pleasure,” he replied.

  Flynn stood watching the sparks rain down from the power box.

  “Come on!” Rebecca screamed.

  More of the infected advanced on their position.

  Spence dove into the truck. There were no keys in the ignition. “Oh, come on!” he yelled in frustration. Spence looked around the truck. He reached down, ripping the underneath of the dashboard open. “Here we go,” he said.

  Flynn looked into the tanker. “That’ll do nicely,” he said.

  Flynn pulled the pipe out of the truck, watching the fuel gush down onto the ground.

  “Come on,” Rebecca called.

  Flynn jumped down as she got into the fire truck. “See you at home,” he yelled. He looked back at the gushing fuel. The sparks continued flying from the power box. “Oh, shit!” he gasped.

  Spence tied the two wires together. “And we do this…” he said. The truck screamed to life. “Yeah, baby,” he yelled. Spence punched the steering wheel. The keys dropped from the overhead. He gave a brief smile, pushing the accelerator down. Rebecca pulled behind him as Flynn pulled out as well.

  “Come on, come on, come on!” Flynn screamed. Flynn pulled out of the fuel plant. The main road was clear, nothing could be seen. The fuel ignited. The flame shot along the feeding pipe, igniting. Flynn looked and saw the complex erupt. A shockwave chased after the vehicles.

  “No!” Flynn cried. The wave passed the back of the fuel truck. “Yes!” he screamed.

  Spencer smiled as they speed away from the fuel plant.

  Chapter Nine

  The two guards stood by the roadblock to Tamagoroa. They looked through their binoculars into the dusty outback. All they could see was sand and blowing tumbleweed. There was a slight smudge on the lenses of their binoculars. One of the guards slowly looked down the long straight road. He looked at the smudge on the lenses, but something captured his attention in the distance. The only thing he could see was the heat drifting up from the ground. He looked to see a light starting to appear through the smudge. ‘Has the heat finally gotten to me after being out in it all day?’ he wondered. He squinted his eyes, looking to see a small blue reflection out in the road. He started to smile. The fire truck was speeding towards them, the lights on top of it glowing. It was a sight he would never forget.

  “It’s them!” he said excitedly to the other guard. “It’s them!”

  The rest of the onlookers looked through their binoculars into the distance at the fire engine as it sped towards the town.

  The guard picked up the radio. “Sir,” he called.

  “Go ahead,” Boyd replied on the other end.

  “Sir, they’re back!” He yelped. “They’re back!”

  “Well,” Boyd said, “let them in!”

  The guard looked into the bright distance as the fire truck got closer and closer. “Get that van out the way!” he instructed.

  The people at the roadblock moved the vehicles and barriers out of the way to allow the fire truck to pass. The small group of watchmen looked at the fire truck as Flynn shut the lights down.

  “Guess who’s back!” Flynn said. He looked out the side of the fire truck at the watchmen. They looked at the fuel tanker and at the truck behind that.

  “How you doing?” Spence called. “Here! A present for you!” Spence threw the bottle of alcohol to the watchmen. “Don’t let your mum see you with that,” he joked.

  “Have you got the fuel?” the watchman asked.

  “You bet,” Flynn replied.

  Flynn looked back to the tanker, which Rebecca was driving. “See that tanker?” he said. “That is all diesel for you.” The watchmen looked at the tanker. “Shall we?” Flynn called.

  “Oh, come on get on with it!” Rebecca said.

  “Yes ma’am,” he said.

  The fire truck sped through the roadblock, followed by the tanker and the truck with Spence in it. They sped through the town towards the town hall, where Boyd was sitting, looking out of the window down onto the town. He turned his head, looking to see the fire truck pulling in. He spotted the tanker and the truck.

  “What did they find?” he asked himself out loud. He stormed down out of the town hall. He looked at the fire truck and the line of vehicles. “What the hell did you do, Flynn?” he asked.

  “I’ll show you,” Flynn replied. Flynn and Boyd walked down to the tanker. “This is all diesel,” Flynn told him, “and that is enough food for everyone if we ration it out.”

  “You old son of a gun!” Boyd said. He then looked at the townsfolk as they stood there looking at him. “I told you, didn’t I? In this crisis, we, as a town, need to stick together. This is what I remember before the news stations across our great country cut out.”

  Flynn looked out the truck over at the woman who he had been speaking to before he left to get the fuel. He gave her a wink, knowing he was going to be getting it tonight no matter when the sun went down.

  “Before the news channels cut out,” Boyd called, “it was only Australia that had reported this infection. So, out there, at this very minute, there are people who are preparing to send help to our country. So, let’s get this town back up and running!”

  Inspired, the people started heading in all directions to do what they could to help the situation.

  Boyd walked up to Flynn. “Good job,” he said. Boyd looked around the three vehicles. “Where’s…?” he asked

  Flynn and Rebecca looked down at the ground. They knew he was referring to Sean. Boyd looked over and saw Sean’s wife and daughter. They were sitting over on one of the benches opposite the town hall.

  “Rebecca,” Flynn said. “Take that to the power station.”

  “With great pleasure,” she replied.

  Rebecca turned the truck around and headed towards the power station. Flynn stood next to the fire truck. He looked over at Boyd as he slowly walked over to the small family sitting on the park bench.

  “Daddy, you’re back!” Flynn heard from behind him.

  He turned and saw Toby running towards him. “Hey, sport!” Flynn picked Toby up and hugged him as he looked at Deserine.

  He took his eyes off her as she looked over her shoulder at Boyd, who had gone over to Sean’s family. Boyd locked his eyes onto the family and began to speak. Flynn couldn’t hear what was being said, but he watched as the woman put her head into her hands. He knew she had been told the bad news.

  Deserine looked at Flynn “What?” she asked. “What is it?” Deserine swung her head around looking at the family hugging. She looked at Sean’s wife as she was hugging their daughter tightly. “Did you—?” She asked

  Flynn nodded. Deserine took another look at the wife and daughter who she had noticed wandering around the town but had not yet spoken to.

  “Come on,” She said. “You need to rest.”

  “No,” he replied “I’ve got work to do”

  Deserine looked at Flynn. “We have been given a room at the hotel over there,” she said.

  Flynn looked over at the hotel. “Is it safe?”

  “As safe as it’s going to get.”

  Flynn hugged Toby tighter.

  “Flynn!” Boyd called.

  Flynn put Toby down onto the ground. “Back in a second, bro,” he said, giving him a smile.

  Flynn walked over to Boyd.

  “Get that fire truck down to the station,” he ordered. “It’s just down the road from here.”

  “Got it,” he replied.

  “Then meet me at Bar Outback” Boyd replied. “Drinks are on the house.”

  Flynn watched as Boyd turned around and walked back into the town hall.

  ***

&
nbsp; Rebecca looked up at the power station. She turned the truck around and looked at the power plant staff. “All yours,” she said.

  “Is that diesel?” The engineer asked.

  “You bet,” she replied. “All of it.”

  The engineer looked at the huge truck. “We got about two months, here,” he said.

  “Well, get it up and running then.” Rebecca chucked the keys to one of the engineers.

  “Yes, ma’am!” he replied.

  Rebecca walked over to a small hill from where she overlooked the dusty outback. She sat down on the ground and closed her eyes. There was an afternoon breeze blowing across the land. The occasional speck of dust blew into her face. She heard the staff behind her shuffling about.

  “It’s stuck!” she could hear someone complain.

  “Turn it the other way!” another voice ordered.

  Rebecca shot her eyes in their direction, looking back and over at the truck. She saw the men struggling to turn the valve. The pipe was connected to the truck, ready to send the diesel through to the generator’s engine.

  “Look, the damn thing is stuck!”

  “Give it a shove!”

  “Oh, for…” Rebecca moaned, looking up at the sky. She got up off the ground and stormed over to the two men who were struggling to turn the valve.

  “For God’s sake,” she moaned. “Move.” Rebecca stormed in between the two men. She grabbed hold of the valve and turned it. They watched as the fuel ran from the tanker to the generator. Rebecca looked at the men and gave them a cheeky smile. She ripped a bottle of water from one of the man’s hand and slowly walking away, back down towards the town.

  The fuel entered the generator. The engineer took a deep breath as he pressed a red button. It stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. He stood there trembling, waiting for the power to come on. Two lights came on and the generator started to rumble as it came to life.

  Power surged through the town. Boyd looked out of the window onto the town. He looked and saw the lights in his office come to life.

  The power in the hospital came back to life as well. Saheli looked around the hospital seeing the lights in the ward come back to life. The town store came back to life. The freezers powered back on. One by one, the lights came on. The air conditioner started blowing cold air into the store.

  ***

  Bar Outback, was just outside the town centre. The lights outside the bar shone brightly. The bar was full of energy, and there was plenty of alcohol for everyone. It was a busy night, even though the apocalypse was happening outside the town.

  Jett sat in the corner with Brett and Chelsea. Brett looked over towards the entrance of the bar and saw Flynn and Deserine stroll in. The whole bar froze as Flynn entered the bar. Jett slowly stood up and began to clap. The rest of the group did the same thing. Spence even stood up and clapped.

  Flynn nodded as he strolled over to a table in the corner and sat down next to Jett. Flynn noticed Boyd in the bar; he knew that Boyd was about to give a speech about Officer Sean Wallace. Flynn then looked over to Rebecca, who was perched over the bar, very tired from the day of service to the country.

  Boyd started to stand up from behind the corner table. The whole bar went dead silent as Boyd stood up, overlooking the congregation of people.

  “I want you all to take a minute to listen to what I am about to say,” Boyd announced. “As you know, today I sent out a scouting mission to the fuel compound, a couple of hours’ drive from here.” Boyd froze for a few seconds. “Officer Wallace,” he sympathised, “signed up to protect the people of this town, and that is exactly what he did. He put his life in danger to help this town.”

  Flynn looked over at Sean’s wife and daughter. Many tissues were crumpled up in their hands.

  “As you know,” Boyd said, “the dead are walking the streets out there. We need to stick together and pray that someone from the outside world finds us and that the infection stays within this country. So, I propose a toast” Boyd concluded, “to officer Sean Wallace.” The people in the bar lifted their glasses. “Officer Wallace!” he proclaimed.

  “Cheers!” the room called.

  Flynn took a swig of his drink and then looked over at Spence, who was flirting with a bunch of girls in the corner. He then shook his head and looked at Toby.

  “Did you look after mummy?” he asked.

  Toby nodded as he ate his small meal with Deserine sitting close to him.

  “He did a very good job,” Deserine said.

  Jett looked over towards the front door of the bar where he saw Saheli. She walked in wearing a red dress with a gold pattern on it. She stood straight in the middle of the door. She spotted Jett in the corner with his family. He stood up, capturing her attention.

  “Saheli!” he shouted.

  Saheli didn’t hesitate and walked over to the table. She looked at Brett and Chelsea as they sat next to each other.

  “Thank you for today,” Olivia praised.

  “Oh, that’s okay,” Saheli replied. “It’s my job.”

  “We’re going to have to stick together if we want to survive this” Olivia froze for a second. “Please!” she sobbed.

  Jett and Chelsea hugged their mum. “We promise,” Jett said. The small family hugged each other.

  Jett then noticed Boyd stand up. He was holding onto an electric guitar.

  Chelsea looked at Jett. “Go on,” she said. “You can play.”

  Jett looked down at the floor as the onlookers egged him on to do it. He slowly walked through the crowded bar towards the stage. He grabbed hold of the guitar, checking the microphone to make sure it worked. The music screamed to life and Jett began to play.

  Flynn looked over at Boyd Anderson as he sat in the corner. He slowly stood up. “Wait here,” Flynn said.

  “Where are you going?” Deserine asked.

  “Wait here,” he said again.

  Flynn stormed over to Boyd. Rebecca stormed over as well, though her legs felt dead after sitting hunched over for so long.

  “So,” Flynn asked Boyd, “what’s the plan?”

  “To stay alive,” Boyd replied. “I didn’t say anything about the petrol depot.”

  “Why not?” Rebecca asked.

  Boyd looked at Rebecca. “Think about it.”

  Rebecca thought for a second.

  “How long will that fuel last?” Flynn questioned.

  Boyd turned, looking out of the window into the town. All the street lights were on. A few of the houses were lit as well. People were scared for the future. “With the amount you bought back,” Boyd said, “about eight weeks.”

  “Eight weeks?” Rebeca asked

  “Yes, and when that runs out, we lose everything.”

  “Are there any more oil plants near here?” Rebecca asked/

  Boyd looked at Rebecca. “No.”

  They stood silent for a second, but a sudden, thundering sound from outside was then heard. A light from the outside suddenly shone in through the window into the bar.

  “What the hell is that?” Boyd asked.

  The people in the bar started to stand up. Jett stopped playing the guitar. Deserine stormed over to the window with Toby.

  “What is that?” she asked.

  Boyd looked up into the sky, blinded by the bright light.

  “That’s a helicopter,” he said.

  Rebecca stormed outside with Flynn and Boyd. Deserine was close by their side. Boyd pushed past the people, followed by Flynn and Rebecca. He saw a few of police cars speeding towards the town centre. They skidded to a stop, blocking all four corners of the road. Boyd saw that the helicopter—a corporate helicopter—was preparing to land in the town centre. It looked big enough to holds about four people in the back plus the single pilot in the front.

  Flynn pulled the handgun out of his pocket. He looked through the sight at the helicopter as it landed down onto the street. The engine powered down. The officers surrounded the helicopter, guns drawn, kneeling by the pat
rol cars.

  The side door of the helicopter opened. Flynn looked through the sight of the handgun at the figure that stepped out of the helicopter into the dark. The light of the houses reflected onto the man as he came into view. He was tall, around fifty years old, and he was wearing tatty jeans and a tabby shirt. He was a typical outback Australian who looked like he hadn’t had a shave for about two days. He had some dark boots on; the mud had dried onto them. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. He lit it up, casually looking at the onlookers as they looked back at him. They could smell the smoke as he exhaled it.

  “Who’s in charge here?” he asked.

  Everyone stood silent. Boyd walked forward. Flynn watched as he barged forward through the crowd towards the helicopter.

  “I am,” Boyd said. Boyd looked at the man as he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth with his two fingers. “Who are you?” Boyd demanded, watching as the man took a pull on the cigarette and gave Boyd a wink.

  “I’m Andrew Parker,” he said, “and I am here to help.”

  Chapter Ten

  15 Hours After the Infection Began

  The Pearl Prize Liner, a luxury cruise liner, was returning from the Philippines. A storm was over the ship. The ship was anchored offshore, about ten miles from the coast of Adelaide.

  Captain Bryson Kristopher stood up straight on the bridge, watching the wipers move back and forth over the front window. The occasional flash of lightning was seen.

  Navigator Curt Nevv stormed over to the captain. “Sir, we need to tell the passengers,” he said.

  “What? And cause sheer panic?” Bryson replied calmly.

  “Sir,” Curt snapped. “People are starting to ask questions. Luckily we’re over ten miles outside of Australia. People can’t get a signal on their mobile phones and the WiFi is still off, but we need to tell them now.”

  Bryson continued staring out of the window into the horizon. “Curt,” he said. softy turning to look at him, “this virus isn’t your cold and flu you catch in the winter.” Curt stared at the captain. “This virus turns any normal person, like yourself, or even the little girl downstairs, into a bloodthirsty animal. If we land, every single person on this ship is going to die, including me and you.”