“Sand, sand, and more fucking sand,” Flynn moaned about an hour and a half into the voyage. He stared forward, looking at the picture of Toby on the dashboard.
“How far now, darling?” Spence asked Rebecca.
Rebecca looked at the map. “Not too far.” Rebecca looked out into the outback. She grasped the rifle, trying not to nod off. She had been awake for over 24 hours now, ever since the invasion of Australia began.
“There it is!” Flynn called.
Rebecca jumped, looking out across the outback desert. There, in the distance, was the fuel depot. She looked at the huge towers as they stood out on the horizon, slowly getting bigger as the group sped closer to them. Rebecca woke herself up.
“Pull over,” Rebecca ordered as she spotted a small hill in the distance.
“What? Why?” Spence demanded.
Flynn kept driving towards the fuel compound.
“Trust me,” she said.
Flynn pulled over. Rebecca raised the rifle and looked through the sight as she climbed onto the hill.
“What is she doing?” Spence asked.
Flynn followed Rebecca up the hill. she knelt and looked out at the complex. She reached into one of the pouches on her utility belt and pulled out a small set of binoculars so she could get a good look at the complex. Rebecca looked around the complex. She looked at the compound itself. No one or nothing could be seen. The place was deserted. Rebecca slipped the binoculars back into the small pouch in her armour.
“What can you see?” Flynn asked.
“See for yourself,” Rebecca said.
Spence looked at the compound, squinting in the heat.
Flynn looked at the fuel depot. As Rebecca had found, it was clear.
“Anything?” Spence asked.
Rebecca ignored him.
“Come on,” Flynn said. “Let’s get over there.”
Spence turned around and started heading down the steep hill. He stopped and looked at Rebecca as she walked down the hill behind him. “Need help, darling?” he asked. Rebecca ignored him. “I don’t want to see you suffer,” he smiled.
Rebecca glared at Spence as she walked down the side of the hill. Spence continued making his way down but stumbled. Rebecca quickly grabbed him to stop him from falling. She pulled him to stand him up straight.
“I think I love you,” he said to her.
Rebecca let go of Spence.
“Come on,” Flynn called to them. “Let’s do this.”
***
Jett returned to the hospital. It was quiet in there now. He strolled through the hospital, looking for Saheli. He eventually found her; she was looking after an elderly lady.
“Take these,” Jett heard her say to the woman, “and call me if you need me.”
Saheli turned around and saw Jett, just standing there, looking at her. She looked down at the floor.
“Hey,” Jett said.
“Hi,” she struggled to say.
“Look, back there…” Jett said. “That was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have put you in that sort of situation”
“No, it’s okay,” she replied.
Jett looked at Saheli as she looked down at the ground again. He knew she was about to start crying. She did start crying. Jett saw a small tear start to run down her face.
“I’m sorry!” she cried.
‘This is my chance,’ Jett thought. “Hey,” he said. “It’s okay.”
Jett grabbed hold of Saheli and pulled her close to him. He felt a small tear run down the side of his face as well. Jett grabbed hold of Saheli. He knew she must have been thinking about her family back home in India. She continued to cry, and Jett continued trying to be the stronger of the two, but his mind kept flashing back to his dad’s death in Adelaide.
After a moment, Saheli stepped away from Jett. “I needed that,” she said.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Jett said again “You’re doing a good job.” Jett could smell her perfume. It was an Indian one. It was very sweet. “That’s a nice perfume,” he said.
“Oh, thanks. My mum bought it for me, just before I left home for Australia.” Saheli started to sob again, she and Jett quickly looked up at the lights in the ceiling as they suddenly started to flicker.
“What’s going on?” Jett asked.
Saheli looked at the lights around the ward. They were all flickering. “The generator,” She said. “It’s running low on fuel.”
Jett looked around. people were starting to get concerned.
“It’s okay,” Saheli called “The backup power will come on in a second.”
The hospital was now quite dark as the shadows from the trees outside consumed the light from outside. The lights above soon started to come back on.
“How long will the backup power last for?” Jett asked.
“About three hours.”
Jett looked at Saheli, but their attention was quickly drawn to some sounds coming from outside.
“What is that?” Saheli asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s find out.”
Jett and Saheli walked out into the streets of the town. they looked at the people heading to the food store. All of the power was out in the town.
Saheli and Jett walked over and saw a store in the distance that the people were flocking to. It was closed, but the people are desperate for supplies, and panic was starting to kick in.
Boyd looked out of the window of his office. He could see the people storming o the store, eager to take its supplies. “For God’s sake,” he uttered under his breath as he stormed out of the office.
People were swearing and shouting at one another as they tried to get into the store. Boyd walked to the mob and stood behind the huge congregation of people. He took a deep breath as he felt the sun burning his neck. “ENOUGH!” He screamed “ALL OF YOU!”
The people of the town stopped and looked at the mayor.
“Deputy Cartright,” Boyd shouted. “Holster your weapon.”
Cartwright looked at his colleagues.
“Do it,” Boyd insisted.
Cartwright holstered the handgun, looking through the crowd at the mayor.
“Listen up, and listen carefully,” Boyd shouted.
Saheli and Jett had left the hospital.
“We have already sent people to get fuel for the generator. You know, that firefighter from Brisbane who arrived only this morning, and that soldier, along with Officer Sean Wallace and that scruffy thing—I mean, Spencer. They are on their way to the fuel depot to collect fuel for the generator, and they are going to return later today. If we want to survive this crisis, we need to stick together as a community.” Boyd looked over the crowd of people. “Now, go back to your homes. Conserve as much water as you can and follow any instructions given to you.”
The people started to disperse from outside of the store. Deserine, along with Toby, approached the mayor. “Have you heard anything?” she asked.
“No,” Boyd replied simply. He then walked back towards the town hall.
Chapter Eight
Flynn looked over at the fuel compound and the huge metal fence that surrounded it. “Right,” he said. “Let’s do this.”
Flynn pulled up to the entrance of the fuel plant. He slowed down looking at the red barriers that were outside. They were in the open position, and the spikes in the ground were down. They pulled into the rear entrance of the fuel depot.
Flynn looked ahead into the compound and saw a huge tanker. “Perfect!” he said, delighted.
Flynn swung the fire truck around, pulling in front of the truck. The sunlight suddenly beamed in on his head. He got out of the truck, followed by Sean and Spence. Spence looked over and saw a smaller truck. He strolled over to it, holding onto the cricket bat.
“If we can enough fuel into this tanker,” Flynn said, “we should be able to power the town for a good couple of months.”
“Agreed,” Rebecca replied.
“Hey, guys?” Spence called. “Got something to show
you!”
Flynn looked at Wallace. He shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the truck.
Spence stood by the back of it. He hunched down with a smile on his face. “Abra-cadabra!” he exclaimed as he swung the back of the truck open. Flynn, Sean, and Rebecca looked into the back of the truck. There, piled up onto each other, right to the very back of the truck, were cases of tinned food and snacks. There was enough to last the whole town.
“There’s enough food here…” Flynn began.
“For everybody,” Rebecca said, finishing his sentence.
“Including the supplies already in the town store,” Sean stated.
Spence looked further back in the truck. He climbed in and looked over the top of the pallets of food. He saw some bottles of alcohol. “Perfect!” he said.
Spence reached down and opened the cardboard box.
“Erm…” Rebecca said, seeing what he had found. “Now is not the time.”
“Oh, come on!” he said. “One won’t hurt, will it?”
Spence looked at Flynn, Sean, and Rebecca as they stood at the back of the truck.
“Fuck it,” Flynn said. “Why not?”
“That’s the spirit!” Spencer replied, “if you’ll pardon the pun.”
Flynn handed the drinks around to the group. “Cheers!” he said.
“Cheers,” Sean replied.
“To Australia,” Rebecca said.
The group clinked the bottles and they all took a swig of their drinks.
“Feel better now?” Spence asked.
Flynn let the drink settle into his system. “Yes,” he replied. “I do. A lot.”
Rebecca looked at Flynn. “Can we hurry, please?” Flynn nodded and then looked over towards the huge silver shutters. “They must load the fuel in there,” He supposed.
Rebecca shrugged her shoulders as Spence stood next to her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle of alcohol. He went to take a sip.
“That’s enough!” she scolded him, swiping the bottle.
“Why is that, pretty girl?” he said with a smile. “Am I attractive to you?”
Rebecca shook her head. Flynn suddenly turned around and stormed back over to the fire truck.
“Where’s he going?” Wallace asked.
Flynn opened the side door to the fire engine. He pulled out a cutter. He stormed back past Rebecca. He ripped the pull cord back. The cutter screamed to life. Rebecca squinted as the bright sparks flew from the cutter. Flynn cut a walkway, allowing them to enter the fuel depot.
Once inside, Flynn shone his torch around the complex. He soon spotted a huge container on the top of the metalwork. He looked up at it.
“I need to go up there,” he declared.
“Why?” asked Rebecca
“The town generator needs diesel,” he said, “so I have got to go and check if there’s diesel in that container.”
Sean looked at Flynn, and said, “I’m going to try and see if I can get some power running.”
Flynn nodded. Spence looked at Rebecca as Flynn started to climb up the ladder towards the container. He looked out across the complex as he climbed up. He noticed a stench in the air. He saw a valve on the top of the tanker. He climbed over to it and looked over his shoulder. The coast was clear nothing can be seen. Flynn refocused his attention on the valve. He grabbed hold of it, turning it to the right. He lifted it up. A huge woof of diesel blasted into his face. He looked over the side and down onto Rebecca.
“We got diesel!” he yelled.
Rebecca gave him a smile.
“Chambers!” he called suddenly “Go and see if you can get the truck started!”
“Got it!” she yelled.
Flynn lowered the valve sealing the tanker closed. The truck engine revved to life. Rebecca reversed the tanker truck into the compound.
“How did you get it started so easily?” Flynn asked.
“Guy left the keys in the ignition.”
“Thank you, God,” Flynn praised. “It’s up to Sean now.”
Sean walked along the dark corridor. No lights were working. He held the torch underneath the rifle that he had been issued by Boyd. He shone the torch ahead at a metal door.
“Perfect,” he said.
Sean grabbed hold of the metal door handle and lowered it. Even with a shove, the door wouldn’t budge. “Shit,” he uttered. Sean knelt, looking at the door. He stared through the sight of his rifle. He squeezed the trigger.
Flynn swung his head, looking up at the huge transparent window. Rebecca looked through the sight of her rifle up at the window. The control room remained dark and empty.
“Please…” Flynn pleaded. He stared up at the transparent window. Sean appeared. He gave them a smile.
“Thank God,” Flynn pleaded.
Sean looked down at the control panel in front of him. He quickly glanced over his shoulder. “And we push this…” he then said.
Sean looked as the small led lights on the front of the control panel began to light up. Flynn looked at the power box next to him. He now had the power running to this part of the complex. The lights on the ceiling of the office lit up. Sean gave Flynn a smile. Flynn focused his attention on refuelling the tanker. He reached over, grabbing onto the metal pipe. He took a breath and jumped down onto the top of the fuel tanker. He undid the valve, dropping the pipe into the tank. Rebecca looked up as Flynn climbed up the metal ladder back to the power box. Flynn flicked the buttons up. The fuel ran into the tanker.
“We got fuel!” he yelled.
Rebecca gave him the thumbs up. “How long will that take to fill up?” she asked.
Flynn looked at the fuel rushing into the tanker. “At this rate,” he yelled, “twenty minutes.”
Rebecca looked as Spencer walked into the refuelling plant.
“So?” Spencer asked.
“No, thank you,” she replied.
Flynn shook his head smiling listening to the fuel as it gushed into the tanker.
Sean stood overlooking the complex. He folded his arms, looking at Flynn. Some screens were on the wall to his right. He strolled up to them and looked at them. He blinked to remoisten his eyes. As he reopened them, he looked to see some of the infected are running towards Flynn and Rebecca.
“Shit,” He mumbled. Sean ran to the window. Rebecca looked up, seeing him waving down at them.
“What’s the matter with him?” Spencer asked.
Rebecca turned, looking through the site of the rifle. Flynn just stood on top of the truck, looking at her and Spence. A snarl was heard.
“Oh, shit!” Flynn gasped.
Rebecca looked through the site of the rifle. There, running towards her and Flynn, was a large group of the infected.
“Shit!” Spencer yelled.
“How much left?” Rebecca called.
Flynn looked into the tanker of the truck. “Not much,” he called.
“Shit,” Rebecca gasped. Rebecca opened fire, taking single shots at the infected. Sean looked down from the window at the storming infected. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he grumbled.
Sean started slamming the back of the automatic rifle into the window, but it refused to shatter. “Shit!”
Sean took a step back and knelt. He looked through the sight of his rifle and squeezed the trigger. The bullet launched out, shattering the glass window. Flynn ducked, looking as the glass rained down onto the ground below. Sean appeared. He was looking through the site of the rifle. He began taking single shots at the infected as they ran towards their location.
“Come on!” Rebecca screamed.
“Not much left!” Flynn yelled.
“Aint you got enough yet?” Spence then yelled.
“Not enough for five months.”
“Shit,” Spencer moaned. He then looked at Rebecca. “Might as well join in, darling” Spence raised his handgun and looked at one of the infected females as she stood there, snarling at him and Rebecca. Rebecca folded her arms, looking at Spencer.
“Take the shot, darling,” she asked.
Spence shuffled his shoulders, raising the handgun. He stared down through the sight and squeezed the trigger. The bullet shot past the female. Rebecca stood there, looking at Spence, her arms still folded.
“And one for good luck,” he smiled. Spence squeezed the trigger but missed.
Rebecca took one shot, killing the female. “I take it your better with your hands?”
Spence gave a quick wink to her.
Sean continued shooting down at the infected as they ran from all corridors of the compound, but then he heard a thud from behind. “Huh?” He gasped
Flynn looked towards Sean’s scream from the control room above. “Oh, shit,” he uttered under his breath. Flynn couldn’t take his eyes off the fuel as it continued gushing into the tanker. The infected had started to slow down. Spence glanced up towards the control room window, followed by Rebecca.
“What?” Flynn asked. He turned, looking up at the window. Standing there, was one of the infected snarling down at Flynn, standing on its two back legs, with its gleaming yellow eyes.
“Oh, damn! Not you, Joey,” Spencer called.
Rebecca looked at Spence. “Is that the best one-liner you got?”
Flynn watched as an infected kangaroo leapt down off the window onto the metal piping. Flynn swiped the handgun from his pocket, but the unfortunate happened—the weapon slipped from his hands onto the ground below.
“Oh, fuck no.”
The kangaroo jumped towards Flynn.
“Hold the infected back!” Flynn yelled. “I got this!” Flynn clenched his fists as he watched to make sure the feeding pipe was still in the tanker.
“Come on, pretty boy,” he yelled.
The kangaroo hoped on the spot, snarling at Flynn.
“That’s right, Flynn!” Spence yelled. “You kick his arse!”
Flynn locked eyes with the Kangaroo. Rebecca continued to shoot at the infected. Flynn swung his foot around and kicked the Kangaroo away. “Come on!” he yelled. Flynn kept his fists clenched. He stared up at the broken window. Standing there, with gleaming yellow eyes, just staring down at them was Officer Sean Wallace. He was holding onto the rifle, staggering towards the window ledge.
“No,” Sean uttered as he tumbled from the window.
Fear The Outback (Book 1): Fear The Outback Page 8