Fear The Outback (Book 1): Fear The Outback

by Cheshire, Stephen W.

  “Wait,” Austin whispered. Austin reached into his pocket and pulled out a sidearm. He had also been issued a silencer, which he twisted onto the weapon. “Take this,” he whispered to Justin.

  “Why?” Justin asked, looking down at the infected as they shuffled about.

  “Just in case,” he replied.

  “In case what?” asked Justin.

  “In case,” said Austin. Austin looked down at the snarling zombies. One was starting to look up. If the infected saw them, it could jeopardise their escape route. Austin felt his heart pounding as the female zombie began to look up towards the top of the theatre. He looked away and back at Justin.

  “I need you to go,” he ordered. “I’ll distract them.”

  “What?” Stuart asked.

  “I’ll distract them,” Austin said, “and then I’ll catch up.”

  “Come on,” Justin ordered.

  Justin slowly crawled along the top of the frames, holding the lights up, still hearing the zombies hissing and snarling at one another. Justin looked at the chairs down below. If they could lower down silently and sneak around, they would be able to make it out okay.

  “Okay,” Justin whispered. “One at a time.”

  Stuart lowered his body down. Justin locked his eyes onto the stage, which was full of the infected. Unbeknownst to Justin and Austin, the bolts holding the lights up began to come loose. Not a clink or scratch could be heard as they continued to lose their grip on the ceiling. Austin looked up towards the ceiling, taking his eyes off the infected for a second. Austin looked at the strong wires that were holding the scaffolding up. It was now clear that they were starting to pull from the extra weight on them.

  “Shit,” Austin mumbled.

  Justin frowned over towards Austin. He swung his head up and saw the wires holding the scaffolding up. They were starting to drop.

  “Oh fuck,” Justin uttered. “Hold on!”

  The scaffolding started to drop.

  “Please don’t scream,” Justin asked his mum.

  Justin looked at his mum, and she nodded briefly. The bolts continued to drop.

  “Quickly! This way!” Stuart intervened.

  Justin swung his head back. “Come on,” Justin ordered his mum. He quickly walked across the scaffolding. The wires gave way. Austin looked over and saw the scaffolding collapse. It was like a ladder for them to get down, but the only problem was the infected down below. The scaffolding continued dropping down. It made a crash as the glass shattered in the lights, one after the other.

  “Do not move,” Justin ordered.

  Justin, his mum, and Stuart laid dead still on the rest of the scaffolding. Justin could see his mum starting to tremble as the hisses and snarls from the theatre echoed. The infected were awake again. They looked around the theatre, snarling and spitting up blood, looking for their next victim to slay and eviscerate. Justin looked at Austin. There is no way across for him. Justin lifted his head and let a big breath out.

  ‘Go,’ Austin silently mouthed to Justin.

  Justin shook his head. ‘No. We need you,’ Justin mouthed back.

  ‘No. Go. I’ll distract them.’

  Justin looked down at the infected. They were still looking around at the lowered scaffolding and lights.

  “Shit,” Justin uttered, trying not to make a noise.

  Austin pointed at the silenced handgun. “Use it,” he said.

  Justin looked away. He gave Austin a thumbs up.

  Austin slowly shuffled back, trying not to make a noise, unaware the wires above him were starting to give way as he was too focused on the infected below.

  Justin looked across at Austin as he prepared to distract the infected for them. Justin then prepared his mum for the climb down and out of the theatre.

  Austin took a deep breath he slowly stood up, holding onto the wires. He grasped to them, feeling the lights gently rock back and forth. He took another shallow breath.

  “Hey! How’s it going?” he yelped.

  The infected snarled, immediately looking up at him.

  “So, how’s your day been?” Austin said down to the infected.

  The infected reached up for him. He just stood there, keeping them distracted. “Hello,” he called. “Come on, stay with me.”

  Justin climbed down, slowly looking through the sight of the silenced handgun. He kneeled and looked up at Austin as he continued to distract the zombies. He then looked up at his mum as one of the zombies crawled in from the outside of the shutter. Justin stepped back, freezing in his tracks.

  The zombie stood there, looking up at Austin as he waved down towards the female who had just run in. She locked her glowing eyes up at Austin.

  “Hey, you!” Austin called to the female zombie. “Over here!” Austin aimed the rifle up at the air as Justin looked through the sight of the handgun, ready to pull the trigger at the female’s head.

  “Hey, this way!” Austin said. Austin began to shuffle along the camera lights. The infected edged forward, away from where Justin was standing. The coast was now clear for a few seconds. Justin looked back and up at Stuart. He gave him the nod to help lower his mum down. Austin looked over at Justin’s mum as she was helped down by Stuart. Austin started to bang the metal work as Justin’s mum was lowered onto the ground. Stuart then landed down on the ground. Austin waved them off. Justin walked backwards slowly, holding the silenced handgun.

  Austin then heard a crash from above. He felt a few bits of muck land on his head. He looked up and saw that the bolts holding the railings up hade started to fail.

  “Crap,” he mumbled.

  The lighting gave way. Austin didn’t have time to grab onto anything. The lights and railings fell. He landed on the ground. He reached for his rifle. He looked at the large group of infected people as they stood, looking down at him. Justin heard the gunfire from the theatre.

  “Come on!” Justin ordered. Justin led the way down the dark walkways and corridors.

  “Stuart,” he whispered.

  “What is it?”

  “How do we get out of here?”

  Stuart took a second to think. “If we can cut through the casino, we can make it to the outside from there.” There was a short pause before he spoke again. “How we getting to the mainland?”

  Justin didn’t reply to this. After a moment, he asked, “Where is the casino?”

  “Just ahead.”

  It was pitch black, Justin could just about see ahead by squinting. Justin’s mum was close to him as they approached the huge doors to the casino. All of the gambling tables and slot machines were off. Justin squinted his eyes as he pushed the door open. Not a squeak from the hinge is heard as he walked in. He looked in and saw groups of the infected. They were just looking down at the ground, seemingly unaware of Justin, Stuart, and Coleen’s presence. They were shuffling about and bumping into each other. Justin put his finger to his mouth. He grasped the silenced handgun, listening to the snarling sounds from the infected as he weaved in and out of them, trying his best not to bump into any.

  Suddenly, the faulty generator below started to fire back on. The power surged through the machine and through the ship. Justin looked to his right at the slot machines. Their screens began to light up.

  “Oh, no,” he uttered. “Please, God, no.”

  The lights to the rest of the slot machines started to switch on. A few jingles were heard from the machines. The infected started to shuffle as the lights in the ceiling came on. The casino was now well lit.

  An infected female slowly started to lift her head. She opened her eyes and saw Justin helping his mum run through the room. The zombie shrieked as she ran towards Justin.

  Justin looked through the sight of the handgun and pulled the trigger. The bullet shot into the zombie’s head. The rest of the infected woke up from the daze, looking to see Justin and Stuart.

  “Hi, how are you?” Justin said.

  The zombies screamed.

  “Come on,” Ju
stin ordered his mum and Stuart.

  Justin heard the infected running after them from behind. He spun around, took his rifle, and squeezed the trigger. He heard a click. He had no bullets left.

  “Agh, fuck!” he yelled.

  Justin chucked the rifle down onto the ground. He pulled the handgun out of the pouch again.

  “This way,” Stuart called.

  Justin spun around and ran through the ship towards an exit. He turned the corner, only to find a locked door.

  “Agh! Fuck, no!” Stuart called out.

  “This way!” Justin ordered.

  “Why? Where we going?” asked Stuart.

  “Trust me,” Justin replied.

  Justin looked through the sight of the handgun. He had only nine bullets left in the magazine. He ran ahead, trying to remember where he and Austin had been a short while ago. There, ahead of them was the open door.

  “Come on, come on!” he ordered. He stormed through the open door. The cool, clean morning sea air blew onto his face. “God, that feels good,” he said.

  Justin slammed the door shut, he couldn’t lock it, but closing it should slow the infected down, giving he, his mum, and Stuart enough time to get back to the boat and back to the mainland. Justin sprinted ahead, waiting for the infected to burst through the door behind them. He looked over the side of the ship at the anchor. It had slammed right through the speedboat, causing it to sink.

  “Oh, fuck, no!” he screamed. He looked back along the deck of the ship. The infected hadn’t burst through yet. Justin looked around the ship and down into the water. Only the sound of the waves splashing against the side of the of the ship was heard.

  Justin continued looking around. “We have to swim,” Justin decided.

  “What?” his mum gasped.

  “We have no choice,” Stuart intervened.

  The sun continued to come up in the distance. Justin watched as the tip of the sun started to come up. He then heard a thrumming sound coming in from the distance. He looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Without warning, a red ranger helicopter flew over the ship.

  “Hey!” Stuart called up, waving his arms.

  Justin looked down to a crashing sound. The door had been forced open by the infected. Justin looked through the sight of the handgun. He took some single shots, trying to slow them down. He peered over his shoulder and saw someone sitting on the side of the helicopter. They were holding onto a rifle. They opened fire onto the infected.

  “Mum, go!” Justin ordered.

  The helicopter hovered down towards the side of the ship. Justin tried to preserve as many of the rounds he had left as he could. The infected just kept on coming. The top of the handgun finally pinged back. Just instinctively reached into his pocket for another magazine, but there were none.

  “Shit,” he mumbled. He then looked and saw that Stuart had finished helping his mum into the helicopter. Justin turned around. He knew he didn’t have time to climb onto the helicopter. He spun around and looked to see if the route around to the front of the ship was open. He then looked up at the helicopter.

  “Justin!” his mum screamed. “Please!”

  Justin could see his mum as she screamed his name. The infected were closing in on him. He wouldn’t have time to climb onto the helicopter. He sprinted down the deck of the ship. The helicopter followed him. Justin then skidded to a stop. He looked to see a set of steps leading up to the next deck.

  “Fuck it,” he uttered under his breath. He came to the top of the stairs. He looked to see the pool area. The infected were running into the pool area. There were no stairs on the other side. The only way to escape was up the diving board. Justin ran to the ladder which led to the top of the board. He reached the top and looked down towards the pool. The helicopter descended down towards the pool. It couldn’t get any closer to the board. Justin looked and saw that the infected were climbing up the ladder. The whole pool area was full of the zombies. Justin ran to the end of the diving board. He looked and saw one of the infected climbing up. He opened his eyes wide as he stared at the infected individual. It was a male late-aged zombie, wearing a polo shirt and shorts. Justin instantly recognized who it was.

  “Dad?” he uttered. Justin looked down at his dad, who had frozen on the ladder, looking up at Justin. The sound of the rotating blades of the helicopter was the only thing that could be heard. Justin couldn’t take his eyes off his dad, who just held onto the ladder to the diving board, looking up at him. Then, he screamed up at Justin. Justin turned around and ran down the diving board. He looked back to see that his dad had made it to the top of the ladder. Justin jumped down onto the board. He leapt off it springing up through the air, feeling the air rush through his hair. Justin focused on the metal bars at the bottom of the helicopter. He grabbed hold of them. The helicopter pilot straightened the helicopter up and pulled away from the ship. Justin pulled his body up into the helicopter. He felt his mum huddle up to him.

  “Oh, my God!” she cried.

  Justin felt the helicopter start to turn. He stood up quickly, pulling away from his mum. He looked at the two men in the helicopter as they stood side by side.

  “Can I borrow your rifle, please?” Justin stuttered.

  The one man looked at the other. He gave him a brief nod. Justin kneeled and stared through the scope, aiming down at the ship. He adjusted the zoom, looking down onto the top of the diving board. His dad came into view; he was staring up at the helicopter. Justin could see the blood on the bite wound of his dad’s neck from when he was attacked as well as his glowing yellow eyes.

  “Love you, Dad,” Justin said as he squeezed the trigger. The bullet shot through the air and into his dad’s head. Justin watched as his dad tumbled down, head first, into the pool. He looked at his mum as he handed the rifle back to the man and thanked him.

  The helicopter turned around and headed towards the pier. Justin reached into the bag he had retrieved from the medical room, pulling out the insulin and syringe.

  “Two of my friends are in that restaurant,” Justin told the two men.

  One man nodded and signalled the pilot to land in front of the restaurant.

  As the helicopter landed, Justin looked back at the cruise ship.

  “Where you going?” his mum asked as he jumped down off the helicopter.

  Without answering, Justin entered the restaurant and ran to the kitchen.

  “Adam?” he called. “We are rolling.”

  Justin pushed the door to the kitchen open. Adam was still sitting there with Lucy.

  “Justin, man!” Adam yelled. “I thought you were—”

  “No, still here.”

  “Where’s—?”

  “Where do you think?” Justin replied straight away. Justin picked up Lucy. He held her over his shoulders. “Come on,” Justin said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Justin carried Lucy through the restaurant. while Adam looked through the fridges. There were bottles of untouched alcohol on them, still cool and drinkable. He grabbed a few of the bottles. “Something for later!” he said as he did.

  “Come on, Adam!” Justin urged.

  Adam jogged behind, struggling to hold onto the bottles of alcohol as they jingled together. He then heard a snarl. The sound of the helicopter had alerted some of the infected that people were nearby.

  Justin arrived at the helicopter. He pushed Lucy onto it and then swung his head back to look for Adam, who was struggling to run while holding the bottles. The infected were running down towards him.

  “Adam, come on!” Justin called,

  Adam struggled to move.

  “Adam, forget the booze!” Justin called “Come on!”

  Adam tripped up on his shoelace. The bottles smashed into the ground. Adam had fallen onto some shards of glass. He tried to stand up, but the pain from the glass in his wrist caused him to stagger forward.

  “Adam!” Justin screamed

  Adam looked back, and the infected were
right behind him. He looked at their gleaming eyes as they sprinted towards him. He saw the top of one of the bottles had broken off. Some of the drink was still inside it, though. He swigged the drink down as Justin watched in horror. Justin closed his eyes as he heard Adam screaming in pain.

  “Justin!” his mum called.

  Justin turned around and climbed onto the helicopter. The helicopter lifted off the ground and headed away from the pier. Justin looked down at the infected as they surrounded Adam. He reached into his bag and pulled out the plastic insulin case and tubes. He put the insulin into the syringe and injected Lucy with the insulin.

  “Come on,” Justin pleaded as he looked down at Lucy.

  She suddenly coughed. She opened her eyes with a fright.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” Justin said, hugging her. He looked up at one of the men as he looked down at him.

  “Thank you,” Justin said.

  “Not a problem.”

  “Name’s Justin.”

  “Andrew,” the man said. “Andrew Parker.”

  Justin hugged up close to Lucy.

  “What happened?” Lucy struggled to say

  Justin looked down at Lucy as he continued to hug up to her. “Long story.” Justin looked down at the insulin capsules. He had about thirty—enough to last about a week and a half. Justin looked out the side of the helicopter as they turned away from the sky-blue ocean.

  “Where we going?” Stuart asked Andrew.

  “I’ll show you.”

  The helicopter turned towards the northeast. He was taking them towards the outback.

  Justin looked out into the outback. They had been flying in the same direction for twenty minutes. He looked forward along the empty road. He looked forward into the distance, seeing an object in the middle of the road. He squinted his eyes as he looked forward, seeing that the object was a low loader truck. The helicopter descended towards the truck. Justin held onto the seat as they touched down onto it. The blades and engines powered down.

  “What is this?” Stuart asked.

  “Your new home,” Andrew replied.