Fear The Outback (Book 1): Fear The Outback

by Cheshire, Stephen W.

  “Harvey,” Justin said.

  Harvey ran over to Justin, trying not to make too much noise. His head kept turning towards the roof of the mall.

  “Right,” Justin said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Harvey closed the fridge. He loaded the bottles of water into his bag. The snarling from the infected began to intensify as the light started to beam in from the outside. Harvey bumped into one of the glass drink bottles that had been left on the side of the counter. The bottle tumbled down and erupted as it hit the floor. Juice flew everywhere. The sound of the crashing glass made Justin hunch up into himself.

  One of the infected looked up quickly, baring its teeth and snarling. It locked its eyes onto Justin. Harvey slammed the bat into her head quickly, trying not to wake any of the other infected up from their daze.

  “Come on,” Harvey whispered.

  But it was no good; the infected were all waking from their daze as the sun beamed in through the open dome on the top of the building.

  “Shit,” Justin mumbled.

  The infected woke up, one after the other, seeing Justin and Harvey.

  “Come on,” Harvey called in a panic.

  Justin looked at the infected. They began to scream at them. Justin ran with Harvey, but all corners of the Mall were blocked. Justin felt the weight from his bag pull him down as he tried to keep up with Harvey.

  “Shit,” Harvey said. Harvey looked around frantically. He saw a shop called Outback Life. “Perfect!” he said.

  Justin watched as Harvey ran towards the store. He saw that Harvey had his eye on something. Harvey entered the store and grabbed the chainsaw he had found. There was some fuel inside. They must have been doing a demonstration of the new tool before the infection hit. Harvey picked one of the protective masks up and threw it over to Justin.

  Justin spun around to see the infected running towards them. “Come on!” he screamed.

  Harvey held onto the chainsaw. He looked ahead, seeing the stairs that lead up to the upper floors of the Mall, but the way ahead to the stairs was blocked by the infected.

  “Oh, yeah!” Harvey screamed.

  “What are you doing?” Justin yelled.

  “Oh, you’ll see!” Harvey looked at the infected. He ripped the start cord back on the chainsaw. The chainsaw roared to life, which seemed to draw more of the infected to them.

  “Mask!” Harvey yelled.

  Justin pulled the mask down and over his face. Harvey grasped the chainsaw. He looked at the infected as they congregated down by the stairs. Harvey screamed as he ran towards the infected. Justin stood back. He watched as the chainsaw cut into the infected people.

  “Shit!” Justin uttered.

  Blood covered the clean, white floor.

  “Justin!” Harvey screamed.

  They ran up the stairs. The infected were in close pursuit.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Harvey called.

  They arrived at the top floor and were ready to go. Harvey pushed the security room door closed. The broom had fallen out, though, and the door had locked.

  “Oh, fuck!” Harvey called.

  Justin looked at a nearby sign. It read ‘Car Park.’ “This way,” Justin ordered.

  Justin and Harvey burst through the blue swinging doors. They could hear the infected screaming behind them. They soon arrived at the top floor. The cool morning air blew in from the outside.

  “Oh, feel that!” Justin gasped.

  “I feel ya,” Harvey replied.

  There were a few cars on the top floor of the car park. Justin looked at them. He could not see the helicopter.

  “There!” Justin yelled.

  In the corner of the car park, one of the cars had an open door. Justin squinted his eyes. The keys have been left in the ignition. Harvey shrugged his shoulders and turned the chainsaw off. He and Justin dove into the car. Harvey turned the keys, begging for the car to start. Harvey held the brake pedal down after the engine came to life. He then pushed the accelerator down to full and the car quickly picked up speed.

  “Now to find the exit,” Harvey said

  The infected were chasing after the vehicle. Harvey looked to see that the exit was blocked by another vehicle.

  “Oh, fuck, no!” he yelled as he continued driving along the top of the car park. He felt the gun in his back pocket as he looked into the rear-view mirror at the line of infected.

  “Justin!” Harvey yelled. “When I say ‘jump,’ jump!”

  “What? Why?”

  “Trust me! Here, take my bag.”

  Justin didn’t have time to argue.

  Harvey slowed down, allowing the infected to catch up to them. “Trust me,” he repeated.

  Justin looked out the back window to see the bloody handprints building up on the back window of the car.

  Harvey made a quick turn. He then slammed the accelerator down to full. The infected were slowing down.

  “Okay,” Harvey yelled. “Get ready…”

  “What are you doing?” Justin demanded to know

  “I’ll show you!”

  Justin frowned as Harvey ripped the handbrake up, skidding the car around.

  “Jump!” Harvey yelled.

  Justin leapt out of the car as Harvey rammed the accelerator down, speeding towards the infected. He pulled the gun out of his pocket and opened the door, looking at the glowing eyes of the infected. Harvey leapt from the car, grasping to the handgun. The car slowed down, heading towards the infected. He looked through the sight of the handgun and rapidly pulled the trigger, aiming for the fuel tank. The bullets penetrated the metal work, and flames soon erupted from the underneath of the car. The infected began to burn as the black smoke blasted up into the air with the explosion.

  Harvey looked back at Justin as he stood there. Justin quickly glimpsed over his shoulder. He looked to see Andrew’s helicopter come into sight from the distance. Justin gave a brief smile, turning around and looking at Harvey who had retrieved the chainsaw.

  As Justin’s eyes opened with fear, Harvey turned around quickly to see what Justin was looking at. The infected had run through the fire and were heading towards Harvey.

  “Shit,” Harvey gasped. He ripped the on the chainsaw. It roared to life again, but there wasn’t much fuel left. The helicopter is still a few minutes away from landing. Harvey looked back towards Justin. He stood there, swinging the chainsaw at the infected as they ran towards him. Harvey felt the machine start to stutter.

  “Shit, no! Come on!” Harvey pleaded.

  It came to a shuddering stop. He pulled the handgun back out of his pocket. He took shots, trying to slow the infected down, but they just keep coming through the burning vehicle.

  “Justin, go!” he screamed.

  Justin could just make out what he is saying. “What? No! Come on, you can do it!”

  Harvey watched as the top of the handgun pinged back. He had no other magazines left. He lifted his foot, kicking the infected away as the helicopter hovered above the car park.

  Andrew looked down. “Justin, come on!” he yelled.

  Justin hesitated, looking forward to Harvey who was still struggling to hold the infected back. Justin saw a zombie run up behind Harvey and slam her teeth into his neck. Justin gasped as he stepped back, still looking at Harvey.

  Harvey managed to punch the female off. “Justin! Go!” he screamed. “Get the resources to the town!”

  Harvey was then attacked again by another one of the infected. “Do it! Go!” he screamed.

  Harvey was then pushed to the ground.

  “No!” Justin called in agony.

  The infected surrounded Harvey and began eating him. Justin turned around. He ran to the helicopter and climbed in He showed Andrew the two bags of supplies they had found. He then looked out towards Harvey. The infected were still eating him. Justin looked away as the helicopter pulled away from the mall. The smoke was the only thing that could be seen in the distance.

  “So, now what?” Ju
stin asked.

  Andrew looked down at Justin. “To that fuel depot. Then, it’s back home.”

  Justin took one last look out onto the city. The buildings and houses slowly got smaller and smaller as they flew into the outback. Justin looked down onto the desert. The truck that was ready to take the helicopter to the fuel depot could be seen in the distance. Justin held onto the seat as the helicopter touched down onto the low loader truck. The blades powered down as Andrew’s men strapped the vehicle to the truck. Justin stepped down of the helicopter onto the dusty ground.

  One of Andrew’s men strolled up to Justin. “Where’s…?” he asked.

  Justin looked down towards the ground in sorrow.

  “Oh,” the man said.

  “Leave it” Justin replied. Justin walked towards the front of the truck and placed his head onto the hot red metal side of it.

  Andrew looked over at him. He knew Justin must be very tired. “Justin!” he called.

  Justin ignored Andrew for a few seconds.

  “Justin!” Andrew called again.

  This time, Justin turned his head to look at Andrew as he felt his arms on the side of the truck.

  “Get on the truck,” Andrew said. “Get some rest. It’s about a three-hour drive to this petrol plant.”

  Justin didn’t reply. He stood up and walked towards the front of the truck. He climbed onto the bed behind the driver’s seat. He crawled right towards the edge of the bed so that other people could sit down and rest as well. He laid back.

  “Hey,” Andrew said. Justin looked at Andrew. “You did good.”

  Justin laid back, looking at the ceiling of the truck.

  ***

  Justin looked around the park as he sat down on the bench in the middle of Adelaide Park. The sun was scorching down on him and Chelsea. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her mobile phone. She switched the camera on, holding it up in the sky, watching the sunlight reflect off it.

  “Smile!” she said.

  Justin gave a brief smile as Chelsea took the picture. Justin looked at the picture as she set it to her screen saver.

  “Another beautiful day,” he said.

  “It sure is,” she replied, holding his hand tighter

  Justin looked across the fields as the sun beamed down onto it.

  “And I’m with you,” Chelsea then said.

  Justin gave another smile.

  “Let’s go away together,” she suggested.

  “Away?”

  “Yes. Just you and me.”

  “Where to?”

  Chelsea looked up into the crystal-clear blue sky, squinting her eyes. “Sunshine Coast.”

  “Why there?”

  “Beaches! And, of course, just to be with you.”

  Justin gave another brief smile as he held onto Chelsea’s hand tightly. He looked over towards a figure that was standing in the middle of the field. It was a road worker. His yellow high-visibility jacket reflected off the afternoon sunlight. He was just standing there, looking down at the ground.

  “What’s the matter with him?” Chelsea asked.

  Justin tilted his head. He looked to see an everyday man walking towards him, his phone to his ear, dressed in a tailored light grey suit. Justin looked at the road worker and then quickly lifted his head to once again look at the man in the suit. The worker suddenly slammed his teeth into the neck of the man in the suit.

  Chelsea gasped, putting both of her hands over her mouth. She could only imagine the pain that the man was going through as he fell to the ground coughing on his own blood. People watched in horror as the worker jumped up off the man. He snarled, looking over at Chelsea and Justin as they sat on the bench together. Justin grasped Chelsea’s hand, ready to pull her away. He focused his attention on the man who had just been attacked. Justin watched as he slowly got up off the ground. He looked over at Justin as he sat frozen on the bench, still grasping Chelsea’s hand.

  The man in the suit snarled at them and began to sprint towards them.

  “Shit!” Justin yelled. “Chelsea, move!”

  Chelsea looked down the street as one of the city police cars sped past. It screeched to a stop. It quickly reversed back towards Chelsea and Justin. The officer just sat in the seat, looking down at the steering wheel.

  “Hey, officer?” Justin called.

  The officer just looked down.

  “Hey!” Chelsea yelled. “What the fuck is going on?”

  The officer swung his head towards them, and his eyes shot open, gleaming yellow.

  “Run!” Justin ordered.

  The gunfire across Adelaide began to erupt in the distance. People were being killed in front of their very own eyes.

  Chelsea stopped and turned around. “Justin!” she screamed at the top of her voice.

  Justin spun around. He caught up with Chelsea and grabbed hold of her arm.

  “What is going on?” she cried.

  Justin froze for a second. “I don’t know.” Justin just locked his hands to Chelsea as he looked over his shoulder. A hoard of the infected was running towards him and Chelsea.

  “Hey!” a voice was heard calling.

  Justin swung his head forward. It was Andrew Parker.

  “I’d run if I were you,” Andrew ordered.

  Justin could only frown at Andrew.

  “Justin!” Chelsea yelled.

  The road ahead was blocked by the infected.

  “Hey!” Justin heard again Andrew call again.

  Justin swung his head to look at Andrew Parker again. Andrew’s eyes were now glowing yellow,

  “I thought I told you to run!” Andrew warned Justin.

  Justin spun around and ran, catching up with Chelsea. They turned into an alleyway.

  “Shit, it’s blocked,” Chelsea called.

  Justin spun around to see the shadows of the infected running towards them, turning in the alleyway.

  “Justin!” Chelsea yelled with an echo.

  Justin looked at Chelsea. Her eyes were glowing yellow. Her mouth opened as she lunged towards him.

  ***

  Justin’s eyes shot open. He sat up in the back of the truck.

  Andrew was just looking at him. “Bad dreams, hey?” he asked.

  Justin laid back down.

  “Come on,” Andrew said. “Let’s do this, and we can get back home.”

  Justin felt the handgun in his back pocket. He stepped down off the truck onto the crunchy, sandy ground of the outback. He looked out into the distance, seeing the fuel depot. Justin felt his heart pounding; he was still thinking about the dream he had had a few minutes ago. He turned and looked at Andrew. “I…” he said. “I need to take a leak.”

  “What? In this weather?” One of Andrew’s men asked.

  Justin walked out into the outback, trying to keep his eyes off the fuel depot in the distance. He pulled the handgun out of his trousers. He kneeled, looking out into the outback. He slowly turned the gun towards his head, seeing there was one round left. He slowly edged his finger towards the trigger, ready to squeeze it and finish everything off.

  “Justin!” Andrew called.

  Justin opened his eyes quickly, looking out onto the desert. He looked back, keeping the gun out of sight.

  “You okay?” Andrew asked.

  Justin slipped the gun into the front of his trousers. “Coming!” he coughed.

  Justin walked back over and stood next to Andrew.

  “Okay,” Andrew said. “Listen.”

  All of Andrew’s men stood silent, awaiting his orders.

  “The depot is just over there. When we get there, look for food. If there is any fuel which we could use for our vehicles, grab that as well. We will return later on with one of the tankers.”

  The men just nodded after they were given the instructions. Justin gave a quick nod along with them.

  “Okay,” Andrew said. “Let’s do this.”

  Justin looked at Andrew. “Justin,” Andrew said. “You stay with
me.”

  Justin didn’t reply. He watched as the men walked towards the fuel depot in the distance.

  Andrew waited until they were a short walk away. “I wanna check on you,” he said. “I’m concerned about what happened to Harvey.”

  “I’m okay,” Justin replied after a pause.

  Andrew looked down at Justin. “Did you get enough rest on the truck?”

  “I did.”

  “You did good back there.”

  Andrew and Justin continued walking towards the fuel depot.

  “Who’s…” Justin began to ask. “Who’s going to tell…?”

  “Sorted,” Andrew said. “It won’t be you. I will make sure his mum is taken care of.”

  Justin looked forward, seeing the fuel depot in the distance. He edged over the sandy ground towards it. He squinted his eyes as he looked at the buildings and towers. None of the infected could be seen in the compound. Justin felt the sun burning the back of his neck.

  “Sir!” a voice called.

  Justin looked over as Andrew walked up to one of his men.

  The man was holding a set of binoculars. “Got some vehicles,” he announced.

  Justin frowned as Andrew looked through the binoculars. He looked at the glowing red fire engine.

  “Not from this part of the country,” Andrew said, as he noticed the name of the fire department on the side of the truck.

  “Where is it from?” asked Justin.

  Andrew looked at the fire engine zooming in on the small group of people. “Brisbane.”

  “That’s miles from here.”

  “I know.”

  “Shall we make contact?” a voice asked.

  “No,” Andrew snapped. “Let’s see what we are dealing with first.”

  Andrew looked and saw Rebecca, Spencer, and Sean Wallace get out of the truck.

  “What have we got?” the man asked.

  Andrew looked at the group in the complex.

  “A fireman, a female soldier, a cop, and some shaggy-headed guy.”

  Justin didn’t reply. The group kneeled in the middle of the desert.

  “So, what do we do?” One of Andrew’s men asked.