Plague War: Pandemic

by Alister Hodge

  ‘I saw him shoot you in the middle of the fight,’ said Erin as she finished the bandage. ‘It wasn’t an accident, the bastard lined you up deliberately.’

  ‘Well at least the prick had pathetic aim,’ grunted Bourke. ‘If he lives through this, I’ll make sure his life is as good as over. If there’s one thing the hierarchy fucking hate in the military, it’s officers being shot in the back.’

  Erin cocked her head to the side, listening. ‘Do you hear that?’ she said. Automatic gunfire could be heard coming from the beach’s direction. ‘Reinforcements must have landed.’

  ‘There’s not much left for them to rescue though, is there?’ said the chef, bitterness clear in her voice.

  Erin stayed silent, knowing the older woman was right. For all she knew, their small room of survivors was the last remaining.

  ***

  Erin stood on the beach, a blanket tight around her shoulders while she stood amongst a pitifully small collection of people to be transported onto the Navy Frigate. The camp was being abandoned and all survivors moved to another location. Privately, Erin couldn’t shake the thought that reinforcements were held back in an attempt to cull the numbers of refugees that had to be managed by the Navy. If that had in fact been their plan, they’d been extraordinarily successful.

  There was little left of the camp that had been her temporary home. Eddies of smoke carried out over the beach, a reminder to the survivors of the destruction behind. The artillery strike had reduced the simple demountable buildings to blackened shards of metal. The tents were gone, burnt to a crisp as fire sparked from the blasts torched all that remained.

  Muffled footsteps in the sand approached from behind. Erin turned to watch and saw four seamen carrying a lone stretcher tailed by Bourke. There had been few wounded arrive on the beach, as anyone with bite injuries was euthanized on the spot. She felt her heart skip a beat as she recognised Jeremy’s crop of hair, then noted his wrist had been shackled to the stretcher. Bourke stopped next to her, leaving the medical team to walk onwards.

  ‘Bastard got lucky; he was bite free when the medics found him,’ said Bourke, his eyes still tracking Jeremy’s inert form to where the medics placed his stretcher on the sand. ‘I’ve declared formal charges against him already, but with any luck he won’t regain consciousness.’

  ‘And what happens if he does?’ asked Erin, her eyes wide at the thought of him being possibly released.

  ‘Then he faces a court marshal and gets put away. Although with the lack of jail facilities, there has been talk of re-introducing capital punishment to solve that problem,’ he said. ‘But the cynic in me thinks that’s the military seeking precedent for shooting deserters who run away from the battles to come.’

  Erin said nothing. Seeing the death penalty enter Australia again after decades of absence paled to insignificance compared to every other change over the past months.

  ‘Where are they going to take us next?’ asked Erin.

  ‘Tasmania still refuses to open their borders, so we’re heading back to the mainland. Word’s come of a victory across Bass Strait at Queenscliff. The army’s managed to reclaim an old military base there and cleared out the town. If I was a betting man, that’s where I’d put my money,’ said Bourke.

  Queenscliff. The name sounded familiar, she’d heard it somewhere before. And if it was empty of plague, it would do her fine.

  Chapter Twenty

  Mark awoke and opened his eyes, wincing at a dull headache that throbbed in time with his heartbeat. Despite the pain of his burgeoning hangover, he felt the first smile in what felt like months tug at the corner of his mouth as he looked down at the girl at his side. Steph moved sleepily against him, before settling again with her head on his shoulder.

  After the previous morning’s battle, an armoured car had driven into town, confirming by sight that no further groups of Infected walked the streets of Queenscliff. Aside from those ghouls trapped within houses, the town was clear. General Black had been keen to reward his troops and had acquired a supply of beer kegs from the deserted Esplanade Hotel. A simple bar was created in the main hall, a sound system rigged up and the party had kicked off in the early evening. A skeleton crew of unlucky soldiers were left to patrol the circumference of the Fort, consoled by a small hip flask of whiskey each. The beer had been warm, but as most people hadn’t touched a drink since the plague broke out, there was little complaint.

  A combination of relief at their own survival, and elation at delivering the first significant victory against the Infected fuelled a huge thirst amongst the soldiers. It hadn’t taken long for the first soldiers to fall, collapsed drunk and comatose in various positions around the hall. The party had continued, more raucous and louder than ever into the early hours of the morning.

  Mark had been infected by the atmosphere, his mood lifted by having Steph and Jai close by again, and the knowledge that all his men had survived the fight intact. Steph had dragged him up to dance, and before he could think what he was doing he’d found himself kissing her. It didn’t go unnoticed, and the soldiers of his platoon had brought Mark back to reality as he registered the cheers and ribbing aimed their way. His ears had burned red, while a slight flush of pink coloured Steph’s cheeks as she’d taken his hand and led him away from the dance floor.

  The rest had been somewhat of a blur, but as he felt her naked body, warm and smooth against his, he figured it had gone fairly well. Mark felt a stab of guilt as a thought of his ex-girlfriend, Georgie, came unbidden to mind. Despite helping her escape Sydney during the outbreak of the plague, their relationship had been largely over until shortly before her death.

  With this first lift in mood since Georgie had died came a degree of clarity. Mark realised how low he had been since that time, and if he was honest with himself, he’d been almost seeking an end by volunteering for each mission available.

  Over the past week as an officer, he’d been forced to accept that leadership required decisions that were often no more than calculated gambles. Whether or not he was in command, someone would still be risking the lives of his mates. And with the poor choices he’d seen other officers make, he was now of the opinion that the men under his leadership were as likely to survive as any other platoon.

  He could lead soldiers, but he couldn’t control how they individually acted. As much as he had not wanted to admit it, Georgie had contributed to her own death during the fight by reaching outside of the defensive wall he had constructed to keep them safe. In his grief, it had been much easier to heap the blame on his own shoulders and ignore this key fact.

  ‘For a man with a naked girl draped over his body, you’re looking very serious,’ said Steph, a half-smile on her face.

  At the sound of her voice, he glanced down to find her gazing intently at him from where her head rested on his shoulder. He couldn’t help but return her smile and began to relax unconsciously tensed muscles.

  ‘I’m ok, was just thinking about something else. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.’

  ‘Glad to see I’m already struggling to keep your attention,’ she teased. ‘Just kidding, I’ve been half-awake for the past hour anyway. But seriously – is everything all right?’

  Mark tightened his arm around her, drawing her in more closely.

  ‘You know what, I think I’m better than I’ve been for a long time,’ he said, and as the words left his mouth, he realised that they were true. ‘If I could just kick this hangover, all would be pretty damn good,’ said Mark, wincing slightly at another stab of pain behind his eyes.

  ‘Well, guys are always banging on about a shag being the best cure for a headache…’ said Steph with a mock serious face.

  Mark let out a short bark of laughter. ‘I never thought I’d hear those words leave a girl’s mouth.’

  ‘Well I’m not the one with the headache this time around, am I?’ she said, her face breaking into a cheeky smile. ‘Up to you, but the offer’s about to expire any second now.’
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  Mark leant down and kissed her. ‘Don’t worry, babe. There’s some things I don’t need to be asked twice.’

  ***

  Jai spat in the mud, trying to clear a sour taste from his mouth. The clean-up of the battlefield outside of the Fort’s walls had commenced, and he was walking behind a bulldozer along with four other soldiers of his platoon. A few aspirin had cleared the worst of his headache, but not before he’d heaved his guts shortly after waking. Although he’d narrowly avoided spraying vomit across his bed, his shoes had been in direct line of fire when he’d hung his head over the edge of the mattress. At sixteen years of age, he’d had a few nights out with mates, drinking beer or spirits nicked from parents before the world turned to shit, but last night had taken it to a whole new level. The beer had flowed fast, and before he’d known it, double vision had deteriorated to an inability to form words. After waking with his head resting in a puddle of beer on one of the tables, he’d somehow stumbled to bed for a few hours of blackout sleep.

  Sergeant Vinh had woken the platoon with the unwelcome news that they’d been allocated clean up duty. As hungover men rose, Jai hadn’t been the only one to empty sour guts of beer onto the floor. No one had argued though; Vinh’s bloodshot eyes and thunderous expression showed he was carrying the same penalty as everyone else for the previous night’s festivities. After pulling on a crumpled uniform, Jai had briefly hosed out his boots in the latrine. The smell had only mildly improved and running out of time, he’d given up and shoved his feet into the slimy interior with a grimace.

  Jai yanked his mind away from his spiralling self-pity to the job at hand. A long deep trench had been scraped from the earth at the start of the park, and now the bulldozer was starting to push the heaped mounds of dead into the mass grave. It had quickly become apparent that not all bodies within the mounds of corpses were inanimate. Those Carriers that had been trampled underfoot, tumbled from the mess of limbs as the bulldozer freed them, still angry as hell. That was where Jai and his fellow soldier’s temporary role had become necessary, to shoot anything still moving and let the bulldozer continue without threat of plague carriers climbing aboard for the ride.

  Of Jai’s four companions, only one was in a happy mood. Unsurprisingly, it was the singular man not carrying a hangover. Neville, a reformed alcoholic turned sobriety champion, had been variously laughing at his mates’ misery or lecturing them upon the dangers of excess. Jai for one was about ready to punch the guy in his smart mouth.

  ‘Neville, will you just shut the fuck up?’ muttered Jai.

  ‘Not my fault your head’s hurting, kid,’ said Neville, unperturbed. ‘Serves you right as far as I’m concerned. You were drinking illegally anyway; everyone knows you’re not eighteen.’

  ‘Who gives a shit? They’re happy enough to turn a blind eye on my age to let me fight, so as if Command’s going to care if I have a few beers. The only person to mention my age so far is you and seeing as I can’t see any bloody pips on your shoulder, you can take your opinion and fuck off.’

  ‘Whoa, settle petal,’ said Neville holding his hands up in mock submission. He seemed to take the hint though, as he was quiet for a few minutes before changing subject. ‘Check out the watch on that one,’ he said, pointing out a gold timepiece on a wrist sticking out of the press of bodies to their right. ‘I think that’s a bloody Rolex!’

  Neville dropped his rifle to hang by its sling and walked closer for a better look. ‘Fuck yeah! I knew it,’ he said, and started to pry the gold linked band off the grey emaciated wrist it occupied.

  ‘Just leave it, Nev,’ said Jai. ‘Why would you want to wear something that’s been on one of those things? You’ll never get the stink off.’

  ‘I’ll have a better chance of getting plague stench off the watch than you’ll have removing the smell of vomit from your boots, kid. Why don’t you take your own advice, and keep your nose out of my business?’

  ‘Whatever,’ said Jai, starting to turn away.

  Suddenly the hand attached to the watch clamped upon Neville’s fingers, yanking him off balance and toward an open mouth in the wall of bodies. He screamed in terror, desperately trying to pull free, but the Carrier held fast. Jai shoved the end of his rifle against the ghoul’s head and fired, blasting half the creature’s skull free. Neville fell back to the ground, cradling his arm against his chest. Blood spurted rhythmically from a bite wound on his wrist, soaking his camouflage uniform in bright scarlet.

  Jai grabbed the tourniquet built into the army combat uniform’s upper arm and wrenched it tight, cutting off the blood supply to Neville’s wrist.

  ‘For fucks sake, Nev; I told you to leave it alone!’ said Jai as he pulled him to his feet. ‘We need to get you to the medics, can you run?’

  Neville nodded mutely, his face pale as he risked a glance at the wound. Jai grabbed hold of his squad mate’s uninjured arm and started running him back to the Fort.

  ***

  Jai swung the door open to the medical clinic, the handle bouncing off the wall behind with a dull thud. Harry looked up from where he crouched over another of his patients. His time spent as a doctor in the army wasn’t agreeing with him; the few streaks of salt and pepper in his hair had become its dominant feature, matching a face perpetually drawn and pale.

  ‘Not another one, surely?’ he said on sight of Jai. ‘What the fuck’s wrong with you guys? The battle’s won yesterday, and yet now everyone’s getting bitten.’

  ‘Have there been others?’ asked Jai as he helped Neville across to a stretcher.

  ‘Take a look around,’ Harry said, leaning down to inspect Neville’s wound. ‘Your friend here makes five this morning.’

  Jai’s gaze skipped about the room, noticing for the first time that the patients occupying the other beds were manacled to their frames by leg and arm. None were moving, and Jai noted each had blood leaking from a neat hole above their ear. ‘Shit, are they all…’ Jai stopped abruptly as he saw Harry scowling at him from behind Neville’s back. Once he’d stopped speaking, Harry directed his attention back to his newest patient.

  ‘Right mate, I’m going to give you an injection to help with the pain, then I’ll give that bite a wash out, yeah?’

  Neville nodded, his eyes wide as he watched Harry draw a viscous white drug into a syringe and screw on a needle.

  ‘Don’t worry, you’ll like this stuff. You ever hear of the drug that Michael Jackson loved so much, Propofol? Well this is going to give you the best dreams you’ve had, mate, you’ll wake up with your wrist good as gold.’

  Neville’s features relaxed slightly at Harry’s words and he turned his arm over willingly. The veins on the inside of his elbow were obvious enough for Harry to access without a tourniquet. He stuck the syringe’s needle into the vein and injected the medication. Neville’s head slumped back on the mattress, his eyes open but sightless.

  ‘Is that true? About cleaning the wound up and him being all right?’ asked Jai, a faint note of hope entering his voice.

  Harry sighed as he moved back across the room and picked up a cordless drill flecked with old blood. ‘No, it’s just bullshit I say to help calm them down. Seems a bit mean to have them scared during their last minutes. He’ll die from his wound, just like every other soldier in this room; nothing I can do to change that outcome.’

  Jai unconsciously backed away as he approached, drill in hand toward the unconscious soldier’s body. Harry’s face dropped at Jai’s look of horror as he realised what was about to happen.

  ‘You can step outside if you want. The next part isn’t pleasant,’ Harry said quietly.

  ‘Nah, mate, I’ll stay,’ said Jai. ‘Wouldn’t be much of a friend to throw a job like this at you and walk out again.’

  Harry gave him a sad smile of appreciation, then pulled on a clear face shield and continued. He placed the end of a centimetre-wide drill bit against the thin section of skull above Neville’s ear, took a deep breath and depressed the drill’s ‘on�
� button. The drill bit shredded through the thin layer of soft tissue, biting into the bone below. Droplets of blood flicked outwards in a fine spray, appearing on Harry’s face shield in tiny crimson droplets. The drill changed tempo as the skull was breached and the bit dived into the enclosed brain. Harry changed direction with the drill a few times, mashing the delicate neural tissue like he was using a cocktail mixer before switching it off and pulling the murderous implement free.

  Harry rested the tool on the bed and gently closed Neville’s eyelids. His own eyes were glassy as he came and sat in a chair next to Jai at the edge of the room.

  ‘I don’t know how much more of this shit I can take,’ Harry said. ‘This isn’t medicine. I feel like I’m working in an abattoir, slaughtering men in my care like sheep.’

  Jai compulsively swallowed, his mouth dry of spit. Since he’d viewed what Harry had been ordered to do, he couldn’t see the job as anything but that of an executioner. Even his clothes seemed to fit the bill now; his white smock turned into a Jackson Pollack of blood spray from the different soldiers he’d euthanized.

  ‘If I keep on doing this job much longer, I’ll wind up adding my own body to the butcher’s bill.’

  ‘Don’t say shit like that, Harry. We’ve just got to find a way for you to get off this duty. Is there anything in the medical field that you could request transfer to?’

  ‘Maybe. Once the town’s cleared out, a research lab’s getting set up to continue work on finding a cure. I did an undergrad degree in science before transferring into medicine ages ago, so they might let me work there. All depends on the availability of another doctor to take over my current position.’

  ‘I’ll speak to Mark, maybe he can put in a word for you at Command?’ suggested Jai. The last thing he wanted to see was another of his mates dead, especially by their own hand if he could do anything to prevent it. ‘I’ve got to get back to the squad, but make sure you find Steph, me and Mark tonight ok? You need to spend some time with friends and away from this clinic I reckon.’