Gordon Under Attack (Outback Exodus)

by Millen, Dawn

  I leave the twins in the kitchen at Mum’s and head across the village green to the group of 11 to 14 year old children gathered there for the lesson. Setting up the targets 20 feet away I pull out my own sling shot and select a pebble from the pile at my feet. Holding the bottom of the fork firmly I stretch back the rubber, place the pebble in the pocket at the half way point. Sighting quickly I let go and the pebble flies out, knocking down the first target. A chorus of gasps greets my achievement. Now I have proved to the class I am not asking them the impossible the lessons begin.

  Within two hours some of the children are hitting the target more times than they are missing and two of them are becoming almost as good as I am. Sandy is a crack shot and has only missed twice in the last five minutes over a distance of 30 feet. Kyle has missed once so far and is busy showing off to Sandy. I smile at the rivalry as they stand side by side flinging pebbles as fast as they can. Hit after hit on the targets prove that both boys are ready to join the last line of defence in front of the underground shelter. A small trench has been dug there over the last few weeks, with the boards that cover it through the day removed it is a hiding place for the young ones with their sling shots.

  Lessons over, time to pick up the twins and head back to my own home for lunch. Gavin should be awake by now and hungry.

  Chapter 14

  The crackle of flames and the smell of stew greet me as I open the door and pull the pram over the small step. Gavin is standing there beside the fire hands outstretched to the heat. His face is pink with cold and the log box beside the fire is full.

  "How long have you been awake?" I ask as I pull the pram closer to the fire so that the twins are warm enough.

  "About half an hour, I knew you would be back soon and thought I’d fill the wood box and get the lunch warmed through. It is bloody cold out there today. No heat at all in that sun."

  "I’ll put the kettle on and make a coffee for both of us. I think that will help to warm us up." I place the kettle on the trivet at the side of the fire and head for the small stash of coffee that we have left. So little now that I no longer have a full teaspoon in my cup, just enough to taste it and enjoy it.

  "Now that sounds like a very good idea. I’ve never been known to refuse a coffee yet. I am surprised that we still have any left. It must be nearly out by now. Still the bushes we brought back from up north should start to crop soon and then we can harvest and dry our own. Grinding it is going to be a bit of a problem, but I am sure that either your Dad or Raymond will come up with something.

  "Already underway. Dad is almost as bad about coffee as you are and has been tinkering in the workshop for weeks trying to build a grinder. He still has some beans left so has been using them to experiment with." I grin across at my partner and pour the water over the instant coffee in the cups, add milk and honey and pass the cup to him.

  Lunch over and the house tidy once again I settle before the fire while the twins sleep in their cots. The seemly never ending pile of mending pulled close and a pair of socks pulled out to darn. The house is quiet as Gavin has gone over to work on a project at the Workshop. The twins will sleep for a couple of hours giving me time to do some mending before I start preparing dinner.

  When the children wake I will go over to the hospital and visit with the new children there. The twins are always a hit with other children and it may help to settle our refugees into the village if they start to meet us slowly and gently. The babies offer a non threatening way to get them talking to us and telling us who they are.

  It is cool outside and by the time we cross to the hospital tent my hands are cold from their grip on the metal handle of the pram. The twins are cozily wrapped in their blankets and have nice warm knitted hats on their heads. Two pairs of bright eyes watch the clouds passing and look in wonder at the leaves on the trees as we walk. Puppy is tagging along at my heels and she sniffs the air and the ground for new scents with every step we take.

  Noise floats up from the shed half way down the slope where the prisoners are locked in a large shed. Guards are placed on the doors and at each corner of the building to ensure that they don’t break out. Only three of them locked away this time, but within a day or so they will be shipped out along the coast on one of the boats and dropped off to find their own way back to civilization. Our only recourse with these people is to dump them as far away as possible and hope that they never come back. So far it has worked, no one we have dumped along the coast has come back to seek revenge on Gordon or its inhabitants.

  The hospital tent is quiet, but the eyes of the children here are losing the dullness that showed last night. Feet are still wrapped in bandages and their little bodies will take some time to recover from the lack of food and poor quality water they have been forced to live on for many weeks. Carrytown is a long walk from Gordon and their wanderings through the bush to get here have brought them a long way south. Faces brighten as I pick the twins up out of the pram and we go from bed to bed visiting and chatting to the children. The older girls all want to cuddle the babies and the twins have no objection to lots of cuddles. I leave them being nursed gently by two of the girls and go across to talk to Helen.

  "They seem to be settling down well here. Are they eating?"

  "Just a little, but your Mum and the other older ladies are making great soups and bringing them across for them. As always we can rely on your Mum to organise this side of things." Helen smiles, Mum is becoming the mother she has not been able to find since the earthquake hit over a year ago. Gavin and Steve have both tried to find Helen’s mother, but her home has been destroyed and no one who now lives in the area can tell us what happened to her.

  "Mum has always been someone who automatically helps out, she was a huge part of the village before the convoy from the outback arrived. If someone was sick or there was a death in the family Mum would be there, food, cleaning and gardening organised before you could blink. Just the way she has always been, even before they took us three on she was playing Mum for the whole world."

  "Will you look at that!" Helen signals over my shoulder and I turn to see both the girls who are nursing the twins on their beds surrounded by almost all the other children. Hands are reaching out to touch the babies and smiles are showing on so many faces.

  "That is wonderful to see, they are opening up, just as I had hoped that they would." My eyes fill with tears as I watch the interplay between the children and the twins. "I knew babies had healing built into them, but this is wonderful to watch."

  As the last words leave my mouth the sound of the alarm bell from the tower shatters the quiet of the village. My eyes flash up to Helen and then to the tent full of children we will have to get to safety without frightening them.

  "Can you girls pop the twins back in their pram please?" I ask quickly. "We are going to take you all to the special place where the children and babies go when the bell sounds like that. It is a safe place and there will be other kids, your teachers and the twins will be there." I speak firmly and gently and soon the place is a hive of activity. Children line up at the door and the twins are placed in their pram ready for the orderly evacuation. Puppy is picked up and placed on top of the pram and we are off across the village green. Two women, fifteen children, a pram and a dog sitting on top. The strangest Pied Piper line you ever did see.

  "Come on in quick kids and settle down over there." Mum greets everyone at the door and points them to an area set up for the children. She takes the pram and holds Puppy so that she will stay in the shelter too.

  "Thanks Mum, I know everyone will be okay with you. Take care kids. I’ll see you all when we open the doors again." I lean down and kiss the twins, pat Puppy and give Mum a hug before I swing the doors closed, ensuring they are locked into place. Panting with the effort of closing the heavy doors I turn and start to make my way to the armoury, Helen jogging by my side.

  Chapter 15

  Armed and running now I head towards the tower where I can see Steve’s re
d hair and Gavin’s darker head at the top. Both men are looking towards the old highway in the distance and both faces are drawn with worry.

  I wait at the foot of the tower, with the other section heads, for them to descend to give us a briefing. Ben has been on duty in the tower this morning and he is keeping unusually quiet about what triggered the alarm.

  The shaking of the tower heralds the arrival of Gavin and Steve. Stepping from the last rungs of the ladder they stand quietly and wait for silence to fall over the group. The serious expressions on their faces bringing the worried chatter to a halt very quickly.

  "The news is not good folks, we have a big mob coming at us this time and they are moving fast. We are not going to be able to get out of the compound to fight them on the plains, so it is going to be hard, hand to hand fighting. There are around 70 of them on bikes and in 4 x 4’s. This is not a good situation." Steve quietly starts to fill us all in.

  "The really bad news is that this is Grant Francis and his mob again. They are not going to be easy to deal with. Anyone who gets a bead on him make sure that you kill him. Once he is down it will slow the others down and give us a chance to fight them off." Steve continues.

  "We need to open the trench in front of the shelter for the young one’s to use. This is our last retreat kids, so I want you to stay there and only fight if you have to. I hope you don’t, but if they get through the rest of us it is up to you to defend those still in the bunker." The quiet voice continues. "We will all retreat to there if we are overwhelmed, so any adult who is able will be with you. We defend our families to the last, do I make myself clear?" Steve’s voice rises in volume as he speaks those last words. Nods of assent and a few calls of Yes greet this.

  "Okay folks, make sure you have plenty of ammunition, arrows and stones. What ever you use you will need plenty of. There will be three people replenishing those supplies as we fight, but if you have a good supply to start then it will make it easier. Don’t leave any supplies behind if you have to withdraw as it means that we may not be able to get to the armoury for more." Gavin starts the practical part of the briefing. Those of us who normally fight on the plain will become a roving band to reinforce any area’s that come under heavy attack. We will split into two parties and head for the gates initially as I believe this is where the attacks will start. They will attempt to get through the gates believing they are our weakest point. They are going to find that the gates are the strongest point in the walls at some stage and then things will really start to happen. The roving back up will try to get to each place they attack in numbers as quickly as we can." He finishes.

  "Get your extra supplies, don’t forget water and then take up your stations. We don’t have much time, they were out near the bends when we came down from the tower, so they won’t be far out now." Steve sends us on our way.

  My crew assemble at the gate and take up their normal positions. Gavin and four of the men who usually work as a roving squad out on the plains join us and thicken up our placements. Thomas is between Gavin and I. His young face is grim and he clenches and unclenches his fist around the bowstring.

  "Settle down Thomas, we have done this before. Lets just take it as we do any other battle. All we can do is fight the way we always do." Kyle’s young voice breaks the tense silence.

  "Good advice son, that is all we can do this time or any other time." Gavin tries to reassure the boys.

  They’s coming! Ernie's shout echoes across the compound. "Just at the bottom of the hill now. Get. Ready."

  The sounds of the chains creaking on the are loud in the silence and the arm creaks upward. "Give me direction Ernie." Raymond shouts to the tower.

  "Bit more to the left Ray."

  "Okay."

  "Steady, slower, that’s it."

  "Ready to fire."

  "First marker in 10 seconds."

  "Nine."

  "Eight."

  "Seven."

  "Six."

  "Five."

  "Four."

  "Three."

  "Ready."

  "FIRE." Ernie roars.

  The rattle of chains and the creak of wood is followed by the whistle of the rocks flying over head. We duck instinctively and then stand and wait. Impact brings the sound of crunching metal and the groans and screams of the injured.

  "Ready again." Raymond’s voice echoes over the sound of rocks dropping into the bucket and the creaking of the wood as the arm is raised again. The chains barely stop rattling before the arm is released again and the rocks fly over head.

  More shattering of metal and glass. Loud screams and and a lot of swearing accompany the landing of the stones.

  The trebuchet groans again and then is loaded. "Ready." Raymond yells.

  "Fire." Eddie yells back.

  The sound of flying rocks is heard again, then the crunches and groans.

  "They are splitting away from the road now." Ernie yells from the tower.

  "Creeping up through the ruins now. No bikes and no cars. They learned that lesson fast."

  "Thanks Ernie. Time to get ready folks." Gavin’s voice rings through the compound.

  As the last echoes die away there is the sound of a shot and Ernie spins then slumps down in the tower. Blood on his shirt shows a shoulder hit and he groans loud enough for me to hear. I look to the front and wait. My arrow knocked in the bow string and my breath held as I wait.

  More shots start to pepper the walls and rain down over the top. Most are harmless and wiz past us ricocheting off the buildings to die in the ground.

  I hear a few wet smacking sounds and then the screams and groans of those who are hit. I am too busy to look now. Arrow after arrow is knocked and sent over the wall. Screams and groans return as some find their mark. Fingers appear on the top of the gate. Thomas runs forward and pulls his knife. There is a flash in the sunlight and then a scream. The fingers stay, but the owner falls against the wall.

  The gate is beaten upon by something hard and heavy. Sandra runs forward with Patsy. Between them they lug a large pot of boiling water. They mount the steps at the side of the gate and open a small trap door. The pot is emptied through the hole and the door slammed closed before anyone on the other side can react. Screams and shouts echo back from the gate.

  "Got them good there Sandra." Ernie is slumped against the side wall of the tower and holding his shoulder. His voice is strong and sure as he shouts directions again. His hand clenched over the wound in his shoulder to slow the bleeding.

  "Play Possum you old fool. They will ping you again if you keep shouting." Sandra calls back.

  "Fuck ‘em. They only winged me, takes more than a bullet to kill this old bloke." He bellows back, ducking to avoid the hail of bullets that pepper the air around the tower. He throws himself flat on the platform behind the stout logs which frame the base.

  Hands constantly appear on the top of the wall and the hail of bullets is as thick as flies in summer. Kyle has grabbed an axe and is bobbling along the wall chopping at fingers as the appear on the top. Many fingers fall into the compound as he makes his way along our section.

  "Breach, they have broken through on the seaward side."Ernie yells as he flicks his head around the compound.

  I glance across at Gavin. "Go, take your men and throw them bloody out of here." I snap as I blow him a quick kiss and turn back to my front, knocking another arrow, releasing it as I come to a stop. The hat and head I aimed at vanish in a spray of blood. Another one down.

  "Breach in the south wall." Another cry goes up from the tower.

  We fight on. The gate is buckling, but still holding. Sandra and Patsy are doing a great job. There are four small trap doors in the gate and they pour the boiling water through a different one each time. No pattern, no rhythm. Just open a door and pour it through. Slam the door and bolt off to get more. The raiders have no idea which door will open and their assault upon the gate is becoming more infrequent as time goes on.

  "Pull back to the first line o
f cottages." Steve’s voice roars above the noise of battle. The cry is taken up again and again by voices in each section.

  We withdraw, arrows knocked and a new supply is is placed in my hands as I run. Two quivers now grace my shoulders, one partly full and the other stuffed so full it is hard to get a hand in to pull out another arrow. Thomas and Kyle are close on my heels and we turn the corner and barrel through the door of the cottage. Heading for the back I twitch back the curtains and smash the small glass pane in the window. Thomas and Kyle also break windows and we stand ready and waiting for what comes next. Kyle is in the front room, Thomas in the smaller back bedroom and I have the large room. The two rear rooms look out over the gate and the front room looks out towards the inner row of cottages.

  There are fingers on the top of the wall again and this time there are heads popping above it too. I quietly pull back the bow string and let fly the arrow. It soars across the space and there is one less head above the wall. Thomas has also loosed an arrow and it has found a target.

  "Make sure that you can hit your target now Thomas, we have all the arrows we might be able to get and we need to make them count.

  Another head, another arrow, one less to enter our home. Again and again I pull back the bow string. Fingers bloody now and sore, but I can’t stop, I can’t let them get through this ring of cottages.

  "Get goin’ ya mugs, they ain’t got nothin’ that will hurt us much." I hear a voice behind the gate exhorting the men to greater efforts.

  "Yeah, don’t see ya doing too much to get us in." Another voice answers.

  "Someone in there is a fucking good shot with a bow. They’ve hit a lot of us in the last few minutes." Another voice calls.

  "Move bloody faster then." The first voice yells.