Girl Germs

by Ged Maybury

  Wyatt took two tablets of Zanodol and Ms Loti got him up onto his feet. She did a head-count, muttering impatiently, “Stand still, you lot, or I’ll have to start all over again!” She counted again and got the correct number. “Right, everyone down the track! And stay together! It’s really important you stay together!”

  “Yes, Ms Loti.”

  Everyone started down the hill. The thunder was getting closer and the wind had started to pick up, hot and wild in the treetops. It was a big storm coming, and some of the kids were looking seriously scared.

  Then I noticed Lucy. She had the biggest smile on her face I’d ever seen. And she didn’t look like she even wanted to come with us. I left my group and turned back, waited for everyone else to go down the trail. Then I edged up to Ms Loti and tugged at her first aid kit, it being the nearest thing to me.

  “Look at Lucy,” I told her, “Is she okay?”

  And to my surprise Lucy turned at the sound of her own name. “We’re coming!” she said to us cheerfully, and hurried past to join her friends. Then I thought I heard her say, “Anyone want a drink? I’ve still got plenty of water. Lovely water!” But it was hard to tell with everyone talking and the grumble of thunder nearby. I hit the trail myself, right behind Lucy’s group and almost the last kid to start.

  The sun seemed to blink out suddenly as a great band of black cloud swept overhead, then the storm hit. There was a big flicker of lightning followed only seconds later by a mighty crack of thunder. Some of the kids actually screamed. Everyone started going pell-mell down the trail, all order lost.

  I stood aside, worried about Ms Loti. I hadn’t seen her yet. I looked back. There she was, coming down at last. And since I was looking back at her I saw the next bolt of lightning strike.

  A huge writhing column of white-hot fire smacked into the telephone tower. I was almost blinded, and everything went dark around me for several long seconds. I even felt the heat of the strike on my face! The thunderclap hit me about one microsecond later. It was so powerful that it knocked me to the ground. Either that or my legs gave way in pure fright.

  There was screaming all around and people running wildly down the trail, but I stayed frozen to the spot with shock. I was the only one who had seen what had happened. I had seen bits flying off the tower, all the panel things and the dishes too. It had been destroyed!

  I ran back to Ms Loti. “Try your phone,” I told her, “Try it!”

  She looked back over her shoulder. Another flash of lightning lit up the hilltop. The tower still stood, but now it had smoking cables dangling off the sides. Sure enough, all the neat panels and dishes were gone. Another thunderclap broke over us as I heard her say a rather rude word (for a teacher).

  Quickly she unclipped her phone and glanced at it. Then she said the same word again, even louder. No phone contact! We were cut off. Alone.

  Another mighty flash of lightning lit everything around us. One second later, as the sky seemed to get ripped apart right above my head, Ms Loti and I turned and ran for our lives down the trail as the rain suddenly started.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Torrent

  AND WHAT RAIN! I’D never know anything like it. Almost solid, it seemed. It was actually difficult to stand upright. Within seconds the track beneath our feet had turned to a thin muddy creek. Within minutes it was over my shoes. The people ahead of me were like ghosts, blurring in and out of sight with each sheet of rain. People slithered and fell everywhere. I must have picked Kaylene up at least five times. Ms Loti must have picked me up about five times too.

  Then we came across three girls in a huddle. Brittany had slipped and her leg had gone under a tree root. It was bleeding. Ms Loti stopped, of course, and I stopped with her.

  “Nathan, you go on!” she shouted at me over the sound of the million miniature waterfalls all around us, “Tell Mr Prior I’ll be following down last.”

  Reluctantly I went on. Time seemed to stand still. Utterly drenched and utterly miserable, I kept on down the trail, following the ghost-like shapes ahead of me. All the bush looked the same, the trail twisted and turned but never seemed to get any-where, and water flowed everywhere, streaming down the track just like we were.

  But finally the landscape began to look a bit more familiar, the trees taller and the trail wider, and I knew I was nearly back at camp. Then I heard a new sound slowly getting louder: a sort of thick throaty roar. Soon I discovered what it was all about.

  The gentle stream we had crossed earlier that day had become a raging flood, shooting between the boulders down below the bridge like a great brown beast, alive and wild and urgent. I was instantly struck by fear. If I wanted to get back to camp, and to safety, I would have to cross this raging torrent.

  And I knew I couldn’t do it.

  At the bridge I froze, standing back while the last stragglers emerged from the downpour, plodded wearily past me, and tramped across. Their feet left an ever-increasing slick of mud on the wire-netting that covered the planks; mud that even the pounding rain could not remove.

  Mr Prior was there, encouraging everyone across.

  “Nearly home!” he was saying, “That’s it, just up the other side. Go get dried off.” And so on. Then he looked at me.

  “I’m waiting for Ms Loti.” I explained, “oh, and she told me to tell you, she’ll be last. Brittany hurt her leg.

  “Okay. Thanks for the message. Now go get dried off.”

  “Um, I’ll wait a bit.”

  “She’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I’ll wait anyway.” And I did.

  She finally arrived, carrying Brittany. “Mr Prior,” she said, “I’m pooped. Would you mind?”

  “Not broken, I hope?” he said, taking Brittany from Ms Loti.

  “Possible sprained ankle,” puffed Ms Loti, “Didn’t want to risk it.”

  “Anyone else coming?”

  “No, I’m quite sure of it.”

  He headed across the bridge, then paused at the halfway point to call back to us urgently, “You’d better get across! I don’t like the feel of this!”

  I looked down at the flood. It was still rising, now only a metre or so from the top. I could hear the bridge creaking as if in pain. Then I looked at Ms Loti. She looked terrified.

  “Come on!” I said, hoping she would lead me across.

  “No.” she whispered, “I’m afraid of water.”

  “So am I!” I whimpered.

  Her eyes grew wide. “You too?”

  Yes!” I must have sounded pretty pathetic.

  I could see the turmoil in her face. She glanced across the bridge, now only half a metre above the flood. We hesitated as a floating tree crashed into the bridge, flicking its wet branches across the walkway in the impact. The bridge shuddered and groaned loudly.

  “Come on!” she shouted suddenly, seizing my hand and dragging me under the branches. Slithering on the mud, our feet thudding on the planks, we ran shakily across. And it wasn’t just our legs that were shaking, it was the bridge itself.

  Moments after we hit solid land on the other side there was a loud crack, half muffled by water, then another and another. We turned, aghast. The bridge was crooked, the far end already under water. Moment by rapid moment it broke in two, snapping, wrenching, twisting, rolling into the floodwater. Going, going...

  Gone.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Camp Cut-Off

  MS LOTI WAS STILL GRIPPING my hand, and if anything her grip was tighter than before. “I’d better go up to the caretaker’s house and see if his phone is working,” she said, her voice not quite as self-assured as usual.

  “Okay,” I said, “Um. I’d better go change.” I tugged my hand free and squelched away toward the concrete block cabins. The thunderstorm was over and rain was easing slightly. In the camp there were kids everywhere, wandering around wet or half-changed. There were heaps of wet clothes in corners or hanging on railings, kids walking about in their swimsuits and towels. Utter cha
os.

  “What’s happening?” I asked Jackson as he went by.

  “Some of us are going to have a swim.”

  “You’re joking! In the rain?”

  He just grinned and shrugged and went on his way.

  I couldn’t believe it. Swimming in the rain? But it was true. More and more kids were heading for the pool. I saw Lucy, cheering everyone along. “Come on, come on! The water’s going to be lovely!”

  Jackson came back to the bunkroom about a minute later.

  “Hey, Nathan, have you seen Ms Loti?”

  “She’s up at the caretaker’s place. Why?”

  “Lee’s got a headache.”

  “I’ll get her,” I said, glad of any excuse to avoid being roped into a swim.

  I HEADED UP TO THE caretaker’s house. It was slightly beyond the camp, right by the road at the top end of the whole site. There, in the upper car-park, I saw Ms Loti talking with Mr Prior and the caretaker. It looked pretty serious.

  As I got closer I heard her saying, “...it’ll probably be okay, but I just don’t like being cut off like this.”

  The caretaker shrugged and said, “Ah, it happens all the time with thunderstorms. Like I say, the phones could be out till tomorrow. Or worse. If it flooded down at the Flat it would have taken out two or three poles. Could be out till next week.”

  “We should still be able to drive out, though? In an emergency?”

  “Depends on whether Limestone Creek flooded too. The creeks join up at the Flats. The road can get up to two metres of water across it.”

  Mr Prior glanced at the three vehicles in the car park. One of them was a pretty big SUV. “I’ll drive down and try it,” he said, “may as well find out how bad it is.”

  “Worth a go,” said the caretaker, sizing up Mr Prior’s vehicle, “Diesel, isn’t it?”

  “Yep.”

  “No worries then. But don’t go through unless you’re absolutely sure the road’s still there. It’s been washed out before and you can’t tell just by looking at the water. You could drop into a pretty big hole.”

  “Don’t worry, mate. I won’t risk it.”

  I don’t know why but I piped up right then. “Can I come with you?”

  Mr Prior looked down at me. So did Ms Loti. “I suppose so,” she said, then turned back to Mr Prior, “Even if you don’t get through, maybe we can get a connection further down.” She handed her phone to me and pointed to the display screen. “We need to see the words “EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY, at least. Give it a try. Stand on the roof if you have to.”

  I was amazed that she was letting me go. I don’t think she would have let any other kid do it, but I guess by then it was like we had some sort of common bond; no fear of heights but a total terror of water. I nodded and held her phone securely and suddenly remembered why I was there. “Oh, Jackson says Lee’s got a headache. They were wondering where you were.”

  She glanced at Mr Prior, worried, then turned and hurried back to the camp.

  “Right,” Mr Prior said to me, let’s do it then, ahhh...?”

  “Nathan. Nathan Kennigan.”

  “Okay, Nathan. Let’s go.”

  WE DROVE IN SILENCE through the rain. The road was littered with dirt and bits of trees. In dozens of places the water flowed across the road like wide thin rivers. Even as we drove, the rain got heavier again.

  The bush opened out and the road straightened. We had reached the Flat. Ahead, in the steady rain, I could just make out the main bridge.

  “It’s still standing!” I said thankfully. Indeed it was, but the road to the bridge was covered with water. Mr Prior changed down a few gears and started driving across the water slowly. I cringed up off my seat.

  “You said you wouldn’t risk it!” I squeaked.

  “This isn’t as bad as I thought,” he answered calmly, “I’ve been through a few floods before. This is nothing.”

  We reached the up-slope to the bridge and came up out of the water, but Mr Prior stopped as soon as we reached the concrete.

  “Woo-hoo!” he said, “Look at that!”

  Under the bridge swirled a million billion litres of water, all muddy brown and full of branches and other rubbish. I’m even sure I saw a bit of the footbridge swoosh by. And beyond the bridge there was no road to be seen; just the same vast restless plain of roiling floodwater, fading into the thick rain.

  “Back we go,” was all he said.

  “What about the phones?” I said. I was holding Ms Loti’s even as I spoke, and its message remained unchanged: SEARCHING FOR NETWORK.

  We both got out, sheltering under a huge multi-coloured umbrella Mr Prior had in the back. The phones weren’t working. He helped me up onto the roof-rack and I held up the two phones as high as I could. I turned in every direction. “Nothing,’ I called down, “Neither one.”

  “Oh well, not a worry,” he said cheerfully, “It’ll all be different in the morning. Let’s get back.”

  I came down and got in. He backed up a little way, turned us around carefully on the bit of road we could see, and drove slowly back through the floodwaters.

  Even then I was getting a bad feeling about everything. Even a cheerful remark from a confident adult sent a funny shiver up my spine.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Pool Party!

  IT WAS ONLY ABOUT FOUR in the afternoon. As we drove in, I could see there were still lots of kids in the pool. Crazy loons!

  Mr Prior parked up and shut off the engine, then reached across to the glove box on my side. “Excuse me.”

  He took out a big packet of Zanodol.

  “Ah good, I thought I had some here.”

  “Have you got a headache?” I asked anxiously.

  “No, just a few twinges,” he said cheerfully, “I want to be on the safe side.”

  We got out. I headed down into the camp to find Ms Loti and give her back her phone. I found her all right, but she was busy telling Marcus off for something. He, Jackson and Tully were standing under one of the verandahs near the pool, all looking very grumpy about something.

  “There is no excuse, Marcus,” Ms Loti was saying, “What you were doing was quite disgusting and unacceptable in this school! Now go and get changed! All of you!”

  The boys went off, grumbling.

  I gave her the phone and said, “No luck. And the road is totally flooded. We’re stuck here.”

  She seemed to wilt, but quickly stiffened up again. “Okay. We’ll deal with it if we have to. Everything will be better in the morning.”

  There it was again, that prediction. I went off, really hoping she was going to be right. When I got to the bunkroom Jackson was still muttering angrily about the trouble he was in.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Lucy started it!”

  “What?”

  “Spitting water. She was just going crazy, like a machine, getting everyone! Then she got me right in the face so I did it back to her! Next thing everyone was doing it.” he flung his bathers into a corner with a splat, “Not fair!”

  I said nothing. Just found my book and headed off to the main hall, figuring it had to be the driest place in the whole camp. It was.

  STRAIGHT AFTER DINNER, more people started complaining about headaches. Ms Loti was running around like a headless chook dishing out sympathy and Zanodol like there was going to be no tomorrow. She finished her original packet and started on Mr Prior’s ‘mega-pack’.

  There was supposed to have been a concert that night, but so many kids were off sick that it was cancelled. I saw the adults gathering together many times, discussing the situation with very serious faces. Time and again I saw Ms Loti step outside and try her phone. She came back in with that familiar look. No connection.

  Mr Prior, looking rather grey, headed off in his RV once again. He was back thirty minutes later, which meant the road was still flooded.

  So we had no connection by road, either.

  Nothing was said to us kids, though. Everything w
as fine, officially. There was plenty of food, and loads of ice cream for pudding. By then I had no appetite but I still made myself eat. I don’t know why. Some sort of survival instinct, I suppose. Like those cavemen back in prehistoric times, filling up on ice cream whenever they could get it.

  I THINK, BY TEN O’CLOCK that night, virtually everyone had had Zanodol. Even most of the adults. There were kids staggering off to bed left, right and centre, holding their heads and groaning. Even Lucy looked bad. She looked wild, her hair sticking out at right-angles from behind her ears. Even so she seemed determined to stay up late, lurking close to Ms Loti and supervising the distribution of Zanodol. At one point she turned to me, looking totally exhausted.

  “Here, just take two of these.”

  “No, I’m alright.”

  For a moment I actually had the pills in my hand. Close up they looked like little pale green flying saucers. I went to pass them back to Ms Loti but Lucy intercepted them, making a small triumphant noise.

  She sounded like one of those trained seals at Seaworld.

  Close up I could see her hair. Usually Lucy had perfect hair, but now it was looking crazy. Then I saw why. There were these weird bumps sticking up from underneath. Horns or something.

  I just gawped at her, dumbstruck.

  Then I whispered to Ms Loti, “Look at Lucy’s head. It... it doesn’t look right.”

  Ms Loti called Lucy over. “Let me see your hair, please. I just have to check you for bush ticks.”

  Lucy came over, remarkably co-operative. I saw Ms Loti’s fingers go into her hair, then Ms Loti gasped aloud. “Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!”

  “It’s just fine,” answered Lucy, pulling away and trying to tidy back her hair, “It’s just something that runs in my family. And oh it feels good to have them back again!”

  As soon as Lucy had gone Ms Loti turned to me. “Nathan, go find Mr Prior! Get him up if he’s sleeping! He’s got to get her to the hospital!”