by Leo Nix
Katie pounded the dried bark and the clay into a fine powder. She added the ingredients to warm water then mixed it into a muddy paste.
“Bongo, this won't hurt you at all. It's going to feel nice and soothing. Don't rub it off. I'll change it every hour. If you can, just lie back and get some sleep.” The bullet had gone through his lower calf and it was black and blue. A red line travelled from his groin down to the wound. Katie gently spread the clay and wattle bark mix on his swollen calf, all the way up to the lump in his groin. She let it dry then eased his leg onto the blanket.
“Now just lie back and let it do it's job. I'll keep changing it until the swelling's gone.” Her eyes looked carefully at his fevered face then leaned down to wipe the perspiration from his forehead. By evening the swelling was down and Bongo was asleep.
“Riles,” said Katie, brushing a wisp of hair from her face, “I'll need to stay up tonight to change this mud pack. Will you be OK tomorrow to let me sleep in?” She tried to sound pleasant but she was so tired it sounded like a demand.
“Sure, just don't wake me.” He smiled at his wife. It wasn't the first time she'd done this for some poor stockman and his family. Many injured and sick visitors had to stay overnight while Katie treated them.
Although he'd never met her father, he'd sadly passed away when Katie was in her late teens, he accepted her healer role as part and parcel of who she was.
“Besides, Roo here is well enough to take on tomorrows patrol for me.”
Roo nodded, “Mmm, yeah,” he said clearly, causing both Katie and Riley to stop what they were doing, and look at him.
“Blimey Roo, we'd better get use to you talking,” Riley said. He slapped him on the back as Katie left to put the children to bed. “Roo, do you want to sleep in here with me tonight? Katies' going to be busy and she'll wake you every time she applies the mud. She'll want to sleep in the lean-to next to Bongo and the dogs anyway.”
Roo grabbed his sleeping gear in his one good hand and dragged it into the hut itself. He nodded to Katie, “Mmm,” he grunted and smiled his thanks.
Katie looked at Riley and they raised their eyebrows in shared surprise. They looked at each other in wonder. After twenty years without speaking, what on earth had changed in Roo to make him want to start now?
Both men were up at dawn. It was cold, mist lay across the hills, and they could hear Katie talking softly to Bongo.
“How's he going, Katie? How's the swelling?” asked Riley rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“The swellings gone down nicely.” Turning to Bongo, she asked, “how does it feel Bongo? Is it still on fire?”
Bongo was clearly tired but he replied in the positive. “I feel a lot better, and I'm hungry. That lump in my groin's better, but my leg's still a bit sore. I can do the mud packs myself now, Katie. You go and get some sleep, and thank you.”
“I'll put the mud bowl within reach.” Katie smiled in reply. “Riles, when the kids wake up don't let them jump all over me or Bongo, we both need our sleep now,” she said as she went straight to the warm bed Riley and Roo had just vacated.
Over breakfast Roo indicated he would do the first watch. He had his pistol in it's holster at his waist, the AK slung over his good arm, a set of binoculars over his head, and some food in a pack - which he awkwardly dragged onto his back.
“Roo, I'll come out and relieve you at exact midday. It's the hill you can see once you get out of the scrub. Take Black Dog, he knows the way and he's the most reliable,” said Riley. “And stay off the path when you come to the big rock. I've hidden some rabbit traps in the grass there. Black Dog knows where they are, but just be careful.”
Roo grunted a primitive reply then clicked his fingers at Black Dog, together they set off at a slow walk. It was a cool morning and Roo was excited to get back into the solitude of the bush once again.
“That Roo surprises me, Bongo. He hasn't spoken a word in twenty years and now he's chattering like a monkey. I wonder what it means?” Riley scratched his head as he began to prepare breakfast for his children, who were just waking up.
Chapter 3 - Nulla - Out Of The Frying Pan
The dwellers were completely exhausted as they pulled into an abandoned motel car park outside the city suburbs.
“Squelch, click, click,” came the code from the speakers in the four wheel drives as the boys gave the 'all clear'. Nulla and Phil switched off their engines and climbed out of their car seats stiff and sore.
“I've had it!” said Phil, he sagged onto the car bonnet. He looked around to check that they were well concealed from the main road. The motel units opened up right next to where they'd parked. “Nice work boys, you've brought us directly to our bedrooms.”
Nulla helped Glenda out of the car but she refused his offer to carry her. “No, I can do it, don't spoil me,” she said and hobbled with her AK47 over one shoulder and her backpack on the other.
“I'm sorry everyone but I have a blinding headache from these night vision goggles, and I really need to get a cup of tea, and then some sleep. Now, is anyone going to open a door for me?” She looked at the two boys who were just pulling off their helmets. Glenda softened when she saw they were so exhausted they could barely climb off their bikes.
“I'll do it,” said Nulla. He walked stiff legged, showing he too was feeling the strain of peering through the distorted image of night vision goggles for six hours straight. He kicked at the first unit door, when it wouldn't budge he tried the handle, it opened smoothly.
“Huh, well I guess this is ours,” he said to Glenda. “You go and lie down while I get everyone sorted out, then I'll put a brew on for us.”
The sky was starting to turn pink and the clouds reflected a shift in colour as the sun slowly rose above the horizon.
By the time Nulla had the billy boiled and eleven cups of tea and coffee made, the group had settled into their units and most were nodding off to sleep. He chatted with Phil for a while but the old man kept squinting to keep his eyes open, Nulla knew he was too exhausted to listen.
“Sorry, Phil,” said Nulla, “I guess I pushed things a little too hard tonight. Those night vision goggles are hard work, we just need to get use to them.”
“I think we need to take a break tonight, Nulla. I don't think anyone can go through that again until their headaches clear. I've got a huge migraine and I never get migraines. I think from now on we stick to four hour runs, no more. Last night was just murder. If we didn't pull over when we did I think I would have crashed into something.” Phil, finished his cup of tea and waved in Nulla's direction as he headed towards his unit. Fatima was already sound asleep.
With his head in his hands Nulla pondered what to do.
'Surely everyone realises the importance of getting out of the city. But I certainly wasn't ready for these headaches and eye strain, damn it,' Nulla thought, as he leaned back in his chair and drank his third cup of black tea. Slowly he closed down his mind and built his sanctuary of calm and harmony. He placed the dilemma inside his mind palace and disappeared into a deep sleep, but not for long.
“Nulla, boss, wake up.” Nulla looked up, it was Luke. “I've checked the motel, we're safe and secure. What do you want me to do now?”
Nulla rubbed at his gritty eyes and got up, turned on the tap, and splashed his face with cold water. 'This must be fed by a rain-water tank,' he thought absently.
“You'd better go and have a sleep, mate. You look bushed too. Good job you and the boys did last night, great job. Hey, how's your head feeling?” he asked as an afterthought.
“Head? Dunno. I'm tired but otherwise I'm OK. Everyone else has headaches but all I got was bored. Doing forty k's an hour is slow, it's way too slow boss. We should be flying along…” he trailed off when he saw Nulla looking at him. “Yeah I know, safety first. But…” again came Nulla's look and he stopped, turned and went off to his room.
At midday Simon was up and cooking a meal for himself. No one else was up except Nulla, listeni
ng to the CB. Simon brought him some tinned salmon and some of Fatima's flat bread with curry powder, his favourite condiment.
“Thanks, Simon,” Nulla said, as he took the tin without looking. After his first spoonful he gagged. “Hey what is it with you and this blasted curry powder? I'm going to have to explain to Glenda why I smell so bad now.”
The teenager just smiled, he was tired and he had red rimmed eyes. “What are we going to do now? Everyone's exhausted, we mightn't be able to do another night like that, my head's like cotton wool.”
“I was thinking that too…” he suddenly stopped talking. From outside of the motel, from what appeared to be the road, came voices.
“Terrorists or looters. Wake everyone up and weapons ready,” whispered Nulla grabbing at his assault rifle. He rushed to see what was happening. “And Simon, do it quietly.”
As he peered around the edge of the motel wall he saw a patrol of six terrorists walking in the middle of the road. They were yelling and singing, obviously quite drunk. Nulla tracked them with his scope and watched as they disappeared in the direction he was going to lead his small group the following evening.
“Nulla, what's happening?” asked Simon, crawling up beside him. Next to him was Luke, still putting his webbing on and his cartridge belt around his waist. Heidi and Arthur were pulling on their boots and he could see Charlene with her pistol, Simon's 38 special, in her hand. She flicked her tussled hair away from her face with it's barrel.
'Strewth,' Nulla said to himself, 'I'd better tell her to be more careful with that damn pistol, she's way too careless with it.'
“Looks like terrorists out for a stroll.” Simon's voice brought him back to the present.
“Drunk too,” Nulla replied. “I'm going to follow and see where they're going. You stay here, Simon. Luke, you get everyone packed and ready to run if we need to. I'll be back within the hour.” He looked at his watch. “At this point there's no reason to panic. They don't know we're here.” Nulla looked at the boys. “Get everyone ready, post Arthur in a sniping position upstairs.”
Crouching low he headed towards the fading sound of voices.
They continued walking for a hundred metres. When they stopped he saw a road block of sandbags and cars, parked in such a position to slow any incoming vehicles. It was just as well he'd stopped his group when he did, he thought. There was one thing he forgot to do when they arrived, he reminded himself, and that was to reconnoitre their extended environment.
He scoped out the guards, their weapons, and he looked for any other support in the vicinity, none. It looked like a single roadblock on the main road. A machine gun and small arms surrounded by sandbagged walls. It was a solid-looking stockade. There was a roof to keep the sun and rain off, and right opposite was their living quarters.
Nulla noted four guards inside the post. They didn't move when the group waved to them and entered the house opposite. The guards appeared to be well disciplined and stayed at their posts. Nulla then noticed there were bullet holes in the cars surrounding the stockade and the sandbags were peppered with holes as well. He looked further down the road and saw two cars severely damaged by rifle fire, another looked like it had been hit by an RPG. It was hard to tell if it was caused by target practice or an actual fire-fight.
The group he followed were now sitting on camp chairs at the front of the house drinking. Some were setting up a table with food and drinks. He could still only see the six terrorists he saw earlier, he didn't see any new faces exiting the house itself. He stayed in the area and scoped out as far as his binoculars could see in each direction. It appeared to be an outpost as well as a well prepared road block. Music came blaring from the house and Nulla decided he would head back to the group.
“What did you see, boss?” asked Simon.
“It's an outpost with a road block. It cuts us off from the Murray River but we can get around that if we want to. I've been thinking of what to do. You'd better call everyone into the motel office where we can watch the road, and tell Fatima and Charlene to bring some food, we'll eat then we need to move out,” answered Nulla, the tension in his jaw and neck muscles betrayed his concern.
“Will do, boss.” Simon ran off to do his errand.
When they were gathered, Nulla called to Arthur, “Arthur, did you see anything while I was gone?”
“Nothing, Nulla, no more people, not even dogs or cats,” he replied.
“Good, looks like that's the lot of them. They don't know we're here and that's the way I want it to stay. They've got a heavy machine gun at their post, and it appears they've had contacts in the past. Perhaps my cavalry unit visited, or perhaps it's another local group of civilian resistance. Anyway, we leave tonight, midnight as usual. We turn left not right.
“I've thought a lot about where we should be going and I think the Flinders it is. Although there are reports there are plenty of Revelationists there, and the locals are on their payroll. We might not have friends there, but the Murray River plan I was working on is now out.”
Glenda spoke up quickly, she sounded irritated. “Since when have we been going to the Murray River? I thought it was always going to be the Flinders Ranges?”
“I've been talking to our friends in Birdsville and to Sydney Charlie, they both said be careful in the Flinders.” Nulla stood up and placed his big road map on the table and waved for everyone to gather around it.
“They didn't know much about anything else though, not in our region. I really think we should get to Birdsville and meet up with them. They're the one's we've heard so much about, knocking the hell out of the terrorists. I think we need to join up with them asap, that's the civil resistance I've been looking for.”
Charlene and Heidi spoke at once, “Nulla, what the hell is going on with you? You shouldn't be making plans without advising us,” said an irritated Charlene. “If you've changed plans then we need to approve them. I'm not budging one inch until you come out with everything, not an inch.” She defiantly folder her right arm over her left in it's sling.
“Hey, girls,” said Nulla putting up his hands, “I'm sorry but I spoke to Birdsville and Sydney Charlie on HF only yesterday, and that's when I found out about the terrorist activity in the Flinders Ranges. I thought about what to do next while we were driving last night. I had a loose plan to see what was out towards the Murray River. I was going to talk with you today, but everyone fell asleep. Anyway, here it is and everyone gets a say.”
He ran his finger over their original route, which Heidi had drilled into everyone, and then showed an alternative route that avoided all the townships between where they were now, and Arkaroola.
Heidi got excited and said, “Arkaroola? I've been out there with my family. We spent a whole week in the wilderness surrounding it, prospecting for gold with grandma and grandpa. It's got a small village, a hotel and cafe, they've got a camping ground and cabins, it's perfect for what we want. Oh Nulla, can we stay there?”
“Whoa, slow down there, Heidi. It's probably quite a safe place but the Birdsville commando said the farmers around the Flinders Ranges were sympathetic towards the crusaders, we don't know which ones are and which aren't.” He looked at the small group gathered around him, and continued.
“We need to take these back tracks here,“ he pointed to the faint lines, “they'll become rougher the closer we get to the village. At night, with our night vision, we'll need to be careful, especially the bikers.”
He looked around at his friends then asked for their thoughts.
“Boss, we can do it, just not six hour nights like last night. I think… keep our driving to four hours and as we get better we can stretch it out,” Luke said, then he pointed to their proposed trek. “All of this is off the main roads, that should be safe shouldn't it?”
Phil, who'd been quiet throughout Nulla's presentation, now spoke up. “I know these roads pretty well, Nulla. They pass through a lot of properties and vineyards, cattle and sheep stations, and across irrigation ca
nals. I wouldn't expect the terrorists to have many outposts there. It's dry, it's hot and it's boring. Most of the terrorists appear to be youngsters, and, like that noisy patrol we just heard, they prefer having fun to soldiering.”
“If we travel by night, hole up by day and keep a low profile, we'll make it easily,” said Simon. “If we get hit by terrorists it's more likely right here than anywhere in the country.” Phil and Nulla nodded in agreement.
“OK, thanks everyone, it's a done deal. We now need to keep watch until midnight. Arty, how's your leg, are you good enough to stay upstairs here and keep watch? I'll send Heidi with you to help.” He winked at them but they knew he wasn't playing match-maker, this was serious.
“My leg's killing me, but if I can pull up a chair and sit down, I'll be fine,” Arthur replied.
Just then the cock in the chicken pen crowed, loudly. It did it again, and then again.
“Shit!” spluttered Nulla. “Luke, grab that damned rooster and shut it up. Put the cage inside one of the rooms and shut the door,” ordered Nulla, he almost tripped over his chair getting up.
Luke waved for Simon to come with him and help, they ran out of the room together. Again the rooster crowed and Nulla looked at everyone. “That damn rooster is going to bloody ruin my day! Grab your weapons and prepare for action.”
Charlene hurriedly spoke up, “Nulla, there's a back exit around there. We should jump into our cars and drive away. Maybe we could go somewhere and hide till dark. What do you think?”
Their worried leader looked at Charlene, then at everyone else, “Good idea, let's do it, right now!” He gathered the map while everyone ran off to their vehicles.
“Change of plans!” called Charlene softly to Luke, “We're leaving, out through the back exit.” She pointed to the winding driveway leading out from the back of the motel. “Put the chickens back onto the trailer and let's go.”
As Luke and Simon were tying down the chicken pen, the rooster began crowing again.