The Zombie Proof Fence

by Tony Thomas

  ‘Good word—four whole syllables,’ Dan remarked snidely.

  ‘Just listen,’ Gen asked.

  ‘Based on information we have received from our embassies in Europe and America, we believe the violence currently being experienced around the world is the result of a highly infectious disease. At this time, we do not know for certain how the disease is transmitted. We have limited solid information on the disease beyond the advice that it seems to cause people to act extremely violently.

  ‘In order to protect our nation, the Australian Government has declared a ‘State of Emergency’. We have mobilised the Australian Defence Force and called up our Reserve forces.

  ‘Given the situation we have seen in other countries, we are asking all Australians not employed in essential services to stay at home today. Commencing immediately there will be a national curfew. The police and ADF will immediately commence patrols and any people on the streets will be directed by the armed forces, or the police, to return to their homes. Anyone remaining on the streets after nine a.m. Eastern Standard Time will be deemed to have broken curfew and will be arrested.

  ‘We will maintain this curfew until further notice. It will not be removed until it is safe to do so.’

  ‘Bloody hell!’ Dan exclaimed. ‘I knew he would make it a police state one day!’

  Gen shushed him, ‘Let’s hear what’s going to happen before you get all excited.’

  ‘We have also initiated an immediate quarantine, restricting entry to all flights and shipping until the nature of this disease is determined. We will maintain this quarantine for a minimum of 24 hours, although we expect it will need to be extended.

  ‘Incoming aircraft will be allowed to land; however, passengers will be placed in immediate quarantine, then tested before being escorted to their destinations. We have advised all airlines to cancel inbound flights to Australia effective 5 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

  ‘Aircraft will be permitted to leave Australia for foreign airports. However, they will not be permitted to return until the quarantine is lifted.

  ‘All domestic flights have been suspended. Local accommodation will be found for passengers in transit while we wait for flight services to be resumed.

  ‘Ships will be ordered to stay at least 5 km off shore until further notice. All harbours are closed until further notice.’

  ‘I guess that sorts out the boat people issue,’ Dan quipped.

  ‘Give it a rest,’ Gen replied tiredly, Dan was always arguing with the TV.

  ‘We will make further announcements later today. Rest assured your government will take every possible step to not only protect our citizens, but also to restore order as soon as possible.’

  ‘When did we lose order?’ Dan blurted. ‘What are they talking about?’

  ‘Calm down,’ said Gen, she was starting to become irritated by how agitated Dan was sounding. ‘All of this sounds pretty reasonable to me.’

  Before Dan could respond, the prime minister introduced the leader of the Opposition.

  ‘Here we go,’ Dan said—he had no respect for the leaders of either major party and usually voted for one of the minors, using his preferences to vote against policies he disliked.

  ‘Good morning’, the Opposition leader said, ‘as you have just heard from the prime minister, Australia is taking the drastic steps of calling a state of emergency, as well as instituting an all-encompassing quarantine. I am speaking to you to assure you that the Opposition is in agreement on both these initiatives. We have been in special consultation with the government for the last two hours and fully endorse all actions taken to protect the Australian public.’

  ‘What the hell?’ Dan asked, not for the first time on this chaotic night.

  ‘Let me be clear, the Opposition fully endorse the current curfew and quarantine procedures imposed by the government. We ask that all Australians accept that these measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the general public. We will work to ensure that civil liberties are restored as soon as it is safe to do so. I will now hand you back to the prime minister for questions from the press gallery.’

  ‘Wow’, said Gen, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard them agree on anything before.’

  ‘Me either,’ Dan said, somewhat gob-smacked. ‘After the Q and A, I’m going to hit email and find out what’s happening from the guys in Europe and the States.’

  ‘Is there someone you can talk to in NZ?’ Gen asked.

  ‘Sure,’ Dan said. ‘I’ll ping Ian, it’s almost morning there now.’

  The first question from the press gallery was the key one:

  ‘Prime Minister, have any incidents been observed in Australia?’

  ‘At this time there has been one incident at Sydney Airport which appears to be related to this illness. This situation has been brought under control.’

  ‘That sounds like a load of crap to me,’ Dan couldn’t help saying. ‘From what we’ve seen on the overseas news, no one can control these outbreaks.’

  ‘Then why wouldn’t he just lie and say none have happened?’

  ‘I don’t know, I guess he realises the press already know about it. My guess is that they activated the army because the “incident” is out of control.’

  Gen looked a little stunned as she took this in.

  ‘Prime minister, is there any truth to the rumour that the “disease” is passed on by bites?’

  ‘As I said in my statement, we do not know for certain how the disease is transmitted.’

  ‘Surely, the government has some indication of how the disease is spread?’

  ‘We do not know for certain. We have a little information from our friends in North America and Europe. The Minister for Health will give you more information.’

  ‘Prime minister, apart from violent behaviour—are there any other symptoms of this disease that people should be aware of?’

  ‘I will hand that question to the Minister of Health to respond.’

  The health minister shuffled nervously forward. He was obviously unhappy at being put in the spotlight for something other than opening a hospital. Clearly though, he had been prepared for this question as he unfolded some notes before speaking.

  ‘At this time, we have extremely limited information on this disease. All of our information is anecdotal and almost all is based on information from overseas sources.

  ‘It appears that infected people enter a state of intense agitation. They aggressively attack any people they may come in contact with. These attacks are extremely violent, and often will continue until the victim either loses consciousness or is killed.

  ‘Those that do survive an attack will most likely become infected and begin to attack others within a time period, ranging anywhere from a less than a minute up to approximately six hours. At this time, it appears that if a person who is exposed to the disease does not exhibit symptoms within six hours then they are not infected. On that basis, we will be establishing an eight-hour isolation and quarantine period for incoming flights and ships.

  ‘For some reason, infected people do not attack each other. This is under investigation.

  ‘The infection mechanism is unknown at this time. We have been told that it may be via contact with the blood of an infected person; however, direct skin to skin or aerosol infection has not yet been ruled out.’

  ‘Minister, it seems that you have collected a lot of information about this disease in what seems to be a really short time. How long have these outbreaks actually been occurring?’

  The prime minister strode forward. The health minister, seeing this, stepped back with relief on his face. The prime minister took over.

  ‘The outbreak in Australia occurred only a few hours ago. The first confirmed outbreaks were reported in Europe and the United States two days ago. There is some speculation that the recent riots in the Middle East may have been related to this disease; however, this is unconfirmed. Our friends in Europe and the United States have been open and suppo
rtive and have passed on a great deal of information.’

  ‘Prime Minister, there has been speculation on the Internet that this is some kind of zombie virus, and that people killed by this disease come back to life and attack the living, any comment?’

  The prime minister was clearly taken aback by this. He did his long standing stalling procedure of working his jaw and making strange noises before responding.

  ‘I am not sure I should dignify that with an answer. We have no reports to suggest this is true. Dead things do not come back to life. Please do not spread ridiculous stories like this.’

  ‘That has got to be bullshit,’ Dan said.

  Gen had gone deathly pale. ‘I really hope so.’

  The prime minister straightened and said,

  ‘I am sorry, but we need to return to working on managing this problem. The government will keep you updated on what is happening. We will be making further announcements shortly.’

  Gen looked thoughtful and said, ‘Is that the first mention you’ve heard of zombies?’

  Dan thought for a moment before replying, ‘It was my first thought, sad as that is. I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere on the Net, not sure where the rumour came from.’

  ‘Have you heard back from anyone yet?’

  ‘Nothing yet,’ he said. ‘I’m going to try some of the guys who were on that course with me last year.’ He went back into his office, leaving Gen watching the television.

  01:30 SST (03:30 AEST): Singapore

  As Lincoln settled into his room, he decided he had too much booze under his belt to go straight to sleep. In classic ‘Lincoln Logic,’ he opened a beer and put the TV on.

  He always struggled to find something worth watching when he travelled, and usually settled for a news station. As he started to channel surf, he realised that almost all the channels were showing the same footage.

  ‘What the fuck?’ he muttered. He changed to CNN—the old faithful when travelling—to see if he could get a full report.

  ‘Widespread chaos continues throughout North America, with reports coming in from all major cities of ongoing and uncontrolled violence and rioting. The initial incidents began two days ago, and since that time we have seen outbreaks not only throughout the continental United States, but also in Europe and the Middle East.

  ‘At this time no outbreaks have been officially reported in Asia. CNN Hong Kong correspondent Patricia Sung has reported that several incidents have occurred in Kowloon although it cannot be confirmed if they are related.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ Lincoln muttered. He wondered if he should call home to check on the family. Just as he decided it was too late, he received a text from Chris: R U watching news?

  Lincoln called Chris’s room. ‘Hello?’ Chris answered.

  ‘Incredible isn’t it?’ Lincoln said.

  ‘Unbelievable. What channel are you watching?’

  ‘CNN—you?’

  ‘Change to Australia Network. The PM is about to make a statement.’

  ‘Right-o, I can’t believe this is happening.’ Lincoln changed to Australia Network just as the PM’s statement came on. He sat, stunned, through both the statements and the following questions. ‘Chris, you still there?’ he said.

  ‘Yeah, mate, can you believe this shit?’ Chris replied.

  ‘Mate, I don’t know what to think. You reckon we should call the others?’

  ‘Hell yeah!’ Chris said. ‘Tell you what—you get onto Mick, I’ll call Lara. Let’s meet in the lobby bar in ten minutes. That quarantine is a real worry—our flight doesn’t leave until after midday Sydney time.’

  Lincoln tried to call Mick, but as expected, there was no answer. He probably couldn’t hear his phone over the music in the bar. After a couple of tries, he left a voicemail and then sent a text:

  Mick, major issue back home. Urgent we talk to you. Call me back ASAP. Linc

  Lincoln quickly re-dressed and caught the lift to the lobby. Lara and Chris were already there. They had connected with a couple of other people in the lobby bar with the usual ‘Did you see. . .’ and ‘have you heard. . .’ Lincoln walked over and joined them.

  ‘Did you get on to Mick?’ Chris asked.

  ‘Nope, I left him a voice mail and a text, but no reply yet.’

  ‘You up to another beer? I think they’re going to close the bar soon.’

  ‘Thanks, mate, yeah.’ Lincoln turned to Lara ‘I guess you saw the news as well?’

  Lara looked around the lobby before answering, ‘Yeah, I did. How long before it hits here, do you think?’

  ‘The news said it hadn’t been spotted in Asia yet.’

  ‘Sure, but if Australia is putting a quarantine in place, they must figure it can travel. Singapore is one of the busiest airports and seaports in the world. If it hit Hong Kong, it’s bound to hit here.’

  Chris rejoined them at that point, handing Lincoln a pint and Lara a gin and tonic. ‘Lara given you the willies yet?’

  ‘Hey, I’m just trying to work out what’s going to happen next,’ Lara said. ‘This is an extremely scary situation.’

  ‘You know, I think Lara’s right. What do you reckon our chances of getting back home are?’ Lincoln said.

  Chris frowned. ‘They wouldn’t leave us stranded, would they?’

  ‘Do you have any idea how many Australians are overseas on any given day?’ Lara said. ‘If they’ve closed the borders, they aren’t going to rush out and bring people back. Even closing the airports is going to cause a major problem. There’s a couple of hundred planes go in and out every day, the shortest inbound flight is about three hours, but most are eight hours or more.’

  Lincoln thought about this for a few minutes. As the manager of the Australian sales team, he felt he had an obligation to come up with something, although there was no real reason for taking on that responsibility. ‘What do you say we try to get a flight to New Zealand?’

  ‘It’s worth a try,’ Lara said hopefully.

  Lincoln quickly connected to the Air New Zealand web site using his phone. After waiting a few minutes for the booking page to come up, he looked at the others, ‘I think their site is swamped. I’ll try Singapore Airlines.’ Again, the site was unresponsive.

  ‘Keep trying,’ Lara said, ‘You should get through eventually, it. . .’

  ‘It what?’ Chris said, looking at Lara. Lara sat looking stunned, Chris turned to see what she was looking at, ‘Oh bloody hell!’

  Mick had just come into the hotel lobby. He was a big guy, 190 cm tall and 100 kg of pure muscle. Mick still played football and regularly competed in Tae Kwon Do tournaments. He always maintained a level of composure despite having a fondness for bar girls. No one had ever seen him drunk, although he was partial to a beer. Mick was a bit of a legend. Not now though. He looked like he had just played a game as a prop for the Waratahs. His hair was messed up and his shirt was pulled out with a couple of popped buttons. He saw Chris in the bar and started to swagger across the lobby. ‘You should see the other bloke!’ he laughed, as he grabbed Chris’s beer and drained it.

  ‘What happened to you?’ Lara asked.

  ‘I got jumped by a couple of little dudes when I was walking back. Don’t know if they were trying to rob me or what. One of the little bastards tried to bite me.’

  ‘Did you get bitten?’ Lincoln asked, cold fear starting to press him.

  ‘Nah, mate. The day a little guy like that can get his teeth into me hasn’t dawned yet. I knocked one of them out. The other guy ran off chasing some other people after I knocked him down a couple of times.’

  Chris said, ‘What happened to Uli and Stefan? You were with them weren’t you?’

  ‘We shared a cab and they dropped me up the road. I thought you guys had decided to call it a night. Didn’t expect to see you in the bar.’

  ‘I guess you haven’t seen the news then?’ Chris asked.

  ‘What are you talking about? I was in a bar dancing. Has something happened?’

/>   Lara said, ‘I think we’re going to need another drink. Any joy on that booking yet, Linc?’

  Lincoln looked quickly at his phone, ‘Not yet,’ he said. ‘It’s almost finished loading though.’

  Chris went back to the bar for another round, as Lara started to tell Mick what had been happening. As he got back, Mick said to him, ‘This is bullshit, right?’

  ‘Sorry, mate, it really is happening.’

  ‘But they can’t just dump us here, we’ve got flights booked to get home.’

  ‘Us and ten thousand other people,’ Lara said.

  ‘Fuck it!’ Lincoln exploded. ‘Not a single bloody flight out of here on any airline. The airport has just shut down.’

  ‘You know—I’m starting to think we might be stuck here for a while. Do you think we should try to get some food together or something?’ Chris said.

  ‘The only shops open now are 7-Elevens and bars. I’m not sure they have anything that’s going to be much use to us,’ Mick said.

  Lincoln spoke up, ‘Anything is going to be a lot better than nothing. I’d rather have chips and pot noodles than nothing at all. Let’s go see what we can get.’

  Chris went and settled the bill, ‘I wonder how long my expense account is going to hold out?’ he thought as he signed the tab.

  03:50 AEST: Sydney

  ‘Hello my friend!’ Piotr’s voice boomed from the laptop speakers. ‘Are you well? It is very early for you, is it not?’ Piotr was dressed in a tee-shirt and woollen cardigan. His already gaunt face looked grey with worry.

  Dan had finally managed to get a Skype connection to one of his friends from the R&D centre in Gdansk, Poland. ‘Hi Piotr. Yes, it is only about 4 a.m. here—but I have been up all night, trying to find out what is happening.’

  ‘Yes, is terrible. But you must sleep, otherwise how can you keep yourself safe?’

  ‘I suppose so. How are things for you? Is there trouble near you?’

  ‘So far not. I live in the hills north-west of the city. It is peaceful here so far. It is not so good in the city. They are saying the Policja cannot control it.’