by Tony Thomas
Dan sat back and thought for a moment. Gen would kill him if he told her he was going to go outside and get a gun, or look for reanimated corpses. Still, better to know and be armed than not know and be defenceless. There was no way he could sneak out undetected so he would have to tell Gen something.
‘Okay Piotr. I will see if I can find out anything. I will call you back soon.’
08:45 AEST: Woronora Dam
There was no sign of Bozo’s former ebullience. He looked thoroughly defeated as he started to talk. ‘Cindy had a late shift at work and got home just after one in the morning. She’d put the telly on while she was chilling out getting ready for bed and seen some of the reports. By the time she woke me it was about 4 a.m. and the PM had just finished his press conference.’
‘I didn’t believe her at first, but you only had to watch the news for a few minutes before it gave you the willies. We decided the best thing to do was to get as far away from the city as we could.’ Bozo looked plaintively at Brick and Rita. ‘We were packing the car when it happened. Some fucker ran up and started laying into Cindy. She screamed and I came out and saw her. I smashed the bastard over the head with a cricket bat and he went down like the pile of shit he was.’
Bozo shook his head. ‘I never suspected it would be infectious like that. I took Cindy inside, calmed her down, and cleaned her up. She seemed shaken up but fine. Eager to get going, didn’t want to waste any time. I left her alone while I was packing the car and she had gone in to wake up Jill.’ Bozo drew a long breath. ‘Next thing I hear is Jill screaming. I ran back inside and Cindy is going absolutely ape shit, laying into Jill. God help me, I’ve never before hit my wife but I dragged her off Jill and when she went to attack me I hooked her in the jaw. She should have gone down, but she kept on coming at me. It was like I hadn’t touched her. I wrestled with her and until I managed to tie her hands and then her feet with some clothes.’
Bozo sobbed before continuing. ‘Jill was hysterical. I figured I couldn’t calm her down and make her safe at the same time. I carried Cindy out to the car and put her in the back seat.’
Bozo looked straight in to Brick’s eyes. ‘By the time I walked back inside, Jill had gone feral. I couldn’t believe she could have changed so fast. She went at me the minute she saw me. She’s only 10 years old and she was like a wild cat. I couldn’t hit her, I just couldn’t. I did manage to tie her up though, and put her in the back seat with her mother.’
‘I finished packing. Then I found some bandages in the first aid kit and used them to tie both of them up. I figured that the t-shirts I’d used would eventually come loose. The bloke I hit with the cricket bat was still collapsed in the drive way, I think I might have killed him but I didn’t check. I dragged him out of the way, got in the car, and started to head out. Jill and Cindy kept roaring and trying to get at me. In the end I couldn’t stand it. I stopped, gagged them, and blindfolded them. After that they didn’t make too much noise and they stopped struggling so much.’
‘Why weren’t you infected as well?’ Rita asked. ‘If they got infected, why didn’t you?’
‘I have no idea. I hadn’t even thought about it until you just mentioned it. I guess maybe I just got lucky.’ Bozo shrugged.
‘Jesus Christ Bozo!’ Brick said, shaking his head. ‘How did you think you’d get through a road block with two people trussed up like that in the back seat?’
‘To be honest, all I was thinking was to get the fuck out of town,’ Bozo said. ‘I realised I was screwed when I saw the road block. I tried the gate on the fire trail as a last hope. I was pretty amazed when it was unlocked.’
‘So what now?’ Rita said. ‘You can’t be spreading the infection everywhere by taking them with you.’
‘That’s easy for you to say Rita,’ snarled Bozo. ‘This is my family. I don’t know there’s no cure. I’m not going to let them hurt themselves or anyone else.’
Brick shook his head. ‘Mate, I sympathise, but you can’t bring them with us. I’m not about to take infected people anywhere.’
‘This is my family, Brick.’
‘I know that. Truly I do. I can’t imagine how it feels, but for fuck’s sake! They’re sick, you know they are. Dragging them around is not going to help. Why didn’t you take them to a hospital for fuck sake?’
‘Brick, I wasn’t really thinking things through you know?’ Bozo shook his head. ‘I just wanted to get away. Maybe I should have gone to hospital. All I could think of was getting away from where the crazies were.’
Brick stared at Bozo. ‘Fair dinkum, and now you’re taking crazies with you! Bozo, I can’t risk my family getting infected as well.’
‘So what do I do, leave them tied up on the side of the road? Fuck that, you know I can’t do that.’
‘I don’t know Bozo. I really don’t.’
‘Mate, just let me follow. I’ll keep them tied up, it’ll be safe enough for you and your family.’
‘I’m really sorry, mate,’ Brick said. ‘But I have to draw the line. You can’t come with us.’
‘You can’t stop me following you.’
‘I know I can’t. But we can run the risk of a road block or a check point. None of us are sick.’
‘Fuck you then Brick. I thought you’d have my back on this.’
‘Jesus Bozo. That really isn’t fair, you know I can’t risk my family as well.’
Bozo looked resigned as he walked back to the driver’s door of his car. ‘Well I guess I’ll be seeing you then. If I’m in front of you, you can’t warn people. I’m going to head west as soon as I can. There’s less people and towns.’
‘Good luck Bozo. I hope they find a cure,’ Rita said.
‘Yeah, whatever,’ Bozo muttered as he lowered himself into his car. He started up and pulled away.
‘Fucking hell. What a nightmare,’ Brick said. ‘Poor bastard.’
‘Just be glad none of us are sick,’ Rita said.
‘Yeah, I know. Fancy finding your wife infecting your daughter. Fucking awful.’
‘I can’t imagine how he must have felt, but he shouldn’t be driving around with them, that’s just crazy. He should have taken them to the hospital,’ Rita said, shaking her head. ‘In any case, should we get going?’
‘Yeah, okay. How about you drive for a while. My hand is killing me,’ Brick said as he gave Rita the keys.
08:45 AEST: Sydney
Gen was, despite of all her normal habits, channel surfing. She was still a little shaken by the way things had gotten so far out of hand with Joanne, so at first she didn’t take in what she was seeing as she rapidly changed channels. Gradually, she calmed down and stopped flicking the remote control to watch a report on BBC World News.
‘Confirmed reports that the Indian prime minister and several cabinet members have fled New Delhi by military helicopter and are believed to be en route to the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in the Arabian Sea.’
The image was of a nervous-looking reporter standing in front of a field. There were no other people in sight, something Gen imagined must be most unusual in India.
‘We can report that the Indian Armed Forces have retreated to barracks, forts, and other strongholds. The Indian prime minister has ordered all forces to secure these safe havens. Government ministers, their families, and some members of the armed forces have been airlifted to safety on naval vessels in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.’
Now the video changed to a montage of shots. Gen didn’t really recognise anything, although it was how she imagined India to look. There seemed to be thousands of men in white shirts and women in saris running through the streets.
‘There is fighting in the streets of all major cities. The police and army have been unable to contain or control the violence, even with extreme measures. The countryside is awash with refugees. There is nowhere to run, as the infected are everywhere.’
The scene cut to a brutal street battle viewed through the windscreen of a van. Thousand
s of people were fighting in the street as the van pushed its way through. There was an occasional fist thrown at the van, but the crowd seemed preoccupied with beating each other.
‘Earlier, our team attempted to leave by air. The airport was under military control. There were army units blocking all access to the airport. We filmed several piles of corpses burning on the side of the road.’
Gen was a little surprised to see footage of corpses burning. The bodies seemed to writhe in the flames before the scene cut to a military checkpoint.
‘We were with several other press teams that attempted to get to the airport. As we approached the airport, we encountered a military checkpoint. We explained we were reporters hoping to leave India. The guards advised the airport was closed to non-military traffic. They offered no advice on alternatives. The officer we spoke to suggested we should leave the city while we still could.’
The footage showed a heated exchange with an army officer. A soldier behind the officer raised his rifle and aimed it at the cameraman. The image blurred and the camera was swung away before cutting off.
‘Along with the CNN news team, we took this advice and left New Delhi on the Gurgaon Expressway. The CNN team have suggested we travel south to Bhavnagar—a port city on the Arabian Sea.
‘So far we have been able to stay on the main roads; however, we have seen roving packs of infected and we are becoming concerned that we may need to try secondary roads. Fortunately, as we travel through more rural areas, the packs seem to be smaller and walking across fields with only a few on the main highway.
‘We have stopped south of the town of Sidhrawali to file this report. The CNN crew have been in communication with their base and are trying to arrange for us to be collected, but we are not hopeful.
‘This is Peter Wilcox for BBC News.’
Gen stared at the screen in horror. The news anchor made some vague platitudes about the bravery of the news team then continued reporting on other regions, but Gen had tuned out. How could a country the size of India be overrun so quickly? How long had this been going on and not reported?
06:55 SST (08:55 AEST): Singapore
‘Just watch the news for ten minutes, okay? Please, don’t leave your room until you’ve seen it.’ Lincoln hung up the phone and ticked the number off the list he had hastily drawn up.
‘How many’s that, Linc?’ Chris asked.
Lincoln did a quick tally. ‘I didn’t get answers from six of the rooms, but I think I’ve called all of the ones on this floor now. Most of them knew what was happening, but three of them had no idea.’
‘I’m guessing the bloke we saw in the hall was from one of your “empty” rooms,’ Chris noted.
‘Probably’, Mick said, ‘but I don’t think you can call every room in the hotel. The next question is what the fuck do we do next? We can’t really stay here for all that long, we’ve got no food beyond a few snacks and they won’t last long between four of us.’
‘Well we’re not going to starve to death in the next couple of hours,’ Lincoln replied. ‘I think we need to go back to plan “A” and try to get some sleep. Lara’s already crashed and it wouldn’t hurt any of us to get some shut-eye.’
‘How the fuck can you even think about going to sleep?’ Mick said. ‘I’m totally wired.’
‘Me too,’ said Chris. ‘Maybe we should have a couple of beers and watch TV to chill out.’
Lincoln shook his head. ‘I’m not sure that having anything to drink is a great idea. We need to clear our heads more than anything else.’
Mick laughed, ‘If you think I’m going to be able to calm down and go to sleep without a couple of bottles of “muscle relaxant” you’re just plain wrong.’
Chris walked over to the mini-bar and pulled out two Tigers, ‘Me too. A couple of beers and I’ll be able to crash. What do you say Linc?’
‘Not me. I’m going back to bed.’ Lincoln stood up and walked to the bedroom door before turning back and saying, ‘Can you blokes please promise not to open that room door under any circumstances? I’m not joking, that was a fucking terrible way to get woken up.’
Mick nodded and said, ‘Message received and understood boss-man’, as he accepted the beer from Chris.
‘Sure Linc, sorry, mate,’ Chris replied before flopping into the lounge and turning the volume on the TV up to an audible level. As it caught his attention, he said, ‘Linc, you might want to watch this before you crash.’
The networks had slipped into the default disaster mode of repeating the same news over and over; however, the scale of what was happening meant that there were new updates continuously. The TV was currently tuned to CNN Asia and a banner had appeared declaring ‘Breaking News’. The familiar face of Kristie Lu Stout appeared on the anchor’s desk.
‘We have breaking news from India where we have just been advised the Indian prime minister and cabinet have fled Delhi by helicopter and are currently on their way to the INS Vikramaditya, an aircraft carrier.
Our CNN news team in Delhi have been forced to flee. They are currently working their way south towards the port city of Bhavnagar. CNN have asked the US Navy for assistance in retrieving this news team. The naval base at Diego Garcia may be able to render assistance.’
The image cut to scenes of urban violence.
‘It appears that India has been overwhelmed by violence and riots. Pakistan have sought assurances in the UN that India’s nuclear arsenal is secure, given the level of disruption in the region.’
‘Jesus, that’s the last thing we need,’ Chris said. ‘If some nutbag gets control of nukes, we’re in for a world of hurt.’
Lincoln nodded and said, ‘I don’t think it’s that easy, I’m pretty sure they have a lot of control systems in place. My bet is that they can’t launch without the prime minister having a say in it, and he’s on that aircraft carrier. I’d be more worried about Pakistan using nukes to stop refugees.’
Chris shook his head. ‘I’m not sure how that would work. You blow up a mountain pass you make a crater with sloping sides. Then you get a whole pile of radiation sick refugees instead of whatever this is. It’s a really long border as well, I don’t think they could nuke the whole thing.’
‘Yeah, I guess you’re right. In any case—that’s enough bad news for me—I’m crashing. You guys should get some sleep soon as well.’
‘Yeah, soon, good night, Linc,’ Chris said.
‘Yeah, sweet dreams, mate,’ Mick added.
As Lincoln left the room, Chris turned the TV down again. ‘You know, we really do need to come up with a plan for how we’re going to get out of here. No matter what Lara and Linc say, we’re trapped in here and I can’t see us getting rescued any time soon.’
Mick looked thoughtful before he grinned and said, ‘I guess we didn’t promise not to plan anything. So what do we do for weapons?’
09:00 AEST: Sydney
Dan walked into the lounge room to see Gen staring at the TV as if hypnotised. He had decided that he wasn’t going to mention the zombie story. It was too absurd, and until he had some hard evidence, he wasn’t buying it.
Gen looked up and said, ‘India’s government have evacuated.’
Dan sat next to her and gave her a hug. ‘I just heard that from Piotr. I can’t believe it either.’ Dan struggled with himself for a few moments before saying, ‘Piotr suggested I try to grab one of the guns left by the soldiers.’
Gen pushed Dan back so she could look him in the eye and said. ‘You can’t seriously be thinking of going out there again.’
‘Well, it. . .’
‘Dan, those things attacked the soldiers while they were being shot at. How can you possibly think it’s a good idea to get one of those rifles? You don’t even know how to shoot, and those trained soldiers, in a group, were overrun.’
‘We don’t really know that.’
‘Dan, I was out the front with you when it happened. We heard shooting and then it stopped. You know they were overrun as well a
s I do.’
‘I guess so, but we don’t know if that mob is still there or not. That’s something we should check out.’
‘Why? Why not just wait it out quietly in here until help comes? It’s not safe to go out there.’
Dan realised he was not going to be able to convince Gen he needed to look outside without telling Gen about the zombie stories. There was no way he was going to mention that just yet.
‘Okay Gen. I guess you’re right. It just seemed like a good idea when Piotr mentioned it.’
Gen looked at him, waiting for the ‘but’.
Dan didn’t fall for the bait. ‘Have you heard anything from Jo since she went downstairs?’
Gen looked at her watch. ‘I guess she’s been down there long enough. Maybe we should check on her.’
‘Maybe you should do it on your own,’ Dan said. ‘I didn’t cope with her so well last time.’
‘Really, Dan? That is an amazingly feeble attempt at making an excuse so you can sneak outside.’
‘I suppose so,’ Dan said with a smile. ‘Let’s go check on Jo.’ Dan stood, walked over to the staircase, then stopped and waited for Gen to join him. As he walked down the stairs, he was trying to figure out how he could find another opportunity to check for reanimated corpses.
When they reached the bottom of the staircase, Dan knocked on the closed door to the downstairs room. There was no answer. After waiting for a few seconds, he looked at Gen and then knocked again. When there was no response, he asked, ‘She couldn’t have gone to sleep could she?’
‘I doubt it,’ said Gen. ‘Maybe she’s in the bathroom.’ Gen opened the door a little and called, ‘Jo, are you okay?’
When there was no answer, Gen pulled the door fully open and looked into the room. Joanne was nowhere in sight. Gen and Dan walked into the room and looked around. The bathroom door was open so it was unlikely she was in there. ‘Oh, fuck,’ breathed Dan. ‘The back door is open.’