The Colony
Page 21
Valerie heard the message on the radio and felt sad. The preparations that they'd made had been necessary after all.
- 58 -
Sharon was allowed out of the vehicle now that the shooting had stopped and the bodies were covered. She walked down past the bodies towards the entrance of the barriers. A man's hand stuck out from under the tarp.
Sharon looked down at it and began to scream, “Oh no, oh no! My father! That's his watch.”
Richard held on to her and Daniel ran up to see what the problem was.
“Let's check his face”, Richard was saying. “Sharon thinks this is her father.”
“No, that is not my father. My father does not have tattoos. But that watch is my father's. Please get it for me. If it's his, it has an engraving.”
- 59 -
Sergeant Simon Yonatan was still standing at the machine gun as the Hawkei accelerated down the highway towards McPherson. They had just crossed the railway lines and released a small bag of leaves to replace those that had been blown away by the earlier passage and the passage of the motorbikes before them.
Simon thought there might be more of the fuckers in the area, so they were on high alert.
“Alpha One, Alpha One. We have fifteen dead ones on the ground. Alpha Alpha says that is the right number for the group she encountered in Buckworth. Over.”
“Roger Alpha Delta. We're nearly back home. Over.”
The truck slowed down. Higher speed meant higher risk, and there's no hospitals or ambulances anymore.
Simon was just about to close the hatch and sit back down when he saw the big SUV coming the other way.
'Big. Looks American', he thought as the vehicle got closer.
They had a drill for this too. The Hawkei stopped straddling the centre line of the road. The 14mm machine gun under Simon's control was pointed at the SUV.
Kevin was driving the Suburban and under Edward's orders, he was driving fast. The Army vehicle stopped in the middle of the road flashing his headlights for them to stop. Kevin returned the signal and hit the brakes, stopping about one hundred meters from the Hawkei.
“It’s a family group I'd say Sergeant. I can see a kid and women. Looks like an older gentleman in the back seat too.”
“Let me contact the Colony before you get out.”
- 60 -
“Sergeant, we have McPherson on the radio”, called across Bevan Ronald.
Richard handed Sharon the watch as he read the back out loud, “to my Kevin, the love of my life – Linda. It has Kevin Cairns written on the inside of the band also”.
She was nodding to Richard, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Those are your parent's names?”, asked Bevan Ronald as he jogged up.
“Alpha One, Alpha One. Sergeant Yonatan, the parents are Kevin and Linda Cairns”
- 61 -
One of the soldiers got out of the Hawkei, stepped out from behind the door and raising his hands, turned slowly around to show he was unarmed.
“What the fuck do we do?”, asked Kevin.
“Do the same thing as they do”, said Mosako.
“Yes Kevin, that's right. They're army, and we're looking for army. Wait here”, said Edward.
Edward opened the door and climbed down from the Suburban. He walked to the front of the SUV and raised his hands, slowly turning around to show that he too was not armed.
The soldier began to slowly walk towards the SUV. His style reminded Edward of the soldiers in Vietnam. His pace was slow, but it was steady and well defined.
Edward also walked towards him. The soldier was unarmed but Edward was aware of the machine gunner standing with his head through the roof of the Hawkei.
“Sir, I am Corporal Todd McDonald of the Australian Army Signal Directorate”, the Corporal saluted.
“I am Corporal Edward Brett, 1st Battalion Infantry”, responded Edward.
“Vietnam?”, asked the soldier. Edward nodded.
“My Dad was there too Sir, we're really glad to meet you if you're friendly”, said Todd.
“We're friendly. We're on our way to Corfe. The couple in the car say their daughter is there with a large Army group. Is that where you're from?”
“No, we're from McPherson. Sir, are the couple Kevin and Linda?” He didn't need to wait for the answer to know. Edward's reaction gave it away.
“Sir, they're with us. They've just arrived today. It's been a fucked-up sort of day. A gang of bikers attacked our Colony, and five minutes later, their daughter arrived with us. Give me a second.”
“Alpha Alpha. Sergeant”, even at fifty meters away, it was easier to use the radio. “The couple in the car are parents of the girl from Corfe.”
“Roger that. I'll radio the Colony.”
“Sir, let's go and tell them”, the two Corporals walked to the SUV to give the news.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christopher Lang lives in Brisbane Australia with Fleur Valerie, half a dozen children, four cats, three parrots and a snake named Randall.