Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 40

We looked wordlessly at each other around the table.  The kids' faces were ashen.  I imagined I looked much the same.  My head spun. A nuclear bomb.  I just could not get my head around it.  Sighing, I rubbed my eyes.  I didn't want to deal with this, not yet.  Give me time to catch my breath, I pleaded childishly to the nameless gods. 

Looking back up, I took a deep breath.  "Okay.  Regardless of what kind of bomb they are going to use, we need to get the hell out.  Agreed?"

There was a murmur of still stunned agreement.  I looked at Mike. " So how much time do we have?"

"Troop withdrawals were to be completed by oh six hundred hours, so any action would probably take place within an hour or so of that.  However, in light of the army base being overrrun, that may have changed."

"Great.  So the best case scenario is that we have less than eight hours to get out of Dodge and reach a 'safe minimum distance'.  Worst case, it's too late."

Mike nodded, with a wry quirk of his eyebrow.  "Pretty much sums it up."

"Okay.  So let's have some ideas on how best to get out of here."

"The highways are impassable which leaves hiking out on foot or going by sea.  Considering the small tykes, hiking out isn't really feasible so the only real option is to get out by sea." Mike stated succinctly.

"Right." I said slowly, trying to process my thoughts which seemed a bit sluggish at the moment. "That means going to the marina to find a boat."

"With lots of fuel." Ken added.

"And power." Lucas quietly interjected.  "We need to get as far away as quickly as possible."  It was the first time I had heard him speak since I got home. 

"So, to recap, we just need to get across a the zombie-infested town safely, and find ourselves a big, powerful, fuelled up boat." I said, drily.  "That should be easy.  Oh, and does anyone know how to drive one?"

Mike, Ken and Lucas put up a hand.  Well, of course, I thought, just managing to control the urge to roll my eyes.  What self respecting man in Cairns doesn't know how to fish and drive a boat.

"What about Dad?" Michele asked quietly.  She was looking at me with hurt in her eyes.  She thinks I've forgotten about him. 

"Once we have a boat, we will be able to find him, Michele.  We know he's coming in from Jorge's Patch, so it shouldn't be too hard to plot a course that will intercept him on his way in." I looked at the men questioningly to confirm that I was right. 

Ken nodded.  "Sure.  We can also broadcast on the emergency channel to cover our bases.  If the boat is monitoring it, they should hear us."

See, I smiled reassuringly at Michele, it will be alright.  She smiled back.  I could see the tension in her shoulders relaxing.  I wished I was as easily reassured as that.  So many things could go wrong in the next six hours...I might not even get the chance to warn Joe away.  My mind shied away from the thought.  Focus on the here and now, I told myself firmly.

"The closest marina would be Yorkey's Knob." Ken said, thoughtfully, removing his glasses to rub them. 

"Um, I have a question." Kaye put up a manicured hand.  "How do we get to the cars?  There are a lot of zombies downstairs.  I doubt a distraction will get rid of all of them."

"Forget the cars." Mike interrupted, searching his pockets for a gum.  "There's a pile-up blocking the road over the hill. There's no getting through by car."  Damn, I'd forgotten about that.  

Mike popped the gum in his mouth with a sigh of bliss.  "We'll take the creek."

"Huh?" I think I spoke for all of us.

"We float downstream till we get past the blockage, then we check the houses till we find a car, and drive out."  He looked pretty pleased with himself.  Smug bastard.

Emma looked horrified.  "What about the zombies?  They might be in the water!"

Mike shook his head.  "The current is pretty fast. Shouldn't be a problem." 

Ken squeezed Emma's shoulder comfortingly.  "What about the kids?  We can't hold the babies afloat the whole way."

Kaye smiled.  "That's one thing we don't have to worry about.  Living in the tropics with kids means we have every water toy imaginable.  We've got an inflatable boat, air mattresses, floaties, boogie boards..."

"Okay, okay." Ken grinned. "I get the idea."

I looked at my watch, seeing the time ticking inexorably away.  "Let's make a list of essential items to take with us.  Do you think we can be ready to leave in an hour?"

"We need to be, regardless." Mike said with deadly seriousness.  The reminder of what was hanging over our heads sent a cold shiver through me. As desperately as I had fought to keep my family safe, I knew that some things were out of my control, and that knowledge made me sick with fear.  Swallowing, I put the thought at the back of my mind.  Focus on the here and now, Lori.

After allocating tasks to everyone at the table, we broke up the meeting.  I rummaged through our medical supplies, trying to decide what to bring.  I also needed to prepare Sarah for the trip.  Her limb needed to be protected from the water and any exposure to any further infection.    

Emma sat down beside me, handing me the antibiotics from the bedroom.  "So what's going on?" She asked with a meaningful nod towards Mike, who was bagging his guns to protect them from the water.  I flushed.  Trust Emma not to miss anything when it came to men and women. 

"Nothing, really."  I replied, discomforted. 

"Which means, something happened."

I could feel my cheeks flaming.  "It was just a moment of temporary insanity - on both our parts.  I love Joe, you know that.  It's just that..."  How the hell do I put into words the tangled emotions I felt?

"You feel something for Mike, too." Yeah, I thought, maybe it was easy to put into words after all.   I nodded slowly, feeling I was somehow betraying Joe just by acknowledging the fact.

Emma touched my hand understandingly.  "Intense  situations create intense feelings, Lori.  You two have fought beside each other, saved each other's asses, laughed and cried together...it doesn't get much more intimate than that.  It's not surprising you two have developed a bond."

"So I shouldn't feel guilty?" I said wryly.  "Is that your point?"

She grinned.  "My point is, give yourself a break, Lori.  If we survive the day, then you can beat yourself up for being human.  Until then, count yourself lucky that you have a man like Mike to watch your back.  And let's face it - he's hot!"

I snorted. "It's amazing how you can make being attracted to a man other than my husband sound perfectly normal."

"Who knows what's normal is in a situation like this?" Emma said drily, getting up.

The CB came to life.  "Mike, you there?"

Mike grabbed the handset. "Travis, good to hear from you."

"Relieved to hear you, too, mate.  I've lost contact with the other groups."

Mike exchanged a concerned look with me and Ken as he hurried into the room.

"What is your situation, Travis?"

"Not so good.  The security screens gave way.  We've barricaded ourselves here in the storeroom."

"Any way out?"

"Yeah, we could go through the loading dock.  We've got trucks parked out back but we'd have to fight our way through the dead people.  No one's too keen on doing that."

Kaye and Emma joined us, our hearts going out to the embattled group.  Mike rubbed his head.  "Unfortunately, I think you are going to have to, mate.  This whole city is going to be nothing more than an ugly blot on the landscape in a few hours."

Silence.  "How sure are you of that?"

Mike glanced over at us grimly.  "Sure enough that we're making a break for it ourselves."

Silence.  "Shit."

Mike snorted.  "Second that, mate."

"So what's your plan, Mike?"

"We're heading for the Yorkey's Knob marina, grabbing a boat, and getting the hell out of here."

"Well, maybe we'll see you there, mate.  Once I've persuaded this group to fight our way to the trucks, that is.  We're bound to lose a lot of good people..."

"Good luck, Travis." Mike said softly.  "Hope to see you again."

"Thanks, mate.  Good luck to you, too."

We stood in a somber circle for a few minutes.  I wondered morosely if any of us would still be alive this time tomorrow.  Mike stirred.  "We're wasting time.  Grab your backpacks, weapons and gather the kids.  It's time to go."

Ten minutes later, we stood in the kitchen.  Kaye, Emma, Lucas and Michele each had a drowsy baby strapped  to their backs. I had tried to take Sarah but Michele shooed me away.  "I can do it, mum.  I'm bigger and stronger than you."  As I knew that my ability to protect them might depend on my agility and freedom, I didn't argue with her.  Jessie had Lizzie tucked in a little backpack.  I wondered about the wisdom of bringing the dog but as Mike seemed to have more control over her than I did over my children, I said nothing.

"Mummy!" Grumbled a tossled haired Alex from Lucas' back.  "Wan' get down!"

"Ssh, Alex!" I scolded.  "Only soft voices, remember?"  I prayed that the hike would soon lull the babies back to sleep.  I knew that riding on my father's back as a child had always had that effect on me.  In addition, I had given them a dose of antihistamines as that would make them drowsy and less inclined to talk.  A loud voice outside could be catastrophic.  I shuddered at the thought and crossed my fingers, effective as I knew that would be.

Mike slowly opened the back door.  From beneath the house rose the moans and thuds of the dead people lying in wait for us.  In the dim moonlight, he pulled himself up the steep bank and into the forest.  As Kaye and Emma followed with difficulty, Mike reached down and offered them a hand.  The kids and I were next while Ken brought up the rear.

As quiet as we tried to be, the moans suddenly intensified.  They know we're up here, I thought, my pulse quickening.

We pushed our way upwards, through the moist, dense rainforest.  Tree branches and vines whipped our faces and roots tripped our feet as we struggled to find our way in the dark.  Within minutes, I was dripping sweat and feeling the strain.  I heard a baby whine in protest as something snagged it, quickly hushed.  Finally, Mike decided we had put enough distance between us and the corpses, and turned towards the road and the creek that ran beside it.

Beside the fast flowing creek, we unpacked the pool toys and the hand pump.  Ken and Lucas stood guard while we quickly inflated the small boat, air mattress and arm floaties.  Wading into the creek with the boat, Mike held it steady against the bank while we placed the suddenly wide awake babies in it.  Jessie held onto the air mattress nervously.  While she was a good swimmer, she had never been in a fast current before.

"Ready?" I smiled at her encouragingly.  "Remember, don't panic.  Just go with the current and when we are ready to get out, just swim sideways until you reach the bank ."  Jessie nodded, her brown eyes fixed on me, but her grip remained tight on the air mattress.

Kaye and I grabbed the boat and waded into the middle of the creek, water gushing around our thighs.  The babies watched us, wide eyed and uncertain as to whether to be scared or excited.

"Remember, only whispers." I murmured to them with a smile.  "We don't want to wake the neighbours." Or let anything else know we're coming.  I nodded at Kaye, and with a deep breath, lowered myself into the water and let the current take us.  Immediately, we surged forward down the creek.  In the moonlight, I could see Jessie just ahead, hanging onto the air mattress with Lizzie's head poking out of her backpack, buttressed by Michele and Lucas.  I felt so proud of the way the teens had stepped up.  I knew Jessie was in safe hands. Glancing to my left,  I saw Emma, Ken and Mike swimming nearby, at ease with the fast flowing current. 

Mike edged closer to me.  "At this rate, it should only take half an hour to reach the suburbs."

I nodded, focused on keeping the wayward boat in the middle of the creek. "There are some hairy spots on the creek, though.  Rapids and submerged logs.  We'll all have to keep a sharp eye out."

A little face appeared over the edge of the boat.  "Hi mummy!"  His loud whisper echoed across the silent creek.

I grinned back even as I cringed inside.  "Hi Alex, soft voice, remember?"  Sarah's head peered over his as she spoke sotto voce.  "I'm getting wet, mummy."

Mike grinned at her.  "Not as wet as us."  She giggled and their heads disappeared again.

I rolled my eyes conspiratorially at Mike.  We rode down the dark bubbling creek in silence for several minutes.  I tensed as I saw the old bridge coming up.   We would be floating right behind the homes on our street.  I knew silence would be critical.  In the quiet night, the slightest noise would be heard as clearly as a bell.   "No noise until I say so, kids." I whispered sternly.  "Or there will be no tv or biscuits."  The silence that greeted me reassured me somewhat that they had received the message.

The bridge loomed closer.  The water became shallower and bumpier as we hit the rapids.  Glancing around, I saw that everyone was riding high in the water, like me.  After being banged by rocks a few times as kids, you  quickly learn the best way to navigate rapids.  And then the wooden bridge was behind us and we were cascading through the rapids.  Up and down the waves, pushing off big rocks with our feet, keeping the boat at the right angle, Kaye and I struggled silently to keep the small boat from spinning off or ripping itself open on sharp rocks.

Suddenly we were back into smoother waters.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  "Babies, are you okay?" I whispered, trying to keep the shakiness from my voice.  A wide-eyed face popped over the fat edge of the boat. "Yes, mummy." He whispered harshly, making me wince.  From the other side of the boat, Kaye muttered weakly, "Well, that was fun. Not."  I murmured a heartfelt sound of agreement.

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 28

I heard the moaning and bumbling sounds of zombies drawing near on my left side.  Time to move.  Dropping to my knees, I shuffled under the raised home, refusing to think about all the spiders I knew would be there.  Cautiously, by feel, I made my way to the front of the home.  I banged my knees a few times and had to swallow a few screams as critters scuttled over my hands.  Finally, I found myself under the front stairs staring into the street. 

Most of the bodies on the street had wandered off.  I could only count four in the immediate area.  However, I could see dark shapes moving across the street, surrounding the home of the family of boys.  It was impossible to see how many zombies roamed further up the dark street.  My best chance was to head down the street and make my way to the river through one of the undeveloped blocks.  Thankfully, being a newly developed area, there were more grassy blocks than homes at this end.

Slowing my breath in an attempt to think more clearly, I plotted my course.  The two blocks on the right of the boys' home were undeveloped so if I could make it across the street safely, I would have a clear run to the river.  While shallow at the moment, the river was fast moving and filled with rocks.  It was my hope that the zombies' lack of coordination would make it impossible for them to reach me in the middle of the river.  I guess I was going to find out if my theory was valid.

Like a horse coming out of the starter gate, I bolted out from under the house, past the zombies on the lawn, across the street and into the grassy field.  The grass was knee high, forcing me into a leaping gait which slowed me down some.  Moans that seemed to come from all sides told me that I had been spotted.  I didn't waste time looking behind me.  Instead, I strained to see the dark shapes ahead that would signal I had reached the trees lining the river bank.

Suddenly, the trees loomed ahead.  Without pause, I dodged the branches and pelted straight down the bank into the fast-moving water.  I fell to my knees on the uneven rocky bottom.  Water splashed into my eyes and mouth.  Pulling myself to my knees, I sloshed through the shallow rapids towards the deeper middle. 

A splash behind me jerked my head around.  I couldn't see anything in the dark but I saw the spray as the sound of another splash echoed through the rain.  Facing upriver, I started forcing my legs through the current.  My pants were soaked and dragging against my skin as the current tried to wash my feet out from under me.  I stumbled and grabbed at a large rock to prevent myself from being washed downstream.  Steady, I told myself, just take it nice and easy. 

Through the rain, I could hear frustrated moans keeping pace with me from the bank.  Another splash but so far no zombie had approached me.  I allowed myself to hope that I might make it.  As long as you don't get washed down straight into their arms, I reminded myself, so focus!

After ten minutes of battling the current and uneven ground in the dark, I was completely exhausted.  I was beginning to doubt whether I could make it all the way to the bridge.  It was only the knowledge that I needed to protect my children that kept me pushing my body upstream.  I became completely focused on placing one foot ahead of each other, blocking out the rain, the moans, the occasional scream.

Amazingly, I saw the dark structure of the bridge suddenly appear before me.  With shaking limbs, I pulled myself up the bank just under the bridge.  I lay there for long minutes, trying to catch my breath and clear my head.  When I felt I could stand up without falling, I pulled myself cautiously out from under the bridge.  The bridge and road appeared to be clear.  No food here, I thought grimly as I stood up on the bridge. 

Our street lay just ahead on the left, with our house sitting high on the hill at the entrance of the street.  I was probably going to have to run a gauntlet to get up the driveway.  The thought of another run exhausted me.  I guess it was a sign of how tapped I was that it was the run, not the zombies, that concerned me most.

Forcing myself into a jog, I headed home, keeping to the middle of the road.  I didn't know if it was the best strategy but I figured most of the zombies would have made their way to the smorgasbord that was people's homes.  I guess I was right as I reached the entrance to our street without trouble.  I hid in the long grass at the side of the road while I tried to work out the best approach to take.  I could see shapes wandering up and down the street, milling around the lit homes or standing still, waiting for a stimulus.

If I stuck to the drain beside the road, I decided, I could make it to our driveway undetected and then I should be able to outrun the zombies up the steep driveway without any problem.  The downside was that I would be drawing attention to our house.  I really didn't want to do that but I couldn't see a safer alternative.  In truth, I knew I was fooling myself if I thought the zombies would never find us; once the babies woke up, it would be pretty clear that the house was inhabited.

Sighing, I decided that I had no other choice.  The drain was less than two feet deep but, lined by long grass, it should be enough to allow me to escape notice at night.  Hunching over, I crept up the drain towards our house, keeping a close eye on the  zombies shambling nearby.  They did not appear to see me, thankfully, although I had a moment of sheer panic as one wandered right up to the drain.  It stood two feet away from me, staring at the houses on the hill.  I held my breath as I crouched, frozen, at its feet.  Finally, it turned and stumbled down the street.

Releasing a shaky breath, I continued my journey up the drain.  Finally, I reached my sister's property.  The house sat silent and dark at the top of the steep driveway.  It seemed so close and yet so far away. A zombie stood at the foot of the driveway while a few stumbled across the sloped garden.  The angle made it difficult for them to retain their footing so every now and then one of them would take a tumble down the slope.

I jumped onto the paved entry and charged up the steep driveway.  It was impossible to move as fast as I wanted to but I trusted that I was still moving faster than the zombies.  My calves burned but I pushed through the pain, focusing on making it to the stairs under the house before the zombies in the garden did.  As I reached the house and prepared to climb over the barrier blocking the stairs, I thought I saw a shadow move beside it.  Pausing,  I pulled out the gun and aimed nervously into the shadows.    Multiple shadows shifted and formed into three, no, four, dead men lunging at me.  Panicked, I fired a shot wildly, missing completely.  Backing up, I found myself pressed against the side of a car.  Trying to still my shaking hands, I took another shot and hit one of the zombies in the face.  As he collapsed, the other three surrounded me.

As their hands grabbed my clothes, shots rang out repeatedly.  Instinctively, I closed my eyes as blood and matter from the zombies' heads splattered on me. 

"Had enough exercise tonight?" A dry voice asked.  I opened my eyes to see Mike leaning over the barricade, looking at me with a familiar raised brow.  Even in the dark, I could see the hint of amusement in his eyes.  I resisted the urge to hug him and just nodded vigorously.  He looked around as he slung his rifle over his shoulder.  "I imagine we are going to have a lot of company in a few minutes so I suggest we get inside.  Only if you're ready, that is."

I scowled at him disdainfully and clambered over the wooden barrier across the stairs. 

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 20

We scrambled out from under the van and raced across the paved area to the door.  The zombies at the window immediately lurched towards us.  I grabbed the door handle and turned.  It was locked.  "Hey, in there!" I called softly but urgently.  We didn't need to attract attention, if we could help it.   "Let us in!"  I shook the door handle to reinforce the fact that there were people out here.  Nothing.  Only silence greeted us.  I guess I was mistaken about someone being in there.

Lucas readied his bat as the zombies stumbled up the wooden stairs.  He looked nervous but determined.  I moved across to a window and peered inside but I couldn't see any movement.  Nothing for it but to break the window, I decided reluctantly.  That was bound to attract unwanted attention.  A grunt behind me drew my eye and I saw Lucas and Emma slam their bats into the faces of the two zombies, sending them flying off the stairs.  From their uniforms, they must have worked at the resort.

Using my bat as a battering ram, I broke the window glass and cleared it away from the frame.  I suspected we only had a short window of time before other zombies came to investigate the noise.  Gesturing to the others, I clambered through the window.  There was a counter with brochures in the right corner and a door just beyond it which I assumed was an office.

Where would one keep car keys, I wondered.  As Emma and Lucas climbed into the room, I raced behind the counter and started searching the drawers.  Emma passed me, headed for the office, while Lucas nominated himself to keep a lookout.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" The enraged voice came from a large, red faced man standing in the doorway of the office, waving an angry finger at us.  "You think you can steal from me?!  I'll kick your bloody arses, all of you, if you don't get the hell out of here now!"  Startled, Emma backed away to stand next to me.

I straightened up slowly and talked soothingly to the belligerent man.  Presumably, he was the owner or the manager of the resort.  "I'm sorry, sir.  We didn't know you were here.  We'd really appreciate it if you would give us the keys to one of your vehicles."  It did not occur to me that he wouldn't be willing to help us in these extraordinary circumstances.  I was wrong.

"Oh I bet you would, missy." He sneered.  "Well, you can go back to your looter friends out there and tell them that I've called the police.  They're on their way now."  He gestured at the two zombies who had picked themselves up and were banging at the door.  Thankfully, they hadn't yet discovered the broken window.

I exchanged a surprised look with Emma.  "Looters?  That's what you think is going on?"

Lucas suddenly spoke up.  "You might want to hurry this up, guys.  We've got company."  Shit!

I looked at the large, blustery man in front of me and anger started to blossom within me.  All the screaming and mayhem going on in his park, and it was clear this man had not so much as stepped foot outside this office to assist his customers.

I pulled out the parang and held it up, noting with satisfaction the sudden widening of his eyes.  "Look, mister," I said, oh so calmly.   "I've already killed a lot of people today, and, frankly,  I am quite happy to add one more to the list.  Give me the keys to a car right now or I'm going to start chopping pieces off you until you do." 

He swallowed hard, which surprised me a bit.  I must sound very convincing.

"Guys...!" Lucas sounded a lot more urgent.  I stepped forward with the parang, holding the man's eyes.  He backed away and threw his hands up. "Okay!  Take the bloody keys.  They are on the pinboard in the office."  I nodded at Emma and she skittered past him into the room.

"There are about a dozen car keys here!  Which one do we take?"

I cocked a questioning brow at the man, whose face was becoming more flushed by the minute. 

He scowled but answered. "The orange one belongs to the closest jeep."

Emma hurried out, clutching the keys.  "Got it. Let's go."  I nodded and backed away, grabbing my bat as I passed the desk.  As we joined Lucas at the window, I paused to look back at the man.  "Those aren't looters out there, mister, and I'm pretty sure you had no luck reaching the police.   I would suggest you get out while you can."  He glared at me contemptuously.  Shrugging, I clambered out of the window.

Not a minute too soon, either.  The paved courtyard was full of zombies, all with only one thing on their simple minds. The three of us. The front ones had already reached the office stairs.  In silent agreement, we jumped off the verandah and flew across the pavers to the car park where the jeeps were stationed. 

Lucas and I jumped into the first jeep as Emma stilled her trembling fingers while she tried to place the keys in the ignition.  "It doesn't fit!" She squealed in dismay.  Anger coursed through me and I felt a moment of intense regret that I hadn't chopped a few pieces off the miserable bastard!   He might have cost us our lives, I thought, as zombies flooded around and in between the vehicles in the car park.

"Try the last vehicle!" I yelled at Emma as I leapt out of the jeep and swung my bat at the nearest zombie.  He bounced off a car and collapsed onto the ground.  From the corner of my eye, I saw Lucas ram his bat into the stomach of a zombie and push it violently back into the creatures behind it.  With the tiny bit of breathing space we had gained, the three of us backed away and ran down the line of parked vehicles until we reached the last jeep. 

Lucas and I held our bats at the ready as Emma shakily stuck the keys in the ignition.  Please God, let this be the one.   Relief made me weak in the knees as I heard the wonderful sound of the car engine starting.  The jerk turned out to be pretty predictable in his thinking, after all. Emma scrambled over into the passenger seat as Lucas hopped into the back.  I guess I'm driving, I thought wryly.  Throwing the bat on the backseat, I jumped into the driver's seat and sent the jeep into a screeching reverse, cutting a swathe through the huddle of zombies immediately behind us.  As I threw the jeep into first gear, a zombie succeeded in grabbing Emma's arm.  Emma screamed as the zombie brought its mouth towards her bare skin.  Viciously, Lucas jammed his bat into the creature's mouth and held it at bay as, with a squeal of wheels, I sent the jeep charging forward.

Ahead of me, blocking our exit from the park, was the boom gate. I placed my foot down on the accelerator.

"Lori, you're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?" squeaked Emma, clutching her door frame.

I smiled grimly.  "You'd better duck."  I crossed my fingers mentally, closed my eyes and sent the car crashing through the barrier.  The light wooden pole splintered into many pieces and I roared out of the park onto the highway.

On the highway,  horns beeped and tires screeched as drivers desperately tried to get ahead of others.  The calm on the road of only half an hour ago had rapidly deteriorated into anger and fear.  I braked sharply to avoid hitting a car as it cut ahead of me.  I crawled past two cars that had collided minutes earlier as the owners harangued each other.

"This is mayhem." Emma muttered anxiously, her eyes darting from car to car.  "We should get off this road as quickly as we can."

I agreed but, unfortunately, the first turnoff was at least a mile away.  If we could make it there, though, it would take us straight to my sister's.  I prayed that this madness had not reached there yet.  Fear surged through me as I wondered if Roy and the kids had reached the house safely.  I shied away from the thought - there was nothing I could do about that at the moment. 

I fought the chaos successfully for another half mile or so before movement came to a standstill.  The horns beeped futilely and drivers cursed and yelled in vain.  None of us were going anywhere.

"What do you think is going on?" Lucas asked, standing on the back of the jeep to get a better view.  I shrugged, trying not to let my anxiety show. "An accident blocking the road, probably."  Maybe, maybe not.  My ears strained to hear anything that would give me a clue.  With all the honking and yelling, it was hard to separate the different sounds.  Still, that whine I could hear above the general noise seemed to be getting louder...

Too late, I realised the sound I was hearing was not a whine but cries - the cries of hundreds of people fleeing.  They poured towards us through the stalled vehicles like ants fleeing a fire.