Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 12

"Can we go now, mum?" Michele asked uneasily beside me.  She still seemed subdued but the colour had come back to her face at least.  I nodded hesitantly.  The sooner we left, the better.  But I knew I couldn't leave just yet, not while there was a little time to spare.  I had to at least try to warn the people here.

Squeezing Michele's arm, I smiled reassuringly.  "Go ahead, honey.  I will be along in two minutes."  With that, I set off at a trot for the office.  Stepping into the airconditioned room, I saw a pleasant looking receptionist with a short blonde bob, and two men talking.  One was the young man Emma had tried to talk to, and the other was an older, pot bellied man with salt and pepper hair.

"I need to speak to the manager."

"I'm the manager." The older man stepped forward, a hint of a smirk on his face. "How can I help you?"

Keeping my voice level, I looked him in the eye.  Somehow I had to convince him that I was serious and yet not a lunatic. "Yes.  I am a nurse and I have just come from the hospital.  I'm here to warn you and your staff that you need to leave.  Right now."

 "Ahh.  You're with the, ah, interesting lady Brad was just talking to, aren't you?" 

"I am." I tried not to show how much his condescension irritated me.    "We work in the ER at the Cairns Base Hospital. There was an outbreak of some kind of...plague this morning.  It is infectious and appears to cause extremely violent behaviour in affected people."

Young Brad grinned.  "Yeah, that's what the other lady said, too, except she said it was making people come back as zombies, or something!" He laughed, looking at the others for backup.

Gritting my teeth in frustration, fighting the urge to look at my watch as I felt precious time slipping away, I looked at the boy coolly.  "You'll have to excuse my friend.  She has been through a lot of trauma today."  I turned back to the manager.  "The virus is spreading rapidly through the city area. We just passed a large number of infected people heading this way.  If you are caught by them, you could be killed or...infected."

The manager looked very dubious.  "I haven't heard anything about this on the radio."

I had to go. The sense that at any moment now, the zombies could appear and block any escape, plagued me like an unbearable itch.  "The authorities may not be aware of the danger yet, or they may be too busy dealing with the crisis.  I promise you that this is no joke.  You have maybe five minutes, ten at the most, to get out of here. "  The blond receptionist's eyes widened in alarm as I continued desperately.  "Please understand - if an infected person attacks you, they will try to kill you.  You won't be able to reason with them or placate them..."

Giving up, I moved towards the door.  I had already spent way too much time here.  "Leave now, find your family and, if you can, get the hell out of town for a while."  The receptionist moved to get up but the manager pushed her down into her seat.

"No one goes anywhere until I contact the authorities and confirm the situation."  He glared at me and then his staff, and headed into his office. 

I caught the girl's worried eyes as I opened the door.  "By the time he contacts someone who knows anything, it will be too late for you." I gestured through the shop window at the two smoke plumes which were clearly visible.  "You can see for yourself that something is going on in town."  Brad looked uncertain but the young woman nodded decisively and reached for her handbag. 

As I turned around, I bumped into Emma.  "Time to go, Lori."  Her face was pale again.  I realised why as I registered the sounds of traffic chaos.  Tires squealed, horns blared and sirens screamed as the madness neared us.  It was definitely time to go.

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 11

In the few minutes that we had been preoccupied in the restaurant, the situation in the city centre had deteriorated markedly.  In the street in front of us, people struggled desperately with implacable corpses.  A zombie pulled a clueless driver out through his car window. Terrified mothers dragged their young children through traffic trying to evade the ever-increasing numbers of walking dead.  Vehicles honked as they tried to make their way through the confusion. 

And scattered amongst these scenes of desperate struggles were the heartbreaking images of battles that had been lost - a father shooing a toddler away as  zombies tore at his body; a large middle-aged woman clawing her way along the pavement as a creature gnawed at her leg; a mother with a baby still clasped to her chest as blood pooled beneath her senseless body.  The zombies crouched over their spoils like jackals at a lion's kill, squabbling over intestines and fleshy chunks.  And then, to me, the most chilling image of all - the newly dead figures slowly standing up and moving off in search of new victims.

Jim whistled slowly.  "This thing is moving quickly, Lori."  He pointed to smoke spiralling into the air several blocks away.  It seemed a good bet that it was related to this catastrophe. 

"We'd better try to get ahead of it," I answered grimly.  "or we might find ourselves trapped in town."

The ambulance, with its lack of obvious occupants, remained largely unbothered by the zombies.  The three creatures that blocked our way proved no deterrent to Jim's picket and my stake and we were soon back in the vehicle.  I slipped into the passenger seat after Michele, allowing Jim to take the wheel.  Having got my oldest daughter back, I just wanted to reassure myself that she was really here.  I grabbed her hand tightly.

"Oh, so kind of you to join us!"

I sighed.  "Nice to be back, Roy." I glanced through the back window.  "Is everyone okay in there?  Jessie?"

Her thin face appeared.  "I'm okay.  It was a bit scary for a while, though.  There was a lot of screaming and banging outside."

I felt a twinge of guilt.  "Yeah, I know.  But you kept quiet.  That was the right thing to do."  She smiled a little at that.

As Jim swung out onto the street, he made no attempt to avoid the zombies making their way towards us.  There were few living people in the vicinity now, having fled or joined the walking dead.  My heart ached as I recognised the dead father standing beside the blank-eyed chubby toddler he had tried so hard to save, watching us drive by. 

As Jim made his way carefully down Sheridan Street, taking care to avoid abandoned cars and the occasional living human,  we sat in silence, trying to make sense of the chaos.  Michele didn't say much, still looking a bit stunned.  I squeezed her hand tightly but left her alone to deal with her emotions.  What could I say that could possibly make things better?

 

"Okay, folks, what's the next step?" I asked levelly.  I desperately wanted to get to the twins but Kaye lived half an hour out of town in the rainforest - I had to believe that they were safe for the moment.  These people, however, had families in more immediate need of rescue.   I swallowed the urge to demand to be taken to my kids.

Jim answered hesitantly, calmly darting around a pileup between a van and a bus.  This far down the street, there were no obvious signs of zombies but the frantic behaviour of the people on the street spoke of recent encounters with the creatures.  "I've been thinking about it.  I think we should split up." He hastened on before anyone could protest. "We've only got a small window of opportunity before this plague infects the whole town.  All our homes are in the suburbs so, hopefully, our families should still be safe.  It makes sense to split into two or three groups, collect our families and meet back at a designated location as quickly as possible."

"My sister's home." I instantly replied.  "It's a pole home in Crystal Cascades.  If we had to, it would be relatively easy to defend it."

Jim nodded and there were reluctant murmurs of agreement from the others, even Roy. 

"I live out in Edmonton." Ken agreed slowly.  "That's a good thirty minutes from Emma's place in Whitfield.  We could cover a lot more ground if we split up, I guess."

"I live in Earlville." Jim added.  "That's on the way to Edmonton so we could ride together."

"What about you, Roy?" I asked, a little surprised at his reticence. 

He snorted, cheeks reddening.  "I left Melbourne two years ago to get away from my bitch of an ex-wife.  There's no one here for me to worry about."

I nodded, feeling a pang of empathy for him, and turned to Jessie.  "What about you, Jessie?  Where will we find your parents?"  She shook her head violently, her eyes darkening with distress, and sank back against her seat.  I met Emma's eyes and saw my sudden realisation reflected in them.  Jessie's parents must have been at the hospital this morning.  I prayed that Jessie had not witnessed her parents' fate but I suspected that it was a forlorn wish.

We quickly agreed that Jim and Ken would head off together while Emma and I would check on her parents and brother, seeing Whitfield was on the way to Crystal Cascades.

"Roy?  Who do you want to go with?"  I asked.  His eyes darted between me and Jim.  It may have been unfair of me but I suspected that he was calculating just who was less likely to run into zombies.  A not unreasonable reaction, I guess.  I still despised him for it, though.

"You girls will have your hands full with the kids." He responded gruffly. "I'd better go with you."

****

As we left the chaos of the city centre behind, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Discussion turned to finding a car for Jim and Ken.  As there was a rental car yard only a few blocks away, we headed over there.  Pulling into the car yard, everything was quiet and business as usual.  Such normalcy struck me as completely bizarre, and I had to suppress the urge to giggle.  I suspected the others would think I was hysterical.

Jim did a quick check of the vehicles in the yard and settled on an old combi van.  "Shouldn't we warn them?" Emma asked worriedly as the rest of us stood around the ambulance, keeping a wary eye out for any sign of trouble.  "They are completely clueless!"

"Yes, but not until we get our car." Ken stated firmly.  We watched silently as Jim filled in the paperwork quickly and walked out with keys to the combi van ten minutes later.  The young man with him was professional and courteous - and completely unaware.  Emma looked at me, and at my nod, hurried over to him.  I hoped she would get through to him but I had the depressing feeling that it was a story that had to be lived through in order to be believed.

Ken and Jim shifted awkwardly from foot to foot; none of us wanted to be the one to say goodbye.  We had been through so much as a group!  It went against every grain in my body to let anything divide us now.  However, I kept my peace and gripped Jim's and then Ken's hands.  "You take care now.  Don't take any stupid risks.  I am going to kick your butt if you get yourself killed!" 

"Once we've checked on Ken's parents and my Lizzie, we'll head for your sister's place.  Hopefully, it will only be a couple of hours."  Jim reaffirmed with a gentle smile.

Emma returned and shrugged hopelessly at our unspoken question.  "I'm sure he thinks I'm mad."  She turned to Ken and her eyes brimmed with tears as she hugged him fiercely.  I didn't hear her whispered words but he closed his eyes as he held her close for a long minute.  Clearing his throat, Ken stepped back.  "See you guys later."  With that, the men climbed into the old bomb and drove out of the car park.  I watched them leave with an aching heart.  Would I ever see them again?

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 10

A commotion in the back of the ambulance attracted my attention.   In the rearview mirror. I saw his belligerent face appear in the window.  "If you want to get your daughter, that's fine,  but you have no business dragging us along with you!  We should be getting the hell out of town!"

I gritted my teeth, ignoring a flare of guilt.  "You don't like it, Roy?  Just say the word and I'll drop you off on any corner you like."

He scowled.  "Like hell.  I'm just saying - who made you captain?"

"Really, Roy, really?" I glared at him through the mirror.  "You want to argue about who's the fricking boss now?!"

He had the grace to look a bit shamefaced as he mumbled "Just saying..."

"Stow it, Roy." The bald man beside me said calmly,  popping a gum in his mouth.  "None of us are going to abandon family."

I glanced at him gratefully as he pulled out his weapon and started loading it.  "Last lot." He glanced blandly at me. "I guess I'd better make them count."

As the large shopping Centre loomed a block away, the phone rang.  I snatched it up.

"Michele? Where are you?"

Her whispered reply sent cold chills through me.  "I'm hiding upstairs in Tosca's, mummy.  We can't get to the stairs.  They are people...killing people with their teeth!" Her voice broke. 

"I'm right there, sweetheart."  Did my voice sound as hard to her as it did to me? "Stay out of sight until you hear my voice."

Jim cocked his weapon.  "Trouble?" 

I nodded.  People were pouring out the front doors of the large building ahead.  Screams of terror and pain filled the air.  Amongst the crowd, I spotted shambling, torn figures grabbing at panicked shoppers.   I drove the car screeching up onto the curb, narrowly missing people and zombies alike.  Reassuring myself that my trusty stake was in my belt, I flung open my door and took the outside stairs to Tosca's, two at a time. 

On the balcony, a zombie held a young blonde girl close, teeth buried in her throat.  The blood poured down her dress as she stood in his arms like a lover, the light dimming in her eyes.  Two more zombies appeared in the restaurant's doorway, stumbling towards me.  One had been a teenage boy before he died and the other would have been a chef.   As the freshly dead creatures came towards me, I felt, rather than saw, Jim's comforting presence at my back.  "I'll handle them." He murmured.  "You get your daughter."

An agonised scream from within the restaurant sent me bolting past the zombies and inside.  A woman in a floral dress chewed upon a body beside the door while another zombie sat near the kitchen bench gnawing on the leg of a large male tourist.  I looked around desperately.  "Michele!"

Another feminine scream sent me running to the back of the Italian restaurant.  As I neared it, I saw a zombie tearing at the face of a prone girl.  A girl with honey hair.   No, no, no!

"Mum!"  From behind a pillar, Michele launched herself at me, sobbing.  "Mum!  It's got Hannah! Help her!" 

I gathered Michele in my arms for a brief moment, absorbing the smell of her warm, live body.  Thank you, God.  Pushing her behind me, I approached the zombie cautiously.  I didn't believe the girl was alive anymore, but she had been part of our lives for four years.  I couldn't just abandon her.  The zombie, a waiter, looked up with its unnervingly blank eyes, blood dripping down its chin. 

Something about that impersonal look infuriated me without measure.  I picked up  a nearby iron-wrought chair and swung it at the monster like I was wielding a baseball bat.  It connected with a most satisfying thud, knocking the monster sideways.  I brought the chair down on his head again and again.  His features became a meaty mash but still I knew he persisted, if not lived. 

"Mum!" A squeal of dismay brought me around and I saw Hannah on her knees, face so torn she could not see anything before her.  Quickly, I turned back to the zombie before me and, planting my knee in his chest, I ended his miserable existence with a stake through the eye.  Swinging around, I grabbed what used to be Hannah around the throat.

"What are you doing?"  My daughter's horrified whisper brought me up short.  I didn't have time to explain all this to her, but I knew I had to try.

"She's already dead, Michele."  I looked her firmly in the eye.  "They all are.  Take a look around you."  Michele looked around and saw the two zombies at the other end of the restaurant as they began to shamble in our direction.  The large gaping wounds all over their bodies combined with their complete lack of pain said more than an hour's explanation possibly could have.

"Oh my God." She whispered.  While she stared at the approaching creatures, I silently finished off sweet Hannah with an ache in my heart that I feared would never go away.  I had watched her grow up, seen her giggle and plot with my daughter, heard her dreams for the future.  All ended with a piece of wood through her eye.

***

Keeping Michele safely behind me, I approached the two zombies slowly. Both were dripping in the blood of their victims.  I needed to get us out of the shopping centre as quickly as possible, before the noise we were making attracted all the remaining zombies in the area.  I did some quick calculations and then without further thought, launched myself at the nearest zombie, bowled it over, staked it, spun up on my feet, kicked the other zombie over as it started to turn, and despatched it with a minimum of fuss.  As I stood up and shook the blood off my stake, I saw my daughter standing it the corner with her mouth hanging open.

A bit discomforted, I muttered a hurried 'come on' and headed for the balcony.  From the corner of my eye, I saw the wide-eyed glances Michele was sneaking at me.  I could almost hear her thoughts.  My mum used to feel faint if she squashed a cockroach and now she's staking humans without blinking!  I guess I couldn't blame her.  Never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined I'd be auditioning for the part of an Aussie Buffy, either. But, in truth, after the number of zombies I had faced this morning, it would take more than two or three shufflers to faze me now.  

Jim stood calmly within a circle of dead zombies, wiping clean a metal picket he had acquisitioned from the nearby potted tree.  I raised a questioning brow, to which he shrugged.  "Didn't seem worth wasting my bullets on just a few zombies."

I couldn't help it; I threw my head back and laughed out loud.

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 9

Time to go.   My legs were shaking so much, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to take another step, let alone run.  Taking a deep breath, I bit the bullet and charged  around the corner,  focusing on the nearest ambulance. It was parked haphazardly in the driveway only about thirty feet away, but it felt like a mile.  The zombie chewing on a hand turned to stare at me as I raced past him.  I hurtled over the scattered body parts and past the dozen or so zombies standing around. My peripheral vision picked up hands reaching for me on the right.  Squealing, I dodged left and almost ran straight into the arms of a blood-spattered nurse. Her glassy eyes looked at me with indifference even as her hands clutched hungrily at me.  I shoved her away and darted around, my heart pounding hard enough to burst.  A sharp left, a twist around, dodge right, straight run...only ten feet to go.  I was almost there!

No, no, no!  Pale, stumbling figures spilled from either side of the ambulance to form an unwitting, deadly barricade before me.  Slowing, I looked around me and saw a wall of stumbling bodies closing in on me on all sides.  Desperately, I looked for something that could help me.  My eyes fell on a nearby trolley lying against a pillar.  Reaching over, I pulled it in front of me.  With a snarl of pure adrenaline, I pushed the trolley before me like a snow plow, knocking zombies over, left and right,  and pinning several against the side of the ambulance.

As the zombies pulled themselves to their feet and fumbled with the trolley, I wrenched the door of the ambulance open and clambered inside, closing the door quickly behind me.  With trembling fingers, I fumbled for the keys but, to my dismay, they weren't in the ignition.  Where are they?!  Desperately, I searched the floor but it was useless.  The keys weren't in the ambulance. 

I sat up to see grey arms reached through the window.  Gasping,  I scrabbled over the seats and fumbled with the handle of the left door.  As I pushed it open, cold hands pulled me out onto the gravel. A circle of dead, impassive faces stared down at me.  Screaming, I kicked out with every ounce of strength I possessed and felt sudden, wonderful, freedom as the creature holding me lost its grip on me.   In complete, mindless panic, I jumped to my feet, shoved my way past a young girl and bolted for the next ambulance.

Please let this one have keys, I prayed.  It was parked over the curb and had obviously been abandoned hastily.  Zombies converged on me in every direction except the curb side upon which the ambulance was perched.  A hedge ran along the curb blocking the creatures, giving me a tiny  opportunity to escape.  When I reached the ambulance,  I wrenched the passenger door open - and froze in a moment of sickening dread.  A zombie sat before me on the passenger side.  He turned his head and looked at me with dark, soulless eyes.  His lips peeled back from his teeth and he launched himself at me.  I cried out and jumped back, knowing it was too late.  Only, to my desperate relief, the creature did not reach me.  He fell heavily onto the pavement before me, the bloody stumps that remained of his legs scrabbling futilely at the ground.  Still, he reached up for me.  I leapt over him and scrambled into the driver's seat.  Please, please, please. 

I don't think any sound ever sounded sweeter to me in my entire life than the jingle of car keys that greeted me as I fumbled with the ignition.  With a cry of pure joy, I turned the engine over and threw the ambulance into reverse.  Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a face coming through the window at me. A grey-haired man, with torn flesh where his features once were, launched himself at my throat.  Screaming, I wrenched my head to the left and pressed down hard on the accelerator.  The head disappeared abruptly from the window as the car screeched backwards. 

Shaking with adrenaline, I braked hard as I watched the man slowly sit up. With a surge of pure malevolence, I put my foot down hard on the accelerator and sent my wheels right over his head, relishing the sound of his head exploding.  Take that, you bastard. 

With sheer vindictive pleasure, I tore through the crowd of zombies before me as I headed for the alleyway.  They flew to the side or fell beneath my wheels with eerie silence.  Women, men, some nurses whose faces I knew well - I rejoiced as each one fell beneath my wheels. 

Jim jumped out as I pulled up.  Pulling the back doors open, the others piled quickly into the back of the ambulance.  I watched the approaching zombies through my rear view mirrors and couldn't restrain myself from yelling pointlessly.  "Hurry up!"

With a slam of the doors, Jim hurried around and jumped into the passenger seat. 

With a squeal of wheels, I roared away from the hospital - and towards my daughter.  Jim looked at me and I saw a hint of admiration in his eyes.  "Good job." 

Emma slid the window behind me open, as the vehicle surged forward.  "Oh Lori, you were fantastic!"

The adrenaline that had fueled me was draining now, leaving me feeling shaky.  "Thanks, guys.  All in a day's work, really."  I know I sounded distracted as my thoughts turned to my oldest child.  How would I find her? I didn't have my mobile with me. I didn't allow myself to think for a moment that she wasn't okay.  She had to be.

"So, where are we going?"  Jim's gravelly voice interrupted my thoughts. I glanced at him defiantly.  "Central.  I'm getting my daughter." 

A long pause and then he nodded.  "Do you know where to find her?"

I laughed a little hysterically.  "Not a clue!"

"You need to find a mobile.  Then you can contact her." Emma said quietly from behind me.   I nodded.  But where would I get one?

"My God." I heard Ken say softly.  I blinked and saw what he was seeing.  All along the esplanade, zombies moved towards us.  Hundreds gathered along the green strip.  In the cafes and shops that bordered the other side of the street, blood and flesh splattered the pavement, tables and chairs.  Even as we watched, fresh bodies rose to join the walking dead.

"How far has it spread?" Ken wondered aloud.  I couldn't answer as fear for my daughter clenched my gut into a knot. 

Turning the corner, I saw the creatures staggering down the road towards the business district.  To my amazement, I saw people, real people, still wandering the streets.  My heart flared with hope.  Maybe this madness hadn't reached Michele yet.  Maybe I would be in time.

Ahead, a young girl with a backpack turned towards the car.   Long brown hair fell over her chest but it did not hide the gaping hole where her breasts once were or the glazed eyes.  Deliberately, I swung the car over and drove the car at her. 

"What are you doing?"  Emma gasped.  Whatever it takes, I thought.   The girl stood motionless as the car powered towards her.  At the last moment, I twitched the steering wheel so that the the car only clipped the girl.  Spinning, she flew several feet.  Braking hard, I jumped out of the car and ran back to her.  She lay faced upwards, the bloody hole in her chest mocking me as I knelt beside her.  I pulled out my stake, waiting...Sure enough, her eyes opened and focused on me with the mindless stare I had become familiar with.

"Sorry." I whispered, feeling a momentary ache for the girl she had once been, for the loss her parents had suffered.  Before she could react, I plunged my stake through her eye with an ease that should have troubled me, but didn't.  As he body stilled, I pulled her backpack off and rummaged roughly through it.  My hands closed over a familiar shape and I pulled out a mobile phone.  I sent up a fervent prayer of thanks as I ran back to the car.

Dialling Michele's number, I sent the car squealing forward again.  It rang once, twice, three times.  Pick up! 

"Hello, mum."  My daughter's familiar, faintly mortified, voice coursed through my body like red wine.

"Are you okay?  Where are you?"  I yelled as I drove through a red light.  Vaguely I was aware of a car crash on my right.

"Um, sure, I'm fine."  Michele sounded surprised and wary.  "Why, what's going on?"

I took a deep breath and tried to talk normally.  "Is everything okay at the shops?  Any trouble?"  People running on my left.  A sudden scream.  I blocked them out as I focused on getting to the large shopping centre which was looming in the distance.

"Everything's fine.  Oh, there is something going on in the food hall.  Anna and I were just heading over to see what all the fuss was about."

"No!" I screamed, my heart in my mouth.  "You run the other way right now, do you hear?!  Meet me in the downstairs carpark if you can get there safely."

Michele sounded scared now.  "Mum, what's going on?!"

I took another deep breath.  "Bad people, Michele.  Bad people."

I heard a sharp intake of breath.  "Okay, we leaving now.  Come quick, mum, please."

"I'm three minutes away, baby."