Plague War: Outbreak

by Alister Hodge

  ‘Yeah, there’s about ten of them on the street ahead. Should be ok, there’s a gap to the side.’

  Penny heard the engine rev over the phone as her husband accelerated for the gap. Suddenly her son screamed, pointing to the right. She heard David swear, followed by a large bang. The phone was thrown from her son’s hand, and fell to the floor in the passenger foot well. She could see past her son’s knee to her husband in the driver’s seat. He was bleeding heavily from a laceration to his scalp after his head hit the steering wheel.

  ‘David? Dave! What happened? Are you ok?’ Penny cried anxiously into the phone.

  She could hear her son breathing heavily.

  ‘One of the bastards stepped in front of the car. I tried to swerve, but hit the gutter. Fucking tyre blew and sent us into the light pole – shit.’ Her husband was looking over his shoulder at something outside the car.

  ‘Ben, you take the knife. Keep the window up!’ David yelled.

  Penny could hear him trying to start the car, but the engine refused to launch. Suddenly the glass exploded next to David’s head, and she saw bloody arms reach through for her husband. The snarls of the Infected could be heard over the phone. Her son leaned over her husband, vainly stabbing at the creatures through the window to try and save his dad who was being wrenched out of screen. Penny could hear him screaming in agony as he fought back, punching wildly.

  ‘Ben, get out of here. Run, just run!’ he yelled.

  Penny saw her boy lean for the door handle and pull it open, then his foot came down on the phone’s screen as he launched himself outside. The image went black, her son’s phone was destroyed. Penny was screaming at her phone, tears running down her cheeks as she told him to keep running.

  Her baby boy was alone, and she was helpless to save him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Harry stood in his kitchen, looking blankly out the window to the green paddocks beyond. He had a steaming mug of coffee in hand to dispel the lingering fog of sleep. The trip back from Berry had been largely uneventful; his main battle had been keeping his eyes open.

  The relief of finding Steph alive and uninjured had left him feeling exhausted as the adrenaline abated. He’d kept Steph talking, mainly just to keep himself awake, and had heard her experiences of the past week along with a brief outline of her preceding travels. They had finally arrived at the farmhouse after 3am. Once safe inside with doors locked, Steph had taken to the couch in her sleeping bag, Harry had crashed in his room fully clothed.

  Of all things, a bloody magpie warbling its joy of the new day had awoken him after only a few hours of sleep. His chest still felt heavy with tiredness, but his eyes had refused to close again. He’d finally given in, and climbed out of bed to make some coffee. Soft padding footsteps roused him, and he looked over his shoulder to find Steph in the kitchen doorway.

  ‘Morning,’ Harry said, holding out a hot mug of coffee to her.

  Steph gratefully accepted, cradling the cup between both hands to warm them. She blew on the top before taking a sip.

  ‘What’s your plan from here?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m not sure yet, all I know is that I don’t want to get stuck in a city again.’

  ‘Fair enough, me neither. I’m toying with the idea of staying here, weather the storm until the government gets the outbreak under control. You’re welcome to stay, if you want,’ Harry offered.

  Steph looked uncertain.

  ‘No stress, have a think on it. I could do with help to make the place more secure. I’ve got to go into town, I still haven’t touched base with the Emergency Department. I’m supposed to be starting work there in a couple of days, but with the way things are, I don’t reckon that’ll be happening. Are you all right to hang out here by yourself for a while?’

  ‘Yeah, I’ll be fine. Take your time,’ she said.

  Harry drained the last of his coffee, then dumped the mug in the sink.

  ‘All right, I’ll see you in an hour or two.’

  After a quick shower and change of clothes, Harry left Steph to catch a few more hours sleep and drove to the Milton-Ulladulla Emergency Department. He parked on the street, and after doing a quick survey of his surrounds for any danger, walked inside. In the forefront of his mind was the spread of infection to Berry where he’d rescued Steph the previous night – it was only 80km towards Sydney, and the prospect of encountering an infected person was now a very real possibility.

  The Emergency was tiny compared to the large department he’d left in Sydney. It consisted of a few monitored beds, a resuscitation bay and a handful of consult rooms. The reception was empty with no clerk at the front desk. Harry knocked on the door leading to the clinical area. Eventually a nurse called Tina arrived and opened it, allowing him in after he’d introduced himself.

  The nurse led him to the main clinical area to meet the only other doctor on duty. There were usually more staff present, however, since the deterioration of the outbreak in Sydney, the workforce had thinned somewhat. The remaining doctor, a bloke called Ian, welcomed him.

  ‘We’re all that’s left. From what I’ve heard, most of the health staff in town have already bolted, heading for the Victorian border. The others have just stopped showing up to work, but then again, so have the patients. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the town’s become pretty empty in the last 48 hours,’ said Ian.

  ‘What’s the plan if a suspected infection arrives?’ asked Harry.

  ‘So far, the recommendation has been just to isolate them and ensure no contact with body fluids. It’s supposedly not airborne, but how they could possibly be sure of that at this early stage, I have no friggin’ idea. The government’s due to release new management guidelines today; I’ve been checking my email constantly for them,’ he said.

  Harry explained his contact with the infection so far, and described what had happened at Randwick Emergency. The colour drained from the faces of his new colleagues as they listened.

  A message from the NSW Health Department popped onto Ian’s inbox, and he clicked on it immediately. A link was provided to a new policy directive for the “Clinical Management of Suspected Lyssavirus”. The three workers crowded the screen, reading the short document together. Once finished, they sat back, collectively stunned at the strategy mandated by the government.

  ‘They can’t be serious,’ said Tina.

  ‘That’s not euthanasia, it’s fucking murder,’ spat Ian. ‘It goes against everything our professions stand for. There is no bloody way I’m doing that!’

  Harry was sitting thoughtfully, reading through the paper once more. The policy recommended all suspected cases of Lyssavirus infection to be isolated from family and public. Once in a private setting, the patient was to be rendered unconscious via intravenous sedation, and then euthanised. Due to the requirement of brain destruction to prevent reanimation, health staff were advised to use a bur hole electric drill to penetrate the thin temporal bone into the underlying cerebral tissue. Post procedure, the family were to be advised that “due to treatment complications, the patient had died”.

  The ramifications of such a policy were breathtaking. Doctors were being asked to lie to their patients and family, and then commit state-sanctioned murder. It would irreparably destroy the trust between the medical profession and public, not to mention break the souls of many clinicians who entered their professions to help, not harm. Requiring them to murder the patients they were there to save, was simply, heinous.

  Harry pushed back from the computer and stood. ‘I can’t do it. Not this way. Self-defence is one thing, but that…’ he trailed off into silence. ‘Sorry guys, but I resign. I didn’t sign up for this shit.’

  ‘I agree, but the town still needs medical care,’ said Ian. ‘How do we ensure people can access help if it’s needed? We still owe the public that, don’t we?’

  ‘If the infection continues to spread down the coast, we’re probably better off supplying medical consults from our own homes on
ce they’re secure,’ said Harry. ‘We can leave contact information on the front door, offer treatment for trauma or medical illness that is strictly non-lyssavirus related. What do you think?’

  The others agreed, seeing no other viable option. The three then raided the drug room, compiling a stock of medication each to treat the most common ailments presenting to the Emergency, then supplemented it with equipment to manage minor trauma. Harry reversed his SUV to the front doors then loaded four crates of supplies into the back. The nurse attached a list of their contact details to the inside of the glass front door, and next to it, a notice declaring the department was closed.

  Tina stood back from the doors looking at the “closed” sign, shaking her head. ‘This is the first time the department’s been shut since it was built. Doesn’t seem quite natural, does it? I mean, Emergency Departments just don’t close, do they?’ she said.

  ‘Hopefully we get to return all this stuff within a few weeks once this is brought under control,’ offered Harry as he prepared to leave.

  ‘I hope you’re right. I just bloody hope you’re right,’ said Tina.

  Chapter Twenty

  Mark was standing to one side, supervising the dry fire drills and it had him worried. He’d spent the last twenty minutes running through simple weapons handling information, the basics of firing the rifle and changing a magazine. He left out any of the “failure to fire” drills. Trouble-shooting a defective rifle was too much to ask in this setting. If a rifle malfunctioned, it would have to be ditched, or relegated to use as a club. Most of the volunteers had never held a gun before, let alone a high-powered assault weapon such as the Austeyr. In the right hands, it was lethal against the enemy. In the hands of a novice, however, there was just too much that could go wrong. But what choice did they have? If it came to close-quarters fighting, they would almost certainly be overwhelmed. They needed to keep distance between themselves and any attacking Carriers, and firearms were the only way.

  A hand gripped his shoulder, pulling him away from his thoughts. Penny took him to one of the covered paths at the side of the grass. Something was definitely wrong ‒ she looked agitated, barely holding it together. Georgie was there also, looking concerned.

  ‘What’s wrong? If those guys aren’t going to shoot each other by accident the first time they use live ammo, we need to keep going with the drills.’

  ‘Fuck the drills, Mark. I’ve got to leave and I need your help if my boy’s going to have any chance,’ she said, her speech rapid.

  ‘Slow down a second,’ he said, raising his hands. ‘What’s happened? I thought your kid and husband were driving south this morning?’

  ‘They did, but David crashed and they were attacked. I was on the phone to them when it happened – I saw those bastards kill my husband in front of me,’ she said, her voice cracking.

  ‘Is your boy ok?’ Mark asked.

  ‘I don’t know; he ran from the car leaving the phone behind. I can’t go to the SCG not knowing if he’s dead. Will you help me?’ Penny pleaded. ‘If you can’t come, I’ll be leaving by myself anyway.’

  Mark was torn. He had serious misgivings about Novak’s plan to get to the SCG, but he still had to get Georgie out. On the other hand, he owed Penny for the previous night. Without her, he would have died at the Regiment quarters.

  Georgie took the decision out of his hands. ‘Penny, we can help,’ she said, looking up at Mark to see if he agreed.

  He sighed, took a breath and nodded.

  Georgie gave him a small smile. ‘But we’ll need to continue south afterwards. Mark what do you think? I’m worried about going to the SCG anyway – that many people on the move in the middle of the city? Surely they’ll attract thousands of Carriers in to feed.’

  ‘You’re probably right. If we can take a couple of the rifles with us, we’d be safer on our own. It’s still going to be dangerous, we’ve got half a city to make it through to escape south.’ He glanced at those struggling through the dry fire drills, sighed again, then turned back to Georgie and Penny. ‘And even if we make it out, the news said our next major town, Wollongong, is already crawling with the Infected.’

  ‘Maybe we could skip all that,’ Georgie suggested.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘My parents have a yacht at anchor in Kogarah Bay – I’ve been nagging you to come sailing with me for months, remember? If we go there after finding Penny’s boy, we can leave out of Botany Bay and just stay on the water until we go far enough south to skip the badly infected towns. My folks have a farm outside of Milton; it’s got a small marina nearby at Ulladulla where we can dock.’

  Mark smiled slowly. ‘That sounds bloody awesome. Geez, you’re full of good surprises sometimes, babe.’

  ‘They wouldn’t be surprises if you listened more than half the time, Mark,’ she said, deflecting the compliment. Georgie turned back to Penny. ‘What do you think? Will you come south with us if we take you to Kogarah? Three people would make the boat safer to handle, especially out on the open water.’

  Penny looked up at the mention of her name. Eyes glazed, Mark was sure she hadn’t heard much of the discussion, that the images of her husband being pulled out the car and her son fleeing occupied her mind.

  ‘Sorry, what did you ask?’

  ‘Will you come south with us on the boat after we look for your son?’ Georgie asked again.

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Ok,’ Mark said. ‘I’ll deal with Novak and get a couple of rifles. You two collect whatever you want to bring. The main group’s due to leave in thirty minutes, we should probably aim to go at the same time.’

  Georgie and Penny nodded, and parted to get their jobs completed.

  Mark found Novak supervising a last fire drill. ‘Ok guys, that’ll have to do,’ Novak called out. ‘Go grab your stuff and meet at the north gate in ten minutes.’

  Novak slung his rifle over his shoulder, and turned toward the Great Hall. Mark called out to him, the man turning then frowning as Mark jogged over.

  ‘Hey Mark, we need to get going. Can you pass on to anyone that you see that we’re meeting at the north gate in ten minutes? I want to pile as many of us as possible into the university cars out there. One of the staffers accessed the keys for them. If we can go in convoy, we might not even need the rifles.’

  Mark’s expression was tight; he wasn’t looking forward to breaking his news.

  ‘I’ve got a problem, Novak.’ Mark motioned to Georgie and Penny. ‘We won’t be part of the convoy. Penny’s family have been attacked – we need to try and find her son, he might still be alive.’

  Novak’s face was furious, his cheeks flushed. Mark interjected before he could talk. ‘It’s her kid, mate. If it was yours, you’d do the same.’

  The anger began to visibly dissipate, Novak’s features relaxed until he just looked worried and tired. ‘That’s fair enough, but it leaves my job all the harder. Now it’s just me and a couple of cops to get this group through four kilometres of infected suburbs.’

  ‘Sorry mate, I don’t have much choice – Penny saved my life last night, I kind of owe her.’ He paused, then continued. ‘One last thing, I need to take two of the rifles and some ammunition.’

  Milsons face tensed for a moment. ‘Ok,’ he conceded. ‘I can’t really refuse after last night, can I?’ He put his hand out and Mark accepted the handshake, ‘Good luck.’

  Two Carriers were outside the gate leading to the university cars and Mark’s ute. Novak and Mark took one each, dispatching them quickly with efficient head wounds. Novak waved the inhabitants of the Quad out to the waiting vehicles. There were five cars and a small bus. Seven people were crammed into each car, the front passenger of each armed with a rifle. The rest squeezed into the small bus. The seats had been ripped out earlier, allowing the refugees to be packed shoulder to shoulder like cattle. Each held pathetic, makeshift weapons. Most had opted for lengths of timber pulled from tall-backed chairs in the Great Hall. The bus suspe
nsion was low once loaded, but it would be safer than attempting to walk the whole distance.

  Peter elected to join Mark, Penny and Georgie in the ute. They waited for the convoy to leave, then with barely a glance behind, headed out in the opposite direction.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Novak was in the front passenger seat of the lead vehicle ‒ a white Toyota Corolla. They’d made steady progress after turning onto Cleveland Street, ensuring that all vehicles stayed together as a tight group. The bus couldn’t safely exceed 40kmph, its suspension bottomed out constantly due to the weight carried. They’d passed numerous of the Infected, but had been able to drive around and continue without incident. They were now over half way there. Nevertheless, Novak kept his hope carefully locked down, not daring to tempt fate.

  The convoy topped the rise over the train lines at Redfern, and continued to Surrey Hills. Novak swore under his breath. Up ahead the road was blocked at Elizabeth Street. A public transport bus had overturned in the middle of the intersection, blocking both lanes. There was nothing for it, they’d have to turn around and find an alternate route. The convoy of vehicles was half way down the block, with the bus at the rear.

  The bus started to reverse for the beginning of a three-point turn when a loud bang rent the air. The bus’s suspension had finally snapped under the excess weight, causing the cabin to drop heavily onto the rear right wheel. The driver continued to finish the turn with the tyre pressed up against the top of the wheel well. Blue smoke drifted lazily as the rubber disintegrated under the friction and pressure. As the bus hit ninety degrees across the road, the wheel blew, echoing between the surrounding buildings like a gunshot. The rim of the wheel bit into the tarmac and ground downwards.

  The bus was crippled. It could go no further.

  Novak watched it with growing horror. There were too many people to load into the cars, and besides, the bus had now effectively pinned them in. They would have to walk the last few kilometres. He opened his door and ran towards the bus.