Apocalypse [Book 3]

by Matt J. Pike

  We could see they’d started raiding the basement level Coles store in the Mall. That seemed to be their only food supply at this stage. To me, all tracks not associated with Coles food gathering were about monitoring us.

  Finally, we dropped by Woolies, loaded up on dried pet food and also grabbed some pens and paper so we could chart all the tracks we’d seen.

  *

  We were back out again at first light, charting all the footprints we could find. For the first time, we were packing heat outside the oval precinct, as were those heading back to the loader near the hospital site. Yesterday’s footprint find was too much to ignore. This is no longer our turf alone.

  We had two tasks for the morning – assess the Coles site, what had been taken and what we should do about it, as well as head back to the markets for a recon with Ye-jun’s knowledge on board.

  It looked like the Norwood crew had barely made a dent at Coles. They had begun excavation around the escalators heading to the lower ground level. You could see where they had found some food shelfs and started digging down further, but it looked like they put in a hell of a lot of work for not much reward… yet. Each dig will get easier now they are down to the food height. Between Ye-jun, Kelly and myself, we reckoned they’d missed the smartest play of all; if they’d dug a tunnel horizontally at the roof line, they could’ve avoided the heavier tsunami deposits near the atrium and found some far easier access to the aisles near the rear of the store. We knew they’d get there eventually the way they were going, but we thought it’d be great to spoil their party before they did.

  But that would be a challenge for another day – the city would have to be far more secure before we invested stocking up time in such a risky spot.

  The markets were far more rewarding on this day. Ye-jun lived up to his word. After circumnavigating the block, we honed in on the Coles there. Ye-jun positioned himself where he thought the entrance was, by lining up a few buildings along Grote St until he was satisfied and began to dig. Sure enough he hit the double sliding doors on his first attempt. That was most impressive. The dig continued for a few metres more until we were past the tsunami mess and into the store proper.

  Beyond the damage, the place was untouched. We were able to walk unimpeded through nearly half of the aisles. Part of the Grote St wall had collapsed near the fridged food area, and there was a section of roof that had come down near the fresh produce section, but those areas were of the least interest to us anyway. This was a rock solid gold mine. For the next 40 minutes we took shifts – two hauling food to the hole entrance, the loading them on to Phoenix and keeping watch with the gun. It was super-efficient and we’d loaded up in no time.

  Before we left, I grabbed one of the umbrellas from a stand near the checkout and place it over the entrance to the tunnel, which we then covered in ash to hide any signs of our presence. We hovered back along Morphett St as opposed to King William St, to avoid any possible encounters there.

  It was high fives all around when we unloaded the stash. And the funniest part of all was while the Norwood mob are working their asses off to dig out every item of food from the Rundle St Coles, we’d probably collected double what they’ve already scored in one quick dig at the markets. I mean, that’s hilarious! Even their win was a loss. They’re probably expending as many calories as they’re finding.

  Strategically, we figured it may even be worth giving them Rundle St Coles, at least for now. Keeps them out of our way at the real stuff and hopefully distracts them enough from planning any further action against us at the oval. Again, for now.

  It wasn’t until late afternoon that the other crew returned on foot. They’d managed to dig out the loader but didn’t have the manpower to get it upright again. They had also found a few jacks and some rope and were hoping with a few more pairs of hands, that they’d get it done in the morning. They also needed me to take Jonesy – the mechanic guy – on a tour of the city to see if we could find some tools for him to work with – there are a few potential sites.

  That night we feasted again – there were two things worth celebrating.

  *

  The next day we were out at daybreak and found enough tools for Jonesy to work with at the remains of the Auto Masters store on Pulteney St. We headed to the hospital site via the markets, where we loaded up another batch of supplies. By the time we arrived at the hospital, the other team already had the jacks extended under the loader as well as four ropes to pull it upright again. It took all 17 of us pulling like crazy, but we got the job done.

  *

  Yesterday, after a day and a half of surgery, Jonesy (with a bit of help from Shane) finally got the loader started. Ye-jun, Kelly and I also smashed out another food run.

  Now it was really game time.

  We had a new tool – a new game changer.

  The loader was most definitely a game changer, like Phoenix and like guns, it totally reinvents how and what you can do with the people and environment around you. Guns give you power in battle and negotiations, Phoenix allowed me to master the landscape with travel, and the loader gives us the ability to change the world around us. Behind food shortages, other survivors and the lack of daylight, ash would have to be the biggest enemy in post-rock world. It controls your movements and access to the world, it limits what you can do. But, this loader, assuming it works as well as we hope, and someone can drive it properly, changes all of that.

  We can dig debris out from where we don’t want it and place it where we do. I know that sounds simplistic and stupid, but it’s genius. We can dig it out from the parklands surrounding the oval, stripping it back to the dirt, allowing us to try to grow crops, meanwhile we can strategically dump it around the oval and further out around the city, turning our headquarters into a fortress and blocking (or at least slowing), our enemies’ movement in the CBD.

  Once we lock down the city, we can even begin clearing the ash from the roads, allowing other vehicles to live again, which would make our advantage over the other groups even greater.

  It’s kind of like the start to 2001: A Space Odyssey, where the ape picks up the bone and finds he can use it as a weapon. That was his game-changer, this is ours.

  One thing, one machine, had the potential to change everything.

  I mentioned the 2001 comparison to the group as we were trying to condense our thousands of ideas for the loader into a structured plan of attack. As a result, he has been given the name Bone. I like that.

  As for the ideas, we are putting the immediate priority into building the wall around the oval. We’ll extend it from the bridge all the way along King William Rd to the cathedral at North Adelaide, then along Pennington Tce until the golf course. We’ll also wall the Morphett St Bridge (but not entirely, as we need a gap large enough for Phoenix). Combined, this will pretty much block any surprise access from unfriendlies. Once that’s done we can set our sights further into the city, perhaps walling up ash east of East Tce, to make life even more difficult for the Norwood hubbers, but that opens up a whole bunch of problems in itself, because they’d always be able to find a way around or over it and we don’t have the manpower to position people there, certainly not yet. If or when we do find a solution for that, we can start clearing the streets of ash and take our advantage to another level altogether.

  It certainly has been a busy few days. And reflecting back on it while writing tonight, it really could not have gone much better. I mean, it’s early evening, I’ve had a busy day, but I’ve had time to myself again, time to think forward and plan, rather than act. I feel like I have caught up on sleep. The watched have changed everything, and with each day those bonds build a little more. We are building something worth believing in here.

  I’m alive again, truly alive. I’m full of possibilities and hope and I can’t wait to get this game-changing move rolling tomorrow.

  *

  November 3, 2014

  So, we discovered something else very important about front end loade
rs today. They make some serious noise. I mean, we knew that, but I guess it just wasn’t front of mind when we were planning things yesterday.

  Jonesy had it up and running right on first light, working his way from the bridge back to North Adelaide. Scraping ash from the road and piling higher and higher on the far side. He moved at a pretty impressive pace once he got familiar with the thing.

  Anyway, that noise echoed out around the city – it was just one of those days, still and heavy. Even back pre-rock, you could make out the sound of one of those loaders against all the life background noise of a semi busy city, but today that thing seemed like the only sound for miles. It didn’t take long to grab the attention of the Norwood crew either. A couple of them poked their noses down almost to the bridge on King William Rd to get a look

  They didn’t get close to the wall at the bridge, or the shooting zone as they would know it, but they got plenty close enough to see exactly what we were doing… and what we were doing it with.

  They left after a few minutes, then returned with a few others in tow about three hours later. They were hiding behind some dead trees not far from the riverbank, until one of our guys spotted them from a lookout. I went up to have a look and, not only were they spying on us, the fat man was there. Just seeing him again filled me with dread. I hadn’t seen him since I was part of the Trinity Garden crew, approaching the Norwood Hub for help and I’ll never forget how that encounter ended. I was pretty sure he was their leader, and if he wasn’t, he was very high up in their structure. So, for him to be there, watching what we were doing, well, I wasn’t completely sure what it meant, but I knew it was significant and probably not in a good way.

  I headed downstairs and consulted with Shane and Brian. The short-term solution to the problem was me firing a couple of warning arrows in their direction with the crossbow. It cleared them off soon enough, but if we didn’t realise we had a serious problem before, we did now.

  By the end of the day, the wall stretched all the way to the church and was at least three metres high. That was our weakest flank covered. It was hard to get too excited about it, though, knowing prying eyes were all over our every move.

  Oh, the other thing I forgot to mention. I saw road again, like actual bitumen. It was seriously exciting, in fact, a few of us broke into applause when Jonesy first broke through to street level. I can’t explain how amazing that moment felt, it felt symbolic, as if it was the first moment of the city being rediscovered or something. It’s probably massively weird that my eyes teared up a bit, but they did. For bitumen.

  *

  Dinner was another feast tonight. It’s turned into the community meal, everyone gathers just as the last light in the sky is fading and we hoed in. We also chat about the day and plan for the next one. We eat well, too. With the new Coles supply still coming in, and the need to fatten the watched up again, plus the fact we’re all burning through a lot of calories each day setting up our defences, well, counting cans is not really the priority – that’s something to worry about when we are safe and secure.

  We are far from safe and secure.

  Besides, it's really been the only chance to get to know some of the others. I’m starting to get to know Brian and Lana reasonably well. Brian seems like a pretty straight shooting guy. You can tell he’s been through a lot, just something about the way he carries himself. He’s a good man to have leading them; he listens a lot and speaks when he has something meaningful to say. Lana’s on the quiet side too, there’s definitely a story there (like everyone, I guess). She does have a nice smile, if you get her in the right moment. Her ideas are always good, and she is starting to let her hair down a little more socially, but she’s coming from a long way back – very reserved. She was an ambulance driver back in the day too – very handy skills.

  Jonesy’s a good laugh and he’s on a high at the moment after the success with the loader. He speaks a lot… and loudly. Him and Shane get on like a house on fire. They can even match each other with drinks. That’s good for me because Shane doesn’t charge my glass so often now.

  The guy with the limp is Nick. He was a builder back in the day – another handy skill in the group. But his leg is pretty bad. He broke it pretty badly on one of the wall battles and it’s never been the same since. The woman with the hacking cough they call DC. She’s probably nearing 60 and, well, I’d be surprised if she makes it there. No one really talks about what’s wrong with her, but the way they interact with her, you just know it’s not good. When she can work, she tends to the ducks and is making the accommodation area as homely as possible for the others. The younger woman with the burn marks on her face is Laura. She probably mid-20s and has a bit of an attitude – but in a good way. She’s always trying to show her strength can mix it with anyone in the group.

  Then there’s Craig, Mark, Steph (very cute but she’s in a thing with Mark, which seems a bit odd if you ask me), Michael, Nate and the J’s – John and Jenny (an older couple), Jan and Joyce.

  Most of those I’m still getting to know.

  Of the newbies, I spend most of my time with Ye-jun and Kelly. We’re the food raid crew – that’s about top of the social order around here. No one gets more appreciation than the people bringing in the food – despite Jonesy’s best efforts. We’ve got our system down pat now, which means we’re more relaxed around each other on each mission. They’re both good company and can find plenty to talk about to keep the day interesting. They’ve both got a good eye for detail too, which I like – picking out changes in conditions, or new tracks and what it all might mean. And our bond extends outside of the food runs too. When it comes to feast time, we just gravitate to the same spot.

  The main discussion point tonight was all about this wall. Some wanted it constructed further back, giving us access to more potential parklands (to grow food in), others wanted us to shift the focus to walling off sections of the city to protect the known existing food resources. They were decent enough ideas, and there was plenty of debate about it all, but we were really going around in circles for a while. That’s when I told them about the massacre at Norwood. I really wanted them to understand who and what they’re dealing with.

  The Norwood crew already know we have a large haul of food, and now they know we have more advanced technology (loader, hovercraft), they are capable of anything to get what they want. And right now they see the power in this city shifting away from them. I told everyone my gut feel is they will act and act quickly, and that every move we make from now on has to be about protecting us and our assets. That got everyone focused on the important stuff again. This is life and death, after all. Future plans are great, you’ve just got to make it there first. Every decision and move we make needs to go through that simple life and death filter – will what I’m planning be the best help to protect us from the Norwood crew?

  Brian gave me a little nod of approval at that point too. I liked that we were on a similar page.

  After dinner people started filtering away. It’s part of this sort of informal two-stage decision-making process that’s just developed of its own accord. We all get in and discuss things, then every goes their separate ways, leaving Shane and I to formalise the discussions into a plan of attack with Brain, Lana and Ye-jun. Once we’re happy, they head back to the Riverside stand and Shane and I head back to the commentary box in the pavilion, where we further discuss things. It seems to work alright for now, and everyone has a chance to make their opinions heard. It’s just funny how it’s evolved on its own.

  *

  I like this time of night. Just spending time writing in my diary, talking to Fi, mulling over the events of the day and thinking about how to best contribute tomorrow – it’s a chill and reset mentally time. Something that I was completely missing before the watched came along. It’s just those little moments that make the difference and keep your head in the game.

  It’s also a chance to dream. I’m sure everyone here has their own vision of what this place
can become, I know I certainly do. I imagine the perimeter wall being extended to the city limits on the east, the streets this side of it clear, so we can transport ourselves around more conventionally. I see the stadium being surrounded by fields of crops. I see paths being forged out west into the tsunami zone, which has all sorts of secrets waiting to be discovered. I see a safer place for us in that future too. Maybe even more people. Maybe even a special person.

  That future is a dream worth chasing. It’s possible, I know it is. I also know this world isn’t going to hand it to me on a platter.

  *

  November 4, 2014

  And the game moves again. I was woken well before dawn this morning to shouting and commotion. By the time I’d thrown my clothes on and gone outside, there was a small group heading out towards the wall with torches. I grabbed my two-way and got in touch with Shane, who was with the group.

  One of the Norwood crew had sneaked his way into the stadium well before dawn. DC happened to be up – probably due to a coughing fit – and saw the flashlight. She woke Brian, who in turn got a small posse out of bed. They grabbed a couple of rifles and tried to sneak up on him, but without torches and in the serious dark, they made a little too much noise. The spy was alerted and did a runner before anyone could get near him.

  In the thin light of day we were able to trace his steps from the wall and beyond. He’d approached from the uni ground to the east, climbing the newly constructed wall.