Icefall

by Hallowes, Guy

  'Look at that,' said Mark. All three watched in horror as one of the huge cruise liners, having taken refuge in the harbour, was picked up with the destructive force of the wave and dumped right into the Sydney Passenger Terminal. The vessel fell onto its side; many people on board, who had presumably thought they'd be safe on such a large vessel, were seen falling hopelessly into the churning waters.

  'It's much worse than we could possibly have imagined,' said Tanya tersely as she piloted the machine, following the wave. 'Nobody and nothing will survive this.' In front of the wave still stood the beautiful, peaceful city, and behind it a mass of wrecked houses and boats, dead and dying people.

  The water raced up George Street and the other streets leading away from Circular Quay—the place where Captain Phillip and the eleven ships of the first fleet had arrived from England with a load of convicts in January 1788. The few figures visible on the streets were tossed about like rag dolls, before being swamped.

  'Almost two hundred and fifty years of history just blitzed away in a few seconds,' whispered Tanya.

  Flying south through ongoing bursts of rain to Botany Bay and Sydney Airport, Tanya kept the helicopter as low as was safe. The wave had preceded them. The airport was just a tangle of wreckage with huge planes piled one on top of the other. Many of the hangars were no longer visible or were represented by grotesquely deformed pieces of concrete and steel. Several ships in the nearby Port Botany had been swept two or three kilometres inshore. On the southern side of the bay, the Kurnell Oil Refinery had been virtually razed to the ground, the few stacks remaining poking like sentinels out of the murky waters. Surrounding suburbs were completely inundated.

  Mark said more calmly than he felt, 'The water will go some way inland, but will then retreat as the land becomes steeper, creating another wave of destruction. We should go to North Sydney and see what happens there.' He wondered how he had ever doubted the science behind what he was now witnessing.

  As they flew back over the harbour they saw that a large cargo vessel had crashed into one of the pylons on the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and had created a huge obstacle there, with debris and other vessels piling up against the bridge. As they watched, the power of the flood moved a huge pylon. As if in slow motion, one by one the gantries of the enormous bridge fell into the harbour. Soon there was nothing left of the bridge that had stood there for almost a hundred years, but remnants of stone and concrete pylons and a few ghostlike pieces of steel sticking out of the water.

  Mark was right. The power of the wave had swept far up the Warringah Freeway, one of the major arteries leading north out of the city. It had travelled up the Pacific Highway, past the skyscrapers of North Sydney and over Crows Nest and beyond the Royal North Shore Hospital. The water had smashed its way into all the little streets, which days before had housed innocent people going about their daily business. Almost all of these people would have either lost their lives in the flood or would be sitting in cars on one of the major arteries leaving Sydney going nowhere and gradually starving to death.

  Within a few hours, the destructive force of the flood had slowed and the water had started to retreat with an equally vicious force, sweeping cars, houses, and any people that were left back towards the harbour.

  The once majestic harbour was now a sea of death and destruction, bodies of humans and animals floating amidst the wrecked cars, buses, trucks, and other assorted debris. The wreckage of the bridge, the "coat-hanger" as it had been known, peered out from the filthy water.

  'Look,' said Mark, 'somehow the Sydney Opera House is still standing.' He focussed his camera on the top half of the famous sails, poking out from the debris-strewn water now obscuring the lower half of the landmark.

  'We'll have to refuel quite soon,' announced Tanya. 'We'll return home, refuel, and come back. I feel so helpless not being able to help anyone down there, including any of our own still left.'

  On their return, Tanya flew south until they crossed the M4. She flew as low as possible in the persistent rain over what was now no more than a long term car park. Sodden-looking people emerged from their vehicles and waved desperately. Some cars had tried to escape the traffic jam and had ventured across country only to become bogged down.

  Returning to the harbour, they saw the flood was still pouring down the steep slopes from the north, but they could see that water levels were settling down to around fifteen metres above where it had been before the catastrophe hit.

  'We forecast this all those years ago,' said Tanya in disbelief.

  'It'll be a couple of weeks before the flood reaches Western Europe and the Eastern Seaboard of the States,' Mark observed. 'I hope they now understand what's going to hit them.'

  Making several circuits of the greater city, they could see the coastal suburbs had suffered almost total destruction, there was absolutely no sign of life anywhere now within several kilometres of the coast. Inland all that was visible were signs of panic. Tanya was able to manoeuvre the helicopter near one isolated supermarket, which had been completely trashed, the doors and windows broken.

  'Comprehensively looted,' Roger observed.

  'I've seen enough,' said Tanya. 'We have a reasonable record.' Mark and Roger signalled acknowledgment and she turned for home.

  Not a word was said on the return trip to The Settlement.

  Tanya briefly thought about how the day's events justified their work over the last fifteen years and more. But she quickly put those thoughts out of her mind, trying to focus on what needed to be done in The Settlement. She also had a moment to worry about the missing Settlement people, particularly Chloe and Kim.

  Mark was relieved he had continued to support the development of The Settlement and tried unsuccessfully to put out of his mind the doubts he had about his role, with him playing second fiddle to Tanya.

  Roger was generally not given to introspection. His future had always been tied up with The Settlement and the projections he had been brought up with had now come to pass. He fiddled with his cameras all the way home, not wishing to interrupt the silence.

  The Settlement turned to the BBC and CNN for images, once the ABC and other Australian channels disappeared, via a receiver dish Joe had rigged up during the past year. After a few days those sources of information also dried up.

  All the Bowers were busy visiting villagers, sympathising with those traumatised by the catastrophic images.

  'The only thing we can do,' David told people, 'is to focus on what needs doing here. There is absolutely nothing we can do for the outside world. Ensuring our survival is how we can make a contribution.'

  Mark organised two internal patrols, circulating daily inside The Settlement fence, to ensure there were no incursions.

  Tanya also made sure the helicopter was fully serviced. 'We need to traverse the city and surrounds again, recording the situation for future generations, so the same mistakes won't be repeated.'

  David and two others rode over to The Bandstand to make certain they were safe and secure. They returned within a week and reported that, so far, there had been no incursions there.

  Within ten days, the patrols started to return. Tanya started to debrief them when she realised most members of the patrols were reluctant to describe their experiences. The scenes of horror gradually emerged—people fighting over scraps of food, gun battles between motorists, packs of dogs pulling dead people from cars, people dying of panic, thirst, and hunger everywhere.

  One patrol failed to return.

  Tanya and Mark mapped out the route they had taken.

  'I will take the helicopter to see if I can find them,' said Tanya. 'Graham, maybe you could come with me.'

  After two days of searching, Tanya spotted the bodies of horses lying beside a road. She flew low over the scene and some people ran away.

  'They look like our horses being butchered for food,' observed Tanya. 'Graham, fire a few shots so the people keep away, I'm going down.'

  Graham did as he wa
s told, but when Tanya tried to land the helicopter she saw someone aiming what looked like one of The Academy's short-barrelled rifles at them. Luckily it jammed and Tanya quickly flew out of reach.

  'We haven't got a hope,' said Tanya. 'If we go in there, we'll suffer the same fate as that patrol. We can assume they're all dead. People will survive for a few days on the horse meat, but it will putrefy and then they will die. We'll return in three weeks to see if we can recover any bodies.' She continued, 'We still have enough fuel for about two hours. Where do you think your son might be?'

  'He was living in a house in Epping. I have the address.'

  Tanya entered it into her GPS system and shortly afterwards had the helicopter hovering over the house.

  'That's it, that's the place,' said Graham excitedly.

  Tanya flew slowly over the area. There was no sign of anyone, just a few dogs wandering about, scampering away when the helicopter hovered overhead.

  'What do you want to do?' asked Tanya.

  'Is there any chance we could land just for a few minutes?'

  'The garden is too small, but I can land over there.' She pointed to a football field about two hundred yards away from the house. 'I will have to keep the engine running. Hopefully, I can give you time to run to the house and back. You have to understand, though, that if I'm threatened I'll have to take off and may not be able to pick you up again. If we do get into trouble, I will land at that oval over there in thirty minutes. If you are there, I will pick you up, otherwise you're on your own. Understand?'

  Graham hesitated, weighing up his own personal safety against the slim possibility of finding his son. 'Okay, I understand.'

  They landed and Graham clambered out, armed with one of the short-barrelled Academy rifles. There was nobody about. Tanya, as promised, kept the engine running and watched Graham sprint across the grass and disappear into a side street. Suddenly a myriad of people emerged from the nearby houses and started to converge on the helicopter. She had no choice but to take off again. She flew over the house that Graham had identified and saw him smash down the front door and go in. Tanya hovered for ten minutes. People started to converge on the house as Graham emerged. He waved at the helicopter and pointed in the direction of the oval. Tanya was able to monitor his progress, but made as if to return to the football field so most of the now substantial crowd followed her there, allowing Graham to run to the oval, alone. As Graham ran across the oval Tanya landed only to see him being tackled rugby style by a young man Tanya hadn't seen. Unthinkingly, she leapt out of the machine and ran to the now struggling pair. She knocked the aggressor over the head with her own rifle and dragged a groggy Graham into the aircraft. She was just about to take off when the man appeared at the window of the helicopter.

  He was clearly unarmed and mouthing, 'Help me, help me.' Tanya hesitated, then opened the door of the machine and pulled the youth in.

  'Any trouble, and you will get a bullet and be tipped out. Strap him in, will you Graham.' They took off just as people started to scramble onto the oval.

  On their way back to the mountains, Graham tearfully told his story. 'I found them all in the house; my son, his girlfriend, and two small children I've never seen before. We didn't even know they existed. They were all lying peacefully in their beds, dead. There is a note dated April 16th which says … here, read it.'

  Tanya steadied the machine and read—

  Dear Dad and Mum, you may never see this note in view of the impending disaster. But if you ever find it, we should explain that we cannot face living in the world that will now emerge, so we have taken the only option available. None of us will have any pain. Sorry about not having told you about the children; we couldn't face your disapproval. Your loving son, Daryl.

  Tanya handed the note back.

  'We wondered why we were never invited to the house. Daryl was always so secretive,' a tearful Graham explained. 'My wife and I strongly disapproved of Daryl's relationship with his girlfriend. We thought it immoral. Maybe we could have been more accommodating,' he added quietly. A tear escaped.

  'And who are you?' Tanya asked their unexpected passenger, who had remained silent and was looking around in a bewildered manner.

  'Call me Silas. I lived a few doors down from Daryl, but I didn't know he had committed suicide. We've all locked ourselves away since the catastrophe and we've run out of food. Where are we going?'

  'We live in a secure place in the Blue Mountains,' answered Graham. 'You'll be safe there.'

  They flew unseeingly over the spectacular mountain scenery, each engrossed in their own thoughts. They landed safely within the hour.

  Silas was taken in by Graham and his wife, Denise—a surrogate son.

  A day or so later, Graham and his wife Denise visited David in his office, 'We have come to apologise for the things we said to you a few weeks ago.'

  'There is no need,' said David. 'We live in very traumatic times. There is still no sign of Chloe or Kim and we are all beginning to fear the worst.'

  'Tanya risked her life to try and help us,' explained Graham. 'She made no mention of Kim and Chloe, but selflessly helped me understand what happened to our son.' They were red-eyed and looking dreadful.

  'I appreciate what you've said, although it is unnecessary. Maybe the boy you rescued will bring you some solace.'

  David had been thinking about the capacity of The Settlement to provide for the people living there. He explained to Tanya, 'The last two or three years we've had reasonable seasons, but there's been little surplus production. We've consumed almost all of what's been produced. If the weather turns, we could be short of food and have to impose rationing, which would be a disaster. No one in the community overindulges. We should start to develop some of the forest area you enclosed all those years ago.' He smiled at the memory.

  'Graham was once a forestry worker, I'm sure he'll take that on,' responded Tanya.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Homeward Bound

  After the ghastly incident with the rapacious men, Kim and Chloe made rapid and silent progress along somewhat ill-defined paths, always trying to steer a route to the northwest.

  By late afternoon, Kim stopped her horse saying to Chloe, 'We'll camp somewhere here. With a bit of luck we'll have scared the shit out of anyone thinking about following us; we still need to be careful though.'

  'It looks as if there's a storm brewing,' answered Chloe, looking at the black clouds building from the southwest. 'We need to have something to eat first and the horses are tired, so we need to look after them. I'm guessing we still have a long way to go?'

  'Okay Granma,' said Kim, not answering the question. In truth, she had no idea how much further they had to go or how long it would take. 'Hang on to the horses for a few minutes and I will see what I can find.'

  'Could you stop calling me Granma; we're in this together. I'm Chloe now.'

  Kim nodded and handed the reins of her horse to Chloe. She returned fifteen minutes later. 'I've found a place. There's an overhanging rock and it's quite dry. It'll provide some protection. There's no water for the horses though. We'll have to share our own supplies until we find a stream and we'll have to mask our trail using one of Derain's lessons. The place is uphill to the right of the path, so we first go left and downhill. Then we should split with me going back towards the way we came and you going in the same direction. You should then cross the main path and head uphill. I will meet you about a hundred metres above where we are now. If anyone has followed us they will not see where I crossed the main path to go uphill.'

  Chloe looked a little uncertain. 'It's okay Gr ... Chloe, just focus on what I said. When you think you've done all that, stop and I'll find you. It should take about an hour; the bush is quite thick.'

  'Is this necessary?' asked Chloe.

  'Maybe, desperate people will do desperate things; it's better to be safe. If anyone has followed us, we'll hear them long before they have an inkling we are anywhere near.'


  They went off into the bush as Kim had directed and once they were some two hundred metres downhill from the path, Kim went left with two of the horses and Chloe turned right. Chloe found Kim's instructions easy to follow and within half an hour she was in place, as far as she could judge, about one hundred metres uphill from where they had originally stopped on the main path. She dismounted, loosened her horse's girth, and sat down with her back to a tree. Holding the reins, Chloe allowed the horse to graze while she waited.

  Kim made certain she cut a swathe through the bushes that could be easily followed. When she turned back to cross the main path, she took one horse at a time, crossed the road, and tied the animal up. She took another route altogether with the second animal. Both routes were now quite difficult to follow, and as she crossed the main path she swept the path clear of all hoof prints.

  It will take an expert to see that anyone has been here, she thought as she rearranged bushes into their original position and admired her handiwork. Derain would be proud of me.

  Within the promised hour, she spotted Chloe, now sleeping quietly with her back against the tree. Kim thought she would have a little fun and as noiselessly as possible managed to lead her two horses into Chloe's small clearing, then sat on her haunches and waited. Soon one of the horses snorted loudly and Chloe woke with a start, looking wildly about her.

  She smiled when she saw Kim. 'How long have you been there?'

  'About ten minutes. You looked as if you were having a lovely dream.'

  'I was.' She didn't elaborate.

  There was room on the dry and dusty floor under the overhanging rock for both humans and horses. They unsaddled and Chloe gave the horses some water and fodder while Kim collected bundles of firewood. Then they cooked dinner from their now dwindling supplies. Just as darkness fell, the heavens opened with a vengeance.