Icefall

by Hallowes, Guy

  Susan was about halfway up the climb when something made her look down and she lost her nerve. There was a shriek as she fell the three metres to the ledge where she had been resting and then slid off, the rope saving her. She wasn't injured, but was left dangling. Kim made sure the rope would hold and, with no thought for her own safety, climbed down to the ledge and managed to haul a terrified Susan back up.

  'I can't do this, I just can't,' she whimpered.

  'Oh yes you can,' said Kim firmly. 'I will come with you this time. Remember you won't fall as the rope is firmly secured. Okay, now one step at a time. That's great. Now move your right foot; now the left hand; now the left foot; now the right hand.'

  It took about ten minutes to make the climb, but there were still two climbs to go. Kim called a rest for a few minutes. 'Now I will go up there, secure the rope and then I'll come back for you, okay?'

  Susan nodded.

  Half an hour later, an exhausted Susan was lying down on one of the backpacks sipping water. She heaved a sigh of relief and looked admiringly at Kim. 'I really couldn't have done that without you, I don't know how you do it.'

  'Just wait till we get home, we can give you lessons then. Is the baby alright?' she asked anxiously.

  'I think so, everything feels normal.'

  'I'll fetch Chloe now. She's probably wondering if we're okay.'

  An hour and a half later, Kim and Chloe appeared at the top of the cliff. 'We'll stay over there tonight.' Kim pointed to a large tree. 'I know exactly where we are now. The gate is a two day walk from here.'

  By mid-afternoon, on the third day after the climb, the three of them came out of the bush and there, as if by magic, was the oft-mentioned gate. Kim picked up the old-fashioned handset which Joe had installed for regular contact with The Bandstand and wound the handle vigorously.

  'Hello, who is it?'

  'It's Kim and Chloe and we have a visitor. Could I ask you to let us in and please bring three horses?'

  'Who? Kim?' said a disbelieving voice.

  'Yes, we were stuck in Sydney, but now we're here.'

  'We'll be there soon! This is unbelievable, everyone thought … '

  The connection was cut.

  'It may be dark by the time they get here. It's about a three hour ride from the stables,' Kim told Susan.

  Chloe started fussing around. 'Dear God, look at us! We all look like nothing on earth. We should try and tidy up a bit. Whatever will they think?'

  Kim laughed. 'Don't be ridiculous Granma. We look like we've been wandering through the bush for almost two months, which is exactly what we've been doing. At least we are all in one piece and healthy, especially little mother here.'

  They all laughed, glad their ordeal was nearly over.

  'Don't call me Granma. Here Susan, let me tidy you up a bit. I'll brush your hair and you can wash your face.'

  Almost three hours later there was a cacophony of sound coming from inside the fence. It seemed almost everyone from the community had come out to greet them. Dozens of people came rushing through the gate—David, Mark, Tanya, Joe, Patricia, and all the children. Chloe kept a firm grip on Susan, making certain she was not drowned by the reception. There were hugs and kisses all round and Chloe kept introducing Susan, who after weeks of not meeting anyone was quite overwhelmed by all the attention.

  Chloe found herself enveloped in David's arms. For a brief moment it was almost like old times. 'We're all thrilled you made it back. We'd almost given up hope.'

  She looked at him, but could see nothing had changed. He would've said that to anyone who'd spent two months walking back here.

  Three horses appeared and, with Chloe leading Susan's horse, they made their way to the village.

  'There will be a bit of a reception in the community centre,' David told everyone within earshot. 'We had almost given up. What a day!'

  Somehow they all managed to escape the crowd and went to bed; Kim to Joe and Patricia's house.

  Chloe said to David, 'Susan will have to stay with us, probably permanently. I'll explain who she is tomorrow.'

  Chloe had half expected David to say something about the validity of his predictions, but, to his credit, he never mentioned the subject again.

  The community insisted on hearing the story in the centre the next day. Kim and Chloe told the full story, with Susan adding her part towards the end of the presentation as she grew in confidence. The community really took her to their hearts and there were never any questions about what she was able to contribute. Chloe adopted her and took her to the doctor at the first opportunity.

  'Three months plus,' Susan was told after she had been examined. 'It is likely to be a fine, healthy baby; just eat well, don't drink or smoke, and come and see me every month. Chloe will make sure you join an appropriate exercise class if that's what you want. I'm assuming you want to keep the baby.'

  Susan nodded.

  A month or so later she talked to Chloe. 'I now sort of understand this place and have seen all those horrible pictures of the floods hitting Sydney and other parts of the world.' Susan shivered involuntarily. She looked entreatingly at Chloe, 'If it wasn't for you and Kim I would be dead. I know that. But I keep thinking about my family. I'd like to know what happened to them. I know Tanya has taken flights over Sydney. Do you think she would help me?'

  Tanya took Kim and Susan on the flight, as Kim had the best knowledge of where they crossed the road; the place where Susan and her parents were stuck. They studied the map and soon came up with the coordinates.

  When they flew over the area they could see that cars were still scattered everywhere, but there was absolutely no sign of life.

  'If I fly low, will you be able to spot your family car?' asked Kim, looking at Susan, who was trying desperately not to be sick.

  'Probably.'

  They made several passes over the mass of vehicles looking for a bright red Toyota.

  'There, under a tree,' said Kim. 'Does that look like the vehicle?'

  Susan was sick all over the interior of the helicopter. 'Yes, maybe.'

  'Do you remember the registration number?'

  Susan gave her what she could remember of the number as they flew slowly past.

  'That looks like it could be the vehicle,' said Kim. 'If we can land I will go and have a look.'

  Tanya found a level area and landed the machine fifty metres from the car. Kim leapt out and said to Susan, 'You stay here, I will have a look. But please understand, there is no chance there is anyone alive in that car.'

  Kim shot two threatening-looking dogs as she ran to the car. All the windows were closed and the doors locked. Looking inside, she saw the remains of two adults and three children. She shot the driver's window out and reached in to open the door and was immediately sick from the overwhelming stench of putrefaction. Holding her breath, with a valiant effort she managed to find the man's wallet in his jacket pocket. Driver's licence in hand, she ran back to the helicopter.

  'Is this your dad?' she asked a very pale and shaken Susan, who nodded and burst into tears.

  'There is a man, woman, and three children in the car. They have been dead for some time. I think your father shot them all and then himself. I'm really sorry.'

  Susan said nothing, but tears continued to flow.

  'Can I see them?' Susan asked eventually.

  'I don't think that's a good idea, they are all in a terrible state of decomposition. Better keep your memories.'

  Susan nodded after some reflection, 'Mum, Dad, and my three younger sisters,' she whispered.

  'The best thing I can do is set fire to the car. We can say a few prayers like we did in the forest for Mick.'

  Susan nodded tearfully. 'At least I know what happened to them.'

  Kim and Susan said a few short prayers standing next to the helicopter. Susan returned to her seat and Kim took her short-barrelled automatic and fired a burst into where she assumed the car's fuel tank would be. Some fuel started to drip, but there w
as no sign of fire.

  'Here, wrap this paper around a stone, light it, and then throw it at the car. Don't get too close.' Tanya handed her the paper and a box of matches. Once the paper was lit, Kim threw it at the car. Within seconds, the leaking fuel caught fire and the tank exploded, the car becoming a ball of flames. They sat and watched for a few minutes.

  'Do you want to pay a quick visit to your home?' Tanya asked Susan.

  'Yes please,' said a tearful Susan. 'I may be able to find a few photos and some clothes.' She gave Tanya an address in Horsley Park.

  The helicopter was hovering over a house in a well-to-do street. 'That's the place,' said Susan excitedly; she wiped away her few remaining tears. The whole area appeared to be deserted and Tanya landed in the wide street opposite the house.

  Kim and a rejuvenated Susan dashed out and ran to the house. Susan found the front door key under a flower pot and rushed into the house, which, although dusty and stale, was just as it had been left weeks earlier. Kim filled a bucket with water and went back to the still-running machine and cleaned up Susan's vomit.

  Susan soon appeared with a suitcase. 'Just a few clothes and some photos. I could bring my laptop if there was room?'

  Tanya nodded, 'You could bring sheets and blankets as well.'

  Having cleaned up the mess in the helicopter, Kim made certain the electricity and gas in the house was switched off and that the garbage had been put out. She checked all the windows. 'The lights are no longer working, but at some time in the future the utility companies may start operating again,' she explained to Susan.

  They filled the helicopter with Susan's luggage and a collection of sheets and blankets. There was no sign of anyone.

  'The whole street decided to leave at the same time, there was no real plan,' said Susan as they took off towards home. She took the house key with her.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Their New World

  Tanya and Roger, by now a competent pilot, flew the helicopter around Sydney and environs on several occasions making extensive video recordings. Central Sydney was almost completely flooded, and Circular Quay inundated. The huge skyscrapers stood like sentinels, knee deep in water. The Kurnell Oil Refinery was under water. There were long streaks of oil from the refinery on the south side of Botany Bay and from the airport on the north side. Several cranes, some suspended at precarious angles, was all that was visible of Port Botany. A ship's funnel poked out of the water on Southern Cross Drive, seemingly the ship had been lifted from its mooring at the port and driven the three kilometres inland to its current resting place during the first violent impact of the flood. The nearby Kingsford-Smith Airport was completely flooded, with a few tail fins of abandoned aircraft just visible. Very occasionally people emerged and waved desperately, but in general the city was deserted.

  They landed on an oval close to Epping Road. The rugby posts on the oval were sticking out of knee high, unmown grass in anticipation of the next game, now never to be played. As with all the major arteries out of the city, the road was jammed up with cars not going anywhere. Tanya hopped out, leaving Roger at the controls of the machine. She disappeared for a few minutes and then Roger saw her being violently sick next to the deserted bus stop.

  A very pale Tanya returned to the aircraft and sat silently for a minute. 'Dead people! Most cars have several bodies inside, although there were some on the pavement. It's too ghastly to think about. They all just died there. Many of the bodies outside the cars look as if they've been partially eaten by something, probably dogs. Let's go. There's nothing we can do for these people.'

  After several of these trips, she said to Roger, 'I think we will leave it at that. We should show it all to the community though.'

  Mark said to Tanya one evening over dinner, 'With all our recent patrols there was no sign of any direct threat to us here at The Settlement. But I'm still worried about Demetriou and Fred.'

  Tanya nodded.

  'Jonathan told Dad in a recent satellite call that all the jails were opened up to give inmates a chance of surviving by themselves. I just wonder how long it will be before we see them. '

  Tanya said nothing, but her eyes widened . She hadn't given Demetriou a thought in years.

  'There has also been some contact with Evan, so he is still alive. All the message said was "Rome" and then weeks later "Istanbul", according to Jonathan.'

  Tanya forced herself to relax.

  Jonathan was now the most senior surviving officer in the army. David had kept in close touch with him by way of a satellite phone for a while and then with a flock of homing pigeons both The Settlement and the army base near Canberra had nurtured for the past few years.

  'We are surviving,' Jonathan told David, 'but have no capacity to help anyone. Our resources are concerned mainly with incursions from the North. When you are able, it would be helpful if you could secure the Port of Newcastle. You have the military capacity. My guess is you have two or three years to do it.'

  'What about Sydney?' asked David.

  'Nothing at the moment, but leave that to us.'

  Over ensuing months, Mark and his brother Jonathan had set up regular meetings, sometimes in the now deserted city of Canberra and on alternate visits at The Settlement.

  On one of his visits to Canberra, Mark enquired about Virginia Andrews.

  'At the time of the collapse and before the flood hit, many of the people here returned home to see if they could help their families. I think Captain Andrews went home.'

  During his discussions with Mark, Jonathan frequently referred to his battle with some of the military hierarchy who had thought his Ice Shelf obsession was ridiculous fantasy. However, he'd managed to maintain a budget and had copied many of The Settlement initiatives, 'What you did at The Settlement is now the basis of the survival of what's left of the Australian military establishment. I think, in time, it will be the basis of re-creating some sort of Government in Australia.'

  There were ten thousand active military personnel on various bases as well as in ships and submarines scattered around the coast of Australia, plus partners and children. A food supply, schools, and hospitals were all being maintained.

  'We are trying to establish the number of people and groups that have survived. We estimate there are about one hundred groups, such as yours, around Australia that survived the flood aftermath; The Settlement being the most highly developed. Our resources are stretched now maintaining the geographic integrity of Australia. In future, in cooperation with groups like yours, we would hope to be able to be a catalyst in rebuilding the Australian nation.'

  At the time of the flood, Jonathan had taken the initiative to deploy troops to several bases in the continent's North. 'I had already secretly created infrastructure in Darwin harbour to cope with an increase in sea levels of fifteen metres, so most of the navy made it there. We managed to feed all the depots from Canberra at first, but most of them now have their own sources of food.'

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Isolation, Continued

  Graham was enthusiastic about his new project and encouraged several others to join him in clearing some two hundred hectares of the bush at the northern end of the property. 'I could make furniture from some of these trees, even the burnt ones,' he told David. 'If we had some proper tools it would help a lot.'

  'Do you know anyone who stocked tools in Sydney?'

  'Sure, plenty of places. I know exactly where to go.'

  A few days later, Tanya, with Joe and Graham on board, set out to find the site of a major supplier of high grade tools in Western Sydney. They flew around the factory several times, but there was no sign of life, so Tanya set the machine down in the main fenced-in yard. Graham and Joe checked out the locked main door, then asked Tanya to pick it.

  'Okay, but you two stand guard here. We never know who might appear from the shadows. Walking back home has no appeal.'

  It took a few minutes to unlock and open the door.

  'Only tak
e relatively light objects,' she reminded them as she returned and waited in the pilot's seat.

  Joe and Graham emerged with a trolley loaded with various objects.

  'Extraordinary,' Graham said. 'The place has been left clean and tidy, almost as if they were expecting to return tomorrow. Anyway, now I can really get on and make some decent furniture. I will probably set up a sawmill in the forest to avoid shifting all the trees down to the village.'

  Having set a precedent, every month or so, Tanya was asked to go on similar expeditions to find items that were desperately needed. Mostly, they went about their business unhindered. Once, several people armed with rifles appeared as they circled the premises. Tanya immediately backed the helicopter away and flew out of range.

  'Phew,' she said, 'one can't be too careful.'

  Chloe looked after Susan as if she was her own. She always attended the medical examinations and made certain Susan was eating correctly and had enough rest. She encouraged her to continue with her schoolwork.

  David, although he had no objection to the pretty girl, became more and more lonely at home. He began to spend more time at The Bandstand and his liaison with Caroline flourished.

  As Susan's time approached, Chloe said to him in a quiet moment, 'The baby will arrive soon and I'm committed to helping Susan look after it. But that's not really fair on you. So I was thinking, Jonathan's house is unused; one of us should probably move in there. It doesn't matter to me which one of us it is.'

  Jonathan's house was well furnished and, without any fuss, David moved his belongings there. He had become quite used to fending for himself due to Chloe's frequent absences in Sydney. It also meant he could make trips to The Bandstand without having to explain his absences.