Apocalypse: Diary of a Survivor 4 (Apocalypse Survivors)

by Matt Pike

  Hopefully, we can give everyone the moment they deserve. I mean, it’s a stupid thing to say, because they actually deserve to be alive, but you know what I mean.

  After the meeting, Shane and I walked down to the oval once again. We sat against the fence and looked over everything that was happening around us.

  “Can you believe this all started with you and me?” he said after what seemed like an age.

  I laughed. “No, no I can’t.”

  “Yes you can.” he added after another pause.

  “We did good, didn’t we?” I said.

  It was his turn to laugh. “The best.”

  *

  During the next couple of hours, I tracked down every member of our former New Adelaide crew. Asked what they were doing with their time, how they felt and thanked them for their bravery.

  I’d already caught up with Jonesy at the workshop, Steph and Shane, plus Alyce (obviously) and Angie, who were helping out the nursing staff.

  Kent was with his plants, of course. He now has a team working with him. The challenge ahead of them is a massive one. They’re already working on the spring planting, preparing the soil and nurturing the plants.

  Kelly and Asha have been in and out of the place on transport duties.

  As far as the food goes, we’re ferrying in each group’s supplies as quick as we can. Some had left teams behind to guard their supplies when everything went down the other day. But, seeing what we’re building here and the win it could be for everyone, well, each group is completely committed to this.

  They also had chickens and a rooster up at Mitcham. I can’t tell you how excited I am by that. Sorry, some yet-to-be-born chicken, I’m already salivating.

  Mark has been part of the massive crew setting up the tent city. The bullet he took hasn’t seemed to slow him down much at all. Their sights will soon turn to removing the ash from around our future homes in North Adelaide. Like the guy hasn’t spent enough of his life digging ash recently.

  Trav was just getting back from a swipe mission. They’d raided all the fishing supplies a small town’s worth of people could probably ever need. There’s a crew heading down tomorrow for the first time. Before that, they’d reclaimed the bodies from the last battle of the oval. Their remains got the dignity they deserved and tonight their spirits will be honoured as well.

  Eliza is helping with food prep and logistics. Food - there’s a lot of it right now, but it’s scary how much this many people can consume in a day. We can’t afford waste. None. Anyway, while the serving gives her a chance to meet a lot of people, the logistics around what we have and how we use it are critical to our future.

  That just leaves Jessie. Losing Nate hit him hard - like he needed any more to deal with. He’d spent a bit of time in the garage with Jonesy, but I don’t think it’s his kind of thing. He’s just been moving from one odd job to the next, still trying to find his path, or maybe his way back. Seemed like a good chance for me to open applications for my ride assistant on Phoenix, for whenever I went out.

  To say he was excited to accept the role was an understatement. Think he’ll make a good co-pilot. Sure, he’s a bit green, but look where I started.

  *

  We’re also establishing an official structure to the leadership. We want people from all groups included. It’s the only way it’s going to truly work. It also gives everyone a connection to someone to have their say.

  Our group has nominated Steph and Kelly, with Shane and I automatically selected as the founders of the oval.

  I’m not sure if I want the gig or not. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great honour, and the chance to help shape this new world is exciting.

  I just know me. And I know what I’m like. I know adventure will call at me soon enough. I’m seeing this beautiful home start to grow around me and I know, unless something unforeseen happens, I will want that to be a part of my life as long as I have life.

  But there’s something in my DNA now. Something that makes me want to look at the world differently, to try something new, to take a different path, to look at a map and say I want to go there or try this. There are still entire sections of Adelaide we don’t know about. Places that would’ve been above the tsunami line and could have other survivors. There’s plenty of potential options south of the Adelaide plains. Also, beyond the hills east. Even though the Melbourne blast wave would’ve wiped most things from the map, there may be towns in valleys protected by the surrounding landscape where they survived.

  Of course, I don’t have anything beyond hope and hunches. But seeing the way the city is reconnecting, it makes sense to grow that out as far as we can.

  There’s strength in numbers... safety, as well.

  The further we spread and reconnect, the safer we’ll be.

  Give me that any day, over town planning.

  Besides, I still want to try to head beyond that one day. I had one failed attempt months ago to head to Canberra – the biggest city in Australia that escaped any major damage on impact night. I haven’t given up on the idea of getting there.

  Maybe I’ll have to swap Phoenix for a helicopter for that adventure. Maybe I’ll need a team with me. That sounds like the start of another mission right there.

  *

  I’ve passed the ham radio onto Shane and his team. They’re going to try to rig it up to the aerial tower, to try to maximise the signal. On the HF bandwidth we could make communication across the globe, in theory. And to think I got excited with the idea of making contact with the southern suburbs!

  I mean, the possibilities here are amazing. The thought of finding out what might be happening somewhere else, it’s… well... unfathomable, right now.

  Extending our connection around the city is one thing, but connecting back into that bigger world is everything.

  *

  Tonight we had our ceremony for the fallen.

  Jimmy from the Goodwood crew led proceedings and he was amazing. He used his background and understanding of life as an indigenous Australian to speak of life and our connection to the land. He is one of the Kaurna people, whose history in this part of the land stretches back an untold number of years.

  His words managed to connect the loss we were all feeling for those who had gone to who we were as a people and the path the world presented to us going forward. Their loss is part of a legacy that will continue to shape this land and everything that happens in the world we create moving forward.

  I thought of all those who’d fallen. From the people and stories I didn’t know to the amazing times I’d spent with Nate and Ye-jun.

  As we released a small raft down the river for each departed soul, with a candle burning in their memory, I was filled with sadness, love, hope and belonging. I lit the candle for Ye-jun and watched as his light danced into the distance alongside those of Nate’s and the others.

  I was soon back in Alyce’s arms, both reflecting and thinking forward.

  I thought about everything that had led me to that moment. I thought about everyone I knew, or had known, and this city. I thought about the Kaurna people and the legacy they’d shaped over millennia. I thought of the small part I was playing in the legacy of this corner of the earth that’d seen so much beyond the last year. Also, what that legacy meant.

  What living from the available resources around me and us meant. What community meant. What home meant. What love meant.

  I stood there, with Alyce in my arms, thinking how lucky I was. Thinking how amazing my life ahead would be.

  What more could any person want?

  *

  April 13, 2015

  Before I retire this diary to collect dust alongside the others, I just wanted to add a little note on this date. In the early hours of the morning, one year ago today, our world was changed forever.

  Life is finally starting to reestablish itself in a meaningful way. There are no new threats, no new enemies. Just survivors. It took nearly a year, but I can officially call myself a sur
vivor.

  *

  Every night at dusk, we sound the oval’s siren. It’s a calling card to invite others to come and join us. We have already had some new arrivals. May it continue to grow.

  *

  Oh, the HF radio is installed and operating. It’s a bit fluky and limited at the moment, with all the ash and crap still clogging up the atmosphere, but we have already managed one brief far off contact. India! We talked to India! The connection didn’t last long, thanks to some change in conditions somewhere, but it was long enough to know there are a lot of people using radio signals to communicate around the world. We are now registered in that community. The signal will get better as the months pass and there will be far more to come, but right now, a guy in New Delhi called Sunder Bhagat knows of the existence of a community of 629 people in Adelaide, Australia. He was also very impressed we had set up home at the oval, saying he’d watched every Australia v India Test match there in the last 50 years and had always wanted to come.

  We said he had a lifelong invitation.

  Sunder will pass that on and the database will grow.

  As our HF connection becomes more stable, we can expect more, a lot more.

  Who knows what information that brings about the bigger world and those who survived. Maybe I’ll find out about what happened to Jase. I hope so.

  *

  Finally, Alyce and I have set the date for our wedding. In two weeks from now I will be a married man. Shane will be my best man, Angie will be Alyce’s bridesmaid. There will be hundreds to watch as well. There will be a few notable exceptions and they’ll leave a hole. That aside, I am a happy man.

  *

  For now, diary, I sign off. Thanks for everything you have given me. Most importantly the strength and sanity to survive. I owe a lot of who I am to you and our connection will never be forgotten.

  Who knows, maybe we’ll write another chapter together some day.

  In the meantime, it’s time for one more significant goodbye.

  So, goodbye, diary, from a survivor.

  Jack Baldwin.

  ###

  The End.

  COMING 2020

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  WARNING: THIS Q&A CONTAINS SPOILERS. PLEASE READ THE BOOK FIRST.

  I can’t believe that Jack’s story is complete! How did it feel to finally hit the point where you could type ‘The End’ on a page?

  It was definitely a big moment. I mean, writing those six letters at the end of any book brings an indescribable mix of emotions, but to end a series is something else altogether. Mainly, I felt good about where I left Jack’s story and the world I created. From a pure writing aspect, there was a sense of satisfaction and completion. I started working on book one in 2013 and, in the six years since, I’ve had some wonderful opportunities open up, such as attending events in Australia and overseas and getting to meet my readers, which I love. At the same time, there is definitely a tinge of sadness saying goodbye to this world and everything it has brought to my writing life.

  Did you do anything special to celebrate - or alternatively mourn?

  There may have been some red wine involved… and a fist pump… and a stupid dance. Also, is it OK to Hi-5 yourself? Asking for a friend.

  What are you going to miss most about writing this series?

  That it’s super fun. Also, the problem solving. I got to play rock night prepper/survivor myself and come up with ways to survive the things I threw at Jack. I also ‘pantsed’ this series, whereas I tend to ‘plan’ the others. Essentially, I started each book with a blank page and wrote as it came. It’s a super-satisfying technique when it comes together.

  Did you know how it was going to end when you started out on the first book?

  Aww, hell no! I didn’t even have a plan to end the first book when I started it. This conclusion probably started forming in my mind as I was in the second half of book three. I had set out to make the third the end of a trilogy, but the story kept pointing to something more/different. I’m so glad I just let it decide for me, rather than shoehorning the whole thing into my pre-conceived ideas.

  Did you always plan for Jack to live?

  Yeah, I did always want that outcome for Jack. I have put him into rather a cruel world, and done some pretty mean things to him (sorry/not sorry Jack), so it seems a fair trade-off that he gets to live. Also, hope/connection/sustainability became such powerful drivers for Jack and those around him throughout this series. It seemed apt that his new beginning would start with all those outcomes at his fingertips or achieved.

  What were the hardest and also the easiest scenes to write?

  Not a scene as such, but the middle section of the book had a couple of rewrites along the way. I found it a delicate balance to build the intrigue and stakes at the right pace, while keeping the tension around the fact something big was coming. I guess it’s easy to add action scenes along the way to create that, but this story was about a build-up to a big finish that (hopefully) didn’t telegraph where it was headed too much for your reading satisfaction. As for the easiest part - the finale with the Fat Man. That was the writing pay-off to all that build-up for me. It was very enjoyable to create. Although perhaps less so for him ;)

  You've done a lot of research for this series over the years, haven’t you?

  A hovercraft load. I tried to make every element of the story as realistic as possible. Given the event is something beyond anything human kind has recorded, there are some guesstimations in there, but I always tried to shape things as believably as I possibly could. Hours of research on previous comet/asteroid strikes and their impact helped shape book one. There was also a tool on the internet that allowed me to craft the size/speed/material/angle of the asteroid to work out the impact conditions in Adelaide. For book three, I even built a mini trebuchet, so I could understand the subtleties of how it functioned. Clearly I’m a word nerd with way too much time on my hands.

  What factoid or piece of research or post-rock innovation are you most proud to have included?

  Still pretty pleased with the trebuchets. I thought they were a good solution for Jack and his team at the time. Also, using siege weapons from long bygone eras seemed a cool juxtaposition and pretty apt for the state of the world post rock.

  Do you have any plans to flesh out the universe, perhaps by telling the story from another character's perspective?

  I very much do; not sure I could just go cold turkey on this world. I am completely fascinated by the Norwood crew and how they got to be who they were. There are so many questions I would love to find the answer to. So, I’m going to write a sidequel series about Zoe, the Fat Man and the Norwood crew across the same timeline. Obviously, Jack’s footprint will be deeply embedded as well, since they significantly shaped each others’ stories – perhaps in more ways than can be imagined!

  Given Hollywood loves a good YA series, would you love to see the story transported to the big screen? And who would play Jack?

  I could totally handle that. Or, you know, HBO/Netflix - I don’t want to lock you out of the conversation, either. It would be amazing to see the story told through a different medium. As for the actor to play Jack, I’m not sure. I’m too busy writing these days to know who’d fit the bill. Feel free to hit me up with your ideas though.

  And finally, y
our #1 tip if we do ever find ourselves facing rock night?

  Duck and cover. Only joking. Remember to pack condiments. Less joking, but I still am. My serious answer would be to tell everyone you love how you feel about them, plan as best you can, be smart, be flexible and think for yourself.

  About the author

  Like the legendary R M Williams, Matt was born in Jamestown in rural South Australia. But that’s where the remarkable similarities between these two end. While Reginald went from bushman to world renowned millionaire outback clothing designer, Matt is a complete dag who was lured by the city lights of Adelaide. Kindergarten in the big smoke was a culture shock, but it is here he first discovered his love of storytelling.

  In high school that love found an outlet in a series of completely unflattering cartoons about fellow students and teachers alike. He survived long enough to further his art into a successful career in multimedia design but, like a zombified leech, the lure of the written word gnawed at him, forcing him to pen his first novel, the award-winning sci-fi comedy epic, Kings of the World. It was followed the next year by Amazon Australia dystopian sci-fi best-seller Apocalypse: Diary of a Survivor.

  Matt donates part-proceeds of each book sold to find a cure for Rett Syndrome, a neurological condition the youngest of his three children, Abby, has. As a gorgeous Rett angel, Abby cannot walk, talk or use her hands in a meaningful way. So, not only is each of your book purchases a ticket to fantastically rounded, character driven, hilarious and poignant sci-fi awesomeness, it wraps you in a warm feeling that you’ve made a difference to people who deserve your help the most. Like the zombified leech it’s a no-brainer.