by Leo Nix
Urban Guerrilla
Sundown Apocalypse Book 1
Leo Nix
Copyright (C) 2017 Leo Nix
Layout design and Copyright (C) 2018 by Creativia
Published 2018 by Creativia
Cover art by Stephen Kingston
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.
Contact the author, Leo Nix: http://www.leo-nix.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LeoNixSundown/
Web: http://www.wingtipdesign.com.au/
A special thank you to: Bruce and Marja for their generous support and the difficult task of proof reading; Peter for his ongoing technical assistance in all things military.
Dedication: to Nulla, a damn good mate.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Sundown - Flinders Ranges
Chapter 2 - Nulla - Luke and Simon's Apocalypse
Chapter 3 - Charlene - Heidi
Chapter 4 - Charlene - Arthur
Chapter 5 - Nulla - Safe House
Chapter 6 - Charlene - Zombies, Phil and Fatima
Chapter 7 - Nulla - Glenda
Chapter 8 - Nulla - Debrief
Chapter 9 - Charlene - Gas Bomb
Chapter 10 - Charlene - Phil's Lovers
Chapter 11 - Nulla - Terrorist Safe House
Chapter 12 - Charlene - Back to Uni
Chapter 13 - Nulla - Love Nest
Chapter 14 - Charlene - Arthur's Fight
Chapter 15 - Charlene - Tony's Torment
Chapter 16 - Charlene - Tony's Last Stand
Chapter 17 - Nulla - Glenda's Battle
Chapter 18 - Sundown - Birdsville Track Patrol
Chapter 19 - Sundown - Alice Springs Command
Chapter 20 - Sundown - The Demon Plans
Chapter 21 - Nulla and Charlene
Chapter 22 - Nulla and Charlene - Leaving the City
Chapter 23 - Sundown - Roo's Reckoning
Epilogue
Glossary of Australian Words
Characters - Sundown Apocalypse: Urban Guerrilla
Books in the Sundown Apocalypse Series
Chapter 1 - Sundown - Flinders Ranges
Even though the weather had cooled a little it was still hard going across the desert sand. Roo pulled up on top of a towering sand dune and peered into the distance. Bongo pulled up beside him. He lowered his handkerchief and spoke. “Roo, how much further to the homestead? I'm pretty sure my fuel is almost done.”
Pulling out his binoculars Bongo looked in the direction his silent friend pointed. Sure enough there was a tiny set of buildings a few kilometres away. “I can see some buildings. I hope my bike makes it. I'm running on fumes right now. How are you for fuel?”
Roo bent and looked at his fuel gauge and nodded `all good'.
“I'll lead just in case I run out. Let's go.” Bongo kicked his bike forward in the red sand and slid sideways down the face of the sand dune.
The landscape in this region was sparsely dotted with spinifex and salt bush. Here and there patches of green grass began to show more frequently as they approached the foothills of the towering Flinders Ranges. They rode up to the first shed before stopping.
As they kicked their bike stands down three cattle dogs raced from behind the house barking and growling viciously. Roo whistled loudly and the dogs suddenly stopped, looked at him curiously then gathered around the olive skinned kangaroo shooter to sniff his extended hand. Finally satisfied he was safe they began wagging their tails. Next the dogs checked Bongo's scent before jumping all over them both. Just then a young man appeared from around the side of the shed, his shotgun pointed directly at them. Roo carefully removed his helmet for the man to see who it was.
“Roo! For shit-sake, I nearly shot you! What the blazes are you doing out here?” the man shouted and walked across to shake the newcomer's hands.
“I'm Bongo, we've come down from Birdsville. We're pretty buggered, it's been a long trip and we need some fuel and a feed,” he said as the they walked their bikes into the shed and dismounted their gear. Roo busied himself cleaning grass stalks and seeds from his bike engine. Bongo followed suit while the young man chatted to them catching up with the news.
The farmer introduced himself as Riley, he informed Roo and Bongo of the local situation. “Those terrorists have been shooting up the homesteaders and taking some of them away. Jarl Horsely, said they've got a prison farm or something in Hawker and they're working them as slaves. Strange eh? His missus said the terrorists were religious folks she knew before all this happened and now they've turned crazy. Fancy killing people for nothing? There's no army, no police, nobody can stop them.” He pulled his felt hat off and scratched at his head as he wandered off to fill their empty fuel cans. The two men from Sundown's Commando could clearly see a stack of forty-four gallon drums of fuel in his tractor shed.
Riley finished filling the fuel cans then called his family to come out of hiding. Riley's two small children smiled shyly as they stood staring at the two men as though they had never seen a stranger before.
“Have you had any contact with the terrorists?” asked Bongo curious to know what was happening closer to civilisation.
“Not us, we're too far out for them to bother, I reckon. We've holed up here trying to keep our heads down. Sometimes we'll drive around to get some supplies from Jarl, but otherwise we stay away from everyone. They've been to just about every other station though, and collected people, killed some too. They tried to take all the cattle and sheep but they'd no idea what they're doing, so they gave up and left the area, gone back to Hawker we reckon.
“Most of them ain't from around here, they're mostly city folk and don't know anything about the bush or farming. That's why they've taken people from their farms, to work for them. Those they don't put into their prison farms they tax, they take a percentage of their food, cattle or sheep or crops. They call it `tithing', something to do with the Bible, Jarl said.” Katie looked at the two dusty riders as she picked up their youngest, Harry, and balanced him on her hip. The dogs continued to race about sniffing the interesting smells from the boys and their bikes.
Bongo filled them in on their battles with the terrorists and about their commando in Birdsville. He asked where the best place would be to settle in the Flinders Ranges. Bongo explained that they were sent to find a safe haven for their people. The farmer and his wife nodded, shifting their feet a little nervously.
“Arkaroola village is nice, you could probably settle there for a while. Anywhere towards Wilpena Pound would be a good enough place too, but Wilpena's occupied by the Wilson family, they're strange people. Don't go west or south of the ranges because that's where the terrorists have set up some of their outposts and prison farms. They'll capture you and make you work for them. We can help show you some places if you don't mind waiting a day or so. You could help me shift some cattle and sheep around? If you don't mind, I'd really appreciate some help.”
He looked at his wife and put his hand on her shoulder, only then did he notice how thin she was. “Poor Katie's exhausted trying to look after the kids and be my rouseabout at the same time. But come inside first and get some tucker into you, then we can look at the map and make some plans.”
Riley was one of Roo's cousins on his father's side, his brothers once had properties all over the Flinders Ranges. He was t
he only one who stayed behind to farm, the rest sold out to live in the city.
“Yeah, Earl lives in Adelaide and Mitchell lives down near Mount Gambier. They hardly ever bothered to visit. Katie and I love the bush, we've survived droughts, floods and bushfires but now we're really struggling. We have to hide whenever we hear a sound, and it's getting on our nerves a bit. We'd sure welcome some neighbours who knew how to fight them Revelationist terrorists. We'd sure appreciate some help with the animals and harvest too. We put in some barley and wheat with the help of a few of the survivors hereabouts. I'm too afraid to start up the harvester in case the terrorists see the dust cloud and come to investigate.” Riley was talking while Roo and Bongo hungrily ate his wife's home-made bread with piles of butter, cold meat and pickles.
Through his hot tea and a mouth full of sandwich Bongo asked them about Wilpena Pound and the Wilson's.
“I'm not sure exactly what's going on in there, Bongo. We haven't gone out there since this started, we're too afraid to. There are others like us who escaped the terrorists and didn't get captured, but we stay away from them too just in case they put us in. If they don't know we exist then they can't point the finger at us.”
That evening they relaxed, talking and playing with Riley's kids. Bongo was in his element rolling on their kangaroo and cattle skin covered dirt floor wrestling and laughing with little Harry and his older sister, Elle. Katie spent most of her time smiling as she watched her children having a wonderful time playing with someone else for a change. Riley was usually too tired to do much with his kids of an evening and she was flat out helping him and keeping the family fed. Neither had much energy left for their children, she thought, and her eyes reflected her sadness.
The children were put to bed in one of the double beds beside the fireplace and were soon asleep.
Roo indicated he wanted to head off for bed too. Neither of the adventurers could keep from nodding their heads, they were exhausted. Riley told them to throw their swags in the shed, it was the best place to sleep with the nights now getting cooler. Their one bedroom shack was already overflowing and there was simply no room for visitors.
Outside, the moon shone brightly. Roo walked Bongo over to the fences while the dogs walked beside them. “Roo, what say we do some work around the place tomorrow before we do our recon of the Flinders Ranges?” suggested Bongo.
Roo fingered the wire and pointed to the many places that needed mending. “Yeah, I can see it needs a lot of repair work. You want to hang around and repair Riley's fences and do some odd jobs?” Bongo asked, Roo nodded. “OK, why not do a good job of it and spend the week here, shoot a few kangaroos and emu's for them and then go exploring, what do ya reckon?” Again the silent kangaroo shooter nodded this time with a smile on his tired face.
Over the next six days the three of them worked from sun-up to sun-down doing everything from repairing the shed roof to fixing fences and chasing cattle and sheep from one paddock to another. Roo shot four large kangaroos and two emu's and they ate like kings. What they didn't eat they cut into strips, salted down and hung them out to dry for jerky.
On the seventh day Riley said they should go out to Wilpena Pound to meet the Wilson family and have a yarn with them. He warned them not to take their weapons, or to say anything about Birdsville, or their intentions to move here. He said he didn't like the Wilson's much and didn't trust them, no one did.
They left early in the morning riding their bikes along the back tracks. When they finally hit the main bitumen road they were blocked by a large herd of cattle. Two friendly stockmen rode up and invited them to their camp site for lunch.
At the stockmen's campsite was a truck, caravan, and a cook busy making the midday meal. One by one, the cattlemen came in for their lunch. Riley knew some of them and they came over to shake hands and introduce themselves.
“Hi Riley, how have you been mate, not seen you for a while. I thought the Revelationists might have got to you too. How's the missus and the kids?” asked Laurie, a lean sunburned man in his thirties.
“We're doing well, Laurie, how's your family? They safe?” The group yarned for a while catching up on the news and then the conversation turned to current events and the terrorists.
Laurie spoke up first. “They've got control of the entire country, mate. They tithe ten percent of everyone's cattle and sheep too. They like us here but only because Jack's a Wilson, and they don't touch the Wilson's. They've got a prison farm on the other side of the ranges, and have taken most of the farmers in the region to work there. You'd better watch yourself, Riley, because they'll take you and Katie too if they find you.
“Our Jack's not as bad as his old man but try to avoid him if you can. He doesn't come around much but he's here today, just keep your head down and be polite. You never know what he'll do. He's got four arseholes who run the property for him - psycho's they are, avoid them if you can. They've got connections with the Revelationists and do their dirty work for them. They act a bit like those Nazi Gestapo.”
Riley looked at Laurie and the small gathering around the camp fire. A few of the heads nodded in agreement with Laurie. Cookie came over and added, “If Jack finds out yer here with these two strangers there might be trouble, Riley. They're after more cow hands so just finish yer meals, and leave, boys. Don't make a fuss of it, just jump yer bikes and head back where yer came from.”
Again those same heads nodded.
The meal was almost over and the stockmen began preparing to move back to their cattle just as Jack arrived in his four wheel drive. He got out and walked over to the three trail bikes, then wandered over to the camp-fire with his four henchmen and sat down.
“Riley, nice to see you, mate, it's been a while. Brought some friends with you?” Jack called across the fire.
“G'day, Jack. You might remember my cousins Roo and Bongo, on my father's side. They're up from Yalpara ways, been working the cattle stations and harvesting wheat. They dropped in to give me a hand with me cattle and repair some fences. How's things with you, Jack?” asked Riley, amicably, but his eye's watched Jack's carefully.
“We're busy, as you can see. We could do with some extra hands though. You boys ride a horse and muster cattle, eh?” he called to Roo and Bongo. The boys both nodded.
“If you've finished working on Riley's property, I'll take you all on. We're light handed right now and could use you today…” The large man thought for a moment his eyes shifting from one of the newcomers to the other. “How about I send some of my boys over to help you, Riley, they could speed things up a bit with your repairs? The sooner we get some extra hands with the muster the better.”
No one spoke for a half minute. The uncomfortable silence was broken when Bongo spoke. “That's nice of you Jack, thanks for the offer but we're only here for the week and today was our last day. Riley wanted to show off the beautiful Flinders before we headed back.” He watched the man opposite, waiting for his reaction.
“No sweat, boys,” Jack said but he didn't sound pleased, “If you want full-time work just let me know, good workers are hard to come by. Things have changed in the world, boys, so bring your families if you want, we can put them up as well. We're a family friendly company and you'd all be welcome.” His eyes had gone dark and he looked away from the three as he stood up. “Right lads, back to work. Riley, nice to meet you again, take care now, boys.”
Within seconds the gathering dispersed and the only ones left were the three from Arkaroola and the cook. Bongo could hear Jack speaking with his four henchmen beside their bikes. It made him feel uncomfortable.
“Boys,” said the cook softly as he collected the cups and plates, a smoke hanging from the side of his mouth, “I suggest you take him up on the offer. He's got a nasty streak and no one gets away with saying no to him.”
“Why? What could he do?” asked Bongo, curious.
“What could he do?” The cook laughed. “He'll kill you.”
Riley looked at the cook then a
t Roo and Bongo. “We'd better get back to Katie, I don't like this.” He stood up to leave.
As he did a voice called from beside the bikes, “Hey, nice bikes you got there boys. I tell you what, you do a days work with me and I'll let you have them back.” It was Jack's voice and beside him stood his four bully-boys. They each had side-arms strapped to their leather belts.
“No sweat, Jack.” Bongo called back politely, “Roo and I can hang around for a few days and can give you a hand if you need us that badly, sure. But you'd better let Riley get back to his missus and kids, they'll be frightened something's happened to us.”
“We don't want to keep Riley from his kids,” replied Jack. He looked at Riley and said, “Piss off, Riley, we'll probably drop in some time and invite you back here.” Then he turned to the two Birdsville lads. “Grab yourselves a horse and join us. If it's adventures in the Flinders you want, we've got plenty. Leave your gear here, it's safe, I guarantee it. Cookie will make sure no one touches anything.”
Bongo thought just how fortunate it was that they'd left their rifles in Riley's shed.
The two worked with a will which impressed Jack and his bully-boys. Roo was an expert horseman having learned to ride horses, camels and donkeys since before he could walk. Bongo was still a bit of a rookie but he did a good-enough job. By nightfall they had joined the muster gang for dinner and sat around the camp-fire chatting and drinking the Wilson's beer.
Bongo was watching the four bully-boys like a hawk. He knew that at any moment one of the them would challenge either Roo or himself, he'd seen their likes before. They were drinking like cattlemen did after a hard day in the saddle. He noticed how the four enjoyed their positions of power, openly bullying the others when it pleased them.
“Hey, boy! Rooster, or whatever you call yourself. How'd ya learn to ride like that?” called the tallest, Brad.
Roo looked at him but didn't speak. Bongo felt the heat rise inside him when Brad's mate, Joey called Roo a `dumb prick'. Bongo felt his outrage rise and knew that the four were looking for a fight.
