Fear The Outback (Book 1): Fear The Outback

by Cheshire, Stephen W.

  Austin looked at Justin and shrugged his shoulders. Austin launched the hook up into the air once more.

  “Come on…” Justin pleaded. The hook attached to the anchor. “Yeah!” Justin yelled.

  Austin tugged on the rope. It was secure and would be for at least a few minutes. “I’ll go first,” he said. Austin started to climb the rope, up towards the deck of the ship. Justin watched as Austin arrived at the anchor. He pulled the hook off of the anchor, throwing the anchor over the metal bars of the ship. Austin then launched his body over the railing onto the ship’s deck. The coast was clear. Austin looked down at Justin and waved him up.

  Justin climbed up the side of the ship and jumped over the railing onto the deck. “Right,” he whispered. “Let’s do this.”

  Austin and Justin snuck along the deck of the ship. They peered in through the round porthole windows, but it was dark, and so they couldn’t see a thing. They continued further down the ship, where they came to another door. Austin pulled the handle down. It was locked.

  “Fuck it,” he said.

  Justin looked around. “So, how are we going to get in?”

  Austin looked around as well. “Come on,” he said. “There should be another entrance down here.”

  Austin and Justin continued along the deck of the ship. They arrived at a heavy-duty door. Justin peered in through the porthole. It is completely dark inside. No lights were on. Nothing. Just pitch black. Justin pulled the handle down. The door was locked. The ship must have been sealed during the storm.

  Austin saw a box on the side of the wall. He pulled it open and saw a red lever inside which read: ‘Emergency Door Release.’ Austin took a deep breath and lifted the handle up. A clunk was heard. Justin looked at Austin with a plain, monophonic stare. Austin took a step back away from the door.

  Justin then reached down lowering the handle to the door. He pulled the door open. It glided open easily, though it was heavy. Justin looked forward through the scope of the rifle as he and Austin advanced into the ship. Justin looked down the corridors. He kept his heart rate slow, trying to reserve as much energy as he could.

  “Where would the medical bay be?” asked Austin.

  Justin looked forward to see a T-junction in the corridor. On the way to this junction was a map of the ship mounted on the wall. Justin squinted his eyes as Austin shone the torch at the picture. He scanned the map, looking for a red cross, which he eventually found.

  “That’s quite a trek” he commented.

  “We had better get going then,” Austin replied.

  Justin looked at the map again, trying to figure out the quickest way to the medical bay. It was on the deck three floors below them, just above the engineering room.

  “Come on,” Justin said.

  Justin looked to see the door that led up to the bridge. It had been left open. Justin climbed onto the stairs. He slowly walked up them, looking through the sight of the rifle. When they got to the bridge, Justin looked around. All of the avionic gauges and computers were dead.

  Austin walked up to a power gauge on the wall. He pushed the buttons down, trying to return power to the ship. “Nothing.”

  Justin looked at the anchor up and anchor down buttons on the deck of the bridge. Blood had stained them. A huge, red handprint had smeared across it. “Now we know how they drifted so far from Adelaide,” Justin said.

  Austin continued to push down the power buttons in on the control panel. A majority of them were now set to the ‘on’ position. “Wonder why the power went out,” Austin pondered.

  Justin didn’t reply.

  Austin looked to see two torches. “Here.” Austin threw one of the torches through the air. Justin reached up and caught it.

  “Look,” said Austin. “You’re the engineering student. Let’s try and get the power back on so we can see.”

  Justin nodded. He walked around to the other entrance to the bridge. He opened the door and snuck out. He looked through the sight of the weapon. It was pitch black, and it was hard to see where he was going. He looked at a map of the ship again. Directly below where he was standing was the power plant of the ship. Austin and Justin went to a nearby elevator. Justin pushed the button in. Nothing, but, it gave him an excuse to thump something.

  “Aggggh!” he groaned. He slammed his palm into the button. Austin looked at the two brown doors. They hadn’t been polished in a while. Austin pulled the doors open. He looked down. The elevator was two floors below. He turned his head and looked at Justin. “Looks like we’re taking the stairs.”

  Justin nodded. Justin and Austin went down the stairs, down to the bottom deck of the ship. They kept a steady pace, trying not to burn too much energy. They arrived at the bottom door, which was wide open. It hadn’t been locked or moved by anyone. Justin looked ahead into the power plant. It was empty. Justin and Austin continued trekking down the thin corridors of the ship, looking for the generators. It was lucky that they had found the two torches on the bridge. Justin looked through the sight of his rifle while keeping the torch aimed at the route ahead. They soon came to the generators.

  “Here they are,” Justin said.

  Austin looked at the generator. The fuel gauge was on empty. “Damn,” Austin ranted. “Fuck.”

  “No, look…” Justin said.

  Austin walked up to Justin. He looked at the other generator next to it. “Wonder why they switched to one,” Justin said.

  “To try and save power,” Austin speculated. “Shut down the WiFi, so that the passengers couldn’t find out what was happening on the mainland.”

  Justin looked at Austin. He focused his attention back on the generators. Justin began to work on the huge generator.

  Austin continued looking down the dark aisles of the ship, which contained a dead, eerie silence. Austin felt his head starting to daze. He was tired. He blinked, trying to keep his attention focused on the current situation.

  “Got it!” Justin announced.

  Austin looked back at Justin. Justin gave Austin a brief smile as he pushed the start button in.

  “Ears!” Justin said

  Austin put the ear protectors on. The lights on the generators started to come on. The vibrations began. The generator fired up. The lights on the ceiling switched on as power surged through the ship. The lights in the casino fired up. The slight jingle from the machines came back to life as power continued to be restored. The avionics on the bridge fired up back to life, and some of the exterior lights came on.

  Justin looked at Austin. “Come on,” he said.

  Austin didn’t reply as they walked back down towards the stairs that lead up to the ship. Justin and Austin climbed the stairs of the ship. They walked through the open door, looking at all the cabins. With the lights on, it was easier to see everything.

  Justin looked ahead and saw a non-descript door. He looked at Austin, realizing that they had arrived at the medical bay.

  “Here it is,” Justin said as he walked in, looking at the line of cubicles.

  Justin looked forward as he walked towards one of the drug rooms. He advanced forward, looking through the scope of the weapon. He looked into the room.

  “Here we go,” Justin said, storming into the room. He shuffled through the cupboards of medication. He looked to see a small tube with some cloudy fluid in. Next to it was a needle. “Got it,” he said.

  “Right. Can we get out of here now?” Austin asked.

  “Yes, let’s do that,” Justin replied.

  Justin slipped all the insulin and the needle into his bag.

  “Come on!”

  Justin and Austin left the medical bay. They looked down the corridors. The lights above flickered. It was like the single generator down below was struggling.

  Austin and Justin crept along the corridors.

  “Come on,” Justin said. “I think the exit is back this way.”

  “God, it’s like a fucking maze this place,” Austin said.

  Justin didn’t reply.


  “So,” Austin asked. “What’s the plan?”

  “What plan?”

  “When we get back to Lucy.”

  “Try and save her.”

  “And what about after that?”

  Suddenly, Justin and Austin heard a thud. Justin looked down the sight of the rifle towards the sound. The lights above started to flicker.

  “Oh, please no!” Austin said.

  They heard another shuffle come from ahead, from a housekeeper’s closet. Justin looked at Austin as they walked up to the door. Austin looked at him reaching for the handle. He gave the nod to Justin. Justin turned the handle to the right. He heard it click. Justin pulled the door open. He gasped at the sight of a man who was hunched in the corner.

  “Don’t shoot!” the man stuttered. “Please, don’t shoot!”

  Justin lowered the weapon, looking at the steward. It was Stuart. “Hey, you okay, man?” Justin asked.

  Stuart staggered up off the ground, looking down both aisles of the ship. The lights on the ceiling began to flicker again.

  “Come on” Justin ordered. “We got to go.” Justin helped Stuart up off the ground. He looked through the sight of the rifle as they walked down the corridors.

  “Where’s the nearest exit?” Austin asked Stuart.

  Stuart didn’t answer.

  “Hey!” Austin said.

  Stuart slowly turned his head to look at Austin.

  “Where’s the exit?” Austin asked again.

  “Oh,” Stuart said. “About five minutes this way.”

  Justin looked at Austin as he shrugged his shoulders. The lights in the ceiling began to shut down, one after the other. The hallway soon went completely dark. Justin swiped the torch out of his pocket.

  “Come on,” Austin ordered.

  Justin looked ahead to see a set of doors. He shone the torch on the golden rims of the door, looked at Stuart as they approached the doors. Justin stared through the clean glass window. It was pitch black on the other side of the door. Justin opened the door. Not a squeak from the hinges was heard. Justin shone the torch down into the centre of the ship. He looked to see a spiral staircase leading downstairs. A see-through elevator could be seen.

  Austin snuck out and looked at the oval balcony, seeing a glass dome. A few clouds had covered the gleaming moon. Austin then climbed down the stairs and looked at the elevator.

  “Now where?” he asked.

  Stuart tried to reconfigure his location. He looked over at one of the other doors. “I think it’s this way” Stuart stormed over to the fire door. Austin looked around the elevator. A stream of blood had been smeared across the golden doors. He looked away, keeping his finger ready on the trigger.

  Stuart noticed that the door had been bolted shut. He looked up and started to unlock the doors.

  Austin looked up towards the dome above. The small, fluffy clouds started to clear from the sky, and the moon started to reappear. The light from the gleaming moon started to fill the inside of the ship. He felt a slight tweak of pain in his eyes as his pupils dilated. He turned his head and looked at Stuart. The moon had fully emerged from behind the clouds.

  “Got it,” Stuart said.

  Austin looked at the bottom of the door. He saw the slight, quick movement of a shadow.

  “No!” he called to Stuart, but it was too late. Stuart opened the door, immediately gasping as he saw a snarling infected individual standing right in front of him. Austin swung around quickly pulling the trigger of his rifle. The bullet shot through the air, into the head of the zombie.

  Austin looked down the hallway at the line of infected that followed and continued to take single shots at the zombies, trying to slow them down. There were too many of them to take on. “Guys!” he yelled. “Move it!”

  Justin spun around and started running with Stuart and Austin towards the rear of the theatre. The corridors were full of the infected.

  “Shit!” Austin yelled. He continued taking shots at the zombies.

  “Where is the exit?” Justin asked Stuart.

  Stuart didn’t answer. He was in shock; he just stared at the infected people.

  “Stuart!” Justin said.

  Stuart still didn’t reply.

  “Stuart!” Justin yelled again.

  They continued running through the ship.

  “This way,” Stuart said at last.

  The screams of the infected people echoed throughout the ship. Justin looked forward through the scope of his rifle as they ran through the corridors of the ship. Justin saw the shadows of the infected on the wall as they ran towards them.

  “Fuck,” Austin uttered.

  “In here,” Justin ordered. Justin opened a side door. He looked ahead and saw a walkway. It was completely dark. He ran in, looking at Austin as he slammed the door shut. Austin looked at Justin. The sound of the infected could be heard from the other side of the door. Austin kneeled and looked through the sight of his rifle. He heard the shuffling and hissing of the infected.

  “I think we lost them,” said Stuart

  A shuffle from behind came. They swung around to look down the tunnel. Austin looked at Justin as they slowly advanced down the tunnel. They shone their torches down it. They continued along the tunnel, afraid to make any noise. The occasional scream from the outside was heard. Austin squinted his eyes as the torch suddenly lit a box. It had a lot of wigs and other performance amenities in. The shuffling seemed to be coming from behind it.

  Justin looked to see the top of a head slowly starting to emerge from behind it. Justin watched as the woman slowly stood up from behind the box. She was on her knees. Justin felt his heart suddenly begin to slow down. Justin dropped his rifle. Luckily, it bounced off his shoe, shielding the horrific clank it would have given had it hit the floor.

  “Mum!” Justin could just barely get out.

  Justin’s mum slowly stood up from behind the box. Austin and Stuart looked away.

  A short time had passed. Justin and his mum stopped hugging.

  “Guys,” Austin said. “We’ve got to go.”

  Justin looked down the dark tunnel.

  “No, Justin. That way’s a dead end,” his mum informed.

  “Shit,” Justin uttered. Justin looked to see another door.

  “That’s a changing room,” his mum said.

  Justin looked around.

  “Where do we go, then?” he demanded.

  Austin looked and saw a metal tube that led up. He took a breath and stormed over to it. He looked at the panel and pulled it off. It was a ventilation shaft. Austin shone the torch up into it.

  “Going up,” he said.

  “How the hell am I meant to climb that?” Stuart asked.

  Justin stormed over to the box of show amenities in the middle of the floor. He rummaged through it, looking for something long enough for Stuart to use to climb, but there was nothing. Justin then shone the torch down the tunnel. He looked to see a roll of copper wire. He shrugged his shoulders and picked it up. He walked to the shaft and looked up into it. He unwound the wire and wrapped it around his body. He climbed the iron shaft.

  Austin kept watch at the door. It was very quiet on the other side.

  Justin reached the top. He looked down and saw the lights from the torch as it beamed up towards him. He looked at the top of the shaft. A small metal hoop was hanging from the ceiling. Justin threaded the wire through the hoop. He then looked down to Stuart.

  “Okay!” Justin called.

  Stuart pulled on the copper wire, making sure it was strong enough.

  “Can we hurry up, please?” Austin requested.

  “I’m going as fast as I can!” Stuart said as he struggled to climb up the shaft. Justin pulled the copper wire to help Stuart up.

  “You’re next,” Austin ordered Coleen.

  Justin looked down the shaft. He squinted his eyes to see his mum. She was struggling to climb up.

  “Give me a hand,” he asked Stuart.

&nbs
p; Stuart and Justin began to help Coleen. She kicked off the metal wall. The sound of the bending metal was heard from down below. The kicking and sounds from the shaft got louder.

  Austin squinted his eyes, looking towards the door. He heard some shuffling from the outside. “Oh, God, no,” he mumbled. “Please…”

  Austin looked back at the shaft.

  “Austin!” Justin called.

  Austin heard a crash. The infected burst in through the open door. He pulled tightly on the copper wire pulling his body up the shaft. He got a third of the way up, the infected found him. He looked down as the infected looked up at him as he shuffled up the shaft. The infected screamed up the shaft.

  “Shit!” Austin uttered. He quickly climbed up into the ventilation system. “What we got?” he asked

  Justin looked down the ventilation system.

  “It’s a tight squeeze,” he said, “but we can do it.”

  Austin looked at Justin. “Lead the way.”

  Justin crawled along the tunnel. He pulled his body along, looking back at Austin. The sounds from the infected screaming for them could still be heard echoing from down below, but they were slowly starting to fade out. Justin looked ahead as they came to the end of the tunnel. A grate could be seen at the tunnel’s end. Justin crawled forward to it. They were above the theatre. Justin looked down.

  “What is it?” Austin asked.

  Justin looked back at Austin. Austin crawled forward and past Coleen. He looked down into the theatre. They kept their heads to the ground, shuffling around. Blood filled the floors and stages. Justin looked to see the black metal scaffolding that the lights dangled from. He pulled the grate up and peered down at the infected people.

  “What do we do?” Stuart asked.

  Justin put the grate down carefully. He lowered down onto the scaffolding, holding the lights on the ceiling. He put his hands onto the metal. He looked towards the entrance. The shutter is three-quarters of the way down. The only way down is across to the upper level of the theatre. Stuart looked at the metal scaffolding. They can crawl across to the other upper-level chairs and hopefully get out of the theatre. Austin looked over at Justin. He signalled to him across and down onto the chairs. Justin looked at his mum and Stuart.