“The hell?” Justin said. Justin grasped to Chelsea’s hand. He looked to his right.
A soldier ran up to the café. “Everyone, get home,” he ordered.
“What? Why?” Justin gasped.
“Don’t argue,” the soldier replied. “It’s too dangerous here.”
Justin grabbed hold of Chelsea, heading in the direction of the hotel. Shooting from the soldiers began to erupt.
“Come on,” Justin said.
“Where are we going?” Chelsea asked.
“Anywhere.” Justin grasped Chelsea’s hand.
“Hey, kid!” he heard a voice say. It was Andrew Parker. He was in military uniform. “Look…”
Justin turned his head. Chelsea had become infected. She shot towards Justin.
***
Justin’s eyes shot open. Andrew was looking at him.
“We’re almost here,” he said.
Justin lifted his head, looking down out the side of the helicopter. The town could be seen in the distance. The lights got brighter by the second as the helicopter descended towards the town.
“You okay?” Andrew asked.
Justin coughed briefly.
“Okay,” Andrew said. “You know what to do. Meet us outside of the town shortly and report.”
Justin nodded. The helicopter descended towards the ground. After being dropped off, Justin looked as the helicopter shot away towards the town. He felt the handgun in his back of his trousers. Justin watched the helicopter fly overhead and into the town.
Later, Justin kneeled as he looked into the distance at the town. His eyes had locked onto one of the houses for a reason that was unbeknownst to him. He looked to see a family in there. They were sitting around the dinner table. Before the family began their small rationed meal, they all clapped hands together and began to pray. Justin looked away, heading further into the town. The streets leading to the town centre were dead. Justin continued weaving in and out of the houses, keeping his head down and by the fences of the houses. He looked and saw the rear entrance to the hospital. A few of the leftover doctors were caring for people. He walked up to the entrance, reaching out for the door.
He pulled the door open slowly and walked into the building. The floors were clean. No blood or stains of any kind were on it. He crept along, making sure he was leaving no sand tracks behind him. The hospital was quiet. The lights were glowing brightly. Everything was modern. The equipment was new. Something caught his attention from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw some shadows coming from around the corner. They were getting bigger by the second. Justin looked around all corners.
“Shit”, he uttered under his breath. He looked around. He dove under the medical bed and sat perfectly still as the two porters walked up to the bed. The bed started to roll down the corridor.
“Shit, this is fucked up, man,” one of them said.
“Tell me about it,” the other replied
The trolley made a sharp turn. They entered a storage room. A few trolleys were in there.
“Look what I found,” one of the porters said.
“What is it?”
The porter pulled out of his inside pocket a bag of cannabis.
“You’re joking!”
“No. It was in the middle of the street, just lying there. Probably from that bloke who arrived with the fireman earlier.”
“Don’t! We’ll get caught.”
“Who cares?”
Justin looked through the blankets, seeing the two hospital workers light up the cannabis. The smoke filled the room quickly. Justin tried not to cough as the stench of the smoke got worse by the second.
“I love you so much, bro,” one of the workers said, tearing up.
Justin listened to the two workers chatting away to each other as the cannabis took its effect.
Justin looked through the blankets at the two boys as they hugged up to each other. He looked and saw the entrance to the storage room. He opened the door, slowly closing it behind him, trying not to grab the workers’ attention. Justin kept his head down as he looked into one of the family rooms. A hooded jumper had been left on the back of a seat in the room. He slipped it on, turning towards the exit watching the two automatic doors open. He walked out into the night breeze, sliding his hands into his pockets. This would be the perfect place to live. Running water was filtered out from the nearby river. He looked forward and saw Andrew’s helicopter outside the town hall. He turned his head back and looked at a street sign which showed the direction of the power plant.
Justin looked ahead at the power plant when he got close to it. It had a six-foot fence around it. He noticed all the workers guarding the fuel truck that he had seen earlier, during the day. He looked around for a way into the complex. Barbed wire was all around the rim of the fence. Justin looked over to see the entrance to the complex. Two men were standing there. He tried to focus his attention on the, two men, trying to hear their conversation.
“How much fuel did they find?” Justin was able to make out one of the men say.
“Oh, God, about four months’ worth. They got a whole tanker of the stuff, plus that truckload of food and supplies.”
Justin heard a shuffle from behind him. He looked around. A German Shepherd strolled up to him with its tail wagging and its tongue hanging out. It gave a slight cry of happiness and licked Justin’s face.
“Shoo!” He said. “Go on!”
The dog barked. Justin watched as the men looked over in the direction of the bark.
“Shit,” Justin uttered.
The two men walked towards the fence with their torches locked onto the fence. They shone the light on the dog as Justin crawled away. He noticed a large rock, which he crawled behind just as the worker’s lights were about to hit him. The dog barked again at the fence. The two men shone the torch along the ground. Justin watched as the light shone over the top of him from in front of the rock. The light then faded away.
“Get out of here!” one of the men yelled. “Dumb dog.”
The dog ran off. Justin peered over the top of the rock. The two men had turned around to return to their positions. Justin looked down at his watch. It was about ten minutes until he had to be back at Andrew’s helicopter.
“Fuck this,” he uttered. Justin got up and ran across the dusty ground towards the road where he had been dropped off a short while ago.
Justin saw the light from the helicopter ahead. It shone down brightly. He shielded his eyes as the helicopter lowered down. He climbed on board.
Andrew pulled the door shut. “Cough it up,” he said.
Justin coughed some of the sand muck up from his lungs.
“Here,” Andrew said. Andrew handed Justin a bottle of water. Justin glugged the water down.
“So, what have you to report?” Andrew asked.
Justin finished the bottle of water. “A pretty good place,” he struggled to say.
“I know,” Andrew said. “Loser of a Mayor, but that’s just life.”
“So, what are we going to do?” Justin questioned.
There was a short pause.
“You’ll see.” Andrew looked out of the window as they flew away from the town. The lights from the town got smaller and smaller.
Andrew looked out of the front of the helicopter as they flew back towards the truck, ready to head back home. He looked at the GPS. “Hey, what is that?” he asked
The pilot scrolled in, looking to see a facility on the map. “It looks like an industrial estate,” he said.
“Let’s go take a look,” Andrew said.
The pilot gave a brief nod, turning towards the destination. Andrew stared forward, seeing the estate. The place was pitch black. Not a living thing could be seen. Only a few warehouses stood out in the darkness.
“Take us down,” Andrew ordered. The helicopter began its descent towards the warehouses. “Switch the strobe on,” Andrew ordered. The front light from the helicopter switched on and beamed down onto the co
mpound.
Justin frowned as he looked out of the side of the helicopter. Nothing could be seen down there.
“Hello!” the pilot yelled from the loudspeaker.
“What is this place?” Justin asked.
Andrew didn’t reply; he locked his eyes down on the complex.
“Hello,” The pilot called again. “Anyone there?”
Andrew looked down onto the campus. “We’ll check it out tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll bring some extra staff and weapons and see what we got, here.”
The helicopter turned back towards the truck, ready to head home.
Chapter Seventeen
Scott looked down at the ground in sorrow. He heard the entrance door click as the sound of jingling keys echoed from the outside. Riley entered the room. “I’ll be okay,” he said to the officer.
Scott looked through the metal bars at Riley. “What do you want?” he asked.
Riley smirked. “Is that all you can say? Your dad just killed himself, and you nearly raped an innocent girl.”
“And?” Scott yelled.
“Scott, people across the country are dying, I’m never going to see my family in Brisbane again. Fiona—her husband’s in Perth, probably dead.”
Scott smirked.
“We lost a good kid today,” Riley continued, “and that new boy, Justin, is out there risking his arse for you and this whole damn town.”
“Shut up!”
“No.”
“Shut up!” Scott yelled again.
Riley just stood there on the other side of the bars, locking his eyes onto Scott.
“And, before you ask,” Riley said, “you’ll know when Andrew Parker gets back.”
Scott looked at Riley. “Why him?”
“Because this damn town hasn’t got a mayor anymore. Andrew is the one who the people are going to look up to now. From the moment the crisis in the cities began, he has stuck his head out for us.” A small tear started to run down the side of his face.
“I’m sorry,” Scott said.
Riley stopped locking his eyes onto Scott. “It’s not me your supposed to be apologising to.” Riley gave Scott one last look as he left the cell.
Riley left the police station, looking up at the gleaming moon. He peered into the distance and saw the light from one of the vans. It pulled up next to the police station. Justin got out of the van and looked at the police station. A few people were on their way to the van. Andrew turned around, looking at the small crowd of people heading towards him.
“What’s going on?” He asked
The people of the town just stood looking at Andrew as Justin got out of the van.
“The people have been speaking,” Riley said. “Since Hudson’s death, the people of this town believe that you are the one to lead this town through this crisis. Hudson looked up to you and had a lot of respect for you.”
Andrew gave a brief smile.
“So,” Riley said after a short pause. “You’re our new town mayor.” A gentle clap was heard from the gathering of people.
Andrew stood up on the van. “I need you to listen,” he said. “Earlier today, we found a civilized town.”
People began to gasp.
“We have drawn up an agreement to trade with them and to help them. I am looking for volunteers to help. I’m not asking now, though, as its late and you all must be very tired.”
Justin leaned against the van. His mum slowly walked over to him, her arms folded.
“Hey,” she asked. “Are you okay?”
Justin gave a nod, looking at his mum.
“You need some rest,” Fiona said. “Do you still have your room at the motel?”
Justin nodded.
“Okay, you go get some rest,” His mum suggested.
Justin gave a brief nod. looking in the direction of the hospital. “Mum, I’ll catch you later,” he said.
Justin walked into the hospital. He looked at Lucy.
She opened her eyes as Justin turned around. “Jus…” she coughed. “Justin.”
Justin froze, turning around and looking at Lucy as she sat up in the bed. “Hey,” he said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didn’t,” Lucy replied. “I couldn’t sleep after…”
“Hey,” Justin said. “Don’t worry about him.” Lucy sat up as Justin sat on the edge of the bed. “Have you taken your insulin?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Justin gave a brief a smile and went to get up. Lucy shot up, putting her arms around him. “Stay with me?” she asked.
“What?” Justin asked. “I’m going back to my motel room.”
“Can I come with you?” she pleaded. “Please?”
Justin looked at Lucy. “Okay,” he said.
Lucy got out of the bed as Riley walked in.
“Lucy’s coming back with me,” Justin said. “To my motel room.”
Riley looked at Lucy. “I’d like you to stay.”
“No, I want to go,” she replied.
Riley could only look at Justin and Lucy. “You get any problems,” he said. “Come get me.”
The motel was a short walk away. Lucy placed her hands into Justin’s. He gave her a small smile as they entered the motel room. Lucy sat down on the bed.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Justin said. “You can go after me if you want.”
Lucy watched as his wallet slipped out of his pocket. No money was in it at all. Chelsea looked to see a picture of Chelsea. She looked at the picture of the couple.
“Agggh!” Justin called.
Lucy looked up with a fright. “Are you okay?” she called.
“Yeah. The water’s freezing.”
Lucy smiled as she continued to look at the picture of him and Chelsea.
After a short while, Justin walked out of the shower. “Jesus,” he said, shivering.
“Cold?” she asked?
Justin smiled, seeing that Lucy was looking at the picture of him and Chelsea.
“Who’s this?” Lucy asked, handing Justin his wallet
“That’s… That’s my girlfriend.”
Lucy gave him a small smile. “Where were you?”
“When?”
“When all this began.”
“I was in college. They closed due to the infection. My mum and dad were on a cruise—the one I got your insulin from. I got a phone call from Chelsea while I was heading back to my home…”
“Did you find her?”
There is a short pause. “No.” Justin’s eye let out a small tear.
“Hey, it’s okay to be upset,” Lucy sympathised.
Justin sat on the edge of the bed. The day that he had been through was starting to run through his head. “Sorry,” he sobbed.
“Hey, hey, hey…” Lucy said comfortingly.
Justin started to cry. “I really hope to see her again,” he cried.
Lucy wrapped her arms around Justin tightly. She looked into his eyes as the moon gleamed in through the gap in the curtain. She pushed him down onto the bed and pulled the quilt cover over him.
“It’s okay,” she said, kissing him.
***
Andrew entered the cell where Scott is being detained. He slowly walked in, looking at him as he sat in the corner, just looking down at the ground. He lifted his head to look at Andrew.
“I have come to a decision,” Andrew said.
Scott just looked at Andrew as he stood outside of the cell. “What?”
“I am going to drop all charges against you, as I am in charge of this town now and as I had great respect for your father.”
Scott looked up as he started to sit up.
“This is what you are going to do,” Andrew said. “We found a complex not far from the town we visited earlier. You and Justin are going to go and search the place.”
Scott looked at the ground again.
“You are also to keep your distance from Lucy,” Andrew added. “And if you try anything funny, with her or with Justin, y
ou are history. You got it?”
Scott nodded.
“We leave at first light,” Andrew ordered before leaving the room.
Chapter Eighteen
The sun was climbing into the sky. Justin looked out the side of the helicopter as Scott sat on the side seat.
“Almost there,” Andrew called.
Justin looked forward again at the complex. The warehouses started to get bigger. Justin pulled out his handgun.
“Try not to shoot anything,” Andrew said. “If you can, whack them on the head.”
Justin nodded as the helicopter flew to the entrance to the compound. It lowered down.
“Come on,” Justin ordered. Justin jumped down off the helicopter, closing his eyes as small grains of sand blew into his eyes. The helicopter pulled away, hovering above the compound. The dust from the desert started to settle.
“Jesus,” Scott said, spitting out sand.
Justin slipped the handgun back into the back of his shorts while grasping the baseball bat with a nail sticking out the end of it, which he was given to defend himself. He took one last look at the picture of Chelsea as he put his wallet into his back pocket, making sure the zipper was done up.
“Come on,” he ordered Scott.
Scott didn’t reply. He held onto his own baseball bat, looking forward into the complex. They looked at the warehouses.
“Which one?” Scott asked.
Justin turned his head, looking at the three warehouses. “That one,” he decided.
Justin walked over to the open door of the warehouse. He held onto the bat, looking up into the distance seeing the helicopter is hovering above them.
Andrew watched the boys as they entered the building. “Good boys,” he said.
Justin and Scott looked forward as they entered the warehouse. “Don’t wander off,” Justin said. “God knows what is in here.”
Scott didn’t reply as they continued climbing the stairs into the warehouse. They arrived at a long walkway. Justin looked into an office. Paperwork was scattered all about the room. “Wonder what they make here..” he wondered aloud.
“We’ll will soon find out,” Justin said. Justin looked to the left, down another corridor. He looked to see an open door ahead. He grasped his bat tightly as he edged along towards the open door. He peered in to see a kitchen. He went in, followed by Scott. He saw there was some food left on the counter, but it had started to rot. A few chocolate bars remained, inside a plastic container.
Fear The Outback (Book 1): Fear The Outback Page 23
