Desolation Game

by Greg McLean

  ‘Maybe it aliens,’ Akira said. He was sitting behind the wheel, his fiancée beside him. ‘Out in the desert, they always come.’

  ‘Yeah, like in Roswell,’ Cindy said.

  Akira held up his camera: his constant companion, like some ugly, oversized necklace. ‘We been to Roswell. I take pictures of aliens,’ he said. ‘Me and Chiyo have been to America and taken pictures of aliens.’

  ‘No shit?’ Duncan huffed.

  ‘Yes. We seen UFOs,’ Chiyo said. ‘Akira got plenty pictures. He can show you.’

  ‘In my bag. I show you?’

  ‘Maybe later,’ Bruce said.

  Akira nodded. ‘Okay.’

  ‘You’ve been to America?’ Cindy said.

  ‘Yes. We like it very much.’

  ‘Huh,’ Cindy said. ‘I would have thought . . . I mean, after Pearl Harbor and all . . .’

  ‘Jesus,’ Amber said. ‘That was, like, over twenty years ago.’

  ‘I’m not saying they’re to blame or anything. It’s just . . . I know how some people are. How some people carry grudges.’

  ‘I’m not to blame,’ Akira said, his usually pleasant face turning hard. ‘My father was solider in war, very proud man. But I’m not like him. I don’t believe in war. Instead, I take up photography and go to school.’

  ‘Please, Akira, I didn’t mean any disrespect . . .’ Cindy was blushing.

  ‘We were treated well in America,’ Chiyo said. ‘Very friendly people. Even though we see not many Japanese, we still treated with respect.’

  ‘Hey, let’s just cool it a bit, okay?’ Duncan said. ‘It’s hot, we’re all tired, let’s not get into any arguments.’

  ‘Arguing? Who’s arguing?’ Cindy said. ‘But I do apologise if I offended either of you.’

  ‘Is okay,’ Akira said. ‘Like Duncan said, I am hot and tired.’

  ‘Me too,’ Chiyo said.

  Silence fell heavy in the Kombi, like the dry, oppressive desert heat. Bored, Jewel made a single long braid with Amber’s hair.

  ‘You know, maybe Akira’s right,’ Amber said, breaking the tense silence. ‘Maybe aliens were responsible. Maybe they were up there, saw us going by, and zap! Blew out both front tyres with their laser beams.’

  ‘Hell, that’s as good an explanation as any,’ Duncan said. ‘Hey Akira, wait till we reach the Wolf Creek crater later in the week. I’ve heard reports of alien sightings near there. Maybe you’ll get lucky.’

  Akira smiled thinly and nodded.

  ‘Maybe we’ll see some aliens tonight,’ Jewel said. ‘Maybe, once it gets dark, they’ll come down to finish off what they started.’

  Amber looked up and made a face. ‘Babe, don’t say things like that. I’ll have nightmares!’

  Jewel leant down and pecked Amber on the lips. ‘I’ll protect you.’

  ‘Hey now, I was going to offer to protect you,’ Duncan said, ‘but if that’s the way Jewel protects, then I’m happy to watch.’

  Amber huffed. ‘Men,’ she said, and kicked Duncan playfully in the back.

  ‘Hey,’ Duncan said. ‘Watch it. I’m delicate, you know.’

  Amber chuckled, then sighed. ‘God, this heat is driving me crazy.’

  ‘Speaking of the heat, I’m worried about Steve,’ Bruce said. ‘He’s been out there a long time. That sun’s damn hot.’

  ‘Yeah, he’ll asphyxiate out there,’ Duncan said.

  ‘He’s stubborn,’ Cindy said. ‘Would rather get burnt and spend the rest of the trip in pain than admit he was wrong. But he’s dealing with a lot. He’s battling with his shadow, although he doesn’t realise it. His shadow is very black, and I fear that if he doesn’t acknowledge its existence, it will destroy him.’

  ‘Huh?’ Duncan said.

  Cindy smiled. Jewel thought she looked pretty when she smiled: showing straight white teeth and accentuating her otherwise subtle cheekbones. She should smile more often. With a change of clothes – her skirt and short-sleeved blouse were dowdy and did her figure no favours – and a sunnier disposition, Cindy could be a real swinging chick.

  ‘Sorry, I tend to switch to psych-mode whenever I’m stressed,’ Cindy said. ‘I was talking about the shadow. Jung believed that everyone carries a shadow, and that you need to recognise it and assimilate it into your conscious, or else you will become a slave to the darkness. I’m just worried about Steve, that’s all, and I thought coming out here might help him come to grips with what he went through in Vietnam. So far, that hasn’t worked.’ She sighed heavily. ‘Anyway, I really should go out and get him. He’s acting like a child. It’s too hot to be sitting out there.’

  ‘Yeah, we should think about putting up the annex,’ Bruce said.

  ‘That’s not a bad —’

  ‘What that?’ Chiyo said.

  ‘What’s what?’ Bruce said, getting to his feet.

  ‘Something coming.’

  Amber sat up. Jewel peered through the right front windscreen’s grimy glass and saw something moving in the distance, kicking up dust.

  ‘Holy shit, I think it’s a car,’ Duncan said, and he and Bruce walked out onto the road.

  ‘Wait for me,’ Amber said, and she hopped up and stepped out of the van.

  ‘Steve!’ Cindy said, opening the front passenger door and hopping out. ‘Steve, there’s a car coming!’

  Jewel was the last one out of the van. She joined the throng standing in the middle of the highway. Steve seemed to have stopped sulking and was standing by the rock, looking down the road.

  The small cloud of dust grew closer. Occasionally sunlight glinted.

  ‘Oh, thank the lord,’ Cindy said. ‘Some of us can get a lift back to the roadhouse and call for help.’

  ‘Assuming they’re friendly,’ Amber said with a wry smile.

  ‘I’m sure they will be,’ Cindy said. ‘You Aussies are the friendliest group of people I’ve met.’

  ‘Or maybe it aliens,’ Akira said. He took the camera from around his neck.

  ‘Yeah,’ Jewel said, standing behind Amber. ‘Maybe it’s the aliens coming to finish us off.’

  ‘Don’t they usually come from the sky?’ Amber said.

  ‘Maybe these ones drive a Ford.’

  ‘Har har har,’ Amber said.

  The vehicle drew near. Its engine growled like a savage beast as it sped down the highway.

  ‘Maybe we’d better get out of the way,’ Bruce said.

  Just as he said that, the car began to slow. The engine turned into a purring tiger and it came to a stop about ten feet away. When the red dust settled, Jewel saw that it was a pale blue truck.

  When she saw the word ‘Ford’ emblazoned above the grille, she smiled and said, ‘See – told ya aliens drive Fords.’

  The driver’s side door snapped open and a man rose from within. ‘What the bloody hell happened to you lot?’

  A collective sigh resounded throughout the group.

  ‘We’ve had a bit of car trouble,’ Duncan said.

  ‘No shit.’

  The man hopped out of the truck and wandered over.

  He looked a few years older than Jewel. He was tall, well built, but not especially handsome. His face and arms were well defined and tanned, although he looked like he hadn’t showered in weeks, and his eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. He wore a grimy dark blue shirt, sleeves rolled up, revealing strong hairy arms. The shirt was tucked into black jeans, with a thick belt wrapped around his waist like a brown snake.

  The small group parted as the rugged stranger strode over to the Kombi.

  ‘Both tyres?’ the man said. ‘Cripes, that’s some rotten luck.’

  ‘Yeah, tell us about it,’ Amber said. ‘We’ve been out here an hour. We were starting to give up hope that anyone would drive past. We were just about to get ready to spend the night here.’

  The man turned and looked at her. Although he was wearing sunglasses, Jewel got the feeling that he was gazing at her friend like most men did: with his cock rather
than his eyes.

  ‘Spend the night here? Just parked along the highway?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Duncan said. ‘We had no other option.’

  The man shook his head. ‘So you were just going to leave your van half sticking out on the road like this?’

  Duncan shrugged.

  The man ran a hand through his oily hair, which was slicked up like some ’50s rocker. ‘Bloody hell. This highway may not be the busiest in Australia, but it does get the occasional truck come through. And I’m not talking about little babies like my tow truck – I’m talking about eighteen-wheelers. You get one of those monsters blasting down and they don’t see ya before it’s too late . . .’ He left the horrendous picture floating in the hot, dusty air.

  ‘Did you say tow truck?’ Bruce said, glancing over at the man’s ute.

  ‘Yeah, I’m a mechanic and tow-truck bloke. Name’s Mick, by the way.’

  Smiles of relief swept through the group.

  ‘How ’bout that,’ Cindy said. ‘We get stranded out here, and who should come along but a mechanic!’ She shook her head. ‘Are we lucky or what?’

  ‘A Yank, hey?’ Mick said.

  Cindy nodded.

  He looked over the group. His dark gaze stopped on Akira and Chiyo. ‘Quite a group you have here. A United Nations tour?’

  Mick laughed and the noise unnerved Jewel; it was like the growling, grumbling engine of the man’s ute.

  ‘Nah, just a regular wilderness tour,’ Duncan said.

  ‘I see,’ Mick said. He turned his attention to Steve, who was once again sitting on the rock. ‘He okay?’

  ‘He’s just . . . not feeling too well,’ Cindy said.

  Mick’s gaze lingered on Steve before returning back to the VW.

  ‘So, anyway,’ Bruce said. ‘I don’t suppose you could give us a lift to the roadhouse? Do you know Emu Flat?’

  Mick slipped off his glasses. He squinted at Bruce. Jewel took a small step backwards – the man’s gaze was piercing. She could feel restlessness begin to creep in among the others as Mick continued to stare.

  Finally he broke into that cracked laughter. ‘Drive you to Emu Flat? You silly bugger. Didn’t ya hear what I said? I’m a mechanic. Ya don’t need to go ringin’ anyone – I’m it! I’m the bloke who would have come out to help ya if ya did ring. Get me?’

  Bruce nodded. He looked uncomfortable. ‘Yeah, of course. I wasn’t thinking.’

  Mick slapped Bruce on the back, making him lurch forwards with a grunt. ‘Don’t worry about it, mate. I’m only kidding with ya. But you’re lucky I was driving through here. I was finished for the day. On my way back to town for a quick drink before heading home.’

  ‘So, you can help us?’ Duncan said. ‘We’ve only got one spare tyre, but if you have another, that would be great.’

  ‘As a matter of fact, I do have a spare.’ Mick paused. ‘But you’re still shit outta luck.’

  Duncan frowned. ‘Huh?’

  ‘It’s my spare tyre. The one for the truck. And I can’t very well give you that one, can I?’

  ‘Why not?’ Sam said.

  Mick laughed again, sending spiders crawling down Jewel’s spine. ‘What happens if I get a puncture? Who will tow the tower, hey?’

  ‘Right, of course,’ Sam said, looking embarrassed.

  ‘Nah, you’re gonna need a spare, alright, and you’re lucky I’ve some back at home. But . . . well, that might not be your only problem. I can sort you out with a spare tyre, no worries, but . . .’ Mick looked around the group. ‘Any of you mob know much about cars?’

  ‘A little,’ Bruce answered quickly.

  Duncan guffawed. ‘A little? What do you know about cars, other than how to fill the petrol tank and change a tyre?’

  Bruce gave Duncan a sharp look. It was fleeting, but Jewel noticed it, and she thought Mick did too. But his glasses were back on, so she couldn’t be sure.

  ‘What I was going to say was, has anyone checked under the van? Checked that the axle and shit ain’t buggered?’

  Shrugs and head shakes rippled through the group.

  ‘Well, how ’bout I give her a quick check. May as well know what we’re dealing with while it’s still light, hey? And by the looks of things, you swerved every which way but straight.’

  Bruce smiled weakly, then kicked at a stone.

  ‘Right, back in two shakes.’ Mick wandered back over to his car, ducked inside and strolled back with a torch. He got down on all fours, rolled onto his back and disappeared under the Kombi.

  ‘Colourful character,’ Amber muttered, turning to Jewel. ‘You just don’t meet these types of people in the city.’

  ‘He gives me the creeps,’ Jewel said.

  ‘Everyone gives you the creeps,’ Amber said, putting her arm around Jewel.

  ‘I don’t like him either,’ Bruce whispered as he walked past the two girls. ‘Fucking macho cowboy.’

  ‘I think he seems nice,’ Cindy said. She walked across the highway and over to Steve.

  ‘Me too,’ Amber said. ‘A little rough, sure, but he stopped, didn’t he? And he’s a mechanic, so if there is anything wrong with the van —’

  ‘Ah, bugger,’ came the slightly muted cry from under the van. ‘Bent like a crooked snake.’

  Mick slithered out from under the van, stood up and placed his sunglasses back on. His clothes and hands were dotted with fresh oil. Bruce hurried back over to the Kombi, followed closely by Cindy and Steve.

  ‘So?’ Duncan said.

  ‘Just as I feared. Your left front torsion arm is bent.’

  ‘Is that bad?’

  ‘Yeah, ’fraid so. You can’t drive with one of ya axle bars crooked. Ruin ya whole suspension.’

  ‘Shit,’ Bruce said.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Steve said.

  Mick turned to the big American. ‘Yeah, I’m sure. I’m a mechanic. Mick’s the name.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. I heard.’

  ‘Oh. Wasn’t sure, ’cause you were sitting all the way over there on the rock.’ He turned back to Duncan. ‘You the leader of this tour?’

  Duncan nodded. ‘With Bruce. I’m Duncan, by the way.’

  Mick looked between the two young men.

  ‘So, Bruce, Duncan . . . here’s where we stand. You got two punctured tyres and a busted torsion arm. I can fix it all, but I’m gonna have to tow this baby back to my place.’

  ‘And where’s your place?’ Bruce asked.

  ‘About fifty miles west of here.’

  ‘And you have everything you need to fix our van there?’ Duncan said.

  ‘That’s what I’m saying. The tyres aren’t a problem – I can have them done in about ten minutes. But it’ll take me hours to fix the axle. And if I can’t fix it, then I’ll have to replace it, which will take a lot longer.’

  ‘How much longer are we talking?’ Bruce said.

  ‘Well, I reckon, worst-case scenario, tomorrow. Late morning.’

  ‘That long?’

  Mick shrugged. ‘Look, you don’t have to take me up on my offer. No skin off my nuts. I can drive you to the roadhouse, and you can try and get another mechanic from town, but they won’t be able to see you till tomorrow, and they won’t begin work on your van till tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. All’s I’m saying is, I can get you back to my place sooner and start work on it right away. You’re all welcome to stay there for the night. I’ve got food and drink, and I’ll work me arse off through the night fixin’ your van. If all goes well, by tomorrow morning, you’ll be on your merry way.’

  Mick looked around at the group. ‘I’ll go and start hooking up the van. Talk amongst yourselves, and decide what you wanna do. If you decide to take your chances at the roadhouse, or even if you wanna stay out here, then fine, let me know and I’ll unhook and be on my way. Sound like a plan?’

  With a nod, Mick headed back to his vehicle. Jewel watched him pull out a pack of smokes, light one up and then begin work, grabbing some chains from the big metal f
rame on the back tray.

  ‘I don’t think there’s any decision to be made,’ Cindy said.

  ‘Neither do I,’ Sam said. ‘He’s offering help, we should take it.’

  ‘Hang on,’ Bruce said. ‘I’m not so sure we can trust this guy. I mean, who is he? He says he’s a mechanic, but he doesn’t have a spare tyre on his truck? And speaking of his truck, where’s the winch? He says it’s a tow truck, but where’s the damn winch?’

  ‘I’ll tell you who he is,’ Duncan said. ‘He’s our saviour, that’s who he is. Christ, we’re damn lucky he came along when he did. He’s offering to fix our van, and put us up for the night. Shit, if that ain’t country hospitality at its finest, then I don’t know what is.’

  Mick was leading some heavy chain to the front of the Kombi, to hook it somewhere underneath. They waited until he’d passed.

  ‘I’m with Duncan,’ Amber said.

  ‘Surprise, surprise,’ Bruce muttered.

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Amber said.

  ‘Hey, come on, no argue,’ Akira said. ‘I think we should go with Mick. Chiyo?’

  Chiyo nodded. ‘I don’t want to be stuck here all night.’

  ‘Yeah, I agree,’ Steve said. ‘The sooner we get it fixed, the sooner we can leave. Okay, so he’s a little strange, but so what? There’s ten of us, and one of him. Plus we have guns. There’s nothing to be concerned about.’

  ‘Steve’s right,’ Cindy said.

  Steve looked at Jewel. ‘How ’bout you?’

  Something about Mick gave Jewel the creeps, but she didn’t want to be stranded out here all night. She just wanted to get moving. She shrugged. ‘I’m happy to go with whatever the majority decide.’

  ‘Don’t you have any opinions?’ Sam said. ‘You hardly say anything, just sit there looking gloomy, and when you’re asked for your thoughts, you just shrug and don’t add anything.’

  ‘Hey, leave her alone,’ Amber said.

  ‘Yeah, cool it,’ Bruce said.

  ‘God, you can be a bastard sometimes,’ Matt said, shaking his head.

  ‘What?’ Sam said. ‘Just expressing my opinion, that’s all.’