Desolation Boulevard
Page 44
Chapter 44
A Surprise Gift
The day after the dogs attacked the girls was a busy one for Matt. Even though there had been no sign of the feeders during the night, it was still his main priority to make the farm as secure as possible. He had to assume that eventually the creatures would roam further afield in search of fresh blood, and that the farm would be under threat. He also needed to be prepared for human survivors who might see the farm as a valuable resource and try to take it from them. Not everyone in the post-apocalyptic world would be playing by the rules. The evil Brock had been a perfect example of that type.
Matt pondered these thoughts as he considered the consequences of leaving Montana and Gabby at the farm while he went into town to gather supplies. He had tried to convince the girls to come with him, but Montana insisted on staying behind at the farm so that Gabby could start her school program and settle into her new home. After some discussion, Matt could see her point and agreed that the feeders would probably not be a threat during daylight hours. He made Montana agree to stay near the house, though, and carry the shotgun if she went outside. Matt promised he would find her another weapon while he was in town, and return as soon as possible.
-
The works depot of the Millfield County Council consisted of a large fenced yard filled with the sheds, vehicles and the heavy machinery required to maintain local infrastructure such as roads, parks and public buildings. When he arrived at the yard, the front gate was locked, so he assumed there would be no feeders inside. The event, which had created this nightmare, had occurred sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning last week, which meant that the depot would have been closed at the time. He thought it would be safe to wander around and take whatever he needed without being concerned that he would stumble upon a nest of angry feeders. After he used his bolt cutters from the toolbox to cut the padlocked chain on the gate, he headed to the main building where he hoped to find the keys for the equipment he required. He located the main door, and kicked it in after a few attempts, then stepped into a room with a long counter, that guarded row upon row of shelves full of hardware and tools. This was obviously the main store. He went straight behind the counter to search for the keys for the heavy machines. Eventually, in a small office behind the rows of shelves he found what he was looking for – a wall full of carefully tagged keys, corresponding to the machines in the yard.
Matt read through the tags, and realised that almost everything he required to help fortify the farm would be available in this depot. There were keys for fuel trucks, water tankers, generators, portable arc lights, cranes, diggers, tractors, tip trucks, cement trucks, heavy rollers and even a couple of boats. Matt stood scratching his head as he looked at the bewildering collection of keys and wondered which one he should use first. After careful consideration he made his choice and took the key from the hook before reading the plastic tag again. Yes, that was the one. When he went back outside to the yard it didn’t take him long to find the vehicle he had selected; it was one of the largest on the lot, after all.
-
Montana was familiarising herself with the vegetable garden when she heard the rumble of a large vehicle coming up the road. “Gabby come quick! Matt’s back.”
Gabby flew from inside the house, slamming the screen door as she excitedly pushed it open. She joined Montana in the front yard and stood side by side and waited for the vehicle to appear from behind the grove of pines that lined the front boundary of the farm. They watched the road eagerly as the crunch of downshifting gears signalled the arrival of the exhaust-belching beast from behind the trees.
“Oh my god!” exclaimed Montana, as Gabby jumped up and down on the spot, squealing with excitement. “Look what he’s brought!”
“It’s the bookmobile!” she screamed. “He got us the bookmobile!”
Matt applied the brakes with an explosive hiss, just short of the front fence and gave the girls a wave. Gabby sprinted to the mobile library and reached the cab just as Matt was climbing down. He stood in front of his prize and spread out his arms. “I brought you a classroom!” he said, grinning like it was the best gift ever.
“I love it!” shrieked Gabby, and hugged the teenage boy around the waist.
-
Montana took Matt back to Council Depot in his mother’s car, and he went back to the office and found the keys to the largest truck he felt he could manage. By the early afternoon he had delivered nine portable arc lights, a tanker full of enough materials to begin his fencing project. When Montana dropped him back at the council yard for the last time to pick up his ute, he told her that he might be a little late home, because there were a few more tasks he needed to complete in town.
After she dropped him at the depot, he retrieved his car and locked the yard with a new chain and padlock. In this new world, there would be no more manufacturing of industrial machinery, so he needed to look after the things that could provide him with security and comfort. He knew he was being a little over-cautious, but it certainly wouldn’t do any harm. When he was satisfied that the depot was as secure as it could be, he drove into town and parked in the main street.
Nothing moved, and even though he knew the buildings were probably inhabited by sleeping feeders, he felt safe because the sun was still reasonably high in the sky. He reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed the can of fluorescent spray paint he’d brought with him from the depot and climbed out of the car. As he walked over to large beige sandstone wall that was the front of the Millfield Police Station, he thought about his own role in this deadly and disturbing world. Even though the event had occurred only a week ago, he was already having difficulty remembering what his life had been like before. The traumatic and emotionally draining episodes of the past seven days had become his new reality. The memory of his parents and his love for them would never die, but now it seemed swamped and somehow diminished as he accepted the responsibility for keeping Gabby and Montana safe. He took a deep breath and sighed as he walked up the steps of the Police Station.
He stood at the top of the stairs and shook the paint can. The steel ball inside rattled around like a bone as he mixed the paint thoroughly. He aimed at the large glass doors and wrote, as neatly as he was able:
“My name is Matt. I survived. I live at Two Hills - 10 kms west on Millfield Road.”
Matt stood back and admired his handiwork. It wasn’t very hip-hop, he thought, but at least it was legible. He walked back to his ute and drove home.
The rest of the day was spent setting up the arc lights around the house and finding the best position for the bookmobile. Montana and Gabby watched and offered suggestions as he considered one spot and then another, but finally he decided to place it under the large pepper tree near the front of the house, where it would get shade in summer and sunshine in winter. He unlocked the door and Montana and Gabby hurried inside to explore their new classroom. When Matt joined them he was surprised to see that it was more than just shelves filled with books. There was a little corner with beanbag chairs and a TV, and up against another wall were a table and two chairs where you could sit and write, or colour in.
“This is perfect,” said Montana, smiling at Matt. “I can’t believe you did this for her.”
He returned her smile and plopped down onto a Sesame Street beanbag. “I did it for all of us. Hey Gabby, why don’t you pick a story and bring it over for us to read together?”
So, as the sun traversed slowly across the perfect blue sky, Gabby and Montana sat on beanbags and listened in silence while Matt read “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” by Dr Seuss. The sun threw dappled light onto the wall and the only sound, apart from Matt’s voice, was the birds as they chittered in the pepper tree outside. When Matt finished the story, he closed the book and placed it on the floor beside him. For a few short seconds nobody spoke as they remembered how the world once was, and hoped it could be again.
Gabby looked at Matt. “Can you read a story every d
ay?”
“Of course I can. I think books need to be read more than ever now, don’t you?