Where The Dead Men Lie (The Secret Apocalypse)

by Harden, James

  The trick was to make every bullet count. I hope we did.

  The next day after we found the abandoned cop car we came to a fuel station that had been completely cleared out. The fuel station had all the familiar signs of a panic brought on by disaster. Bare shelves inside the store, broken windows, abandoned cars. Hastily written cardboard signs that read, ‘No Fuel’.

  We were just about to move on, when Kenji found a luxury SUV parked around the back of the store.

  The driver’s door was wide open. The key was in the ignition. The left turn signal was flashing on and off. It looked like whoever had been driving it, had only just left.

  We decided to wait around to see if anyone returned. But by late afternoon, when the sun began to set, it was obvious no one was coming back.

  It was a nice SUV. It had leather seats, cruise control. It even had DVD players and TV screens built into the back of the seats. And for a minute it looked like we would be able to drive to Daniel's camp in luxurious air conditioned comfort. But we had only driven about hundred miles down the road when the car just died on us. Weird thing was, the tank was practically full.

  The damn thing just stopped working.

  The guys, Daniel, Jack and Kenji popped the hood and had a look at the engine. Maria and I had a look as well. Not that we knew anything about cars. I was hoping to see a giant 'on/off' switch. "Oh there's the problem. It was turned off."

  But unfortunately there was no switch. There wasn’t even any smoke or steam.

  Daniel shook his head. "Doesn't make sense."

  "I knew this was a bad idea," Jack said. "These luxury SUV's aren't designed to last in the outback."

  "If you knew this was a bad idea why didn’t you say anything before?" Maria replied.

  Daniel tried key in the ignition one more time. But there was no sign of life. It was then he noticed the display monitor on his NBC suit was dead as well. I had given my suit to Maria, because we figured she was more valuable than me. She needed the protection of the suit more than anyone. I told her to check the display panel located near her left wrist. She said it was out. Blank. She held up her wrist and showed me.

  No more cloaking device. No more GPS. We were now travelling blind.

  Kenji looked to the sky, turning slowly in a circle. He studied each section of blue sky extremely carefully.

  "What are you looking for?" I asked.

  "A mushroom cloud."

  "Huh?"

  "A mushroom cloud. From an explosion."

  "Like a bomb blast?"

  "Yeah."

  "You think the car broke down because of a nuclear EMP?" Daniel said.

  "It would make sense."

  "Nuclear EMP?" Jack asked. "What’s that?"

  "When a nuclear bomb is detonated, it produces and electromagnetic pulse," Kenji answered. "Knocks out all electronic devices in the area."

  Jack suddenly looked very worried. He put his hands up to his eyes and scanned the horizon for any signs of a nuclear explosion.

  "Do you think that’s the reason the car stopped working?" I asked.

  Kenji shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t know. I can’t see any evidence of a mushroom cloud. Maybe Jack was right. Maybe luxury SUV’s aren’t designed to last in the outback."

  We didn’t know it at the time but this was just the beginning of our troubles.

  In two days time we would run out food.

  A day after that we would run out of water.

  We would be forced to raid a town crawling with infected.

  Yep. Things were going from bad to worse in a real hurry.

  Chapter 3

  We spent the night in the SUV. The next morning we continued our journey. We had only walked about ten miles before we came to a driveway that led to a two story, mansion of a farmhouse.

  We had been travelling on the road for just over a week. And by Daniel’s estimate we had travelled about three hundred miles. A combination of driving, walking and running. He said we’d earned ourselves a break. The farmhouse would be a good place to rest for a day or two.

  "Nuh uh. No way," Maria said.

  "Why not?" I asked.

  "Look at it."

  The house had two levels. It was painted white. It stood on top of a small hill. A dirt driveway led all the way from the road to the house. Next to the house was a barn.

  "Looks like a regular old farmhouse," I said.

  "No. it looks anything but normal. It looks haunted. It looks like the house out of the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. I am not going in there."

  "Don’t be silly."

  "Hey that big dude," Jack said. "‘Leather Face’ or whatever his name is. His chainsaw would’ve come in real handy back at that supermarket we tried to raid last week."

  "Don’t even joke about the guy with the chainsaw," Maria said.

  "Fine," he said. "You can stay out here."

  She didn’t like that idea either.

  I must admit, after Maria mentioned the Texas Chainsaw movie, the house did start to look creepy in my mind. But it was a two story mansion of a house. It would be a perfect place to rest up. Provided it was empty.

  Like I said earlier, in these situations we sent in the trained professionals. Jack, Maria and I stayed out near the road, out in the open so we could see any dangers coming from a distance. Kenji and Daniel moved up the driveway with their rifles shouldered and ready for action.

  As they got closer to the house, they made noise to draw out any infected that were possibly hiding inside. Or any survivors.

  We hadn’t found any other survivors yet.

  They checked the house and the garage and the barn. It actually took awhile because it was so big. But eventually they called us up. The house was empty.

  It was a rough and rustic looking farmhouse. Probably more than a hundred years old. Jack said the corridors and hallways were so huge they could’ve played indoor cricket inside.

  We gathered in the kitchen to see if there was any food but unfortunately the cupboards were bare.

  Spread out on the kitchen table was a map of the area. It looked like the previous occupants had planned an escape route before they left.

  Smart people.

  Next to the map were a few letters.

  One of the letters was from the government. The letter was an official warning about a ‘possible’ viral outbreak. It also listed precautions to take.

  It read:

  Wash hands regularly.

  Cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.

  Avoid people acting aggressive.

  Report any violent or unusual behavior.

  Stay indoors when possible.

  Do not go outside at night.

  Quarantine and isolate any sick family members.

  The next letter mentioned the nationwide quarantine. It gave instructions for an evacuation.

  The locations of the military safe zones.

  One of the notes was handwritten.

  It read:

  Jim,

  Don’t know if you will ever read this, but I thought I’d better warn you about the biker gangs that have started showing up in these parts. Apparently they are moving out of the cities and looking for camping sites out here.

  I haven’t actually seen any gangs yet but word on the grapevine says they’ve started acting more and more violent. Ever since the police station closed and the police officers were sent down to Melbourne and Adelaide to help with the quarantine.

  Anyway, better to be safe than sorry, right?

  Also, I thought you should know that tomorrow we are leaving for Hope. Father Damon is offering shelter, food and water at the church there. So that’s where we’ll be.

  Good luck mate.

  Ed.

  Below the main letter was another note written in different handwriting.

  P.S. Jim, if we’re not back by Monday could you check up on Princess Cinnamon. We let her out in the back paddock.

  Thanks. Sarah.

 
Kenji had a closer look at the note and then handed it to Daniel. "Biker gangs. What do you think?"

  "Doesn’t surprise me. People become aggressive in these types of situations."

  "These types of situations?" I asked.

  "Yeah. Survival. Self-preservation. These are strong motivators. People will do whatever it takes. Their behavior becomes extreme in extreme circumstances."

  "So you’re saying people will become dangerous?"

  "Sometimes. It’s a survival mechanism. Only the strong survive."

  I read the letter again to myself.

  "I’ve been thinking about this a lot," Daniel continued.

  "Thinking about what?"

  "Well, we haven’t come across any survivors yet. But if we do, we can’t just assume that they’ll want to help us or that they’re good people. We need to be careful."

  "What are you saying?" Kenji asked.

  "I think we should keep Maria’s immunity a secret."

  "Do you think that’s necessary?"

  "Yeah I do. I think if we find survivors, we should keep our mouths shut. At least until we know we can trust them, or until we know that they don’t pose a threat to us."

  "Why would they be a threat?" Jack asked. "Why wouldn’t we be able to trust them? Do you think they’ll try and hurt Maria? Or take her?"

  "It’s possible. But I think the main reason we keep Maria a secret is because first and foremost, we don’t know how they will react. They may not believe us; they may want to find out for themselves, they may want to use Maria as a bargaining chip to get out of the country. There’s too many ‘maybes’, there’s too many risks. I say we keep our mouths shut and our guards up."

  Daniel made a good point. There were too many unknowns. So we decided to keep Maria’s immunity a secret if we found anyone. Just in case.

  As night fell, we moved up to the second floor of the house, to the main bedroom that had views of the whole property. Night is a dangerous time. It is when we are most exposed, the most helpless. As a result we would all sleep in the one room, with two people keeping watch.

  We all knew to be as quiet as possible.

  CHAPTER 4

  It was my watch first. Kenji was up with me. The others had passed out pretty quickly. Initially it was hard to sleep out here in the desert, especially outside and especially when Daniel and I had warned the others about the wild dogs that had attacked Daniel’s camp. We didn’t mean to scare anyone, but that’s what had happened. Maria was terrified. Daniel had to reassure her that the wild dogs were a long way from here.

  Daniel was lying, of course. The wild dogs could’ve been anywhere. The only reassuring thing in my mind was that we hadn’t seen any wildlife at all. I think I had convinced myself that the wild dogs would want to stay close to a food source. So naturally they wouldn’t be anywhere near this area. Somehow, this line of reason made it easier for me to sleep at night. As for the others, they found it easier to sleep as we came to trust each other more and more. And trust in the guard duty, buddy system that we had established.

  Kenji and I walked around the house, making sure all the doors were locked. Kenji pointed out to me the best locations to defend the house from. If it came down to that.

  He said that we’d need to hold this house at all costs. Defend the first floor with everything that we had. And then defend the second floor with everything. At least until daylight.

  I think he then realized that talking so frankly about defending this house to the death against a horde of infected was kind of freaking me out. So he changed the subject.

  "How you holding up?" he whispered to me as we moved into a smaller bedroom that looked like a girl’s room.

  "I hate the night shift," I answered. "When its dark. When there’s no moon, no stars, anything could be sneaking up on us."

  "Yeah, I know the feeling. It’s best not to think about it."

  "But even on a night like tonight, it’s a full moon with really bright, clear skies. My imagination still runs wild. I can’t help it. I keep imagining a lone dark figure, a shadow, running towards us. I mean, what’s worse? Knowing or not knowing. And does it even matter?"

  "Don’t worry," he said, trying to make me feel better. "You have to trust that we’re prepared to deal with whatever comes our way. That’s why we’re checking the doors. That’s why were scouting for the best shooting positions. We’re prepared. We’re ready. In the end, that’s all you can ask for. Plus we’re miles from anywhere."

  "Yeah. I suppose."

  "Speaking of being prepared, I wanted to show you this," he said as he handed me a small pocket knife. "It’s a flick knife. For emergencies."

  He showed me how to press the small button on the handle to get the blade to flick out. "Be careful not to cut yourself. Not that it’s very sharp."

  "If it’s not sharp, then what’s the point?"

  He took the knife back off me. "Make a fist, hold it like this. Stab downwards. Aim for the head."

  "Oh," I said as I suddenly realized what it was for.

  "No point in cutting," Kenji continued. "You need to stab."

  It was a blunt knife, not even sharp enough to cut skin. But the tip of the blade would be enough to do the trick.

  I tried to imagine a scenario where I would need to use this knife.

  A last resort.

  Out of ammo.

  No one left.

  No one to help me.

  Not even Kenji.

  Just me, an infected undead monster, and a blunt flick knife.

  I prayed that I would never have to use this knife.

  I took the knife from Kenji and slid it in my back pocket. "Promise me," I said. "Promise, you won’t leave me. That I won’t have to use this knife."

  "You know I can’t," he said. "But I will do everything in my power to get you to safety."

  "And then what?"

  "We'll be safe back home. You can stay with us. We can start over. Everything will be fine."

  "Your parents hate me."

  "No they don't. They're just; they're not very good around people. My dad spends most of his time buried in his work. And then my mother worries that's he's going to have a heart attack or something. But trust me, when we get out of this, everything’s gonna be fine."

  "If," I whispered.

  "What?"

  "If we get out of this."

  "Hey," he said, making eye contact. "We are getting out of this. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

  Even though it wasn’t the best of circumstances, I was happy to be back together with Kenji. Not ‘together’ as in boyfriend and girlfriend. Just together, as in occupying the same space. I know I shouldn’t be happy. Not in a place like this, not when so many people have died but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to tell him how I felt right then and there. It’s all I’ve wanted to do since I made it back here. But I stop myself. Like Daniel said earlier, we needed to keep our mouths shut and guards up.

  It was good advice.

  This wasn’t the time or the place to fall in love and expose your emotions and your heart’s desire for the whole messed up world to see. I needed to be focused. Kenji needed to be focused. So I kept my guard up, my mouth shut and my heart closed.

  And I’ve regretted that decision ever since.

  Kenji said he was going to check the ground floor and maybe the basement. He was about to leave, but then he turned, leant in and kissed me.

  "Sorry," he whispered. "I just had to do that. Before we went any further."

  Before it was too late, I thought.

  And then he left down the stairs.

  I moved back into the main bedroom where everyone else was sleeping. I continued to look out over the front paddocks. The road stretched from north to south, disappearing on the dark horizon.

  What a lonely road I thought.

  At some point during the night Maria woke up and sat with me.