by James Harden
The Secret Apocalypse
By James Harden
Copyright © 2010 by James Harden
http://jamesharden.blogspot.com/
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events locales or organisations is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author.
The Beginning of The End
I'm sitting in the penthouse suite of a hotel in Los Angeles with a TV camera pointed at my face. Sitting next to me is a journalist from a well known news program, although I can't remember which news program they said. Was it Fox News or something on CNN? Maybe it was 60 minutes? For the life of me I can't remember. After everything I’ve been through, little details like which global TV network I’m appearing on are starting to slip my mind.
The journalist also has a camera pointed at his face but I don't think the cameras are on yet. At least I hope they're not on yet. I look like crap. The makeup department is going to have their work cut out for them when they get here. I’ve just been through hell and as a result I look like hell. What’s that saying again? A face for radio?
The room is full of people working frantically to get everything ready in time. There’s the camera man and a sound guy. There’s a guy holding up a big white reflective thing and an important looking woman who could be a producer or something of that nature.
The important looking woman walks over to me with a clipboard in hand and asks me if I'm feeling all right. "Are you feeling all right?" She checks her clipboard. "Have you taken your medication?"
I haven’t been able to sleep since I made it back. They gave me some pills to help with the insomnia but they’re not working. I don't want to tell her this. So I nod my head and smile.
The producer kneels down in front of me. "Rebecca, we did a brief back ground check on you and we just need you to verify some of our facts."
I nod my head again. They need to put a human face to all of this and at the moment I'm the only human face they've got.
She runs a French manicured finger nail down the clip board and asks me a whole bunch of boring stuff like how I grew up in Brooklyn and then moved to Sydney. How I'm only sixteen years old and how I don't even have a driver’s license yet.
"Is that even important?" I ask about the driver’s license.
"We can use it to highlight how young you are."
"Oh."
Then she asks about the stuff I don't want people to know about. She asks me about my father. "OK, according to this, your father was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan when you were thirteen?"
"No."
"No?"
"They never confirmed he had been killed," I say. "They never found his body."
"I’m sorry. It's just that our records indicate..."
"He's MIA."
She makes a note on her clipboard. "Missing in action. Got it. I'm sorry, to push these issues, Rebecca. But we need to be sure of everything. If at any stage you feel uncomfortable during the interview we can stop and take a break. The interview will be a delayed telecast of about thirty minutes so we've got plenty of time."
"You're not going to ask me about all of that are you?"
"No. Not all of it. We just need to use some of that background information to introduce you to the public. Once they know your story, they'll have a better understanding of everything that's going on. You have a big responsibility. You're the only survivor. People have a right to know what happened down there. And since the military aren't talking, we're all counting on you."
It’s weird how they keep saying I’m the only survivor, like the others are already dead. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around just how many people died. I think I'm still in denial.
The producer introduces me to the journalist. "Rebecca, this is Steve Munroe. He’s one of our most senior reporters here."
His face looks familiar but I was never really one for watching hardcore news programs.
He extends his hand to shake mine. "Hi, Rebecca. I just want to say I admire your courage and determination. You're a brave girl for doing this."
I shake his hand.
The producer’s phone rings and she walks away to answer it.
"Now Rebecca," says Steve, the journalist. "Before we start recording, I just want to run you through some of the questions I'll be asking you."
"OK."
"If there’s anything you don't want to talk about you just let me know."
"Will do."
He tells me people will want to know four things. "So basically, with a big story like this, people always want to know four things. They want to know the who, the what, the why and the how."
I nod my head.
"The who is easy. That's you. You are the sole survivor. People will want to know all about you. They’ll want to know what makes you special, what makes you tick. Once people know who you are, they’ll want to know what happened down there and why it happened. But they won’t want to hear it from just anyone; they’ll want to hear it from you, straight from your mouth, straight from the source."
I wonder if anyone will even believe me when I tell them what is happening down there.
"But a big part of this interview will deal with the how of it. How did you do it? How did you survive when so many people didn't make it? When so many people died?"
That's a good question. I’ve been trying to figure this one out ever since I made it back. But I can’t. All I can think about are the people who matter most to me. Forget about the millions of other people. I know it sounds selfish but that's the way it is. I can't stop thinking about my mother. I can't stop thinking about my friends. Maria and Kenji. Jack and Kim. We survived so much. We survived together. Yet somehow I’m the only one who made it out. Somehow, I'm the only one giving this interview.
"I mean, the entire Australian population is gone," says Steve. "Over twenty million people wiped out in a matter of weeks. People will want to know, people will need to know how you escaped, how you stayed alive."
I’ve been thinking about this a lot. And the more I think about it, the more I realize my friends were the reason I survived. If I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t be here. No freakin way.
The producer walks back over to us as she hangs up her phone. "Rebecca sweetie, just answer the questions like no one else is in the room, OK? Take all the time you need. I understand if everything might be a little hazy."
I tell her I’ll try real hard to remember even though everything is crystal clear, ultra real, like I’m watching my memories on a high definition, flat screen television.
The producer looks at her watch. "We haven’t got long. We’re going live in one hour. Steve, can I talk to you in private for a second?"
"Live?" I ask.
"Yeah. There’s been a slight change of plan."
The two of them exchange a look and I get the feeling that something is wrong.
"Please excuse me for just one minute," says the journalist. "Oh, and while I’m gone try and think about the turning point for you. The moment when you realized something bad was about to happen."
They both walk off to the master bedroom. They start talking. The producer then turns around and closes the door behind her.
Great. This is going to be worse than I thought. I’m starting to regret my decision to give this interview. I know people have a right to hear the truth but do they really need to hear it from me? I was never a good public speaker, ne
ver good at verbalizing what I wanted to say.
Maybe I should just run away. No one is really paying attention. Not the sound guy, not even the camera man. I could totally do it. I could walk out of the room, take the elevator down to the lobby, hail a taxi. Seems like a good option, an easier option. But then I see Steve left his pen and notepad on his chair. The producer mentioned something about everyone counting on me to find out what happened especially since the military aren't answering questions. The media have called it ‘The Secret Apocalypse’, a full on extinction level event that was covered up and kept hidden from the world. It's hard to believe in this age of information no one really knows what's going on.
It’s hard to believe no one knows the truth. No one but me.
I remind myself that I do have a duty of sorts. Not just to answer everyone’s questions, but to my friends, to let people know what they did, how awesome and heroic they were right to the very end. So I pick up the pen and the notepad and head for the bathroom. I lock the door and sit down on the cool marble floor.
People need the truth and this is the best way. I used to write a lot, especially after my father disappeared. So I force myself to concentrate. It takes a few minutes but then my brain kicks into gear and starts working overtime. The pen begins to move almost of its own accord. My writing is messy but legible. Everything is being replayed in my mind’s eye at high speed. Important events are being freeze framed, rewound, watched over and over. I scribble down the main points that people need to know about.
The quarantine.
The Oz Virus.
My friends. Maria. Jack. Kim.
And Kenji.
The massive cover up by the government and the military.
Twenty-two million people dead.
The Secret Apocalypse.
Chapter 1
Steve, the journalist said to think about the turning point, the moment I realized something was wrong. I guess most people would’ve realized something was wrong when the Australian government ordered a nationwide quarantine. But for me it was on the first day of school. Two days before the quarantine was ordered.
I woke up early because I was too nervous to sleep. I wasn’t as scared as I'd been the previous year when I was the new girl in town but I was still a mess. I'd laid out my school uniform the night before so I wouldn’t be running around in the morning looking for my skirt or my shoes. I’d made sure we had plenty of cereal and fresh milk and fresh fruit stocked in the kitchen. I was determined to have the most amazingly healthy and balanced breakfast to get me through the day. But when I walked out to the kitchen on that scorching hot summer’s morning, I forgot all about school and first day nerves.
There was a note on the bench from my mother which read:
Left 4 work early.
This alone wasn’t a shock because she was always working. Apparently there was a shortage of nurses in Sydney hospitals or something. But right next to the note was an origami horse. It was tiny and intricate and beautiful. It looked like it was about to come to life and rear onto its hind legs. I was officially freaked out. Alarm bells were ringing inside my head.
This little paper horse scared me and it scared me because there was only one person in the entire world that could’ve made something so goddamn amazing.
Kenji Yoshida.
I wouldn’t call him my ex-boyfriend because we were never really going out. But we were close. It felt like we had something. Well, maybe more than just something. He was the boy next door when I lived in Brooklyn and he was my closest friend.
Unfortunately one day he decided to turn into a total jerk and leave home without even saying goodbye or saying anything. He ran off to join the US Marines to defend the country and see the world or whatever. No note, no email, no phone call from the train station, no text message. We hadn’t talked since he left and I had never forgiven him. Probably never will.
I’m not sure how long I had been standing in the kitchen in a daze but the next thing I knew my phone was beeping and vibrating across the kitchen bench. There was one new text from Maria. It read:
First day mofo! Get excited!
I was just about to reply when I heard the school bus pull up out the front. I guess I’d been staring at the horse for longer than I thought. I grabbed my bag and the paper horse and ran out the door. Suddenly there was no time for a healthy and complete breakfast. I hadn't even brushed my hair. Not that I was thinking about any of that. I was so lost in my own thoughts that when I boarded the bus I didn’t even see Maria waving at me from way up the back.
"Rebecca!" she yelled. "Back here! Are you blind?"
She was waving at me with both hands like she was flagging down a plane on a deserted island. She didn’t care that she was making a scene. She never cared what the other kids thought about her.
"Sorry. Didn’t see you," I said as I sat down next to her.
"You didn’t see me? I was waving at you the entire time."
"Maybe you should consider wearing some sort of fluorescent vest to stand out more," I said.
"Hey, I have a lot of fluoro in my wardrobe. Do not tempt me."
The bus pulled away from the curb and I was thrown back in my seat.
"What the hell is that?" Maria asked referring to the origami horse.
"This? I said. "It’s... it’s nothing"
"Oh really?"
She snatched it out of my hand before I could hide it.
"Hey, be careful!"
She held it up to her ocean blue eyes and studied it carefully. I don’t know why but I was jealous of Maria’s eyes. They were so blue they looked fake, like she was wearing contact lenses. Combine that with her sun kissed blonde hair and her tan that seemed to glow all year round and I could see why she didn’t care about making a scene on the bus or what the other kids thought about her.
"It’s beautiful," she said. "Did you make it?"
"Not really."
"Not really?" What do you mean ‘not really’?"
"I, um, I think someone made it for me."
"I get it. Say no more. It’s a gift from a secret admirer, isn’t it?"
"Ah, yeah. That’s it."
"Wow. And on the first day of school! You’re such a heart breaker."
I don't know why I lied to her. I guess I didn’t want to explain that I thought it was from my sort of ex boyfriend from back home. I'd never told her about Kenji. Actually, I’d never really told her anything about my past. Sure we were good friends but there are just some things in my life I do not want to talk about. Not with anyone.
"So where’s Jack?" I asked in an attempt to change the subject.
"I’m not sure. I think he said he was getting a lift into school."
It was strange that Maria didn't know where Jack was. Those two were practically inseparable. If they weren’t together, they were talking on the phone or texting or IMing each other on Facebook. I know this because last year I somehow managed to become a permanent third wheel to their relationship. And for some reason they liked it. No, not like that. I don’t swing that way and they don't either. At least, I don't think they do.
Anyway, I met Maria on my first day of school last year and we were instant friends. She introduced me to Jack and we became instant friends as well. This alone was reason enough to hang out with them. I’d never made friends easily and yet there I was making two friends on my first day at a new school, in a new country. I could barely string two words together I was such a nervous wreck. I remember Jack trying to shake my hand to greet me but my hands were so sweaty I refused to shake his hand back. I just sort of bowed my head. I personally thought it was a divine miracle that we became friends at all. There was just no other explanation
So I started hanging out with them. They took me under their wings and showed me around Sydney. Jack is a really good surfer so he started teaching me how to surf. Maria is really into fashion so she would take me shopping all the time. She would go on and on about how she wanted me to take her to th
e New York fashion show.
On the one hand it was kind of weird. I mean, no one wants to be the third wheel right? It’s awkward. The couple is usually making out or calling each other pet names like sweetie pie or honey bun, while the third wheel has to sit there and pretend not to be disgusted. But with Jack and Maria I never felt awkward. I never even felt like I was a third wheel.
When Jack gave me surfing lessons Maria would chill out on the beach listening to music. Sometimes she would stand at the water’s edge with a white board. She would write a score out of ten and hold the board up, rating how good I was. And when we went shopping, Jack would pretend to be a world famous fashion photographer. He would borrow his father’s old camera and take a whole bunch of photos of Maria and me.
He would say silly things like, "Pop darlings. Pop your hip. Make love to the camera."
I know it sounds stupid but it was fun. And I hadn’t had fun in such a long time.
Maria’s phone rang. "It’s Jack," she said to me. "Hey, where the hell are you?"
She tried to sound angry even though her blue eyes lit up and a smile crept across her lips.
Maria once told me that they liked hanging out with me because it took the pressure of their relationship. "Sometimes I feel like it's too intense," she said. "That I’ve fallen too hard for him. If he ever left me or whatever, I don’t think I’d be able to cope. I’d shut down. I don't think I could live without him."
So having me around kept them from getting too intense I suppose. I was like a buffer of sorts, someone to keep their feet on the ground.
It was hard to imagine either one of these guys being lost on their own. They were both extremely popular, fun loving, people persons. You might think it was like they were using me but it wasn't like that at all. The truth was I liked hanging around them. I really didn't care that I was a third wheel. The best thing about these guys was they made me feel better about myself.
Maria hung up her phone and immediately started sending a text message, probably to Jack.
