Jackson Kidd (Book 1): Surviving

by West, Mark

  Joseph quickly jumps in. ‘I’m looking forward to the fence more than the food they’ll bring back. I feel so exposed up here with nothing separating us from those monsters.’

  ‘Me too,’ Piper chimes in. ‘It’s only a matter of time before they come this way.’

  The picture of Jackson standing over the body of the dead man at the service station flashes into Victoria’s mind. She isn’t sure if she is ready to face them again. More dark thoughts cross her mind and she quickly shakes them away, taking a sip of her juice as a distraction. She needs to stay strong for Jackson and her friends.

  Stepping outside, Victoria and Amy make their way towards the shed, treading lightly along the dewy grass. It’s still a bit nippy outside, the temperature taking its time to rise. Both girls are dressed in work wear, ready to mark out the fence: boots, jeans and jumpers.

  ‘Jackson said he left the blue spray paint, string line and tape in the corner of the shed.’ Victoria says, tucking back her hair in a bun and pulling her grey hood over her head.

  ‘Hopefully.’ Amy stops. ‘Victoria?’

  Victoria continues walking, focused on going to the shed, but slows when she notices Amy has stopped.

  ‘What’s up?’

  Amy picks up speed and gets in front. She walks backwards, facing Victoria. ‘Um … Nah, it’s nothing. Let’s keep moving.’ She quickly turns on her heals.

  Victoria grabs her shoulder. ‘Wait a minute. What is it?’

  Amy spins back around to face Victoria. ‘It’s nothing. Forget it.’

  Victoria catches a hint of embarrassment. Something flickers across Amy’s eyes that tells her it’s not nothing. ‘I know you Amy. There’s something you’re not telling me.’

  Amy tries to dismiss her comment by turning away, but Victoria has her by the shoulder firmly and is peering into her eyes, searching for answers. ‘It’s something you’ve done, I can tell.’

  Amy’s eyes continue to dart around, her cheeks growing a deeper shade of pink.

  Victoria’s eyes narrow in on her. ‘It is Amy! Is this something that has happened recently? Is this about—’

  ‘It’s nothing ok!’ Amy shrugs off her hand. ‘Just forget I mentioned it … It’s kind of stupid.’

  ‘Just tell me,’ Victoria insists, blocking her path.

  ‘Fine!’ Amy snaps, ‘But you need to promise not to tell Jackson … Well, I guess if he doesn’t already know, that is.’

  ‘I knew it.’

  Amy checks her surrounds. Even though there is nobody around, she whispers. ‘Lincoln kissed me last night.’ Her words stumble from her mouth. ‘I mean, I guess I kissed him too but … well … you get the point.’

  ‘When?’ Victoria’s mind is blown. The pair have known each other for years, but never had she ever thought there was anything between them. They were like two magnets that pushed each other away.

  ‘When you all went to bed last night. By the fire. We got to talking and, I guess, somehow connected. Not sure how it happened, but the next thing I realise we’re kissing and, well …’ She fumbles with her hands and looks at the ground. ‘It was a bit more than that.’ She peers up slowly as if waiting for a reaction, but Victoria says nothing. ‘It all happened so quickly, and then … I just got up and went to bed. I wasn’t sure what to say. I feel so confused.’

  Victoria is wide-eyed. ‘Do you think it meant anything?’

  Amy shrugs. ‘Don’t know. We haven’t spoken.’

  ‘Do you want it to mean something?

  Amy catches sight of a kangaroo bouncing past in the distance. She watches it for a moment. ‘I’m not sure … I’ve never seen him in that way before. You know … I guess I see him as …’

  ‘Lincoln?’ Victoria cuts in.

  Amy’s face goes redder. The small freckles on her cheek turn orange. ‘Yeah … Look, he probably forgot all about it. Let’s just get the stuff for the fence.’

  Victoria chuckles as Amy trudges away. She would never have guessed it. She shakes her head in disbelief. She feels happy for her friend, but also a little concerned. Amy could get her heart broken if there is something there. The pair are nothing like each other. It could be a disaster. But stranger things have happened.

  After an hour or so of running lines and spraying patches of grass with blue spray paint, Amy spots a man stumbling up over the crest of a bare hill. He is about thirty metres away, creeping slowly towards them.

  ‘He’s definitely one of them,’ Victoria says, lowering her rifle.

  ‘You’ll need to shoot him.’ Amy says. There is no compassion in her voice.

  Victoria’s fingers begin to tremble as she holds the gun. ‘It’s easy, Victoria. You got this.’

  Over the years Victoria has become accustomed to shooting rifles. When she first met Jackson, ten years ago, she discovered he was somewhat of a hobby hunter. Nothing serious. But when she was introduced to the Block, she quickly learnt that there was more to him than meets the eye.

  She mainly shoots tin cans or paper targets, with the occasional rabbit or fox if she has too. She doesn’t like shooting animals; she feels it’s cruel to take the life of something that’s just trying to exist in its own little world. Now she’s faced with killing a human.

  Victoria crouches on one knee and soon feels the damp grass soaking through her blue jeans. The man is growling at them. He appears to have something metal stuck around his feet, wire of some sort.

  She lines him up and takes in a deep breath as she steadies her aim. Her knees are trembling, and she grips tighter to the stock to prevent her arms from shaking. His face meets the crosshairs. She sucks in more air, shuts her eyes and lightly squeezes the trigger.

  The man’s nose disintegrates, sending him backwards in a tumbling mess onto the ground.

  ‘That’s disgusting,’ Amy says, putting her hands to her mouth. ‘But, nice shot.’

  ‘I guess you could say that’s my first official kill.’ Proud but also a little shaken, Victoria peers over at the fallen man. ‘Strangely, I don’t feel too bad.’

  Amy slaps her on the shoulders and helps her to her feet. ‘Welcome to the club. Come on, we need to check on him. I think he’s fallen on one of our lines.’

  The man is lying face down on a clump of dry grass. There’s a hole to the back of his skull the size of a marble; brown liquid is oozing from the wound, turning the surrounding grass into a coagulated mess of wet stains.

  Victoria inspects the man. A feeling of overwhelming sadness for the once human crosses her mind before she remembers he was out to kill her.

  ‘Exit wound,’ Amy says, pointing down at the empty hole.

  ‘Well I guess he’s dead.’ Victoria holds her nose, trying hard to avoid the smell. ‘Let’s move him off the line and finish this. Being out here is making me nervous.’ She bends over and grabs one of his legs.

  As the girls toddle back to what they were doing, they hear a high-pitched scream and a single gunshot.

  ‘Christ! What the hell was that?’ Amy yells. She turns towards the house.

  ‘Piper!’

  Chapter 16

  THE GATHERING

  The two Infected hesitate only for a moment before moving away from the manager’s desk and heading towards us, feet sliding along the blood-soaked floor. The one to my right lurches in my direction, eyes scanning my existence in a daze as I lift my crowbar higher, ready to strike.

  Anger wells up inside me like a volcano and I clamp my mouth shut in fear I may scream. I’m furious, hands and legs shaking from adrenalin as I struggle to control myself. My friends, my two best friends have been eaten alive by these worthless beings right in front of me. I need an outlet for my anger and this person is it.

  I swing with no mercy, energy pulsating through my arms as I attack. The crowbar strikes his face in a bone crunching crack, sending him sideways until his head bounces off the wall and he stumbles back towards my readying swing. It’s time for a home run. I swing again, but the bar doesn’t conne
ct as well as I hoped. But I succeed in smashing the man’s jaw, felling him like an axed tree.

  I peer at the second man. He has been speared through the chest by Doug who is holding him at arm’s length. He seems temporarily pinned, legs pumping as Doug drives the spear deeper and deeper into his chest and out the other side.

  I leap onto the nearby table without thinking, and jam the long end of my crowbar through his eye socket. His arms drop and his legs collapse, snapping the spear as his dead weight falls to the floor.

  ‘Holy shit, man, that was violent! I did have him you know.’ Doug says, but I’m too worked up to give a stuff.

  Adrenalin is coursing through my veins as I survey the room to ensure it’s safe. My heart is racing, and I feel slightly sick from the smell that emanates from the dead bodies: a mixture of dog shit and rotting meat. I feel like I’m trapped in a garbage dump with no windows or doors, just the taste of decomposing waste.

  ‘Check the body behind the desk!’ I yell, and take in some deep breaths to try and calm my nerves. The smell scratches at my lungs and makes me gag.

  Without hesitation, Doug runs around the manager’s desk, stopping when he reaches the bodies on the floor.

  ‘Well?’ I ask impatiently. I need answers and need them quickly.

  Doug’s face is bright red, sweat pouring down the thin neck that holds his larger than normal head. He seems thinner today than yesterday, more fragile.

  ‘It’s too hard to tell. They’re completely torn apart. Could be anyone.’

  I approach the back of the desk. I want answers for myself, not just a description. I need to see them with my own eyes.

  I inspect the dismembered bodies on the floor and Doug is right, it’s too hard to tell who they are or even what they once were. They are completely mutilated. It’s a terrible way to go out. I turn away before I’m blinded by the horror and my head is filled with more nightmares.

  Doug’s voice cracks. ‘I think it’s them.’ His eyes are blinding red and he’s crying, tears splashing on the ground like falling rain.

  I slap his shoulder, feeling like I may also cry. ‘I’m sorry.’ I don’t know why I was apologising but I feel like this is my fault. I came up with the idea and everyone followed me along for the ride.

  ‘What are you guys doing?’

  At the sound of Lincoln’s voice, I feel a cold shiver run down my spine, as if I’ve been touched by a ghost. I spin around to see Lincoln and Rohan standing by the doorway to the room.

  ‘Seriously?’ I yell. ‘Where the hell have you guys been?’

  I feel anger beginning to build back up inside me. So much anger. All my sympathy for them vanishes as the pair smile back calmly, unaware of what we’ve just been through.

  Lincoln coolly answers, hand resting on the door jamb. ‘Next door, man. Taking a dump. Lost track of time reading the magazines.’

  Doug takes a step forward and screams, releasing a mix of emotions, ‘What! Did you clowns not hear us calling out for you?’

  Rohan shrugs, glancing at Lincoln and then back towards us. ‘I think I heard something. Can’t be sure though.’ He inspects the room curiously, forehead creasing when he spots the dead bodies lying on the floor. ‘What are you guys doing in here? It stinks.’ He sticks out his tongue in disgust.

  I fling both arms into the air in defeat. ‘Bloody hell, guys!’ I barge past the pair, until I reach the top of the landing. ‘Well … what are we waiting for? Let’s get our gear and get out of here.’

  With the store clear inside and out, we secure any access points into the building, including the side gate which we drove through, ensuring nothing sneaks up on us while we are gathering our supplies.

  The timber yard is a huge win and a massive motivational booster. We find five large pallets of temporary fencing, six pallets of timber palings and a couple of pallets of timber posts. Parked around the side is a large fifteen tonne loading truck which is perfect to cart our gear back to the Block and we thank our lucky stars Rohan and Doug can both drive it.

  The yard is partly outdoors and there is a high risk that sound may travel, so to minimise the noise of the forklift, I remove the reverse beeper and cover the sides of exhaust with some old rags in attempt to dull the vibrations. It works and I leave Doug with Rohan to load up the pallets, while me and Lincoln make our way inside to gather further supplies. We grab a shopping cart each and head in opposite directions. This time I’m ready and rest my gun on the front of the cart just in case we missed someone.

  Lincoln is tasked to grab as many quality power tools and equipment he can find, along with seeds, plants and anything that we may need to sustain a long survival. Seeing as though I’m the resident builder, I give myself the less interesting task of gathering nails and fixings to make the fence.

  After around thirty minutes, we are almost finished. Rohan and Doug have loaded all the pallets onto the truck, and we now have plenty of power and battery tools, along with a stack of gardening gear and plants. I also manage to clean out most of the essential fixings, adding in some extras for potential projects I have in mind.

  Rohan dusts his hands as the last bag is placed into the tray. ‘Are we heading into Canberra for the solar panels or getting food first?’

  I think for a moment, wiping the sweat along my forehead on the sleeve of my arm. ‘I don’t know. What do you guys think?

  Doug steps forward, taking a bite from a muesli bar. His shirt is soaked, and it clings tightly to his ever-thinning stomach. ‘I think we need to get this load back to the property first and assess the situation. I don’t know about you guys, but I feel a little uneasy around here.’

  Lincoln cranes his neck, inspecting Doug up and down with a scoff. ‘Mate, we need both power and food. That generator isn’t going to last forever you know. What if we split up?’

  Doug’s eyes bulge, his face turning pale. ‘Split up?’

  ‘Lincoln’s right, guys,’ I say. ‘We need food and power if we are to survive. I think splitting up may be our only option. I know it’s not ideal, but we may not have a choice.’

  ‘Who goes where?’ Doug asks, agitation creeping into his voice.

  ‘Well, I’ll go into Canberra,’ I say, peering around at the boys. ‘I just need one more volunteer to check it out with me. Who’s in?’

  Silence falls on the group and eyes wander off.

  ‘Seriously?’ I growl. ‘Not one person?’

  Lincoln flings his arms in the air. ‘I’ll go, you bunch of sooks!’ he barks, blowing smoke across the rest of the boys with no consideration. ‘It’s funny how we all want power, but no one is willing to work for it!’ He glares at the pair, eyes burning each one of them with an invisible laser.

  Doug swats at the smoke, lips clammed shut for a moment before coughing out some words. ‘Not … true … man.’ He begins squelching his hands.

  Lincoln shrugs him off, turning his attention to Rohan who is busy fiddling with something. ‘What’s that?’ he asks.

  Rohan ignores him. He’s focused on his hands.

  ‘You’re a bit quiet over there Rohan.’ I try to see what he’s doing. He continues to fiddle with an object, completely oblivious to his surroundings. ‘What do you have?’

  Lincoln takes a step towards him, nudging him in the side of the ribs. ‘Oi, Rohan.’

  He flinches, jerking away. ‘Huh?’

  ‘What are you doing man?’ Doug asks.

  ‘Nothing really,’ he finally answers, lifting the object into view and rotating it a few times. It glistens in the light, sun bouncing off its worn silver edges. ‘I found this Leatherman multitool inside. It was just sitting there on the shelf.’ He begins to splay out its contents, showing off each individual device. ‘Check it out. It has all kinds of gadgets on it.’

  ‘Rohan, we don’t care. At least I don’t.’ Lincoln flicks the butt of smouldering cigarette in his direction, just missing his shoulder. ‘Let’s get this damn thing done and keep moving, I’m getting bloody hun
gry.’

  A low groan echoes in the distant air and I feel spiders crawl along my skin as every one of my hairs becomes erect. ‘They’re coming.’

  Doug spins around immediately, turning to the gate with fearful eyes. ‘What was that?’

  ‘Infected. We need to get going. Now!’ I point to where the vehicles are parked. ‘Lincoln grab what you need from your truck and let’s get moving. Rohan you take the Colorado and follow Doug in the truck. Remember stop for nothing if you can avoid it.’

  ‘Got it,’ Doug mumbles.

  ‘Good. When you get back can you start work on the fence. We may not be back tonight and getting a fence up is crucial.’

  Rohan rolls his eyes. ‘Looking forward to it.’

  I run to the truck and meet Lincoln who is already pulling out a small bag from the seat of his car, along with his rifle. Rohan strolls casually over, no sense of urgency whatsoever, and slaps him on the back. ‘Don’t forget your ammo,’ he says calmly.

  Lincoln turns to him, bag in one arm. ‘Take good care of Koda for me. And my truck. I don’t want to see any scratches on it when I return.’ Lincoln reaches for something in his pocket and pulls out a set of keys, dropping them into Rohan’s hand. I’m amazed that he trusts him to drive his truck.

  Rohan gives the keys a jingle. ‘Will do, man,’ he grins. I see a glimmer of something I know Lincoln won’t be happy about. I don’t think that truck is coming home in one piece.

  Doug comes skipping over a little agitated. ‘Hey guys, I think we should stick together for the food run.’

  ‘Why?’ I ask.

  ‘I just have a bad feeling. I thought perhaps being a supermarket it may be full of more Infected than we can handle. You and Lincoln are our best shots. I’d appreciate the help.’

  I groan, rubbing the side of my face in frustration. It feels dry. I begin scratching at it, removing a dry patch of skin. I’m torn. What if he’s right and something happens. Or worse, we follow them in and die as well. This would leave the girls alone at the property.