by J M Hart
The sound of the rushing wind alerted Shaun to the fact someone had just come through the connecting doors. He kept low, his eyes closed, listening to a group of teenagers walking in the lower carriage. There was a loud bang. It sounded like something or someone hitting at the windows. The noise stopped. Shaun looked up and could see the fat guy in his seat up ahead and that his shoulders and head were shaking. He then heard the first footfall on the steps leading up to the top level. The train came to the next station, the signs and building flashing past. The train didn’t stop. There were three hooded guys coming up the stairs and one was banging a metal baseball bat on the rail.
“Well, looky here,” the guy with the bat said, pointing it at the fat man.
Shaun kept low, knowing what these guys were capable of doing. Their tormenting and teasing had begun. The big guy was scared out of his mind. They pulled his briefcase off his lap, rummaged through the contents and tossed it about the train. Shaun heard them slap the guy on the side of his head. Yelled at him to cough up and dig into his back pocket, and hand over his wallet. Shaun had treated others the same. He knew the fat guy would be pissing himself in shock. He moved slowly, fearfully, and then the guy with the bat laid it down onto the man’s shaking shoulder. He gripped the bat with both hands and yelled, “Home run!” The window became painted abstract red. Shaun kept low, avoiding being seen; he rolled off the seat and onto the floor, listening.
The assailants pulled off the guy’s watch and Nikes. They dug into his pockets, pulling out his phone. Shaun kept as quiet as possible. The gang started to turn, leaving the way they had come. Shaun panicked as his mobile start to vibrate.
The train was pulling into Kings Cross station. Shaun was ready to leap out of hiding and throw himself down the stairs and out the door. He could see their feet heading towards him. His phone had stopped. They kept coming. They were talking amongst themselves.
“Try him again,” one of them said.
Everything seemed to be muffled and in slow motion. Shaun held his breath; they had stopped halfway down the stairs and the last guy was swinging on the rails inches away from Shaun’s head. The train jerked to a stop and they jumped down and off, onto the platform. He still couldn’t see them, but he waited till the last minute before jumping up and off the train. He pulled his hood up, dug his hands into his pocket and headed in what he thought was the opposite direction. He hid amongst the few people waiting to get on the train when he thought he heard his name being called. He ignored it and kept walking, picking up his pace. He didn’t understand what had gotten into him and why he was afraid of his own shadow. The world had become crazier than he was. His phone started to vibrate; he pulled it out of his pocket to see it was his mate Kyle. “Where the fuck have you been?” he said into the phone.
“Where you at, man?” Kyle said.
“Just got into the city.”
“Same, dude.”
“Stop shouting into the phone, you asshole.” Then Shaun realized he could hear his name being called from somewhere behind him. The three hooded silhouettes were coming towards him; the guys from the train. One had his hands dug into his pockets. This is it, Shaun thought, some dude coming for revenge. As he watched, the guy removed his hand from his pocket and he saw the shape of a gun.
“Look what we found.” It was his mate, Kyle, shouting and waving the gun above his head.
Commuters kept their heads down, getting on the train and out of sight. Shaun looked at his phone and pushed “end”. His friends looked and acted differently from usual. They were more violent than he could remember, and it had only been a week at most. Or had he become weak.
“Hey, mate, where have you been?” Kyle said.
“Around. Had an awesome fist-fight in the city last week, had to spend a few hours in hospital. The other dude was pretty fucked. You should have been there, man.”
“Yeah, what you score?”
Shaun reached into his pocket and pulled out the wad of money he had taken out of his dad’s account and waved it in the air.
“Alright, Let’s party,” Kyle said.
“Who’s that?” Shaun asked, nodding towards the third guy.
“That’s Homer.”
Shaun didn’t recognize the guy at first. He wasn’t wearing his school baseball jacket, which he practically wore everywhere as a status symbol. He’s the state’s star baseball player, headed for the big league in the US. Shit, he’s even dating the retard’s sister.
Kyle chattered on. “He’s got the virus and has come over to the dark side, and I think he likes it. He has one hell of a swing, man, and has found swinging at things other than balls to be more fun.” As if on cue, Homer picked up the bat and swung at the ticket booth and started to beat the shit out of it. Kyle and his offsider started cheering him on and laughing as he became more enraged with each swing. Shaun started walking.
“Hey, wait up,” Kyle yelled.
They followed Shaun like a pack of wild pit bull dogs, attacking and frightening people randomly.
The flashing neon lights of the city looked different, they no longer seemed real to Shaun. The menacing and minor crimes — like smashing some geek’s headlights so he can’t drive home, or getting drunk and picking fights, the things he generally saw and liked to do — were somehow different: there was no order to the crime he was seeing. There were guys smoking ice on the street and the little discretion prostitutes may have had was gone. There was a sense of something forbidding. Shaun felt sick. The image of a burning lion deep within a cave haunted him, waiting to drag him to hell. Relieved, Shaun saw there was no bouncer on the door of Frankie’s Laboratory and they walked straight into the bar. Fluorescent lights strobed the wall and the DJ was kicking ass. The waitresses came over with a tray of syringes and injected shots of mixed alcohol into their open mouths.
Shaun’s head soon started to spin and he needed fresh air, so he got up and went outside, with Kyle and the others following him. Why do they keep following? he wondered, and accidentally bumped into a hooker. He stepped back, nearly apologizing, but blurted out, “What the fuck! Move your skanky ass.”
Kyle walked up to the woman and stuck his face into her breast and asked how much for her to get on her knees. “Pay the lady,” he said to Shaun, not waiting for her to reply.
Shaun didn’t recognize these guys. They’ve become hard-core. They’re not just a bunch of idiot teenagers any more. I need to get home.
“Yeah, great idea, Kyle. What about you two?” Shaun said. “Are up for a blow job? My shout.”
“Shit, yeah,” Homer said.
Shaun pulled out a couple of hundred and stuffed it between her breasts. She led them into the alley and Shaun lit a smoke.
“You’re not coming,” Kyle said.
“I’ll join in after I have this smoke.” Shaun dragged on his cigarette and waited till they were deep in the shadows. He turned the corner and walked away. He threw his butt into the gutter and crossed the road, slipped into an alley on the other side and waited. A pack of drunken girls walked past him and he pushed himself into the wall. They were tormenting an old guy who had become too friendly. They pushed him to the ground and started kicking him while people just walked on by. The virus had taken over the city. Shaun realized he had created enough negativity to fester in his aura to be able to hide in the darkness. He saw his mates come out of the shadows, looking up and down the road. They were crossing the road, heading in his direction.
They stopped to watch the girls beating the guy. Amused, Kyle said, “Let me help you, ladies,” and pulled out the gun. He had a crazed look on his face and his eyes were blacker than the night. Kyle lowered the gun into the old man’s face. The man held up his hands, begging for his life. Kyle fired. The girls cheered and welcomed him and his mate into their fold. They walked off, slinking into the nearest bar together.
Shaun waited for the prostitute who had given his mates a blow job to come out of the shadows, but she never did. He started to
make his way back to the station, then a loud explosion lit up the streets. People ran towards the sound, excited. He kept moving through the back streets, keeping just inside the shadows. A fire truck pulled up in front of a burning skyscraper and Shaun couldn’t help being entranced by the flames. People started pushing the firemen out of the way, wanting the building to burn. The spectators soon became violent, yanking the hoses from them. One police car showed up. The officers had no chance of getting out of the vehicle, because the crowd descended upon them and began rocking the car, flipping it onto its back. Then someone hurled a petrol bomb. The firefighters hosed the people away from the police vehicle and dragged the cops to safety. The crowd booed. Windows on the upper levels of the skyscraper exploded, and people were drawn to look up and cheer as shards of glass pelted down. Shaun saw that the police and firemen were searching for a place to hide and were heading in his direction. Stepping backwards down the laneway, watching the chaos, he managed to trip over his own feet. Stuff this, he thought, and started running to the train station.
There was one train waiting at the platform, so he ran at the security wire cyclone fence, jumped up, climbed over it, and bolted to the train. The carriage he entered was empty. He stared through the window as the train pulled out of the station. Red and orange flames licked the walls of the tall buildings. Shaun’s thirst for fire had been quenched, perhaps gone forever. In that moment, watching the city burn, he felt no desire, he felt lost. The city that held happy memories of his mother was burning.
*
The wine was dripping down the wall when he realized Shaun had stolen his cigarettes. He slowly pushed himself out of the recliner and went into the kitchen for another pack and another bottle of wine. Before plugging in the old fan, he used his shirt to wipe away the red wine from around the socket. He liked the feeling of the breeze on his skin as he dropped back into the recliner. He uncorked the bottle of wine, took a long drink, then opened the packet of smokes. He cupped his hands around the lighter’s flame, protecting it from the fan, and dragged deeply on the cigarette before sitting back and slowly blowing out the smoke. His wrist dropped onto the armrest, the cigarette dangling between his fingers, as he smiled at the wedding picture hanging on the wall behind the fan: his beautiful wife, her beautiful smile. He closed his eyes, capturing the image. The smoke continued to burn and slipped from his fingers, falling as he was sinking into a deep sleep.
The old fan shuddered back and forth over the smoldering cigarette and his slumbering body. The wine trailed down from behind the picture and over the edge of the power point into the sockets. A blue spark flared and ran up the cable into the fan’s motor. It ignited into flames which instantly enveloped the nylon curtains.
*
Jade and Kevin were in the warm kitchen, gazing every few seconds through the thick glass door at their pizza. Callie, having put Alex to bed, walked in behind his dad.
“I think you have some explaining to do,” she said.
Kevin felt like a trapped mouse not knowing which way to turn. He looked at Jade and recalled what she had said. She’s just going to ask you where and how you found me. “About what?” he said, trying to act in control in front of Jade.
“Really, you’re going to play that game. About what? You’re kidding, right? You have been gone for three days, not three hours. That’s seventy-two hours, Kevin! And you come home with a young kidnapped girl who lives on the other side of the world. And you have the audacity, to say about what?”
Kevin’s face grew hotter with each word she spoke. He looked at his dad and he looked just as angry as she was. He hoped his voice wouldn’t quiver as he answered. “Tim … Tim and I were down at the river. We found her lying there, in the bush. She looked like she was dead. We went over to see if she was, and she opened her eyes. We helped her up, then a rabid-looking dog tried to attack us, and we ran. I told Jade you guys would help her get home. I didn’t know who she was or where she was from.”
“Where was Shaun?” his dad asked.
“This was after we left his place,” Kevin said.
“Come on, I want you to show us,” his mom said.
“Let them eat first, Cal.”
“Make it quick.”
“What’s the rush, Cal? They can show us in the morning. We won’t see much in the dark anyway.”
She picked up the phone, ignoring him. Kevin tried to listen to his mom on the phone while he pulled the pizzas out of the oven, but he couldn’t catch what she was saying. They ate the hot pizza straight off the tray. They only had time to eat four pieces before there was a knock at the door. Kevin jumped up, but his mother blocked him and walked to the door herself. “You finish up,” she said, and opened the door. “Thanks for coming back.”
Kevin thought it was the cops and he didn’t want to lie to the cops. They’re going to see straight through me. “He’s in the kitchen,” she said.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hands and then slid his hands down his pants into his pockets. His shoulders slumped and relaxed as Tim walked in with his mom and sister.
“What gives, K?” Tim said, taking a slice of his pizza.
“Don’t know.”
“Yes, you do, you always do.”
“Shh, not now,” Kevin said.
“Molly and Alex are upstairs sleeping. Alex is on the recliner in Molly’s room. Kath and Jade can sleep in Alex’s room across from Kevin’s. Molly’s generally a good sleeper, although lately she has been a bit restless. You will just have to check on Alex once or twice.”
Kevin watched his mom give instructions to Tim’s mom and when she took a breath his dad dared to interrupt.
“The kids will be fine. They’re sound asleep.”
She glanced at his dad and continued speaking to Tim’s mom. “Did Kath bring some clothes for Jade? And the boys can sleep in Kevin’s room when we get back and you should take the guest room.” Callie looked at Kevin. “Put your shoes on.”
Tim followed. “Where are we going?”
“She wants to see where we found Jade.”
“She knows.”
“All she knows is we found her in the bush. We thought she was dead, and we helped her up and brought her here.”
*
Kevin waited for his dad to get the car out of the garage. The night was thick with smoke and he could see a glow over the city. His mom jumped in the front seat with a large dolphin torch while Tim and Jade climbed in the back with him.
Kevin took them the long way round. They weren’t going to be able to drive through the vacant lot to the other side. Daniel put the lights on high beam as they came to a trail leading into the bush. They saw a dead dog lying by the road.
“Was that the dog you were talking about?” his mother asked.
“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell.” He didn’t want to look at the poor dog and it seemed everyone else felt the same, except his mom. She pulled a pair of latex gloves out of the glove compartment and jumped out of the truck to examine the carcass.
“Bullet,” she said to Daniel.
They all got out of the car and circled the dog.
“Which way? Kevin, Tim, which way?” Callie asked.
Kevin saw the determination in her face and started to sense her urgency. Her guard was coming down and she was afraid, looking for something. She was desperate, hoping to find it, but outwardly showed a mask of authority. Kevin was starting to sense her true feelings and she threw a look at him, as if she felt him rummaging around inside her emotions.
He looked down and said, “This way.” They came to the anthill. “We would normally have to run together over it,” he said and looked at Tim. Tim looked like he was having the time of his life; just another big adventure. Jade was quiet and hanging back, but he kept an eye on her. The river was close and they could hear movements in the bush, the nocturnal animals returning to the area. “Over there, on the other side of the river,” Kevin said, and watched his mom sweep the area with her torch.
Fish darted away from the light.
“Are there any buildings around here?” she asked.
“No, not that I know of,” Kevin said.
Daniel agreed with Kevin. “There was an old shed over the other side that gave access for the submarine cables. But it’s derelict and it wouldn’t be standing after the fire last week.”
Kevin looked at his mother. She was thinking and searching the other side as far as the light from the torch would travel. She hoped to find something, something she had lost, something that was very important, but Kevin couldn’t see anything. What could she have lost down here? Her face turned down in disappointment that she hadn’t found what she was looking for.
Kevin saw her pain and said, “We can come back tomorrow and have a better look. I can show you how to get over the other side without having to swim across.” She looked at him and for the first time since his grandparents died he felt a connection with her.
“Sounds like a good idea,” Daniel said.
“Hang on. We can wade across now the crocs are sleeping,” Tim said.
“What planet are you from?” Daniel asked. “There are no crocs here. He is just trying to scare you,” he said to Jade. Daniel gave Tim a gentle brush up the back of his head.
“I suppose you’re right,” Callie said.
*
The train pulled into the deserted station. While it was still moving Shaun jumped off and started running home. Passing Kevin’s house, he slowed to a jog; the garage door was open and he could see Kevin’s bike propped up against the far wall, next to a jerrycan. He stood, thinking of knocking on the door to ask permission to borrow the bike. Maybe they will let me. He turned away, walked to the end of the street and turned the corner. For the second time in his life Shaun was immobilized with fear: his house, his home, was burning. He snapped himself out of it and as he started running, the front windows exploded. He ignored the heat, dug into his pocket and grabbed his key. The door was swollen and, no matter how much he tried, it wouldn’t open.
