Dead Tropics (23 page)

"They'll bring in reinforcements, won't they?"

Mike shrugged. "Maybe. The trouble is..." He paused.

"What?" I persisted.

He sighed. "When the big guys realise that standard warfare doesn't work against an enemy that multiplies like rabbits, they are going to employ more decisive methods. I don't want to be around when that happens."

"What decisive methods?" I asked apprehensively.

He shrugged. "Like dropping bombs that will obliterate everything in the vicinity."

Oh, shit.

13

"Well, great." I said gloomily. "Like we don't have enough to worry about. Now I have to keep an eye out for bomber planes in the sky."

"By then, it would be a little too late."

"Fine. Assuming this little fantasy of yours is remotely plausible, what do you suggest?"

Mike jumped off the railing and picked up his backpack. "We make a bug out plan. First hint that the army is withdrawing all its troops, we get the hell out of town."

I laughed, a little despairingly. "We tried that already. It didn't go too well."

"The highways aren't the only options."

As I followed his retreating figure, I realised he was right. The quarantine could not successfully prevent us from hiking out via the rainforest that hugged the city of Cairns or grabbing a boat and heading out to sea. At least I didn't think so.

As we neared the start of the trail, my stomach growled embarrassingly loudly. "Um, I think we should eat before we head back down the track."

"I agree. Noise like that will bring every zombie in the area on our heels."

"Ha-ha." I headed for the gorgeous dam which lay ahead of us. "I'm just not a damned robot, like some people. I need food."

Mike grinned as I stomped past him.

We dumped our backpacks on a picnic table and proceeded to eat our sandwiches in silence. I couldn't get the image of bombs being dropped on us out of my mind. Just the possibility of it was enough to make me want to pack up my tribe and head for the hills. Literally.

"We're going to have to post someone up here with a walkie-talkie to keep an eye on the troop movements." Mike said between mouthfuls.

"Okay." I wondered if he wanted me to volunteer. I had no intention of being separated again from my family, however, so I kept quiet and focused on eating.

Belly soothed, I gazed at the still lake below. It looked so cool and welcoming. Oh bugger it, I thought defiantly, a few minutes more won't hurt. Throwing Mike a mischievous grin, I took off at a run and leaped into the water. Just as I expected, it felt glorious. As my head emerged, I saw Mike on the bank, watching me with a crooked smile.

"You look like a drowned rat, girl."

I laughed. "Don't care what I look like. The water feels like heaven!"

He sat down and plucked a blade of grass.

"Don't you want to come in and cool down?" I asked, curious. He shook his head.

"Big strong Mike isn't scared of the water, is he?" I teased.

"Nope."

"Then why?"

Mike just shrugged as he lay back on his elbow. My curiosity increased.

"You can swim, can't you?"

"Yeap."

Exasperated, I splashed water at him. "Tell me, damn you!"

"Nope."

Shaking my head, I clambered out of the water. "Has anyone ever told you what an annoying man you can be?"

"Yeap."

"Ahhh!" Shaking my sopping hair, I splattered water all over him. Laughing, he held his arms out in a protective gesture. In that instance, I had an intense moment of déjà vu. A scene from many years ago. Charles on a rug here, laughing at me, as I stood over him, wet and cajoling him to join me...

"Lori?"

Blinking, I saw Mike's quizzical expression.

"It's nothing." I mumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I was just remembering how I used to come up here with my husband before we had kids."

"I'm sorry." His expression softened. I wondered who had told him about Charles.

"It's okay. It's just sometimes..." I hesitated. "I just wish..."

Mike waited patiently as I tried to put my feelings into words. "We used to have so much fun together when we were young. Believe it or not, I was a fun person! And Charles never lost that sense of fun. But somewhere along the way, I became a nagging, boring person. I just wish I had the chance to do things differently." I stopped, flushing as I realised I was babbling. What on earth possessed me to open myself up like that?

"Lori, I never had the chance to know your husband but I'm sure he didn't regret a single moment with you." He grinned suddenly. "While you might be a bit of a nag, you're anything but boring."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks. I think. But you don't really know me."

Mike stood up. I resisted the urge to step back nervously as he loomed over me. "I know all I need to know."

I cleared my throat, trying for cool and amused. "Really. What do you think you know about me?"

"You're stubborn." True.

"Controlling." Just a little.

"Short tempered." Hmm.

"Bossy."

"Okay, okay, fine." I snapped. "You know me, I get it." Men.

"You're also compassionate, sassy, brave, passionate, funny..."

"Okay." I repeated, flushing, feeling shaky for some reason. His eyes held mine for a long moment. I knew I needed to look away, make a joke - do something to break the intimacy of the moment. But I did nothing. For a few precious moments, the constant chatter of my anxious thoughts ceased as Mike's eyes travelled over my face with a warmth of a gentle caress.

Mike stepped back. "Your husband was a lucky man, Lori, and I'm sure he knew it."

I blinked, coming abruptly back to earth. My God, I thought with dismay, what am I doing? I could feel my face flushing with mortification.

"We'd better get going." I mumbled. My thoughts whirled, aghast at my behaviour. Death surrounded us, and here I was, flirting! I couldn't believe myself.

Mike was probably laughing himself silly at my expense, and I couldn't blame him. What the hell was wrong with me?! Yes, he was attractive but I had been around attractive men before - I had never allowed myself to be drawn into such an intimate moment with anyone since I met my husband! Why did I feel such an intimate connection with
him
? Was it because of the intensity of the situations we had been through together?
Yes, that must be it
, I decided with relief, that's all it was.
Intense situations create intense bonds.
I had read that somewhere. I was just reacting to the situation.

I couldn't bring myself to look at Mike as we started the long hike back. Thankfully, the walk downhill proved a lot easier than the walk up. Still, I was perspiring freely by the time we returned to the Crystal Cascades national park. Pausing to scan the area, I was reassured that there were no zombies lurking in wait for us. The walkie-talkie crackled. Mike pulled it out. "What's up?"

It was Emma. "Get Lori, please." Mike raised his eyebrow quizzically as he passed the walkie-talkie to me. I shrugged.
I have no idea.
She didn't sound frantic so I assumed it wasn't anything urgent.

"Hey Emma. What's going on?"

"It's Sarah, Lori. She's developed a high fever..."

The world spun around me.
Sarah.
As my vision darkened, the walkie-talkie fell from my nerveless hand and I felt my legs go out from under me. Strong arms grasped me and lowered me gently to the grass. Mike's face swam above me. Dimly, I was aware of him talking on the walkie-talkie.

"Lori." As my vision cleared, Mike's calm voice cut through my panic. "Listen to me. Sarah doesn't have the virus. Her wound is infected. Do you hear me? She hasn't got the virus."

It took me a moment to grasp the meaning of the words he was saying, but as they sunk in, I felt dizzy with relief. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and tried to center myself once more.
My baby was going to be okay.
Shaking, I sat up and grabbed the walkie-talkie.

"Oh Lori, I'm so sorry. I didn't think..."

"Forget it. When did she develop a fever?" I interrupted shakily.

"Not long after you left. I've cleaned and rewrapped the wound but I'm worried about an infection. We're going to need a broad spectrum antibiotic to treat the sepsis."

"Okay, okay." My thoughts spun through my options. "I'll find some."

I looked up at Mike. "Fancy a road trip?" I asked with a weak smile. He stood up and offered his hand to me.

"Things were getting dull around here, anyway." He responded, deadpan.

Back on my feet, I tucked the walkie-talkie away. "There is a pharmacy at the Redlynch shopping centre. We should be able to get what we need there."

Mike nodded. "First things first, we need a vehicle." I agreed, looking at the ten or so cars sitting in front of us.

"I don't suppose your repertoire of skills include hotwiring a car?" I asked hopefully.

He shook his head regretfully. Damn. I had begun to think that there was nothing this guy could not do.

Sighing, I looked across the car park. There was nothing for it but to go to the popular swimming holes and search the picnicker's belongings for keys. "Okay. We'll try the first swimming hole and keep our fingers crossed that we find car keys quickly."

"Look for one with a remote. We don't have time to try unlocking a dozen cars in order to find which one the key fits."

We set off at a trot across the car park. Nearing the top of the stairs, which meandered down the steep bank to the first rock pool, I paused and pulled out my parang. Mike reached over his back and pull out a cleaver. Carefully, quietly, I stepped down the rock steps, followed by Mike.

There were vines and trees on both sides obscuring our view as we descended. As the waterfall came in sight, I spotted several teenaged boys in their board shorts stranded on large rocks around the waterfall, gaping wounds on their bodies. A family of zombies stood in the shallow end of the rock pool. The man and woman in their thirties and their two little girls, turned to stare at me. Both the girls' faces had been gnawed, exposing teeth and bone in a gruesome mockery of a grin. Lumbering awkwardly through the water, they started to make their way towards us.

Stepping off the stairs onto the bank, I saw the picnicker's bags. They lay loosely grouped together on the surface on a nearby flat boulder. Just beyond them stood a powerfully built man and, presumably, his girlfriend. Her bloodstained blond hair almost covered the missing chunk in her cheek. They, too, immediately began staggering towards us.

Mike stepped past me, cleaver held forward. "I'll hold them off while you look through the bags, Lori. Make it quick. "

"Umm." I tugged his shirt. "I have a suggestion. Why don't we just grab all the bags and get out of here?"

Silence.

"Yeah, that plan works too."

Bursting through the trees, we raced over the smaller rocks to the big boulder. Keeping a watchful eye on the zombies as they approached, I grabbed as many bags as I could carry, then turned, and ran back up the steps, Mike on my heels with the remaining bags.

I upturned the bags on the road and scrabbled through them, searching for keys. I found three sets of keys but none with remotes. Frustrated, I turned to Mike. "Any luck?"

He dangled a set of keys in front of me. It didn't have a remote, either.

"Damn it!" I cursed. We would have to try all the cars. The noise we were making was already attracting unwanted attention. Two zombies lurched out of the toilet blocks and, in the distance, several zombies staggered down the path towards us.

Mike stood up. "These'll do nicely, Lori. Let's go." Puzzled, I dusted off my hands and followed him as he strode into the car park. He bypassed several cars and then stopped. As I cleared the cars, I saw he was standing beside a Kawasaki motorbike.

"What do you think?" He smiled. "Do the job?"

"Right now, I'd accept a bicycle." I responded, a nervous eye of the zombies. "Let's get out of here."

Mike straddled the motorbike and I clambered behind him, hands firmly on his waist. Opening the throttle, he roared down the highway with confidence. Minutes later, we passed our house as we headed towards the shopping centre. I sent them my love and prayers as we drove over the old bridge.

A car lay overturned on the hill, blood staining the road around it. On the side of the road, a zombie stood motionless, staring at us. As we left the rural suburbs behind and entered the suburbs, we found our path blocked. Car upon car lay stalled, crashed or overturned, blocking the road for twenty meters. Mike slowed the motorbike as he cautiously negotiated the maze of vehicles.

I swallowed at the sight of a woman's arm lying on the road. Blood splattered the road around it. The smashed windscreen of a nearby car had pieces of clothes and flesh hanging from its edges. Another woman stood beside a blue Volkswagen. Grey skinned and dull-eyed, the creature limped towards us. My hands clutched Mike's shirt instinctively. He turned his head inquiringly, and seeing the woman, nodded in acknowledgement.