Desolation Boulevard (10 page)

Her first stop was a “bargain” store that
was filled with all kinds of products that had been made in China
and were very cheap (although today everything would be free). She
peered in through the glass windows and, when she was sure there
were no creatures around, she went inside. She found the first item
she was looking for near the front counter- a watch. She saw that
the time was 10:13 and strapped it to her wrist.  In Aisle 2
she found a travel case with a retractable handle and wheels that
people used in airports. Over the next ten minutes she loaded up
the case with bottled water, energy bars, bulk packs of batteries,
a portable CD/radio player, some very questionable CDs, toiletries
and underwear. She stared at all of the goods on the shelves,
untouched by looters. There were certainly enough resources to go
around, so that was one thing she wouldn’t need to worry about. She
left the store, and a block further down she found a chemist. She
had a rough idea of what was needed and figured she could make up
the rest as she went along. Sally knew that if she became seriously
ill with something like appendicitis she would probably die, but at
least she would be able to treat simple ailments, for the time
being anyway. Into her suitcase went aspirins, codeine, eye drops,
bandages, antiseptic ointment, tampons, insect repellent and
sunscreen. In the dispensary she smashed open the locked cupboards
and found the antibiotics she would need as the city became more
disease-ridden from the rotting corpses and the rats that would
follow. As she considered this she wondered if she might actually
need to leave the city. After all, she was alone and sharing the
place with a couple of million night-dwelling monsters. Maybe the
countryside would be safer. The only problem was that the bush was
like a different planet to her. She had never spent any time there
and didn’t know what she would find, even if she could make it
there safely. Would resources be as plentiful? What about snakes
and spiders, and all that emptiness? No. For the time being she
would stay a city girl and take her chances with what she knew.

When her suitcase was filled with
provisions, she left the chemist and wheeled the case behind her
back to the hotel. She bumped it up the flight of stairs and dumped
the contents into her room. Over the next few hours she made three
more trips for food, clothes and camping equipment such as
gas-powered camp-ovens, lights and a sleeping bag. On one of her
trips she was startled by the unexpected sound of gunshots in the
distance. She stopped and listened, ready to run back to the
apartment, if she needed to. The shots sounded very close, but it
was difficult to tell because of the echoes reverberating around
the otherwise quiet streets. After a minute or so, she decided that
she was in no immediate danger, and continued on with her tasks. As
she worked through the afternoon, the popping of gunshots continued
intermittently, so at least she knew that there were more
survivors, and that thought should have pleased her, but she found
it unnerving. Roaming gangs of trigger-happy survivors was the last
thing she needed. As Sally went back to work she kept a close eye
on the street. She didn’t want to be surprised by the wrong people.
By the time she finished her supply gathering and had headed back
to the hotel, it was three o’clock and she was exhausted. Checking
inside the other rooms of her building could wait until tomorrow.
She went back down to the lobby, made sure the front and back doors
were both locked, then went upstairs to her room and locked herself
in for the night.

Safely in her “bunker”, she set up her gas
lamps, played some very average music on her battery-operated CD
player, cooked a can of chilli on her camp-stove and drank two
glasses of champagne. Then, as night fell, she took up her position
on the balcony to study the creatures. Again, their numbers were
smaller than the first night, but Sally noticed that their
behaviour had changed again since the previous evening. The two
creatures that had killed the nurse last night now appeared
together in the darkening city, like a team. As others appeared on
the street Sally realised, to her horror, that the beasts seemed to
be developing a rudimentary pack mentality. As the two alpha males
prowled the street looking for weaker creatures to prey upon, the
others in the group followed them at a “respectful” distance. “That
didn’t take long,” Sally thought. “They’ve already formed social
groups.” And if that wasn’t scary enough, what happened next
chilled Sally to her bones. As the pack loped along the street,
below her vantage point up on the balcony, the alpha male in the
bloodied and torn business shirt paused and looked up, directly at
her position. He seemed to be saying, “I know you’re there.” She
shuddered violently and scurried inside, locking the door behind
her.

Chapter 20

As night fell, the rain became steadier.
Matt listened as it peppered the tin roof and gushed through the
downpipes, filling the water-tanks. He was beginning to feel a
little cold, so he lit the open fire then stood and stared blankly
at the flames as he tried to imagine a life without his parents,
but it was difficult. He knew that he had enough resources to keep
himself alive physically, but where would he get the emotional
nourishment that came from being part of a family or community? As
he pondered this, he realised that he had no choice but to venture
out tomorrow in search of other survivors. Being a hardened and
anti-social loner might look cool in TV shows and movies, but Matt
was mature enough, and scared enough, to know that it just wasn’t
him. He needed companions.

Despite his bleak mood, Matt realised with a
surprise that he was pretty hungry. It dawned on him that he hadn’t
eaten for days, and working all afternoon on top of that had given
him an appetite. He microwaved some lasagne, which he shared with
Elvis, and then sat on the couch as he tried to formulate a plan
for his uncertain future. More than ever, he wished his father were
here because he would know what to do. Matt idolised his dad in the
same way that all sons looked up to genuinely good men, and despite
the fact that they argued occasionally, were great friends. They
had the same sense of humour and a taste for action movies (which
his mother couldn’t stand) and they loved nothing better than
sitting on the couch together with a packet of chips watching a
football match. On the farm they worked together as a team, and
when they went in to town Matt could see the pride in his father’s
eyes as he introduced his son to other farmers. Never being able to
ask for his advice again was terrifying. “What should I do, dad?”
Matt said aloud to himself, as tears welled up in his eyes. Feeling
useless and childish, the boy lay down on the couch and pulled a
cushion over his face, thinking that if he could stop the tears he
could stop the feeling of helplessness.

He must have dozed off for a while, because
when he opened his eyes and pushed the cushion from his face, Elvis
was standing at the front window staring into the blackness
outside. The rain was even heavier now.

“
What’s up boy?” he asked.
“Do you need to pee?”

Matt went to the front door and held it open
so the Labrador could go outside and do its’ business, but the dog
remained at the window. Matt closed the front door and made sure it
was locked as Elvis maintained his silent vigil. Matt joined him at
the window, but the light from the front porch only illuminated a
small area of grass in the front yard and beyond that he could see
nothing but darkness, and the only sound he could hear was rain
pattering steadily on the roof. “What’s up boy? You’re not freaking
out on me are you?” The dog’s instincts had been so good over the
last few days that Matt had a niggling feeling that he should be
wary. He went to the kitchen, and grabbed the shotgun from the
table, before taking it back to the living room where he leaned it
against the window frame. Elvis hadn’t moved. Next he went around
the house to check that he had locked all of the doors and windows
before flicking off the lights, including the one on the porch. He
went back to the front window to watch.

As Matt’s eyes adjusted to the dark, the
view outside became slightly more visible. While everything was
still just varying shades of black, there was at least some
differentiation between the clearing around the house and the bush
beyond. For ten minutes he stood side by side with Elvis, straining
his eyes, but he could see nothing but darkness and rain. “Come on
Elvis, this is silly. It’s too dark out there. Even if something
were wandering around we wouldn’t see it. Relax.” But the dog held
its’ position.

Matt turned a lamp on and went back to the
couch to consider tomorrow’s strategy, which would see him drive to
Carswell to search for survivors like him. It was only a ninety
minute drive and had a larger population than Millfield, so there
would be a reasonable chance of finding somebody there who had
escaped the “virus”. If he left early in the morning, there would
be plenty of time to get there, look around and come home before it
was dark. With that decided, it was time for bed, because tomorrow,
like all of his days now, would be a difficult one. He stood up and
headed to the window to get the shotgun before Elvis knocked it
over, and as he did the dog barked once, startling him severely.
There was something out there.

Showing more courage than he believed
possible, Matt grabbed the shotgun and headed for the front door.
“Come on boy, enough of this shit. Let’s see what’s out there.” He
opened the door and stepped onto the covered porch. Elvis followed
Matt outside and stood beside him, alert, as he scanned the bush
beyond the yard. Was something moving out there in the trees? It
was so hard to tell with all that rain. Elvis barked again.

“
Stay boy!” he
commanded.

The last thing Matt needed was his only
friend to be savaged by a wild boar, or worse. There it was again!
A shadow was moving through the trees and then disappearing. Shit!
What was it? Matt knew that it wouldn’t be a survivor out there in
the bush in this weather, so it was either feeders on the prowl for
fresh meat, or a feral pig stumbling around. He hoped it was a pig.
There it was again! Another movement, perhaps a little closer this
time - something was definitely moving through the trees towards
the farm! Matt’s eyes were beginning to play tricks on him as he
tried to follow the progress of the shadowy figure, when suddenly
it was lost to him again. This was ridiculous! He couldn’t stay out
here all night on the porch, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able
to sleep if he thought those beasts were converging on the house.
He decided to do what his father would have done. He went inside
and grabbed the flashlight from under the kitchen sink and his
dad’s waterproof parka from the coat stand near the front door. He
went back outside onto the porch and surveyed the night while
pulling on the coat.

“
Come on boy let’s check it
out,” he said to Elvis.

As Matt stepped from the illuminated porch
into the darkness of the yard, he felt as if he were leaving the
safety of a ship for the dangers of a turbulent and mysterious
ocean, as thousands of raindrops filtered through the flashlight’s
beam as he headed down the path towards the front gate. He propped
the light on the top of the gatepost so that its’ beam pointed at
the area where he had seen the movement, because he would need both
hands for the shotgun. The gate creaked as it swung open and Matt
paused, looking into the bush for the intruder. Elvis whined beside
him.

“
It’s okay boy. Just stay
close.”

He left the gate open behind him as he
walked slowly toward the dense, wet scrub. He was beginning to
believe that this was turning out to be a pointless exercise when
something rustled in the bushes at the edge of the forest. Matt
pointed the shotgun in the direction of the sound as the figure
appeared, almost magically, half hidden in a clump of bushes only
ten paces in front of him. It wasn’t a feral pig, Matt realised
fearfully, as he raised the shotgun and tightened his finger on the
trigger. Then in a moment that was profoundly and deeply
horrifying, the creature in the shadows triggered a macabre sense
of recognition in the boy.

“
Dad?”

The creature that had once been Matt’s
father exploded from the trees and charged silently and brutally at
his son. Matt stood motionless in shock as the beast moved in for
the kill. There was going to be no time to get the weapon into
position for a shot before the feeder pounced on him and ripped out
his throat with its teeth and bare hands. The split second he
needed, though, was provided when Elvis leapt at the attacker just
before impact. The dog made enough contact to knock it to its’
knees, and Matt seized his chance. Snapped out of his trance, he
raised the gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger. The blast caught the
creature full in the chest, and sent it sprawling to the forest
floor. Despite its’ extensive injuries, though, it still managed to
get to its’ feet and came at Matt once more. He fired the second
shell. He couldn’t miss from such close range, and once more the
feeder hit the muddy forest floor writhing in pain, its’ breathing
ragged and irregular. Matt knew that it was near death. The boy
stood over the dying body of his father.

“
I’m sorry Dad. I’m so
sorry. Why did you come back? You should have stayed
away.”

Matt slumped to his knees and lifted his
father from the mud as Elvis watched on, panting. He hugged him
with all of his strength, moaning like an injured animal, as the
body went limp, and he felt his hero’s final breath ebb away.

Chapter 21