Desolation Boulevard (40 page)

“
Of course it’s not!”
snapped Dylan. “Why would we do that? That would be bloody stupid.
I have no desire to die. I happen to like being alive, no matter
how brutal it is right now. So don’t think this is some kind of
death wish we have. If anything, we want to make a stand so that we
have a world worth living in. Maybe if enough of us around the
world fight back, we can drive these things into the dark where
they belong, forever.”

“
Hey Dylan, we get it
okay?” chided Montana, “You hate the feeders. Fine. You want to
wipe them out? Go your hardest. All I want to know is, what’s your
plan?”

Matt could see that Dylan was getting too
emotional to answer the question sensibly, so he took over. “I’m
not sure that we have a plan as such; we just have an idea. Dylan
thinks that the feeders might have established some kind of colony
in the Delano Cave system.”

Montana scrutinised Matt’s face. “What do
you think?”

He returned Montana’s gaze and thought
carefully before answering. “Well, I think they went somewhere
after the migration, so it’s a possibility, I guess.”

Bonnie had been listening, but now she spoke
up, “Let’s assume you two are right. Let’s agree, for argument’s
sake, that the feeders migrated to dark, hidden places where they
could regroup, or establish some kind of colony to breed, or rest
or get stronger or whatever the hell feeders do. How does that help
us? What can you do about it?”

“
We can do what humans are
so good at,” said Dylan.

“
And what’s that?” asked
Bonnie.

“
We can destroy their
habitat,” he said, matter-of-factly. “And we can do it while
they’re still in it.”

-

The following morning dawned bright and
clear and all of the talk on the farm was of the mission to wipe
out the colony of feeders at Delano Caves. Sally was the only one
who seemed to think that the idea was a ridiculous one, and she was
avoiding further conversations about the topic by spending time
with Gabby doing chores around the house. Matt, Dylan, Bonnie and
Montana, on the other hand, were eager to discuss the idea and were
now walking the boundary fence and checking it together, despite
the fact that this was normally only a one-person job. And while
nobody had come straight out and said that the operation should
definitely go ahead, it was clear that there was considerable
enthusiasm for the project. The only question was how to make it
work.

“
I used to go to the caves
with my parents,” said Matt. “It’s about a three hour drive. If we
planned it properly, we could just get there and back in a day.
Theoretically, anyway.”

“
I think that’s the least
of our problems,” stated Dylan. “How do we actually destroy them? I
mean, obviously an explosion of some sort is the best way to go,
but how do we make a bomb big enough to destroy a cave system, or
even a part of it?”

Nobody answered as they realised that nobody
had the expertise they needed to create a large bomb. As each one
of the group looked to the others, shrugged shoulders and shaken
heads confirmed the major flaw in their plan. Despite their
willingness, they did not have the skills required to fulfil the
mission’s objectives.

“
Damn!” spat Dylan. “This
is ridiculous! Does anybody even know where we would find enough
explosives to make this work? If we knew how to make a bomb, that
is.”

“
Maybe,” replied Matt, as
he pulled on a section of the wire fence to test its
strength.

They looked at him with surprise and
anticipation.

“
Well?” prompted Dylan, as
a slight smirk appeared on Matt’s face. “Are you going to tell us,
or keep it a secret?”

“
Okay, keep your shirt on,”
Matt replied with a grin on his face, “I’ll tell you. There’s a
whole bunch of explosives locked up very securely down at the
council works depot.”

“
Where you got Gabby’s
bookmobile?” asked Montana.

“
Exactly. There’s a whole
storeroom full of the things you need to blow stuff up.”

“
I haven’t seen that
storeroom,” Dylan challenged, “and I’ve been down to the depot with
you heaps of times.”

“
No, I found it not long
after I started plundering from the depot. I didn’t think I’d ever
need explosives, so I never went into that storeroom again. I just
locked it back up and ignored it, but it should all still be
there.”

“
Wow,” exclaimed Bonnie.
“This crazy plan might actually work. How are we going to find out
how to build our device, though? It’s not like we can just Google
it.”

As they started walking the fence line once
more, Matt spoke. “I’ve been thinking about this all night and I
reckon we might just be able to work it out for ourselves, if we’re
very cautious and very sensible.”

“
I don’t think anything
about this idea is sensible,” Montana interjected, “but go on,
let’s hear it.”

“
Okay, listen. The
Millfield Council has a stockpile of explosives at the depot. They
probably used them for road construction or up at the gravel
quarry. Somebody at the council must have been trained in how to
use them, so surely in one of the offices somewhere, there is a
pile of manuals or notes or files that can give us enough
information to put all the pieces together into some sort of bomb
that will destroy the caves and thousands of feeders at the same
time.”

They stopped walking, having reached the end
of their circuit of the fence. Dylan spat on the ground and looked
at Matt as if evaluating his friend, almost as much as the plan.
“You know what country boy? I think you might be on to something.
We’ve got some research to do.”

-

In the classroom, Sally closed the book and
smiled at Gabby. “Did you like that one?”

“
It was great,” she said.
“You’re a good reader.”

Sally laughed, “Thanks honey. That’s very
sweet of you to say. I love reading, especially to someone who
loves to listen. If you keep practicing, you’ll be a good reader
like me one day too.”

“
Really?” she asked, amazed
that her future might include the ability to read as well as Sally.
“That would be nice. I could read to you then.”

“
I’d love that. Hey I’ve
got an idea. Let’s go outside and do our number work in the sun
today. It’s a beautiful day.”

“
Okay,” said Gabby, as they
climbed out of their beanbag chairs and headed outside. As soon as
they stepped out of the classroom they could see the others
standing by the main gate near the fence, deep in
discussion.

“
Are they really going to
try to kill the feeders?” asked Gabby, serious now.

Sally looked at Gabby and considered a
dishonest response to spare her any more anxiety, but realised they
were past that now and the girl was dealing with the horrors of her
new reality as well as anybody else in the group. It seemed
pointless to lie. “Yes sweetheart, I think so. Sometimes grown-ups
have to fight for things that are important, even when they don’t
really want to.”

“
I know,” Gabby replied. “I
don’t like the feeders. I wish they never happened. They hate us.
People, I mean. They want all of us gone. They want the world to
themselves.”

Sally wasn’t surprised by Gabby’s response.
They all understood now that Gabby seemed to have some kind of
sixth sense that gave her an insight into the psyche of the
feeders. She took the little girl’s hand and looked down into her
blue eyes. “Well, we don’t want them to have the world, so that’s
why Matt and Dylan are going to try to kill the feeders at the
caves. If that’s where they are, of course.”

“
That
is
where they
are,” said Gabby, causing Sally to start. “They like it there. It’s
dark and they feel safe. It’s an awful place. I would never want to
go there.”

“
You never will sweetheart.
Only Matt and Dylan are going. They’ll only be gone for a day, then
they’ll come back to us.”

Sally realised with anguish that Gabby was
beginning to cry. She crouched down and looked into her perfect
face. “Don’t cry sweetheart. It’s okay, the boys will be very
careful and on the day they go they’ll be back in time for dinner
with us. You shouldn’t worry.”

Gabby’s tear-filled eyes stared back at
Sally, and before she even opened her mouth to speak, Sally wished
there was a way she could stop the words from coming. She closed
her eyes as hard as she could, but there was no stopping the
delivery of the sentence as Gabby spoke through her tears, “How
can’t I worry when I know someone’s not coming home?

Chapter 64

It was almost dark when Matt, Dylan and
Montana returned from the council depot. Bonnie, Gabby, and Sally
were in the kitchen preparing dinner when they heard the truck
coming up the long gravel drive towards the farm.

“
Do you think they found
what they were looking for?” asked Sally, “The explosives, I
mean.”

“
Probably,” said Bonnie.
“But whether they can find the information they need to make it all
happen is another thing.”

She pulled the hot pan of chicken and
potatoes from the oven and set it down on the sink, and then turned
to Sally, “What are you thinking?”

“
I’m hoping they can’t make
a bomb that works. I don’t want them to go to the caves. It’s
crazy, and you heard what Gabby said; she thinks somebody won’t be
coming home. I’m really scared. We seem to be safe here, so why
take unnecessary risks? We should just be thankful we have each
other and consolidate on what we already have.”

“
I totally understand why
you think that, but you know we can’t live like that. Who knows how
long us survivors will last if we just wait for the feeders to take
over? We have to fight back; I don’t think this is a case of
co-existing peacefully with them either. They will wipe us out. Did
you know that Neanderthal man was widespread on the earth up until
only thirty thousand years ago? Thirty thousand years! That’s just
yesterday, really. Homo sapiens, that’s us, out-competed them. We
more or less made them extinct. No one knows how for sure, but
these feeders could do the same to us. Now I don’t know about you,
but I like the idea of the human race surviving for a bit longer
yet.”

Bonnie had barely finished speaking when
Dylan, Matt and Montana bustled into the kitchen.

“
Something smells good!”
said Matt.

“
I killed one of your
chickens this morning,” said Bonnie, “Do we have anything to
celebrate?”

“
Maybe. We found the stash
of explosives with no problems, just as I left them, but finding
the information took way longer. We finally found a filing cabinet
in a little storeroom that had loads of brochures and folders and
safety manuals. There were also some handwritten notes.”

Matt looked at Bonnie and became more
serious, “We actually think this might be doable; probably even
simpler than we thought. All we need to do is connect a timer to a
detonator, then to the explosives, and we’re good to go. Bang!”

“
Are you sure you can do it
safely?” asked Sally.

Dylan turned from the refrigerator; where
he’d grabbed beers for himself, Matt and Montana and said without a
shadow of doubt, “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be like shooting fish
in a barrel. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

-

“
This chicken is absolutely
awesome Bonnie. God, you just can’t beat a roast dinner on a cold
night!”

“
Thanks buddy, I’m glad
you’re enjoying it, but don’t expect it every night. I’m no
housewife, and in case you hadn’t noticed, I don’t want to become
one, so don’t get used to it. What did you find out in town
today?”

“
Matt, tell them about that
guy you spoke to.”

Matt swallowed a mouthful of potato and
answered, “Yeah, I ran into this guy in town who says there seem to
be more travellers passing through, and I think he’s right. It’s
not a flood of people yet, but we see someone every time we go in
to town, now. This bloke I was talking to reckons there’s a real
exodus away from the city. The only people staying back there are
the real hard-core survivalists who want to wipe out the feeders,
or the ones who are too scared to travel - and the marauders, of
course. They’re loving it, and thriving on the chaos. Everyone
else, which I guess means reasonable people, seems to be following
their urge to head west.”

“
Well that just confirms
what we already knew doesn’t it?” asked Sally.

“
Yes, except for one new
development. If it’s true, that is,” added Matt.

“
What new
development?”

Dylan and Montana watched Bonnie and Sally,
curious to see their reaction to Matt’s news. “Well, this guy I was
talking to says that Carswell is getting real dangerous.”

“
From the feeders? We
already know that.”

Matt paused, trying to choose his words
carefully. “No not from the feeders; from marauders. It seems as if
Carswell has become a bit of a Mecca for crazies. This guy said
it’s getting real freaky over there. Travellers have gone missing
on the way through town and women have been raped. He thinks that
certain types of people have been drawn there, just like other
types have been compelled to head west.”

The room was quiet as they digested this new
information.