Experiment Undead

I’m woken by Oscar gently poking my arm multiple times, ‘Good morning,’ he beams.

His hair falls over his face like a curtain. I laugh.

Oscar flings it back, ‘Nate says you need breakfast. We're leaving soon,’ he smiles.

I nod and exit the tent with Oscar. Everyone sits or stands around the picnic table as James serves more chunks of dried-out deer meat.

‘Which way are we heading today?’ I ask in general as I take a cut of meat from James.

‘North for a bit,’ Nate says, ‘Hopefully, we can scavenge some food and water.’

‘I’ve got a radio in the truck,’ James says, ‘I’ll see if the emergency broadcast has been updated.’

Nate nods, and we chow down our food.

We have to share one bottle of water between two of us. I share mine with Nancy. I take the lid off for her and pass it to her, glancing at her broken arm.

‘Does it still hurt?’ I ask her.

‘Thanks,’ she smiles as she takes the water. ‘Nope. I think it’s almost healed. I’ll be glad to get rid of the wooden spoons and bandages for good,’ she says and stares at my bruises, ‘Your face is looking better, and the bruising around your neck is starting to fade. How are your hands?’ she asks.

I shrug, ‘Meh, the scrapes stung a little at first, but they’re almost healed. My bruises will hopefully be gone over the next few days. At least none of it will leave a scar,’ I say to her, pointing at the one on my hairline from the car crash.

We all hop in our usual spots in the truck, whilst Nate hops on Dreamer and Kate on Buddy. We spot the odd soulless as we drive down the hill and around the curved roads. Oscar uses the opportunity to shoot them for practice. When we reach the main highway, cars are everywhere, with dozens of soulless roaming.

‘Hold on,’ James shouts to us, accelerating the vehicle to a high speed. We grip the canopy frame of the truck for dear life as he speeds and swerves, hitting as many soulless as possible to clear the area for Kate and Nate. James swerves and speeds on for the next forty minutes before there are no more soulless within eyesight. James pulls the car over. He exits the car and walks to a tree to take a leak.

‘I’m going to be sick,’ Nancy says, rushing to the truck’s side and throwing up. I take the hair tie from her wrist, scoop it into a ponytail, and tie it up out of the way for her, ‘Thanks,’ she says, wiping her mouth with her wrist.

I give her the last of the water in our bottle. Kate quickly approaches and hops off the horse when she sees that Nancy has been sick.

‘Nancy, are you alright?’ she says, running over to her and tucking the loose strands of Nancy’s hair behind her ears.

‘Nancy puked up, Mummy,’ Emma tells her.

‘Yes, Mum. I’m fine. Just a bit of motion sickness, that’s all.’

Nate approaches Dreamer. He trots past and hops off the horse, and approaches James.

‘Anything on the ham radio yet?’ he asks James.

‘Nope, just a shit load of static,’ he replies. ‘I’ve been switching between channel five and thirty-five. I’m starting to think there’s no one at the base stations anymore. They could be infected or dead or perhaps had to evacuate.’

‘Well, keep switching between them for now, just in case it’s interference. In the meantime, we must find somewhere safe to stay long term. Somewhere with fencing, we can clean out the soulless inside, and the fencing keeps the rest on the outside.’

James nods at Nate and starts the truck’s engine.

A small plane flies over us from the north but flies east. Nate uses the scope of his rifle to get a closer look.

I jump out the back of the truck and stand beside him, ‘Is it an army jet?’ I ask, worried they’ll shoot at us like the helicopter back in Rokewood.

‘No, it’s a private jet charter. Big enough to fit all of us on there and get us the hell out of here,’ he says, pulling out his map and marking its direction.

The planes we’ve seen so far are going either east or west. The ones going east must be going to the Melbourne airport or Avalon. The Avalon airport would have been easier to clear the soulless out, being smaller. My guess is they’re landing and taking off from there. It could be where survivors are going to and being picked up and rescued. I’m not sure what airports are to the west, but I will have a thorough look at the map when we find somewhere to stay tonight,’ he replies.

I nod, climb back into the truck, and Kate returns to Buddy.

We continue north for about ten minutes and stop as we arrive in the suburb of Magpie on the outskirts of Ballarat. There’s a large group of survivors, at least thirty of them. Mainly adults, a few teenagers, and I can see one young boy around Emma’s age. I can see that some of them are injured and limping. One woman has a bandage wrapped around her head, while another man has a sling on his arm. It’s clear that they’ve been through a lot.

The truck suddenly stops, and we all hold our breath as the mob approaches. Their eyes are wild with fear and desperation, and they brandish their weapons aggressively.

‘Get out of the truck!’ one of them shouts, his voice hoarse and strained.

But before we can even think about complying, a gunshot rings out from the direction of the survivors—one of their own falls to the ground, and the rest scatter, running in all directions.

‘What the hell was that?’ Oscar exclaims, his face pale with shock.

Nate looks over at us grimly. ‘Looks like they’re not as organized as we thought. That gunshot was probably an accident, but it’s clear that these people are on edge. We need to be careful.’

I suddenly feel very anxious. I breathe in deeply and breathe out slowly, ‘You okay, Penny?’ Nate asks.

I shake my head no, ‘Can I ride with you?’ I ask him.

He lifts me off the truck and sits me in front of him on Dreamer. My breathing steadies straight away.

‘Better?’ he asks.

I nod and stroke Dreamer. Her white fur is so soft, but she looks dusty and grubby.

We continue on our way, navigating around abandoned cars, debris and dead bodies of the infected and uninfected that litter the roads. As we near the centre of Ballarat, we start to see more and more signs of life. Every building is severely damaged, and most have crumbled to the ground. It’s obvious bombs had been dropped here a few months ago. Weeds and vines are growing along bench seats, street signs and buildings. Heaps of barricades are set up on the streets, manned by groups of survivors armed with guns and makeshift weapons. The survivors stand on the roofs of their vehicles, behind their barricades, or in buildings that are still standing but exposed, able to see inside each level as the outside walls are gone, just a pile of concrete and rubble outside the ground floor. One lady sits on her rocking chair, staring at the sky in what was probably her living room. Deeply oblivious to us driving by.

As we pass each barricade, the survivors shout, asking if we have food or water. We open our bags to show no food, just torches and random items. We have plenty of deer left, but James cut it up and wrapped it in a towel before hiding it in the truck. He told us not to mention the deer meat to anyone, as we needed it until we could find other food. We keep our weapons down and our hands up to show we are just passing through.

Nate makes Dreamer gallop over to a middle-aged man on a ladder, peeking over his barricade at us.

‘Sir, have the army come through at all? Do you know where the nearest Safe Hold is? Is there an airport nearby in the west?’ he asks.

‘The army was here not long after the virus spread. They bombed half the town, then had troops come in on foot, a few tanks, and dozens of buses. The troops scoured the streets and buildings, killing most of the soulless left. Then the soldiers lined us up and selected specific people they took away. They wouldn’t tell us where they were taking them. They took my daughter, Annabella, who’s only twenty years old. She was forced onto a bus. I tried to get to her, but a soldier gave me a black eye with the stock of his rifle, then threatened to shoot me where I stood if I moved an inch closer towards her. My wife was bitten and turned into one of those monsters. My daughter is all I have. I don’t know where she is,’ he weeps.

‘I’m sorry to hear,’ Nate says gently.

The man nods, ‘The army left after the selection, we call it. They didn’t tell us where to find safety or a Safe Hold, as you call it. They chose the young and fit. Mainly children from tens year old onwards to people up to thirty years old. Any sick wasn’t chosen, not even young kids. If they so much as coughed or sneezed, they were shoved out of the line.’ The man looks Nate up and down, ‘You’re a soldier. You’re one of them,’ he says angrily.

‘No,’ I say to him. ‘Nate is nothing like them. He has protected my friends and me from the very start. He has never been involved in a selection or the deaths of innocent people. He is trying to find us refuge and keep us safe on his own accord. He doesn’t know why the army is doing this. The last army platoon we came across, their commander had gone rogue, commanding the platoon to do his bidding. Maybe it was the same here?’ I suggest.

‘No, they were definitely under government orders to do this. They made that very clear from the moment they arrived,’ the man says.

I look over my shoulder at Nate. We give each other a discerning look.

I stare back at the man, ‘I’m so sorry about your wife and daughter. You shouldn’t stay here, though. There’s still soulless everywhere, and you all have barely any food or no food at all.’

The man chuckles, ‘That’s the problem, kid. There is nowhere safe to go anymore unless you are selected. I’ve spoken to friends who live in New South Wales and Queensland over the radio. They have said most of the towns had been bombed, and then troops and soldiers entered on foot to clear out any of the infected and proceeded with the selection. I haven’t heard from them in the last couple of weeks. I can’t help but think the worst has happened to them,’ he says, his lips trembling with grief. He looks at Nate, ‘We have dozens of jets and planes go by, but no one knows where they are going,’ he adds. ‘All I know is they’re not here to save us or anyone who hasn’t been selected.’

‘Thank you for your time, sir,’ Nate says, ‘Again, I’m sorry for what you’ve been through and still going through,’ he says.

‘It’s not your fault, lad. Keep your friends safe,’ he says and forces a smile.

James pulls up at a petrol station. The store windows are smashed, and the door is on the ground. There’s no food inside, and even the till is empty. He swears as he tries to fill the truck up, only to realise there’s no fuel left.

‘There are hundreds of abandoned cars. We can siphon the fuel from some,’ I tell James.

He nods and drives the truck further up the road, and pulls over near six cars. He gives me one of his two empty fuel barrels. They’re army green in colour, matching his truck. Nate and I take turns siphoning fuel out of four cars as James siphons fuel from the other two. We return to the truck, pull the funnel out, and fill the tank. Buddy becomes scared and panicked, neighing loudly and jumping back on its hind legs, causing Kate to fall off.

I run over to help her up. Buddy circles and bucks the air before bolting into the distance, ‘Damn it,’ I say, watching him run off.

Kate pales as she stands and sees over my shoulder. I slowly turn to see a humungous crocodile walking toward us.

‘N-Nate-J-James,’ I stutter as Kate, and I slowly walk backwards toward the truck.

‘What is it?’ he asks, before coming to an abrupt halt, ‘What the hell. Is that a crocodile?’ Nate asks, almost in a shriek.

‘Well, clearly, it’s not a dog,’ I retort in a low voice.

‘Penny, this isn’t the time for your smart-ass comments,’ he replies.

‘Mummy,’ Emma says from the truck.

James comes up behind us. A whole sentence of profanities I’ve never heard before leaves his mouth.

‘That has got to be at least six metres long,’ he says in horror.

He’s not wrong, though. As it scuttles along, it’s double the length of the vehicle it passes.

‘Alright, Kate. Get in the truck now,’ He says, pulling a handgun from his belt and pointing it at the croc.

Nate grabs my hand and yanks me back, pulling me to Dreamer. He swiftly lifts me on before jumping on behind me. The croc sees Dreamer and no longer has an interest in James.

Nate heels the back of his boots into Dreamer, making her run. The crocodile follows as fast as it can behind us. James drives behind it and tries to run over it, but it quickly hides under another car, lifting it slightly off the ground as it’s too thick to fit under it comfortably.

‘I can feel your heart racing through your back,’ Nate says.

‘Would you prefer it not to beat at all? We just crossed paths with a Crocodile, and clearly, it wasn’t a baby one either,’ I snap.

‘Chill, Penny. I didn’t mean anything bad by it. I was hoping you were okay?’ he says.

‘Oh, I’m sorry then,’ I say, embarrassed for snapping at him.

‘It’s all good. It was pretty terrifying. Even I’ll admit that.’

I smile, ‘You did shriek pretty loud,’ I laugh.

He laughs, too, ‘Just make sure you don’t tell that to anyone else,’ he chuckles.

‘We’ll see,’ I smile.

As we continue up the road, we trot by James’s window and talk about the crocodile but become silent as a wombat runs across the road, followed by kangaroos that hop with speed.

‘Erm,’ James says, scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion.

‘What’s with all the animals,’ Nate asks.

Suddenly we hear a roar, ‘What the fuck was that?’ Carrie asks, clinging onto Todd.

A large shadow darts across the rubble through the air to my right. I slowly turn my head. Nate notices as my back stiffens with fear. He looks to his right, where I stare. A tiger climbs up the small mountain of rubble and growls. The Kangaroos hop away faster as the tiger leaps into the air, landing a fair distance away and chasing the Kangaroos. The wombat is much slower, trailing behind. I turn my head into Nate’s chest and whimper as the tiger lunges at the wombat, capturing it and biting into its flesh ferociously. Kate holds Emma and Nancy into her bosom so they don’t watch the wombat being torn to shreds. Oscar watches with his mouth open as James continues to drive away.

Nate and I follow the others on Dreamer. We pass a sign that says Ballarat Wildlife Park.

There are Meercats on boulders, standing on their hind legs, looking at us with interest.

‘Well, that explains the tiger and the crocodile,’ Nate says. The main gates of the park are wide open. We don’t stop, but James drives past it slowly. We can see penguins pottering around with the odd emu.

‘I swear I’ve seen something new every day since the virus came,’ Nate mutters.

James drives to the east for the next twenty minutes until Nate points to a large, fenced-off area near the outskirts of the town. ‘That could be a good spot,’ Nate says. ‘It looks like an old factory or warehouse. We could clear out the soulless and fortify the fence.’

James nods in agreement and turns the truck towards the fenced-off area. As we approach, we can see that the fence is still intact, but a few gaps need to be patched up. There are signs with pictures of sports equipment advertised around the building. We park the truck inside the fence and tie Dreamer’s reigns to the truck so we can scout the area.

Nate, James, Todd and I scour the sports warehouse for any soulless. While Kate, Carrie, and the girls wait in the truck. Oscar is armed with a rifle to protect them from the infected or raiders if needed. The warehouse is massive, with multiple levels. There are large crates and hundreds of boxes fill with sporting goods. We follow a trail of old blood towards a wooden door with a glass frame panel at the top. There’s a note taped to it, “infected inside, do not open”, it reads. James kicks the door open, and we shoot the group of infected locked in there. Most likely by the staff who were working here at the time. All the other rooms and levels are checked thoroughly, including the men’s and women’s toilets and the kitchenette, which looks like the lunch break area for workers.

‘We’re clear,’ Nate says.

James opens a window and sticks his head out, ‘We’re clear,’ he shouts to Oscar.

I return to the kitchenette to raid the cupboards. Nate joins me and is thrilled to find a large tin of coffee. Half of it’s been used, but still, plenty left, but the electric water urn won’t work as he tries to switch it on, ‘Damn it,’ he says, defeated.

I walk over to the mini stove. It’s gas. I smile as I turn the knob and flick my lighter to light the plate. Nate’s face lights up as he watches the flames light up in a circle.

He opens a cupboard, grabs a small saucepan, fills it with water, and places it over the stove, ‘Thanks, Penny,’ he smiles as he watches the water bubble.

I open the bar fridge. An offensive odour hits me. The food inside has gone mouldy. I close the fridge as I gag.

Nate laughs, ‘I guess there’s no fresh milk in there?’

‘Curdled, yes,’ I reply with a laugh.

‘Yeah, I’ll stick with black coffee,’ he replies.

I can hear a ball being bounced. I exit the kitchenette onto a platformed path and look down to the lower level to see Oscar bouncing a ball with Emma.

Nancy is rummaging through a box. I decide to join her. I skip down the platform and open up lots of boxes. I place all the useful items in a pile. Baseball bats, sports vest body armour, wrist guards, knee and elbow pads, shoulder pads, shin guards, and helmets with face guards. I leave the rest of the equipment like the tennis rackets, tennis balls, footballs and so on. I put one of the black body armour sports vests on. It’s made of thick plastic on the outside and material on the inside. It even has thick pauldrons. It’s comfortable, and I still have full movement of my arms. I put the wrist, elbow, knee pads, and shin guards on. I step out from behind all the boxes holding a helmet by my side. Everyone looks me up and down with an impressed look, even Carrie.

‘Well, that will help protect you from being bitten,’ James says in approval.

‘I’ve found heaps more if you all want to wear some for yourselves. It’s just behind the boxes,’ I point.

Nate walks towards me, sipping his hot coffee, ‘You look cool,’ he smirks.

‘You think?’ I reply.

‘Yeah, you look like something out of Star Wars,’ he grins.