Read Online Aftermath (Invasion of the Dead) - Part I by Owen Baillie - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Owen Baillie
Ads: Link
anything.”
“Are you sure? Check properly,” Callan said.
Dylan said, “Come on, man. She’s clean.”
“I want her to be okay more than anyone,” Callan said. “But we have to be sure.”
Sherry tipped the remaining water from the plastic bottle onto Kristy, who shuddered. She probed her skin, looking for tiny red lines. “She’s good. I can’t find anything,” Sherry said.
Dylan let out a breath, not realising he had been holding it. He covered his face in his hands and promised himself he wouldn’t think about what might have been.
“Now we’re out of ammo, ” Greg said, loading the shotgun back into the Jeep.
“ Shit,” Callan said. “I almost forgot. The back of that truck is full of weapons.”
The three boys walked over to the embankment. The truck’s nose stuck out of the creek like a partly submerged log. Through the broken windshield, they saw a pile of bodies floating on the water line. The smell of death floated up to them and they each made faces of disgust.
“Fuck it ,” Callan said. “It’ll all be wet now.”
“What is that?” Greg said, pointing at the truck. “One of them is still alive.”
An arm from one of the bodies moved, scratching at the wall as if trying to climb out.
“They were all dead when we looked in the back,” Dylan said.
Callan said, “Let’s move. He ain’t going anywhere but there’s nothing more for us here.”
4. The Outskirts of Town
The rain had stopped, leaving the road with a slick coating. Sooty skies made it appear later, although it was just after five o’clock. They all tried their phones again, but there was still no service, which could only mean that all the networks were down. An unpleasant smell wafted from behind the locked doors of the second truck, and nobody suggested opening them. Callan checked the cab and found a magazine of shells for a 9mm handgun that he took, but no weapon, and an inbuilt two-way radio he couldn’t pry loose. Fresh black skid marks fled the scene from the rear of the lorry.
Nobody spoke . Kristy lay against Dylan’s shoulder, her eyes closed. He had one arm around her, watching the paddocks roll by. Callan felt a spark of irritation but let it go. She deserved and needed comfort.
They had been lucky. Alternative scenarios made Callan uneasy and he had to think of other things to push them from his mind. Knowing what they were up against now, he knew they were in real shit. The armed forces, people paid to protect civilians from harm, were infected. Callan guessed the army had been set up to guard the roads into major country towns like Albury and Wodonga. But what would happen if the army couldn’t stop this thing?
I t was no longer just a virus though. The infected appeared to turn into some kind of violent cannibals. He almost laughed at the idea. It was absurd, but he had seen it with his own eyes. They had beaten one, but what if there were five, or ten? A hundred? How would they possibly survive? As they edged closer to home, Callan wasn’t sure they were prepared for what they might find. He still hoped their families were safe, but even then, doubts had crept in.
It had been almost four hours since they had left the lake under cloudless blue skies and a steady, enjoyable heat. The gas station had been on the Tooma road, and from there they had kept a steady speed along the curves of the Murray River road, crossing the Murray River at Wymah Ferry road, and taking Bowna Wymah road all the way to the Hume Highway. Callan didn’t want to enter Albury from the north, but instead the east after taking Table Top road, where he could use back streets to access his parent’s house on the western side of town.
H e felt a sick desperation to see them. His father was often travelling, and he might even be away now. He needed to make sure his mother was safe. He
“Are you sure? Check properly,” Callan said.
Dylan said, “Come on, man. She’s clean.”
“I want her to be okay more than anyone,” Callan said. “But we have to be sure.”
Sherry tipped the remaining water from the plastic bottle onto Kristy, who shuddered. She probed her skin, looking for tiny red lines. “She’s good. I can’t find anything,” Sherry said.
Dylan let out a breath, not realising he had been holding it. He covered his face in his hands and promised himself he wouldn’t think about what might have been.
“Now we’re out of ammo, ” Greg said, loading the shotgun back into the Jeep.
“ Shit,” Callan said. “I almost forgot. The back of that truck is full of weapons.”
The three boys walked over to the embankment. The truck’s nose stuck out of the creek like a partly submerged log. Through the broken windshield, they saw a pile of bodies floating on the water line. The smell of death floated up to them and they each made faces of disgust.
“Fuck it ,” Callan said. “It’ll all be wet now.”
“What is that?” Greg said, pointing at the truck. “One of them is still alive.”
An arm from one of the bodies moved, scratching at the wall as if trying to climb out.
“They were all dead when we looked in the back,” Dylan said.
Callan said, “Let’s move. He ain’t going anywhere but there’s nothing more for us here.”
4. The Outskirts of Town
The rain had stopped, leaving the road with a slick coating. Sooty skies made it appear later, although it was just after five o’clock. They all tried their phones again, but there was still no service, which could only mean that all the networks were down. An unpleasant smell wafted from behind the locked doors of the second truck, and nobody suggested opening them. Callan checked the cab and found a magazine of shells for a 9mm handgun that he took, but no weapon, and an inbuilt two-way radio he couldn’t pry loose. Fresh black skid marks fled the scene from the rear of the lorry.
Nobody spoke . Kristy lay against Dylan’s shoulder, her eyes closed. He had one arm around her, watching the paddocks roll by. Callan felt a spark of irritation but let it go. She deserved and needed comfort.
They had been lucky. Alternative scenarios made Callan uneasy and he had to think of other things to push them from his mind. Knowing what they were up against now, he knew they were in real shit. The armed forces, people paid to protect civilians from harm, were infected. Callan guessed the army had been set up to guard the roads into major country towns like Albury and Wodonga. But what would happen if the army couldn’t stop this thing?
I t was no longer just a virus though. The infected appeared to turn into some kind of violent cannibals. He almost laughed at the idea. It was absurd, but he had seen it with his own eyes. They had beaten one, but what if there were five, or ten? A hundred? How would they possibly survive? As they edged closer to home, Callan wasn’t sure they were prepared for what they might find. He still hoped their families were safe, but even then, doubts had crept in.
It had been almost four hours since they had left the lake under cloudless blue skies and a steady, enjoyable heat. The gas station had been on the Tooma road, and from there they had kept a steady speed along the curves of the Murray River road, crossing the Murray River at Wymah Ferry road, and taking Bowna Wymah road all the way to the Hume Highway. Callan didn’t want to enter Albury from the north, but instead the east after taking Table Top road, where he could use back streets to access his parent’s house on the western side of town.
H e felt a sick desperation to see them. His father was often travelling, and he might even be away now. He needed to make sure his mother was safe. He
Similar Books
