2042: The Great Cataclysm (36 page)

‘I’m looking for Alex Videon.’

‘Dr Videon’s still here even though we’ve tried to get him to take a break. He’s over there.’ She answered abruptly, pointing to a crouched figure at the end of the room. Nick guessed it was stress and not bad manners that prompted her acid reply.

‘Did I hear my name?’ Alex said as he stood and stretched slowly, hands behind his waist supporting his aching back.

‘Alex I need to talk to you.’ Nick said. ‘It’s important!’ Alex straightened up awkwardly and turned toward Nick who noted his appearance with surprise. The two men faced each other, one pale and quivering, the other grey faced and bent. Black stubble poked from Alex’s face and dark grey smudges covered the creases under his weary eyes. His black curly hair sprang in all directions, having not seen a comb for days. Nick was filled with admiration and respect and recognised a man who had given every ounce of his strength to the people under his care, but he had no idea that his news would affect Alex so profoundly.

At the mention of Brian’s name and the news of his death, Alex became very agitated, swaying dizzily, having to prop himself against the door jamb to prevent his knees buckling.

Nick preferred to look upon this reaction as one of utter exhaustion, rather than Alex’s shock and concern for his beloved Karen.  ‘Are you okay?’
He asked guardedly.

Alex nodded. ‘Yeah, I think it’s been one of the longest nights of my life. Now this.’

‘Where can I find Karen?’

‘She’s in the tent to the left of that barricade, but wait...’ Alex said.

Nick set off before Alex finished the sentence. He steeled himself outside Karen’s tent, and drawing on some unseen strength drew in a deep breath. ‘Karen! Are you awake? Can I come in?’

Karen, like Nick had been unable to sleep and had also risen early. She emerged from the tent still dressed in the crumpled stained clothes she had worn the previous day. Her beautiful eyes smiled at him in greeting, and his stomach contracted and he felt a pain cross his heart.

‘Morning. You’re up early. Looks like you didn’t get much rest last night either.’ She said, smoothing down her dishevelled shirt. ‘It’s was so hot in the night I couldn’t sleep a wink.’

He took her arm. ‘Come, let’s walk, there’s ah, something I have to tell you.’

‘What, in this lousy weather? Come inside we can talk here. I’m alone.’

He broke the news to her as gently as he knew how and was startled by her reaction. She stared at him, almost serenely. Her large deep purple eyes resembled two spring pools, brimming, but not quite flooding over the rims. She quietly leaned against his shoulder, and he could hear her deep breath as she sighed resignedly.

Karen imagined her heart paused as she, like Nick, saw pictures of her and Brian on their wedding day. She had not loved him, but he was her trusted and best friend and that was the loss she felt now, not the cutting jarring slash of the heart that one would feel with the loss of a lover, but the gentle creeping crack for the loss of that friend. Nick held her silently against his chest, comforting her and sharing her grief, somehow making his a little less painful.

She sensed at this point that Nick was hurting more than she. They had been closer than most brothers, probably because they were twins. One day she would tell Nick of her relationship with Brian, but right now she was grateful for his strength and allowed herself the luxury of his comfort.

‘I think I’d like to go home. D’you think we could do that?’ She started to cry and he tried to resist, but the tears he had fought to hide began to fall and his shoulders shook. ‘D
oes uncle Bill know? She said a
fter several minutes.

He wiped his eyes with the back of his hands, l
ike a small child.
‘No. I don’t think so.’

‘He’ll be devastated, so will Veronica, they both loved Brian, it will be like losing a son to them.’

‘Right. Whatever you think. D’you want me to tell them?’

‘No. I’ll do it.’

‘I’ll round up a jeep then. You’re right, we should go to your place, there’s nothing much I can do here right now anyway, and I need to contact Sam. I’m worried about my boat.’

They walked to the Scout Hall where Nick left Karen to break the news to Bill and Veronica while he woke Graham and organised the jeep. An hour later they were ready to depart. Bill waited in the open jeep uncharacteristically quiet, his usual boisterous manner replaced by reticence, Nick could see his feelings were locked away in a dark place, in case they burst forth in uncontrollable grief. Veronica held his hand in silence, tears fell unchecked, grateful for once being able to share something deep with her husband, even if it was sorrow. Karen asked to stop off to see Alex before they left to plead with him to get some rest, insisting he make his way to her home when he could find the time. She had been shocked by his dishevelled appearance, and it was with reluctance that she left him standing forlornly on the verandah of the make-shift hospital.

Chapter Forty-six

Graham sat in the front seat of the jeep, with an antiquated HK425 assault rifle he had borrowed from the army lying across his lap. He pumped the action, chambering a round of ammunition, then as instructed flicked on the safety catch.

As they bounced across the rough terrain toward the road that led down the mountain to Karen’s house nobody spoke. Finally Bill spoke to Graham. ‘I hope you know how to handle that thing.’

‘You forget, I was in the army for two years. This is an older version to what I was issued, but it’s not much different.’

‘Is it really necessary?’ Veronica said wiping her eyes. ‘Guns scare me to death after what happened to Bill.’

‘Marauding gangs will scare you more.’ Graham rumbled. ‘You’ll be thankful for this gun before this’s over.  We ah, don’t want a repeat of what happened at your place. There’s reports already of people being attacked for their food and belongings. I just hope my boys have been able to keep them away from Karen’s house. We dropped a stack of supplies in there, and certain types of people would be willing to kill to get their hands on them.’

After bumping along slowly for ten minutes through thick bushland they arrived at the road heading south-east. Nick gratefully swung the jeep on to the smooth tar and wound it up to its maximum speed of ninety kilometres an hour. The rain had eased, replaced by high humidity that wrapped them in perspiration. People lined both sides of the road carrying bundles of food and clothing, some dragging reluctant quarrelsome children behind them. They appeared oblivious to the fearsome dangers lying ahead of them in the days to come, their concentration focused instead on simply finding a safe place to camp. Despite the smooth surface of the road, the jeep was uncomfortable, as they travelled for a further five minutes down the winding, mountain road through dense bushland that obstructed any view of the coastline.

‘There’s our turn off ahead!’ Karen yelled. ‘On the right.’

Nick swerved the jeep onto the dirt road leading off into the bush, jarring their teeth as the tyres gripped the dirt ridges on the rough surface of the track, shuddering it to a slow thirty kilometres.  Nick
Immediately
spied a silver flash on his left, camouflaged by the swirling dust. Glancing in the rear-view mirror he saw a silver Land-cruiser closing swiftly behind them.

‘We’ve got company.’ He nudged Graham in the ribs. ‘Keep your eye on them, I think they may be trouble.’ Just as he spoke he saw a man lean out of the passenger-side window and point a rifle in their direction. He didn’t hear the shot, but it found it’s home in one of the rear tyres of the jeep, causing it to career madly across the track as Nick fought the steering wheel. Unable to maintain control he called for them to hold on. ‘We’re going over!’ The jeep lurched sideways and tipped into a ditch beside the track throwing them all out in a cloud of dust and stones.

Graham lay sprawled beside the jeep with the wind temporarily knocked out of him, but he had the presence of mind to hold onto the gun. Recovering swiftly he jumped up and using the jeep for cover, leaned the gun against the upturned chassis and aimed for the Land-cruiser. Silence descended as his thumb found and released the safety catch. The dust settled and he could see the stationary Land-cruiser clearly, sitting
menacingly
less than ten metres away. Dark tinted windows prevented observation of the occupants. How many? Graham wondered. To what lengths would they go?

Bill lay on the ground holding his wounded arm. His face was red with anger ‘Don’t give ‘em the advantage. Strike first!’

Before further thought could deter him Graham raised the shotgun and pulled off the first round.  The deafening blast from the gun was accompanied by a shattering crash as the windscreen of the Land cruiser disintegrated into thousands of crystals, spraying out over the bonnet and the ground in a shower of glass. Without pausing Graham pumped the gun and fired three more times, peppering the front of the van with pellets.The pungent irritating smell of spent powder filled his nostrils, and his ears reverberated from the sound of the blasts. Silence, as stunning as the thunderous discharge from the gun, encased his numbed brain. He waited for retaliation.

By now the others had regained their senses and were crawling up beside him under the cover of the upturned jeep. There was no movement from the Land-cruiser, he guessed he had won the first round with the element of surprise. Obviously their attackers had not expected them to fight back so ferociously. Suddenly the Land-rover engine roared into life and the vehicle shot backwards, skidding and swerving in clouds of dust as he reversed away from the scene, until a loud thump indicated contact with something solid. They were out of range of Graham’s gun and enveloped in dust and debris. The driver found first gear before the cloud had settled and screamed away in the direction from where they had come, leaving the shaken group cowering beside their stricken jeep.

‘Well done Graham! You gave them what for.’ Nick slapped him on the back. ‘Remind me to keep you by my side in the future.’

Nick helped up the terrified girls. Bill lay in the dirt clasping his shoulder and cursing his bad luck. ‘At this rate I’m never going to get this bloody shoulder to heal. Feels like it’s bleeding again.’

Veronica was examining a bad gravel rash on her leg that now accompanied the cuts and bruises from the tsunami, but otherwise they were all unhurt. Graham inspected the jeep, she wasn’t badly damaged. However, it would need more than he and Nick to lift it out of the ditch. ‘Mmm, looks like we’ll have to walk the rest of the way. How far’s your house Karen?’

‘About a kilometre. It’s all downhill so it’s an easy walk.’

They set off, sharply aware there could be another attack by looters at any time. Graham patted the shotgun and confidently replaced the safety catch. It was mid morning now and the heat was becoming oppressive. It was very unsettling to be so hot in the middle of winter. The sweet smell of fresh bushland invaded their nostrils, and some Currawong’s melodious calls, a sound typical in the Australian bush, filled the air. A canopy of gum trees and palms covered them and the crickets that usually deafened only in the summer months, were chirping in rising crescendos.

They rounded a bend and were startled when a man in combat clothing leapt from the bush. ‘Stop, or I’ll shoot!’ He demanded.

They huddled together momentarily shocked
and
Graham raised the gun, but this time the element of surprise was in favour of their foe and he dropped the rifle to his side when he recognised his friend.

‘Joe! Thank Christ it’s you. We just had a run-in with some people about a klick back, they ran us off the road!’

Joe was one of the crack team Graham had organised to protect the house. A huge man and even though well into his fifties, a good ally to have on one’s team. ‘We’re going to need your help to pull the jeep out of the ditch, but first we need to get everyone to safety.’

‘It’s good to see you mate. These gangs have been hounding us all day.’ Joe replied. ‘From what I’ve seen this morning, we’re going to be besieged by them for some time to come. Have you seen what’s out there yet?’ He said gesturing toward the coast.

‘We were in the thick of it last night, but we haven’t seen it by daylight yet.’

‘Come on, but be prepared for a shock. I can’t believe what’s happened. We lost power but the boys have rigged up the generator we nicked from the army.’

***

Nick had a good idea of what they were about to see when they entered the clearing around the house, but the others gasped in shock as they surveyed the scene of devastation below. Even though Nick had expected it, he was shaken when faced by the sickening reality.

Where there had been houses, farms and buildings for kilometres to the east, there was now only the sea! The former coast line had disappeared, covered by an angry, surging ocean. The multitude of distant high-rise buildings that once proliferated was gone, as were the ugly dykes!

Only two buildings remained; the Phoenix complex, whose four towers were standing forlornly in the ocean like solitary citadels, islands in an angry new sea. The other building was not so easily recognisable, all other landmarks having disappeared. By counting the floors still visible above the water line, Nick calculated the depth of the water surrounding the Phoenix to be about fifteen metres! No sign of any other structure remained, every one crushed and destroyed by the wicked, awesome power of the tsunami.