windshield this time I won’t have to
try and shoot it.
I move in slow
motion, crawling into the back. Kean pulls me through, and then
Jacob is in the front in the blink of an eye.
Trouble gives
me a thumbs up, and when I’m seated and belted I return the
gesture. Trouble starts the engine and speeds off, just as the
infected turn to the noise. He weaves through the traffic,
sideswiping a few bodies, and in a few minutes we’re away from the
pack and back on open road.
Jacob switches
on the air conditioning and we share a collective sigh. I haven’t
felt a manufactured chill since before the outbreak. It’s weird how
you can live without these luxuries when you don’t have a
choice.
Kean gives me a
small smile.
I want to say
he shouldn’t have come, but to be honest, I’m glad he did.
“What’s Henry
doing?” I ask.
“He wanted to
stay. To… look after…” He shakes his head and pulls a sad
expression. “He said it had to be this way. I made a choice. I
don’t know if it’s the right one.”
Jacob swivels
in his seat; the glovebox sits open. “And my gun?”
“Henry has it,”
Kean says. “And your tin of Milo. Sorry.”
Jacob shrugs
and turns back.
“I told him I’d
bring you back.” Kean’s eyes lower a fraction. “Do you think I
stand a chance?”
“I don’t know,”
I say.
Kean nods and
shifts the conversation to something functional. “What’s the plan
now?”
“We’re going to
Melbourne Central,” I say. “Along the train line.”
Kean nods
slowly, processing. “An apocalyptic shopping centre hide-out.
Definitely not like any horror movie I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s exactly
what I said,” I say.
Jacob glances
at us in the rearview mirror with eyebrows raised.
“Great minds
think alike,” Kean says.
We pass Monash
University. The tall square buildings are peppered with smashed
windows and there’s not a soul in sight on the grounds. And not a
single vehicle in the open-air car park.
We reach a huge
intersection where Wellington Road turns into North Road — heading
back into the suburbs I’m so used to. Each direction of road is at
least four lanes wide: it’s massive. And they’re set at strange
angles that slice each other like multiple crossing swords.
Jacob pulls a
Melways map book out from underneath his seat and starts flicking
through it.
“Uh…” Kean
glances around. “We’re not going back to…”
“No,” Jacob
says. “Close. You drove to and from Arcadium, so I’m betting those
roads are still clear. I just want the one you arrived on.”
I stare out the
window. “Warrigal Road doesn’t have an accessible station, if you
plan on getting onto the train tracks. It’s just an overpass.”
Jacob looks
thoughtful. “You have local knowledge. Direct me to one that has
track access from the road.”
I lean forward.
“How do we know they’re clear?”
His eyes flash
with amusement. “We don’t.”
Since I’m the
only one from this side of Melbourne — actually we don’t know where
Trouble lived, but since we met him in the western suburbs it’s a
pretty safe bet he’s not an Easternite — this makes it my area of
expertise.
I close my eyes
to think. I picture a map of the roads in my head to figure out
which way is best.
“You want the
Melways?” Jacob asks.
“No way.” It’s
hard though, when you travel roads everyday for your entire life
and then all of a sudden you just don’t; you kind of forget about
them.
“You want to
drive on the tracks right?” I say, eyes still closed.
Jacob must nod
because Kean answers for him. “He says yes.”
“And how far do
you plan on getting?”
“Far as we
can.”
The word we
strikes a chord with me. There was a time when I swore I wouldn’t
work with anyone else, but my two became a five out of necessity,
and now Jacob has tacked himself on. It’s dangerous collecting
survivors, like seeing how many people you can fit on a ledge
before they all start pushing each
try and shoot it.
I move in slow
motion, crawling into the back. Kean pulls me through, and then
Jacob is in the front in the blink of an eye.
Trouble gives
me a thumbs up, and when I’m seated and belted I return the
gesture. Trouble starts the engine and speeds off, just as the
infected turn to the noise. He weaves through the traffic,
sideswiping a few bodies, and in a few minutes we’re away from the
pack and back on open road.
Jacob switches
on the air conditioning and we share a collective sigh. I haven’t
felt a manufactured chill since before the outbreak. It’s weird how
you can live without these luxuries when you don’t have a
choice.
Kean gives me a
small smile.
I want to say
he shouldn’t have come, but to be honest, I’m glad he did.
“What’s Henry
doing?” I ask.
“He wanted to
stay. To… look after…” He shakes his head and pulls a sad
expression. “He said it had to be this way. I made a choice. I
don’t know if it’s the right one.”
Jacob swivels
in his seat; the glovebox sits open. “And my gun?”
“Henry has it,”
Kean says. “And your tin of Milo. Sorry.”
Jacob shrugs
and turns back.
“I told him I’d
bring you back.” Kean’s eyes lower a fraction. “Do you think I
stand a chance?”
“I don’t know,”
I say.
Kean nods and
shifts the conversation to something functional. “What’s the plan
now?”
“We’re going to
Melbourne Central,” I say. “Along the train line.”
Kean nods
slowly, processing. “An apocalyptic shopping centre hide-out.
Definitely not like any horror movie I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s exactly
what I said,” I say.
Jacob glances
at us in the rearview mirror with eyebrows raised.
“Great minds
think alike,” Kean says.
We pass Monash
University. The tall square buildings are peppered with smashed
windows and there’s not a soul in sight on the grounds. And not a
single vehicle in the open-air car park.
We reach a huge
intersection where Wellington Road turns into North Road — heading
back into the suburbs I’m so used to. Each direction of road is at
least four lanes wide: it’s massive. And they’re set at strange
angles that slice each other like multiple crossing swords.
Jacob pulls a
Melways map book out from underneath his seat and starts flicking
through it.
“Uh…” Kean
glances around. “We’re not going back to…”
“No,” Jacob
says. “Close. You drove to and from Arcadium, so I’m betting those
roads are still clear. I just want the one you arrived on.”
I stare out the
window. “Warrigal Road doesn’t have an accessible station, if you
plan on getting onto the train tracks. It’s just an overpass.”
Jacob looks
thoughtful. “You have local knowledge. Direct me to one that has
track access from the road.”
I lean forward.
“How do we know they’re clear?”
His eyes flash
with amusement. “We don’t.”
Since I’m the
only one from this side of Melbourne — actually we don’t know where
Trouble lived, but since we met him in the western suburbs it’s a
pretty safe bet he’s not an Easternite — this makes it my area of
expertise.
I close my eyes
to think. I picture a map of the roads in my head to figure out
which way is best.
“You want the
Melways?” Jacob asks.
“No way.” It’s
hard though, when you travel roads everyday for your entire life
and then all of a sudden you just don’t; you kind of forget about
them.
“You want to
drive on the tracks right?” I say, eyes still closed.
Jacob must nod
because Kean answers for him. “He says yes.”
“And how far do
you plan on getting?”
“Far as we
can.”
The word we
strikes a chord with me. There was a time when I swore I wouldn’t
work with anyone else, but my two became a five out of necessity,
and now Jacob has tacked himself on. It’s dangerous collecting
survivors, like seeing how many people you can fit on a ledge
before they all start pushing each
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