Dead Tropics (20 page)

The door was bolted and made of heavy wood which explained why the zombies hadn't broken through. As gently as possible, Mike slipped the bolt. Indicating to me to step back, he pulled the door open a fraction. Immediately, the volume of the cries jumped through the roof. We met each other's eyes, and by mutual agreement, leapt into the garage, slamming the door behind us.

"Who's there? Is someone there? Please help me!" A quavering young voice called out. I hurried forward, trying to locate the voice amidst the car, boxes and tools.

"It's Lori Nelson. Is that Skye? Where are you?"

A deathly moan stopped me in my tracks. There was a zombie in the garage with us. Mike tensed beside me, passing the knife into his left hand and pulling around his rifle.

"Please hurry." The voice shook with desperation. "I can't hold on much longer. I'm over here in front of the car."

I edged cautiously around the car, parang at the ready, and saw the child. And her mother. Jodie snarled and clawed at her daughter as the fourteen year old kept her mother pinned against the garage wall with a portable workbench.

9

Skye reared back as her mother's hands swiped at her face. As she moved, the pressure of the workbench against Jodie's abdomen lessened, allowing her to lunge forward. Skye shoved the table forward again, forcing her mum back against the wall.

I stared at the scene, appalled. How long had she been at this for? Mike hurried forward and took over for Skye as I helped the trembling teenager to sit down. Blood covered the right side of her face and chest. It appeared to be from a wound on her shoulder. The child was pale and, I suspected, in shock. Looking around, I spotted some old towels and grabbed them, pressing one firmly against the wound and placing another around her shoulders.

"Lori?" Mike was looking at me meaningfully as he kept the zombie firmly pressed against the wall. I sat down beside Skye, keeping the pressure on the wound.

"Skye?" I spoke gently. "Do you understand what has happened to your mum?"

She looked up at me with haunted eyes. "That's not mum anymore. It's a monster in my mum's body."

I nodded. "We need to kill it."

Skye dropped her head into her arms. "Good." My heart ached for her. I looked up and gave Mike a silent go-ahead. He nodded and, releasing the table, pinned Jodie back against the wall by the throat. As she squirmed and clawed at him, he thrust his knife into her brain. The creature's movements stilled and, as he withdrew his knife, it slumped against the table.

At the sudden silence, Skye raised her head and stared at her mother's body. The sadness in her face broke my heart. Helplessly, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm so sorry, Skye."

"I don't know what happened." She burst out. "She was alright last night after we escaped those things and hid in here. She was really upset because we didn't know where Jasmine was, and her arm was sore where she was bitten, but she was okay! Then this morning, she started getting really sick. I was happy when she finally fell asleep but when she woke up, she was ... one of them. She tried to kill me."

I nodded, feeling helpless. I didn't know what to do. We needed to get out of here as quickly as possible but the fact was that Skye had been bitten. When -
if
, I corrected myself- she turned, she would be a threat to my family. And, in truth, I did not know if she would be able to make the trip across. She had lost a lot of blood. I looked over at Mike pleadingly.
What do we do?

With compassion in his eyes, Mike knelt before Skye. "We have to get out of here now. Can you walk, Skye?"

His sideways look to me said 'we'll deal with whatever happens later'. I centered myself. He was right. Right now, there was a sick, frightened girl who needed our help.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I...I don't feel good."

I exchanged a concerned look with Mike before turning to reassure her. "Well, of course not. You've lost a lot of blood and you've been through an ordeal." I really hoped that was all it was.

The walkie-talkie crackled. As Mike pulled it out of his backpack, we heard Lucas' voice. "You've got incoming, guys! ETA is approximately ...four minutes."

Mike's lips quirked at Lucas' professional tone. "Understood, Lucas. Good job."

Returning the walkie-talkie to his pack, he spoke in a brisk tone to Skye. "Where do you keep the car keys?"

"On top of the fridge." Her words seemed a little slurred. Worried, I pulled away the towel from her neck. Fresh blood flowed down her neck. Shit. I applied more pressure and sent a meaningful look to Mike.
Hurry.
He nodded and moved to the garage door, weapons in hand.

"I feel tired." The young girl murmured. "I want to lie down."

There was a fine sheen on sweat on her pale forehead. I shook my head vehemently. "Not a good idea, Skye. I want you to talk to me."

The shock and blood loss could lead to unconsciousness soon if she didn't get some fluids soon. I watched Mike slip out the door. I was a little anxious for him but only a little. He had already proven his ability to handle almost any situation he found himself in. To my mind, the man was as invincible as Arnie in Predator- but better looking.

"What about?" Skye murmured sleepily.

"I don't know." I wracked my brain. "What do you want to be when you grow up? What sports do you like to play? Do you have a favourite book?"

"I want to be a zookeeper. I love animals." She sighed. "Jasmine always says that cleaning up lion poop sounded like the perfect job for me. I'd get so mad at her."

I laughed, trying to block my last memory of Jasmine staggering up the driveway. "Sounds like a typical big sister to me."

She smiled a little. "She's so annoying."

"Yeah well. Sisters grow out of that eventually and end up becoming your best friend." The sadness I felt for her was overwhelming. Her mother and sister were dead. Getting to know her sister as an adult was an experience she would never have.

The garage door opened and Mike slipped back inside. I noticed some fresh blood splatters on his white t-shirt. He jangled the car keys and grinned.

We lifted Skye and placed her gently on the back seat. Mike climbed into the driver's seat of the little sedan while I rode shotgun. He pulled out the walkie-talkie.

"Lucas, is Ken there with you?"

"I'm here, Mike." Ken's calm voice came over the air.

"We're bringing the girl with us but she's injured. We're taking the car and I plan to park it right under the stairs. We're not going to have much time so be ready to grab her as soon as we arrive."

"We'll be ready." Ken replied.

Mike looked at me as he prepared to press the remote for the roller doors. "Ready?"

"Yeehah." I said unenthusiastically. He grinned and pressed the button. As the door rolled up, it revealed zombies. A lot of zombies.

"Yeehah." Mike echoed, putting his foot down hard on the accelerator and ploughing through the creatures as he charged out of the garage, straight across the road and up our driveway.

As he neared the top of the driveway, he veered off the driveway and across the dirt to the stairs, braking to a stop just beneath it. Fortunately, most of the zombies had not made it back yet.

"As soon as you're all inside, I'll release the handbrake and let the car roll back down." Mike glanced around at the zombies gathering around the car and pulled out his rifle. "I'll cover you."

"What about you?" I asked worriedly. He looked at me and his lips did that quirky thing that was sometimes cute and sometimes irritating.

"I'll be fine. Now go. Lucas and Ken are waiting."

I glanced up and saw the men leaning over the stairs. I heard the sound of the rifle firing as I squirmed into the back seat. Skye was looking ill and drowsy. "Okay, Skye. We're almost there. We just need to climb onto the roof."

Skye nodded, her eyes dull. With an effort, she sat up and followed me out of the window and pulled herself onto the car's roof. I could tell that the effort had drained the last of her reserves but, thankfully, it was enough.

Ken and Lucas reached over the railing, grabbed her upstretched arms and pulled her over into the safety of the stairwell. A quick look around showed that Mike was doing a great job of keeping the immediate area clear but all the noise was attracting more and more zombies. We would be overwhelmed within minutes.

I thumped on the roof to let Mike know we were clear and then jumped up and pulled myself over the railing. Running up the stairs to the verandah, I peered anxiously over the balcony to see how Mike was doing. As the car started to roll backwards, Mike flung open the door. With jaw-dropping agility, he jumped first onto the moving bonnet and then the roof before turning and springing like a leopard towards the balcony as the car passed underneath on its one-way trip down the hill. His fingers latched around the railings of the balcony, taking the weight of his body. Calmly, Mike then swung his legs up onto the ledge and pulled himself up.

I stared at him, open-mouthed, as he climbed over the balcony. He looked up as he brushed his hands clean and saw me gaping at him. "What?"

Realising my mouth was still hanging open, I shut it abruptly and shook my head. "Nothing. Just wondering where your batcave is."

Mike frowned in confusion as I walked away.

10

Inside, Skye lay on the sofa, wan. I quickly pulled over the box of medical supplies we had pulled out of the ambulance. I set up an intravenous fluids line and put an oxygen mask over her face. An anxious time followed as I watched her closely for signs of response. To my relief, colour started to return to her cheeks and her eyes became alert once again. I was grateful as the next step was giving her a blood transfusion. And that would mean setting up an iv line between her and someone here with an O blood type. I knew in theory how to do a field blood transfusion but I wasn't keen on trying it if I could avoid it.

Once I was confident that Skye was out of immediate danger, I had her moved to the spare room. In truth, I wanted her to be comfortable but I also wanted to put some measures in place to protect my family in case she turned.

There was a knock on the door. Michele stood in the doorway, smiling shyly.

"Can I come in?"

Skye turned her head and smiled back. "Sure." She looked so young at that moment, more child than woman. Michele came and sat next to her. I decided to leave them to talk for a while; Skye didn't present an immediate danger.

In the living room, the adults were gathered around the CB again, trying to raise someone. On the dinner table, Kaye had provided the babies with play dough and utensils, not that Sarah was interested. She was content to watch as Jessie tried to show them how to make some animal figures

I walked over and stroked Sarah's fair curls. "Can I play with you?" She smiled a wan smile at me. She was probably more interested in sleeping, poor chook, but it was important to get her up and about again. For the next half an hour, I rolled and flattened dough for the kids, shaped moustaches, and hair and funny noses. For a moment, it felt like a normal day in the Nelson household.

Michele poked her head around the corner. "Um, Mum?"

My spidey sense immediately flared up and I was off the chair and in the bedroom within a minute. Skye was flushed and sweating profusely. She looked up at me with scared eyes.

"I don't feel good."

Sitting down beside her, I took her hand and smiled reassuringly into her eyes. As I felt Michele coming up behind me, I firmly told her to leave. She didn't argue, for once.

Skye coughed.

"My head hurts so bad." She whimpered. My stomach plummeted as I felt her feverish forehead. I had hoped so much that she would escape the virus. If life were remotely fair, she would have escaped it. At my age, I should have learned by now that, in real life, the good guys don't always win. Even so, my heart screamed over and over in anger and frustration,
not fair, she's just a child
!

I patted her hand calmly, trying to look confident and in control. "I'll get you some medication. You'll feel better in no time."

As I started to get up, she clutched my hand. "Please don't leave me!"

Frightened and vulnerable, she clung to me like I was a lifeline.

"Okay, okay." I soothed, sitting back down. "I won't go anywhere."

I stroked her forehead. God, she was so hot. I reached across to the side table and picked up a glass of water. With my other arm propping her shoulders up, I urged Skye to drink. She obediently drank a few mouthfuls, her eyes on me all the time. As I lowered her head back down, she rolled over to lay her head in my lap instead, curling into a fetal position.

Hesitantly, I stroked her hair as she stared into space, her hands clutching my clothes. For long minutes, she said nothing as I ran my fingers through her long curls.

"I'm going to become one of
them
, aren't I?" She finally asked in a small voice.