The Sixth Level (20 page)

"Yeah. And now the military have set up a naval blockade around the entire country," Daniel informed them.

"I tried to tell you guys," Kenji said.

"No offence, but we didn't really know you when you were trying to tell us that," Jack pointed out. "And you kinda lied to us about the virus. So you're credibility was not the best at that point in time. And OK, maybe you made up for it by saving our lives on multiple occasions but you were skating on thin ice there for awhile."

Jack was only joking around even though there was some truth to what he was saying. Kenji did lie to us. But he was only doing it to protect us or so he thought. And then yeah, he totally did save us a couple of times. Kenji has this amazing ability to think under pressure and make decisions under fire. We would've been lost without him.

But there was nothing mean about what Jack had just said. He was only joking. And they way he said it; I kind of got the feeling that Jack and Kenji had been through a lot together these past couple of weeks. I got the feeling they had bonded. They were becoming friends, brothers.

"So what happened when you got back," Kenji asked.

"When I got back I found myself in the middle of this crazy media storm," I continued. "I was about to do a globally televised interview. It was billed as this huge event - an exclusive with the only survivor of the secret apocalypse. I've never really liked being the center of attention but I was determined to let everyone know what had happened. I figured people had a right to know what was going on. But just before we went to air, we received your call for help. It changed everything. The military stepped in once again. They confiscated the recording. They said it was top secret, a national security threat and all that crap. They censored the interview. I was only allowed to talk about my experience. I wasn’t allowed to talk about the military, the containment protocol and the massacre at the Sydney Harbor Bridge, or the effects of the Oz virus. I wasn't allowed to talk about Doctor Hunter or Doctor West and what they did to those poor people at the immigration center. It was pathetic."

"But people know about it now, right?" Kenji asked.

"They know the bare minimum, I guess. Like I said, the interview didn’t really cover much. I was pretty angry about the whole thing. So I made a video clip and posted it online. It was like a confession of sorts. I let people know about the virus, how deadly and destructive it was. I told people about Maria. It was only online for about forty minutes before they took it down. But enough people saw it and enough people heard about Maria and how she was immune for people to start asking questions and demanding answers. It forced the military and the government into action. So they organized a rescue mission and announced their plans to the world."

"The military?" Jack asked. "Rescue?"

He was confused. In his mind the military were just as much the enemy as the infected.

"Yeah, it was like this huge thing to win back the public’s trust or something. They introduced the team to the world during a press conference. It was weird. It was like a victory parade for heroes returning home from war or something. Except they weren’t victorious, they hadn’t achieved anything. And unfortunately, the mission was a failure; the team was killed in action, right in the heart of Sydney."

"Wait, when was this?" Kenji asked. "How do you know?"

"It was approximately seventy-two hours ago," Daniel answered. "My team was able to intercept the mission footage."

"What did the footage show?" Kenji asked.

"Nothing good. Their chopper was hit and they went down right in the middle of the city. Within minutes they were surrounded."

"That was probably the chopper we heard the other day," Kenji said.

"So, wait just a damn second," Jack said, still confused. "What the hell are you doing back here?"

"Well actually, when the military failed, Daniel approached me and showed me the stolen military footage. He explained to me that they had failed and that Maria was still in danger. He was going in with a team to rescue her. He wanted me to come with his team, as like, an insurance policy or something, to make sure you guys didn’t run away when you saw us."

"Insurance policy? What are you saying?"

"Well," I said, hesitating. "We're here to rescue you."

Even though they were initially happy to see me, I could tell they both deflated. Their spirits were crushed just a little bit.

"Come again?" Jack asked. "You're the rescue squad?"

"No. Not me. Not really. Well, actually, yeah. But it's not like we came alone. We..." I choked on the words. "Daniel's team...." I stammered, stuttered.

"Like I said, we were a freelance, mercenary team," Daniel explained taking over. "We’ve operated all over the world, all kinds of ops. From rescue missions to assassinations. We've done everything. We were all ex-Special Forces. All of us. The best."

"What do you mean ‘were’?" Jack asked.

"My team is gone," Daniel said his voice eerily devoid of emotion, like he was trying to distance himself and ignore the reality of what he was saying, of what had happened this morning.

"They're dead. We were ambushed back in the CBD. Our mission was to rescue you, well to rescue Maria. She was our primary target. But we failed. We were the best, and we failed. We just, we weren't prepared. I mean, even though we knew we were going into hostile territory, we just weren’t prepared."

Kenji reached out and put a reassuring hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Things are messed up; no one could’ve prepared you for this."

"It's just that after the military failed we should've known," Daniel said. "Twenty two million people dead. We should’ve known. We didn't do any better," Daniel continued. "It's crazy, this whole city, this whole country; it’s like nothing I've ever seen before. The infected, the dust storm, that thing. It's messed up, it's..." He trailed off. "I mean, we're just lucky you guys showed up when you did. How the hell have you guys survived here all by yourselves?"

"Luck, I think." Kenji said.

"And Kenji's sharp shooting." Jack added. "But how did you get back here all the way from America?" Jack asked.

Daniel told him about our flight over here in the hypersonic jet, how we flew in stealth mode through the naval blockade. He told them about the camp out in the middle of the outback, right in the middle of the Nullarbor plains.

The guys took a moment for everything we'd told them to sink in. It was a lot to process all at once. Especially since they’d probably spent the last two weeks hiding and running for their lives, completely cut off from the rest of the world, constantly hunted by the infected and the military.

"So I guess you're like, a bit of a celebrity back home," Kenji finally said. "The sole survivor of a zombie apocalypse, a sixteen year old girl."

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"Wait, how come they thought you were the only survivor?" Jack asked "What about Kim? She got out as well. She's a survivor, right?"

"No one knew about her," I answered. "She was quarantined all the way in New Zealand. I was the face, the proof I guess."

"But Kim is all right?" Jack asked again.

"I think so, but..." I hesitated and looked at Daniel to see if it was all right to say anything. I don't know why it wouldn't be OK. Maybe I thought the news would crush him, make him unnecessarily stressed or upset or distracted when he needed to be clear headed and focused on staying alive. But I couldn't keep this from Jack. If I did, I'd be just as bad as the military and the government.

"There's been an outbreak in New Zealand," I finally said.

Jack's eyes widened. "An outbreak? Of the Oz virus? What do you mean? While you were there in the quarantine facility?"

"No. It must've happened after I left. We only heard about it yesterday." A few hours ago I thought to myself.

Jack sat down against the massive tire of the Humvee with his head in his hands.

"I'm sure she's all right," I said. "She was in the quarantine facility. That's gotta be a safe place, right?" And even as I said it I realized there really were no safe places.

"Come on, Jack," Kenji said. "It's gonna be all right. But you need stay positive, you need to stay strong. Thinking about what might’ve happened without actually knowing will drive you mad. And you can't let that happen. We need you."

"And Maria needs you," I added. "You have to be strong for her."

"Speaking of Maria," Daniel said. "Where is she?"

Jack and Kenji exchanged this weird look and I got the feeling something was wrong. I got this sinking feeling in my gut and my chest tightened. Something was indeed wrong. Something bad. Was Maria dead? Were we too late?

"Where is Maria Marsh?" Daniel asked again, more forcefully. He knew the importance of this. He knew it was a matter of survival for the entire human race.

"Maria," Jack whispered her name like he was savoring it, like it hurt him to say it. "She’s trapped. We can’t get to her."

 

Chapter 25

 

My chest tightened up even more. The breath had been crushed from my lungs. We were so close. We had miraculously found Jack and Kenji, or rather they’d found us and saved us from a certain death. But the point was we'd found them. And amongst the ruins of a crumbling, apocalyptic city no less. After everything that had happened, after everything that had gone wrong, the hard part should be over, right? It should be smooth sailing from here, right?

We couldn't catch a break.

"What do you mean, she’s trapped?" Daniel asked. "What do you mean you can’t get to her? What the hell happened?"

"It seems so stupid now," Jack said. "We should've stuck together. We should never have left her behind."

I don’t know about the guys but I was on the verge of tears.

"Just start from the beginning," Daniel said. "Where is she?"

"She's at the Sydney Cricket Ground."

"The what? Where?"

"It's a sports stadium, not far from here."

"We figured it was a safe place," Kenji added. "Well, it was safe. I mean, compared to the city, the stadium was like a five star resort. It was paradise. It was secure. It was completely abandoned."

"So what went wrong?" Daniel asked.

"Well, it's complicated," Kenji answered.

"We found a room in the member’s stand," Jack added. "We bunkered down for a few days, just to recover and rest. We were running on empty. Well, I know I was. We’d only just escaped from the city with our lives. We needed to chill out for a bit."

"Back up," I said. "How did you get out the city? The last thing I remember we were all separated. Maria had been captured. Kenji was on the jetty of the marina all by himself and Jack; you had jumped out of our escape boat and were swimming back into the city. How the hell did you even find each other?"

"After I jumped out of the boat, I swam for shore," Jack explained. "As soon as I hit land, I started sprinting back towards Darling Harbor. I don’t know where I got the energy from, I just... I couldn’t stop thinking about Maria. It’s weird but when I try and remember specific details, I can’t. It’s like a dream. I must’ve ran like, ten K's. Luckily, I didn’t see any infected. I think the military still had some sort of stronghold on the city at that point.

"I eventually made it back to Darling harbor," he continued. "And that’s when Kenji nearly ambushed me. He jumped out of a boat he was hiding in with his rifle pointed right at my head. Scared the hell out of me. But even more surprising was that Maria was with him."

"How did you get Maria away from those men in black?" I asked Kenji.

"I didn’t," he answered. "The men in black, the soldiers who had been sent into retrieve her ran into some trouble. I think the military had been overwhelmed out in the western suburbs. And as a result, the infected were making their way into the city. There were thousands of them just on the other side of Darling Harbor, right near the casino, right where we had been hiding. I guess it was pretty lucky we got out when we did.

"Anyway, after Maria was captured, the men in black tried to get her out in a chopper. There was a Blackhawk waiting for her at the city end of Darling Harbor. Maria told me that one of the soldiers on the chopper was infected. But nobody knew, nobody realized. And as soon as they took off he went crazy. He bit down on the pilot’s neck. Maria said the infected guy almost bit the pilot’s head clean off. They were about twenty or thirty feet in the air when the pilot lost control. The chopper went down in Darling Harbor."

"Like, in the water?" I asked.

"Yeah, it crash landed right in the water. I guess it was probably the best case scenario. Water is a lot softer than landing on solid ground. Probably saved her life."

"Was she hurt at all?" I asked.

"No. Amazingly, she was fine. I don't think I've ever met anyone as tough as Maria. But after the crash, all hell broke loose. Maria was able to escape. She managed to swim out by herself, somehow avoiding all those floating bodies in the water. She made it to dry land and ran for it. She was being chased by a group of infected. They were about to get her, they were close. Luckily they were close enough to me as well so I had a clear line of fire. When she realized I was still there, she quickly made her way over to me. We got on board a wreckage of a boat, one of the big ones. A harbor cruise boat, I think it was. I made sure we had a good defensive position," he pointed out.