The Sixth Level (34 page)

Daniel took us down even lower, using the smoke to hide. At that moment I felt like we were mice being hunted by a hawk.

I guess the one thing we had going for us at that point was the jet’s speed was actually a problem for its pilot. It was too fast. We were able to keep low and stay hidden in and amongst the streets and the houses. Each run the Warthog made only lasted a few seconds before it over overran us completely. It would then fly by and have to circle back around.

This gave us ample time to move and hide.

It was a deadly game of cat and mouse. Or hawk and mouse.

Either way, we were the mice.

A few minutes later we left the minimal safety of the western suburbs of Sydney. Now we were basically flying over bushland and farmland. Daniel spotted a river. He took us over to it and was able to use the trees that lined the river as cover.

We followed the river all the way to the foot of the mountains. Daniel pulled up on the joystick and we climbed sharply, high up into the mountain range.

As we climbed higher and higher Kenji spotted the Warthog. It was tracking us from a distance, waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Daniel took us up and along the edge of a massive plateau. To our left was a huge drop off. It was a sheer, rock cliff face. Off to our right was the Warthog, coming closer and closer. Daniel banked to the left, taking us down below the plateau using the cliff to hide us and shield us from the Warthog.

A few seconds later it flew over. Right out over our heads. Kenji opened fire but he missed completely. The jet was going too fast.

Daniel took us in to the canyons.

I’m not sure how fast we were going. But it was fast. And the narrower the canyon became, the faster it felt like we were going. Pretty soon Daniel was zig zagging us through the mountain range with sheer cliffs on either side. And a relentless hunter behind us.

Suddenly we heard the beeping noise again.

"Jesus! It’s got another missile!" Daniel shouted over the alarm.

"They must have loaded these guys up to capacity," Kenji said calmly.

Kenji was way too calm for someone who was being shot at with heat seeking missiles.

Just like before, the beeping turned into the constant, flat ring, like someone flat lining in hospital I thought.

The sound of death. The sound of our deaths.

Daniel banked sharply around a rock face, diving at the same time, gaining speed and losing altitude.

"Hold on to something!" Daniel shouted.

He yanked backwards on the joystick and yanked hard to the left. The helicopter, the whole thing, rolled over and over. It was like a double barrel roll, I guess. I didn’t even know helicopters were capable of doing that.

Behind us the missile smashed into the cliff face. A fiery explosion of solid rock erupted, filling the canyon.

The Warthog kept coming. It unleashed with its giant cannon. The bullets smashed into the sides of the cliff. All around us rock exploded, showering the chopper. The noise of shrapnel and rock fragments hitting the cabin and the rotor blades was deafening.

At that point I felt like the Warthog had finally cornered us. He had us right where he wanted. We had put up a good fight. We had made him work for his kill. But we had run out of room and out of luck.

And Daniel had run out of tricks.

It was amazing that he had gotten us this far. It was amazing that we had so nearly survived. We were so close. But now we were outmatched and out gunned.

A huge section of the cliff face exploded right in front of us and began falling away into the canyon. Daniel managed to dive underneath and we somehow avoided being crushed to death.

He took us down further, down to tree top level. We could hear the branches of the taller trees scrapping along the underside of the chopper.

But then suddenly I noticed the firing had stopped. Bullets had stopped smashing into the cliff face.

The Warthog then flew over us. It lifted its nose and climbed up and out of the canyon. It circled high and headed back towards Sydney, back towards the coast.

And then suddenly and unexpectedly we were on our own. We were flying through a canyon, in the middle of a mountain range, surrounded by hundred foot walls of solid rock.

"Is it retreating?" I asked.

Daniel was looking back over his shoulder, trying to spot the jet but he couldn’t see it. "I… I think so. Kenji can you see it?"

"Nope. I think it’s gone. It’s bugged out!"

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Why would it retreat?" I asked. "Was it low on fuel? On ammo? Was it ordered to retreat?"

"Not sure," Daniel answered. "Maybe all of the above."

I guess it didn’t really matter. It was gone. That was all that mattered. And we were still in the air, we were still alive.

Daniel pulled up on the joystick and we flew out of the canyon. A few minutes later we were over the mountain range.

We were finally out of the city and once again we had cheated death. We probably should’ve celebrated this small victory but it was pretty somber mood on the chopper.

I think we all knew our problems were only just beginning.

Chapter 44

The sun was almost completely below the horizon now. And it was already pretty dark thanks to the dust storm. The dust seemed to have thinned out a bit up in the mountain range. But back out on the western plains, heading directly for the Australian outback, it was thicker than ever.

Daniel said that we’d have to land before sunset because it would be too difficult to land in the dark. And it would be impossible to know if where we landed was safe. We needed to find a suitable location while we could still see.

"Where should we go?" he asked. "Any ideas?"

"I don’t know" Kenji said. "I don’t really know this area at all. My only advice would be to avoid any towns."

"Yeah. And major highways," Jack added.

I didn’t say anything. I was too tired to think, too tired to speak.

"Well, I suppose we need water," Maria said. "Maybe we should head for a river? The Murray-Darling river system flows through this area. It’s the biggest river system in Australia."

"Is it fresh water?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. I think so."

"Well, that’s a start."

Daniel checked his GPS device. He found an isolated stretch of the river that was far away from any towns or population centers. But unfortunately we’d never make it there before sunset.

We’d have to set down for the night.

Daniel picked out a hill situated in an isolated area of farmland. It was in the middle of absolute nowhere. We landed without incident and prepared to spend the night in the chopper. We closed the cabin doors and made sure Daniel and Kenji slept right next to the machine guns in case they had to use them during the night. It seemed unlikely that anyone or anything would sneak up on us all the way out in the middle of nowhere but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

What we didn’t plan on was that the hill we had chosen was at the top of a valley. And that the valley led down towards a rural town. We were still safe from the infected. But we could hear them. Even all the way out in the middle of the countryside. Their screaming howl was funneled up through the valley. The noise seemed to be amplified. Even with the cabin doors shut and all the windows shut we could still hear them. The screaming and the moaning and the howling travelled up the valley in the dead of the night and kept us awake. At one point I thought I could hear gunshots. But I couldn’t be sure. Maybe I was just hearing things. My imagination was running wild. Maybe there were survivors down there. Maybe they were trapped. Surrounded.

During the night Daniel retrieved something from the storage compartment in the cockpit.

It was Doctor Hunter’s computer.

"You brought it with us?" I asked.

"Yeah of course. It’s way too valuable to leave behind. There’s gotta be some information on here somewhere."

We opened it up, eager to learn as much as we could about what was going on. Maybe we would find out if Kim was all right. Maybe there was something on there about the vaccine we’d heard Doctor West mention.

There were so many questions. And we were hungry for answers.

Daniel turned the computer on and Doctor Hunter’s email account appeared on the screen. My eyes read down the list of his latest emails, scanning the headings.

Test Subject Zero.

Nano-virus.

Mutations.

Outbreak.

Christmas Island Facility.

Tokyo Strain.

Nevada Facility.

All the emails had been sent in the last couple of days.

"Jesus, what the hell is all this?" Maria asked. "Mutations? What the hell is the Tokyo strain?"

"I don't know," Daniel replied.

"Click on Test Subject Zero," Jack said. "I need to know if my sister is all right."

Daniel clicked on the email and it opened immediately. It began to load more video attachments, more interviews but then the screen went blank. And the computer powered down. The battery had died.

Everyone deflated.

"Don’t worry," Daniel said. "We can recharge it when we get back to my camp."

But that was so far away, I thought. Thousands of miles. Who knew what stood between us and the camp. How the hell would we even get there? I did not feel like walking all that way. We’d never make it.

And besides, we hadn’t even discussed our plans yet. We hadn’t made any decisions. Even though the camp was the logical choice, I still thought we should talk about stuff like that as a group first before we made any commitments.

I guess all that could wait ‘till tomorrow.

Right now there was nothing to do except sleep. But even in my state of exhaustion I was finding that difficult.

Daniel and Kenji took turns keeping watch during the night. Jack and Maria passed out pretty much straightaway. And not long after that Maria started snoring.

I was up in the co-pilot’s seat, pretending to sleep. But no matter how hard I tried, and no matter how many sheep I counted in my head I couldn’t drift off. So I sat there in the dark. And I listened to the sounds of the infected as their screams were amplified and broadcasted over this lonely part of the countryside.

Epilogue

As a result we only had about a quarter of a tank left.

Daniel said we should have enough fuel to make it to the river, but once we landed there, we would have to abandon the chopper.

We ended up landing about ten miles away from the river because the leak in the fuel tank was worse than Daniel had initially thought. The engine began to struggle and stall while we were still in the air. So he set us down immediately.

Everyone said their goodbyes to the Blackhawk helicopter. And the machine guns. Jack asked if we could take one of them with us but Daniel and Kenji just laughed at him. They were too heavy. And even if we could haul them around, we’d never be able to carry enough ammunition. So our weapon total remained at three rifles. We had plenty of bullets for the moment, but we all knew if we ran into trouble it wouldn’t take long to use them up.

We began the hike towards the river. At first we were walking through the back properties of some very isolated farms. I had no idea what the farms were used for. We couldn’t see any cattle, and there were no sheep. But after a few miles, the farmland turned into bushland. It was a wild part of the country.

It was hard going. The trees, the bushes and the scrubs grew thick and completely untamed. I guess it was ultimately a good thing. It meant we were as far away from people and from the infected as possible.

It took us a few hours but eventually we made it to the river.

After the trek we were even more exhausted and even more dehydrated. Everyone’s faces were covered in dust and my skin was starting to get sweaty and itchy from constantly wearing the NBC suit.

We decided that now was probably the best time to have a bath. Who knew how long we would have to wait before the next one?

"All right," Jack said. "
Boys down one end and girls up the other!"

I was going to say something about how I shouldn't be the only one with Maria. And that maybe one of the soldier’s should keep watch. But I don’t think Maria would’ve appreciated having either Daniel or Kenji supervise while we undressed and washed. And besides, we truly were in the absolute middle of nowhere. I figured we were as safe as we’d ever be.