In which I attempt to write Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
Fireproof
Nick
stumbled backwards. He held his phone towards Violet, filming her. He
dodged behind a pile of stone rubble, as Violet shot the flare at the
sixteen foot high wooden cross, doused in fuel, all that remained of
the altar of St Marks Cathedral. The sound of the flames hit him
before the heat did. He winced, watching as Violet stood directly in
front of the cross.
Arms
outstretched, Violet welcomed the heat that washed over her. The
sparks and embers brushed her skin with fiery pinpricks but she only
flinched when a splinter of wood scraped across her brow. She stepped
into the centre of the flames. After the longest five minutes of his
life, she turned to Nick and grinned, her face an almost macabre mask
of flickering shadows and highlights.
“It
worked! The serum fucking works!” She shouted over the noise of the
inferno.
Nick
nodded, wiping sweat from his face. He watched Violet step carefully
over the rubble of the church. She pulled her skull cap off, and ran
her fingers through her long hair and reflexively dusted her charred
clothing. Blood marked her shirt and the ash from the embers smudged
her exposed skin a granite grey. She was the stuff of nightmares, an
angel of vengeance. And like an angel she was unable to be harmed by
fire or heat. Nick saved the file, and sent the text to Bondi. He
pocketed the proof they'd all been waiting for.
***
At
Haven, Bondi stood on the roof of the Research Block, looking towards
Bishop's Peak, the now burning cross and the piled remains of the
Cathedral. The others, stood below her, all focused on the same spot.
She glanced at her phone, checking again. As the flames continued to
burn and they imagined they could almost feel the heat, the others
turned and looked up at her. Waiting. She raised her hand and checked
her phone again. After a few breaths, the screen lit up and she read
the two words they'd been waiting for.
“It
works!”
She
threw her fist in the air and yelled in triumph as the moon rose,
smoke-pink, behind Bishop's Peak. She felt the roof tremble as the
others took her voice and added their own. While she watched the
energy flowing through the crowd, Bondi whispered her sister's name.
Thankful that Violet was safe.
***
Nick
jumped into the driver's seat of the once silver roofless Cherokee
and started the engine. Violet looked down towards Haven, at the
bottom of the hill, as she climbed in and pulled the overhead harness
tight. She checked the duffel bag containing the serum was still
securely stowed at her feet before nodding at Nick. With a spray of
gravel, they headed down the hill, back to Haven. Violet looked at
her hands, speckled black where there should have been burns.
“Nick,
it worked. It'll work now.”
“Of
course it worked,” Nick said, “How many rats did we incinerate
before we hit on this formula?”
She
pulled a face at him and pulled her knees up to her chest. “It
worked on 999/1000. If we’re okay with that ratio, we can do it!”
she said.
He
smiled at her and put his hand on her shoulder briefly, the potholed
road wasn't to be trifled with.
“Ultraviolet,
they'll be with us for breakfast in two days time.” he said.
She
grimaced at the use of her full name and nodded. “That they will,
Nick-Nack.”They laughed as they raced between the piles of rock on
the perimeter of Haven, Nick pulled a hard right and they shot
through the only gap in the fence. As he pulled to a stop in front of
the Science Block, they heard the rattling of the chain link as the
gate behind them closed and the sizzle as the electricity coursed
through the fence.
Violet
looked up as Bondi stepped off the roof and landed on the bonnet of
the Cherokee.
“Sheesh
Bondi,” Nick whined, “That's why our Cherokee looks like it's
been through more than one war. Have some respect for the body work!”
“Nick-Nack,
it's a hunk of junk!” Bondi reached down and grabbed Violet's hand
and pulled her onto the bonnet. “Violet! You did it! You saw what
we've accomplished!” she shouted as she turned to the others,
“We're now able to go onto the rescue phase of the plan. We'll meet
here again at breakfast two days from now.”
Bondi
turned and hopped off the Cherokee, Violet and Nick, shouldering the
duffel bag, followed behind as the others dispersed to their homes.
One didn't argue with Bondi. Back at their home, Bondi held out her
hand, Nick placed his phone in her hand as he passed her and headed
up to the main shower. Violet followed him, boots tracking soot and
ash up the stairs. Turning back to her, he pulled her into a bear hug
before playfully pushing her through her door as he said, “We did
it, sis! But you smell like a fire pit now - get cleaned up!"
Violet
nodded, walking into her room, suddenly exhausted. She stripped off
her filthy clothes and stepped in the en suite shower. She could hear
Nick in his bathroom on the other side of the wall.
Fifteen
minutes later they joined Bondi in the kitchen. Violet looked like
the fifteen year old girl she would have been. Pretty and innocent
until you looked too closely, comfortable in her floral dress, knife
sheaths and combat boots. Nick looked like every seventeen year old
guy, combat pants, white tee, shotgun and flack jacket. Bondi, always
in black, looked older than her sixteen years. She was sitting at the
table, looking at a map of the city on their hacked eReader as it was
now. Red and blue dots marked various locations on its screen. Bondi
nodded as Violet lifted the kettle, Nick settled in a chair, grabbing
a slice of apple pie from the dish in the middle of the table and lit
a citronella candle, mosquitos were such a pain.
As
Violet brought over three mugs of coffee, Bondi flicked a switch and
the lights went off as the eReader’s screen was projected on the
kitchen wall. The candle flickered. Violet and Nick waited for Bondi
to speak.
“If
we can get here” she said, indicating a red circle about twice the
size of the others, “if we can get inside without being caught in
the defenses, we can get our parents out. The serum worked so we're
one step closer.”
“It
worked, so we are ready to do it.” Violet said, “We have the
means to breach their defenses and to get out. That coupled with the
vaccine we developed means we are able to get in and get our parents
out of the compound.”
“We
need to make more of the serum - we need more people to assist in the
rescue” Bondi countered.
“Vi’s
right, Bondi.” Nick spoke quietly but firmly, “We've tested the
vaccine – it's been ready for a year now. It works. The serum has
been hard to perfect but we can safely use it now. We can be
fireproof. The smaller our group the faster we can move.”
Bondi
rolled her eyes and started arguing her point – pointing at
documents and diagrams on the table. Nick countered. Violet sat
quietly while they spoke, she watched the milk and coffee mix in her
second mug. She waited for a lull in the argument.
“I'm
fireproof. I can move through their flame barriers without burning. I
am able to get into the compound safely. I can do it alone. I can
carry the vaccine with me. You can be in the Jeep waiting for me to
bring them out.” Violet spoke quickly into a pause
“No.
You are not going alone!” Nick and Bondi shouted together.
“Jinx!”
Bondi said.
Nick
glanced at Bondi in surprise and continued, “Vi you can’t be the
hero alone… Mostly 'cos I mainlined the serum after my shower and
it would be a waste not to use my new found skills. I've got enough
for you, Bondi, if you're game.” He held his finger in the candle
flame, unflinching.
Bondi
nodded at Nick and extended her arm, rolling her sleeve up. Nick
pulled a syringe out of his jacket pocket and prepped it. He pushed
the needle into her cephalic vein and pressed the plunger. She barely
flinched at the burning of the serum in her bloodstream. She pulled
her sleeve down as Nick tossed the syringe in the sink.
“So
we take the Cherokee, head over Bishop's Peak and then we park it
where?” he said.
“Behind
that barn on Farmer Jones' land – near the apple orchard. It's a
fifteen minute hike to the weakest pyro-link of the Compound's
barricades which is also the least patrolled section.” Violet
pointed to the sectors on the projected map. “If we get through
here, we're within seven hundred metres of the Science Block. The
resident scientists' sleeping quarters are here and here. Our intel
says that Mom and Dad are in the two that are closest to that watch
tower.”
“Well,
we can't get it all easy can we?” Nick laughed. “We'll take the
shotguns – they've been modded to withstand the heat surge as we
cross the pyro-link. It's partially underwater so...”
“So...
we'll need to be fast and avoid lingering to become an easy target
once we’re passed the pyro-link. We'll need the shotguns to be
waterproofed too.” Violet finished.
“I've
already dealt with that,” Bondi said, “The guns are now fully
submersible and can fire under water if need be." She looked at
her astonished siblings and smiled, “I did it at the same time as I
heat protected I, duh!”
“So
tonight we go?” Nick said.
As
the siren for breakfast went they looked at each other and nodded.
“Tonight
we bring them back” Violet and Bondi said together.
***
They
left Haven quietly, no fanfare that night. They had all been hoping
for this rescue mission since the War had ended and they’d been in
Haven, knowing all their parents were in Compound. Nick drove
carefully, avoiding potholes and crevasses left by mortars and
deterioration. Bondi and Violet checked the gear repetitively.
Checking the safety of the vaccines. The positioning of the magazines
for the shotguns. They were wearing the suits, designed by Bondi to
be both waterproof and fireproof. What good was being fireproof if
your clothing burns off? Within an hour they were past the burnt out
cross, silhouetted against the darkening red sky as they paused to
look back towards Haven.
Nick
raised his hand in salute towards Haven and accelerated down Bishop’s
Peak. They’d covered the silver paintwork with mud before leaving
and were driving towards Compound in the shadow of hill. They
wouldn’t be spotted yet. twenty minutes later, Nick put the
Cherokee in neutral and coasted in to the shelter of the remaining
two walls of the barn. They hopped out and started getting ready for
the mission.“Got
your gear?” he asked as he finished fastening the harness holding
the large bag of protective suits to his back.
“Yeah,
all loaded and ready to go” Violet looked eager, shouldering her
shotgun and binding the packs of vaccine tightly to her thigh. She’d
tied her hair back and smudged her face with ash. She looked at
Bondi, similarly kitted up. Bondi strapped a knife to her ankle and
stood up. They walked into the orchard, Bondi leading. They hunkered
down between the last trees they could use as cover. Nick tapped them
both on the shoulder, they turned to him and he pulled them into a
hug and whispered “Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno!”
Bondi
and Violet echoed him, smiling as he picked an apple and cut it with
his knife. They had a few more minutes to wait and together they
watched the pyro-link glowing ahead of them, eating slices of the
apple.
At
full dark, Nick and Bondi watched Violet closely. She’d give them
the cue to run for the river. Violet had studied the pyro-link for
over two years now and knew it by heart. She stood after a
particularly bright fluctuation. They followed suit. She marked time
on her thigh, timing the fluctuations. She raised her fist and
motioned follow as she ran out from the trees. It was a long fifteen
metres to the river bank.
Bondi
kept close to Violet’s heels, scouring the dark, looking for
something out of place. An unease filled her. There was something
wrong. She shrugged, pushing it all into the “too hard basket” in
her mind. She would deal with it tomorrow. When they were kids again.
They
made it and sunk below the water. Violet turned and gave the others a
thumbs up. She moved slowly towards the pyro-link, being careful not
to disturb the water too much. They moved in unison, step by step
closer to the barricade. The water got warmer the closer they got but
they barely felt it. At the base of the pyro-link, they dove beneath
it and swam through the boiling water and securing cables. Beneath
them, had they bothered to look, were the charred remains of others
who had tried before from both sides. They surfaced, gasping for
breath in the humid air. Violet glanced at the last twenty metres to
shore before checking that Nick and Bondi were still with her. Nick
signalled A-Okay and Bondi nodded while treading water. They began
swimming towards shore. Strokes slow and smooth, trying not to
splash. They made shore in good time. The cool night air felt frigid
on their exposed skin. But they’d made shore and were the closest
they’d been to their parents in six years. The buildings that made
up the Residential Quarters which had been lit up as they made shore
plunged into darkness as they dropped down behind a water tank and
caught their breath.
Bondi
rubbed at her exposed skin. It itched. She shook her head, dismissing
the questions that she wanted to ask Violet and Nick. She would ask
them when it was over. She leant back against the water tank and
imagined how life would be once the adults were back in Haven. She
looked at Nick as he moved into a starter’s position. Nick
indicated that he would take the left side as agreed. Violet would go
in the right and Bondi would cover them, once the adults were
released she would climb down and meet them on the shore. Bondi
climbed silently on top of the water tank and nodded to Nick and
Violet. They looked at each other and grinned, adrenalin racing. Nick
tapped Violet’s shoulder once, twice and on the third, they started
running.
***
Bondi
leant back against the water tank’s solar heating system, and
poured water on her now burning hands. She grimaced as she lifted her
shotgun and sighted the guards on the watch tower. She swore brutally
under her breath as the skin on her hands tore open and her vision
blurred as warmth ran down her face.
Violet
heard the thudding of her feet as she ran, and the quiet whump of
Bondi’s tranquiliser rounds as she took out the guards in the
watchtower. She glanced toward Nick, he’d reached his target door
at the same time she had. She put her hand to the handle, flinching
as it caught fire. The door dissolved into a sheet of flames. She
breathed in deeply, as she stepped through it, knowing that Nick was
doing the same, they would see their parent’s on the other side.
Violet
stumbled slightly over the welcome mat and reached reflexively for
her gun. She looked up at the rows of beds amidst homey touches, all
the occupants staring back at her. She raised her finger to her lips,
her eyes searching for her father. Her eyes locked on a once-familiar
face and a man stepped down from his bunk.
“Ultraviolet?”
he whispered disbelieving, “What are you doing here? You’re not
eighteen! They made a mistake!”
“Daddy!”
she ran to him, trying to hug him. “They didn’t. Bondi-Blue,
Nick-Nack and I, we came to get you out!”
He
sighed, hugging her tightly before stepping backwards, putting space
between them.
“Stop,
Violet! ” he barked at her. “There is no vaccine though. It’s
impossible to create. That’s why you children were put in the
Haven. To keep you safe!”
“Daddy,
I found the genetic trigger! We can switch it on and off. We tested
it on rats and then on volunteers - when they turned eighteen and the
gene activated, we put them in isolation and worked out how to switch
it off. When that worked we started looking at younger kids...They
wanted to get you out of Compound!” She whispered, unstrapping the
serum vials and syringes on her thigh.
“Is
that why Maui and Hana weren’t brought to us last month?” A man
asked from the beds.
“Yes,
they were our last volunteers. They're planning a family now.”
Voices
filled the room, names of the children that would have been traced by
the Compound on their eighteenth birthday. They would have been found
miles away from the Haven, living an apparent lonely existence. And
brought to live in the Compund for ever.
“They’re
all safe. We’re living like we would have before. And now you can
join us.” Violet said.
“But
the fire…”
There
was a sizzling sound behind them as Nick stepped in over the welcome
mat holding their mother’s hand.
“The
fire is no longer a deterrent, Dad, the serum notes we found in your
lab worked with a few tweaks. We are fireproof, like Violet probably
told you.” Nick said, “You have about a minute to make your
decisions, the tranqs wear off in fifteen.” He turned and walked
out the door to the waiting women. Violet ran to her mother and
hugged her close and held her hand before following Nick. The sound
of the men rushing to get out the dormitory followed them down the
steps.
“Line
up and pull up your sleeve. Wait under the water tank. there’s a
large bag - put the gear in it on. Follow Violet when we run. Then
head to Farmer Jones’ barn.” Nick said with quiet authority. “We
promised the others a surprise for breakfast.”
“Bondi!?”
Their mother turned to Violet. “Where is she..?”
Violet
spun round, handed her mother the vials and syringes and ran to the
water tank. The light of the moon cast a shimmering light on the
solar panels, silver but for a slumped black form. Violet sprinted to
it, biting back her instinct to yell Bondi’s name. She climbed the
ladder and scrambled to her sister’s side. She gasped as Bondi
painfully turned to look at her.
“They can go home now.” Bondi whispered, “We helped them.” through burnt, cracked lips. Violet choked back her tears and tried to stop the flow of blood. Bondi’s hand touched hers as she shook her head. There was no coming back from the damage caused by pyro-link.
“They can go home now.” Bondi whispered, “We helped them.” through burnt, cracked lips. Violet choked back her tears and tried to stop the flow of blood. Bondi’s hand touched hers as she shook her head. There was no coming back from the damage caused by pyro-link.
“You
did! You’re the reason they can go home.” Violet whispered, over
her sorrow, voice catching on the unspoken words.
“Tell
them I love them Vi, I love you.” Bondi said. “Go.”
Violet
nodded, turned and fell blindly down the ladder, turning back she
saluted her sister and ran for the water. The adults fell in behind
her, running for freedom.
The
End
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