Life Goes On | Book 4 | If Not Us [Surviving The Evacuation] Tayell, Frank (classic books to read .TXT) 📖

elephant gun, it was retired in favour of the less ear-shattering assault rifles. Unspoken, a rhythm developed. Each firing in a separate arc, and ignoring the crawling undead now around and beneath the truck, they methodically mowed down the undead, and were almost out of ammo when Clyde and Oakes returned with one of the sailors who’d been guarding the boat, Baxter.

All three clambered atop the wrecked airplane engine. As Tess, Toppley, and Leo ceased fire, the crawling undead emerged from beneath the truck, squirming towards the gunshots from atop the charred engine. Even as they died, the air filled with a different sound, a second engine, belonging to another bone-crunching earth-mover. Aboard were Hawker, Mackay, and ten African Union soldiers.

Tess righted one of the salvaged chairs, and sat. “It’s not over. Not yet, but I reckon we’ve earned a breather.”

Chapter 21 - Never Leave the Living with Regret

V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa

“Sullivan’s dead,” Hawker said, holding up the radio. He stood atop the cab of Tess’s truck, having climbed down from his when he’d run out of targets to shoot. “She died on the operating table. There was nothing more you could do.”

Tess nodded. “That’s always what we’d tell the family,” she said. “In the outback, at a remote road accident, or at an even more remote cattle station, it always took a while for us to respond. Took a while longer to get the patient back to the hospital. Unless you truly had to give more details, you’d say they died in the operating theatre. Never leave the living with regret, that’s one of Mick’s rules.”

“In this case, it’s true,” Hawker said.

“Are the kids okay?” she asked.

“They’re back on the ship,” Hawker said. “Avalon is keeping an eye on Zach. Glenn Mackay knew her much longer,” he added, pointing to his own truck. “But this isn’t the first death among the crew since the outbreak.”

“Probably not the last, either,” Tess said. “How many zombies are we dealing with?”

“Immediately? Just under a thousand,” Hawker said. “They followed the African Union trucks to the airport.”

“The kids said their people were at the airport,” Tess said. “How many are there?”

“Locals? About a hundred. Twenty kids, about thirty teens, thirty adults, twenty elderly. Seem to be two groups of families and neighbours who merged together. One from around here, one from a township in the north. Those two kids were the magnet which brought the two communities together.”

“They can’t be the leaders,” Tess said.

“More like the peace-brokers,” Hawker said. “As I heard it, they camped out around here, but were chased away a week ago. Relocated to a stadium near the airport. Laila drove right past them yesterday. Zoms followed. They relocated to the ruins of the airport last night.”

“The airport’s ruined?” Tess asked. “How badly?”

“Unusable,” Hawker said. “Couple of large craters on the runway. Fire spread to most of the terminal. Most buildings are unstable.”

“Then our priority must be getting everyone out of that airport, and then to make contact with the other locals.”

“The airport-evac is underway,” Hawker said. “There are two civilian helicopters there. Recent arrivals. The captain’s already got mechanics inbound, on the way to repair them. We’ll airlift everyone to Robben Island.”

“Three helicopters?” Tess asked, reflexively looking skyward. “But that’ll take… I don’t know how long. Months, probably, to move those thousands of African Union soldiers.”

Hawker shook his head. “You don’t know? Tess, most of the A.U. aren’t here. Only Laila and her advance team have arrived.”

“How many?” she asked.

“Twenty-eight.”

It took twenty minutes for Clyde to declare the area clear, twenty more to load the toy-store food into the back of the truck, and just as long to drive back to the marina’s gate. Leaving Bruce and the African Union soldiers to guard the food, Tess climbed aboard a boat, and returned to the ship.

It was Dr Avalon who met her with a Geiger counter in hand.

“Why the Geiger counter?” Tess asked.

“Do I really need to explain?” Avalon asked, as she swept the ominously clicking detector across Tess’s arms and down her body. “You’ll have to strip, and go through the decontamination shower. There are clean clothes on the other side. Your old clothes go into this sack, and drop them over the side. I assumed Leo would have noticed.”

“Noticed what?” Tess asked. “I thought the radiation readings were fine.”

“Laila drove through a hot zone,” Avalon said.

“Oh. How bad was it?” she asked.

“You’re fine. Or you will be after you change. Rinse. Do not scrub. Understand? You’re having a shower, not a wash. Do not abrade the skin.”

Ten minutes later, and feeling as if she’d never be clean again, she was escorted to the captain’s quarters.

“Commissioner, please come in,” Adams said.

It was a surprisingly small cabin, though the lack of a bed suggested it came in two parts, with the second concealed behind the concertina-door. This was an office as much as a living space, evidenced by the desk at which Captain Adams had been writing.

Tess crossed to one of the three armchairs. Low to the ground, with thin arms, they screamed a government-issue design, with a government-mandated lack of comfort. But the Geiger counter, as much as the battle, had left her drained.

“I’m sorry about Sullivan,” Tess said.

“It’s the risk we all take,” Adams said. “She wanted to become a librarian.”

“In the navy?” Tess asked.

“No. She was good at her job. Diligent. Trusted. Excelled in every task. She had a destiny as a leader. A week into our voyage, an engineer’s shortcut created a short circuit. A fire broke out below decks. She was first in, last out, saved two lives, and saved us from having to be ignominiously towed back to port. When I suggested she consider joining the officer-track, she told me no. When