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

it onto her arm before, in a gold-medal move, swinging herself up onto the light-bracket. She stood, and clambered over the gutter and onto the roof. A second later, she dropped the rope to Toppley.

Tess didn’t relax until Teegan had both arms atop the roof.

“See, kids!” the Afrikaner gardener yelled from the other building, ostensibly talking to the children, but clearly addressing his colleague. “That is why physical education is the most important subject in school.”

“How are we doing, Bruce?” Tess asked.

“Nicko’s holding his position,” Hawker said. “We’ve got a minute.”

Opposite, the two women had hauled up the rope and were already repositioning it above the classroom. Tess picked up Toppley’s rifle. “Time for us to get to the roof,” she said.

Three of the children had made it to the roof when the helicopter returned. Aboard, from its previous deployment as a U.S. Coast Guard rescue vehicle, were harnesses, a winch, and two sailors who knew how to operate it. Tess leaned back, closing her eyes, not wanting to watch until, far sooner than she’d expected, the helicopter flew northward once more.

Nkosi, Rudi, Toppley, and both of the sailors remained on the rooftop opposite, but they, like Tess, were slumped on the hard floor. The children had been saved.

Tess raised a hand. “That was crazy, Teegan!” she yelled.

The older woman simply nodded, and bowed her head.

“How are we doing, Bruce?” Tess asked.

“We’re safe enough,” Hawker said. “Lot of zoms down below, and there’s more in the classrooms immediately below this roof. Well over a thousand in the grounds. More coming from the northeast.”

“Are they following the helicopter?” Tess said.

“They are now,” Hawker said. “But zoms are slow. They were heading this way anyway. Maybe following Laila.”

“Hmm. It proves one thing,” Tess said. “There’s no one leaving Cape Town for the zombies to follow northward.”

She leaned back, waiting for the helicopter to return, but when she heard an engine it sounded wrong. Larger. Faster. Bigger. Approaching from the north. It was a twin-engine jet with UN painted beneath each wing.

Chapter 24 - News From Above

Robben Island, Cape Town, South Africa

Leo was waiting for the helicopter when it set down on Robben Island. Tess grabbed his arm, and dragged him away from the slowing rotors.

“Who was flying that plane?” Tess asked when she was far enough away from the copter that she could hear her own thoughts. “Was it Mick?”

“No, it was Wing Commander O’Bryan,” Leo said.

“The pilot running the airport at Perth?” Tess asked.

“She flew out of Rodrigues,” Leo said. “The children are there. They’re safe. A rescue fleet is on its way.”

“On its way to Rodrigues or to us?” Tess asked.

“Both,” Leo said.

“Has there been word from the African Union?”

“Not that I know of,” he said. “Hold still a moment.” He raised the Geiger counter. “You’re fine.”

“Has anyone not been?” she asked.

“There’ve been a few cuts, a lot of bruises, and a few concussions. A group made it to the beach. Thirty-nine of them. Zoms followed. Lost two before we got them onto the boat.” He held up the Geiger counter. “I’ve got to check everyone else.”

Tess nodded, replaying what he’d said, but kept her finger too long on the mental replay-button, and ended up reliving the last two hours. It was a relief when a voice called her name.

“Commissioner!” Captain Adams waved from a pathway near the museum.

Tess cut across the parched lawn. “I hear there’s a fleet on its way,” she said.

“Not exactly,” Adams said. “A rescue flotilla is on its way to Rodrigues. One ship is being redirected to us. The plane will return overhead in two days, and two days after that, to ascertain whether additional capacity will be required. If the African Union hasn’t arrived by then, the convoy will have insufficient fuel to reach Cape Town. Shall we take a walk?”

“That’d be pleasant. Help me shake off the day. I’m guessing the plane didn’t see the African Union convoy?”

“No. They followed the coast, assuming that was the road the convoy would travel. No sign. No word. But there are three craters relatively close to Port Elizabeth. One to the southwest, one to the north, one to the north-northeast.”

“It sounds like South Africa was plastered,” Tess said.

“Was it just South Africa?” Adams asked. “But even if we knew, what good would the knowledge do us now? I hear Toppley and a South African teacher swung across the rooftops with knives in their mouths?”

“Almost,” Tess said. “It was an impressive stunt. Saved the kids.”

“Four helicopter flights and an entire day. I’m not sure how much ammunition you expended, or what other supplies were lost, but it is an unsustainable price.”

“But worth it,” Tess said.

“Oh, certainly. Your mission absolutely was a success, but I’m considering the future. Thirty-nine survivors made their way to the beach.”

“Leo told me.”

“We collected them with two boats, and without any of our people firing a shot, partly because those survivors were firing far too many.” She tugged at the sleeve of her shirt, which now sported a hole.

“You were shot?”

“Friendly fire,” Adams said. “It was a lucky miss. From what Lesadi and Thato told us, and what the pregnant teacher from the school confirmed, the school and the hospital were the most organised and well-equipped redoubts in the city. Speaking to the people we collected by boat, by around a week ago, people had gathered in groups of between a hundred and two hundred. But around a week ago, the food reserves failed, and the groups began splintering. Smaller groups have been moving location on a nearly daily basis as they hunt for food. Wherever people were a week ago, they weren’t there yesterday. Who knows where they’ll be tomorrow?”

“We’ve got to find them,” Tess said.