Breaking News (zombie story pt 4)

Breaking News1

The sound of sirens pulled me from a restless sleep. Sitting up, I realised I was still on the couch. The mute TV was depicting a scene of flames, milling people, and flashing lights. I couldn’t quite comprehend what I was looking at. Dazed and a little confused, I went up stairs and out onto the balcony and the predawn chill. Down on the street bellow police cars sped by. A few moments later an ambulance, more police cars, two fire trucks, than another ambulance. It seemed the situation was finally being addressed. In the distance I could hear helicopters and sirens, and after a few minuets of standing and straining, I was sure I could hear gunshots and screaming. I went back to the TV, the scene made more sense now. A correspondent was reporting from a scene of disorder. A Large brick building, a school, perhaps, blazed as police grappled with the dead. I turned the volume up. 2

“… bloodiest night Sydney has ever seen. It is believed most of the affected individuals have been restricted to the parts of Ultimo under police blockade. There have been reports of affected individuals being apprehended outside the immediate blockaded area but nothing like what we are seeing here. Police are urging residents to report all violent or suspicious behaviour immediately.”3

The image switched to a calm newsroom, a middle-aged newsreader shuffled his notes. “Disturbing news indeed. New information has just come to hand. Chemical and biological response personnel have been dispatched to inner city Sydney. Residents are asked to comply with all requests from police and special service personnel. Officials are stressing that, while residents should keep out of the inner city, there is no cause for panic. It is believed the phenomena has been contained and poses no further threat.”4

The following news story was about the global economic recession and fears of a depression of “unprecedented magnitude“. I switched channels. Reports of “affected” individuals were coming in from Indonesia, Japan and Los Angeles. Iraqi and American forces were engaged in an attempt to suppress a sudden surge of violence in Bagdad, and in Islamabad, a city overran with chaos, the military was apparently killing civilians indiscriminately. The news had broken but what would happen now? My thoughts returned to Tahni in distant Melbourne. Checking my email, I was relieved to see a message from her. She and a friend were up in her converted attic, not the best place, but given the situation better than most. She was safe, for now, but she hadn’t taken preparation as seriously as I had. I doubted if she had food and water enough to last her and her friend more than a month or two. Also, she was emotional and prone to impulsive decisions. I could see her going out at the height of the flood to rescue stranded kittens. Again, the thought of driving down to get her came to mind. 5

Survivalnuts was thriving with enthusiastic activity. There were more than a thousand members online. The most I could ever remember seeing at one time was little more than a hundred. There were all sorts of stories of encounters and preparation. There were threads offering advice, and others asking for it. I admit I was quite envious of the powerful arsenals boasted by some of my North American counterparts. One guy even had an old tank, waste of fuel but still, impressive. YouTube was constantly receiving and banning uploaded videos of the dead attacking the living, and narrow escapes. One video I came across was of, what had formerly been a woman, being beaten and pushed around a circle of laughing teenage males. The kids were careless, completely oblivious of their danger as they smashed up their plaything with bats and crowbars. In one pass, the dead took hold of one of the teens and bit down on his exposed shoulder. His friends laughed at his screaming and cursing before they pulled the dead free and pushed it to the ground. The kid, holding his bloody shoulder, jumped on the zombies head again and again until it stoped moving. I felt little pity for the dead or the kid who would soon be one of them.6

Getting away from the computer, I realised just how hungry I was. In the fridge there was beefsteak. Why not, the end was nigh, one last bloody steak sounded good. After a brunch of the typical Aussie meal of steak, mash, and two veg, most of the rest of day was spent talking to Tahni and her friend on MSN and getting drunk. Silly, one should have a clear head when their life may depend on it, but for a while, nothing at all seemed to mater. It would be another six or seven hours, about 20 hours from my fist encounter, until I saw the dead again.