River, Sun, Freedom

6: I love a sunburnt country

Chapter Six; I love a sunburnt country

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If you don’t get the title of this chapter, don’t worry. It’s an Aussie thing (lol J). It’s part of one of my favourite poems.

I love a sunburned country

A land of sweeping plains

Of rugged mountain ranges

Of drought and flooding rain

I love her far horizons

I love her jeweled sea

Her beauty and her terror

‘Tis the wide brown land for me

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Here’s the chapter. Enjoy!

It was only after two hours of flying away from Uluru, that Jodi’s bike broke down. She screamed as she tumbled out of the sky and landed in the sand below her, rolling over and over in a snowball with the bike, erupting sand on impact.

Dragging herself from under the bike, she inspected her injuries and when she was sure there was nothing serious she checked the bike.

The bike was solar-powered and the sun was high up in the sky, burned formidably at her, so there was no real reason that the battery would run out so quickly. Jodi was just about to start the bike again when she noticed the solar panel on the back of the bike was slightly loose, as though someone had taken it off and stuffed it back on in a hurry.

Frowning, Jodi tugged on the panel which came loose after some jolting and to her shock saw that the wires that had connected the panel to the battery had been sliced through. From the state of the wires, Jodi could tell they had been cut deliberately, and hastily.

Jodi held back a sob. Wires could be replaced eventually, even these days. But, for now there was nothing she could do but walk.

The bike was heavy, and the ground was rough, but Jodi couldn’t bear to leave it behind. The sun beat down mercilessly on her, as all around her was endless rough terrain sweeping out as far as she could see. She sighed and continued trudging.

“I love a sunburnt country.” She murmured an old poem under her breath, one she had heard many times before the end of the world and loved. But now the nostalgic lines were full of irony. "A land of sweeping plains, of drugged mountain ranges. Of droughts and flooding rains.” She held back a sob, and stared at the sky. She had only been walking for a few minutes in the hot sun, and already she was wondering if she would ever see rain again.

The sun was hot, and burned her skin in an endless fiery heat. Sweat dripped down her forehead, down her back, soaking her shirt, until there was no water left to sweat. She was exhausted; light was filling her vision, until all she was doing was mindlessly moving forward.

Left foot.

Right foot.

Left foot.

Breathe.

After hours of trudging through the desert, Jodi was exhausted. She had finished her water supply, including the water in the engine of her bike, and was now forcing herself to walk, one step at a time. Although the sun was no longer at its hottest, Jodi was slowly dehydrating, so badly she could not even spare the water in her body to cry.

And she had many times. Her brother had left her, the man she liked – even loved, had deserted her, and she was being forced to walk in the desert to look for a city to shelter in.

She had been travelling south at the beginning, looking for the old, long deserted town called Alice Springs, but she’d suspected for a while now that she’s been going too far west.

Her strength slowly left her, and she fell to the ground, seemingly in slow motion, as yet another mirage of a town shadowed the horizon. Too exhausted to run now, she allowed herself to rest.

“Just a nap.” She said to herself, her throat dry and painfully scratchy. “Just get my strength back. Just a little nap.” Before she fainted, she looked at the mirage of the town ahead, and watched as two little spots, seemingly attached to the town, seemed to move closer and closer towards her.

***

When Jodi next woke up, she knew straight away she wasn’t in the desert anymore. Although her eyes were closed, her skin was cool, and that was enough for her to know. Her mouth was no longer dry; someone must’ve poured water down her throat as she’d slept. As she became more and more aware, she heard a shuffling going around her, and murmuring further away, muffled, as though behind a wall.

Suddenly everything came back to her in a rush. Jonas, Nate, Jake, Uluru. She gasped and sat up.

“Awake now are we?” said a voice.

Woozy, from the sudden movement, Jodi looked to her right and registered a small old woman, wearing a sundress printed with flower, a light grey cardigan and, ironically, black combat boots.

“about bloody time, you’ve been asleep for two days.”

The woman was very short, and even though Jodi was sitting on a low cot, she was still taller than the woman, but the woman exuded a sort of understated authority, standing there in her light grey cardigan with her hands on her hips.

“Who are you?” she asked the woman.

“Sheila’s m’name” she said, her eyes crinkling at the corners. She handed her a metal cup of water. Jodi drank thirstily. “You’re in an army base camp, south-west of Alice springs.”

“south-west? You mean I missed it completely?” Jodi groaned.

Sheila raised her eyebrow, an action that sent a wave of nostalgia through Jodi. “well, I have no idea why you’d want to go to Alice Springs nowadays, but aren’t you glad you’re here and alive, rather than there and dehydrated?”

Jodi flushed. “sorry, and thank you.”

Sheila’s eyes softened and she took the cup away from her and refilled it. “well now, atleast you weren’t raised in a barn. See how nice that was? People always respond when you say please and thank you no matter whether it’s past the end of the world or not.”

“how did you survive?” Jodi asked quickly.

Shelia paused to think. “my son’s was sent here, along with about a hundred others to prepare for backup for an assignment. They weren’t given any details, but it seemed the government was preparing for a terrorist threat around here abouts.” She sat down at the edge of the bed.

‘I was here visiting my son, when that professor announced the end of the world and destroyed civilisation as we know it.” Jodi winced, but she continued on without noticing. “ of the hundred that were station here at the regiment, only ten survived. We killed the ones that turned over, they turned to monsters that seemed intent on drinking our blood.”

“vampyres.” Jodi breathed. Sheila gave her an odd look but continued.

“I nursed many of the soldiers as they fought or died the disease, and killed many of the ones that turned. I had to, for the sake of protecting the rest. Turns out some of us were immune. I remember my mother telling me that was the real reason everyone is different. So that if a disease came along and tried to kill off humanity, at least some of us would survive. And she was right.”

“so ten human are alive?” Jodi murmured.

“including me, yes ten.” She looked at Jodi for a while, but it seemed her mind was some place else, perhaps in her memories as she though about the past.

Jodi on the other hand was thinking about how to escape. The people here were soldiers, all experienced in killing terrorists and threats. No doubt they wouldn’t think twice about killing her. One less human wouldn’t make a difference at this point. She needed to leave, before they realised who she was. She couldn’t take the same risk again.