Pandemic Pt. 02 Ch. 06-10

Again many thanks to Kristen2928 for editing this story and for her wonderful support.

All characters are fictitious and all characters engaging in any sexual activity are over 18.

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CHAPTER 6. EXPLORING AND A MEETING WITH MADELINE

Sunday 13th March

Linda came to breakfast, not moving from Michael's side. Annelise kept Tiffany occupied with breakfast at the other side of the room, while Karen and I stayed in between. After we had seated, Eliza came into breakfast also speaking to no-one, making her way straight to a place and focused only on her food. Maddy was closest, looked at her and then us curiously.

Maddy greeted her cautiously. "Morning."

Eliza mumbled a reply and I asked Maddy how the cattle were. Karen, Annelise and I maintained a somewhat forced and deliberately cheerful conversation. Eliza was first to leave.

Later I saw her weeding and approached, sitting down a short distance away.

"Sorry Eliza, we did not stop things getting out of hand with your sister."

I waited a moment, but she did not say anything, so I left her to her weeding.

That evening Linda spoke at dinner, "Now that we are living together on our own, Michael and I would like to get married."

We all congratulated them except Eliza was silent.

"Would you like to find a church or you could set up the formal dining room?" I asked.

"Here in the formal dining room, I want to feel safe and I feel safe within these walls. I would be anxious in an unknown place worried about ..." Linda's voice trailed off.

A beaming smile shone from Michael's face as he got up and spoke, his arm around Linda and seemingly oblivious to the tension between the sisters, "It may seem sudden but it is right and I cannot wait to be with my beautiful wife. We should do it as soon as we have things ready."

Linda spoke with anxious quiet determination, "We realise we cannot find a minister of God, but we can make our commitments to Him and make our vows in front of you all." She looked nervously at Eliza.

Eliza walked over and kissed her on the cheek, "I will help in any way you need."

Linda hugged her tightly and then Eliza kissed Michael on the cheek, "Congratulations to you both and look after each other."

And so the week passed from potential crisis to a wedding. Planning cakes, decorations and the ceremony took everyone's mind off the outside world. Everything took a little extra adaptation and imagination. The jewellery that I had recovered from Linda's parent's room provided the rings. However both were two small. Michael had done some soldering and welding, tinkering with electronics. The equipment he used though was back in Melbourne. There was a small village on the way to Callanup where he knew someone who made silver jewellery.

That gave an impetus to go exploring and we reviewed our needs. Michael and Karen did an inventory and worked out that our most critical resource that we needed was grain, both for the poultry and ourselves. Hopefully we would find rice, wheat, oats and maybe some bagged feed for the livestock. We also needed to stockpile some petrol and diesel for the vehicles.

* *** *

Two days later we loaded up with rifles, shotgun, first aid equipment, containers, shovels, axes, a chain saw and tools for repairs. Michael drove the Hilux with two 200 L drums on the tray and I drove our Subaru Forester. Linda rode with Michael while I travelled with Karen and Maddy. Annelise, Tiffany and Eliza stayed behind to mind the compound and animals.

Once past John's house we slowed down. We passed the entrance to the deserted property and then the guesthouse where we had found Tiffany. There was no sign of any disturbance or change. I watched for any threat on the road or verges, Karen watched to the left, Maddy to the right. Michael hung back and kept us just in sight. We drove on to the next small property just up the road. There were dead goats and an orchard, the locked house and shed were deserted. No car, just a couple of trailers and a quad bike in the shed.

We travelled onwards towards Callanup. The next property was a small house that was very rundown with barely a garden. A quick glance showed the body of a single person lying on the bed of the main bedroom. The large dirty boots next to the bed suggested a male, but I was not going any nearer. The bed and body were alive with and I quickly closed the door and sealed underneath it with plastic tape. We collected some tins of food and left. There were no stock, a fence had broken and if any stock had been present it had escaped. An old Toyota sat next to the house, well ornamented with rust and dents. A couple of containers of oil and a jerry can of petrol were added to our bounty. Some rolls of heavy duty gaffer tape would be useful too and were added to our stock.

A kilometre further along the road we came upon grassy paddocks that sloped gently uphill towards a beautiful modern house. The ground also sloped down towards a tree lined river. A stream running into the river had been dammed to create a lake with a small wooden jetty and gazebo. Two horses and a pony came up to us as we drove along the driveway up past the lake.

The house had large front windows and was two stories. However as we walked up the decking the smell of death sent greetings again. Michael, Maddy and I put on our face masks and gloves.

The wooden front door was not locked and inside the front door a sad sight showed the ravages of the disease. A phone hung from its cord from the wall, dangling near the remains of a boy, perhaps four years of age, and a baby. In the middle of the open plan sitting and dining room, a large stairway led up to the next floor. There I found an empty spare bedroom, a child's bedroom, a bathroom, a nursery and then the main bedroom, the remains of a couple lying on it. Michael went on in and returned with car keys, a ring of other keys and a 222 rifle. He handed me the rifle and we went outside onto the balcony to gulp in fresher air and talk.

"There was a gun cupboard in the built in robe and the keys on his bedside cupboard. I did not see much else but I could look longer."

"Stay here, I will go and tape around the door. If there is anything in the bedroom I reckon we look in six months." I replied.

I went in, opened the bedroom window and sealed the door. Afterwards I collected unopened supplies of soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper and a first aid kit from the bathroom. Then we went below. Maddy was busy digging a hole in the front garden bed. Karen and Linda had dragged the small rug the children were on into the middle of a cow skin decorating the lounge room. Then they had dragged it all outside and opened all the windows.

We left the freezer and fridge sealed but the kitchen cupboards contained a wealth of sealed packets, tins and containers of food. Canisters of rice, pasta, flour, nuts and cereal all looked good. Dried fruit, jams and preserves all were carefully packed and taken. Some jars and packets had spoiled but most was fine. Too much to take it all, we took what we most needed and anything that looked good for a wedding party.

The garage held a Range Rover and Lexus, though neither would start. Michael took the battery of the Range Rover for charging back home, perhaps then we could start it. We found and took eight sacks of oats, and the women placed some of the oats for two very grateful horses and a pony. The horse trailer in the shed could also be useful some time. We took some fishing lines and tackle, perhaps we would have time to try our luck in the lake on the way back.

Then we farewelled the horses and drove on. Just down the road a few hundred metres further, a large bridge crossed the river. We cautiously drove onwards. Climbing up around the hills on the other side we found a large fallen tree blocking the road. Once we saw it we stopped and got out. Maddy waved the others down to stop and keep back. I observed the tree and surrounds with binoculars. It just looked like a fallen tree. Warily we approached on foot through the forested hill side. However it was a natural tree fall, not an ambush. It did take an hour to clear a passage with the chainsaw while the rest of us anxiously watched the forest approaches and guarded.

Beyond the tree, a narrow road entered from the left. It led to two separate wooden plank houses with corrugated steel roof, veranda at the front, both empty of people and sparsely furnished. Two bedrooms, one with a double bed and the second with four bunk beds, an open living area with TV, lounges and a dining area. A kitchen contained a microwave and stove. The other feature was a pot belly wood stove. Probably holiday rental homes and not much of use to us. A third larger house at the end of the road was a family home. A deceased middle aged man was in the main bedroom and the house contained two children's bedrooms, full of toys but no sign of the occupants, thankfully.

We quickly checked the main bedroom but there was nothing useful other than some keys on a bedside table. We quickly left and sealed the door. The car matching the keys was gone, so they were not useful either. We did add to our supplies with some toiletries, food and tools. Outside a chicken coup sat empty except for feathers. A pig pen had a hole in the fencing where the pigs had escaped and the carcass of a pony lay in a small yard. We did collect another four sacks of feed.

Half a kilometre further up the road we entered a broad gently sloping vale among the hills. Cleared with green pasture and a stream flowing through the centre, it looked idyllic. Cattle grazed closest to the road and horses closer to the large home midway up the valley. It was a very large, single storey house on tall foundations, with stone walls and broad gently sloping verandas. When we investigated we found bodies and the remains of clothes that suggested an older couple perhaps in their fifties or sixties, a teenage female, a slightly older male and a couple in their thirties.

We left the house alone, perhaps we would go back in a few months, but it was too much for us now. The cattle and horses seemed healthy with access to the grass lush and the water clear. It flowed in from the stream and through troughs before discharging back into the stream. A large shed contained bales of hay and a small silo held substantial feed grain. That brought some cheer and made our trip very worthwhile already. The livestock and fodder were a great resource for us and at the back of the house a small orchard contained fruit and nut trees.

We drove out of the valley, over a ridge and then encountered two driveways disappearing into forest. The first led up the hill into what looked to be a typical country hobby farm, which contained fruit trees, goats, chickens, ducks and a pony. All the animals had been slaughtered. The pens were sturdy but the gate to the yard with the pony was loose and open, as was the gate to the chicken run. Inside the house we found a young couple and child. As we expected due to the smell, they were dead, but they had died from savage violence rather than the disease. The injuries to the bodies suggested a pack of wild dogs but perhaps not.

We quickly left as it was the other property that was of particular interest. We warned the others about the state of the bodies and to be wary. Then cautiously we entered the driveway, forest to each side. It opened up into a small meadow with a timber house and several rough corrugated iron sheds. Inside this house the jeweller and his potter wife and two late teenage children lived, or more likely had lived. We drove in slowly and parked at the side of the house. Maddy and Linda stayed and kept watch over the cars. Michael led us past the first shed which contained pottery, a potter's wheel and a kiln, to the house.

"I'll come with you to check the house first." Michael suggested.

The house was a nightmare. The mother was in what appeared to be the teenage male's bedroom. She had suffered blows from a shattered chair and perhaps fists. The father in the passage had been struck in the head and body until he too was killed. It appeared that the daughter had locked herself away in her barricaded bedroom, but then died of the disease. We did not try and open the locked door but observed through the smashed window. It has been mostly blocked by a wardrobe but we could see the lower half of a body of a young woman on the bed, the top blocked from sight. The smell confirmed she too was dead but there was no sign of the son. Whether it was him or another, the violence and injuries likely meant we had a deranged violent human in the vicinity.

The kitchen and pantry cupboards were open with much of the contents eaten or scattered. We took an unscathed pair of binoculars plus a box of semi-precious gems and silver from the wardrobe in the main bedroom. Sheets, blankets and towels were flung across the rooms and most of the possessions were smashed. I did retrieve a large stash of condoms from the bottom draw of a set of drawers that had its contents scattered across the teenager's bedroom where the mother lay.

The other shed contained what Michael was after. A workshop with benches, upon which were mounted silversmithing tools and cupboards of supplies. Some of the anvils, clamps, a centrifugal casting unit and buffing tools needed dismantling from the bench and we worked quickly while Karen watched the door. Michael packed the equipment and smithing supplies. My arms were thankful when the last of the casting pots, soldering equipment, silver ingots and an oven had been carried out and packed into the car. The vehicles were heavily loaded and it was late in the afternoon, time to head home. Thankfully the drive was uneventful. No time for stopping to fish for dinner, but we did shoot a goat and stopped to collect a rooster I had seen earlier. Once the rooster was in a sack Maddy got to nurse it for the rest of the trip home. The dead goat ended up tied to the roof rack.

We skinned and hung the goat to butcher tomorrow for roasting and curry, then settled in for dinner of eggs and vegetables. After cleaning up we sat in the lounge, quietly celebrating our good fortune with the hot cocoa that Maddy had acquired. I relaxed, dozing amid excited wedding discussion. Annelise, Karen, Eliza and Linda went off upstairs to investigate gowns then returned to drag Michael up to try on Richard's suits. The women returned in a huddle discussing how they might take in a white gown with lots of animated discussion. Once in another time the day would have been traumatic, now preparing a wedding dress mattered more than the day's carnage. Maddy took Tiffany off to bed upstairs.

Michael sat next to me. He cautiously asked whether I was religious and a Christian. I said no, but I was happy to support him being so. He asked if I minded Linda and him holding a service of thanks each week. Perhaps a time of reflection would be good and people could take it how they wished, once we could do so and survive. Maddy returned, slumping on the couch next to me, rolling her eyes at the girls still talking dresses.

Soon after we drifted off to bed and dreams captured me while Annelise and Karen were still getting ready for bed.

* *** *

Another couple of days at home, then we prepared go investigating again. This time we would travel to Beechamel Hamlet, a few kilometres beyond where we had driven to last time. Beechamel Hamlet was small, just a few houses, but it did have a general store, café and most importantly, a service station with petrol and diesel pumps. Michael and Linda drove with Eliza this time. Maddy and Karen stayed back with Tiffany, and Annelise travelled with me. We drove straight to the property before the fallen tree. Michael fitted the now fully charged battery to the Range Rover but its electronic security needed a code, so much for that. We travelled beyond the fallen tree and became more cautious, slowing and scanning the road ahead carefully.

Beyond the jewellers home there was a small farm. Fields of lush grass had been carved out of tall eucalypt forest. About twenty dead cattle were present among the grass. Two had been killed and butchered roughly, others were uninjured and probably had died from thirst as there was no water available without humans to care for them. The house was simple, made of plank walls with a tin roof and verandas, decades having passed since the last time it had seen any paint. A vegetable garden was largely dead but the fruit trees were fine, Eliza gathered lemons and apples with Linda. Inside the house on the floor of the lounge, lay the remains of a middle aged male while a dead female lay in a hallway further along. Both had been savaged and we later found another older man, also killed violently.

We left the forest behind and entered open fields that stretched onwards to Beechamel Hamlet. Another property, it had two houses, an older farmhouse used for storage and a modern home. Both were locked up and there were no people or cars present. Unfortunately there were more dead cattle, some obviously slaughtered, other cows appeared to have injured themselves trying to escape. The survivors had apparently knocked down some fences before later dying in another paddock. A prize was an Isuzu 4 tonne truck, which Michael did manage to start. We loaded the back with some sacks of grain, two drums of fuel, a pump, irrigation pipes, wire mesh and tools. Michael put the winch on the Hilux to uses I would never have thought of, hoisting the drums and pump with the lifting frame in the centre of the shed. Again we were on alert but at least now we could see anyone approaching from several hundred metres.

Michael followed us in the truck when we drove on to the next property. That too was deserted, but we found the front door open. Someone had been there before us, rubbish and mouldy food littered the floor and items were smashed. We collected a rifle and shotgun from a gun cabinet. The keys were fairly obvious in a top drawer in the bedroom, but evidently not of interest to the person who had been after the food. The occupants had left quickly, a case partially packed on the bed.

Half a kilometre away from the Beechamel Hamlet, we parked the truck on the side of the road and drove cautiously onwards in the Hilux and Forester. Pasture dotted with groves of trees surrounded the town, except for an orchard on the right hand side as we approached and a vegetated river bank on the far side of the hamlet. The main road was lined with fences overgrown with shrubs and trees. It was a very small community. Six houses lined the left side of the road, while a mechanics garage, café, house, general store and another two houses occupied the other side. On a low hill to the left, just behind the houses, stood a small stone church. The hamlet appeared very normal as we approached, with a few cars parked along the street and no obvious disturbance. No people were in sight.

The closest house had an orchard of thirty or so fruit trees, which now competed with tall grass. Across the road was the garage with two fuel pumps that we sought. As we drove into the garage we saw the bloated body of a male, gripping an arm above a pool of blood and broken glass. We stopped by the pumps and Linda identified the body as that of a teenager, Brian the son of the silversmith and potter. It seemed he had cut an artery in his arm while smashing the glass window of the garage shop. His clothes were rags of dry blood, plenty of which was probably not his. This death would have been recent, a few days ago, whereas his parents had died at least a couple of weeks ago. We all concurred that he was most likely the cause of the violent deaths we had been coming across. All seemed quiet, a sign on the door, explained it was closed due to illness, and to go to the café for service. Michael and I broke a panel of glass at the other end of the shop to the body, entered with two shotguns and investigated the shop and garage. Both had been locked and there were no bodies inside. Fungus infested remains of ice cream grew below the glass doors covering the central freezer, however the drinks fridges held good bounty and the shelves lots of party food. Suitably aired the chips, nuts and biscuits would be good for the wedding. Tools, oil and hardware from the garage would be useful too.