Pandemic Pt. 01 Ch. 01-05

Later I woke, the room dark and cold except for a naked figure against each side. I eased the blanket up and over first Karen and then Annelise, then fell back to sleep. The most contented sleep I had had since the night we arrived.

* *** *

I woke at dawn to the pulsing ring of the security alarm, quickly racing to the study. A raven pecking the sensor. A naked Karen tying her dressing gown around her entered. She saw the culprit on the screen, rolled her eyes and returned to bed. I returned too.

Annelise looked so peaceful sleeping. I lightly placed my hand on Annelise's cheek, then against her nose and mouth. Yes, she was still breathing.

We had survived another day and night. Another day or two and we could be certain we would be certain we were safe from the disease. Unless someone got into the house or unless it was also transported by an animal or bird.

I decided to join them in the bed. Let the world stay forgotten for another hour. Feeding the animals could wait.

Everyday Annelise had been in contact with her parents but today, the 6th February, she got no response from her parents.

The following day there was no connectivity whatsoever outside of Australia. We captured local information while we could. Annelise printed out a map of the area between the town and the range behind us. She cross matched it from other local web information. There were 27 properties, small farms, orchards, a school camp, a couple of bed and breakfast places.

Five days passed, during which we lost internet connectivity completely. Then on the 11th February, while I was carting cow and chicken manure to the mulch pile to create compost, I heard a noise. It was distant, mechanical, an engine, perhaps a motor bike. I raced back to the house, shouting for Annelise to follow. The noise was getting closer. I raced up the stairs to grab the hunting rifle.

"Karen intruder" I shouted.

Karen turned from the stove and met me as I shouted down the stairs. "There is an engine noise getting closer, we need to investigate. We will go up to the third floor of the tower, we can see from there."

Karen had the 222 in her hands and Annelise ran in behind, joining us.

"Karen could you get the binoculars please?"

We ran down the passage and up to the third floor. As we entered the third floor of the tower we could hear the sound of an engine coming from the south east.

"Keep low when you enter." I yelled.

We crept through the entertaining area to the windows spaced around the narrow balcony. I cautiously looked through the windows. I could see nothing. It was probably a motor bike but hidden in the trees.

Karen passed me the binoculars. I crawled out onto the balcony, looking with the binoculars but still could not see anything. I returned inside to Karen.

"The vehicle is approaching. I am sure it is just one. I'll run to the gate house and meet it there. I can get on the roof and be concealed. There are also the towers we can observe from, there are rungs placed into the side."

"We will go with you" Karen stated, Annelise nodding her head next to her.

I nodded, "Annelise, please get the quad bike and take it to the south east gate, then come to us if I call you."

She nodded and run off.

"Make sure you have the safety on the 222, let's go." I gave Karen a kiss and then we ran down the stairs.

We jogged across to the front lawn to the gate house. The roof of the gate house was three metres high and the top of the wall a metre higher. A drum gave an initial step, with Karen's help, I could then clamber up and reach the roof. I got my elbows over and was then able to pull myself up onto the roof.

Karen passed up the rifle and I crept forward. A quad bike was entering the pasture from the eastern forest, with two people on board. The passenger was turned, watching behind.

They seemed to not be a threat, I stood up to get a better view, keeping behind one of the raised crenelations. Looking through the scope, I saw a male at the front and a female passenger. They were both in their late teens or twenties and of Asian appearance. Both looking very distressed, the female on the back kept turning and staring behind. The male driver saw me and rode towards the gatehouse, stopping and they jumped off and ran forward.

"Help." He yelled.

The girl was staring behind, even though I had the rifle, she was not worried about me but what was following.

I scanned the edge of the forest where they came from and could see nothing. I lowered it as they did not seem a threat while I was up on the wall.

"You need to stay back, we cannot risk you being diseased." I advised.

The girl ran forward towards the gate and fell to her knees a few metres away. "We are not. No contact with anyone for three weeks. It is chasing us. Please help. He killed my family."

I looked but could not see anything.

"Who or what is chasing you? Are they armed?" I asked.

"He was our neighbour" the young man spoke, "And no he is not armed."

He looked off behind them to the edge of the forest, then turned back.

"He is insane and killed Linda's family, he was chasing behind on foot. He was normal just a couple of weeks ago, but now he is berserk. A murdering maniac."

I looked and across the pasture I saw a single male emerge from the forest, shirt in tatters, jogging and stumbling exhausted. Looking through the scope though I saw his face twisted in desire and fury. He was staring fixated on the couple below me. Dried red stains smeared his face, chest and hands. Perhaps blood?

"Halt. Stop. Stay there or I shoot." I shouted out and then when he continued to jog towards me, I fired a warning shot. The girl screamed and started to run away.

He was a hundred and fifty metres away now. I fired another shot, using the top of the crenelation to support the rifle.

He spun and hit the ground, I had hit him. But still he crawled forward, face contorted and eyes focused on the couple. The next shot hit him in the head and he moved no more.

Now to work out what to do with the couple. Karen and Annelise had collected a ladder on the quad bike and had climbed up alongside me on the roof of the locked gatehouse. The couple returned to the gate.

"Keep back." I shouted down. "We don't know if you are infected or not. What happened? Do you still need help or can you return?"

"We are sure we are not infected. No, I can't go back there." the girl answered.

"I am Michael and this is my fiancé Linda. If there is some way we can persuade you to let us stay otherwise we don't have anywhere to go. He may have infected Linda's farm now."

"Hi Michael and Linda, my name is Mark, please tell us what happened."

Mark explained, "We live next door in the property to the south of this one, Linda's parents, younger sister and grandparents. We came up to visit before Christmas and we were to stay until mid-February. Then we were to return to study. We arrived before Christmas and that was the last time we drove through the town. Since then John has been the only visitor and that was at Christmas. When we heard about the virus we decided just to stay on the farm."

"This morning we drove out on the quad to go fishing and to be on our own. When we returned we noticed smoke, we thought the house was on fire. We drove down the hill and saw Linda's grandmother lying on the ground." His voice faded.

He paused, the silence growing longer.

His voice become flat and expressionless, "The man you saw, John, he was attacking Linda's mother. He had her by the arm and was tearing into her, he bit her throat as we approached and it was obvious she was dead. We swung around the other side of the house and there we saw Linda's father. Also obviously dead. Linda's grandfather dead. He started chasing us. We fled up the track in the quad to get away."

Michael looked down at his feet, "We did not touch anyone he had attacked and he did not come closer than 20 metres to us. But we don't have anything to offer. We don't know what happened to Linda's sister Eliza."

He looked up, "He was wild like a rabid dog, just tore into them. They were mauled. Yet he was a peaceful man who visited every Christmas since Linda was a baby."

I nodded, "We hear that the virus makes some people aggressive. I am sorry. We will discuss it. But don't come closer for now."

Exhausted, they sat down silently on the grass by the driveway, his arm around the staring, shaking girl.

"We can't leave them out there!" said Annelise.

"We might have to do that sometimes", Karen softly commented.

"But", she continued, "If their story is all true it seems unlikely they are infected. They seem in shock and to be honest. If the virus is so infectious that they caught it in spite of keeping away from him, then perhaps it is already too late for us. Infection spreading across twenty metres from a passing person seems unlikely though."

"Alright", I replied, "What can we do? Taking their story on trust is trusting them with our lives, literally."

"We could keep them in quarantine for three weeks," Karen responded.

I thought how that might work.

"A shed with running water. We bring supplies in sufficient for three weeks and then do not go near them for three weeks?" I looked at Annelise and Karen. Each nodded agreement.

"There are several places. There are a couple of small storage sheds or the end of the workshop shed has two rooms with running water and a toilet. There is also the cottage but if it became contaminated and unusable it would be too great a loss. I suggest let's clear out the workshop."

They nodded, relieved smiles showing their happiness for a solution.

I whispered to Karen and Annelise. "Make sure there are no weapons inside, just beds and food. If they were to become like that creature, we don't want them getting out."

I returned to the gatehouse roof and told the couple they could enter if we could keep them in quarantine for three weeks. They would have food, water and shelter but could not leave the rooms they were given. They quietly agreed.

Karen kept watch over them while Annelise and I cleared the end two rooms of the shed. The shed was large, nine by twenty metres, with the end wall being the concrete wall surrounding the property. Adjoining the external wall inside the shed were two storage rooms then the next room was a toilet with a basin. The larger storage room was about four by three metres and the other slightly smaller. Thankfully they were mostly empty with just old files and boxes in them. We moved the junk into the other adjoining rooms. Then we quickly swept and moved in boxes of food and a bed and mattress.

Next task was making the area secure. I put a bolt on the exterior of the door and fixed metal grills to the outside of the windows. Adjacent was a passage with two smaller rooms ending with a door to the area where the quad and trailers were kept. We could reinforce that door later using sheet metal and lumber. Thankfully the property had a good scrap pile behind the shed and the previous caretaker had liked to keep things that might come in handy.

I collected some dust masks and gloves. Then two towels and two flannels. We were ready.

We returned to the gate and I opened it. Karen was behind me and we were both armed, just in case.

"Sorry it took so long. We have rooms ready for you with food and bedding. First I need you to do some things. Then we will let you in and take you to the rooms. We have large towels for you to cover yourselves with. I want you to go 20 metres further away off the side of the road. I will place some towels, flannels, gloves and dust masks on the ground. I want you to remove your outer clothes, place them off to the side of the road. Your underwear is fine, but then come and put the towel around you, wear the gloves and dust mask, then hold the folded flannel over your mouth and nose. We will direct you where to go, there is food and running water and a mattress. Walk slowly and don't come near us. Do you understand? Do you have any questions?"

"Yes" they both answered.

"No questions, we have to trust you." Michael added.

We fully opened the doors of the gate house as they walked away. Once they had changed, we escorted them across the helicopter pad down the driveway and onwards to the shed. We ensured we were keeping ten metres away from them and we also wore dust masks.

Outside the shed we stopped and I moved away and spoke, "Go into the shed and down the end of the passage. You have a toilet and a basin for water. Then the room across the passage has dry food which you can open and eat without cooking. Eat the vegetables in the first few days. We have made sure there are sixty meals for the two of you."

I pointed out the doorway to the passage to the room we had prepared and stepped back.

"You are on your own now and we will see you in 21 days, please don't try and leave before then. I am very sorry it has to be like this."

Michael called out, "Just one thing, please, if Linda's sister, Eliza, comes here. Could you watch out for her please? If she is ... ok."

"We will watch out for her. You believe there was only one attacker, Michael?"

"We never saw another, and John lived on his own."

They closed the door, bolting it then reinforcing it with a sheet of metal backed by blocks of stone and wood. I then closed the next two rooms and sealed around the door beyond. We would still be able to use the machinery shed, but the loss of those rooms would be unfortunate if they were infected.

Annelise sought information on the infection and its control.

We had a quiet dinner then Annelise gave an update.

"WHO advises that the maximum time the virus remains infective outside the body is a day. That is just on hard surfaces and generally it lives less than 20 minutes."

"Well that is some good news! Well done."

"Symptoms did not appear for twelve days, which we had heard. But they have worked out that people become infectious within two days of catching it. Then after the twelve day incubation most die within six hours. That we knew, but I found out it can infect by skin contact or airborne contact. Sneezing, coughing, like a cold I guess. No known cases of animal vectors but they are not definite about that."

"If it is not bird spread we should be fine, can we keep rats out or can they climb the outer wall?", Karen asked.

I replied, "I will check the gates tomorrow. The outside walls are smooth concrete, a rat may be able to but I don't know, perhaps we could put a barrier near the top. Smooth tin like for stopping possums, climbing trees, if we have enough."

"There is more information about the infection process on WHO too. It infects the nose and builds up as a low level infection, it then infects the brain. After twelve days it suddenly reproduces rapidly and causes massive damage to the brain. Usually it is immediately lethal but sometimes it just infects portions of the brain, causing brain damage that is not lethal. People can become disabled, lose senses or become violent, fearful. Most patients who survive beyond twenty days have not been infectious anymore, but about half of the violent or fearful ones remain infectious. With hospital care only 0.1% of patients survived without brain damage and about 1% survive with some level of brain damage."

"Mmm, that's interesting, so if that's the same for Australia, then if everyone in Australia got infected about 240,000 might survive but only 24,000 without damage. And without hospital care it might be, perhaps 5000. I wonder how many people were able to not get infected?"

The two women stared at me, they did not seem to find it at all interesting.

"We better just make sure we don't get infected." Karen stated.

Later the TV provided a news report read by a military officer. First there as a warning about keeping inside. The disease had killed about 230,000 people in Australia. The military officer stated it was the peak of the infection and that the control measures adopted over the past week would rapidly reduce the death rate in 48 hours. It was important to remain calm and indoors.

There was no mention of the situation in other countries.

We were all were all very subdued and quickly left to go to bed, the three of us snuggling close. A couple of months ago the risk of becoming an insane, friend-devouring, maniac or of having family eaten in front of you was unimaginable, now it was an imminent threat.

The next day, was the 12th February, a week after martial law had been declared. Karen took the cows out to graze on the northern side of the wall and I started some construction tasks. First steps up to the top of the gatehouse roof. Next I concreted stones for a foundation to a building we could use for quarantine and reuse if infected. Four metres along the outer wall and then three metres of double walls made of rock and concrete blocks from the ornamental garden. The front was a metal grill on one side of a concrete pillar and a metal door on the other side. Another sheet of metal for the roof and it was complete. Some holes in the roof allowed diesel to be poured in so that it could be sterilized and reused if necessary. Hopefully it would never come to that.

That evening I went over to the corner window and looked towards the shed. There were apple trees in the way and I could not see. I knew they were there though. Poor sods I thought, hope they are fine.

"Michael was not sure if Linda's sister was dead or not." Karen commented quietly.

I replied, "It is now over 24 hours. From what Annelise found we should not get infected by touching anything, yes I would like to check for Linda's sister tomorrow too."

* *** *

After breakfast I checked out the Hilux. It was a fairly new double cab pickup and was only a little sluggish to start. I packed a first aid kit, a spray suit, gloves and dust mask. The spray mask may have been more effective but it was too unwieldy. Karen and I would go and investigate Linda's parent's house, Annelise would stay remain behind with the 222. We would take the hunting rifle, shotgun and bow. I added some bottles of water and fruit while Karen brought some snack bars she had found in the house. Then we changed into brown and green long sleeved shirts, running shoes and trousers, kissed Annelise and headed off.

We drove off down the main road and entered the drive to Linda's parent's property. There we stopped and put on the dust masks with wet flannels over the top. We cautiously approached the house. It was among trees and surrounded by a hedge. Pasture grasses and clover grew down from the house to the road verge. On the forested western side of the driveway a small stream flowed. We slowly drove up to within 30 m of the house, scanning the bushes and low hedge. All was quiet.

As we got closer the smell of blood and death reached the car.

"Karen", I suggested, "Stay by the car with the rifle and I will call. Be careful."

"You be careful, love you."

We kissed. I took the shotgun and approached the low hedge. From the hedge I saw a middle aged man lying by the front steps, his throat a gaping hole and the ground dark with the remains of dry blood. Flies swarmed on him. Up on the verandah the remains of an old man. Both had been savaged, the bodies with deep cuts, torn clothes, flesh cut and bitten. At that point my breakfast joined the hedge.

I waved Karen back, "It is fine, stay there, don't come."

Nothing to hear, just ducks, chickens, insects and birds. All seemed in place, except for the burnt remains of a chair and a burnt bush between the path and lawn in front of the old man. And of course except for the bodies.

I circled the house. On the ground at the back of the house lay Linda's mother and grandmother. I kept my distance. Along the back verandah were hanging pots. A pretty blue flowered vine covered a lattice, and between it I could see a light fly door. The back of the house was well away from the bodies. I warily entered. Inside the house a dim hallway, lit by light diffusing through lace curtains. I found the bedrooms of the two sisters at the back of the house, then their parent's bedroom. Across from that room was Michael's bedroom, judging from the clothes, and then a bathroom. Further along it opened up into a lounge, then a dining room and then a kitchen at the front of the house. All clean and undisturbed, untouched by the look of things since Linda and Michael had escaped.