Pandemic Pt. 01 Ch. 01-05

Returning to the back of the house, I checked the backyard. A rusting metal shed with equipment and tools, a chicken pen and two small buildings. One was locked, the other a storeroom. He had got into the chicken coup, their shattered bodies lay around the pen.

I returned to Karen and we drove around to the back of the house.

In Linda's room I collected clothes and toiletries, putting them into a suitcase and a small pink daypack from the top of the wardrobe. Several prizes and awards, a photo of Linda and Michael at a ball. Some medical books too which I put into a box and took, placing the photo on top as I passed. From Michael's room I also packed a suitcase of clothes. No sign of Eliza in the bedroom that must be hers. It was undisturbed, bed made, a jacket on the back of a chair, pink sandals and wool lined slippers near her bed.

I placed the cases and boxes by the back door and then returned for blankets. Grabbing four double bed blankets, I dropped a blanket over each body, using rope tied to the corners for the women and a pole to avoid contact with the men.

After covering the last body with a blanket I returned to the car. We drove around behind the house and I quietly placed the pack, boxes and suitcases into the back seat and tray.

Some ducks survived unscathed in a fenced pond. We called out, "Eliza" around the house but there was no response.

Some wire from near the shed, combined with two cases, made a duck cage in the tray of the Hilux. I lined it with some carpet from the shed and put the six ducks inside it. They were easy to catch at least. I removed my protective clothes, put them into a plastic bag and joined Karen in the car.

Three tracks lead away from the house. First we followed the quad bike tracks to the west. In a couple of sandier sections of the track, we could see one set of footprints, sometimes running and sometimes walking behind, but no others. We stopped periodically called Eliza's name until we reached the open gate at our boundary fence. Karen closed it and we returned.

Next we followed the other set of quad tracks. The track crossed pasture then meandered up into hilly forest, winding around through wherever the easiest route to clear had been. We stopped every hundred metres and called out. As well as calling Eliza we add that her sister was safe. Finally the track stopped near a wide rocky pool above which a stream cascaded down some low waterfalls.

We called out "Eliza" and warily scanned the forest and pool side for movement. We carefully watched, alert for the appearance of Eliza or of any threat.

"It is beautiful" Karen commented.

I nodded absently, then took in the surroundings, "Yes, it is."

It seemed unreal that this peaceful scene and the other scene just a few hundred metres away could coexist. We called out again, "Eliza!"

Rustling and from the bushes came a slender young woman, dirty, long black hair tangled with leaves, her eyes red, her gaze distant. Her white t shirt also had leaves sticking to it and was brown and dirt stained on the front.

"Eliza?" Karen queried.

The young woman nodded.

I spoke quietly and firmly as she approached, "Hi Eliza, your sister is safe but we need to sit and talk while you stay where you are. Please sit down. Just for now we need to stay away from each other."

Expressionless, she meekly sat with her legs crossed on the ground.

Karen got a bottle of water and two snack bars from the cab and returned next to me.

"Here is something to eat and drink, you must be hungry." She gently tossed them near Eliza and sat down.

Eliza took the bottle and drank some of the water.

I spoke quietly, "Linda and Michael rode on the quad bike to us. We are living on Richard's property next door. They are safe but they are in quarantine for a couple of weeks. They asked that we come and find you. I doubt they are infected, there was no direct contact but it is a precaution. John is dead."

We have seen what happened to your family. Michael said that you have all remained on Richard's property since Christmas and are free of the virus. Where we are is fairly self-sufficient and you are welcome to join us but we need to know what happened to you, if you can tell us. When did you first see John and what contact did you have with him?"

Eliza hugged her arms tightly around her chest and stared. We waited and finally she spoke.

"I was in the kitchen and saw John came up the driveway. Dad called out hello to greet him. I looked up again and saw him walking into the garden and noticed he did not close the hedge gate. Then I saw his face. He looked strange, scary, like an addict. Not like John ever looked, he always smiled and was cheerful. That made me watch him. He walked up to Dad and just immediately attacked. No warning, savagely, like a wild animal. He killed him in seconds, not hitting but biting. So quick. Grandpa too. I screamed and fled out the back. I thought he would chase me."

"What happened then?" Karen prompted.

"He didn't, he stayed outside. I called to mum and grandma from the backdoor. I yelled at them to run, but they just looked at me. He appeared and I ran behind the shed by the ducks and looked through the wire. He killed Mum so quickly, grandma too. He is very strong and so savage. He went to chase me, then he saw Linda and Michael coming. He went through the chicken pen on his way to them, killing the chickens as he ran towards Linda. He got tangled in the wire. When he was facing away from me and chasing them, I ran here and hid in the forest."

"He was never close to you?" asked Karen.

"If he had got close to me and his attention on me I would be dead. He was quick, John was big, strong and fast."

Karen walked over and put her arm around Eliza. "Let's take her back now."

"Yes" I agreed. "Let's get her back to our house."

I helped Karen carry her up and seat her in the back seats of the Hilux. Karen held her while I drove, she shielded her face against her neck while we drove past the homestead and bodies of her parents.

Arriving back home we were greeted at the gatehouse by a worried and relieved Annelise. We took Eliza near the shed so she could talk to Michael, at least though the side of the shed. Linda said hello, then the girls broke down in tears. Karen and Annelise took Eliza to the house to bathe her and to sleep.

First priority that afternoon was to make, flaps around the main gate and the rear stock gate so that when closed they would be rat and mouse proof. If the virus was spread by rats or mice I was taking no chances. Worst thing I could imagine was for any of us to end up like John.

Karen took food up to Eliza and stayed with her for a while until she slept. We also had an early night. I closed my eyes but sleep would not come. I held Karen close and could feel Annelise's breath on my shoulder. The vision of the torn bodies would not leave me, whether I closed or opened my eyes. Eventually I must have fallen asleep.

Morning and breakfast. I glanced at my watch, 14th February, Valentine's Day. Not too many lovers would be celebrating today with roses and chocolates. Eliza looked as haggard as I felt when Karen brought her down to the dining room. She remained with Karen, sitting in the kitchen and following her in the garden, while I finished work on the new quarantine building. We emphasised to Eliza that she must not have direct contact with Linda or Michael for at least two weeks. They were probably fine but if infected they would kill us all unless we kept them isolated.

Karen and Annelise expanded the vegetable garden into the ornamental beds and we introduced perch into the ponds. I quickly made a rough yard around a separate pond for the ducks. It had been ornamental but the sides of the gazebo and a statue were handy for attaching fencing wire to and keeping the ducks contained.

At lunch we discussed the garden and animals. We had laying hens but no rooster. Potatoes would be good too. We had beans and peas, pumpkins, carrots, cos lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, spinach, capsicums, chili and herbs. Annelise had worked in organic gardens during summer vacations and had picked up a lot about looking after gardens, livestock and fruit trees. Thankfully someone had some knowledge and skills for looking after the two orchards, with their apples, plums, grapes, lemons and apricots.

Valentine's Day, the 14th February, was also the day we lost communication. It must have happened in the afternoon as that evening we had no more television or internet through the satellite. That was a shock to us all and made it a long-term, widespread problem rather than just a temporary, local disaster. Another quiet evening and night, I took comfort in Karen and Annelise as we held each other until we could sleep. What had happened was not a dream or an event that someone would come and fix up. The loss of contact with the outside world made it all feel very real now.

Eliza screamed early in the morning and Karen stayed with her.

* *** *

At breakfast we discussed food. Eliza was quiet but was starting to be attentive and listening now, rather than just staring and lost in her nightmare.

So far we had lots of fruit, a large freezer half full of meat, grain for the stock and plenty of eggs and milk. We had been fishing but dared not go far from the house now. The freezer would last as long as the solar power system and freezer remained working, who knew how long that would be.

Annelise and I had made some snares and had caught a few rabbits, but only about one or two a week. The rabbits seemed to be getting smarter too.

We looked at Annelise's map. There was were two more houses at the end of the road, then Linda's family home and across the road from that there was the property of John, the infected guy. As he had been infected, it seemed likely it had spread in the town and he had caught it from there. Therefore many of those living on the farms would have caught it, particularly those that were closer to town. Some of the places would be useful for supplies. After a couple of days of no living humans remaining in the property the virus should not be infectious, so we should be able to safely collect supplies. Well according to the information Annelise had from the World Health Organisation, and we had nothing else to go on. It was not just the virus that was dangerous though, any injury, infection or accident and we were stuck, and who knows how other survivors would react. Then there were the brain damaged infected ones like John.

We decided to drive to the three local farms, we knew Linda's family had been killed and that the farm across the road should be vacant too as John had lived there on his own. It would also be good to know the situation for the two farms at the end of the road. Both were small, each with a single relatively small farmhouse and several out buildings on the map. Eliza said the closest was occupied by a middle aged couple, the Thompsons, and the end farm by the MacAlistair family with a daughter and son in their twenties, though the son she thought was working away at the mines in the Pilbara. The map showed the first 300 metres up the main road on the opposite site, the second was about 900 metres at the end of the road. I was keen to know if there was any threat, or even better uninfected survivors there. Mind you, uninfected survivors that sought what we had here were a threat too. Who knows, it was too hard to predict anything until we investigated.

That evening dinner was eggs, beans and pumpkin. Meat from the freezer we were rationing to every second day. Then apricots, grapes and plums afterwards. We needed a recipe book for making jams and preserved fruits, we were getting plenty of fruit now, but fruit flies were eating more plums than we were and were getting worse. Eliza slipped off to bed while we chatted after cleaning up, then we too climbed the stairs.

As I got undressed and ready for bed. Annelise smiled at Karen and put her hand on my arm.

"Hope you are not too tired, but I have been on the pill and it runs out in two days." She blushed.

"It would be a shame to waste it." I smiled and gave her a kiss.

She quickly undressed. Her pale body perhaps a little more defined by the increased physical work, but still so beautiful, small creamy soft breasts with nubs already erect. Karen curled on her side on the bed, watching us, hand supporting her head. Annelise pushed me backwards, no longer the passive uncertain virgin. She eased me up the bed then squatted over my legs, stroking my cock while leaning forward to hungrily kiss me. She straightened, I lightly stroked the bottom of her breast, stomach and hip. Then I reached up with my fingers to caress her alabaster silken skin, to stroke the curve of her breasts, teasing her nipples. Around her nipples the skin was so soft. I circled them, gently brushing my fingers against her nipples. Gently caressing them, then lightly grasping them with finger and thumb. She leant back, escaping, then teasingly bent forward again, all the while rocking and slipping up and down my cock. So warm and soft, yet so firm around me as I slid in in as deeply as possible. She eased up away, then down again, back arched. Then she leant over and brushed my still raised hands with her breasts.

She rode harder and faster, absorbed in her pleasure, eyes closed. I was holding back but she felt so good. I moved my hand stroking her flank and hip, then around to stroke her sparse blonde hair above her pussy. I gently brushed my fingers across her slit, moistening my fingers on her fluids and rubbing the sides of her clit. She gasped and pushed down as hard as she could go. I could feel her cervix brushing the tip of my cock.

Karen leant over and sucked in Annelise's nipple and areola, sucking hard. I thrust in again, the sight making me so so hard. This time Annelise was passive as Karen ravaged her breasts with her mouth. I pulled out and laid her back on the bed. I licked her slit, licking and sucking the candy pink lips of her pussy. Then I poked my tongue inside, thrusting it against her wet opening. I eased back up to her clit, licking around it then sucking it hard.

Annelise squirmed on the bed, "Fuck oh fuck she groaned."

I swung back around spooning her velvet soft backside against my hips. Grasping her thigh firmly, I pulled her back against me hard. My cock entered her easily. So warm and slick. Karen took turns sucking hard on her breasts, capturing one then the other nipple in her mouth. My wife sliding her fingers against Annelise's erect clit, I could feel her pussy tightening up on me, she held my cock in a strong grip until with a squeal she began to orgasm. Annelise shuddered, her stomach contracting, I thrust in hard again, once, twice and three times as she kept shuddering against me. Then I came, holding her tight against me, as I ground into her and shot every bit of my essence deep into her. She was so hot. I eased away as she rolled on her back, cheeks, ears and chest red, gasping for air.

She fanned herself with her hand, legs apart.

"Think you too need to change the sheets", Karen complained, then she kissed Annelise on the cheek, "Very hot to watch."

Annelise lifted her head slightly, looking down at her breasts. She touched a red mark on the blushing skin, "I don't think you just watched, they will be bruised tomorrow!"

Karen laughed, "Maybe we better find some contraceptives if you are going to be like this every month." Then she more seriously added, "But you are right, would be best to be careful and not get pregnant. I am also on the pill and that will run out in a week."

* *** *

A quick breakfast and I checked out the Hilux and put in a first aid kit, the hunting rifle, shotgun and bow, then a spray suit, gloves and dust mask. It was the 16th February and we had decided that Karen and I would go and investigate the end houses this morning, while Annelise stayed back with the 222. Once we changed into brown and green long sleeved shirts, drab floppy brimmed hats, running shoes and trousers, we were ready.

It was five days after Linda and Michael were attacked. That suggested someone in Callanup had been infected at least seventeen days ago. Probably before then. I doubted John would have gone to town every day so the person who infected him was likely infectious for several days before infecting John. We could wait longer but it would be unfortunate to find a dead starved locked up rooster we could have saved and used for breeding.

Annelise stood by the side of the car, at the gatehouse. Eliza stood behind her, her face frowning. We gave her a hug which she returned nervously.

Then we turned to Annelise. She fiercely kissed each of us, her blue eyes watering.

"You both stay safe, be careful and come back. Don't leave us alone."

"Don't worry, I promise we will be careful and if any doubt or risk we will just come back." I replied.

She stood watching as we drove off.

Directly the distance to the road was probably 500 metres but the road curved back on itself so it was perhaps more like 800 metres to drive. We watched the road verges carefully and stopped several times, looking ahead with the binoculars. We unlocked the gate on the main road and then turned right up the road. Around the corner and we could see the gate. It was closed but not locked. I drove up to it, reversing in. No sign of activity, just a hard dirt track beyond which led up into the forest. We put on rubber gloves, hung the dust masks loosely around our necks and left the car. Walking up through the forest at the side of the road, I carried the bow on my back and held the hunting rifle. Karen carried the shotgun. We listened for any disturbance but the only sounds were just the bush birds and insects. I went back down to the car and reversed the Hilux slowly up the road and past the first bend in the track so it would be concealed from the main road.

We then started walking up through the forest again, keeping the track in sight. Watching, listening and moving forward. The only sounds were birds and insects. We approached a fence and an area of cleared pasture. Beyond it a house and shed was visible, again no sound.

Suddenly a rustling through the undergrowth. Something coming.

"Hi" I yelled, "We are neighbours and came to see how you are."

Karen and I covered the approaching rustling with rifle and shotgun, ready to fire.

From the bushes 10 metres away erupted a dog. It barked, pausing, then came forward slowly, uncertain but tail wagging.

"Stay" Karen ordered.

Surprisingly it stopped, wagging its tail and looking at us.

"Where is your owner, your master?" She pointed to the house.

It came and sniffed our glove clad hands then turned and loped across the field.

The house was about 200 metres away across clear pasture. What to do. We would be vulnerable once we left the forest. The dog sat down at the front door, looking back at us and gave a bark. Then it lay down facing the door. Nothing to see using the binoculars, just curtains moving in an open window. Gently flapping in the light breeze.

"Cooeeee" I called. No response other than the dog looking around.

"Let's make our way across the track and up though the forest around the side of the house." I whispered to Karen.

She nodded and we worked our way back from the fence, crossed the track, and then made our way further uphill, in from the edge of the pasture. We could now see the side and back of the house, still no sign of anyone. No movement at the windows, the side windows were closed and concealed by curtains. The shed was quiet and some cattle grazed higher up the paddock.

Here we were only 100 metres away from the back of the shed. We ran over to the side of the shed, using the shed to stay concealed from the house. Some brown and white ducks were in a pen, water dribbling in from a pipe from a tank. They made a racket when they saw us, coming to the fence quacking argumentatively.