Lachlan Walter - The Rain Never Came

I looked up, for no other reason than because I hadn’t done so in a while.

Tobe had disappeared again—there was nothing but emptiness ahead. Something inside me snapped. I started running, not knowing how. It hurt. It hurt a lot. I managed to keep running, the withered bush passing in a blur, grey-grey-grey.

‘Tobe!’

Somehow my voice was strong, loud.

‘Tobe!’

No reply. I ran on, lost my rhythm, almost fell to the ground. I stopped running, wobbled from side to side. I caught my breath and ran on, started to notice a slow change in the bush. It was thinning out, the grey blur gradually lightening. I kept following it—the tree line soon stopped, and so did I.

‘Shit.’

A clearing had opened up, maybe half the size of a football oval. All that broke its featureless sprawl was the occasional patch of bleached-yellow grass, a couple of stubby bushes and tree stumps, and a small ridge of rock. I looked at the clearing, my eyes drawn to a few fuzzy shapes on the far side, black things that broke up the brown and grey. I strode towards them, saw that they were actually three transports parked side by side, butted deep into the bush. Dead and dying trees hung over them, draping them in leaves.

Shock struck me dumb as I noticed Tobe’s feet sticking out from under one of the transports.

I didn’t know what to say; I thought I had lost the ability to be surprised by him. But no. He was thrashing around a little, obviously struggling with something, Red and Blue lying next to him. They barked when they saw me, but they didn’t get up. Tobe let out a triumphant ‘ah-ha’ and began wriggling free. I watched, fascinated—it was the exact opposite of a snake swallowing its prey.

‘G’day, Bill.’ Tobe jumped to his feet, wiped his hands on the seat of his pants, waved at the clearing. ‘What do you reckon? Little piece of heaven, if you ask me.’

I took my time, looked around properly. The transports were old but seemed okay, bar the odd bullet scar. They were hidden well, the bush almost swallowing them up. If you passed the clearing in a hurry, you wouldn’t even know they were there.

I shrugged at Tobe’s question.

‘It’s their version of a redoubt, dickhead.’

‘Sorry?’

He looked at me sternly, like I was the slowest kid in class.

‘The Creeps probably busted through the wall somewhere nearby, and these babies would have been tucked away as a fallback. A couple of the bastards would have stayed behind, as well. You know, to hold the fort, so to speak.’

I stared at another brand new Tobe, once again a little afraid of him. That wasn’t unusual; he wasn’t the most stable bloke. But his ease with the danger, his knowledge of the Creeps’ nature—where did they come from? I didn’t ask, of course; he was my ticket home.

‘If things had gone to plan, they would have regrouped here and hauled arse. But, well…’

He whistled low, casually reducing the horror we had seen to a mere ‘shit happens’. It was obscene how blasé he was. I wanted to hit him, but I had to hold it together.

I somehow managed to quash my anger. ‘Can you get any of them going?’

‘Maybe.’

‘What do you mean maybe?’

There’s nothing like a prick to the ego to get someone motivated. He smiled, held his chin a little higher.

‘I can probably get one going. Happy?’

I didn’t answer.

‘It might take a while, though.’

‘Well, you’d better get a move on.’

He laughed. It was almost like old times.

‘Right you are. Look, there are probably some supplies stashed somewhere. Food, water, ammo, you name it. Those bastards always over-prepare.’

He slapped the side of one of the transports.

‘They should be in one of these beasties. Why don’t you take a look? But don’t touch the one at the far end, leave that to me.’

He laughed again, turned to the transport he had crawled out from under, took his antique keyring from his pocket, and started trying to jemmy the door. I turned away. Together, the three transports made a squat block, a brick of dull black metal. My beaten body twitched at the idea of squeezing into one of the gaps between them.

I ignored Tobe’s advice, stopped by the transport at the far end, reached for the door handle.

‘What did I tell you?’ Tobe appeared as if from nowhere, holding my wrist, stopping me dead.

‘You’re being paranoid, Tobe, that’s all—same as always.’

‘Trust me, Bill.’

I shook him off, took hold of the handle. Something exploded. The earth trembled. The sky cracked open. The world turned blood-red.

Darkness surrounded me. A roar echoed around me, what I’ve always thought river rapids or a waterfall must sound like. It filled the gloom, almost drowning out a faint drumming that started and stopped. I tried to get my head above the waves, to open my eyes. Pain coursed through me and I screamed. Blows on my chest shook my bones. So many blows, each one heavier, harder. And then nothing. I embraced it, let it carry me away.

Time passed. It must have.

Tobe was shouting. His words were just mangled sounds, a fine accompaniment to the thunderous roar. I closed my eyes, let the darkness pour through me.

The numb cloud I floated in jolted without warning. Heavy and huge, it slowly drifted from side to side. A whining shriek started competing with the roar. The drumming intensified. I felt my centre of gravity shift, suffered a brief awareness of my fragile body, felt myself repeatedly rise and fall in quick succession. I felt a sharp sensation of pain. A whisper of light cracked the dark. The sun, hot and bright. I fell back into my body like a clumsy idiot falling off a rock, found myself lying on my back, flat-out like a you-know-what.

I tried to sit up. Nothing happened. I tried again. Nothing.

The sunlight disappeared as whatever I lay in swung sideways. It lurched, started to tip, the world shifting on its axis. The whining shriek grew louder. Whatever held me down stretched but didn’t give. Another flare of pain. The darkness reached out, the roar returned; I gave in to them.

More time passed, I have no idea how much.

Blinding white light flooded over me. The nothing and the darkness shrivelled up and disappeared. The world pulsed red behind my closed eyes. I didn’t dare open them. I waited. I felt pain like it was what I had been carved from.

‘Bill, mate? Are you with me?’

Tobe. I could understand him. I opened my eyes, tried to smile, tried to speak, couldn’t manage either. As helpless as a babe, I watched Tobe hold a canteen to my mouth. Most of the water dribbled down my chin. Somehow, a little made it through my lips.

‘That better?’

He smiled sadly. I had no idea why. I tried again to sit up. I didn’t make it. I managed to turn my head. To my left, the blackened earth of the Maloort Plain. To my right, a steel wall. I craned my neck. I was strapped to a stretcher. Beyond it, a dozen or more seats were fixed to the same wall. Beyond them were a wire grill and a hatch.

I drank the transport in. ‘Nice one,’ I mouthed. I did my best to nod at the canteen. I got a little more water down. ‘Where?’

That took everything I had and I blacked out again. The numb gloom embraced me, took me away. The roar droned on. The drumming came and went. I floated in the darkness, drifted through the nothing, lay immobile on the stretcher. Eventually, awareness returned—some part of me felt motion, knew that we were moving faster.

Sometimes the roar was loud. Sometimes it was soft. Sometimes the transport jolted and rocked. Sometimes it didn’t.

Occasionally, almost unwillingly, my eyes flicked open and I saw shadows growing deeper. I craned my neck again. Tobe was bathed in a pool of light on the far side of the wire grill. He turned, looked at me, his face monstrous, hideous, wrong.