Lachlan Walter - The Rain Never Came

Another explosion lit up the sky.

It was so bright that I shut my eyes involuntarily. When its pulsing red afterimage had faded, I saw that the mob was now pouring into the street, completely exposed. All I could do was watch as they were cut down.

‘Forget them,’ Jacko said, taking my arm. He literally pulled me into the alley.

I stumbled, found my feet, and followed him. Panicked people pushed and shoved, not knowing where they were going or what they were doing, stirred up by the clouds of acrid smoke.

We kept on. The further into the camp we pushed, the more the crowds thinned out.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked, breathing heavily. ‘Where is everyone?’

‘People are either fighting or hiding, same as it ever was.’

And then we turned a corner, entering another alley whose far end was ablaze. The air itself was hotter than the midday sun, the kiln-dry wood of the shantytown shacks the perfect fuel for a firestorm. Jude whined to himself; I could somehow hear it over the noise of people screaming, crying, calling names into the inferno. More people were inside the burning buildings—some staggered back and forth, at one with the flames, while others moved more purposefully.

Someone suddenly burst free. They collapsed in the street, dropping a bundle they were carrying.

Their clothes were smoking, smouldering, ablaze. Someone else threw a blanket over them, started patting them down. The bundle moved. I heard a baby cry. I took a step forward. Someone beat me to it, picking up the poor little thing, cuddling them tight.

Jacko took my arm again, pulled me away, leading us into yet another alley.

Through holes in the walls of some of the junkyard homes, I saw families cowering in fear. Through others, I saw looters picking through abandoned possessions. The vulture-hunger that spurred them on knew no bounds, no decency. We turned another corner, entered another alley.

‘Where are you taking me?’ I asked.

Jacko laughed. ‘Where do you reckon?’

Half-blinded by shock, I hadn’t realised that we were in ‘our’ alley. I saw the tattered curtain that sealed off Jacko’s shack, a dull light spilling from underneath it. We drew up to the shack. Sweat was dripping off me; not the sweat of exertion, but that of panic and fear. Jacko knocked shave-and-a-haircut on the splintered doorjamb, shoved me though the curtain.

‘G’day, Bill.’

Tobe stood there smiling, holding his hand out for me to shake. He had a rifle slung over his shoulder, a pistol in his belt.

Despite all that, I punched him in the face as hard I as I could.

‘Fuck you.’

I flexed my hand; punching him had really hurt. Tobe rocked on his heels but didn’t fall back. He reached up, wiped blood off his lip. I ignored him, looking at Ruby instead. She was standing behind him. She was armed as well.

She smiled at me, a sad little thing that told me everything I needed to know.

‘Are you okay?’ I asked.

She nodded, looking like she wanted to cry.

‘You sure?’

‘No worries.’

I winked at her. I forced myself to look away—she needed affirmation, needed to know that her choice was okay, needed to know that we all thought she was tough enough to make it. We all did, of course. But it was time that she did too—there was no getting away from the fact that she had chosen to stick with Tobe.

It could have been worse—Tobe might have been a monster, but I was pretty sure that he would die for her if that’s what it took to keep her safe.

‘Now, Bill, here’s the plan,’ Tobe said.

I looked at him without speaking. He looked like he was suppressing a smile; he had a knowing glint in his eye, as if this was all a bit of a lark.

‘You have got to be joking,’ I said.

He frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’

It wasn’t a rhetorical question; there wasn’t a trace of sarcasm or humour in his voice.

I almost felt sorry for him.

‘Tobe, if you reckon that I’m going to…’

‘We’ve got trouble,’ Jacko said, cutting me off.

I had completely forgotten about him, and turned to look at him. Something had frightened him—his eyes were wide, his frown etched deep, his hands shook a little. Jude, who was still tucked into one Jacko’s pockets, raised his head. He whined softly, sensing Jacko’s fear.

‘What up?’ Tobe asked Jacko.

‘See for yourself.’

Tobe shouldered me aside and joined Jacko by the curtain.

‘Creeps. Shit.’

I took a step back, feeling naked without a weapon. Tobe pulled out his pistol, levelled it at the curtain. Ruby did the same. Jacko absently reached into his pocket, started patting Jude.

No one spoke. The silence stretched on. It must have only been a few seconds long, but that’s not how it felt. I groaned, unable to help myself. From the corner of my eye, I saw Tobe smile.

He was enjoying himself. I hated him. But I didn’t have time to dwell on the thought—a solitary Creep flicked the curtain aside and strode into the room.

I waited for something to happen, but no one moved.

‘There’s nothing here, sir,’ the Creep yelled over her shoulder. ‘I guess we were too late.’ She looked up at Tobe. She smiled shyly.

‘Good one, Grace,’ Tobe whispered. ‘Catch you down at the rail yard, okay?’

‘Yeah, you bet,’ she mouthed, letting the curtain fall back.

‘What?’

‘Sh.’

Tobe, Ruby and Jacko said it together, a muted choir. I shut my mouth, heard the crunch of heavy boots outside the shack. I looked at Tobe. He was counting on his fingers, a vicious smile on his face.

‘Shouldn’t be a problem,’ he whispered.

Jacko took Tobe’s arm, caught Tobe’s eye, shook his head.

Tobe frowned, pulling away from Jacko’s grip. ‘I’ve got this,’ he whispered.

‘Don’t be so bloody stupid.’

Tobe took a step forward. Jacko grabbed him again.

‘Don’t fucking touch me!’ Tobe yelled furiously, forgetting everything else.

Same old Tobe…

Jacko’s face fell. It was easy to understand why; I too hoped that no one else had heard Tobe’s rash venting of all the hate and madness I had only just come to know. But it didn’t really matter—without even checking that the way ahead was clear, Tobe rushed through the curtain.

‘You stupid bastard,’ Jacko said.

We all reluctantly followed Tobe into the alley. I knew that I would never have a better opportunity to slip away and be done with him forever, but I made a split-second decision, choosing to follow him in order to see that Ruby got away safely.

I knew that I might regret it. I didn’t really care.

The alley was empty. I breathed a sigh of relief, and we fell into a rough single-file line behind Tobe. He had drawn his pistol, was sweeping it back and forth. Ruby brought up the rear, awkwardly walking backwards, making sure no one snuck up on us.

The gun looked absurdly big in her small hand. It shook a little.

‘How we doing back there?’ Tobe asked her.

‘All clear.’ Her voice shook as well.

Tobe took his eyes off the metaphorical prize and looked back at her, his gaze passing over Jacko and I as if we weren’t even there.

‘Don’t worry, she’ll be ‘right.’

‘Yeah, sure.’ Ruby didn’t sound convinced.

Tobe brought us to a halt. Jacko and I groaned aloud.

‘I know what I’m doing, okay?’

‘Tobe,’ Ruby said. ‘Calm down.’

‘Don’t tell me what to do! Look, do you want out of here or not?’

‘Yeah, but…’

‘Then shut up and do as…’

A lone Creep sauntered into the alley, presumably drawn by one of Tobe’s fits of rage. The Creep didn’t have a weapon in his hand—he was either a rookie or arrogant enough to think that a desperate mob of holdouts wasn’t really a problem.