'Afraid so, mate. I'd rather stay in bed too.'
'I hope we're getting close to that beach.'
'We've found the sand. It's the ocean we're lacking.'
Their first hamlet was a place called Urandangie, according to a weathered sign still hanging by a nail from the one standing corrugated steel wall of a collapsed building. It was a desolate portal to civilization. Most of the tiny town had burned down, either in a riot or subsequent brush fire, and what remained looked like it had been pillaged. Broken glass crunched amid the weeds that filled abandoned gravel streets. The loneliness was sad testimony to the chaos that must have descended on the continent when its inhabitants realized they'd been abandoned to plague. Oliver didn't want to pause. 'Best to walk on,' he said.
They initially agreed with him, but at the far edge of the town there was an old garage that looked inhabited. There were new boards on its sagging roof. Inside they saw heaps of collated junk: old fabric, rusting tools, salvaged bottles. Outside, a fire pit smoldered. Someone lived here, but had fled.
They looked uneasily at the curtain of dusty trees around the building. There was a clear sense of being watched.
'Do you think it could be the Warden's men?' Amaya asked.
'They wouldn't be hiding from us,' Daniel said. 'Maybe it's others like Oliver.'
'Maybe we should help ourselves to their belongings,' Ethan suggested practically. 'They'll come out then.'
'No,' said Raven. 'Maybe they're like us, and if we leave it alone they'll know we're not stealing.' She raised her voice. 'Come on out! We're peaceful! Maybe we can help you!'
There was no answer.
'Let's just go,' Ethan said. 'Oliver's right. This place is gloomy.'
'No,' Amaya said. 'Raven's right. We need to help each other. I think we should camp here, away from their things, and wait for them.'
The men looked around the bleak little town and then at Oliver.
'They're here,' the Australian said. 'I can feel them.'
'What about the transmitter?' Daniel asked the others.
'We don't say anything about it until we've sized them up,' Raven replied. 'But we might want to invite them along. There's safety in numbers.'
There was a small creek nearby and a stack of firewood. They built a fire, set up camp, and settled down to wait. The smell of their dinner drifted into the trees.
Their neighbors emerged at dusk. It was a man and a woman, both holding wooden staffs sharpened like spears. They approached cautiously, as if Daniel's group might spring on them at any moment, and they looked like the adventurers did, dressed in the dusty and faded synthetics they must have been wearing when dropped in the Outback. Their skin was clean and the man's beard neatly trimmed. The woman's hair was tied back. They were making an attempt at normality, but strain showed in their faces.
'Hungry?' Raven asked.
There was no reply.
'Quiet,' Ethan observed.
'Why don't you eat with us?' Daniel offered.
The couple stood far enough away to bolt. 'Who are you?' the man finally asked warily.
'Outback Adventurers, like you.'
They started at that.
'We're just passing through,' Raven added.
'You're the first women I've seen in a long time,' the female said. 'That's why we came out. Because you're women, but free.'
'I'm Raven and this is Amaya. We're going east.'
'To Exodus Port?'
'Sort of.'
'We were told it doesn't exist,' the man warned.
'And you are?' Daniel inquired.
'Peter. Peter Knowles, and this is Jessica Polarski. We've had a rough time and learned to be wary of strangers.'
'I understand.' He made introductions of his group. 'And this is Oliver. He was born here.'
The two newcomers looked in surprise at the tattered Australian companion. 'I was always here,' Oliver said proudly. 'This place is mine.'
'Somehow he survived the plague,' Daniel explained.
'Is he your guide?'
'Sort of. He knows a lot of bush craft and we persuaded him to tag along. He's a little… eccentric, but I suppose we are too. What's your story?'
Peter sighed. 'There were four of us, originally. We got lost, and then in trouble, and fell in with a nomad group. We thought they were hikers but then they said there's no way to get back and we had to join them. Except they were convicts! Thieves, murderers. It became this bizarre nightmare. They said there were morally impaired people being dumped all over Australia. They killed my friend for his gear and started raping his girlfriend.'
'We ran away,' Jessica confessed. 'It was horrible.'
'We had to,' Peter added guiltily. 'We hid from everyone we saw.'
Raven looked down.
'How long have you been here?' Daniel asked.
'I don't know. A few months, maybe. We wandered for weeks and then this place had water and some shelter. It's not that we planned to be here. We just stopped and haven't been able to get started again. We don't know where to go. How many people are out there, anyway?'
'We don't know. Maybe more than we thought.'
'We're just so confused,' Jessica said.
Daniel nodded. 'So are we. Come have some dinner.'
The group ate, trading brief life histories, and then when Peter and Jessica returned to their garage, Daniel's group talked late into the night. In the morning, the decision was obvious. They asked the couple to join them.
'We're told there's no Exodus Port either,' Daniel explained. 'But we do have a transmitter salvaged from a crashed aircraft that mightmight- be able to call for help if we can reach the ocean. It will only work on the coast because of electronic jamming inland. The only one they'll take back for sure is Raven, here.'
'Why her?'
'She was sent by United Corporations to bring the instrument back.'
'She's one of them?'
Daniel looked at her. 'She was. Now she's one of us.' He waited to see if she'd correct him, but she didn't. 'There might be room for Ethan too. I don't think United Corporations will save us, but if we can get word out, maybe someone in power will want to exploit this scandal back home. Then somebody might shut Australia down and rescue us.'
'That's your plan?' Peter sounded skeptical.
'Do you have another one?'
He sighed. 'No. I'm just not sure anyone will listen.'
'They certainly won't if we don't do our best to bring back word,' Daniel said.
In the end, the couple's decision was simple. To go with these newcomers offered hope. To stay put offered none. 'If helping get this machine to the coast could put a stop to all this, it's worth whatever it takes to get it there,' Jessica said. 'Then we'll wait for… whatever.' The possibility of getting back still seemed too remote to dare voice.
Amaya smiled encouragingly. 'I don't think we should have to wait for anything,' she replied. 'When we get there I think we should start building the kind of lives we always wanted to lead. By the time we really get back home, we'll have learned what to live for.'
