I couldn’t see who was shooting, couldn’t see who was being shot at.
‘Tobe!’ I yelled.
No answer.
Something exploded to the left of me, throwing me off my feet. I scrabbled back up as fast as I could, looked around, saw that someone had lobbed a Molotov or a jerry-rigged equivalent through one of the courthouse windows, setting fire to its insides.
‘Come on!’ a voice screamed.
Someone was running across the street, heading for the courthouse steps, a half-dozen people trailing behind. In the flickering light they were a shambling horde, holding aloft broken branches, pieces of wood, and lengths of metal. There wasn’t a real weapon to be seen.
‘Bastards!’ their leader yelled, loud enough to be heard over the gunfire.
More shots rang out, sparks kicking up brightly off the street. The mob of holdouts started to fall, one by one. I guessed there were Creeps on a roof somewhere, snipers happily plying their trade. For all I knew, they were on the roof above me. I watched helplessly as one of the felled holdouts twitched, groaned, started screaming. Another shot rang out. The holdout fell still.
Blood pooled around the bodies. My stomach heaved. I tasted bile.
‘Tobe!’ I yelled again.
‘For fuck’s sake, Bill, keep it down.’
I looked to my left. Nothing. I looked to my right.
‘Jacko?’
It was a stupid question; I recognised him straightaway. If I had been a little more clearheaded, his presence might have made some kind of sense, conforming to the nightmare logic that the day had imposed.
But I wasn’t clearheaded. I was terrified.
‘Come on,’ Jacko said. ‘Tobe’s waiting.’
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. ‘You what?’
‘We go way back, Tobe and I. That’s how long I’ve been here.’ Jacko patted the courthouse, almost affectionately. ‘Who do you think helped make this happen?’ he asked, waving at the warzone the camp had become.
He smiled to himself. He fiddled with something in the pocket of his coat. I looked harder, saw a furry little snout sticking out of it. Jude worked the rest of his head free and then growled at me. Jacko reached down, gave him another pat and another scratch, managed to settle him down.
And then Jacko took off, hugging the wall, keeping out of the Creeps’ line of sight. I was overwhelmed by the temptation to seek shelter away from Tobe’s madness and instead hopefully ride out the chaos he had unleashed in some kind of peace. But I wanted to see Ruby, even if—as I feared—it was just to say goodbye.
I didn’t care about farewelling Tobe.
Jacko was surprisingly fleet of foot for an old man, already disappearing down one of the alleys leading to the square. I hurried after him. A mob of people were already streaming in the opposite direction; it was as if the courthouse was a magnet for their pent-up hate. I stopped at the mouth of the alley, remembering the Creeps on the roof. I tried to warn the mob, to keep them back. Instead, I was shouldered aside, my words drowned out by their screams of anger and hate.
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.