Red Queen Read Online Free Page B

but because of the lack of food and clean water. People were talking about the same problems overseas, but it was all word of mouth. There’s a lot of talk of nuclear war.’
    ‘Because of China?’ Rohan asked.
    ‘Their low infection rate.’
    ‘Is the virus still unchecked?’ I asked. ‘Is there still no cure?’
    She looked up at me. ‘Not anything they’re telling the everyday people. If China does have a cure they’re keeping it to themselves, and the same with America. There’s meant to be a whole different range of strains now. They call them RQV1, 2, 3 and so on. I’ve heard they’re up to RQV10, but I don’t know.’
    ‘Red Queen Virus,’ I said. ‘It’ll keep adapting.’
    Rohan scoffed. ‘I wonder if there’s any change to the survival rate – if we’re evolving yet. Perhaps we’ll sprout fins and crawl back into the sea.’
    ‘I don’t know about the survival rate,’ Denny said, ignoring his quips. ‘I don’t know if it’s any better. The talk was turning more to war, the breakdown of economies. There wasn’t as much panic, but in some ways the response was worse than the mayhem created by the virus: very segregated and ruthless.’ She thought a moment. ‘No love lost between the survivors.’
    ‘You tell anyone where you were heading?’ Rohan asked.
    ‘Did you?’ she challenged.
    ‘I would’ve told family,’ he said back at her.
    ‘I haven’t been able to contact my family. I come from Queensland.’
    ‘How’d you know about the farmhouse?’
    ‘My boyfriend’s parents had it as a weekend retreat. They didn’t die there; I don’t know what happened to them. Their car is gone.’
    ‘And your boyfriend?’
    ‘He was working in Melbourne when they locked it down. He couldn’t get out. He died. They read his name out over the radio.’
    ‘Where’d you leave the car?’
    ‘Near that little town with the tearooms.’
    ‘You see many people?’
    ‘None once I got into the bush. Most survivors are in small groups or families in the country areas and on farms. You can’t ask for help, or approach. Once you’re alone it’s hard to get back in. They call people on their own unknowns . Not even the army will come near you if you’re an unknown – I’ve seen them shoot unknowns who have tried to come too close. Very occasionally the army drives along the country roads delivering food to the farmhouses. They stand guard and keep any unknowns from the food while the ‘known’ family collects it. It’s unbelievable. Seeing it …’
    I couldn’t keep the excitement from my voice: ‘There’s some order – and all those survivors?’
    She looked at me. ‘So far … I guess.’
    I sat on the arm of Rohan’s chair. ‘When you don’t hear anything you start to wonder. No news can have you imagining the very worst. I was starting to think the whole damn world had died on us.’
    Denny held my gaze. ‘It hasn’t.’
    ‘Not yet,’ Rohan said.
    We were silent. My head swam with possibilities and scenarios, the image of Australian army trucks rolling down country roads and families standing in driveways. It was something. More than I’d hoped. I wanted to ask more, but Rohan leant low over his knees and pushed himself up from the chair.
    ‘Right,’ he said. ‘You’ll sleep on the couch, Denny. We’ll talk and sort things out when you’ve rested.’ He paused before leaving. ‘You do know,’ he said, looking at both of us, ‘now that we’re here we stay right to the end. And I decide the end.’

    Coming in the back door with an armful of freshly picked pears I heard the shower running and knew it would be Denny.
    Rohan was propped on a stool at the kitchen bench, with his legs crossed at the ankles and his arms folded over his chest.
    ‘How are the oranges?’ he asked.
    ‘Not ripe yet.’ I tilted my head towards the hallway. ‘She’s having a shower.’
    ‘I’ve given her a pair of your trousers and one of your shirts. Mum’s stuff was all too