Blood & Dust (11 page)

'What happens then?'

'You've seen the movies, eh? Kaboom!' She clapped her hands and he flinched.

'You're kidding, right?'

'Yeah, I am. It's just slow and painful and messy. No fireworks.'

He walked over to stand beside her, his hands on the rail. Eyeing the thick clouds, he imagined
the sun on the other side, straining to reach through to fry him. His skin crawled, but it was more
the swelter of an open oven rather than the blow torch of impending incineration. The discomfort
eased as he took in the view, each detail so clear, the line of trees marking the creek as sharp as
a cut-out, the breeze cool and refreshing and smelling of rain. Kala's scent rose to tease him,
musky and spiced with fresh blood. She'd put her shirt back on, her bare arms pimpled by the chill.
A thick patch of sticking plaster covered the left side of her throat. Her skin was pallid, her eyes
dark-rimmed.

Kevin swallowed, tore his eyes from the plaster. 'Did I hurt you?'

'I'm used to it,' she said, gaze fixed ahead. 'A couple of big steaks and I'll be fine.'

'I guess I need to thank you.'

'Feeling better?'

'The best.' He gave a nervous laugh.

She turned, grinning, her teeth so white. 'I'm good.'

He looked away, but she kept staring at him until he chuckled. 'Yeah, you're good.'

She asked in a low voice, 'What did you see, you know, inside me?'

'I saw Taipan give you his blood.'

'The secret to my youthful complexion.' She laughed, a touch of bitterness at the fringe, and
then grew serious, moving to put her arm around him, her breast pressing against his bicep, her
fingers cold. 'Sharing blood's as close as you can get to another person. It's an act of trust.'

If you tell Taipan what we've just done, you and me, he'll kill you

'You okay?' she asked.

'Flashback,' he said. 'Whew. Just between you and me.' His stomach turned with the poison of
deceit, even if he didn't fully understand it. 'I promise.'

Nigel leaned through the doorway. 'Sorry to crash the party, but Acacia wants us out the front.
Someone's coming.'

They stood on the verandah, watching a stain of dust worm closer across the flats,
a brown smudge against the grey of the storm-laden horizon. It was as if the vehicle was running
from the storm, as well it might - the western sky was thick with dark, roiling clouds; lightning
flashed in their innards and a chill breeze carried the smell of wet earth. Acacia and Kala looked
apprehensive, biting lips, exchanging glances.

Nigel and Hippie stood next to the panel van, parked with its nose inside the garage with its
bonnet raised. Both men clutched sub-machine guns in grease-stained hands. Motorcycle chrome glinted
in the depths of the garage; Kala's Monaro was still tucked away in the second bay.

'Car trouble?' Kevin asked.

'Maybe,' Acacia muttered. She'd picked up a stubby assault rifle. Until he'd arrived here, he'd
only ever seen those weapons on television. It explained the mess the gang had made of Hunter's
four-wheel-drive. Hunter's four-wheel-drive and the servo; he couldn't afford to forget that. 'How's
the van?'

'Good as long as you don't wanna go farther than the creek,' Nigel answered, without taking his
eyes off the horizon. Silver-rimmed bullet holes spotted the purple paint. Cracks cobwebbed a
window.

'Then we'd better hope that's Taipan coming.' She checked the sky, as though he might be
parachuting in.

'Well, it won't be the Crawfords, will it?' Kevin snapped.

'No,' she said. 'No, it won't.'

'You just gonna leave them there, like that?'

'We'll burn them when we go. Can't risk the smoke till then.'

'Jesus! Just another "rural tragedy"?'

She shrugged.

'And what happens to me?'

She nodded at the approaching vehicle. 'I guess we're about to find out. It's a Rover, with
bikes.' She relaxed her grip on the rifle.

'I'm gonna go wash off,' Nigel said, wiggling his grimy fingers.

'Dig Budgie out of bed, just to be on the safe side.'

Nigel stalked inside.

'Gets nervous, that boy,' Acacia said. 'Stinks like a wet dog. But don't you worry, young Kevin:
no one's going to hurt you. You're Taipan's pup; we take care of our own. Nigel's been pestering Tai
to come over ever since he joined up. Having you here - it's salt in the wounds.'

'He knows I didn't ask for this, right?'

She nodded and he felt Kala's fleeting touch on his shoulder, a sparrow landing and then taking
off again.

'He doesn't see that,' Acacia said. 'Which is probably why Taipan hasn't done it. Ah, speak of
the devil.'

They watched the ancient Land Rover beetle along the farm road, escorted by four motorcycles. A
squeal of brakes; an urgent squeeze of his hand before Kala wrenched free and Acacia stepped to the
stairs, leaving him abandoned at the rail. The vehicles pulled up and a half-dozen Night Riders
scrambled from under the Rover's canvas. Kevin gripped the rail, bracing. Taipan dropped lightly
from the tailgate.

'You all packed?' he asked Acacia.

'Sandman's still dicey.'

'No other trouble?'

'Just bringing your boy up to speed.'

'And how's that bin workin' out?'

'He's a quick learner.'

'Is that right?' He rubbed his chin. 'Is that right, Kala?'

She shrugged, a movement at the corner of Kevin's vision, and he felt as if he was meeting a
date's father the morning after. Her father or her boyfriend. He kept his eyes averted from the
weaponry as dread washed over him.

Taipan walked up to them. 'You taste him?' he asked Acacia, his voice a murmur.

'Hell no. He's your pup.'

He snorted, then rounded on Kala. 'How you bin, Kay?' Kala turned her face away to avoid his
kiss. He gripped her chin so he could look her in the eyes. 'You're lookin' a bit pale.' He prodded
the bandage at her neck.

'You told me to handle it,' she said.

'Not quite what I had in mind, eh.'

'Then you should've taken care of him back at the silo.'

'Had stuff to do, people to meet.' He pointed to the Rover. 'I knew you'd cope.'

'Then make up your fucking mind.'

Kevin bridled, his lethargy gone, his heart pounding. What was she saying? What was she saying
about him? That he was just a job to her? Some kind of
trick
?

Taipan ran his hand down Kala's neck and pulled her into him. He stared at Kevin over the top of
her head, his nose wrinkling as though he'd stepped in dog shit. 'So, our Kala's bin lookin' after
you all right, eh, fella?'

'She's been very kind,' Kevin said.

'I know.' Taipan tapped his forehead. 'You bin havin' some of them dreams, fella?'

'A few,' Kevin said.

'Me too.'

'You know, I didn't ask for this.' Kevin squared his shoulders and faced Taipan full-on.

'Life's like that, ain't it?'

'I just don't understand why you seem to be blaming me for something you did.'

The other gang members stirred, all eyes fixed on him and Taipan. Worse than opening the batting
or bowling the first ball. At a cricket match, the audience wasn't armed to the teeth. He focused on
Taipan and the way the man was holding Kala against him.

'I'm not blamin' you for nothin',' Taipan said. 'I just got more on me plate than nursin' some
whelp, that's all.'

'So why'd you do it?' Kevin asked.

'You mean you don't know?'

'The only thing I know for sure is that you're a cunt.'

Taipan pushed Kala to one side. 'Think you can take me, fella?' His eyes locked on Kevin's, his
brown irises huge and tinted olive-grey in the muted storm light. 'Got a gut full of fresh juice and
shit on the liver, eh?'

Kevin's heart hammered. His hands fisted. All he could see was Taipan's mocking expression.

'You can have first swipe,' Taipan said.

'Tai,' Acacia said, but didn't move.

Kevin took a step, fist back.

Fuck!

Taipan had him against the wall, pinned by the throat.

Just the way Mira had.

He clamped down on the thought, fear squeezing him harder than Taipan's grip ever could.

'Maybe I should take a taste, eh,' the biker said. 'See just how much bedside manner little
Florence Nightingale there has been givin' you.'

Kevin flailed at Taipan, punching his face, arm, nuts. Like hitting a dozer.

Kala pulled on Taipan's shoulder. 'Tai, let him go!'

'This fella needs to learn his place. He's an accident, nothin' more. I thought he might be
useful, but he ain't; just somethin' else for us to worry 'bout.'

Taipan's grip was so tight, Kevin couldn't even swear.

'Tai,' Kala shouted, half-plea, half-protest.

Taipan released Kevin, sending him stumbling against the rail.

'Why can't you just let me go?' Kevin said, a hand to his bruised throat.

'You think you can cut it out there, fella?'

'I can try.'

'Nah,' Taipan said. 'There's not a lot of me in you, but there's enough.' He rubbed his chest, an
abstract motion. 'You better stick with us so we can keep an eye on you.'

Kevin and Taipan stood, stares locked, with Kala between them.

Light rain pinged on the iron roof. A misty curtain dropped around the house. Thunder rolled
across the flats. Hippie stepped back into the garage, retrieved his jacket where it lay hanging on
one of the motorcycles and shrugged it on. The new arrivals scattered for shelter. One woman pushed
onto the verandah, complaining under her breath about 'wolfbite one minute, drowning the next'.

Acacia manoeuvred Kala out of the way. 'If you boys can put your pissing contest on hold for a
moment, you might care to know that we've got company.'

The downpour reduced visibility to maybe the length of an oval. Kevin stared,
trying to see through the rain, to detect whatever had spooked Acacia. Nothing. Just his anger
turning to confusion and frustration. Lightning cracked and a peal of thunder shook the veranda.
Someone rammed a magazine home with a metallic click, sounding insignificant after the storm's roar.

Acacia looked around, her nose twitching as though she could smell something rotten. 'They're out
there, all right. Someone go fetch Nigel. And where the fuck's Budgie?'

'Here they come,' Taipan said with a nod.

The rain fell heavier and louder; thunder rolled over them like army tanks. And now Kevin could
hear vehicles, low and rumbling.

Taipan sprawled doll-like on the ground, arms and legs spread wide as the report of a rifle shot
echoed over the flat. Kevin reached for Kala but Acacia was ahead of him, throwing the girl to the
ground as a ragged volley broke out. Kevin dropped to the floor. Muzzle flashes sparkled through the
rain. Timber shards erupted from the walls. Bullets whizzed overhead. Taipan's gang returned fire,
filling the air with man-made thunder and lightning.

'They're coming up from the gully,' a panicked voice shouted.

'Sneaky bastards,' Budgie said as he appeared on the veranda, unloading short bursts toward the
creek. 'Usin' that storm to come at us in the daytime.'

'Inside,' someone yelled. 'Take cover!'

'No,' Acacia shouted. 'That's the fucking Strigoi standing up there. We have to get out of here.'

Taipan hauled himself to his knees, his chest bloody, and shook his head like a groggy boxer.
'That bloodhag? Here? I'd love to get me hands 'round her scrawny neck. But Acacia's right. They got
us by the balls.' He grabbed a biker by the sleeve. 'Bring the Rover 'round. We can't lose that
gear. The rest of youse, hit the bikes - meet up at the shearing shed.'

'You got it, Tai.' The biker pulled keys from his pocket and took a step. There was a sound like
a fist hitting a punching bag and he dropped in mid-step and lay still. The keys shone dimly in his
outstretched hand.

Kevin grabbed the keys. It was pretty obvious he was just as much a target as anyone.

He heard his father shout,
Son, wait
.

He stayed low.

Bullets whipped around him, thudding into the farmhouse and garage, clanging against the panel
van, ripping holes in the Rover's canvas cover. He slithered eel-like down the stairs and across the
ground till he could haul himself into the Rover. Soldiers approached from the creek, a line of
camouflaged uniforms dashing in short spurts up the gentle slope. Others were advancing in quick
dashes from the west, wraiths in rain, with vehicles following behind.

Mira, unmistakable in her coat, stood beside a vehicle identical to Hunter's custom BMW, with
Hunter by her side. They wore body armour under their coats, and swords.

Swords! What the fuck? Bullets smacked into the Rover. Kevin hit the starter. A quick reverse and
turn and he pulled the Rover up beside the veranda, its nose pointed toward the creek. 'Kala, get
in!'

Men ripped the canopy aside and jumped aboard. Revving motorcycles added to the cacophony.

'Go,' Acacia urged. 'Go!'

The Rover filled with the clamour of automatic fire. Kevin winced, his ear drums shredding.
Gunpowder wafted around him. He planted his foot. The Rover lurched off with a scrawl of gravel and
mud. Bullets whipped through the canvas, rang on the body, shattered the windshield. Something
punched Kevin in the back, stole his breath. He bent over the wheel, relying on body weight to steer
as he fought to stay conscious.

'Straight through them,' Acacia told him.

The Rover ploughed over a scraggly lemon tree and tore down the slope. Someone stood behind
Kevin, firing. Shells bounced around Kevin, stinging his skin, rattling on the floor. A man in a
uniform appeared beside them. A gun barked and Kevin had the impression of the man doing a star
jump, his weapon flying from his hand before he fell. Kevin wrenched the wheel to the right as they
reached the creek, the vehicle jolting along the rough ground.

'Head toward the main road, best way you can,' Acacia said.