The commander slowly drew my sister’s wedding dress from Tobe’s pack. Gently, so as not to snag or tear it, he pulled it free and held it high, appraising it with a practised eye. He spun it around, smiling a greedy smile.
Tobe took a step forward.
One of the Creeps behind us cocked a gun. Ruby and I watched, transfixed, as Tobe took another step forward.
‘Be careful, boy.’
Tobe finally stopped. The commander folded the dress over his arm, passed it to one of the Creeps flanking him.
‘It’s been a long time since anything this beautiful has graced us—thank you for the gift. It’ll fetch a pretty penny, next time I’m up north.’
Tobe threw himself at the fence, reached through a gap in the wire and caught the commander by one of the absurd epaulettes on his shoulder. He did this without making a sound. It happened almost too fast to see.
‘Shoot!’ the commander screamed.
I heard the Creeps behind us shuffle around. The two that had accompanied the commander drew their guns, but there was no clear line of sight.
‘Shoot!’
The epaulette tore; the commander fell back. Tobe kept reaching, thrashing, clutching. He still hadn’t made a sound.
‘It seems that you need a lesson,’ the commander said.
He got back to his feet, keeping well out of Tobe’s reach. He pulled his gun from its holster. Ruby and I took an involuntary step forward. The Creeps escorting the commander raised their guns, forcing us back, forcing us once again to just watch helplessly.
‘It seems that you have a problem with authority,’ the commander said, taking aim.
Tobe didn’t answer. Smiling cheerfully, the commander pulled the trigger.
‘Tobe!’ Ruby screamed.
Instead of the crash of a gunshot and a red bloom of blood, I heard a sharp whistle as a metal dart trailing a long drooping wire embedded itself in Tobe’s chest.
‘Bang!’ the commander said with a laugh.
The dart sparked. Tobe started to spasm. He bit his lip; blood dribbled down his chin. Limbs jerking uncontrollably, he fell on his back, banged his head and seemed to knock himself out. He kept convulsing.
‘Stop!’ Ruby yelled, running to him.
The dart was still alive with electric fire. Acting on instinct, I dropped my stick and scooped Ruby up, pulling her back.
‘It’s not safe …’
She fought against me. As wounded as I was, there was still no way I would let her get the better of me.
‘Stop!’ she yelled again, her voice thick and blubbery.
Tobe kept convulsing. His eyes rolled back in his head; he started to drool. I wanted to throw myself in the way, to take Tobe’s place—seeing my best mate in such a state was killing me. But the commander was a rock and the world was a hard place and I was stuck between them.
‘Leave him alone!’
Ruby’s tears shone on her cheeks. The commander ignored her, didn’t put a stop to Tobe’s pain.
‘Please,’ she said.
‘Good girl.’
The commander flicked a switch on his gun. The dart stopped sparking. Tobe slowly fell still.
‘In these parts, politeness will get you everywhere.’
He kicked Tobe’s unmoving body.
‘Don’t think that we’re animals. I could have killed your friend, but here we only do so when it is absolutely necessary. We behave the way civilised people should. Contrary to the life you degenerates live, ours is one based on civility and respect for authority.’
I crouched, picked up my stick, and didn’t say a word. Ruby sat by Tobe, stroking his head. Rage burnt in her eyes. Tobe suddenly groaned. He might have been regaining consciousness, or he might have been voicing his disgust at the commander’s pompous bluster.
He opened a bloodshot eye, looked around glassily, let his head drop.
‘It seems that your friend has heard enough of my voice,’ the commander said with a smirk. ‘Very well. Men!’
The commander’s escort levelled their guns at us. Ruby and I didn’t speak, move, or take our eyes off them. The gate behind us creaked open. Three more Creeps walked into our line of sight. One of them dragged Ruby away, while the other two hauled Tobe to his feet.
They completely ignored me.
Tobe groaned deeply as his injured arm was wrenched sideways. The commander flicked another switch on his gun and the wire slowly reeled back in. Two of the Creeps dragged Tobe through the gate; the third let Ruby go and followed them into the camp.
They were soon lost in the shantytown maze.
The commander stared at us coldly.
‘Neither of you are going to give me any trouble, are you?’
I raised my free hand in surrender. Truth be told, Tobe being dragged away had left me numb and unmoored—the fact that I had to tread a nightmare path alone was beginning to sink in. Ruby caught my eye, tipped a tiny wink my way, a pathetic attempt at comfort.
I smiled gratefully; I wasn’t completely alone. ‘Cheers.’
She mouthed the words ‘no worries’.
‘Right, time to get a move on.’ The commander nudged the steel trough with the toe of his boot, pushing it back our way. ‘You know what to do.’
Ruby reluctantly spun in front of the commander, showing him that the pockets of her coveralls had been slashed and torn. She turned her back on him. I started emptying my pockets, realising that in the rush of leaving Ishra and the confusion of everything that had followed I hadn’t gotten around to checking them. It’s strange, not knowing what you might be carrying …
I found Tobe’s tarnished compass, his antique lighter, his jangle of rusty keys, a possum skin of bush tobacco, the old rusty nail that my hat had once hung upon. They all went into the trough, each a reminder of yet another loss.
I kicked the trough back. The commander crouched down and sifted through it, dismissing it as junk.
‘Men, if you will?’
The gate behind us creaked open. Heavy boots crunched on gravel.
‘You two, up against the fence.’
We did as we were told, staring at the commander’s smug smile through the wire. One of the Creeps behind me kicked my legs apart and frisked me roughly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that they were treating Ruby a little more gently. But only a little, as is their way.
They found nothing on either of us.
‘Very good, you’re learning. Now, gather your things and come along.’
The commander dumped our packs in the trough and nudged it back through the gate. I filled my pockets with the bits and bobs Tobe had left me. I emptied his pack into mine. Ruby struggled to shoulder it, but she got there in the end. The commander unlocked the gate and swung it open.
‘Welcome to the Echuca-Moama Refugee Camp … Sergeant, if you would?’
One of the Creeps flanking the commander abruptly strode off. All but two of the Creeps that had met us off the train followed after him.
‘Lead on,’ the commander said.
I resisted the urge to correct him as we reluctantly stepped through the gate. Ruby walked in my shadow. We kept on, my stick occasionally catching on the gravel surface of the apron separating the fence from the camp.
We entered an ungodly fresh hell.
The sprawling city of junk shimmered with heat haze; clouds of smoke billowed; tongues of flame leapt into the sky; flies, carrion birds, dust and despair filled the air. A towering steeple rose from the middle of the jumbled ruins; others dotted the camp’s perimeter: watchtowers and guard towers, rifle barrels bristling from gun nests like so many coarse hairs. A formless noise swelled around us. It seemed to have no beginning or end, like the sound of the far off ocean. Muffled voices, the rhythms of industry, stomping feet, buzzing flies, barking dogs, squawking birds, the clink-clink of commerce, the angry yelling of the aggrieved—they all blended into one.
‘Shit,’ Ruby said.
There seemed no more appropriate word.
‘Try to think of it as home,’ the commander suggested.
Our eyes were open wide; our mouths were closed shut. We were absolutely overwhelmed.
The commander led us on. We followed meekly, turning down one of the many alleys that cut between the tattered tents, battered tin sheds and shacks made of reclaimed rubbish. It was hard to ignore the bullet holes that peppered some of them. For the most part, it was impossible to tell if people lived in them or if they had been abandoned or if they were simply waiting for someone desperate enough to call them home.
‘Shit,’ Ruby said again, as the alley opened onto a rough town square.
‘You degenerates and your language …’
There were people everywhere; we ignored the commander in favour of gawping. A lot of them sat around listlessly, doing their best to escape the sun. A lot more struggled to ward off worse enemies. Buying, selling, trading, taking, fighting, playing, dancing, feasting and fucking—the lethargy in the air was only matched by the frantic activity of those trying to keep boredom and frustration at bay.
‘You’ll have time to explore later.’
The commander hurried across the square, leading us through a maze of barter stalls, open-air workshops, makeshift ironmongers and bootleg home brew stands. No one met his eye; everyone was noticeably doing their best to avoid his attention. We trailed after him, as docile as thirsty beasts being herded to a waterhole.
‘Shit,’ Ruby kept saying as each new surprise met her unbelieving eyes.
Numerous dusty roads, broken streets and grimy alleys branched off the square. The commander led us into one that seemed no different from any other, a twisting, winding thing strewn with rubble and occasionally blocked by a rusted-out car. We kept walking. The alley soon straightened out, stopping at a towering brick wall.
‘Shit.’
‘Yes, yes, yes—we get the point.’
Fresh alleys led left and right, following the wall in both directions. The commander steered us right; a single-file human snake, we slithered through an alley that opened onto a wide road stretching in both directions, seemingly splitting the camp in two. On the far side, the camp continued; on our side, an immaculate red-brick courthouse loomed above us, surrounded by the desiccated remnants of a sprawling manicured garden. The courthouse was an ornate piece of the long-dead past, a ridiculous tower capping off its grandiosity. A dozen steps rose from the street to its doors; two Creeps stood guard, the first I had seen aside from our escort. Both were armed with actual guns, rather than the taser the commander had carried. Another Creep stood at the top of the steps, looking over a crowd of fifty or so fellow holdouts.
They looked back at him with desperate eyes, while he took his time waving certain people to one side.
‘Work detail,’ the commander explained inadequately.
‘What’s in it for them?’ I asked, barely aware of the words falling from my mouth.
He smirked. ‘Not much, a bit of extra food and water in the ration pack. The true reward lies in having something useful to do … Anyway, that’s for later. Right now, you need to remember how to get here. This is where you’ll find everything you need—food, water, first aid. The bell sounds at eight every day. You turn up, join the queue, exchange your old ration pack and canteen for new ones, and that’s that.’
I looked up at the building, disbelief growing in my staring eyes. Plastic bullhorns adorned the tower; another pair of Creeps watched the crowd from the roof. Like their fellow bastards, they were armed with actual guns as well.
‘Please, don’t be late and don’t forget: there are no favours here. If you miss it, you’ll have to make do.’
I whistled low.
‘If you want to see a doctor, the guards will assess you first—don’t worry, they know what they’re doing. And if you have a problem with a fellow refugee, I suggest you sort it out yourself. Or at least try and resolve it in front of a guard.’
‘Bullshit,’ I said, not knowing what else to say.
‘No bullshit. Isn’t that how you people tend to respond? Anyway, if your ‘problem’ doesn’t get too serious, we tend to turn a blind eye.’
I groaned aloud. I wasn’t much of a fighter. The commander nodded at the courthouse.
‘But if things go too far or get out of hand, a prisoner in its basement is what you’ll be.’
Tobe …
‘Don’t even think about it,’ the commander said, catching the look on my face.
We crossed the empty road that split the camp in two, the commander leading us into another alley. We followed meekly, the two Creeps that were our escort trailing behind us. We kept walking. The further we walked, the fewer people we saw. After a while, I came to a stop.
Hemmed in by the towering walls of yet another alley, I had lost sight of the courthouse.
‘Ruby?’
‘Sh.’ She held a finger to her lips, like the youngest schoolmarm that’s ever been.
‘Sorry?’
‘Sh.’
We turned another corner. I saw her trace a line in the dirt on her left arm.
‘Clever girl,’ I said with genuine admiration.
‘Sh. I need to concentrate.’
We hurried on. The commander seemed to be in a world of his own, as if this was merely an everyday walk around a park of rolling hills and grass of the greenest green. Hands folded behind his back, he whistled tunelessly, seemingly content.
‘Ah, almost there,’ he said at some point.
We had been following a long, straight, featureless alley. Ahead, a familiar cyclone fence cut it off, train tracks lying beyond it. We drew up to the fence. The commander scratched his chin, looked back and forth, and led us down an alley that ran parallel to the fence.
‘And behold …’
We stepped around the commander and looked upon a graveyard of scrap that stretched as far as we could see. It was dotted with towering piles of junk: ravaged building materials, broken wood, splintered furniture, useless white goods, abandoned vehicles—it was as if the monstrous wall that had sealed off the Borough had been dumped in a pile in front of us.
I shielded my eyes from the glare, saw some enterprising souls picking through the debris.
‘This is our goodbye,’ the commander said, turning to us. ‘We’ve wasted enough time showing you around, you’re as ready as can be.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding me …’
I stepped toward the commander. One of the Creeps flanking him drew his gun.
‘What’s to stop us running as soon you leave?’ I asked, coming to a stop.
I challenged him with it. All he did was laugh. Even Ruby smiled, although it was a bitter little thing. The commander swept his arm to encompass the sad sack of shit our world had become.
‘Where will you go? The Mallee? You’re certainly welcome to try.’ He spat in the dust to hammer his point home. ‘Now, help yourselves to as much junk as you can carry. Use it to make a home or to sell or trade—do with it what you will.’
‘And what then?’
‘And then you wait, like everybody else, for your chance to head up to the line.’ He smiled at me. ‘Good luck.’
He and his escort briskly walked away. I turned to see if Ruby was okay, only to find that she was already darting across the graveyard of scrap, scooting around the towering piles in search of the best refuse she could find.
‘Shit.’
I watched her dig through the graveyard’s crust. She avoided our fellow holdouts, leaving them to their scavenger hunts. I sat down, painfully. I pulled out a canteen, took a long drink, propped my pack behind me, tugged a possum skin pouch from my pocket, rolled some bush tobacco, leaned back, and lit up with Tobe’s trusty lighter.
There was no wind, the smoke lazily rising in an arrow-straight plume.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me …’
Taking the time to do nothing but sit—to rest and think without the constant shock of danger and flight—allowed the reality of our situation to properly sink in. I looked down, saw that my hands were shaking. I hurriedly butted out my bush tobacco, rather than drop it and start a fire. The shakes spread to the rest of my body. I lowered my head. I wept, snuffling, snorting back snot and tears. It was a dam bursting its banks. I gave in, bowed before it.
‘Bill, you ‘right?’ Ruby asked at some point.
I hadn’t even seen her return. She put an arm around my shoulder and my flood of grief began slowing to a trickle.
‘Yeah, cheers. It’s just …’
The words wouldn’t come. Exactly as the commander had done earlier, I swept my arm out to encompass the sad sack of shit our world had become.
‘I hear you.’
I looked at her. She wasn’t crying, didn’t look shell-shocked or overwrought.
‘Sometimes all you can do is go with it,’ she said.
She bounded to her feet, offered me her hand. I took it, somewhat embarrassed, sheepishly letting her haul me up.
‘Now, come on, I could do with some help.’
She led me across the unsteady field of rubble. She was surefooted and confident; I was hesitant and afraid of catching my stick. We stopped at a hole that she had dug and she reached inside, her small hands able to find what others’ couldn’t.
‘Come on, quit standing around.’
I pulled myself together, crouched next to her, tried to help. The thought of snakes or spiders didn’t even cross my mind. I touched something coarse and stiff. I gripped it tight. We pulled. Something gave; we fell back, stumbling.
‘Good one,’ Ruby said, quickly finding her feet and freeing our discovery.
It was an unbelievably old canvas tent, riddled with bullet holes. Ruby bundled it into a rough pile and once again reached into the hole that she had dug. The tent’s awning—equal parts tattered and ragged—soon saw daylight.
I helped her when I could.
‘That’ll do,’ she eventually said.
Some bent steel poles, a broken stool and a tangled mess of guy-ropes had joined the ratty pieces of tent.
‘So, what’s the plan?’ I asked, unable to help myself.
She snorted. I immediately felt incredibly stupid.
‘Better get a wriggle on, then, I guess,’ I said hesitantly.
She nodded, slowly, to hammer the point home.
We gathered our scrap and my pack. Ruby look the lead—I was too embarrassed to admit that I had no idea where to go or what to do next. We trudged along; we must have been a god-awful sight, weighed down like beasts of burden. We soon entered the featureless alley that had led us to the junkyard. We walked it for a long time, and then without warning Ruby hung left and we entered a different alley. From there, without the slightest pause, she led us through the slums to the road that split the camp in two.
‘Nice one.’
She didn’t look at me, her eyes fixed on the courthouse towering over us. I didn’t need to ask what was wrong.
‘Tobe’ll be ‘right,’ I said. ‘He’s as tough as they come.’
She just kept staring, doubt clouding her eyes. I tried to smile, to make her believe the words I didn’t.
‘Hey, it’s okay. I’ve known him a long time, he can take care of himself.’
She nodded almost imperceptibly.
‘Shall we?’
She nodded a second time and we continued our march. The noise grew, soon became incredible. Once more, I had no idea where to go. But Ruby seemed to know what she was doing—she led us down more alleys, confidently taking left turns and then right turns. I followed her, watching as she gave each ruined excuse for a home a thorough once over. Families of holdouts slept in some, exposed to the open air thanks to missing walls. Somehow they had adapted; they didn’t stir despite the din. Belongings and makeshift beds occupied others, while some were completely empty. The people we passed eyed us with suspicion. None of them tried to talk to us.
Somewhere ahead, a dog starting barking. In an instant, Ruby darted off.
‘Hang on …’
She ignored me. Overburdened, I couldn’t hurry after her. I dropped my pack and load of scrap, limped on, found her crouched outside a shack, a puppy at her feet. Ruby gave the puppy a good scratch behind the ear—it rolled onto its back so that she could get to its belly.
Ruby smiled, actual happiness in her eyes.
The puppy noticed me, wriggled around like an upside-down beetle, squirmed from side to side, got to its feet, started barking furiously.
‘Jude, shut up!’
The voice came from behind a threadbare curtain covering the door to the shack. The puppy paid it no mind, kept barking, getting steadily louder. Ruby quickly managed to settle it down. The curtain twitched aside and a grizzled, unshaven face stuck itself out.
‘Shit, ah, g’day,’ the stranger said.
He sized us up. He smiled, gap-toothed and wide. I guessed that Ruby and I didn’t pose much of a threat.
‘I haven’t seen you around before,’ he said. ‘You folks must be new. My name’s Jacko—welcome to the camp.’
And then he held out his hand for me to shake.