Skyquakers by A.J. Conway Page B

student next to him. ‘ It ’ s
something else. ’
    ‘And Indie was in a nuclear
bomb . These are just beams of light, ’ said
another.
    ‘I still say it ’ s the Chinese, ’ said a fourth.
    ‘No, ’ said Ned, ‘ it ’ s
al —’
    ‘Let ’ s not get into the
five-hundredth argument of what ‘it’ is and isn ’ t, ’ Elizabeth sighed. ‘ Let ’ s just be
grateful that Jackrabbit found us another survivor. ’
    ‘You ’ ve come a long way, son, ’ said Munroe. He patted the boy on the back.
    With a mouth full of bread, Ned mumbled, ‘ Thanks
to him, of course. ’
    ‘Bah. ’ Jackrabbit waved it off,
cracked another beer, and gulped down.
    Elizabeth smiled at the Aboriginal wanderer and said, ‘ I
thought we ’ d never see you again, Jack. Will you stay with us
this time? ’
    ‘Nah, mai . I ’ ll
be gone by morning. ’
    ‘But where to? ’
    ‘He may find others like this one out there, ’ said Munroe. ‘ There could be hundreds of
people still lost in the middle of nowhere. You ’ re bloody
lucky, kiddo. ’
    ‘Ah-huh. ’ Ned looked around. ‘ Hey,
where ’ s Moonboy ? ’
    ‘Who ’ s Moonboy ? ’
    ‘ Ergh , ’ Jackrabbit snorted. ‘ If he ’ s gone,
leave him. No one wants that mutt here. ’
    But Ned was worried. He left his chair and went looking for
him, calling out for his dog, searching in bushes and paddocks around the
gallery for the hybrid critter.
    When he was gone, James turned to the other settlers. ‘ What
do we think? ’ he asked.
    ‘What do you mean, what do we think? ’ Elizabeth
snapped.
    ‘Well, I just think we should start being a little more
cautious about who we meet. We shouldn ’ t just open
our arms to every wanderer who comes by, begging for food. No offense, Jack.
But I mean, we ’ ve been ambushed by Suits
before. How do we know this kid isn ’ t a spy or something? ’
    ‘Christ, James! ’
    ‘Lizzie, we just have to be careful. We should start
fortifying this place, keeping watch, making sure we don ’ t get
jumped again like we did in Darwin. There could be thieves and murderers and
God-knows what else lurking around here. ’ He turned
to Munroe. ‘ I think we should start considering protecting
ourselves, mate. ’
    ‘Well my wife didn ’ t like guns, so I don ’ t
know how I can help you, mate , ’ the old man grumbled. ‘ You can go off and be a
one-man army if you want, but I ain ’ t turning down a lost boy. ’
    ‘No one is turning him down, ’ Elizabeth
said boldly, particularly to James. ‘ Now more than ever, we need to
learn to get along. ’
    James gave up and rested back in his chair.
    Munroe looked to Jackrabbit and tried to steer the
conversation elsewhere. ‘ So, tell us, what ’ ve
you seen out there, other than the kid? ’
    Jackrabbit sat up to address the settlers. He began with a
word: ‘ Suits. ’

11

 

GOODBYE

 
 
 
    Ned slept for twelve hours on his first night. He woke at
dawn, but Jackrabbit was already gone. He didn ’ t even say
goodbye.

12

 

FAMILY

 
 
 
    The settlers lived at Zebra Rock for more than three months.
During that time, all of summer passed, as did Christmas, the New Year, the
national holiday, Valentine’s, and a couple of birthdays in between. By autumn,
fourteen strangers had moulded themselves into a close-knit community of
brothers and sisters.
    From the abandoned suburbs of Wyndham, to the vacant
farmland of central Australia, Ned’s idea of sustainability and survival had to
be dramatically rearranged. His days of scavenging pantries and grocery stores
were over. Besides Ivanhoe, there was not another township within hundreds of
kilometres of Zebra Rock and homes were too few and far apart to rely on for
food, shelter, and basic needs over the long term. The biologists had not
brought much with them when they escaped Darwin and Munroe ’ s
emergency supplies ran out within the first few weeks of their arrival, but
they were sitting in the dead centre of