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  ‘You girls been bitten?’ the captain asked.

  ‘No,’ Ruth said.

  ‘Good. My men will escort you across the road into the base,’ he said.

  ‘We’re not going,’ Ruth said.

  ‘You’ll be safe with us,’ the captain said. ‘Pack some clothes now. This street’s coming alive with braindeads. You want to get eaten?’

  Lea jumped. ‘Maybe we should, Ruth. It’ll be safe there. Can I get my computer and equipment? I’m an immunologist. I was working on a cure at my lab.’

  He nodded. ‘Just the computer. We’ll come back for the rest in the daylight. Gets worse when it’s dark.’

  ‘Lea. Don’t go,’ Ruth ordered her friend. She turned back to the captain. ‘We’re taking my car down to Balmoral. I’ve got a boat. We’ll be safe on the water. Tell your men to remove the road block and we’ll be on our way.’

  ‘There’s a plague of braindeads there. Everyone had that idea and then they got bit. Vassar. Armstrong. Help the women carry what they need.’ The captain motioned them with his rifle. ‘Come on.’

  Was he lying? Ruth hadn’t left the apartment for two months, not with Mrs Nichols guarding the door. With all communications down several months ago, she couldn’t tell how bad things were at Balmoral Beach. The only indication was the braindeads that walked the street below her apartment had multiplied. Anyway, it wasn’t easy to argue with a man holding a gun, but she turned her back on him, walked into the lounge room, slipping her boat keys into her jean’s pocket then picked up her duffle bag, which held her medical supplies and other essentials.

  ‘Here, I’ll carry it for you,’ the captain said, holding out his hand for her bag.

  ‘I’ll manage.’ Ruth held the duffle bag to her chest. She could feel his eyes devouring her as she followed Lea, Sue and the two men down the stairs. She hadn’t missed the men’s relief at finding women alive.

  Once downstairs the captain marched them to another truck following the garbage truck. Ruth glanced further up the street. She froze. Although concrete barriers blocked all the side roads as far as she could see, braindeads pressed against them groaning, arms stretched out. The remaining braindeads on Middle Head Road walked towards them. Their uber designer gear contrasted against their rotting flesh making them grotesque parodies of their former selves.

  ‘Quick. It’s not safe,’ a blond-haired sailor ushered them towards a truck.

  Ruth looked behind her. Bang. The captain was already firing on the approaching contaminated. The street swarmed with them. Her stomach turned. Two months trapped inside by Mrs Nichols and her world had gone to hell.

  The captain stopped firing for a moment. ‘Armstrong, put the women into the last truck. Get down to the base and lock them up.’

  Chapter 2

  Captain Jack Lang scanned the street, the truck’s spotlights lighting up the roundabout where his men had placed barriers. They’d built the concrete barrier high at the junction of Middle Head Road and Bradley’s Head. Still he could hear so much groaning and shuffling, he was tempted to lob a grenade, but he didn’t want to risk damaging the barrier. A braindead staggered out of the pub on the corner. Jack would have laughed at the irony if he hadn’t been so exhausted. Taking aim he shot it. It dropped. His men had already done a sweep of the pub and cleared the liquor out. How had they missed this braindead?

  He’d made sure the alcohol was locked away on the base. Alcohol made men stupid and stupid got you bit. Every reward would have to be earned, since money no longer counted. The face of the sexy, red-headed woman came to mind. She was trouble. One petite package with fine features and skin like cream, except her bright blue eyes cut a man like a laser when challenged. Ruth, one of the other women had called her.

  Jack’s cock stirred. In another life he could have fallen for her. Now? No way. Too mouthy. Too demanding at a time he had nothing left to give.

  ‘It’s getting dark,’ he said to Lieutenant Vassar. ‘Low visibility.’

  ‘Good body count today, Captain. All the barriers held too.’

  ‘Why so few live people?’ It had taken an hour with his rifle set to automatic to clean out the rest of Middle Head Road along with the braindeads pressing against the barriers. Damn it, he had to find more. He had a hundred men on the base, many of those had served with him in the Middle East. Good men. Men who’d come home only to find they’d lost all their loved ones. The same men who’d returned to the base to serve under him when he put out the call. The sailors obeyed his rules and it had paid off, they were alive but they needed a reason to keep going. Saving lives gave them that reason. Rewards worked too.

  But he only had three women.

  ‘Wealthy area. People who could left when the contagion started,’ Lieutenant Vassar said. ‘The rest got bit.’

  Jack turned his truck around and headed back to the base, the other trucks filled with his best shooters followed.

  The large houses with their manicured lawns were fading with the approaching night. Why was no one calling out for help? Were there others trapped and too scared to call out? No one trusted the government anymore. That was for sure. Hell, he sure didn’t, they’d been too slow to act, which is why he decided to work on containment whether the government liked it or not. Keeping the compound clean of infected, blocking roads, clearing out the braindeads, one street at a time on the peninsula. God knows, he could lay his head down on his bed and sleep for a week but he still had the women to look after. Somehow he had a feeling he was going to run into problems when he ordered Ruth to strip.

  ***

  ‘Hey!’ Ruth hammered on the door of her cell. ‘Let us out of here.’

  ‘Give it up, Ruth,’ Sue said. ‘I’m sure they’ll let us out when they’re ready.’

  Ruth whirled around. ‘What? You think locking us up on the base without explanation is acceptable?’

  ‘It’d be better if you quit yelling out. You’re giving me a headache.’ Sue massaged her temples.

  Ruth scowled at her. ‘Sorry to upset your delicate sensibilities.’

  ‘Quit fighting. I can hear footsteps,’ Lea said.

  Ruth froze. ‘Boots. They’re coming back.’ Her fingers curled around the cell bars. To her right she could see the captain striding down the corridor, all swagger and intent, his two henchmen who had loaded them into the trucks, following him.

  The captain reached into his pocket and unlocked the door. ‘I’m Captain Jack Lang, commander of this base. Sorry for making you ladies wait but dawn and dusk are the best times to clear braindeads. Please follow me.’

  ‘Where are you taking us?’ Ruth asked.

  ‘Into the medical inspection room. We need to check you for bites under high intensity lighting before you mix with the others. I can’t risk the infection spreading.’ He turned and walked down the hall.

  The three women followed him into a large white room with an examination table in the centre of it. The two other men stayed outside.

  ‘We weren’t bitten,’ Sue said. ‘We were all stuck inside because Ruth insisted on nursing Mrs Nichols who thanked us by trying to eat us.’

  Ruth saw the captain look her over.

  ‘Who wants to be checked first?’ the captain asked.

  ‘Wait a minute,’ Ruth said. ‘Don’t you have medical personnel to do this? A female doctor?’

  ‘Our doctors were among the first bitten, which was unfortunate because I could have done without this job.’

  ‘So why do it?’ Ruth challenged.

  Jack slammed his hands on the examination table and leaned forward, his gaze pinioning her. ‘Because I’ve sworn to keep everyone on this base safe to the best of my ability. No braindeads are getting in.’

  Ruth noticed the edge of exhaustion in his voice. She didn’t give a shit. Instead she crossed her arms in front of herself. ‘Listen, I didn’t ask to come here. I’m not taking my clothes off for you and neither are my friends.’

  ‘I will,’ Sue said, pulling off
her T-shirt and undoing her jeans to reveal her bountiful breasts encased in sheer underwear and a flat, tanned tummy.

  Lea gasped.

  ‘Sue. No!’ Ruth said.

  ‘Look, it’s a perfectly reasonable request. You saw what it’s like outside, so quit arguing and get your gear off,’ Sue said. ‘Besides the captain’s hot. Do you want my underwear off too?’

  ‘No. I can see through it,’ Captain Lang said. The side of his mouth twitched.

  Did he think this was funny? Arsehole. Ruth knew that Sue was proud of her all over tan acquired at Cobbler’s nudist beach just near the base. Just as proud of her perfectly bare pubic mound, every hair lasered off after two years of treatment. She enjoyed the company of men from the forces and was always at ease with them. Her father had served in the navy, plus she liked to sit on her balcony and watch the guys jog past the apartment. This was Sue’s idea of heaven.

  Lea hiccupped, hesitated for a moment, then unzipped her dress and let it fall to the ground, showing perfectly white skin on her slim frame. She wore sweet lacy underwear, which suited her. She wasn’t athletic but if the captain was into timid librarian-looking types, Lea was perfect.

  Ruth watched the captain’s expression through narrowed eyes as he inspected both women for bites. His face hadn’t lit up in a sexual way and he didn’t attempt to touch them. In fact his behaviour was impeccable towards the two young women in their twenties.

  Ruth didn’t trust him for one minute.

  ‘Thanks. You can put your clothes on now.’ He opened the door. ‘Follow Lieutenant Armstrong, he’ll show you to the Mess on level one so you can get some dinner. Lieutenant Vassar, stay outside the room while I do the last check.’ His eyes narrowed when his gaze fixed on Ruth.

  ‘Captain.’ Vassar gave a short, sharp nod.

  ‘No, wait,’ Ruth said.

  Sue’s chin jerked up and she rounded on Ruth. ‘I don’t want to wait. I waited for you while you insisted on looking after that lost cause of a neighbour. I waited days while she moaned outside our door terrorising us when I could have been home with my parents. I’m tired of waiting. This is the first time I’ve felt safe since this outbreak started and I’m going to cooperate. If you did what someone else asked for once, instead of thinking you’re smarter than everyone, we wouldn’t be in this mess. So why don’t you do as you’re damn well told and get your clothes off?’

  ‘Because he has no right.’ Ruth pointed at the captain. ‘And I’m not going to encourage a pervert.’ What was wrong with Sue? Normally, she supported her. Did their years of friendship count for nothing?

  ‘You never can see what’s right in front of your nose,’ Sue said. ‘The captain’s a good man.’

  ‘How can you possibly know that?’ Ruth asked. ‘He’s trapped us here. Forced us onto this base.’

  Sue flicked her blonde hair from her face, walked up and stood in front of her, fury heating her hazel eyes. ‘We owe him our lives. The captain saved us. I hate the way you won’t listen to anyone unless you think they’re smart like that specialist prick you were dating until he tried to eat your face.’

  Lieutenant Vassar raised his eyebrows at Lieutenant Armstrong.

  The captain cocked his head as if amused by the argument.

  ‘You could have left for your farm. I didn’t ask you to stay with me,’ Ruth said, stung by Sue’s words. How could she tear her apart in front of these pumped up, steroid using, navy types?

  ‘I didn’t leave you because you’re brilliant but you have no awareness of anything when you’re focused on a patient. You were so upset about Mrs Nichols I was worried you’d feed her your own arm. You’re safe now. I’m out of here,’ Sue said, turning around and marching out of the room. ‘Come on, Lea.’

  ‘Just do as the captain asks, Ruth,’ Lea said to her, her expression pleading. ‘It’s just down to your underwear. It’s no big deal.’

  Except she wasn’t wearing any because she’d been saving on washing her smalls as water was low, but Captain Jerk didn’t need to know that.

  ‘Come on, ladies. Come meet the guys,’ Lieutenant Armstrong said, following them out.

  After Sue and Lea left, the captain closed the door behind them, leaving Ruth alone with him.

  Captain Lang leaned against the wall, a smile on his smartarse face. ‘So you going to take your clothes off or do I have to do it for you?’ Although he feigned a laid-back approach, he was wall-to-wall muscle and ready to use it.

  ‘You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You might have my girlfriends fooled but don’t think you can put one over me. Why don’t women leave this base? I’ve been watching the comings and goings.’

  ‘Perving on us?’ he asked, playing on her words and ignoring her question.

  ‘As if. I prefer my man to have brains rather than brawn.’

  ‘So I heard. A specialist. You landed a rich guy.’ He looked her up and down. ‘Were you settling in to becoming a spoilt Mosman housewife so you’d never have to work again? Big house with a tennis court and pool. Expensive private schools for the kids?’

  ‘Mind your own business,’ she said.

  He laughed. He had a great mouth with large, clean, white teeth. She wanted to punch him in the face.

  ‘Typical.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ she asked.

  Captain Lang looked at his watch. ‘Ten minutes until dinner starts. The men expect me to be punctual. Today is the first day we haven’t lost a man. We want to celebrate.’

  ‘So go.’

  ‘I’m not walking in alone. I have a job to do. Pity to ruin your clothing.’ He flexed his fingers as if testing their strength.

  Ruth noticed his hands were square-shaped and practical, the fingers thick and although his nails were clean, there were several keloid scars on his hands. ‘You going to rip my clothes off?’

  ‘Would you like me to?’ he asked, eyebrow cocked.

  ‘Moron. I didn’t do a double degree at uni to put up with this level of conversation.’

  ‘Come on, Ruth. I’m not going to hurt you. Take off your clothes. It only takes a moment.’ He looked at his watch.

  ‘Get stuffed.’ Her jaw was clenched so tightly, the muscles ached.

  ‘Eight minutes. Time to get to work.’ He crossed the room in a few strides.

  Heart in her throat, Ruth raced for the door and pulled it open. Lieutenant Vassar barred the way. The captain slammed his hand on the door, wrenching it from her grasp.

  A howl of rage left her lips. She turned, clenched her fingers into a fist and drove it up into his face, aiming to hit him under the bridge of his nose and drive his nasal bone into his brain.

  He snapped his head sideward and her knuckles hit his lips. Her ring sliced through his top lip, opening a crimson line of flesh.

  The captain shook his head, scooped her up with rope-like arms and laid her on the examination bed. ‘You hit like a school girl. Thought you Mosman types went to the gym.’

  ‘Fuck you, Lang,’ she swore, her voice hoarse.

  ‘Anytime.’

  Sheer, stark fear roared through her veins. In her medical career she’d dealt with psychotic patients, but it was his calm business-as-usual attitude as he pinioned her with one thigh while he cuffed her, that shook her.

  He’d done this before. When he went to cuff her ankles she kicked out, slamming her heels into his chest and hitting rock hard muscle. He didn’t even flinch.

  ‘Stop it, Ruth. You’re making this harder than it has to be,’ he said, his voice husky. ‘I need to do this.’

  ‘Don’t you touch me,’ she cried. Sweat beaded on her upper lip as she writhed, trying to free herself.

  ‘This won’t take long.’ With surprising dexterity he undid each button on her shirt, exposing her naked breasts down to her waist. He pushed the examination light close. His finger traced over a mark on her left breast. A bruise with deep indents. ‘What’s this?’

  ‘Mind your own damned business.’
/>   ‘Is this a bite?’ He frowned, his gaze intense.

  ‘Let me go home. You have no right.’

  ‘Did it pierce the skin?’ He bent close to examine it, his mouth not far from her nipple, his forefinger stroking the bite, pressing at the skin.

  Her damned nipple tightened like it wanted to be sucked. He straightened, put his hand on her forehead as if testing for fever, moving it to the back of her neck, his touch surprisingly gentle. ‘Is this why you wouldn’t let me examine you? You frightened I’d find this?’

  Ice flooded her veins. The man knew many ways to kill people. Could do it without conscience. She’d seen him do it. ‘I saw how you treat people with the virus.’

  ‘You can’t afford to see them as people. All they want to do is eat you.’ He kept stroking the bruise under the strong light, his fingernail testing the indents.

  ‘You should be on the other side of the fence. You have a lot in common.’

  He shot her a penetrating glance and raised his eyebrows. ‘Ruth, when I eat you, it’s going to feel a whole lot better. Now answer my question. Were you bit?’

  ‘Bitten,’ she corrected him. Oh shit she was in trouble here. ‘It didn’t break the skin.’ What would he do with her? Rape her? Put a bullet through her skull? The bite still hurt like hell when he touched it.

  ‘What happened?’

  Fear made her talk. ‘We ran out of water. I knew there was some in Mrs Nichols’ apartment. I waited until my roomies were asleep. I put on my leather jacket. Slipped out. Locked my door so the old lady couldn’t get my friends. Mrs Nichols attacked me.’

  ‘How long ago?’

  ‘Three days.’

  He put his hand on her forehead again and looked into her eyes. She could feel his breath on her face and see his worried expression. ‘Fever?’

  ‘No. I told you. It didn’t break the skin. Do you think I would put my girlfriends at risk?’

  He returned to the bite, repeatedly stroking his finger over it until her nipples ached. He was maddening. He put his face inches from the bite. ‘If you were infected, you should have turned by now. It’s usually quick but I’ve seen it take up to three days.’