NOVEL WEB 54. Base Camp.
I spent most of the night on watch. I was boosting my healing, getting my 5% rate up to 10% on my ribs. Carla was pumping 120% for her ankle for most of the night. For her, it was well into the second day for her ankle, so she was about a third of the way there.
We loaded the packs with essentials. If the army wanted anything else, they could come and get it. Carla had cleaned the Roo hide as best she could and left it out to dry yesterday. Now she rolled it up to carry out of here. I am not sure why she wants it, but it would make a nice rug at Bucks Estate.
The drone flew over at dawn, so I pointed in the direction we would be walking. My electroreceptors were fantastic, keeping me oriented.
We were about to set out when Soph popped into the bushes to take a leak. Then she didn’t come back. I looked at Rich. He wasn’t worried.
“I will go check,” Carla said, taking her rifle off her shoulder and holding it. She dropped her pack. She limped into the bushes where Soph had gone and disappeared. Then she didn’t come back.
Rich still lay in the shade of the truck, unworried. I waited a bit longer, and then Rich got up and trotted into the same bushes. Then he didn’t come back.
It must be a portal because my hearing didn’t pick up anything. I dropped off my pack, picked up my rifle and walked to the bushes of doom, otherwise known as the female toilet. The boy's bush was in the other direction.
I walked into the shade and then picked up some sounds. There was no panic or screaming. It was like they were cooing a baby. Well, Rich wasn’t. Sensible lad, that one.
I went further toward the sounds. They were funny noises, like when ladies talk to babies.
I finally look around the tree, and Soph is sitting on the ground, feeding seeds from her ration bar to a green bird. A parrot. Ok, then.
I crouch down to wait, well away from them, so I don’t disturb what is going on. Almost an hour later, Soph finally rose, and the parrot hopped onto her shoulder. It was medium-sized yellow-green in colour and a flash of red in the wings. It was probably a handspan and a half long.
“Bob, meet Eliza. She was lost and needed a hand. She is obviously a parrot. I will find out what kind later.”
“Eliza?” I asked.
“Kiwi Olympian I met and Mum sponsored. I liked the name.”
“Shouldn’t you have picked an Aussie Olympian?” I asked.
“Shut up. I like it.”
“Are you sure it's female?” I continued.
“Shut up.”
“What is it’s Mutation?”
“Still working the details,” Soph replied.
“Right, time to head away then.”
We returned and collected the packs, and I led the way into the bush. Eliza didn’t stay on Soph's shoulder but hopped down and rode on Rich. I thought Rich was large enough for me to ride him with my broken ribs. I would sigh, but that would hurt the ribs.
The going was slow, but two hours later, we had well passed the halfway mark, and my hearing picked up the sound of a vehicle. We popped out of the trees and saw an Aussie army tuck moving toward us at a good speed. We were well inside the now 25½ km radius. I waved them over, and the truck changed directions toward us.
“G’day mate,” greeted the driver, “I’m Trev and I am here to give you the VIP trip back to base.”
“That is bloody fantastic,” I said. “She has a sprained ankle, and I have a couple of broken ribs.”
“It’s all part of the fantastic service we provide here in Butt-Creek Nowhere. Let's chuck your gear in the back. Ah, I'm not sure if you have noticed, mate, but I was told there were two dogs. One seems to have turned into a horse, and the other into a parrot. That is some pretty massive mutations there.”
“You Aussies have an impressive anomaly. I assume you are recently mutated?”
“That’s right, mate, and with the info you sent back, they let me come and give you the VIP treatment.”
“So when I mutated, I missed out on getting an extra dick. Were you successful?”
Trev chuckled, “No, mate, but the missus is happy enough that I am coming home.”
“I bet you are, too.”
“Too right, mate.” he looked at Rich. “I am not sure where we are going to put the horse, though.”
“I’m riding shotgun. I can’t squeeze in with broken ribs.” I heard some mumbling behind me, but my Super Hearing is selective. It is an extra Skill.
I had a comfortable ride back to the base, except that Trev wouldn’t shut up.
When we got back to base, Lewis and his Aussie counterpart wanted an immediate report. Carla and I really had to see the medics, so Soph was thrown to the wolves. Carla was definitely playing up her limp. I might have been whimpering with each breath. We were seriously injured.
Base camp was an old outback station with airstrip and water ponds. It was only a couple of hundred meters from the Gilbert River, which eventually went past the Anomaly 30-odd kilometres down steam as the river meanders.
I grabbed a medic, “I haven’t seen Amanda, sorry, Dr Mohan around.”
“And you won’t. Early this morning, she took off into the Anomaly Zone, found a Billy Goat Plum, ate it and returned. She was evac’ed to Darwin.”
“A what plum?”
“Ah.. the other name is a Kakadu Plum. It is a fruit that grows around here and has been used in traditional medicine since way before the white fellas arrived. Very high in vitamin C.”
“Ah, thanks.” I guess Amanda couldn’t wait. I hope it works out for her. A plum tree? Really?
I was on light duties for now, as was Carla. Soph, Rich, and Eliza escorted newly Mutated Aussies into the zone and back again.
I worked out Eliza’s Mutation without Soph’s help. The anomaly stuffed up her digestive tract. She shits everywhere, or rather everywhere on my side of the tent. I think Soph might have it in for me. I can’t figure out why.
Turns out Eliza is a female. The male Red-Wing Parrot has their entire wing in red feathers, not just a stripe like the females.
I gave a couple of verbal reports on our trip and discoveries. If they want written reports, they can bloody write them themselves.
My restful week is not turning out well, and I don’t have Buck to take out for a walk.
I just kept feeding Essence to Carla all week.
The three of us did more gun training and target practice, using pistols as well. That was the limit for me, but Carla and Soph got some of the soldiers to spar with them and teach them more unarmed combat. I bet it wasn’t hard to convince them. Carla excelled. She was made recruitment offers from both the New Zealand and Aussie military and had at least five marriage proposals that I knew of. She was loyal to her fucktoy, and Soph, of course.
At the end of the week, Carla was taking trips into the zone as well. Base camp was packing up and preparing to move to Yagoonya as the anomaly was growing. It is now only three kilometres away. They will leave a small base here for Enhanced only.
With the edge now only three kilometres away, I was taking long walks to the edge to get away from people. I was really missing Buck. I know Soph was, as well.
Then Amanda turned up. She looked healthy. “No extra limbs?” I asked in greeting. “Have you become a sweet, tasty little morsel?”
She laughed. “I always was, but you haven’t tasted the Kakadu Plum have you? They are quite tart. I have a passive mutation. My immune system has been massively improved. I am not sure I can get sick any more. We are testing, and there are exciting new ideas for some drugs. Pandemics like Covid could be a thing of the past.”
“That's good because we have new things to worry about. Hey, your immune system wouldn’t heal bones, would it?”
Then we heard Ensign Jeong had gone too far into the anomaly and started mutating. She died before getting back to base camp. It was a stark reminder that this was not the New Zealander's home essence type, and the danger was real.
I was running sessions teaching people to connect their essence with their circulatory systems, but only Commander Lewis has achieved it. I am sure it is not my teaching, as Soph and Carla got it within a day. I think if the Aussies spend enough time in the essence zone, they will develop this without the work.
Then we got the countdown. In ten days, the Australian Air Force would bomb the Anomaly out of existence. Apparently, the US was coming to help and had directed one of their aircraft carriers into the region.