The Rule of Three

— 5 —

The chill of the water surprised Jack. It seeped through his soft tissue and into his bones. He could feel his body shaking, trying to warm itself up. If he wasn’t careful, he’d get hypothermia.

He hugged his pack closer to his chest and looked around. The creatures were still following him, their strange yellow eyes watching his every move. They howled and shrieked as they scampered along the banks. Occasionally the trees became too thick for them to follow but Jack could hear them just out of sight. Sometimes a creature would sniff the air and tear off, away from the river, a few of them following after. They could be gone for twenty minutes, sometimes half an hour, but, like terminators, they came back to track him relentlessly in his course down the river.

As Jack floated, he pondered what he knew about the creatures so far. If he was being honest, very little. They were fast. They attacked in a frenzied pack, like land piranhas. Jack barked out a laugh, thinking of a horror movie with flying piranhas he had once watched with his brother.

At least these beasts can’t fly.

He shook his head. He could just picture Dee telling him off for daydreaming about movies and not concentrating on the task ahead of him.

Jack shivered and glanced around. What he needed was a log, anything, to float on, and fast. The banks were clear of the monsters right now as they had run off howling a few minutes earlier, having picked up some scent or other. Jack let out a breath and swam for shore. He aimed for a copse of willow trees and hauled himself out of the river. Water cascaded off his chilled, exhausted body. He picked out a suitable tree for a flotation device and shuffled along the trunk. It was a small tree but it held his weight.

He strained his ears for any sounds of the creatures returning, but their shrieks were coming from some distance away. Not wanting to waste any more time, Jack opened his pack and took out his emergency dry-bag. He had a spare change of clothes, some rations and a first-aid kit inside. As fast as he could, he pulled off his wet clothes and towelled himself dry.

Having on dry clothes warmed him and gave him new determination to make it home. Home to Dee. Home meant everything to Jack. It was his haven, and Dee was the rock at its centre.

He contemplated what to do next. He knew he had to get back into the river. It was the only option. But getting wet again wasn’t. He bounced on the tree, testing the strength of the timber. He had a small, collapsible saw in his pack.

Working quickly, Jack set about his task. When he’d managed to saw through half of the log, he jumped down onto the muddy bank to finish the job. Feverish in his fear of the creatures’ return, he sped up. Tiny wood chips and sawdust coated his shoes. Just as the log began to splinter, he heard howls and crashes nearby. He pricked his ears, trying to determine which direction they were coming from.

Just a little more time.

Five centimetres to go. More shrieks. Branches shattered around him. The beasts could smell him. Jack glanced around. Through the willows, he could see the glowing yellow eyes of one of the creatures just a few metres away. It was sniffing the air. As he watched, its deformed head kissed the ground, then jolted back up.

Three centimetres to go.

“Help!” A frantic scream tore through the night.

Jack paused from his sawing and looked behind him. Had he really heard that?

“Please! Someone!” it screamed again, closer this time.

“Over here,” Jack called out. There was no use trying to hide his position; the creatures knew where he was. Jack had gambled that they wouldn’t reach him in time.

At last the log snapped with a crash and splashed down in the shallow water. The creature a few metres away howled and bounded towards Jack. In seconds, it had reached him and slammed onto the log. Jack threw his pack onto his makeshift raft and pushed the log into deeper water, ignoring the beast for now. He straddled the log like it was a surfboard and scanned for the source of the frantic cries.

“Wait!” shouted the voice.

Jack twisted and gawked as a woman broke through the thick trees and waded into the river. She held out a hand, pleading, towards Jack, her eyes wide in fear. She had twigs and mud tangled in her thick mane of hair.

“Swim. Hurry,” Jack said. He looked at the beast perched on the end of his raft. It was staring at the water as if some innate sense told it not to enter. To stay out. Danger.

The woman dived into the water and managed to reach the log. Jack didn’t watch her; he was too busy keeping an eye on the creature. It was crouching dead-still, only moving its eyes. The makeshift raft rocked as the woman pulled herself half out of the river.

Howls and shrieks erupted from the banks in a cacophony of noise. The monsters had returned en masse. Hearing his brethren screeching stirred something in their passenger. It snapped its head up and glared at Jack. Its eyes flicked to the woman. She screamed and dropped back into the river. With a shriek, the monster bounded at Jack. He fell back and jabbed the saw into the beast’s throat. The jagged blade pierced the creature’s neck and went up into its sucker mouth. Jack grunted and tried to shove the monster off. It clasped Jack and thrashed about. Jack slammed the palm of his hand against the saw’s handle, embedding it deeper into the creature’s mouth. He hit the handle again. The creature let out an almost pitiful whimper and went still. Disgusted at the thick black blood that oozed over his arm, Jack kicked the beast into the water.

The creatures that lined the river shrieked at the smell of blood, whether his or the beast’s, Jack had no idea. He reached out and helped the woman from the water. She clung to the tree, gasping, as they floated away. Jack left her to catch her breath and turned around, watching the dark countryside slowly drift by. He had a rough idea where they were. The river seemed to be taking them west, towards the Waikato River and Lake Arapuni. He hoped he was right. If he could find a kayak or, better still, a motorboat, he could stay on the Waikato all the way to Hamilton. To Dee.

“Thank you,” the woman gasped. She was still lying on the log, clutching a branch. Jack could see her jeans and shirt had been torn in several places. She had dozens of bleeding scratches and a deep wound on her arm.

“No worries,” Jack said. He nodded towards her myriad cuts. “You okay?”

“Barely,” she said, moving slightly to face him. “They nearly got me back there.”

“What happened?”

“You first. I still need to catch my breath.”

Jack opened his pack and handed her his spare water bottle. She took it and gulped it down.

“I’m Jack.”

“Emma.”

He let her keep the water and offered her a protein bar. He wanted to keep them for himself, not knowing how long it would take him to get home, but the good side of him wanted to help.

Emma looked up at him. “So, what happened to you?”

Jack sighed and relayed all that had happened to him in the ten hours since receiving the news. Emma listened, nodding, but offered no questions. Finally, Jack was finished.

“Hamilton, eh?” Emma said, chewing on the last of the bar.

“Yeah. Long way to go. Especially with those things out there,” Jack grumbled. “They seem to be afraid of the water, so I’m going to hunt for a boat.”

“Good idea. Mind if I tag along?” Emma murmured. “What about going to an evac centre on the way?”

“Evac centre?”

“Last announcement I heard on the radio, it told everyone to head to the nearest evacuation site. Cambridge would be our closest.”

“We could check it out on the way. But my main concern is getting home to Dee,” Jack said. “What about your family?”

Emma turned away and gazed over the farmland. She leant back against a branch and rubbed at the congealed blood on her arm. She examined Jack before letting out a sigh. “He came back, you know.”

“Who?”

“My husband.” Emma pointed back to where they had met. “We have a small dairy farm. A few sheep. Living away from town, we were used to having plenty of food. We figured we would just wait it out. Yesterday, we heard screams. Jon went to help. After a few hours, I started to freak out. Jon had shown me, years ago, how to use the shotgun. As I was fetching it, he came home.” Emma paused, and turned her head away. When she turned it back, Jack could see the tears glistening in the early morning light. “I knew something was different as soon as I heard to the screen door bang open. I don’t know if it was the weight of his feet on the floor or just the way he was standing. Whatever it was, he attacked me.”

Jack waited, but Emma stayed silent. He didn’t press her. They had both done things to survive. Things Jack had never really imagined himself doing in a million years. He swivelled around and faced forwards. The creatures still tracked them downstream.

The sun was slowly rising over the Kaimai mountains. Jack watched as the sky went from grey to pink. Orange to yellow, and finally blue. He shifted his gaze north and prayed that Dee was safe.