We didn’t waste any time. Once we agreed on the plan, we were back in the Humvee, making our way to the Sydney Cricket Ground, to Maria.

On the bumpy ride towards the stadium, I felt the familiar surge of adrenalin through my veins. I started to worry that I was getting addicted to the feeling. I remembered reading an article on the internet, right about the time the movie; ‘The Hurt Locker’ was released. The article was about ex-soldiers who had finished their tour of duty but wanted to go back, needed to go back because they missed it. They missed the rush and the camaraderie. It seems bizarre but I guess you have to walk in their shoes to understand that feeling. I guess that’s why my father went back time and time again.

Whenever I thought about that, I tried my best to understand it rationally. But I never could. I can’t help but feel like he left me and my mom. And that hurts me. So I try not to think about it too much.

And now I was thinking about my mother, which was no good either. Not at a time like this. So I decided to focus on the adrenalin, my increased heart rate, and my sweaty palms. Maybe I was beginning to understand the addiction to the rush after all, even though the rush was fear induced.

I was starting to wonder where I was getting the courage to overcome this fear. And I guess my friends were sort of becoming my source of strength. Whenever I felt like I was in too deep, which was pretty much all the time, all I had to do was think about my friends. We were in this together. We were a team and we were all relying on each other to survive. We all knew there was no tomorrow. We had to rescue Maria. When I thought about that and reminded myself that Maria was more important than any of us, that she was the only thing that mattered right now, the fear and the stress of being eaten or killed or infected just melted away, and all of a sudden my own safety didn’t seem so important. All of a sudden, I felt stronger.

We slowly approached the park next to the stadium. The dust made it difficult to see anything. It wasn’t as bad as it was in the middle of the city, but visibility was still poor. We could only just make out the outline of the stadium.

There didn’t seem to be any infected in the immediate vicinity and there didn’t appear to be any out in the middle of the park area. Maybe Kenji’s theory about the infected avoiding the sunlight was correct. Or maybe it was a primitive survival instinct. Like some base survival technique hardwired into a part of the brain that was unaffected by the Oz virus. I guess being out in the open made our caveman ancestors vulnerable to predators. Maybe this was the reason the infected seemed to avoid wide open spaces. Maybe that’s why they crowded together in massive groups. Safety in numbers, I guess.

“OK, that’s close enough,” Kenji said to Jack.

Jack applied pressure to the brakes, slowing the car to a stop just at the far edge of the park. The stadium loomed, barely visible through the dusty red sky, just on the other side of about half a mile or so of overgrown grass and park land. There was a road that ran beside the stadium, and lining the road were giant fig trees. It was hard to see from this distance but through the trees we could just make out the horde of infected. Strangely, from back here, it almost looked like they were normal people, going to football game or a cricket match. Almost.

Kenji had the radio in his hand. He switched it on. “Maria, can you hear me? It’s Kenji.”

We waited for a response but there was nothing. Just static and silence.

“Maria. Are you there? Are you all right?”

Again, the only reply was static followed by more silence.

“We’re gonna have to get closer,” Daniel said.

“We get any closer, they’re gonna see us.” Jack pointed out.

“Not if we’re quiet.”

“Quiet? Have you seen the size of the engine? It’s not capable of being quiet. This Humvee wasn’t designed for stealth missions.”

“Give me the radio,” Daniel said. “I’ll go. I’ll sneak to the tree line. I’ll climb up as high as I can, and try from there.”

“Are you nuts?” Jack said.

“It’s OK. If they see me, I’ll make a run for it. If you see me running back here, pick me up. And we’ll retreat for the time being. Maybe all the way back to the parking lot. I’ll be fine. Who knows, if they spot me and chase me away from the entrance to the stadium, that might actually make it easier to get inside.”

“Yeah, or it could get us all killed,” Jack said.

“It’s the only way we’ll have a chance of contacting Maria,” Daniel replied. “She needs to be in the middle of the ground. She needs to be ready. Otherwise this whole thing won’t work.”

Daniel was right. But he couldn’t go by himself. Maria didn’t even know who he was. What if she didn’t believe him? What if she thought it was a trap?

“I’m going with you,” I said.

“No way. This is a one person job. There’s no point in risking your life as well. It’s unnecessary. Remember what I said about taking calculated risks, and being smart?”

“As a matter of fact, I do remember. But did you stop and think that maybe Maria won’t believe you when you tell her you’re here to rescue her? That maybe she’ll think you’re crazy for asking her to stand in the middle of the cricket pitch, out in the open, exposed for the whole world to see?”

“She’s got a point,” Kenji agreed.

“She’ll believe me,” I added.

“No,” Jack said. “One of us will go.”

“I’ve got the NBC suit,” I reminded them. “I’ll be safer than either of you. Faster too.”

I could tell they were hesitant, especially since they were probably used to being a lot more careful than this. But we had to contact Maria. If she wasn’t ready, the plan wouldn’t work. We needed the timing to be perfect. And we needed Maria to be in the middle of the field.

“OK,” Kenji finally said. “I’ll be on the roof of the Humvee providing cover. We’ll keep the engine running. But if there’s any sign of trouble, anything at all, you get the hell out, all right?”

We both nodded our heads as I felt my adrenalin levels spike even higher. I’m doing this for my friends, I reminded myself. For Maria.