Free The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden

of
her. But every time I sped up she’d groan, these horrible deep
groans like I’ve never heard before. It was bloody awful.
    ‘By the time we got there I wasn’t even
thinking about the war and the soldiers. It sounds dumb but it’s
true. I’d half forgotten there was a war on. All I could think
about was getting Corrie to hospital and getting her treated. I
drove up to that main entrance with the lights on full beam, the
hazards on, and the horn blasting. So they knew I was coming. And
arriving like that, I guess they knew I wasn’t a threat. They all
came bustling out: a nurse and a doctor and a bloke with a trolley
– and a couple of soldiers. When I saw them I remembered there was
a war on, all right.
    ‘At first it wasn’t too bad. The soldiers knew
there were still a few people around the district who hadn’t been
rounded up, so they weren’t too surprised to see me. And the
hospital staff were our mob, prisoners, so they were cool. The
problems started when the soldiers found out Corrie had a bullet
wound. The hospital staff tried to keep it secret. They pretended
she’d fallen off a cliff, but the trouble was that one of the
soldiers knew English and hadn’t told anyone he did. I mean, he
deliberately pretended he didn’t know it, so he could spy on
people. They talked quite openly in front of him, and that’s how we
got found out.’
    Kevin paused for a moment. He lifted his eyes
from his Milo and gazed up at the funnel of the elevator shaft.
    ‘Well, it was on for young and old then.
Corrie was a “bad girl, bad girl,” and right away they tried to
frame us for blowing up the bridge. The two soldiers had me in a
corner, on the floor, and they were bashing me in the back with the
butts of their rifles. Going right for the kidneys, and finding
them too, no worries. I was pissing blood for a fortnight. Every
time I went to the dunny I remembered those guys. Then they brought
three sentries in from the bridge – the ones who’d had the best
view of you guys – and they were meant to identify us. The only
thing that saved us then was that they were so positive it wasn’t
us. Bloody lucky they were honest. That stopped the soldiers
kicking me for a minute.
    ‘They still weren’t happy, though. They were
telling the doctor that Corrie had to go straight to the
Showground; she had to stop treating her. They were really worked
up. “No more, no more,” they kept screaming. They were waving their
rifles around, and trying to wheel the trolley outside. That bloody
doctor but, she’s a legend. She just said no; like, “Don’t even
ask, don’t waste my time, stop bothering me.” I don’t think they
knew quite what to do about her. There was a full-on tug of war
going on over Corrie, and Corrie lying there unconscious in the
middle of it. Sort of funny if you’d been in the mood for
jokes.’
    ‘Was her name Dr Crassini?’ I asked.
    Kevin nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s right, that’s
her.’
    ‘Figures.’ I’d seen Dr Crassini handling my
father. She was pretty awesome. Young, but strong.
    ‘Next thing,’ Kevin continued, ‘two more
soldiers came in. The two blokes who’d been there all along had
turned their attention back to me, seeing they weren’t getting
anywhere with the doc. They had me on the floor again and were
putting the boot in. The nurse was screaming at them, in between
working on Corrie, and I was starting to black out. I was scared
they were going to kill me. I’d told them the truth, how she was
shot when we were trying to get my uncle’s ferrets, but I wasn’t
convincing them. I had blood all over me and I knew my nose was
broken. Every time I breathed I just seemed to breathe blood. I
thought I might drown in it. I really thought I was on the way
out.’
    I glanced around me. There were four pale
faces, all intent on Kevin’s story. Kevin was looking down at his
mug again. I don’t know whether he realised the effect he was
having.
    ‘So, anyway, in came these