Free The Peco Incident by Des Hunt

you, too,’ she replied nodding. ‘I’m pleased you shopped that Shreeves pillock.’
    ‘You should have seen what it was like in there,’ said Nick. ‘There were dead chooks everywhere.’
    I stood absolutely still, hoping that I’d misheard what he’d said.
    The smile disappeared from Brio’s face. ‘Did you go in there?’
    ‘Um … ah … no!’ stuttered Nick. ‘We saw them hauling chooks out and burying them. There were thousands of them.’
    Before Brio had a chance to question further, Roost walked over. ‘So here’s the boy who thinks viruses come from outer space,’ he said, chuckling.
    Nick lowered his head. ‘Yeah. It was a stupid thing to say, wasn’t it?’
    Roost shrugged. ‘Maybe not. There was a scientist back home who claimed the same thing.’
    Brio gave a disbelieving snort. ‘And he was wrong,’ she said. ‘The only way those viruses got into Shreeves’s sheds was by him bringing eggs from Asia or someplace else.’ A pause. ‘Probably, genetically engineered so that he could pack more birds into a cage. People like him should be put up against a wall and shot.’ She looked at me accusingly. ‘I’m amazed that you New Zealanders allow farming like that.’
    I shrugged. What could I do to stop it?
    ‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘we’re leaving. Getting out, beforethat flu starts killing people. We’re going across to Australia where it’s safer.’
    ‘When?’ I asked.
    ‘As soon as we get a flight. We’re on standby, so it could be any day.’
    ‘Good riddance!’ I whispered, but not so they could hear.
    ‘So, we won’t see you again,’ said Nick. He sounded disappointed.
    ‘Probably not!’ said Brio. ‘I for one will be pleased to get away from this disease-infested place. It’s going to spread, you know.’ She indicated the gulls at the shore. ‘They’re all going to die.’ Then she turned her head towards Taiaroa Head. ‘Those albatrosses are also going to die. And all because some greedy pillock wants to make more money.’ For a moment, her jaw pumped up and down on a wad of gum. ‘At least one good thing will come out of it,’ she continued. ‘By the time this thing’s finished, no country anywhere will allow battery-hen farming ever again. And so far as I’m concerned, the sooner that happens, the better.’

CHAPTER 11
    T he Peco Incident was again big news on television that night. They confirmed that the disease was bird flu.
    The type of flu was given as H6N3 where the H6 and the N3 referred to molecules on the surface of the virus. Apparently it is these molecules which control what sort of animals the virus can attack. The newsreaders kept repeating that there was no record of H6N3 attacking humans. However, they stressed that if any people living near the Peco farm developed flu-like symptoms, they should immediately contact the Ministry of Health’s infectious disease hotline.
    While the H6N3 virus might not affect humans, it could be disastrous for birds. Authorities were now expressing fears of an ecological disaster on the Otago Peninsula. They banned any movement of birds onto or off the peninsula. Any personswith sick or dead birds were urged to use the BIRT hotline, or visit a BIRT representative who had taken up temporary residence at a Portobello motel.
    After we got all this information, I continued watching with Mum and Dad, while Nick disappeared to the bedroom. An hour must have passed before I joined him. He was working on the computer. As soon as he saw me, he hurriedly leaned forward and covered the screen with his arms.
    ‘What you got there, Nicholas?’ I asked with a smirk. ‘You been looking at dirty pictures?’
    ‘No!’ he said, shaking his head vigorously, and yet he still kept his arms over the screen.
    ‘What is it, then?’ I said, beginning to think that this might be something serious.
    ‘Nothing important. Stop snooping and go away!’
    ‘Show me! Now!’
    Slowly he lowered his arms. The image filling