Chapter 52 - Animal Instincts

Felicity withdrew her hand from a second session in the compost. There was strange activity tonight and it wasn't too difficult to realise that life, at least soil life, was in a panic. The soil life had signaled the plants, which in turn had given off pheremones through their foliage. The animals had picked up on this and were instinctively moving to higher ground. As for the domestic dogs in the neighbourhood, they were barking loudly. Spooked by the unknown and trapped in by the garden fences. This was how animals all over the world picked up on natural disasters like volcanos and earthquakes before they happened. But in this case the microbes knew of it through Imogen. The time for marveling at this new knowledge would come later. Now was a time of practicalities.

If the animals around Albany wanted to get to higher ground then that was good enough for her. She couldn't see how an asteroid landing on the other side of the planet could make a difference, but she wasn't going to find out. She called Simon. "Have I ever told you about my fantasies".

"Hmmm, now let me see. Somehow I think I would have remembered if you had of. Why don't you see if you can rob me of my last vestiges of innocence."

"You'll have to climb up Bluff Knoll with me if you want a wicked night up there."

Simon was a bit worried about his ability to perform after such a climb. Maybe they could pitch the tent two thirds of the way up at the flat bit for safety reasons. Needless to say, it wasn't long before they were heading out of Albany on the motorbike. They left the bike at the carpark which was on a hill just before the base of the mountain. They walked down, then up and Simon was able to get his wish about pitching the tent. "What's all that shit you've got in there?"

"Beef jerky, chocolate and vitamin pills. Enough to last a few weeks."

"Are you crazy, this place is going to be crawling with nosey tourists in another 12 hours. It's not that we can get lost up here."

"I guess I've been a bit silly", she admitted.

"Nah, not really", Simon replied, thinking with the wrong body part.