Chapter 18Black clouds obscured late afternoon sun as a lightweight canoe beached on an island shore a short distance from the northern tip of Brown Zone Australia. The canoe’s occupants, a teenage boy and girl, quickly disembarked and dragged the canoe up the beach beyond the high water line. After stowing the paddle, the boy indicated a sandy path winding through windswept foliage up to a line of small dwellings, set high on a ridge overlooking the beach. Heavy rain began to fall as the pair set off up the path, pitting the sand and sending streams of water sliding down leaves, hair and skin. Lightning split the sky and the teens began to run but were still saturated by the time they reached the first house. Sheltering under the overhanging verandah, they laughed and shook themselves lik
