C James,
You have obviously done a lot of research here. And so far as I can tell, everything has been quite accurate. But I see the potential for a huge technical error in forthcoming chapters.
Have you considered EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse?
A nuclear blast sets off an EMP. An EMP, among other things, destroys any electronic device within range that is not properly shielded to a military level, which includes pretty much any civilian electronic device. An EMP is sort of like the inverse of a Neutron bomb. It disables anything electronic, but has no direct effect on people or animals. Things like cellular phones, computers, radios, TVs, would all stop working, instantly. And an EMP has a range much farther than the initial damaging blast.
Airplanes would fall out of the sky (except for shielded military aircraft, or older entirely mechanical aircraft that don't rely on electronics of any kind). The Scar's cell phone, laptop, and Range Rover would all cease to function. No way would he be flying out of Australia any time soon.
I'm no expert on EMP, so I could be off a bit here. What I vaguely remember was from papers describing the effects of a hypothetical airburst nuclear device detonated at a higher altitude. At a high altitude, an EMP wave would cover the entire continent of Australia. I know the effects would be considerably less from a ground-level detonation.
Nevertheless, I believe the Scar will be walking to Brisbane, not driving his now-dead Land Rover. (If he had an older, pre-electronic Rover, say earlier than 1970, he'd be fine.)
If you have already taken this into consideration in future chapters, or if my understanding of EMP is completely wrong, please forgive my intrusion.
