First Activation

I would have preferred not to be out in the open, but it was easy to imagine driving on any two-lane road would be difficult, even if we could get off the expressway. A five-minute walk didn’t seem too bad, as long as we kept switched on.

We made our weapons ready and got out of the car; I twisted my head in all directions, looking for movement. I could hear dogs barking and alarms sounding in the distance.

We walked close together on the sidewalk, twitching at every sound.

Jack had the rifle tucked into his shoulder, I was holding the Glock by my side and Bernie held the flare gun out in front of him with both hands. He led the way onto a street that took us into suburbia.

“Oh, my God,” Bernie said, pointing the flare gun towards a Golden Retriever that bounded towards us from the other side of the road.

“Put your gun down, Bernie,” Jack said, and stepped forward to offer the dog the back of his hand to smell. The dog disregarded the outstretched hand and excitedly jumped up. “What’s your name, boy? Hey? What the hell have you seen?”

The dog seemed in good spirits as it licked Jack’s face, then bounded around us while loudly barking. Seeing it react to us so normally made me feel safer. I have no idea why.

Jack read the dog’s collar and stroked its back. “He’s called Bouncer.”

Bouncer appeared to hear something in the distance only a dog could recognise and bounded off. We watched it disappear before following Bernie again.

We crept along the road for a further two minutes until we all stopped in horror. By the entrance to a house, were two bodies. The first was a boy who must have had his head repeatedly smashed against the step as his face was barely recognisable, and the concrete was stained with blood. The second was woman, hanging by her neck from the doorframe.

“Guys, get moving,” Bernie encouraged us away, but I noticed something flicker behind a curtain in the house.

“Not yet, Bernie. I think there’s somebody in there.” I pointed to the left of the front entrance.

“So what? Do you want to wait for them to attack us?”

“They could have attacked us already. If the person in the house was armed, then they would have taken a shot by now, wouldn’t they?”

“Harry, we’re only a couple of minutes away from Bernie’s place. Why bother?” Jack replied.

I still had some hope that we would find people who weren’t transformed into killers. There must have been some survivors or other plane passengers around, although the chances were pretty slim.

“We’re not here to hurt anyone,” I called out. “Look, there are three of us and we’re not attacking each other. It’s safe to come out.”

There was no reply, perhaps the curtain had just been twitching in the breeze. We started to walk away.

“Please, come and help me,” a young girl’s voice cried out.

“Well done, dickhead. Now look what you’ve got us into,” Jack said, as he turned back towards the house.

“Come out with your hands up so we can see them,” he shouted.

“I’m too scared. Please help me,” the voice replied.

We all looked at each other, waiting for somebody to speak.

“We’re all armed, right? So why should we be scared of a little girl?” Bernie said.

“Okay, let’s creep up to the door. Bernie, you open it, Jack and I will cover you. Jack, help me move the woman from the door frame,” I whispered.

“Okay, no worries.”

We sneaked up to the front entrance, freed the woman’s body and moved her to one side.

Bernie looked at us. “Ready?”

Jack and I nodded. Bernie pulled down the handle and kicked the door wide open. The entrance hall looked empty. He looked back at us from the side of the door, I shook my head. He crouched down and slowly looked around the doorframe into the house.

A little girl suddenly appeared from inside and smashed a plate on the top of Bernie’s head. It would have been the kind of thing I laughed at on YouTube a couple of days ago, but it wasn’t funny now, as she bent down and picked up what looked like a cheese knife. Jack ran forward and kicked her in the arm. She dropped the knife and started crying. Bernie picked her up, she started screaming and squirming under his arm. Blood trickled from the top of his head down his cheek, but he didn’t seem badly injured.

“How do you suggest we deal with this?” he asked.

“Can we find a room to lock her in?” I replied.

“So much for zero tolerance.”

He was right, although I don’t think any of us had this in mind when we agreed on it.

“Bernie, hold her there for a minute while I have a quick look around the house,” I said.

I figured she was on her own, otherwise, I doubt she’d be alive. I searched every room hoping to find a lockable door. The only one I found was inside the bathroom.

I made my way back to the entrance hall where the girl was pleading with Bernie and Jack. “Please, let me go. Please? I promise to run away, and you’ll never see me again.”

There was an obvious way to deal with her, but nobody would say it. Jack offered an alternative. “Let’s put her in the recycling bin I saw at the side of the house.”