Max makes a low moan and shakes his head. I start to step forward but Colin grabs my arm.

“Don’t.”

“What? We have to help him,” I say, trying to pull out of his grasp, but he just tightens his grip.

“And both of us get killed.”

I pause. And then I look back. “It doesn’t matter. I have to help.”

Colin shakes my arm and brings his head close to mine. He stares at me and his eyes are those of a shark, flat and dead. “You are not endangering me. I won’t let you.”

I give one more tug on my arm but Colin tightens his grip. It is painful and I can’t help but cry out in pain. In front of us Max turns. His eyes widen and he bangs on the glass.

“Let her go!”

Colin ignores him and I see his face split into a…

As I step away from Max, I need to get away. The girl is gone and…

My foot bumps into something.

“Bitsy, don’t move,” Colin says with one hand outstretched as if wanting to catch me. He is too far away though.

Whatever I have hit is soft but firm and it seems to be moving. I let out a small whimper. Max looks to his right and I follow his gaze. Another pile of sheets is moving. Max meets my eyes and he looks panicked. He nudges Colin and he points. We all start to look around. Everywhere there is movement.

The thing I am near moves and I feel something try to grasp my ankle through the sheets. It is hindered by the cloth. Involuntarily I let out a yelp and jump forward. The creature under the sheet screams. It is a horrifyingly loud sound that reminds me…

The sheets move and I take a step back, bumping into a bed behind me. Briefly it wobbles and then falls. The noise echoes around the front of the hospital. More sheets are moving.

I watch, horrified. Then reason asserts itself and I step forward. Colin stops me with a hand.

“Don’t.”

I push him away. “They might be hurt.”

Max shakes his head. “They were never meant to get hurt. Two outcomes, you live or you die.”

“Well, they did get hurt,” I say, moving toward the nearest sheet. Why are they not uncovering themselves?

I reach down, noticing that this sheet is stained brown with blood. There appears to be a handprint on the middle of it, as though someone had used the body to push themselves up, or they had shoved the body away from them. Oddly there is no other blood, not on the ground. Grasping…

“Here,” Colin hands me a handkerchief. A real one. It is slightly rumpled but clean. I mumble a thank you and dab at my eyes.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Max says.

I agree, although I think it is an odd way to say it.

“We have to go down,” I say. It is more of a statement rather than a question. I am trying to talk myself into being brave, but both of the guys nod. It is me who takes the first step though.

The road is clear until you get to the aftermath, I am guessing that the police had kept it clear. It is a guess though as there are no police cars or any sign of cars. It is as if everyone ran out of here at once, taking every available vehicle. I can’t think what that would mean… What were they running from and do…

“It’s so quiet,” I say and wince at how loud my voice is.

Colin nods and Max is walking too far head to acknowledge that I’ve said anything.

“What do you think has happened?”

I know that I am talking just to break the silence but I have to. You see it is so alien. When was the last time I heard nothing? In my everyday life there is always something going on, something humming or buzzing. In the background there are voices or cars. Even when I go to my grandmother’s place there are cars on the small road, punctuating the sound of the electricity. Maybe I have a radio on or perhaps the TV, but something is always there. Now there is nothing.

I mean, it isn’t just the electricity and gadgets that are missing, but the people. Even the birds are silent. Except for the large black…

“She said nothing else, just that you are gone once you catch it,” I say.

“Gone… That could mean anything?” Max exclaims.

Colin stays thoughtful, just looking around us.

“What?” I say, noticing Colin’s wariness. “You expecting a horde of zombies to appear.”

I say it with a smile but when he looks at me his face is very serious. “I don’t know.”

“What?” I say, shock filtering through me like ice water.

“Well,” Colin says, still scanning the area with wary eyes. “We don’t know anything.”

“So, we have to find out,” Max says.

“Where?” I say. I can feel the frustration building. We have been around and around this conversation and it is getting us nowhere.

“We need somewhere with power,” Max says.

I look up and down the street. There is no sign of any power or any people anywhere.

“If we had power than we could…

The door is emerald green but it was painted a long time ago. The green is peeling and in some areas has chipped off completely. The centre of the door is of frosted glass, which I’m surprised at. Most people have a solid front door. I can see a curtain and it is tied in the middle, I haven’t seen anything like it since my grandmother passed. I pause and smile. Then, lifting my hand I ring the doorbell.

A tinkling echoes through the house and I think I see someone beyond the curtain, it is just a shadow that moves, but I know that there is someone there.

I ring again and cup a hand to the window. There is definitely a shadow.

“Go away,” a voice calls quietly from inside.

“I only want to ask some questions,” I say.

“Go away,” the voice repeats. It is high and…

“So I guess we walk?” Max says, but he makes no move to open the door.

No one says anything; we just look out of the windows. We are in a suburban street, the houses are terraces but not workers cottages, instead they are large and plush. It’s obvious that there is money here. What is odd is that there are very few cars. Normally we would be hard pushed to find a parking space but there are dozens.

“Where are all the cars?” I ask.

“Don’t know,” Colin says.”But it is very strange.”

I can’t help a bubble of laughter that escapes me. It is slightly hysterical. “Strange?” This whole day has been a nightmare and I don’t think I can wake up. This is my reality.

Colin is watching me. “You okay?”

I nod. I don’t want to say anything. If I do then I may cry. And…

“Slowly?” I repeat.

Colin shrugs and Max looks worried.

“Any better ideas?”

I shake my head. I really don’t, but I do know that we have got to get out of this and walking is not something we can do. We’ll be dead long before we get out of the smoke.

“What about the car?” Max says. I can tell that he is listening to the engine. It sounds fine.

“Well, if there isn’t too much ash in the air then it should be fine.”

“Otherwise?” I ask.

“Colin meets my eyes in the rear view mirror. “The car will stop as the air filter clogs up.”

“Well,” Max says. “I suggest that we get going.”

“Yeah,” Colin mutters. I can see that he is tense. He slowly eases the car out of the space. He goes forward so he must have backed in but I can barely see the…