First Activation

“Let’s tell them we’re in Elmhurst, but that they have to find a place here and make contact if they want to meet us.”

“Why not give them a false address and we can watch it from a distance?” Bernie said.

“That’s not a great way to meet,” I said. “We could be leading them into potential danger. Would they ever trust us after that? I prefer Jack’s plan.”

Jack typed out:

Direct messages from Jack

That was us on the bridge. A car came over to our side and the driver had a corpse in the passenger seat so be careful.

Come to Elmhurst and then make contact. We have a safe place and are just going to get some supplies.

“We can’t all fit in here if there are two of them,” Bernie grumbled.

Jack rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. I could see he was getting irritated. “They won’t be expecting the fucking Ritz-Carlton, Bernie. Besides, I’m not sure if it serves bowls of baked beans for lunch.”

I bit my tongue. There was no need to add to what had just been said.

Bernie sat down on the couch. “I’m not having any more shit from you about my food. You’re choosing what we pick up when we get there.”

”I will choose and even cook it for you tonight, are there any gun shops around here?” Jack asked.

“I wouldn’t even know where the nearest is. We should go to my local food mart, it’s only three blocks away and we can get there without attracting any attention.”

“Okay, Bernie, weapons check, then lead the way,” I said.

We opened the door and stepped into the street, I knew this was risky, but staying inside after this morning would be giving up. We had to tackle the situation head on and get control; otherwise, we would end up hidden in Bernie’s apartment with no hope.

As we left the apartment, I urged everyone to stay quiet, keep in the shadows of the adjacent buildings, and stay alert. Within minutes, we had arrived opposite our location and crouched to scout the entrance.

“How many entry points?” I whispered.

“Not a hundred percent sure, but I think there’s only one entrance, but I’ve never really scoped it before.”

Outside the store entrance, a dog was licking the head of a lady whose skull had been crushed, I could see a bloodied hammer by her side.

“Should we try and befriend the dog? It might come in useful as an extra pair of eyes and ears,” Bernie said.

“No, it’s just another mouth to feed. What if we can’t control it? It might start barking like crazy,” I replied.

“Come on, Harry, let’s give it a try,” Jack said.

I knew Jack would support the idea; he had two spaniels at home who were devoted to him.

I patted the sidewalk a couple of times to attract the dog’s attention.

“Here boy, here…”

The dog looked up and ran away; at least not everyone was out to get us.

I put a finger to my lips, and then gestured with the same finger that we should cross the street to the store. We approached cautiously around a pair of corpses who looked like they had been duelling with garden tools. One had been stabbed through the neck with a garden fork, and lay clutching the implement impaled in her neck. The other, who must have carried out the assault, had a large slice across his throat, some pruning shears lay next to him.

Bernie slowly entered the store and immediately sprang back out, “There’s somebody in there. I heard groaning.”

We all raised our weapons.

“Did you see anyone?” Jack asked.

“No, but whoever it was sounded in poor shape.”

I looked around and noticed that there were no other corpses in the near vicinity of the woman with the crushed skull.

“Do you think it’s the person who killed her?” I said, pointing at the woman.

Jack and Bernie shrugged.

“Bernie, you cover us with the flare gun. We’ll burst in and clear the store. It might be a trap,” Jack said.

“No. Jack, give me your rifle, and you take the flare gun. I know the store layout, so I’ll go first. Harry, you cover us from behind.”

I didn’t want Jack to swap weapons with Bernie, it felt a lot safer for Jack to have a rifle compared to a flare gun. Jack exchanged weapons with Bernie, and we all took up our positions around the store entrance. I planned to retrieve the pistol that was used against us in the morning as soon as our shopping trip was finished. Nobody had wanted to approach the body earlier, but Jack being handed the flare gun, suddenly made getting another pistol a priority.

“Now,” Jack said, as he pulled open the door. Both Jack and Bernie vanished into the store.

I stood with my back to the store, staring out onto the street, it suddenly felt like a lonely place and I shivered at the thought of watching eyes.

“Harry, come in. It’s safe,” Jack eventually called.