Josh looked up at the buildings around them. "Oh shit. Look."
Dave looked up at a window on the fifth floor of a building across the street. Someone was pinned against the window. Blood splatter covered most of the window and made it nearly impossible to see what was happening.
Dave went pale. "I was so lucky that I didn't go back to the office."
"I guess being alive is just a happy sequence of being lucky."
"But to get back to what I was trying to say," said Dave. "So far I've been lucky. We've both been lucky. It's so much luck that it makes a mockery of the idea that we have some sort of influence on our lives. This awning is only one floor above the ground. It's not high up at all. Somehow we've been safe so far. It's probably nothing more than dumb luck on our part."
"Shit. Now I'm really aware of making too much noise."
"Maybe we should stop talking and be very still and hope that the streets clear enough to allow us to escape."
Josh nodded.
* * *
On the street below Dave and Josh, staggered, on a rough count, at least a hundred dead people. No living person remained on the streets. It was a vicious, positive feedback loop. One dead would attack one of the living. The living dead then rose up. Now there were two of the dead who in turn could convert other living to the dead. It was a conversion rate that worked geometrically. The spread of deadness was nearly instant and would only spread faster.
After seeing the nightmare on the streets - a bloody scene from hell - Dave had felt his emotions becoming subdued in an effort to deal with the incomprehensible events that he had witnessed. The scenes from the streets had been awful, and Dave didn't want to think too long about what terrors were occurring out of sight in the buildings around them.
An unexpected sound came from down the street in the direction of the airport. It was only about a block away. It was probably just around a corner as a quick peak by Dave failed to reveal the source. Aroused by the noise, the crowd of the dead started moving towards to the sound.
"A car!" said Josh.
Dave nodded. "It could be something bigger. Like a four by four."
"They're certainly revving the hell out of it."
"Can you understand what they are doing?"
"That's a bit strange," said Josh. "You can hear the wheels squealing."
"It certainly doesn't sound like they are trying to escape."
"I'm guessing that someone is using a car to drive around and kill the dead."
Josh gave Dave an amused look. "Must be hard killing what is already dead."
Dave smiled grimly back at Josh. "Here we are in hell and making jokes."
"We're Australians. That's what we normally do. Satan himself could be ramming his great big cock up our arse and we'll still find some way to make it into a joke."
Dave turned his head to the noise. "I kind of wish I knew what was going on."
"Someone probably just lost their shit and are trying to vent."
"That sounds like technical explanation."
"Sod off. I'm hearing the noise of some vehicle in the distance and I'm taking some guesses. That's all. I'm just making some guesses."
"I'm sorry," said Dave. "This is all so strange to me. Much of what I'm saying feels all over the place."
"Who can guess what's going on over there."
"They are probably just lashing out in replacement of actual comprehension."
"Probably?"
Dave scratch the side of his head. "I'm just a grunt working in an office. I most likely know less than you about this sort of stuff."
Josh shared Dave's viewpoint. "So, you're a shit-talker. I'm on board with that."
Dave quickly looked over the awning's skirting and stood up. The only thing visible were a few scattered and empty cars.
"Whoever that madman is," said Dave, "they've done a fine job of clearing the streets."
Josh stood up and dusted himself off. "Any plans?"
"None whatsoever."
"I'm thinking of going home."
"Got some family?" asked Dave.
"Sort of. I live with my grandmother."
"Where do you live?"
"North."
Dave looked north and wasn't pleased. "So you'll have to cross the bridge."
"Yeah. I'm guessing the trains are out and the roads blocked by abandoned cars."
"And them," said Dave with a gesture that included what they had just seen.
"Yeah. But how else can I get home?"
"It's a pity that we don't have a guns," said Dave holding his hands in a pistol gesture.
Josh laughed with evident sarcasm. "Welcome to Australia. We're an island of prisoners. Only the guards have guns."
"At least you have a plan. I'm feeling a bit lost what I should do."
"You got no one at home?"
"Nope. I got nothing that I want or need at home either. What's more, I live east."
"Why's that a problem?"
"I don't really have a good reason. I just feel that if I get into trouble and need to run then the ocean will block my choices."
"At least you could go for a swim when you're bored," joked Josh.
"I wonder if they can swim?"
"Christ! Imagine getting attacked by those shitters when you're in the ocean."
"I kind of prefer to be eaten by a shark."
"At least you'll stay dead. I don't see the sharks as infection carriers."
On that somber note the conversation faded out. Dave spent a moment carefully looking around the street.
"If there are dead in the buildings I suspected that they are trapped inside."
"Wouldn't the automatic doors just open up?"
"This isn't a shopping area. Doors are either left open or you have to manually open them. I'm guessing that for the automatically opening doors the sound of that revving vehicle has tempted the dead out - at least that can get out. While the ones' with manual doors are too difficult for the dead to open."
"I think that you're guessing too much."
Dave looked sober. "I agree, but we got to start moving. I just need to figure out where. I'm tempted to head west. Get away from these high-rise
