The shot rings through the house for the third time.
Soren dies for the second time.
Everything stops moving for several seconds.
Selina is staring out at the young officer through the glass of the terrace door. He bends down slowly to lift up his pant leg, revealing his ankle and a bloody bitemark. Then, he straightens up again, his expression completely blank. His eyes fall on Selina, but it’s more like he’s looking right through her.
Selina holds her breath as Allan raises the gun and places it under his chin.
No, Selina thinks, but she can’t move, can’t talk, can’t even take away her eyes.
Allan’s face has become a mixture of emotions. Selina prepares mentally for another loud bang.
But—it doesn’t come.
Allan lowers the gun again.
Selina blinks and finally starts breathing again. He can’t do it …
Then Allan does something else. Something completely unexpected. He spins on his heel and runs limpingly around the house.
What’s he doing? Where’s he going?
Selina runs through the living room and out into the kitchen.
Her dad comes running down the stairs, yelling: “Selina? Where are you? You come to me!”
Selina doesn’t answer. She goes to the kitchen window and peers out, just as Allan comes running into view. He jumps into the police car.
Dad comes into the kitchen behind her. “There you are! What were you thinking? Come here!” He grabs her shoulder.
Selina pulls free with a strong tug. “Let go, Dad! I need to see what he’ll do …” She stares out at Allan who starts the engine, revs it up, twists the wheel around and races out of the courtyard, leaving a cloud of dust.
“He … he ran away,” Selina whispers.
“Good thing,” Dad says. “Go and lock the front door, Selina. In case he comes back. I’ll call the police again, ask them what the hell is taking them so long!”
Selina goes to the front door, suddenly feeling very unreal, like she’s in a movie. She just stands there for a moment, staring at the knob. She sees everything unfold in her mind’s eye. Allan, driving on the highway. Allan, becoming more and more ill behind the wheel. Allan, arriving at the hospital. Allan, dying in the hall. Allan, receiving CPR from a doctor. And finally Allan, reawakening in a building full of people …
Right now, Selina is the only one aware of this danger. She’s the only one who can prevent this scenario from becoming real.
I have to stop him.
She doesn’t know what else to do, so she rips open the door and runs out across the courtyard. Down by the end of the gravel road she just sees the police car as it turns left onto the highway—headed for town.
SEVEN
Dan’s eyes are stinging, making it hard to see the road in front of him clearly. He forgot to change his contact lenses when he was at the house to get the scooter. Now his retinas have dried up.
Luckily, there isn’t really any traffic on the roads out here. The road slopes lazily through the open fields. On his left is a forest, and underneath the scooter’s tires, the asphalt is seething from heat. Dan is sweating.
In his backpack are a large bottle of water and two sandwiches. He made three of them back at the house, but he already gulped down one as he walked out to the garage. It’s all he had to eat for … for how long? He’s not sure what the time is, and there’s no clock on Jennie’s scooter, but judging from the position of the sun, it’s got to be around noon. Which means it’s been more than twenty-four hours since this whole thing started.
Dan blinks and tries to moisten his eyes. He feels like rubbing them, but he’s not comfortable with taking one hand off the handlebars, and there’s no time to make a rest stop—he already lost too much time. First by trying to talk Linda into going with him. He needed someone to drive him, but she didn’t budge, no matter what he said.
“Listen to me, Linda …”
“No, you listen. I’m done. You get that? I’ve lost my husband, for God’s sake!”
“But we need to find my sister. She might be—”
“I don’t care! I already did enough! I agreed to burn the car, didn’t I? I’m going to the police, and I’m telling them about everything that happened.”
“No, you can’t do that! They’ll just—”
“I don’t care! If your sister is still a … zombie, or whatever, then the police need to deal with it. That’s their job, not mine!”
At that moment, a car had pulled over onto the rest stop where they were standing next to the rubble of the still burning car. A man had jumped out and asked them if they were okay. Linda went to him and began explaining everything.
Dan made a quick decision and ran for it—as much as he could with his busted ankle. He was headed back towards town when a firetruck came screaming by, closely followed by a police car. Dan jumped into the ditch and hid until both had passed. Then he continued onwards.
He still can’t really believe he made the half mile back to town, but he did. Maybe it was the thought of Jennie keeping him going. If she got out of that basement, it would be his fault, since he was the one who forgot to lock the hatch. In that stuffy basement, Dan had fought for his own life. Now he was fighting for the future of the world.
He had limped through town as a new, hot day had broken, and the few cars on the roads this early didn’t even notice him. As he fought on, he considered his options. His parents were out of town, so they couldn’t help him. And it was also pointless to contact the police, as he was sure he couldn’t convince them about what was really going on. Besides, Linda had probably already told them the whole thing by now. They were most
