“Jesus Christ, dude …”
His colleague tries to open the door, then looks in at William. “Unlock it, will you?”
“Other side,” William says, hitting the central lock. As Janus walks around the car, William picks his phone up off the floor. “Holger? … No, nothing happened. I’ll call you back, okay?”
He disconnects just as Janus gets in. William locks all the doors again immediately.
“I was just in the A&E,” Janus says, his voice tight. “I’ve never seen anything like it. All four cars were sent out at once. Something about a school bus that was attacked …” Janus glares at him. “What the hell is going on, Will?”
William takes a deep breath, then says it. “Zombies.”
“Zombies?” Janus raises his eyebrows. “Stop fucking around, I’m really not in the mood for—”
“I’m not. It’s fucking zombies, man. Go to the basement and see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”
Janus shakes his head slowly. “But … that doesn’t make any sense. I mean, how the hell …?” He moans and runs his hands through his hair.
“I know it’s completely mental. My head is just as fucked up as yours right now. I only found out like ten minutes ago.”
“You think it’s got something to do with that patient that went missing last night?”
“What patient?”
“You mean you didn’t hear? The whole place was upside down this morning when I got in. Some dude our age had been admitted for blood poisoning or something, and he just suddenly disappeared, like he had literally just got up and left. That’s what they think happened, anyway.”
William bites his lip, thinking about the zombie tied to the wheelchair. “That could have something to do with it, yeah.”
Janus is quiet for a moment, then looks demandingly at William. “Is it like Walking Dead? Will everything collapse?”
“I don’t know, man. Honestly. I just called my mom; she lives in the Netherlands. Nothing is going on down there—not as far as she knows, anyway. But maybe that means it hasn’t really broken out yet.”
Janus leans his head back and closes his eyes. “Fuck! This can’t be happening. What the hell are we going to do? I need to call Sofie … and my dad … and the rest of my family, and my friends, and—”
“Hold on,” William says as Janus goes for his phone. “We need to consider things first.”
“What do you mean? What’s there to consider? We just need to get the hell away from here, as far as possible! We’ve got to go to an island or something. Isn’t that how Dawn of the Dead ends?”
“Yeah, and how many people you figure saw that movie?”
“Who cares about how many people saw it?”
“I do! Because the islands are going to be flooded by people as soon as everyone begins to realize what’s going down. And if just one of them brings the contagion out there, we would be trapped. Besides, food and resources would quickly become an issue. And how would we even get out there? I don’t have a boat, and—”
“All right, I get it! Bad idea. What’s your plan, then?”
“My uncle lives a few miles outside town. He has a safe place, like, survival-style, with power and water and food and the whole shebang. I just called him, and I’m going to meet him now.”
Janus frowns. “Why would he have a place like that? Did he know this was going to happen?”
“He used to suffer from paranoia. Like, for real. He was institutionalized and everything. He would talk about aliens coming to Earth one day to wipe us all out and stuff like that. So, he built this impressive underground safety room, big enough for someone to easily live in for years.”
Janus doesn’t exactly look impressed. “So that’s your plan? Living underground with a crazy uncle for years to come?”
“He’s not crazy anymore, he’s on medication now. He’s been fine for many years now. But yeah, that’s my plan for now. If you have a better one, I welcome you to try it, man. I’m simply offering you to come with me if you want.”
Janus seems to mull it over. His gaze drifts across the parking lot, where everything looks completely normal. He bursts into joyless laughter. “Come on, this isn’t really happening, dude.”
“If you need proof, it’s right in there.” William nods towards the building. “But I’m going now. You coming?” He turns the key and starts the engine. The radio, which as always is tuned in on a rock station, begins playing.
“What about Sofie?” Janus asks. “Can I bring her?”
William bites his lip. “All right, but only her. I think four people is the limit—at least if we’re going to have to stay for a while.”
“Great, I’ll call her. You mind turning that down a bit?”
William turns down the music, and Janus makes the call. William drives slowly out of the parking lot, scanning the surroundings. None of the people he sees look ill or injured.
Yet.
SIX
As they cross the town limit a few minutes later, Mads has gone quiet.
“I think he’s better now,” Krista sniffles.
Mille turns to look at him. His expression is no longer contorted in pain, and his face is less swollen. However, almost all blood seems to have left him, because he has taken on an unhealthy greyish hue.
“Where hospital?” the Arab asks. “I don’t know town.”
“Take a left here,” Mille says, pointing.
The Arab stops at the red light.
“No, go!” Mille demands. “Just go!”
“Light red,” the man says.
“Yes, but this is an emergency!” She scans the dashboard and hits the button for the hazard flashers. “Go now!”
The Arab rolls out into the intersection. The oncoming cars slow down as they notice, and the Arab makes a left turn.
“Oh, no!” Krista exclaims. “Mille? I think he stopped breathing …”
Mille turns. Mads’s chest isn’t rising or falling anymore. His cheeks have sunk into his face and his whole body seems lax.
