I had gone a further hundred meters when I heard more running. I looked forward, and to my left I saw a young black woman at speed passing a few feet in front of me, and then another zombie running behind her in chase. So the first quick zombie had not been an anomaly! I pulled back slightly so that I was not in line of sight of the zombie, and stuck out my foot to trip it as it ran. The zombie fell headlong into the pavement striking its head hard. Before it had a chance to recover I followed up without hesitation to strike it repeatedly with my hammer. Their was no queasiness this time, just a numb sensation. When I had finished I stood back up, and tried to slow my heartbeat again. I looked to my right and the young woman was breathing hard and had both hands on her hips as she slowly walked back towards me.

"Hey." She looked at me assessing me. "Thanks."

I nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait", she said.

I turned back.

"Where you from?"

"Not from around here", I replied.

She looked up. "It’s getting dark. You need a place? There is a bunch of my friends in a building up ahead. You want to crash?"

I looked around my surroundings. This was unfamiliar territory and my options for safe boarding elsewhere this evening did not look promising.

"Sure. Thank you."

"No problem", she said.

As we walked we both constantly surveyed our surroundings. As the light continued to fall, and the shadows continued to lengthen I was keen to get off streets that seemed more ominous with each second that passed. She turned off the street to a set of steps that led to a three storey townhouse.

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"Technically we are squatting, but it’s secure", she said. "Come inside."

With one last look at the world outside I shut the door which closed with a reassuring thud. The inside was initially dark as the property did not have power, but candle light flickered from the stairwell above. I ascended the stairs behind the girl and we emerged into a brighter room with half a dozen people sat around the room listening to a radio. One girl leaped up and ran to the young woman I had followed.

"Mina! Oh thank god. What is happening to the world!"

Mina embraced her friend warmly. She addressed the room.

"I almost didn’t make it. Some of those things can run. I mean full on sprint. I was being chased down, and this guy took it down and killed it. He saved my ass."

The girl who had embraced Mina, now embraced me too.

"We are an art collective. Thank you for saving our friend. You're welcome to stay here. The doors are locked, the windows are secure. I think we should be safe here."

I looked at the windows which had no coverings and then around the room at the different light sources flickering in the fading light.

"I know those things are drawn to sound, and as far as I can tell they see plenty good too. We need to either put out the lighting, or cover those windows otherwise before long we could have every one of them out there heading towards us once it gets dark.

Mina looked outside which was darkening enough for her reflection to bounce back. Off in the distance she could see the flickering light of a fire rising high into the sky.

"Grab some spare blankets", she said. "Let’s cover these windows."

Once the windows were covered the group returned to sitting around the radio while a news broadcast played:

In New York there are fears that the lock down on the city is failing. Outbreaks have been reported across all boroughs and fresh incidents have taken place as far away as two hundred miles north east in Boston, and 100 miles south west in Philadelphia. In Sweden outbreaks have now been reported across the city of Gothenburg. Denmark, Norway and Finland have said they will establish armed border crossings with Sweden while they monitor events with their Scandinavian neighbour. The Russian Government has said that the might of the Russian Army is on stand by to combat any invasive threat from either the East or West.