Chapter 2: Harrison and Smith Law Firm

The hunched man ran at Peter. Peter jumped up from the settee and dodged behind it. The man attempted to follow him but tripped and fell onto the settee. Peter ran into the kitchen. The hunched man started tried to get up from the settee but managed only to floor onto the floor. This, however, gave Peter a chance to grab something that he could use to get rid of this man. He looked at the knives, but decided against using them. If he used them he would have to get quite close to the man and he didn't want to do that. Also he wasn't sure if he could kill a man. He looked to his right. The frying pan was still resting on the stove. He picked it up and turned around, just as the man began to run at him again. Peter closed his eyes and swung. There was a loud metallic clang as the pan connected with the side of the man's head. He felt the resistance as what he was holding was stopped by what it had hit. Peter opened his eyes. The hunched man had fallen to the floor and was twitching. He was still making those noises. Peter jumped over him and ran out of the door, slamming it shut.

He ran out into the middle of the road and stopped. He then span round to look at his house. Then he turned his head and looked down the street. Everything seemed as though it was normal. Further down the street a man came out of his house. He was wearing a suit but he was holding his jacket over his arm, and he was holding a briefcase in his hand. In the other hand he had his car keys. He put his car keys in the lock and opened his car. The hazard lights flashed when he did this. The man opened the door and sat down. The door then closed.

"What's going on??" Peter asked himself.

Peter heard his own door break open. His eyes snapped to it. The hunched man came running out.

"Oh shit!!" Peter shouted.

He began to run down the street. The car further down began to pull away from the kerb. Peter ran for the car. He was nearly there. He looked over his shoulder. The hunched man was chasing him, and he was fast. His arms were flailing around and his mouth was wide open, showing the blood on his teeth. Peter began to worry. The car started to speed up. Then the car stopped. It seemed like the man in the car had seen Peter running. A head popped up from the window.

"Get in!!" The man shouted.

Peter smiled to himself inside. He reached the car and threw open the door to the back seats. He threw himself in the car. It had set off before Peter could ever close the door. He hooked his foot under the hand rest and closed the door, sealing off the outside. Peter sat up and looked out of the rear window. The hunched man had stopped running, but was just standing there watching. Peter put his head down and sighed.

"Who was that man??" The man in the car asked.

"I don't know. He broke into my house and attacked me. I hit him with a frying pan. He should've been out for hours." Peter explained.

"Probably a druggy. Did you see all that blood??" The man asked, sounding a little scared.

"I know. And thank you for saving me." Peter said, sitting up. "But didn't you watch the news??"

"I did but I needed to go to work." The man explained. "I'll take you there and we can work on calling the police."

"Thank you. I tried to police earlier but they were busy. There is something very strange going on." Peter explained.

"It's the rioting. That's why they're busy." The man said calmly.

"No. There was a body in the shop. There was a lot of blood. And there were three kids on bikes outside my house. Then they disappeared and there was some blood there as well." Peter explained.

"It's probably just some drugged up rioters." The man said, though he sounded scared and it sounded like he was trying convince himself as well.

The car arrived at a large office block. They had been driving for 20 minutes just to get to where the man worked. It would have taken less time but they had to take detours to avoid the rioting. The man and Peter got out of the car at the same time.

"I never asked your name." The man said.

"I'm Peter." Peter said.

"My name is Allan." The man, Allan, said. "Come on inside."

They were at a small building. The walls were red brick and the roof was grey slate. The windows were clean and the frames were varnished dark brown wood. The sign above the door said "Harrison and Smith Law firm". The letters were all neat and tall. Peter looked at the sign and then followed Allan inside the front door.

The lobby was small. There were a total of four doors leading off in various directions. By the door there was a front desk, and behind this there was a woman. She seemed tall and thin, even though she was sat down. She had bushy grey hair but did not seem to have any wrinkles on her face. She wore brown rimmed glasses that had a chain attached to them so she could hang them round her neck. She wore a white blouse and a knee length black skirt. On her blouse was a small name tag. It read "Gloria". She seemed to be staring into space

"Gloria, would you rebook my meetings for the next hour or so please??" Allan asked the woman.

"Yes sir, of course Mr Harrison." Gloria replied, her attention snapping to the man talking to her.

Allan smiled at her and walked off. He headed for one of the three doors in front of him (the other door was behind the reception desk). As Peter got closer to the door he saw a small sign that said "Mr A Harrison, Attorney of Law". Allan walked in and Peter followed.

Peter sat down in one of the leather chairs and looked around the room. The four walls were split in half, half way up. The lower half was made from dark brown wooden panels, then there was a small wooden barrier that went to whole distance of the room. Above that the walls had been painted white. Against the right hand wall, from where Peter was sat, there was a book case full of green, red and black books. When he saw this, Peter smiled to himself. It reminded him of all the films he'd seen where the lawyers had hundreds of books. Behind Allan there were several framed certificates mounted on the wall. On the wall to Peter's left there were four other pictures. The first was of an elderly man. The caption underneath read "Mr Callum Harrison – My Father". The second picture was of a younger man. The caption read "Mr John Smith – My Business Partner". The third picture along was of a woman, who looked about the same age as Allan. The caption read "Helen Harrison – My Beloved Wife and Mother to My Child". The fourth picture along was of a small girl, she looked about eight years old. The caption read "Samantha Harrison – My Beautiful Daughter". Peter felt happy for the man he was sat in front of, but also sad. He had a bad feeling about everything that was happening, and it occurred to him that if the worst came to the worst then this man might not see his wife or daughter again.

"They are my family." Allan said, realising that Peter was looking at the photos.

"I thought this man was your business partner." Peter said.

"He is, but he is like a brother to me. I am an only child and I knew John since I was small. We were always there for each other." Allan explained.

"I see. You have a beautiful wife and daughter." Peter said with a smile.

"Yeah. I'm a lucky man. I met my wife when I was in university studying law. She was a Classics student. I bumped into her at the Library. She was so beautiful that I forgot where I was going and doing. She just apologised and headed out of the door with all her books. I couldn't stop staring at her. Then I spent the next looking for her. I had to go to my lectures of course but in my spare time I tried everything to find her. It took me a week to realise that when you borrowed a book you had to have it back in a week's time. I raced to the library. I was lucky. She just came out as I arrived. I called after her. When we met properly and began to talk I just knew that I'd always be with her. She was so beautiful, and she talked about things with such passion. I knew I loved her then, but it took me until graduation to finally ask her out. From then it was perfect. When we both reached 25 we had Samantha. She's eight now and looks just like her mother. They are the light of my life. I don't know what I'd do if I lost them." Allan explained, and at the end a tear formed in his eye.

After talking about Allan's family the two men set about working out how to contact the police and alert them to the body in the shop and attacker that had chased Peter. They decided that they would have to go to the police station themselves. They headed out of the office and into the lobby. Gloria was still sat there staring into space.

"Gloria I have to leave. Cancel all my meetings for today. Tell them that I will return tomorrow and they will all be rebooked." Allan said.

"Yes sir, of course Mr Harrison." Gloria said, in the exact same tone and speed as she had said before.

Peter smiled to himself at her robotic personality.

Outside they got into Allan's car and began driving. They headed along the road and turned left. They were now heading towards the centre of London. The police station wasn't far, so the journey should have been short. Peter put the radio on to see if there were any more developments about the riots.

"...prits have been seen to have blood covering their clothes and faces. These men are claimed to be crazed and will attack anyone. It is strongly advised that if you someone fitting this description that you run or hide. It is paramount that you stay in your homes and lock all doors and windows. The armed forces have been called in to try and control the problem but they are so far unable to contain these people. We have a medical and scientific expert with us in the studio here ladies and gentlemen."

At this Allan stopped the car to listen better. He was worried.

"Thank you Dave. Now people this is very important. Whatever is happening to these people, it is believed to be spreading. It is almost like a virus or a plague. Some might even say it is an infection. The people who are infected seem to be reduced to two primary primalistic urges. They seem only to want to feed and kill. There seems to be no way to reason with these people, the only thing to do is avoid them or run."

Allen was staring into space.

"Where are your wife and daughter??" Peter asked.

Allan still did not say anything or move. Peter looked out of the front window. About 200 yards down the road there was a car. On the bonnet there was man. His chest had been opened and his internal organs were hanging out. Surround the man there were two other men and a woman. Their faces were covered in blood. Allen slowly put the car into reverse and backed down the road. He slowly turned to car around and came to a stop. The car made a squeak. The two men and the woman looked up. Their faces were blank and covered in blood. They began running, much in the same fashion that the hunched man ran before.

"Drive, drive, drive!!" Peter shouted.

Allen slammed the gears into first and pushed his foot down on the accelerator. The car sped off leaving the three people behind.