EUREKA, OREGON

Other than the dog, there had been no other signs of life as they had walked on through the night. But as dawn – and the rain – finally broke, life at last began to appear on the horizon. A town in the middle of nowhere, and one not found on any of the maps in Jack's car.

"Civilisation at last," he said as they entered the outer edge of the town.

Zoe lifted a brow, unimpressed as she looked around. "You call this civilisation?"

"Well, as long as it's got AAA and a decent cup of coffee, I'll take it."

Zoe snorted. "Decent, here?"

"Well, it's certainly a hell of a lot nicer than some of the places I've been to, and you should thank your lucky stars that I didn't find you there," Jack said as he looked around at the houses on either side of the street – and he wasn't wrong, he knew. The weather aside, they didn't seem too bad. Not as nice as the beach house he had his eye on for his retirement, but certainly better than most he had seen on his travels across the country.

But other than Zoe's grumblings of discontent and the sound of mother nature, silence lay over the town. It was almost half past seven now, Jack found as he looked to his watch. Where is everybody?

Even as they crossed over the road at the intersection, there was nothing to be seen nor heard as they looked across to the roads to their left and right. Both ended at dead-ends, with at least two dozen houses to each – but still no sign of anyone. There weren't even any cars in the driveways. Nor were there signs of anything else.

Zoe sighed. "Talk about a ghost town."

Jack couldn't help but agree.

THE PERKINS' RESIDENCE

Sitting outside on the driveway, Brian set down the drone that he had received for his birthday, almost giddy with excitement for first flight. He had been told to wait by his father, but that was over a week ago now and his patience was beginning to wear thin as his father began to spend more time down in the basement working on his research.

It was not a large drone, but then again he had not been expecting to get anything like this for his birthday – or any occasion for that matter. Some of the other kids at school had one, but he didn't care. This one was his and it was time to fly.

"Pre-flight check."

With a simple click of the controls the drone lit up with a green glow beneath each of the four rotors.

Brian's pulse quickened, glad that his hard work had paid off in getting it ready. "And we have –"

But no sooner had the words left his mouth than the drone had taken off by itself. It shot straight up into the air before Brian could even blink, let alone comprehend what was happening. But then it flew around in a small but slow circle; all before turning back to Brian.

Jack couldn't help but laugh at Zoe's latest theory as they walked on further into town. "This isn't the 60's Zoe. The government don't build nuclear test villages anymore," he said, rolling his eyes as he shook his head. "At least not in Oregon."

"Then what about…"

With a sigh, Jack let her continue with her nonsensical ramblings as they continued on up the road. She would eventually bore herself into silence, he knew – something he was gladly awaiting as they approached yet another intersection. And it was here, as they looked both left and right, that they finally found some signs of life – an RV parked on a driveway and what looked to be a young boy running around in the road.

But as they watched, a panicked cry could be heard.

"Help!"

Jack instinctively sprang into action, breaking into as best a run as he could manage with the weight of the rain bogging him down. It had not gone easy on them that night and the feeling of wet clothes against his skin and that of the squelching of the water in his shoes made each step as discomforting as the last. But as he drew closer he soon found – much to his own stunned disbelief – the reason for the boy's distress.

The drone continued its attack, diving down at Brian from all sides as he attempted to shield himself from it. But it was too quick for him, deftly evading his attempts to swat it away.

"Help!"

How his father had not heard him he did not know, and with his mother off on her morning jog he would have to fend for himself. A few of his fingers hurt from where the rotor blades had struck him and he was sure that one or two had caused deep cuts. But now was not the time to care about such things, he knew; not with this drone attempting to kill him.

His options were limited, and there were only two that he could see before him. The first was to attempt to make a run for either the house or the RV, and the second was to go on the offensive himself. But given his fondness for the drone and the expense that his father had made to buy it for him – not to mention the telling off he was bound to receive for going behind his father's back – he was less than partial of the latter.

But before he could make a decision over whether to make a run for the house or the RV, there came the sound of running footsteps.

The boy was out of breath by the time Jack arrived to help him and the drone, he saw, was quickly beginning to take advantage of it. But this really was the last thing he had been expecting to see. A bee or a wasp, or even a bird, for sure. But a drone. That was new even for him. With a sigh, he shook his head, Zoe's gunna love this.

"Help!"

"I've gotcha kid, don't worry," Jack said as he approached, keeping a watchful eye on the drone as it made another dive for the boy. He would have to make a grab for it, he knew. There was not a chance in hell that he could pull that kind of a shot off – even if he wanted to.

Slowly edging himself closer, Jack watched the drone, anticipating its movements as the boy ducked under another dive. He would have to be careful for risk of inadvertently hurting the boy – something which seemed an impossibility given how fast it was moving. He then shook his head once again, The things kids can buy these days.

"Alright kid, here's what I want you to do. When I give the word, I want you to drop to the ground as fast as you can," Jack said as he began to slowly take off his jacket. "Can you do that for me?"

With a haggard breath, the boy said, "Yeah."

Jack nodded. "Alright."

The drone took another dive, but Jack made no move against it. He had to be patient and wait for the right moment to make his move and, as the drone turned to make another dive he shouted, "Now!"

The boy dropped to the ground without so much as a hesitation, shielding his head with his arms and bracing himself for whatever came. But as the drone turned into its dive, all went dark as Jack threw his jacket over it; putting an end to its torment of the boy.