Home security

"Dr. Wrzniewski," Jonny said, "what were those things?"

"They were human, and they were alive," Carlos said absentmindedly. "Now, they're- something else. Call them kudlaks, zombies, vampires, reanimates- does it really matter? All that matters is that they're real, they're here and they certainly don't mean us any good. Don't tell the others, not just yet. But do lock both doors and shutter all the windows on the ground floor, and have Ms. Fitzhugh take all the children down to my cellar."

"Will they be safe there?"

"No promises. The important thing is, they won't see their parents."

"Should I be with them?"

"Nay, I need a pair of eyes topside till I get back. If any of them show up, go upstairs. And if any of them get in, you must- absolutely must- destroy the computer."

"Why?? It's our only link to the rest of the world!"

"Aye, and it could be theirs too! These are more than walking corpses, and they can do a lot more than break down doors and bite people. Trust me, it would be better for every last one of us to die than for one of them to get hold of something like that."

Colleen and Esther methodically rounded up the children, most of whom simply did as they were told automatically. Billy and Tommy were the exceptions. Tommy began to cry. Billy tried to get the attention of the two adults, only to be shooed away or simply ignored. Finally, he led his brother, still hysterical, to Jonny. The teenager spoke first: "Billy, you and Tommy need to go downstairs!"

"I would," Billy said, somewhat indignantly, "but Tommy won't!"

Then Tommy spoke with more or less coherent words: "Daddy's outside! Daddy's outside!"

Billy calmed him down enough for Jonny to ask: "Are you scared your daddy will be locked out?"

The boy shook his head and screeched, "NO! Daddy's hurt! Daddy's scary!"

"Jonny and Uncle Carlos will get help for Daddy," Billy said soothingly. He stooped to put his arms around his brother. Tommy nearly convulsed; he threw himself to the floor and tried to wrap his arms around a heavy desk. Jonny had to help Billy pull him loose, pick him up and carry him into the basement. As he came back up, he heard a faint tinkle of glass. He swore and ran for the office where he had left the computer. He rushed in to find himself face to face with Joe Weis.

Weis- or the thing that had been Weis- was at that moment climbing in the window. He had a serious wound on his forehead, and the length of his forearm was torn open. The wounds did not so much bleed as merely head turned toward him, but the eyes, already filmy with dust and dessication, did not focus. There was a gasp; Billy was behind him. His eyes darted about the office. There was a sturdy wooden chair in front of the desk. He grabbed it and heaved it at the kudlak. It took a glancing blow to the head, staggered and toppled back out the window.

Jonny ran forward, and snatched up a large rock on Carlos's desk. He saw the thing rising, and lifted the rock. Then a hand reached almost hesitantly, caught hold of his shirt, and yanked him forward with superhuman strength. He slammed against the window frame. The rock fell from his hand. He pushed back, and his shirt tore, just in time for him to back away from a second hand that reached for his throat. Billy rushed forward, holding up the worn, heavy hunting boomerang he had shown Carlos the previous day. He did not throw it, but swung it like a flat club. Three swift blows, the last to the back of the neck, sent the thing that had been his father toppling to the ground. While the kudlak continued to thrash in the dust (no sound whatsoever came from its mouth), Jonny grabbed the tablet with one hand and Billy's arm with the other and ran out the door and up the stairs. He only stopped at the sound of soft steps coming behind.

"Is Daddy gone?" Tommy said.

Carlos drove back into the yard at 8:20 in the morning. He hastily chained the gate behind him, and drove the Bus straight up to his porch. He climbed out a hatch in the roof, stepped onto the porch roof and went from there straight into an open window of the second floor. The second floor was more like an attic than a full-fledged story, but it was big enough to hold a bunk and a large stockpile of ammunition. He stifled a curse when he found three boys waiting for him.

Carlos first made sure to dispatch Joseph Weis, severing the spine with a point-blank .410 blast, and board up the broken window in his office. Then he talked to Colleen Fitzhugh through the cellar door, assuring her that everyone was okay. He told her that a rabies outbreak had occurred among the sheep, and that this had led to an accidental explosion in the station center. He emphatically told her not to come up, or open the door for anyone but him. Then he went back upstairs.

With help from Jonny, and a little from Billy too, he transferred most of the ammunition in the Bus to the second floor. He then began to set up a sniper's nest over the porch. First, he set up a folding chair with a shade over the seat. Next, he set out a water tank and a box of rations. Finally, he moved out box after box of ammunition. He conversationally explained his gun and assorted ammunition to Billy and Tommy.

"Y'see, boys, for a long time, lots of Aussies owned guns, especially those of us in the interior. Guns were easy to obtain, and those who owned them only used them for hunting. But, almost a hundred years ago, a crazy man got hold of a fully automatic rifle and started shooting every tourist in sight, and afterwards the prime minister and parliament went crazy and started banning every gun in sight. That's why the only gun your Uncle Carlos can own is this `survival carbine'."

He held up a .22 round. "These rounds go in the top barrel. It's a 5.56 mm rimfire cartridge, which is the next best thing to a rifle."

Tommy repeated in a scornful tone, "Wimfoyer."

He next held up a .410 shell. "This is the smallest caliber of shotgun shell. It's called either the .410, or the 67-gauge. It's not much use against anything bigger than a rat, even at this 7.62 cm length, unless you get real close. But, it so happens that it can also chamber a .45 pistol round. Now, the crazy people who tried to take all our guns banned any handgun that big. But, people were able to buy the same ammo as .410 `slugs'. I personally got these." He held up a fat bullet in a casing 5 cm long. "This is the .454 Cassull, the most powerful round ever built in its caliber. It's got about half again the power of a standard 5.56 `assault rifle' round."

"Caaasssoooollll," Tommy cooed.

"Carlos," Billy said, "did I really hurt my father?"

"No, Billy," Carlos said without hesitation. "Your father died, somewhere between here and station center. But something took over his body, and used it to do things he would have died to stop."

"You mean a demon, like the Bible talks about?"

"I don't know, Billy."

"Did my mom die, too?"

"I don't know, Billy." As Carlos spoke, his eyes met Billy's, and the boy burst into tears. Tommy started crying immediately, and soon enough, Carlos was shedding silent tears.

At noon, the first of the kudlaks appeared at the gate.