‘Or looking for us?’
Below them, several shapes emerged from beneath the plane’s fuselage and headed across the wide span of concrete. One man walked quickly, almost with authority, but the splash of dried blood down the back of his white shirt was stark and black. The others followed at a slower pace, a couple of them hindered by the wounds that had changed them.
‘Hiding beneath us,’ Jayne said.
‘Sneaky bastards.’
‘Sneaky? You think they can sneak?’
Sean gave her a sidelong look and shrugged.
‘We should signal them,’ she said. ‘But we should warn—’
‘I doubt they need warning.’ He tensed for a moment, thinking. He chuckled. ‘Wish I could drive this thing.’
‘Wish I could fly this thing.’
Sean nodded, still distracted. ‘Cabin lights,’ he said at last.
‘I’m sure there’s a master switch, but where?’
‘Maybe it doesn’t matter.’ Sean reached for the overhead control panels, pushed buttons, and the weak reading lights flicked on.
‘Might as well light a match,’ Jayne said, watching from the window. She could make out two vehicles, one a police car and the other a larger truck. In the flickering light of the burning concourse, they looked white.
Sean walked back and forth along the cabin, flicking on the lights.
Something exploded in the blazing terminal, sending a column of fire and rolling black smoke skyward. Gouts of flame arced comet-like from the blast, and as they rained down they too started exploding in brief, incredibly bright bursts.
‘Gas canisters,’ Jayne said. ‘The cop car’s moving back.’ She heard Sean’s footsteps as he raced to switch on more lights and suddenly she felt incredibly exposed here in this contained space. The glare of the explosions and the subdued lighting behind her combined to blur her vision, and outside there could be any number of grim faces turning her way. They’ll see us now, she thought. Whether or not those cops are here for us – whether or not they see us – the zombies will know we’re here. This might have been their one safe place, but now it was compromised.
‘I think we have to get out,’ she said when Sean crouched by her side.
‘Come on, come on,’ he said, willing the cops to see them.
The two vehicles were reversing away from the burning terminal and away from them, moving slowly but obviously under control. There was a flash from the truck’s passenger window that might have been a gunshot. And then the police cruiser stopped.
‘Come on,’ Sean said again. The cruiser’s blue lights flashed a few times, and he reached up and flicked two reading lights off and on.
‘They won’t see that,’ Jayne said, but then she grinned. They had seen it, because they’d been watching for it. And now they were powering across the airport, skirting around the burning main building, and as the police car veered around a staggering figure she closed her eyes just before the truck ran it down.
‘Jesus Christ,’ she breathed, and Sean squeezed her hand.
‘Come on. Back door on the starboard side.’
‘I’m scared,’ she said, thinking of a car journey through what was happening out there. Here they had drunk wine and talked, and she had slept. Out there, carnage and chaos ruled.
‘We could never have stayed here for long,’ Sean said. He looked older than he had before, his eyes heavier and darker because of his fear for his daughter. France? he’d said, amazed, and Jayne still could not believe that the infection had travelled so far so quickly.
‘I know.’ She nodded, and started rubbing her shoulders with both hands.
‘I’ll open the door.’ He walked slowly, glancing back as she followed. Jayne felt protected, but she also knew that she was providing Sean with a distraction, and a cause.