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over in the direction of the police car.
    “Do these windows open?” Colin
asked, looking around.
    Mo came to his aid, unhooking a
latch at the top third of the window.
    As soon as the window was
opened, they all heard the distorted voice from the police
vehicle.
    “—in your homes and wait
further instruction. This is a police announcement. It is unsafe to
be on the streets at this time. Seek shelter immediately. Barricade
yourself in your homes or places of work. Avoid contact with the
infected. Do not approach people who appear to be acting
irrationally. Stay in your homes and wait further instruction.”
    Colin dragged a chair up to the
window, and using the extra height he slipped his head and arm
through the opening. He shouted, “Hey! Hey! Up here!”
    The police car continued
weaving around the wrecked cars and shambling figures.
    “This is a police announcement.
It is unsafe to be on the streets at this time. Seek shelter
immediately. Barricade yourself in your homes or places of
work…”
    The sound trailed off as the
car turned onto the town plaza. In its wake came a procession of
shambling figures.
    “Who are they?” Mo asked,
looking down at the mob.
    The police car was far
outstripping their pursuit, but when it turned the corner and
disappeared from sight the crowd continued to follow, picking up
more and more numbers as it went.
    Colin stepped down from the
window and gave a sigh.
    “Looks like the cops won’t be
much help,” he said, finding a chair to slump into.
    “Hell, will you look at that?”
John said, taking Colin’s spot at the window.
    A number of the stragglers had
given up their chase and were now lumbering, arms outstretched,
towards the office block.
    Sharon had her hands on her
hips, shaking her head.
    “ Great,” she said. “Just
what we need—a mob of G8 rioters outside the front
doors.”
    She turned to Mo and Gary in
their grey and blue uniforms.
    “ Doesn’t your depot have
a contingency for this?” she asked.
    “No,” Mo said softly.
    Gary pushed himself up from the
chair he’d been resting in. His face was swathed in squares of
wound dressings that overlapped, forming odd angles.
    “ For this?” Gary said,
gesturing out of the window.
    “ For this ?” he said more
intensely, walking up to Sharon.
    “Gary…” Mo said.
    Sharon dropped her hands from
her hips, but didn’t drop her gaze.
    “For this?!” Gary shouted
angrily, now inches from her face.
    Sharon
didn’ t flinch. She folded her arms and
continued to stare back at him.
    “Gary,” Mo said more
forcefully, clasping a hand round his bicep. Gentler, he added,
“Gary, sit back down.”
    Gary gave Sharon one last stare
before letting his colleague guide him back to his seat. Once he
was seated he straightened up.
    “I doubt there’s anything in
place for things of this short notice,” Mo said.
    “Short notice? When do crazies
request written permission?” Colin asked.
    “I mean if there were something
like a G8 summit we’d have extra staff on and time to prepare an
operations plan. But this? We’re just a private security firm; we
depend on the police as much as the next guy.”
    “So you’re saying we pay you
for nothing?” John asked.
    Mo shook his head. “No,
that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying we’re not equipped or
trained to deal with major civil disobedience. If there’s a riot
kicking off, we’re instructed to call the police, evacuate the
premises where possible, or to stay in a secure location if not.
That’s it. Nothing fancy.”
    “ Fat lot of use that is,”
John huffed. He paced off in the opposite direction.
    “ So is that it? We just
sit here and wait?” Stephen asked.
    Colin was looking out of the
office window, his breath misting the glass, “And hope they don’t
get in.”
    Outside, the throng of
stragglers who had been following the police car and now had lost
track of it started to drift towards the office entrance.
    “ We can’t just sit here.
My