Nearby, Dave heard the window cleaner swearing. "Fucking hell. Is that blood?"
Dave approached the window cleaner.
"I need to borrow your ladder."
"What the fuck!"
"I'm not going to steal it. I just want to climb up."
"Why would you do that? I'm just cleaning windows with it. There's no where to go up there."
"Yes, there is," said Dave, who then demonstrated his intent by pushing the ladder closer to the awning above the double doorway that lead to Dave's office. Dave climbed mostly up the ladder, and then swung himself onto the awning.
The window cleaner was too stunned to stop Dave and just stared up in confusion. A scream came from nearby, jolting the window cleaner. A few car lengths away another person was being attacked. That was all the window cleaner needed. With a look of naked panic on his face, the window cleaner quickly followed Dave's example and climbed the ladder and got onto the top of the awning.
The awning was a simple metal roof with a fifty centimetre high skirting around it with the building's name brightly painted on it. Dave lay down behind the skirting and the window cleaner did the same. If they lay down then it would be impossible to see the pair from the street. Dave wondered if this was good enough.
"Name's Josh," said the window cleaner, holding out a hand to Dave.
Dave took the hand and gently shook it before quietly saying his own name.
Josh noticed how Dave had spoken quietly and flattened himself further while looking around fearfully.
"What the fuck is going on?" whispered Josh.
Dave paused. "I don't really know. I think I saw someone biting another person over there."
"Why the fuck would someone do that?"
"Maybe they are sick."
"Like rabies?"
"Earlier I saw some news about a disease outbreak in a plane at the airport."
There were a few scattered screams from the street. Dave carefully peaked over the awning skirting. There were a number of bloody bodies on the ground and a few staggering grey skinned people. The transformation of the street from normal to the realm of the dead had taken a few moments. Dave's head revolved at the suddenness.
"I hope the cops get here soon," said Josh randomly.
"Why's that?"
"Lunch will be soon. And these streets will be crowded with people looking for food."
"Fucking hell!" said Dave realising what Josh had meant.
Josh suddenly realised what got Dave so alarmed. "Let's hope that it isn't hell."
* * *
It was hell.
Even before the standard lunch time, people had started to trickle out of their offices in an effort to get ahead of the usual nightmare lunchtime queues. As they came down they were to make a horrible discovery as they walked out onto the streets.
Dave was peeking over the skirting and noticed something incomprehensible. Bodies that had been previously attacked were starting to stand up. For a moment, Dave had thought that those people hadn't been attacked as badly as they had originally seemed. That maybe they had just been lightly knocked down and only needed a little time to gather themselves together before standing up in a completely okay state.
But some of the people that Dave had seen attacked had been mauled to literal pieces. There was no way for them to be fully functional. It was an incredible to see a person bitten so hard through the wrist that hand had completely separated, and yet after their skin had turned a mostly slate grey the severed hand had slid along the ground and reattached itself, making the arm complete. Blood splatter would soak back into the body of the original victim. After such a miraculous process there would be no obvious sign of a wound or prior injury visible.
After witnessing this "healing" process the victim stood and glared around, causing Dave to hide from the vision of their red eyes.
"What the fuck is that about?" whispered Josh.
"I don't get it. Some people are attacking others."
"With their teeth? What sort of shitter does that?"
"Yeah. I don't get it either. I understand even less how the dead are rising."
Josh gave Dave an intense look. "Are you serious? What you're describing is nuts!"
Dave shrugged. "Have you seen what happens? Someone is attacked. Their body hacked to pieces and mutilated. And after a little time their body just rebuilds itself as if nothing happened. Not even a damn scar."
Josh stared at Dave, clearly at a loss for a counter explanation. Not wanting to explore the implications of their discussion further, Josh and Dave peeked over the skirting. A man who had been killed by having his stomach shredded was laying in the coils of his intestines. Instead of laying still like dead people normally do, the intestines were slithering like snakes and crawling back into the dead man's body. Before their eyes, Josh and Dave saw the dead man heal completely and then rise up on his feet. The dead man's clothes were still tatters from his attack, and yet there wasn't a single sign of an injury anywhere on the dead man's exposed skin. Even the blood that had previously been wildly sprayed everywhere during his murder was gone.
Josh returned to hiding behind the skirting. "I must be crazy because I'm less bothered by the way that they come back to life, but I'm more bothered by the way they heal their injuries."
Dave lay face down and turned to look at Josh. "That's not all. Have you seen the way that any body parts that are not connected any more, reconnected themselves."
"You have to be shitting me."
"But have you seen it?" asked Dave insisting.
"Yes. Yes. It just ..."
"It just makes you doubt your sanity doesn't it?"
"Yeah. I don't know what to think those shitters."
"Shitters?"
"It's as good as name as any for something that I don't understand."
Dave frowned a bit. "Maybe it's too early for that."
"What?"
"I mean, this is the first time that we've seen something like this. Maybe we just need to spend some time watching before coming to any conclusions. We're seeing a lot of crazy looking shit and maybe we're working with all the wrong assumptions. We can't just drop the first attempt at naming that we come across."
"I think 'shitters' is a great name for them."
"I think we should wait a bit and observe them a bit longer before trying to label what we see."
"So you want to keep looking at that shit?"
A perplexed look darted onto Dave's face. "Sorry. I'm a business analyst. This sort of approach is normal to me. I don't think we should limit our way of thinking too early. We need to be open to all manner of ideas no matter how whacky."
"Huh?"
"Okay. Say there was a serial killer. He writes a manifesto and makes videos of what he does."
"Sounds disgusting."
"Agreed. And the goal is to stop this guy and prevent others like him appearing."
"What's your point?"
"I'm not sure I have one. I'm kind of just improvising a line of thought here."
"That's a bit anti-climatic," grinned Josh despite the topic and environment.
"I don't see how you can act without first understanding the situation. And here's this serial killer who writes down his thoughts and records his actions. So let's study them."
"Come on. You can't believe what a serial killer is saying."
Dave nodded. "Very true. But why not take the time to have a look?"
"Because it would turn the stomach."
"Why should the state of your stomach get in the way of a solution? If your doctor found out that you had a terminal disease, would you like the doctor to lie and tell you that you're healthy? Or would you want the brutal truth so that you can try out some treatment and hopefully live a long life?"
"What if the treatments do nothing and the last months of your life are nothing but suffering caused by the treatments? There's something to be said about ending it all in style with a smile on your face."
Dave
frowned a bit at the mess of his logic. "Reality has a nasty habit of being more complex than what humans can imagine."
Josh would had chuckled but it was getting very loud on the streets nearby their position on the awning.
Dave slowly peeked over the skirting before ducking down. "It's lunchtime."
Josh stared wide eyed at Dave, understanding full well the consequences of what Dave said. A rise in the sound of violent deaths only confirmed that the streets had become a clone of the pits of hell.
"Why is everyone just walking out of their offices and into that bullshit?" asked Josh. "Can't they at least hear the screams?"
"I guess that people just aren't all aware of their surroundings. Haven't you seen the way that people just stare at their phones all the time."
"Shit," said Josh. "They were probably checking their phones in the elevators on the way to the ground floor. Probably found something interesting. Couldn't stop looking at it, and just walked out on the streets."
"I wonder if it was worth it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I don't want to sound like a snob but most people probably are just trying to pass the time with their phones so they were probably distracted by something trivial."
"So these people are dying because they a busy watching a funny cat video."
"Hell of a way to go."
Josh gave Dave a serious look. "You got a sick sense of humour."
"I'm not joking. I'm just trying to call it as I see it."
Dave frowned.
"Now what?" asked Josh.
"Pardon?"
"You got a thoughtful look on your face."
"At first I was just thinking that I was lucky."
Josh looked dubious. "I guess that we're alive, so maybe that's lucky."
"It was earlier. Before climbing up onto this awning I had thought about taking shelter in the office."
"Probably better than the street."
"I'm not sure. When I last peeked I noticed some people getting attacked in the doorways of a few buildings. So there's no doubt that those things are on the ground floor."
"Are you saying that the buildings are full of shitters?"
"I'm not sure," repeated Dave. "I don't think that they know how to operate the elevators. But maybe they don't need to know."
"How's that work?"
"Well, a living person is in an elevator. It stops on the ground floor and the door opens. One of those grey things that are standing nearby see a new meal and charges into the elevator. The door closes and a trap is set for whoever summons the elevator."
Josh looked up at the buildings around them. "Oh shit. Look."
Dave looked up at a window on the fifth floor of a building across the street. Someone was pinned against the window. Blood splatter covered most of the window and made it nearly impossible to see what was happening.
Dave went pale. "I was so lucky that I didn't go back to the office."
"I guess being alive is just a happy sequence of being lucky."
"But to get back to what I was trying to say," said Dave. "So far I've been lucky. We've both been lucky. It's so much luck that it makes a mockery of the idea that we have some sort of influence on our lives. This awning is only one floor above the ground. It's not high up at all. Somehow we've been safe so far. It's probably nothing more than dumb luck on our part."
"Shit. Now I'm really aware of making too much noise."
"Maybe we should stop talking and be very still and hope that the streets clear enough to allow us to escape."
Josh nodded.
* * *
On the street below Dave and Josh, staggered, on a rough count, at least a hundred dead people. No living person remained on the streets. It was a vicious, positive feedback loop. One dead would attack one of the living. The living dead then rose up. Now there were two of the dead who in turn could convert other living to the dead. It was a conversion rate that worked geometrically. The spread of deadness was nearly instant and would only spread faster.
After seeing the nightmare on the streets - a bloody scene from hell - Dave had felt his emotions becoming subdued in an effort to deal with the incomprehensible events that he had witnessed. The scenes from the streets had been awful, and Dave didn't want to think too long about what terrors were occurring out of sight in the buildings around them.
An unexpected sound came from down the street in the direction of the airport. It was only about a block away. It was probably just around a corner as a quick peak by Dave failed to reveal the source. Aroused by the noise, the crowd of the dead started moving towards to the sound.
"A car!" said Josh.
Dave nodded. "It could be something bigger. Like a four by four."
"They're certainly revving the hell out of it."
"Can you understand what they are doing?"
"That's a bit strange," said Josh. "You can hear the wheels squealing."
"It certainly doesn't sound like they are trying to escape."
"I'm guessing that someone is using a car to drive around and kill the dead."
Josh gave Dave an amused look. "Must be hard killing what is already dead."
Dave smiled grimly back at Josh. "Here we are in hell and making jokes."
"We're Australians. That's what we normally do. Satan himself could be ramming his great big cock up our arse and we'll still find some way to make it into a joke."
Dave turned his head to the noise. "I kind of wish I knew what was going on."
"Someone probably just lost their shit and are trying to vent."
"That sounds like technical explanation."
"Sod off. I'm hearing the noise of some vehicle in the distance and I'm taking some guesses. That's all. I'm just making some guesses."
"I'm sorry," said Dave. "This is all so strange to me. Much of what I'm saying feels all over the place."
"Who can guess what's going on over there."
"They are probably just lashing out in replacement of actual comprehension."
"Probably?"
Dave scratch the side of his head. "I'm just a grunt working in an office. I most likely know less than you about this sort of stuff."
Josh shared Dave's viewpoint. "So, you're a shit-talker. I'm on board with that."
Dave quickly looked over the awning's skirting and stood up. The only thing visible were a few scattered and empty cars.
"Whoever that madman is," said Dave, "they've done a fine job of clearing the streets."
Josh stood up and dusted himself off. "Any plans?"
"None whatsoever."
"I'm thinking of going home."
"Got some family?" asked Dave.
"Sort of. I live with my grandmother."
"Where do you live?"
"North."
Dave looked north and wasn't pleased. "So you'll have to cross the bridge."
"Yeah. I'm guessing the trains are out and the roads blocked by abandoned cars."
"And them," said Dave with a gesture that included what they had just seen.
"Yeah. But how else can I get home?"
"It's a pity that we don't have a guns," said Dave holding his hands in a pistol gesture.
Josh laughed with evident sarcasm. "Welcome to Australia. We're an island of prisoners. Only the guards have guns."
"At least you have a plan. I'm feeling a bit lost what I should do."
"You got no one at home?"
"Nope. I got nothing that I want or need at home either. What's more, I live east."
"Why's that a problem?"
"I don't really have a good reason. I just feel that if I get into trouble and need to run then the ocean will block my choices."
"At least you could go for a swim when you're bored," joked Josh.
"I wonder if they can swim?"
"Christ! Imagine getting attacked by those shitters when you're in the ocean."
"I kind of prefer to be eaten by a shark."
"At least you'll stay dead. I do
n't see the sharks as infection carriers."
On that somber note the conversation faded out. Dave spent a moment carefully looking around the street.
"If there are dead in the buildings I suspected that they are trapped inside."
"Wouldn't the automatic doors just open up?"
"This isn't a shopping area. Doors are either left open or you have to manually open them. I'm guessing that for the automatically opening doors the sound of that revving vehicle has tempted the dead out - at least that can get out. While the ones' with manual doors are too difficult for the dead to open."
"I think that you're guessing too much."
Dave looked sober. "I agree, but we got to start moving. I just need to figure out where. I'm tempted to head west. Get away from these high-rise buildings and into a less populated area. It's not much of a plan, but the more that I think about the more I like it."
"That sounds like a great idea. I'd join you if it wasn't for my grandmother."
The conversation became awkward with unsaid statements.
"How about you come with me?" asked Josh.
"Sounds like a possibility. How far north are you?"
"I'm not too far over the bridge. Barely half a suburb in."
"That's still a very built up area. There will be a lot to deal with there."
Josh shrugged. "What else can I do?"
"How about we get your grandmother and all head west?"
"Sorry mate. She's old. There's no way to move her. It's difficult at the best of times and impossible during the worst."
Dave looked down, avoiding eye contact. "I still think that going west and getting out of the thickest part of the city is for the best."
"I got to do what I got to go."
"It'll be hard. The power and water will probably fail at some point."
"I'm not bad with my hands and if something comes up then I'll just have to figure something out."
Dave looked up and placed a hand on Josh's shoulder. "You love your grandmother. You're a good fellow, Josh."
Josh looked embarrassed. "A man just has to grit his teeth and face his responsibilities. Remember, we've only just met. There's no need to feel any sense of responsibility to each other."
"I just feel like I'm abandoning you."
Josh gave a tired smile. "We've all been abandoned. No point worrying about something like that now. It's best to focus on staying alive."
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