The soldiers were on their feet in an instant as they took up firing positions. Daniel stayed with me. Griffin covered our rear.

The dust began swirling again and the wind picked back up. We could still only see a few feet in front of our faces. Ethan and Smitty were on the other side of the road. We could barely see them.

“Is that ours?” Smitty asked. “Please God, tell me that isn’t Ramirez.”

Ethan checked through the scope on his rifle. “Not sure. It’s hard to see through the dust from this distance. But it’s badly damaged.”

“Of course it’s ours,” Griffin said. “Who the hell else would it be? The military have backed off. We’re the only ones operating in here. You know it. I know it. And guess what? Now were freakin stranded here.”

Daniel turned around to face Griffin. “Keep it together, man.”

“Oh, I’m together. I’m perfectly together. I’m just making sure that everyone knows that’s our goddamn Osprey. Ramirez is gone, man! Something ain’t right. Something hit us back there. And something hit this bird as well.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Daniel asked.

“Look at the damage! It didn’t just fall outta the sky.”

“Maybe it’s the dust?” Smitty suggested. “Maybe it’s clogging up the engines or the blades or something?”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Griffin replied.

“Quiet, everyone,” Ethan ordered as he moved out and away from the car he was taking cover behind. He moved closer to the wreckage to see if anyone had survived the crash.

Daniel and I were crouched down in the gutter behind what looked like a Toyota Prius. Griffin was kneeling down near the trunk, checking back down the road. His eyes and head were moving frantically from side to side.

To our immediate right was some sort of computer store. The front window was completely covered in dust. The door to the shop had been broken off its hinges. I guess maybe the store had been looted before things got really bad. It was probably a looter’s paradise. Full of laptops and iPads. It was unfortunate, but looters were an inevitable part of any disaster. You hope that everyone would come together in a crisis, whatever the situation. But I guess there’s always a small minority of people who want to do their own thing.

I tried to look inside the store. But even though the door was open, I couldn’t see a thing. It was too dark. I was about to turn away when I thought I saw something move across the window, a shadow. But I couldn’t be sure. The window was too dusty.

I stared intently for a few seconds but there was nothing. Although I thought I could hear this weird sound coming from the back of the store. I guess it sounded like maybe a low grumbling noise.

I tapped Daniel on the shoulder and motioned with my head towards the computer store.

He looked inside. Looked back at me. He shook his head and turned his attention back in the direction of where the Osprey had crashed.

I tapped his shoulder again. “I think something is in there,” I whispered.

He took another look. He raised his rifle up and pointed it at the door. He looked through the scope and swore under his breath.

“What is it?” I asked as my heart skipped a beat. “Is there something in there?”

“No,” he answered. But then he paused. He looked all around, up at the buildings, at all the windows, the side streets and alleyways. He looked again back through the door. “Actually, I don’t know,” he added. “There could be. We’re sitting ducks here. We need to move.”

He removed one of the hand guns from the holster on his leg. It was a Desert Eagle. He then holstered that gun and removed another smaller one and handed it to me. My eyes widened. Holding a gun did not make me feel safe. Daniel feeling the need to give me a gun did not make me feel safe. Why would he feel the need to give me a gun?

I flicked the safety switch off and my heart began to beat faster.

Ethan stood up and lowered his rifle. He had seen enough of the wreckage. His face looked grim. “Let’s head for high ground,” he said. “We need to get off the streets. We need to get our bearings and see what’s going on.”

We were about to make a move, but Daniel grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.

Ethan had also frozen. A quick hand signal told the other guys to take cover.

“What is it?” I asked

Daniel held his index finger up to his lips, urging me to be quiet. Griffin had dropped to his stomach and was crawling towards us. He moved up next to Daniel.

Daniel pointed back down the road. He had his head tilted to the side, listening.

I focused, straining my ears. After a few seconds, I could hear it. We could all hear it. It was the screaming howl of the infected. They sounded like they were everywhere but we couldn’t see them. The dust was too thick.

Ethan told us to run and head for cover. “Run! Go!”

Adrenalin hit me like an electric charge. Just as we were about to get up and run, something seemed to hit Griffin in the back. His chest was pushed forward, his back arched in agony. Something pierced through his body, through the goddamn NBC suit, the Ironman suit, spraying blood on Daniel and me. Griffin was then pulled off his feet and into the doorway of the computer store. And just like that, he was gone.

Daniel grabbed me by the arm and pulled me along with him. Not that he needed to. I was already sprinting.