We waited for another twenty seconds to make sure the killer was dead before going onto the roof, even though I was more than confident that he was. When we did eventually walk out and look around, a nasty surprise was waiting for us. There was another body on the roof. This one had been hacked to death with something sharp.
“Shit, have I killed an innocent man?”
“I don’t know,” Jack replied.
We inspected the man I had shot for clues.
”I doubt he killed that other person,” Jack said, “he’d be covered head to toe in blood if he did. The blood on his clothes is only around where you shot him.”
I nodded. Next to him was an MP40, I slipped the magazine out of the grip, took out the eight rounds to confirm the matching calibre and loaded them into my own.
We walked over to the other body, which was a young woman. It looked like she had been stabbed several times in the chest and throat.
“Harry, look. There’s a trail of blood leading to the edge of the roof.”
I looked down at the droplets on the floor that led to roughly where we had been sitting the previous day. We followed the trail and looked over the edge of the building. A corpse was sprawled out on the pavement below us, another suicide mission completed successfully.
I was almost certain that the man waiting for us behind the door hadn’t killed the woman on the roof, but this confirmed it.
“Why did three of them all come up here?” I asked.
“I don’t know, they might have seen us up here yesterday? Maybe they came up for a view of the surroundings to try and spot a victim.”
Whatever had happened, three killers had all visited the top of our apartment block between dusk and dawn.
I looked over at the parking lot. The music was no longer playing but four more bodies were lying there. I pointed it out to Jack, “Just how many of these bloody killers are there around here?”
Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. We might have attracted more than we expected. Whatever is going on, I don’t think we can stay here any longer.”
I agreed. It could have been possible that we attracted attention to ourselves somehow with our trap, but I doubted it. I also doubted that there were that many people hiding in Elmhurst. Killers may have started to go looking for prey.
We took the opportunity while we were still on the roof to discuss Bernie and Lea. Bernie had not yet fired a shot and had instructed us to do so a number of times, but he didn’t shy away from going in first, as he had proved in the police building at the airport and his local store. He had also provided a sanctuary for a couple of nights after leaving the airport. Lea had shown good assertiveness and survival instincts by making her way to Elmhurst to find other people. She had shot the man at the parking lot and hadn’t shown any remorse. The memory of it was probably ingrained in her mind, but that was the same as many of the things the rest of us had seen or done. Jack and I both agreed that we had the makings of a good team.
“Come on, let’s get back downstairs and make the other two some cold breakfast. They might be up and wondering where we are,” Jack said.
“We’ll also have to discuss our next move with them. We can’t stay here and need some options,” I replied.
We walked down the stairs and knocked on the apartment door three times. Bernie opened it almost immediately; Lea was standing behind him, looking ready to pounce.
“Where the hell have you been? We both woke up to the sound of gunfire,” Bernie said.
“It’s a long story,” Jack answered, “we’ll tell you over breakfast.”
We told them about what had happened on the roof and what we saw in the parking lot while we all ate cold tinned tomatoes.
Lea was in little doubt about what we should do next.
“We should head out into the countryside today and find ourselves a quiet place with good all round views. I know a nice farm in Orange County. I visited it last summer with my partner, I’m sure it will be well stocked.”
“I know Orange County,” Bernie replied, “but we don’t have to leave the apartment for at least a few days.”
“I think we should go now,” Jack said. “It’s coming up to three days since this thing first started and there is no end in sight as far as I can see. Let’s get out of here.”
If we stayed in the apartment, there was a risk of being trapped. Killers could have already been heading our way after hearing the shots from the roof. If we had to shoot more of them, we might run out of ammunition and be sitting ducks. Personally, I agreed with Jack and Lea. We might go undetected over the course of a few days, but it was probably wishful thinking.
Lea’s idea was appealing. The countryside would surely be quieter. If we found a decent house in a remote place, then we could build it up defensively and our prospects would be better. The risk was that we would have to travel a reasonable distance and would almost certainly have to tackle some killers on the way.
In the end, I sided with Lea. “You’re out-voted three to one, Bernie. I take it you are still coming with us?”
“Of course I’m coming with you. We’re a team aren’t we?” Bernie replied irritably.
I was glad that the vote hadn’t been split right down the middle and Bernie was willing to go with the majority. For now though, we had to prepare for a trip to the countryside.
“Lea, where’s the farm?” Bernie asked.
“It’s just outside Montgomery when you exit the highway, near a big old white house. Do you know it?”
“I think I know exactly where you mean. We drove past that house a few times when visiting Linda’s parents and always talked about living there. It was our dream place.”
“What’s it like for us?” I asked.
“Great, it’s big, surrounded by a large garden, and it’s just off the main route. I think we should go there and not the farm.”
“How far is it from here?”
“About seventy miles, not far,” Bernie replied.
“Okay, it sounds good. We can take a car from Queens Boulevard and drive directly there.”
“Guys, I know the way there, nearly the entire route is on highways,” Bernie said, sounding more enthusiastic about leaving the apartment.
“I still think we should go to the farm. It’s going to be better for supplies,” Lea replied.
“We don’t know that. Besides, we’re leaving today for Orange County and the farm will be close by, at least give Bernie a choice of location,” I said.
“Yeah, give Bernie the choice. He’s agreed to come along,” Jack added.
“Fine,” Lea said rolling her eyes. Bernie smiled.
“Right, let’s get ready,” Jack replied.
I checked my weapon, put yesterday’s shopping in my backpack and moved towards the door, “Come on then, there’s no point hanging around.”
Once we left the apartment and started heading towards Queens Boulevard, I knew we had made the right decision. The air was thick with the stench of death. It would only get worse in the more heavily populated areas. Most corpses were now three days old. I looked at one whose skin was beginning to become discoloured; the body looked unnaturally swollen in the morning sun. The city would be unbearable in another two days.
Once on the road and heading away from Manhattan, we approached a right hand drive SUV that had pulled to the side of the road. Two people were sprawled outside the passenger door. One with gouges in his face and neck, surrounded by a pool of congealed blood. The other, with blood all over his hands had vicious red-scarred flesh around his mouth and a can of lighter fluid near his hand.
Jack found the keys on the ground next to the driver’s feet. The ignition key was crusted in blood and had a piece of twisted flesh hanging off it. He used the driver’s sweater to wipe the key clean and started the vehicle’s engine. It rolled over smoothly and the dashboard indicated that the fuel tank was three quarters full. Bernie drove again, I took the other front seat, Jack and Lea jumped into the back.