'But I was at the gig, remember?' said Purna. 'I didn't see anything.' Then her eyes widened. 'Hang on this wasn't near the lavvies, was it?'

'If you mean the restrooms, then yeah, it was. Why? What did you see?'

'Nothing much. They were closed off, that's all. Rumour was a couple of security guys got attacked. Someone said something about a nutjob with a knife.'

'It wasn't a knife,' said Logan. 'They were attacked by a zombie. Like that one out there.'

Purna made a dismissive t'cho sound through her teeth. 'There's no such thing as zombies,' she said irritably.

'I know a zombie when I see one,' said Logan stubbornly. 'I've seen the movies.'

'Exactly!' replied Purna. 'Movies. As in fiction. Now hold still while I do this.'

Using a number of the torn strips she secured his makeshift dressing in place, then with another towel made Logan a sling, which she tied at the back, next to his armpit, to stop the knot digging into his wounded shoulder.

'My arm isn't broken,' he told her.

'No, but it's heavy,' she said. 'The sling will take the weight and keep the wounds from reopening, give them chance to heal.'

He sighed, and said glumly, 'They aren't going to heal.'

'What? Course they are,' she replied.

Instinctively he shook his head, and immediately winced again. 'No they're not. I'm infected now. Soon as it reaches my brain I'll become one of them.'

'Don't talk shit,' she said. 'You'll be fine.'

'You don't sound too sure.'

She scowled. 'I am sure. Even if that guy has got ... well, something infectious, he's not going to pass it on to you. We'll get you to a doctor, get you the right treatment, the right medication ...'

'There is no treatment,' Logan muttered.

'Bullshit!' Purna snapped, angry now. 'Stop talking like you want to get sick!'

'Sorry,' Logan said. 'Of course I don't want to get sick. It's just ... oh, this is seriously fucked up.'

Purna leaned over him, and to his surprise took his face in her hands. For a moment he thought she was going to kiss him, but she simply fixed her dark eyes on his, staring at him until she had his full attention. Then, quietly but with such conviction that he couldn't help but believe her, she said, 'You're going to be fine, Logan. I promise. I'll make sure you're fine. OK?'

When he didn't respond immediately, she said it again, more forcefully. 'OK?'

'OK,' he agreed.

'Good.' She released his face and stood up, stretching herself to her full height. She turned her head towards the door, graceful as a gazelle. 'Wonder if our friend's still out there.'

'You're not going to look, are you?'

She shrugged. 'How else are we going to find out?'

'But-' Logan began, and at that moment his cell phone rang.

It wasn't only his phone that rang, though, but Purna's too. They came alive at precisely the same instant, Logan's blasting out the old Survivor hit, 'Eye Of The Tiger', Purna's simply giving a no-nonsense double-buzz every couple of seconds. Purna raised her eyebrows curiously at Logan and slid her sleek black phone from her jeans pocket. 'Unknown number,' she muttered, and raised the phone to her ear just as Logan was doing the same. 'Hello?'

The line crackled, full of static, then a clipped, precise voice said briskly, 'Don't talk, just listen. I have a certain amount of information to relay, and at this juncture I simply don't have time to answer questions. This call is going out to four separate numbers, and I see from the information I have here that all four of you have answered. This is good, very good. However, due to circumstances beyond my control, our lines of communication are limited. In fact, this signal could die at any moment so please, all of you, listen very carefully ...'

As if to illustrate the caller's point, his voice was suddenly overwhelmed by a burst of white noise. Purna and Logan both flinched and held their phones away from their ears. After a few seconds the white noise settled back into a more bearable fuzz of static, out of which rose the caller's voice, like the auditory equivalent of a ship looming from thick fog.

'First of all, Mr Carter, could you tell me how you are?'

Logan looked shocked. Purna stared at him in wide-eyed puzzlement.

'Er ... fine,' Logan muttered, 'but how did you-'

'Please be more precise, Mr Carter,' the voice cut in. 'What are your symptoms?'

Logan scowled. 'I was attacked, OK? I have bites. They hurt.'

'But you have had no seizures? No wild impulses? You are not suffering from lockjaw?'

'Would I be able to talk if I was?' Logan snapped. Then he sighed. 'No ... none of those things.'

'Excellent!' said the voice. 'And you, Miss Mei? How are your symptoms?'

A voice came over the line young, female, hesitant. 'I'm fine too. My hand aches and I felt a little dizzy earlier, but I'm better now.'

'Splendid!' said the voice. 'Oh, that is truly splendid!'

'Can't say how glad I am that you're stoked-' Logan began drily, but the voice cut him off.

'Please, no talking unless I ask you a direct question. Now listen very carefully. There isn't much time.'

There was a pause, as if the caller was taking a deep breath, and then he said, 'There has been ... an outbreak on the island-'

Instantly, despite his instructions, a voice cut in that both Logan and Purna recognized. 'What kind of outbreak?' asked Sam B.

'Please,' said the voice, sounding pained. 'I understand your desire to ask questions but try to resist, all of you. I'll endeavour to explain the situation as best I can, but before I do, I must warn you that what I'm about to say will almost certainly sound unbelievable. But you must believe me when I tell you your lives will depend on how you respond to my instructions. You must trust me completely and do everything I tell you. I really cannot stress that point strongly enough.'

Once again the voice paused briefly, as if allowing his words to sink in. Then he continued, 'Now, as I was saying, there has been an outbreak on the island. A constantly mutating form of a particularly aggressive virus is cutting a swathe through Banoi's population. The first victim was identified in the downtown area of Moresby city just under six hours ago. It was initially hoped that the virus could be isolated and restricted to a small area, but unfortunately this has not been possible. Since the victim first exhibited symptoms of the virus, it has spread at an alarming rate throughout the city and beyond. The current estimate is that the virus has affected around eighty thousand people over sixty per cent of the population though numbers are rising so fast that frankly we're finding it difficult to keep up.'

His words were met with a collective gasp and a babble of questions. 'Please,' the caller shouted, and then had to shout twice more before a modicum of order was restored.

'I realize how shocking this information is,' he said, 'and how anxious you all must be. However the reason I am speaking to you now is not to alarm you, but to equip you with the facts you will need in order to negotiate the hazards ahead. Our ultimate aim is to get you off the island, but to do that I'm afraid you must come to us. Already the exceedingly virulent nature of the pandemic has resulted in the instigation of extreme emergency procedures, as a result of which Banoi has been declared a no-go zone for outside agencies.'

There was a renewed crackle of static and both Purna and Logan held their breaths, fearful they were about to lose contact with what might prove to be not merely their only source of information, but a possible means of escape from the island. Then the static died and the voice came through again.

'... furnish you with full and frank information as to the nature of the virus itself,' it said. 'I know that three of you have already had isolated encounters with infected individuals, and so are aware that symptoms of the virus include extreme psychosis, manifesting in a constant and intense desire to devour the flesh of the uninfected. What you possibly don't realize, however and I'm aware that this information may prove particularly ... ah, indigestible is that the virus acts by first killing the host body and then by reanimating the dead flesh. In effect, therefore, it is a parasitical-'

'Zombies!' cried Logan, his manner almost triumphant. 'You see! I was right!'

'Zombies my ass,' rumbled Sam B. 'This is bullshit.'

'Please, ladies and gentlemen,' appealed the voice once more. 'Zombies is such an ... an emotive word. Not to say ...'

'Cheesy?' suggested Purna.

'I was about to say "inaccurate",' said the voice.

'So what would you call them?' Sam asked.

'We prefer to think of them as the "reanimated dead".'

'Same difference,' said Logan.

'He's right,' said Purna. 'It's just a question of semantics.'

'Yeah, what she said,' muttered Sam.

'Please be quiet, everyone,' Xian Mei piped up suddenly. 'I want to hear what the man says.'

'Thank you, Miss Mei,' said the caller. 'Now, in order to make it safely off the island you will need to head inland. To prevent the spread of infection, the airport has been locked down and the main harbour is being patrolled by offshore gunboats. Those trying to escape by sea are being ordered to turn back. Any vessels that don't comply are simply blown out of the water. All conventional exit routes have therefore been closed off while the authorities try to come up with a solution to the problem.'

'That's barbaric,' said Purna.

'It's necessary,' replied the caller. 'Would you rather this became a worldwide pandemic?'

'Of course not. But what about the forty per cent of people on the island who aren't affected?'

'That number is dropping all the time and rapidly.'

'It's still a lot of people. So what are they? Collateral damage?'

'We're doing our best in a difficult situation,' said the voice tightly. 'We're trying to help you now, aren't we?'

'Yeah, and why you doin' that?' said Sam. 'Why just the four of us? How come we're so special? And who the hell are you anyway?'

'Someone will be waiting for you downstairs,' said the voice, ignoring Sam's questions. 'He will help you. But you need to go now. The situation is worsening all the time. And you need to arm yourselves.'

'With what?' asked Sam.

'With whatever you can find.'

Chapter 5.

SINAMOI.

'HE'S GONE.'

Having stuck her head warily out the door, Purna stepped into the corridor, brandishing a splintered chair leg. The walls and carpet were still covered in drying blood and foam from earlier, but the bellhop who had attacked them was nowhere to be seen.

'How many times did you hit him?' asked Logan, emerging from the room with a leg from the same chair.

'Enough to put any regular guy in the emergency ward,' she said.

Logan pulled a face. 'You think these freaks abide by the normal zombie rules?'

'Well, I dunno,' she said, frowning. 'I guess that all depends on what the "normal zombie rules" are?'

'You know destroy the brain, chop the head off ... all that shit.'

Purna looked at him in disbelief. 'I really hope we don't get into a situation where we have to find out.'

She tapped lightly on the neighbouring door. 'Sam, it's us.'

Immediately it opened and Sam appeared.

'Hey, I'm loving your weapon,' Logan said drily.

Sam was holding what appeared to be a giant modified egg-whisk. He looked both proud of it and faintly embarrassed at the same time. 'Made it by twisting together all the coat hangers in my wardrobe,' he explained, 'then straightening out the ends. Figure if those fuckers come for me I'll stab their fucking eyes out.'

'Plus it can double as a back scratcher,' Logan said.

Sam scowled at him, then glanced at his makeshift sling. 'So you got bitten, huh?'

'Yes, and I know what you're thinking,' said Logan. 'If I get even the teeniest desire to chow down on your brains I'll let you know.'

Purna was already moving stealthily down the corridor, warily eyeing each door. 'What do you reckon?' she asked. 'Stairs or lift?'

'If the lift's empty we should be able to get all the way down to the ground floor in it,' said Logan.

'Fuck that,' said Sam. 'If the door opens and reception is full of those fuckers we'll be like sardines in a can.'

'More like meatballs,' said Logan, and looked at Purna. 'Talking of which, I think you've given me a hernia.'

Sam raised his eyebrows. Purna pursed her lips and shook her head. 'It's not what you think.'

By mutual consent they bypassed the lift and halted outside the heavy fire door, above which a perspex sign read: IN CASE OF EMERGENCY USE STAIRS.