of the weird humming sound. They were not so loud, but their monotone was maddening.
It got dark outside the window. He heard sobbing coming from the corridor. Soon it was gone. Three gunshots tore the silence. Somewhere near, in the corridor. He sat up on the bunk. The door slit slid open, and he startled. A needle of instant fear pierced his body.
Through the open slit, a flashlight beam struck him in the face. He shielded his eyes with the palm of his hand.
“Don’t move a muscle, or I’ll fucking shoot you!” a female voice said with good North American pronunciation.
The Russian chick, Ramses thought immediately.
He got up from the bunk. “Damn, Ksenia! What up?”
A gun blasted and the toilet in the corner exploded. Stench crept into his nostrils.
“I said, ‘Don’t fucking move!’” Ksenia said.
Ramses put his hands up. “Whoa, easy now! Maybe you can explain what the hell is going on here?”
“Shut up and listen to me. And don’t move if you want to live.”
Ramses sat on the bunk and put his hands on his lap. “Just stop acting so crazy. And take that light off my face.”
Ksenia lowered the flashlight and trained the beam on his hands. She sighed and said, “There’s been an attack on the police station. Many people are killed. My father’s killed …”
Ramses opened his mouth to say something but then closed it.
“I don’t know what is happening myself,” Ksenia went on. “Wish I knew. The building is surrounded by a group of psychopaths. They kill everyone they see.”
“Get the keys and let me out.”
“I got the keys,” Ksenia said. “I’m going to free you, and you’ll help me escape from this building safely.”
“Yee. It’s a deal.”
“But I’m warning you again – I got a gun, and it’s loaded, and I know how to use it.”
He nodded and his dreadlocks fell over his eyes. He didn’t risk brushing them away. His eyes were fixed on the cement floor. The dark fetid water from the smashed john was approaching his feet.
“All right,” he said. “No wrong moves on my part. Just get me out of this shithole.”
“Keep sitting still.”
The light disappeared, and he was submerged into darkness again. He heard the metallic rattle in the keyhole and the heavy door opened. The moaning noises could be heard more distinctly now. It was dark in the corridor, too. Ksenia had switched off the torch. The faint moonlight penetrating through a barred window and shining on the corridor linoleum was the only source of light.
Ksenia’s hair was disheveled, and there was a crazy shine in her eyes. She was wearing blue jeans, a white heavy pullover and a pair of black boots.
She made a step back into the corridor and motioned with the gun. “Come out.”
He stepped out of the cell. “What’s with the lights? Was there a power outage?”
“Sh-h,” Ksenia whispered. “Speak quietly. I turned off all the lights on this floor. We don’t need their attention.”
“Whose attention? You were firing that gun a minute ago. What ya talking about? And what’s that awful noise?”
“It was worse in the afternoon. There were more of them in the morning. They overflowed the streets.”
Sweet Jesus on a bike, Ramses thought. I’m talking to a lunatic.
“Take a look through the window,” Ksenia said, “and see for yourself.”
Ramses glanced at her in disbelief.
“Be sure no one sees you,” Ksenia said. The threatening tone disappeared in her voice. She sounded a little frightened now.
He walked to the frost-bitten window and looked down on the street. It was dimly lit by the moonlight. He could see dozens of people walking on the sidewalk and right in the middle of the thoroughfare. There were no moving cars, though. The dark figures were slowly shambling. The monotonous moaning was filling the air. It seemed as if the gates of the hell had been opened and all of its dreadful dwellers had crept out. He could not distinguish their faces but he could see there were young men and women and senior people among them.
“Oh. My. God,” he said. He turned and looked at Ksenia.
“When these crazy people appeared on the streets, my first thought was that it was some kind of flash mob, a joke, you know, or a political demonstration.” Ksenia chuckled. “Then they started attacking other people. With their bare hands. No guns. Just bare hands and teeth.”
“Teeth?”
“Yes. They bite people. My dad’s car drove into the parking lot. They got my father and literally ripped him apart.” She started sobbing.
“My God,” Ramses said and looked out the window again. Some people were wearing warm clothes, others only light office clothes. He strained his eyes. He was sure he was seeing a child clad in pajamas. He came to think he was going crazy. Or maybe he was still asleep?
“They killed my dad,” Ksenia continued. “And this bastard, his driver, left him there. And he himself escaped. Coward.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “I’ve been hiding in my father’s office all day. When I came out, I shot a man because he tried to attack me, too.”
Ramses was speechless. Words didn’t come easily to him. He heard a gunshot from outside and backed away from the window. A car alarm started whining.
“All right, girl.” He tried to focus. “I gotta get a better handle on the situation here. What level are we on?”
Ksenia wiped her tears off. “On the fourth floor.”
“Good. What’s with the first floor? Can those weirdoes get up here?”
“Some of them are on the first floor. But I managed to lock the door leading to the staircase.”
Ramses tried to think straight. “Okay. Are there more guns in this place?”
“Sure, in the armory. It’s a police station.”
“Where’s the armory? D’you know that?”
“Sure,” she said. “You can say I’ve almost grown up here. The armory is on the second floor. But it’s locked.”
“Too bad,” Ramses said. “But let’s check it, anyway. You got any other weapons?”
“No.” She lowered the gun. “This is all I got.”
He nodded. “Still, it is something.”
“Look,”
