As we crept past a police car slowly, it appeared that the officers inside had taken part in a quick draw contest. One of them was leaning against a shattered window with a bullet hole in his eye. The winner had decorated the interior ceiling with his brains. I reached into the passenger side of the car, and took the semi-automatic Glock service pistol that was still in the limp hand of the quick draw loser.
I made the Glock safe, stowed the flare gun in my backpack, and then turned to look at the rest of the group. Jack stepped closer to me, I could see Linda’s lips quivering, and Bernie was silently shaking his head, his hand on Linda’s shoulder.
“This is unbelievable. What the hell has happened here?” Jack whispered.
“I’ve got no idea. Did you notice that they all look like they turned on each other?” I said, keeping my voice low.
“Yeah, what do you think kicked it all off?” He had lowered the Sig and stood slumped against a car hood. “Why did they all attack each other? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I don’t know, maybe all these people knew something we didn’t?”
In every visible area I looked, a violent act had taken place.
Jack and I quickly ducked behind a car, Bernie and Linda did the same as a metallic noise rang out on the opposite end of the terminal to where we stood.
“Did you see anything?” Bernie mouthed.
“No, we just heard that noise,” Jack whispered back.
We all peered around the sides of the cars and waited. From around the far corner of the terminal, walked an elderly woman in a green tracksuit.
We looked at Bernie and Linda in surprise. They had seen her too. The woman started to wander slowly amongst the bodies, leaning down and touching each one. It looked like she was checking for signs of life.
“What should we do? There’s no way she caused all of this,” Jack said quietly.
He looked back at the old woman who seemed unmoved by the corpses that surrounded her.
“What if she’s like the security guard at the bottom of the slide?” I whispered.
“We’ll wait until she gets close, jump out, aim our guns at her, and then get her to talk.”
“Okay, you give the signal.”
I looked over to Bernie and gestured for them to stay where they were.
As the elderly woman closed in on our position, I thought about having to shoot her, and felt a bead of sweat run down my temple. I cocked the Glock as slowly and silently as possible, making sure a round went into the chamber.
“Freeze! Put your hands in the air, now,” Jack shouted as he leapt up and aimed his Sig at her.
She continued towards us.
“Take one more step and I’ll shoot,” I shouted, and raised the Glock.
“Thank God, I have found some people alive,” she said.
The woman looked curiously at us, but showed no other signs of emotion, then slowly raised her hands from the elbows upwards.
Bernie and Linda stepped out from behind their car, and he began an immediate cross-examination.
“Where have you come from? What’s your name?”
Good questions, I thought. Let’s see how normal she is.
“My name is Maureen. I’ve come over from Hook Creek. You are the first people I have met today who are alive.”
She now appeared to be scared, which was a strangely positive sign.
“Why did you come to the airport?” Bernie said in an aggressive tone.
“I heard two shots fired from this direction. I was hoping to find someone, anyone.”
Her explanation seemed to make sense, I thought. I’d probably do the same thing. It couldn’t have been very nice for an old lady to suddenly find herself amongst such gruesome surroundings, and the sound of shooting may have been a potential source of rescue, or at least life.
“What’s happened here? What caused it all?” Bernie continued.
“I’d like to know that as well. All of this senseless killing…” She broke off momentarily and looked down. “You probably know more than me. I’ve only just arrived here.”
“Have you seen anything at all in the last few hours?” Bernie replied. I could hear frustration in his voice.
“I was walking in the park on my own. I came back to find my car was stuck in the middle of abandoned vehicles. I heard the gunshots over here and decided to come looking for help. Can you lower your guns, please? You’re frightening me.”
Jack looked at me, I nodded, “Okay, we will, but stay where you are.”
“Thank you.”
She started rummaging in her bag, no doubt for a mint or maybe even a cigarette, and took a step forward. But I was taking no chances.
“I said stay where you are. Get your hands out of the bag.”
“Please, don’t be worried. I have a mobile in here. I can try to get in touch with people for us. It looks like we all need help. I’m not too old for a mobile you know!”
She took a few steps towards us, trying to show us the contents of her bag, humming in a friendly way as she rummaged.
“Do you want to take her back to the plane?” I said turning to Bernie and Linda.
Linda’s eyes widened as she screamed, “Look out.”
I instinctively moved to my left and felt a slash across my right arm just below the shoulder. Maureen had produced a carving knife from the bottom of her bag and lunged at me, a split second was all that she needed. Jack reacted immediately, kicking Maureen in the chest and she fell backwards. We pointed our guns at her again.
This time, I wouldn’t let her out of my sight for a moment.
“You’d better start talking. What the fuck’s going on?”
She was panting and rubbing her ribcage where Jack’s walking boot had connected just under the armpit. She spat on the floor, then sprang up with surprising speed for a lady of advanced years and lunged at Jack. He jumped to his left and crashed his fist into the side of Maureen’s temple, she staggered and tripped backwards over a dead body.
“Shoot her. We can’t keep our distance forever. She’ll get one of us eventually,” Bernie shouted.
“Not yet, unless you want to do the honours?” Jack replied with his eyes fixed firmly on our assailant.
Bernie cracked his knuckles and took a step back.
Maureen regained her footing and started circling us with serious intent on her face. Jack and I kept pace with her to allow Bernie and Linda protection behind us, but she was starting to sense that we might not use the weapons.
“I only want to kill one of you, the other three can leave,” she said in a surprisingly rational tone.
“What’s wrong with you? What will it take to make you stop?” Bernie pleaded over my shoulder.
Maureen ignored Bernie’s question and carried on circling us, she appeared to be looking for a momentary lapse in concentration.
“Bernie, take the Glock for a second, will you?” I said keeping my eyes fixed on Maureen.
“Okay, but I’ll use it if she attacks again.”
He took my place alongside Jack. I ducked behind them, took the flare gun out of my backpack and pulled back the hammer.
“How’s your arm?” Linda asked, and I noticed blood running down my fingers.
“Its fine, don’t worry about it for now.”
The wound only seemed superficial, but it was painful.
“What are you going to do with the flare gun?” she asked.
“We can’t just shoot her; I don’t mind using this to scare her though.”
I held up the gun and pointed it towards Maureen’s face. My intention was to shock her into submission by shooting it close to her head. She might get some slight burns, but it would be worth it to calm her down.
I pulled the trigger and the gun made a loud popping noise as a glowing projectile slammed into the right side of Maureen’s forehead. She dropped like a stone, as the flare lay sizzling on the ground a few feet away.