Free The Alpha Plague 3 by Michael Robertson Page B

any risks.”
    Larissa seemed to tense up at the mention of Vicky. She didn’t reply as she went more vigorously at her task.

    ***

    After the pair had cleaned their weapons Rhys looked around again. The neighbourhood stood as quiet now as it had before. The temperature had dropped by a few degrees. A slight gust rode the night air, which bit through Rhys’ shirt and made him clench both his jaw and tighten the muscles of his torso. “We need to find a phone,” he said. “One that we can actually use.”
    With no streetlights the shadows seemed to spread out like an oil spill with every passing minute and ate into what little light the slim moon provided. Every window in every house sat as a black hole. If anything stirred inside Rhys and Larissa had no chance of seeing it.
    Rhys looked at the window the diseased had leapt through to get at him. Glass remained in the frame as jagged shards. “I’m guessing there’s no more diseased in this house. Surely they would have jumped out of the window by now if there were. I think we should start our search here.”
    Each house on the street seemed to have been built from the same plan. Each had a sloped driveway with a garage at the top. The front door sat next to the garage on every house. The only thing that marked out the one they stood in front of from the rest was the phone number painted in blood on the white garage door. Well, that and the huge splash of crimson next to it.
    Rhys walked up to the front door and pushed the handle down. The door didn’t move. Of course it didn’t because that would have been too damn easy. Another look around the quiet neighbourhood and Rhys said, “I don’t like it here.”
    Larissa didn’t reply, and when a strong gust of wind flew through the street she hugged herself tightly.  
    “Let’s go around the back,” Rhys said. “Hopefully they’ve left that door unlocked.”
    An alleyway led to the back garden and a tall gate barred the way. When Rhys pressed the latch the gate didn’t budge. He reached over the top and slid a bolt free allowing the gate to open. He stepped through with Larissa close behind him.  
    Unlike the front, the back garden showed serious signs of neglect. An old fridge lay on its side in the corner by a dilapidated shed. A huge rabbit hutch took up the rest of the space. From a quick count Rhys saw at least seven furry shapes as they shifted around in the tight wooden hutch. They’d starve pretty quickly without human aid. If he let them out when he left at least they’d have a fighting chance at survival. Despite the mess of the back garden the concrete path that led to the back door remained unobscured, so Rhys headed down it.  
    As he walked Rhys held his breath. The near silence called every one of his steps out no matter how lightly he trod. When he got to the back door he bit down on his bottom lip and pushed the handle down. It creaked and Rhys’ pulse raced. When he’d pushed it all the way down he put a small amount of pressure on the door and it swung open into the house.
    The stench of the diseased rushed out like heat from an oven and hit Rhys in the face. He stepped back and held his nose. “Fuck.” He looked around to see Larissa, tight-lipped and focused entirely on him. “You need to be ready for this, it fucking stinks in there.”
    Her dark bob swayed as she nodded.
    One last gasp of fresh air and Rhys stepped through the doorway.  
    Like the outside the house stood silent. Rhys’ feet tapped against the wood laminate floor when he walked down the corridor. His heart beat out of control as the darkness smothered him. A second later he heard a noise like a pig at a trough. He froze and raised a hand to halt Larissa.  
    Larissa stopped.
    Rhys leaned so close to his ex-wife he could smell the slight tang of sweat on her skin. The familiar scent took him back to well before Flynn arrived when they had Sunday morning lie-ins and sex after a night out. “The kitchen,” Rhys