“Crap!” I gasped as I stepped back, walking into the kitchen island.

“What’s wrong, Eva?” Jo asked as she walked out of the office.

“Ben! The customer… I think he’s… He’s not moving!” I called, motioning to Ben to come over.

Ben ripped off his gloves and ran around the outside of the counter towards the man.

“Call an ambulance! Wyatt, help me turn him onto his back,” he yelled as he checked the mans pulse and he and Wyatt carefully laid him flat on the floor.

Jo ran back into the office to get her phone then ran back out again as she dialled.

“I can’t get through!” She yelled as she dropped her phone on the counter and hurried back into the office to use the landline. “The landline is down! There isn’t even a dial tone!”

“There’s no pulse,” said Ben as he opened the mans mouth in preparation for CPR.

He was about to begin mouth to mouth resuscitation when the customer’s eyes flew open.

Wyatt and Ben moved back in shock.

The man didn’t move, he just lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Ben slowly leaned in closer, lowering his ear over the man’s mouth.

“He’s still not breathing.”

“I… I don’t feel a pulse,” Wyatt said, his fingers on the lifeless wrist.

Ben knelt back just as a gurgling sound emerged from the man’s mouth, sputtering blood all over himself. His bloodshot eyes started darting around the room, his arms slowly rising, reaching for Ben.

Ben and Wyatt stood up and backed away, and for a moment we all just stood there, staring, not knowing what to do.

“Guys?” Jo called from the office and we hurried over to the entryway to see her. “I tried the landline and all of our mobiles, but there’s nothing. Just silence. I don’t understand.” She explained, pushing her red hair behind her ear.

“I’ve never seen anything like him before,” said Ben, his face white with shock. “I mean, granted I haven’t completed training yet but… He’s not breathing. He doesn’t have a pulse. He’s… dead. But he’s moving. I don’t know what to do.”

I’d never seen Ben look so defeated.

I jumped at the sound of a loud crash and turned to see the plate of food had disappeared from the counter. Slowly, I walked closer and glanced over to see the supposedly dead man had managed to sit up and begin tearing into the bacon and sausages like an animal. He had reached up and pulled the plate down onto the floor.

“Ben!” I whispered and pulled him over so he could see. “He’s not dead! He’s okay. Sort of.”

The man’s head snapped up at the sound of my whisper, and I gasped when I saw his face. His skin was a sickly grey now, looking even more like the woman in the alley.

He munched furiously on the bacon as he grabbed hold of the counter stool and tried to lift himself up, glaring at us just as he glared at the meat before.

Instinctively, I pushed Ben back and we moved towards the office. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew we were in danger.

My heart started beating faster as I saw his bloodshot eyes slowly appear over the counter, with the same gurgling sound rumbling in his throat, only now it started to grow into more of a growl or a screech.

The four of us backed into the office, slid the door closed and turned the lock.

“Something creepy is going on today,” I said as I turned to face Ben, Jo and Wyatt. “First, the streets are completely deserted. Then, I saw a woman eating a rat in the dumpster, now this. That guy out there said someone tried to eat his leg!”

“Someone what?!” Jo gasped. “Maybe something’s happened? Has anyone seen any news today?”

Ben and Wyatt shook their heads, but what Jo said had triggered something in my memory.

“I saw something last night, on the TV in the bar,” I replied. “Something about an ‘outbreak’. It was in Sydney though, not here.”

Their eyes widened at the word outbreak, and Wyatt turned to switch on the television as we cramped together in the tiny room, gathering around.

The same news story appeared on every channel, all showing scenes of violence in the streets. Police officers bleeding, men fighting, women and children running frantically. I gasped when some of the footage was clearly in Melbourne, only a ten minute drive from where we were.

“I thought you said it was in Sydney?” Jo asked as she turned to look at me.

Just then, I remembered the last words I saw slide across the screen the night before.

'New reports of second Halienza outbreak in a Melbourne hospital.'

“Oh no.” I moaned, unable to take my eyes off the screen.

“Shhh!” hushed Ben, as the news reporter began to speak.

For anyone just joining us, there has been widespread panic down the east coast of Australia as a deadly outbreak of the Halienza Virus has left hundreds dead and an estimated thousands more infected. What started as a seemingly controlled leaks at Sydney’s Trinity Hospital and Melbourne's Infinity Hospital has already spread throughout New South Wales and Victoria. We’ve just had word that the virus has also hit Brisbane Hospital. The virus is expected to spread through to Adelaide and even up to Darwin over the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours.

We all looked at each other, eyes wide in shock, struggling to believe what we saw.

For anyone still in Sydney or Melbourne who are uninfected, you are urged to stay inside and lock your doors and windows. The infected have become severely deranged and extremely violent. We have received countless reports of the infected biting and even killing anyone they come across, including their loved ones. Do not approach the infected. I repeat; do not approach the infected. If you have been bitten, you are requested to go to the nearest hospital or medical centre for treatment as soon as possible.

More footage of the streets was shown then, this time of the infected. Their eyes were an eerie white, skin grey and spattered with blood, their faces and arms covered in open wounds and lesions.

“Zombies,” whispered Ben, staring slack-jawed at the screen.

“Oh come on, Ben,” Jo scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. “The media always over dramatises things. I doubt it’s that serious.”

“You haven’t seen the guy just outside the door,” Ben replied.

Just then, more footage of the violence was shown.

I watched in horror as at least a dozen police officers attempting to prevent a riot were attacked by psychotic men, women and even a few children, all furiously biting into their skin, tearing them to shreds. I felt sick as I watched the graphic scenes play out in front of me.

“We need to get rid of that guy. He’s infected. He’s been bitten, and he’s starting to look just like them,” I said, motioning to the infected people on the screen.

My stomach turned as I heard the sound of the bell ringing as the door of the diner opened, and slowly shut again.

“I hope that was him leaving,” I whispered as I unlocked the door and slid it open an inch.

I peered through the gap, but could still see the infected man trying to pull himself up onto the counter. “He’s still there.”

“That means another one just walked in,” Wyatt said as he switched off the television and stood close behind me.

Any other day I would have shivered in his close presence, but right now we stood on the edge of the end of the world, and we had to survive.

I heard a loud groan and someone, something, shuffling through the diner, edging closer to the four of us hiding in the tiny office. I held my breath, trying desperately to stay quiet. Slowly, I began sliding the door closed, but it was too late.

A rancid, decomposing face appeared on the other side of the entryway, its dilated pupils burning into me in desire.

I screamed, almost knocking Wyatt over as I jumped back into him. It let out a terrifying screech as it crammed a long, freshly mauled arm through the opening in the door. The putrid smell of day old rotting flesh filled the room as its maggot infested hand swiped at me frantically. The mere sight of it filled my stomach with bile, but I knew I had to focus on keeping us alive.

I threw myself forward against the door, pushing it sideways as hard as I could. Wyatt leaned over me onto the door, helping me slam it into the infected arm. Ben tried to grab it and push it back onto the other side of the door, but it was swinging wildly, its yellow fingernails covered in dried blood. Jo backed herself up against the far wall, screaming in fear.

I put all my weight against the door and together Wyatt and I forced it closed, and by the sound of the sickening crack I knew we had broken the bone, but the possessed arm didn’t stop. Instead, it kept waving around, only now it couldn’t grab us. Ben pushed the shattered arm back through the door and we slammed it shut, locking it fast.

For a moment, everything fell silent. I leaned off of the door and tried to catch my breath. I could feel my entire body trembling. My heart pounded so hard I thought it would explode.

I could hear it, the infected monster, groaning and sniffing at the other side of the door. The groan turned into a loud growl, and it furiously rammed itself into the door. Ben and Wyatt threw themselves against it to stop it from breaking in.

“What do we do?” I asked, my legs feeling so unstable I thought I would collapse.

No-one answered.

I leaned my arms against the door again, helping Ben and Wyatt keep it closed, while Jo slid down onto the floor, her knees up against her chest as tears streamed down her face.

Over the growling I heard the bell ring again.

Another one had come for us.

All that stood between us and these mindless creatures with an insatiable hunger for human flesh was a thin sliding door.

We were trapped.