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though," he muttered.
    "Phew, you had me worried there for a little bit," joked Lash. "But you're right, we don't have much of anything at all on the walls. Some pictures would be nice. Right Edsel? Edsel?"
    "Eh? Oh, absolutely. We should go to a museum though. I bet we can get originals."
    Assuming they weren't all looted by people thinking they would actually be worth money.
    They climbed from floor to floor, seeing nothing, hearing or smelling nothing either. The whole building was silent, but it had clearly been maintained well after The Lethargy. At the top of the last flight they found themselves in a wide corridor with a single door to the left and an exit sign above a door that led onto the roof at the far end.
    "This could be a pretty good base for exploring, as long as the penthouse isn't occupied," said Aiden. "It seems quiet so far. What do you think?"
    "Sounds good to me. Let's check out the view first, then the penthouse. Lash?"
    "Absolutely. It'll be nice to be up high, and to sleep somewhere that doesn't wobble about. I'd feel safer here than on the boat, that's for sure. Let's take a look at this view then."
    The door was unlocked, as Edsel suspected it would be. Why would anyone have bothered to lock it back up? By the way the place was maintained there was no doubt that somebody would have gone through the rooms and taken what they needed, and he guessed that the roof would be one of the best places to take stock of the surrounding area.
    They left the door open so they could see, then went up the short flight of stairs to another door that led out to the roof.
    "Okay, let me go first, just in case."
    "In case of what?" said Lash, putting a hand to the door to stop Edsel from opening it.
    "I don't know. Rabid pigeons, killer rats, men with sharp sticks — anything. Just wait a second, okay?"
    "Okay, sorry. You just made me nervous."
    "Good. And that goes for you too Aiden, you should be nervous. You remember our lives before we left all this behind? It's dangerous out here; some people are not to be trusted."
    "And some people are," said Lash, a reminder to them all of what they had done.
    "I know, I remember." Edsel opened the door and light flooded into the corridor. They were facing out to sea and the clear sky reflected a perfect blue on the still water. Seagulls could be heard, their cries the only sound.
    Edsel stepped out onto the flat roof and began to walk around, turning five seconds later at the sound of footsteps, his heart beating at double time, adrenaline ramping up instantly.
    They're gonna give me a heart attack. What happened to staying put?
    Lash held up a hand in apology. "Sorry, we couldn't wait."
    "What if there had been someone out here? It could have been dangerous."
    "Ahem. Actually there is someone out here, but don't worry, I don't bite," came a voice.
    Edsel spun in a circle.
    Where is he? Bloody hell, we've only just got here and we get a surprise already.
    Knives were drawn, panicked looks were exchanged, and sweat began to bead brows.
    "Over here," came the voice again.
    They followed the sound around the exterior of the narrow stairwell that led them up to the roof level. A hand was waving from behind a deck chair, its back facing them. The man was turning in his chair, craning to see who had interrupted his solitude.
    Well, whoever this is he's pretty trusting.
    Edsel stepped out in front of the deck chair, to see who they had interrupted.
    Maybe not so trusting after all.
    The man held a pistol firmly in a slender hand that was darkly tanned. He was stripped down to a pair of denim shorts and clearly spent a lot of his time sunning himself. He was deep golden brown like a chestnut, skin shining, with pale wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. His white hair was in stark contrast to his dark skin, and the weirdest thing of all was that he seemed perfectly relaxed, if a little cautious, which was more than understandable.
    So, the first person we meet and he could kill us all