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Michael wound down theand sniffed the cool air She was right - he couldn&039;t see or s, sheep, chicken, duck or horse

&039;Must have been an arable fare gravel yard, right in front of the house Without saying anything else he cli seat

The apparent tranquility of their isolated location belied the turmoil and devastation that they had left behind theether in silence and took stock of their surroundings They were standing in a farmyard, about twenty s and the forest and littered with rusting farm machinery and unused supplies On the furthest side of the yard (opposite to where the track crossed the bridge) were two dilapidated wooden barns The far with a sloping grey roof which was dotted with green and yellow lichen Froular Three stone steps led up to a wooden porch which was the only protruding feature Tacked to the side of the building was an out-of-place looking concrete garage with a greyivy covered between a half and a third of the front of the building and the unchecked leaves had begun to crawl froe

&039;This looks perfect,&039; Emma continued to enthuse &039;What do you two think?&039;

As he was standing closest to her she first looked towards Michael for a response Not for the first time today he seehts

&039;What?&039; he mumbled, annoyed that he had been disturbed

&039;I said it looks perfect,&039; she repeated &039;What do you think, Carl?&039;

&039;Not bad,&039; he said nonchalantly, leaning against the side of the van He was deliberately trying to hide the fact that being out in the open scared hi theht&039;

Michael slowly climbed the steps to the front door He opened the porch and stepped inside The other tatched from a distance, keen to know if anyone was hoet any closer Michael, on the other hand, was too tired to waste any ed on the door with his fist

&039;Hello,&039; he yelled &039;Hello, is anyone there?&039;

Carl found the volu He looked around anxiously

When, after a few seconds, there had been no reply to his shouting and thu, Michael tried the door It was open and he stepped inside Em hi in the hallway he had already been into every rooh the second storey He eventually reappeared at the top of the stairs

&039;Well?&039; asked Emma

&039;It looks okay,&039; he replied breathlessly as he walked back down

&039;Anyone in?&039;

He nodded and pointed towards a rooe and cole body - an overweight, white-haired own, trousers and slippers - lay twisted painfully on the ground in front of an ornate open fireplace Feeling a little safer now he knew that this was the only body, Carl went into the sitting room and walked over to the corpse There was an unopened letter on the ground next to the man&039;s lifeless hand

&039;Thisfrom the address on the front of the envelope &039;Mr Arthur Jones, Penn Farm Nice place you had here, Mr Jones&039;

&039;No sign of Mrs Jones?&039; wondered Emma

&039;Couldn&039;t find anyone else,&039; Michael replied, shaking his head &039;And he looks too old for there to be any little Joneses here&039;

Emma noticed that Carl had sat down next to the body He was staring into its face

&039;What&039;s the matter?&039; she asked No response &039;Carl, what&039;s the matter?&039;

He shook his head, looked up at her and smiled

&039;Sorry, I was miles away&039;

Carl quickly looked away, hoping that the other two hadn&039;t picked up on the sudden anxiety and unease he was feeling Christ, he thought, he had seen literally thousands of dead bodies over the last few days, so why did this one in particular bother him? Was it because this had been one of the first bodies he&039;d actually sat down and looked at, or was it because this was the first body he&039;d seen with an identity? He knew theand they had broken into his hohosts or anything like that but, at that et his revenge on the three intruders

Michael sat down in a comfortable arht which poured into the room

&039;So will this do?&039; he asked &039;Think we should stop here?&039;

&039;There&039;s plenty of room,&039; Emma replied, &039;and there&039;s the stream outside for water&039;

&039;And it&039;s not easy to get to,&039; Carl added, forcing hinore Mr Jones &039;Bloody hell, we had enough trouble finding it&039;

&039;And it&039;s a farm,&039; Michael said &039;There&039;s bound to be much more to this place than just this house&039;

&039;Like what?&039; Eed his shoulders

&039;Don&039;t know,&039; he grinned &039;Let&039;s find out, shall we?&039;

With that he jumped up from his seat and left the room Carl and Emma followed him as he walked down the hallith the entrance to the kitchen and the wooden staircase on his left and a succession of rooo into) a living room and a small office as he walked towards the back of the house He stopped by the back door and looked back at the other two over his shoulder

&039;There you go,&039; he said, grinning again &039;Told you That should help&039;

Intrigued, Carl and Emma peered past hias cylinder mounted on a firm concrete base

&039;Wonder what&039;s in the shed,&039; Carlinto the trees at the bottoarden

&039;Probably just tools,&039; E&039;

&039;Then what are those?&039; he said, nodding into a slooht would have been kept in the shed had been housed in this little room

&039;Only one way to find out,&039; she said and she stretched past Michael and opened the door She led the three of them across the lawn

It was obvious that this was farand strong to be a potting shed and too s to do with the farm stores Carl pushed the door open and leant inside

&039;What&039;s in there?&039; Michael shouting, watching the other man with interest

Carl reappeared

&039;You won&039;t believe this,&039; he gasped &039;It&039;s only a bloody generator!&039;

&039;What? Forelectricity,&039; Emma said stupidly

&039;I bloody hope so,&039; Michael sighed under his breath &039;That&039;s what they usually do&039;

&039;Will it work?&039; she then asked, equally stupidly

&039;Don&039;t know,&039; Carl replied, &039;I&039;ll have a go at getting it going later&039;

&039;We&039;ve got plenty of time to try,&039; Michael added as he turned and walked back towards the house &039;Think we should stop here then?&039; he asked sarcastically

Neither Carl or Emma bothered to answer but it didn&039;t matter Individually they had all decided to stop the first moment they&039;d arrived Penn Farm seemed the ideal place for the for, however, was anyone&039;s guess