Danny couldn’t slow his pace any more and he was soon out of earshot. He couldn’t be sure which house he had entered overnight, just that it was down the far end, facing the entrance. All the front doors were shut now. Someone must have closed it after him. He remembered how he had left in a panic, sprinting back across the yard. There was no way he had stopped to close the front door. But someone had, otherwise they would know by now. Everyone would know. They would have been drawn to an open front door, they would have seen what he had done and this place would surely be overrun with police.

Danny crossed the road to double back to his car, picking up his pace as he did. He needed to leave. He shouldn’t have come back.

Chapter 6

Joel Norris saw the first shot coming a mile off. He was already twisting from his hips, throwing one shoulder back so it flashed across his vision, rising all the time. It was fired from the floor, right where his own weapon was now pointing. He got two shots off quickly, hitting with both, and then he turned to the sound of more assailants. Too many. He took hits to the chest and legs. Another shot flashed across his face to fill his vision with red.

His chest plate shook violently while his gun vibrated in his hand with a noise like a 1980s computer game. He locked eyes with his six-year-old daughter – she was across the corridor, concealed in the shadow of a sunken cubby. He could just make out her shaking head.

‘What?’ he remonstrated. ‘You can’t hide there the whole game!’

‘Don’t talk to me!’ she hissed back. Too late. While his laser pack reset, the blue team pushed past him, hunting for the enemy he had been conversing with. His daughter put up a good fight. Angry red flashes burst from the cubby while she moved and dodged as best she could with her left hand stretching across her sensor to improve her odds. She took at least four out before her own pack shook and flashed where a shot had finally got through. She huffed then stomped down the corridor. Joel took a few steps after her, his head lifting to the sound of a klaxon. The game was over.

‘You did great!’ Joel said as the house lights illuminated a sulky six-year-old fiddling with the straps of her chest plate. She’d already ditched the laser gun on the bench next to her.

‘You said you were trained!’ his daughter retorted. ‘That’s what you said. You’re too big and you’re too slow!’ His daughter was finally free of the equipment. She ditched it on the bench next to her gun and made for the exit.