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Okay?'

They nodded.

'Good.'

Another minute passed.

'It does not look like anything is going to happen,' Selexin said sourly.

'He's right,' Hawkins said. 'Maybe we better put the cuffs back on the door...'

'Not just yet,' Swain said, staring intently out at Reese. 'They're out there, and Reese knows it... There!'

Abruptly, Reese spun to her right, away from them. Something had caught her attention.

Swain tightened his grip on Balthazar. 'All right everybody, get ready, this is it.'

Slowly, Swain pulled the door open and ventured into the photocopying room. The others followed him to the outer door.

Reese was still facing the other direction.

Swain rested his free hand lightly on the outer door, his eyes locked on Reese, praying that she wouldn't turn around and charge.

He opened the door wider, and stepped out.

He could see the stairwell now, off to the left. Reese and the elevators were about twenty feet to the right. Beyond Reese, he could see the wide empty space that fell away to the Ground Floor atrium below. He figured if he could just ease out of the doorway and quietly make his way to the--

Suddenly, Reese whirled around.

For an instant Swain's heart stopped. He felt like a thief discovered with his hands in the till -- totally exposed. Caught in the act.

He froze.

But Reese didn't stop to face him.

She just kept turning until she came a full three hundred and sixty degrees. A full circle.

Swain breathed again. He didn't know what was happening until he realised that Reese's quick circling movement wasn't a threatening move at all.

It was a defensive move.

Reese was frightened, agitated, desperately looking -- no, smelling -- in every direction.

She's surrounded, Swain thought. She knows we're here, but she's decided we're not worth worrying about. There's something else out there, something more dangerous...

There was no time to waste.

This was the chance.

Swain turned to the others and whispered, 'Come on! We're moving now.'

Swain half-dragged, half-carried Balthazar out through the doorway, not daring to take his eyes off Reese. The others raced past him and headed for the open stairwell. Swain limped as fast as he could toward the stairwell, straining under Balthazar's dead weight. He was almost at the stairwell when the attack on Reese began.

A hood.

Squealing fiercely, it leapt over the railing from the Ground Floor, claws extended, jaws wide open.

Swain heaved Balthazar into the stairwell, trying as he did to watch what was happening behind him. And as he disappeared into the stairwell, the last thing Swain saw was a fleeting glimpse of Reese, shrieking madly, swinging her tail around to defend herself against the onslaught of incoming hoods.

Feet pounding, Swain hurried up the stairs, Balthazar's weight pressing heavily down against his shoulders.

The others were waiting for him at the fire door marked '3'. When he joined them, Swain passed Balthazar over to Hawkins.

'Why are we stopping here?' the young cop asked. 'Shouldn't we keep going up?'

'We can't go any higher,' Swain said. 'We can't get out there. The door to the roof's electrified.'

'Daddy, what are we doing?' Holly said.

Swain eased the fire door open slightly. 'Looking for a hiding place, honey.'

'Daddy, where are the monsters?'

'I don't know. Hopefully not up here.'

'Daddy...'

'Shh. Just wait here,' Swain said. Holly stepped back, silent.

Swain stepped through the doorway and scanned the room.

Yes. He was where he wanted to be.

The wide low-ceilinged study hall stretched away from him, its L-shaped desks creating a waist-high maze that spread right across the room. The whole room was dark, save for the soft blue city light that filtered in through the windows on the far side.

Slowly, Swain bent down to look under the desks. Through the legs he could see all the way across the room. There were no feet -- or whatever the hell these creatures walked on -- in sight.

The study hall was empty.

He poked his head back through the fire door. 'Okay everyone. Inside, quickly.'

The others filed into the study hall. Swain took Holly's hand and led her through the winding maze of desks.

'Daddy. I don't like it here.'

Swain was looking around the room. 'Yeah, me neither,' he said, distracted.

'Daddy?'

'What, honey?'

'Daddy, can we go now--?'

Swain pointed to a corner near the windows. 'There it is.' He quickened his pace, pulling Holly harder.

Hawkins was walking behind them. 'What is it?' he asked. All he could see was a sign on the wall reading:

QUIET PLEASE.

THIS ROOM IS FOR PRIVATE STUDY ONLY.

NO CARRY BAGS PERMITTED.

'Next to the sign,' Swain said.

Beside the sign on the wall, Hawkins saw a large, solid, grey door. It looked like some sort of maintenance door.

Swain reached for the knob. It turned easily. Unlocked.

The door opened slowly, with the distinctive hiss of a hydraulic valve. Swain didn't think much of it. All the big doors at the hospital needed hydraulics to help people open them, they were that heavy.

He reached for the light switch, but decided against it. Any light would be a certain giveaway.

He surveyed the room before him. Cold grey concrete walls, a janitor's cart filled with buckets and mops, shelves packed with bottles of detergent and floor wax, and several tarps stretched over large mounds of more janitorial equipment.

Diffused white light from the streetlights outside streamed in through two long rectangular windows high up on the left-hand wall. Directly opposite the door, dividing the room in two, was a floor-to-ceiling cyclone fence with a rusted iron gate in its centre. Beyond the fence were more shelves of detergent and a few more piles of equipment covered in dark hessian cloth.

The group moved inside and Swain closed the door behind them. The hydraulic door shut with a soft whump.