Domain

tucked into his trouser pockets, said, 'Perhaps not, Alex. Their attitude could be the correct one.'

Culver noticed Farraday's shirt collar was open at the neck, his tie hanging loosely against his chest. It was the first time he had seen the senior engineer appear so untidy. Farraday had maintained his own rigid discipline in the shelter, shaving every day, shirt and tie always neatly in place, even if the collar had lost most of its crispness of late.

That's nonsense,' Dealey retorted. There has to be some kind of order, some voice of authority—'

'Some ruling power?' Strachan smiled and Culver thought the smile didn't look good on him.

Wait a minute,' the pilot interrupted. 'Are you saying you're taking control, Strachan?'

'No, not at all. I'm saying there'll be a majority decision from now on. We've seen what bloody power-mad individuals can do, and that all ended with the first bomb.'

Dealey's tone was acid. 'Government by consensus, if I understand you correctly. Well, we had a little example of that just a short time ago, didn't we?' He turned to Culver, who did not enjoy his smile either.

'Do you know they had to take a vote on whether or not to let you back into the shelter? They were worried it would be flooded once they opened that door. You were lucky they wanted any information you had gathered.'

Culver looked at Strachan, then around at the others who had managed to cram into the room. He said nothing, just sipped the coffee. The revolver had disappeared from his waistband and he wondered if he had lost it in the tunnel or

if it had been taken from him while he lay exhausted on the floor near the tunnel doorway.

Strachan betrayed only a hint of anger.

'From here on everything's to be decided for the common good. If that sounds like Marxist or Trotskyist phraseology, then it's your own blinkered thinking that's telling you so. There aren't enough of us left any more for hierarchy, or government by a few fools. Your kind of politics are over, Dealey, and the sooner you realize it the better it will be for you.'

'Are you threatening me?'

'No, I'm not bloody threatening you. I'm explaining the situation.'

'Do you mind telling me what you've got in mind?' said Culver, impatient with the argument.

'Autonomy for—'

Culver interrupted Strachan. 'I'm not interested. I want to know what you plan to do about the situation we're in.'

Ellison spoke. We're going to abandon this shelter, for a start.'

Culver leaned back in his seat and sighed. That may not be a good idea.'

Would you tell us why you think that?' asked Farraday.

This time it was Fairbank who answered.

'Because there's hardly anything left up there, you silly bastards.'

There was a stunned silence before Strachan said, Tell us exactly what you found. We've already decided on our course of action, but it would be helpful to know what we've got to face.'

'You've decided?' Fairbank shook his head in mock dismay. 'I thought this was a democracy. What happened to our vote?' He pointed at Culver and himself.

'It's a majority decision.'

Without proper consultation and, more importantly, without all the facts,' said Dealey.

The most important fact is that most of us want to leave.'

'It's not safe, not yet,' said Culver, then began to tell them of their expedition, the sheer horror of their discoveries. They listened in wretched silence, each man and woman lost in their own personal despair.

There were no questions when he had finished, only a heavy quietness hanging in the room like an invisible, oppressive cloud.

Finally, Strachan broke the silence. 'It changes nothing. Most of us have families we have to get to. I accept that not many may have survived in London itself, but not all of us had homes in the city. We can get out to the suburbs, the home counties, find them.'

Culver leaned forward, wrists on his knees. 'It's up to you,' he said calmly, 'but just remember: there are rabid animals out there, people who are dying and who are just too many to help, and buildings -

those left standing in some form -are collapsing all the time. Nothing's solid above us, and the rain is making it worse.'

He drained the last of the coffee and gave the cup to Kate to be refilled.

'Disease is bound to spread,' he continued, 'typhus, cholera - Dr Reynolds has already listed them for you. If that isn't enough, you've got vermin roaming the tunnels, maybe even above ground by now. We saw one or two dead rodents in the station and we saw the damage they'd inflicted. If you come up against a pack of them, you'd have no chance.'

'Listen to him, he's right,' Dealey said almost triumphantly. 'It's what I've been telling you all along!'

'Dealey,' Culver warned, well aware that the man's attempt to dominate, to run things to his order, had led to this

confrontation. Law and Order did not exist any more, and Dealey had no force behind him to back up his command. As far as Culver could tell, those who had been aligned with him had soon defected; Farraday was a prime example. 'Just keep your mouth shut.'

Dealey's mouth closed, more in surprise than in obedience. Culver stared at him directly, trying to convey that the situation was more threatening than it appeared; he sensed the mounting tension despite his own tiredness, an hysteria that had steadily risen during the weeks of their incarceration. The fact that these men had used arms as an aid to their 'coup' was an indication of just how high emotions were running. And there was a gleam in Strachan's eye that was as unwelcome as his grin.

Well, isn't this cosy.' Clare Reynolds pushed her way through the cluster of bodies around the doorway. She cradled a brandy bottle in one arm. Thought you two could use some of this,' she said, making her way over to Culver and Fairbank. She uncorked the bottle and poured stiff measures into their coffee mugs. ‘You ought to get out of those wet clothes right away. I've treated Bryce's wounds and given him his first rabies shot, but it looks like he's in for a rough ride over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, for him, his incubation period could last from anything to ten days, a month - maybe even two years if he's really unlucky.'

The doctor turned towards the men seated around the desk. 'So how's the revolution going?'

Take it easy, Clare,' Strachan told her. ‘You were just as disgusted with Dealey's imposed regime as any of us.'

'I didn't like his high-handed ways, sure, but his objectives made some sense. One thing that disgusts me above all else, though - and particularly after all that's happened - is the use of force.'

We didn't use force,' Ellison snapped.

'You used weapons, and in my book, that's force! Haven't you learned anything?'

We've learned not to listen to bastards like him!' Ellison pointed at Dealey.

She sighed wearily, knowing it was pointless to continue the argument - she had tried that just before and after the take-over. 'Bryce was able to tell me a little of what it's like up there: can you fill in the details?'

Culver repeated his story, giving an even more graphic account of the radiation victims' condition.

That settles it, then,' the doctor said when he had finished. There's no way you can leave the safety of this shelter. If all the other factors don't destroy you - including the flooding in the tunnels - then the vermin will.'

The water will subside once the rain stops,' Strachan said quickly. 'And it may even have done us a favour.'

All eyes turned towards him.

'It will have flushed out the rats, destroyed their nests,' he told them. They won't be a threat any more.'

'Don't be so sure,' said Dr Reynolds. She lit a cigarette. These creatures can swim.'