Another building on the opposite side of the road collapsed completely, sending up billows of dust and smoke, engulfing the two men in thick clouds. An explosion nearby rocked the ground and they fell to their knees. Coughing, choking, Culver hauled Dealey to his feet once more and they stumbled on, a cold determination keeping them moving, awareness of the sinking poison their driving force. Others were moving in their direction. Now many were helping the injured, leading them towards the only place they felt could be safe. Groups carried those unable to walk, while those who could crawl were left to make their own way.
We're just passing Chancery Lane Underground station,' Culver said close to Dealey's ear. 'Everyone seems to be taking shelter down there. Everyone that's left, that is. I think we ought to do the same.'
'No!' Dealey's expression was grim. 'It will be too crowded to get through. We've more chance if you do as I say.'
Then where is this place? We haven't got much more time!'
'Not far, not far.'
Tell me what the hell we're looking for.'
'An alleyway. A wide, covered alleyway that leads to a
courtyard and offices. There's a big open iron gate at the entrance. It should be just a few hundred yards ahead.'
'I just hope to God you know what you're doing.'
Trust me. We'll get there.'
Culver took a last wistful look at the opening leading to the Underground tunnels, then shook his head once. 'Okay, we'll do it your way.'
The nightmare continued, a dream far worse than any Culver had ever experienced. Destruction to a degree he had never imagined possible. A mad, stumbling journey that tore at his mind and made him weep inwardly. Havoc. Madness. Hell exposed.
A woman - no, girl: even in her dishevelled state he could see she was just a girl - rushed at them, tugging at Culver's jacket, pointing and pulling him towards an overturned car.
Dealey held Culver back. We've got to get under cover,' he said grimly. 'We can't stay out in the open much longer. Even now it might be too late.'
Culver jerked his arm away. *We can't just leave her. She needs help.'
The blind man snatched at the air, trying to grab hold of him. ‘You can't help any of them, you fool.
Don't you see that? There are too many!'
But Culver had allowed the girl to drag him away. As they approached the overturned car, the girl crying hysterically and refusing to let go of his arm, he saw the body lying half beneath it. One arm lay across the man's chest, the other was flung outwards, his hand clawed, already stiffening. Culver knelt beside him and fought back the sickness. The body was that of a young man, perhaps the girl's boyfriend; his eyes stared sightlessly towards the blackened sky and his tongue protruded from his open mouth as if trying to escape. His stomach had split and his intestines lay exposed and steaming.
'Help him,' the girl pleaded through her sobs. 'Please help me get him out.'
He held her shoulders. 'It's no use,' he said gently. 'He's dead. Can't you see that?'
'No, no, it's not true! He'll be all right if we can get that thing off him. Please help me push it off!' She threw herself at the overturned car and strained against it. 'Please help me!' she cried.
Culver tried to pull her away. 'He's dead, don't you understand? There's nothing you can do for him.'
A hand lashed out at him. 'You bastard, why won't you help me?'
Dealey crawled towards them, their voices his only guide. 'Leave her. She'll never listen to you. We've got to save ourselves.'
Culver tried to hold on to the distraught girl. 'Come with us, we can find somewhere safe.'
'Leave me alone!' she cried.
There's nothing you can do,' came Dealey's anxious voice once again.
The girl thrust Culver away and sank down beside the dead man. She threw herself across his chest and her small shoulders heaved with her sobs.
He knelt. 'If you won't come with us, get down into the Underground. The air will be contaminated with radioactivity soon, so you've got to get under cover.'
There was no indication that she understood.
Culver stood and wiped an arm across his eyes. He caught sight of Dealey on his hands and knees; he stepped towards him and helped him up. 'How much further?' he shouted, irrationally beginning to hate the man.
'Not far. We should be nearly there. Cross a small side-street, go on a bit more, and we're there.'
Culver yanked him around and led the way, Dealey's grip on his arm hard, as if he would never again let go.
After a short distance, Culver said, There's a break in the kerb here. This must be the side-street, only now it's just piled with rubble. The buildings on one side have collapsed into it!'
'Just ahead, then. Not far.' A look of hope was on the blind man's face.
They had to move out into the vehicle-littered roadway to skirt debris and Culver suddenly caught sight of the alleyway's entrance. 'I can see it. It looks as though it's still intact.'
Their pace quickened, both men desperate for refuge. They plunged into the darkness of the entrance and tripped on rubble lying there. Culver pushed himself onto hands and knees, then moaned aloud. 'Oh, Jesus Christ, no.'
Dealey looked towards the sound of his voice, eyes closed tight against their pain. 'What is it? For God's sake, what is it now?'
Culver slumped against one wall and closed his own eyes. He drew his legs up, resting his hands over his knees. 'It's no good,' he said wearily. The other end's blocked, piled high with debris. There's no way we're going to get through.'
They were running again. Frightened, exhausted, wanting to wake up, to see the sun streaming through parted curtains, wanting the nightmare to end. But they were running. And around them the fires raged, the dead lay still, the injured writhed their agony. The nightmare refused to end.
The steps leading down to the Underground station were heaped with rubble; the round metal handrails were wet with blood. It wasn't as crowded below as Culver imagined it would be; he guessed that most of those who had reached the station had gone further down, away from the ticket area, into the tunnels.
As far away from the crazy world above as possible. Even so, there were still many people scattered around the gloomy circular hall with its ticket kiosk, machines and few shops.
We may need light,' Dealey told him, the irony not lost on him. If only his eyes did not hurt so much. If the stinging sensation would just go away. He forced his mind to concentrate. We have to get into the eastbound tunnel.'
We should have tried this other entrance in the first place,' Culver said, quickly looking around. Other figures were still staggering into the Underground station.
'No, only under extreme circumstances are secondary access points to be used.'
'Extreme circumstances? You've got to be kidding!'
Dealey shook his head. 'Only in an emergency. I knew the station - the tunnels - would be filled with people. It would have been too dangerous to use; now we have no choice.'
'Are you saying this ... 'shelter' ... is only available to certain people?'
'It's a government shelter. There isn't room for the public.'
That figures.'
