Dark Winter

I want.’ He paused. ‘Well, are the contents of the bottles genuine?’

I nodded.

‘We will soon see.’ He looked at the closed door as if he could see through it. I heard a cork pop, followed by some hard, aggressive coughing. Grey must have taken a very hard and dutiful snort.

The source looked at me and smiled. ‘That is the sort of commitment to God that will make us victorious. We will all go to Paradise.’

The door opened and Grey appeared with a mask on. The fridge was closed, no bottles to be seen. Just a pack of butter, a carton of milk and some Tupperware containers lying beside the old couple. They nodded at each other once more as he closed the kitchen door and headed downstairs.

That was it, then. We were going to wait until Grey showed signs of contamination. Only then would the source prepare the kit and get out there. Maybe the other two would join him for a while, chugging their lungs up on the tube during rush-hour.

What about Kelly?

She’ll get contaminated by him.

Shit, shit – cut away from that. Think only about what you’re going to do now, this minute, to stop it happening .

‘You’re going to get caught, you know. They’re out there looking for us. Just let her go. I promise you, they’re the real bottles. You know I wouldn’t fuck about with her life. Why let her get contaminated? Let her go – she doesn’t know where we are. Drop her off at a library or something. Keep me – she’s just a kid, for fuck’s sake.’

The outside door slammed and the Transit’s engine revved. The source leant towards me, smoke escaping from his nose and his mouth. ‘You people didn’t think so much about my children. Both of them are about the same age as yours.’ His expression hardened. ‘Maybe they do not matter as much as white people. It’s me who’s fighting the jihad , not my children – but they will pay the price because of you. So why is your child so much more important than mine?’

‘She isn’t. But she’s mine.’

‘You are exactly right, and you still have the opportunity to keep her alive. If the bottles really do contain Y. pestis , your child will most likely be contaminated. But you have the power to keep her alive by waiting patiently until I carry out my duty. Then you will be able to collect her and give her medication.’

He picked up the cell and dialled. ‘And you are helping us because all those thousands of people you don’t know mean nothing to you – only your child means something. Maybe she will live, maybe not, but you will stay here. That is because, unlike me, you are simply weak and want to save your child.’

He finally stubbed out the dog end that had remained stuck between his fingers, and spoke rapidly into the phone. I didn’t have a clue what he was saying, or even what language he was saying it in, but the phrase ‘National Guard’ was easy enough to pick up – and the reason he’d said it. His eyes were glued to the News 24 coverage of events in the US. He seemed to be reacting absolutely calmly to the caption that state amber still held. The National Guard were filmed patrolling bridges and other key locations, and it appeared all police and fire-service leave had been cancelled. They threw in some shots of Americans panic-buying even more frenziedly now that the BBC’s reports of the possible London attack had hit the US networks. Hundreds of people were lined up at checkouts with trolleys laden down with bottled water, canned food, plastic sheeting and duct tape.

The Yes Man had been wrong about there being panic on the streets if the attack was successful. It was here already.

He put the phone back on the arm of the settee but his eyes didn’t leave the TV.

‘Was that the American team?’

He didn’t look at me. ‘As you can see, they may be delayed. But God is with us.’

The cell rang as the picture switched to lines of UK buyers in a twenty-four-hour Tesco, doing exactly the same as the Americans after seeing the late-night news.

He wasn’t fazed: he just checked the number, pressed the connect button, and started to talk again. The conversation went on for several seconds. The TV showed the talking head of a politician, probably appealing for calm.

The phone went down. I needed to know who he’d been talking to. ‘Is she at the son’s house now? Is she OK?’

He nodded. ‘Of course. We are not animals.’

60

What the fuck was I going to do now? What about Suzy? Had she kept up with the Transit on the way here? Was she still outside, or was she following it again?

She’d have stayed put. Even if she’d seen Kelly being bundled into the van she’d have let her go. Fair one, I couldn’t blame her for that: she hadn’t seen me, or, more importantly for her, DW.

How long had I been here? Thirty minutes, maybe forty, I didn’t know. She could be about to burst in at any moment, fucking up whatever was going to happen.

What was going to happen?

I had to do something, and I had to do it very soon. What if Grey and Navy were checking in with the source every half-hour – even every quarter? What would happen to Kelly if a report time went unanswered? I knew the answer, and it was one I couldn’t cut away from. They’d kill her.

Our eyes were fixed on the TV, a metre or so to my left, as panic, conjecture and downright lies unfolded silently on both sides of the Atlantic.

The source was a couple of metres to my right. He slipped his cell into his pocket as he tapped out another cigarette from the pack.

I looked back at the TV, measuring the distance between me and the brass mosque on top. It was about the size of an SLR camera.

I breathed in slowly, deeply, psyching myself up. I had only one chance.

I counted, one .. . two . . . three . . .

I sprang forwards, eyes fixed on the shiny metal lump.

There was a muffled shout behind me.

In grabbing it, I tipped over the TV, and sent the rest of the ornaments flying across the floor.

I swung my head round to fix on target. My body followed, the fistful of metal raised like a hammer.

His face didn’t register surprise or fear, just anger, as he cleared himself off the settee. ‘You idiot! Your child!’

I brought the mosque down hard on his head, bending my knees for more power.

It didn’t connect. Starbursts filled my eyes and I went down, tumbling over the settee. Fuck, that hurt.

I had to keep moving.

I forced my eyes open, tightened my hold on the weapon. One side of my face burned with pain and I tasted blood. I felt teeth where they shouldn’t be. All I could see were his feet, bouncing up and down on the carpet like a kick boxer’s, waiting for me to get up.

Blood trickling from empty tooth sockets, I pulled myself up on my knees using the back of the settee. I forced snot from my nose so I could breathe. My jaw was almost too painful to move.

He was still bouncing. ‘You want more games? Or just to sit – it’s up to you.’

‘OK, OK. I’ll sit.’

I dropped the mosque over the side of the settee and it landed quietly on the carpet in front of the fireplace. I limped towards the chair. The TV news rolled on, Dubya and Tony Blair mouthing hollow promises to the ceiling.

‘Idiot. Next time I will really hurt you. Now sit.’ Standing over by the curtains, the source wasn’t even out of breath. The only reason he hadn’t killed me was because he didn’t know if he yet had genuine DW. Thank fuck for that.

The mosque was lying on its side, out of his line of sight. I moved round to the front of the settee – then