The lads behind us seemed to be following directly in our wake as even when we turned on to a small side street we could still hear them behind us. And behind their shouts of fear and terror we could hear the ferocity of the running zombies who as always seemed consumed with hunger. The darkness of the smoke filled sky was punctuated by the flickering light of the fires both ahead, and now increasingly around us too.

The junction opened up into a wide thoroughfare and this was where the fire bombs had landed. We could see the devastation on ground level as we approached. The choice of weapon used had been designed for causing maximum carnage to a ground based target and we ran on towards a charred mass that was twisted, conjoined, and fused. Despite the howling of the wind driven fire, as we ran past we could hear moaning still arising from within this molten monstrosity of a melted zombie hoard. Burnt limbs still moved within this horror even though they would forever more be trapped by their own melted frame and skeleton.

The heat was persistent and choking in intensity, and I could feel the soft tissue within my throat swelling. We had already suffered similar internal damage from the helicopter fireball at Regents Park.

We headed on through the junction and beyond back on to Euston Road being pushed west rather than East. The fire ball had struck the junction on the eastern side and the wind was pushing the blaze further east. Off of Euston Road to the west was St Pancras hotel.

This huge gothic style structure was untouched by the explosion and upwind from the fires. We shot away from Euston Road and ran towards it. The boys continued to follow in our wake, and behind them the undead.

We ran up the slope to the front of the building and rattled the doors which were locked. I looked behind and both groups were now just seconds away from reaching us.

I took off my back pack and threw it at the nearest window. Packed as the bag was, it’s heavy weight allowed it to smash through the window. I jumped through and helped Mina follow. The boys had reached the building now, and one flung himself through the open window too.

The window was too small for more than one at a time and as the others hesitated to take their turn it allowed the zombies to reach them. The boys were no longer the aggressive peacocks from before.

As I looked on they cowered before the zombies and screamed in terror as they were overwhelmed and knocked to the floor. Their screams continued to sound as I leaned into a heavy cabinet and pushed it in front of the broken window.

I grabbed Mina’s hand, scooped up my back pack and the three of us ran through the ground floor of the building. Behind us I could hear the windows shatter as the zombies gained entry. We ran headlong along a lit ground floor corridor. The end of the corridor ended at a fire door and I pressed down on the panic bar which opened the door.

We shot through and out into a rear courtyard. The area was fenced and we ran towards a gate which turned out to be locked. The fencing was six feet high but topped off with spikes to deter intruders. I turned around and saw two zombies burst through the fire door opening.

We were trapped.