Autumn The City Page 0,98

the storage building was little over twenty meters long and, to Donna's relief, was also completely enclosed by other buildings and by sturdy security fences.

For once she was happy to risk being out in the open. Apart from a single twisted and gnarled corpse lying motionless to the side of the path she couldn't see any bodies. The evening was rapidly drawing in and the light was disappearing quickly. Once she was satisfied that there were no signs of movement nearby she ran over to the second building and forced her way inside. Her eyes quickly became accustomed to the shadow and gloom as she looked around the cold and silent building. 'Sheets,' Clare hissed, pointing towards a metal rack on the far side of the room they found themselves standing in. She walked over and began to make a pile against the wall furthest from the door. Donna added a stack of papers and wooden furniture to the mound.

'That's enough,' she said quietly as she looked curiously into a second room. Obviously some kind of maintenance stores, the shelves on the long and narrow walls of the room were loaded with bottles, tubs and cartons of bleach, disinfectant and countless other chemicals used by cleaners and janitors. Clare instinctively backed up towards the main door as Donna reappeared and crouched down and struck a match which she used to set light to a pile of once important invoices and bills. The paper instantly began to smoulder and burn. She lit another match and did the same again a little further into the pile. The orange glow ate quickly into the tinder-dry paper and cloth and in less than a minute the room was filled with bright flickering light and whispy-grey smoke. The fire grew in size rapidly. Donna stepped back and stood still for a few seconds until she was sure that the blaze was properly established.

She watched with satisfaction as the fire quickly ate through the linen and wood and then began to lick at nearby curtains and against the wall. The building would be completely ablaze in next to no time. 'Think this is going to work?' Clare asked. 'Should do,' Donna replied as she led the younger girl out of the building and down the path back towards the main university complex.

As they walked she could hear the crackle and spit of the fire behind her and could see the reflection of tall, dancing flames in nearby windows. 'All we want is a distraction,' she continued. 'Just enough to get the attention of the bulk of the crowd and get them moving in this direction. As soon as they're away from the trucks we can think about trying to get out of here.

'They stood and watched for a minute longer before turning and running back to the others.

Less than a quarter of an hour later the entire university complex was rocked by a sudden and unexpected explosion. Survivors dashed to the nearest window to see what had happened. 'Bloody hell,' Nathan Holmes spat, 'what did you two set fire to?'

Clare shrugged her shoulders, almost embarrassed. Donna peered out into the darkness as a second, smaller explosion ripped through the night, rattling the frame of the window she was looking through. The blaze they'd started in the storage building had been unchecked and it had only been a matter of time before the flames had reached something flammable. She had hoped it would happen. The bigger the distraction, the more chance they had of getting over to the trucks and getting away. 'Why don't you just shut up, Nathan?' she snapped. 'How can you criticise us? What were you doing while we were out? Fuck all as usual. What have you ever done to help round here?' 'Why should I help? What's the point?' Donna sighed and turned to face him. She stared into his wide, angry eyes. 'The point is,' she began, her voice trembling with rage, 'that we might still have a chance to get out of here with something. We might be able to get out of here before this whole place comes crashing down and...' 'But why? Why are you bothering?'

'We've talked about this a hundred times before...' 'But why are you bothering?' Holmes demanded again, his voice hoarse and cracked with emotion. 'Because I'm not prepared to sit here and wait for...' she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. 'Wait for what?' 'Wait for the end.