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By Root 1076 0

The Prime Minister was there, together with most of his Cabinet; they had been the first to be warned, along with the Royal Family who were now safe in Scotland. The PM had decided to stay in London and direct operations from there, for the shelter was ideal for that purpose: it was impenetrable, contained virtually unlimited resources, had contact with any point on the globe, and had a large and well-equipped ‘war’ room. It had its own source of power, even its own telephone exchange which had proved invaluable when London’s had broken down (Holman realized now that that was how they had been able to contact him). The army was mustered just outside London, mobile and ready for whatever action was demanded of them, but most of the Chiefs of Staff were inside the shelter helping the PM draw up a plan of campaign. Professor Ryker was there along with many other notable scientists and they were already hard at work on a new theory of Ryker’s regarding the rapid growth of the fog – a possible clue to its make-up. Janet Halstead was there with her research team and some of the victims of the fog whom she’d been treating. Many people skilled in various aspects of life had been brought into the vast underground shelter, from doctors to religious ministers, from naturalists to carpenters and plumbers; all had been previously earmarked for survival (mostly unknown to themselves) and their names and current addresses were kept on a list which was reviewed every three months.

As they walked, Holman recognized many familiar faces, familiar only because he’d seen them in the media. He was puzzled as to what possible value most of them could have in this situation. The fact that most were very wealthy made him extremely suspicious. Had they bought their way in? Or had they done certain favours for government officials, their price a ticket for survival on the Doomsday?

A lot of the people, both men and women, seemed to be in a daze. Ashen faced, many of the women in tears, they looked at him uncomprehendingly as he passed, some hoping to recognize a friend or relative, others envying him because he seemed to be going somewhere, had a task to perform, something positive, something active.

‘How did you manage to get so many people in here in time?’ he asked the young man he was following, walking briskly to keep up.

‘A decision was made,’ came the curt reply.

‘What decision?’

‘It was seen that the whole population of London could not possibly be saved and even if it was tried, the panic that would have ensued would have seriously disrupted rescue operations for certain key people.’

Holman caught his arm and brought him to a halt. ‘You mean they didn’t try? They just let people lie in their beds while the fog . . .?’

‘Of course they tried!’ the young man snapped. ‘But they used common sense. A third of the force was deployed to warn certain people and bring them here, the rest did as much as they could. Thousands escaped into the surrounding suburbs because of the army, but London is a big place, you know. Common sense had to prevail!’ He pulled his arm away and marched on, leaving Holman standing open-mouthed after him. Grimly, he followed.

They entered a large hall thriving with people, each of whom had some particular task to perform, and filled with electronic equipment, brightly lit maps, television screens. Despite the activity, there was an air of calm throughout the hall as though whatever turmoil was now taking place above ground was a world away, unreal because it was largely unseen, for the television screens showed only a grey blankness, an occasional shadowy figure appearing to be quickly swallowed up again.

They don’t know, Holman thought. They don’t know what it’s like up there: the complete madness that would have now gripped the town, the chaos that lay beyond those mists shown on the screens. They felt shock, he was sure, but not true, deep-felt sorrow, for how could they? It was an unreal situation. They knew of the tragedy of Bournemouth of course, and of the aeroplane crash; but how could minds possibly accept