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I&039;M SCAVENGING DOWNSTAIRS FOR food, hunting through deserted kitchens and bars that have already been ransacked countless ti to find an overlooked stash of supplies to suppleot here At the back of a counter, tucked away behind a lifeless cash register, I find three small packets of peanuts I s the contents of the first in a single mouthful, then do the same with the second I shove the third into my trouser pocket for later There&039;s precious little tiet to eat I realize just how et to eat a proper ain, if I survive the next couple of days, that is

There&039;s a half-open door behind the bar I hadn&039;t noticed before I lean inside

"Who the hell&039;s that?"

I back out of the low-lit storeroom quickly, startled by the voice froht in, and I can see soed between two piles of empty boxes

"Sorry, I"

The nize hiht His name&039;s Parsons

"Doesn&039;t matter, my friend"

I&039;ve only been awake for a couple of hours, but already the drawn-out tediu to

"What are you doing in here?"

"Keeping out of the way"

"Why? You pissed Julia off or so?"

"Show me someone who hasn&039;t"

I knohat hefor Tina Murray, my sour old bitch of a supervisor back at the PFP Wonder what happened to her?

Parsons gestures for me to come closer I do as he says, then slide down the wall and sit next to hi now that the sun&039;s up, but the dark storerooly cool

"So are you ready for this?" I ask "Ready to go out there and start fighting?"

"&039;Course I am," he answers, alain Can&039;t wait to see theiven the word"

There&039;s an aard silence

"You don&039;t sound convinced"

The silence continues as he thinks about what I just said

"I&039;ot to be done and I know this is probably the only way to make it happen It&039;s just that"

"You don&039;t want to die?"

"Exactly"

"Me neither," I adhtabout this battle like it&039;s a holy war or so my head in I don&039;t want to be stuck in the middle of the city when they level the place like they did London"

"But it&039;s got to be done You can&039;t deny that"

"I know I&039; his voice low "I can&039;t stand all this hanging around You knohat it&039;s like when you know you&039;ve got to fight, you just want to get on and do it"

He&039;s right It&039;s a relief to find so to speak candidly about how they&039;re feeling Most everyone else is too busy spouting propaganda and bullshit bravado to dare ad They talk like I iine Brutes think-focused on the kill at all costs

"You been here long?" I ask

"Got here about half a day before you"

"And were you at that convent place with Sahota?"

He nods his head

"We&039;ve all been through that Quite the eye-opener, eh?"

Parsons stares into space, thinking hard I sense there&039;s more he wants to say, but he&039;s not sure whether he can speak Perhaps hethinks I&039; his dedication to the cause? I study his tired face He looks about ten years older than me, and I wonder what it is we have in coanization

"So did you believe any of it?"

"What?"

"All that stuff the Unchanged were spouting at Sahota&039;s place? Breaking the cycle and all that crap?"

I don&039;t answer i if he&039;s the one testingdeliberately vague "What about you?"

"I agree with most of it up to a point What Sahota said scaredus as-" He stops suddenly

"Probleet up and go back out into the bar So on the outside of the fire exit I entered through yesterday Apart from me and Parsons there&039;s no one else down here, and I realize it&039;s up to me to confront whoever&039;s out there Ia broken pool cue to use as a weapon, then stand by the door and wait The ha who it is without opening it up

"Do it," Parsons hisses from across the room Cowardly fucker, why don&039;t you coue, I take a deep breath, tighten eon, then open the door There&039;s a teenaged girl standing in front ofas tense and unsure as I did when I first arrived here She only looks about fifteen She&039;s one of us

"I&039;ly confident and strong

"Who is?" I ask, re back to my first encounter here

"My na the situation far better than I did, "and I&039;ve got a e for her fro around the back of the building toand barring the fire exit

I lead her through the eerily quiet building, Parsons following us at a cautious distance I take her upstairs to where I last left Julia talking to Craven, but she&039;s not there He points up at the ceiling I double back and head up to the roof, covering e in the clear sky high above us Julia&039;s sitting on one of the deckchairs under the tarpaulin, looking into the city through a pair of binoculars She lowers them when she hears us approach

"This is-" I start to say

"You Julia?" Sophie asks Julia nods "Got a e for you from Sahota He said to tell you that I&039;m the last one"