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More bodies appeared and began their typically slow, dragging walk towards the survivors Frozen to the spot with shock and disbelief Jones stood and watched them No-one else moved And then Doreen spoke

&039;Did you open the door to the roof?&039; she asked Bushell nodded

&039;Yes, I don&039;t knohy they&039;re not?&039;

Doreen sighed

&039;It&039;s bloody obvious why they&039;re co up there, they followed you, you pair of bloody idiots&039;

&039;Shut the door,&039; Proctor pleaded from somewhere deep in the suite &039;Please, shut the door&039;

&039;So is that it?&039; Doreen asked &039;All that noise and all that effort and that&039;s it? That&039;s all you&039;re going to do?&039;

Bushell tried to mumble a response but he couldn&039;t coordinate his brain and mouth to make it happen

&039;What else can we do?&039; Jones hissed under his breath, taking a step back as the nearest cadaver took another lu step forward &039;We&039;re completely screwed&039;

&039;If that&039;s true,&039; Doreen hissed back, &039;then I&039;s have their ith ot my pride&039;

More interested in the relentless approach of the dead than the prattling of a nervous old woman, no-one paid her any attention Infuriated by the lack of response from the others, Doreen took it upon herself to take action

&039;Bloody useless, the lot of you,&039; she grumbled &039;Get back in there, close the door and enjoy your little party or whatever it is you decide to do&039;

Doreen was tired She&039;d really had enough Wiser and ave her credit for, she&039;d listened to everything that Bushell had said and she&039;d agreed with him completely Death was inevitable, and she didn&039;t have the energy or the desire to go on running She pushed her way past Jones and slammed the door of the Presidential Suite in his face With a complete lack of nerves she walked towards the bodies and pushed past the, they eak and clurab at her with slow and gnarled, talon-like hands but she was as wiry and thin as they were and she slipped past therace and subtlety of a woman with chronic back pain which was ten percent physical and ninety percent attention seeking bullshit She pushed her way deeper into the throng until she had reached the stairs She then looked up and saw the short flight of steps which led to the roof Without stopping to think she gave a loud whistle and then threw herself up the last few steps and out onto the asphalt Distracted by Doreen&039;s sudden speed, noise and movement, several of the bodies turned away from the door to the Presidential Suite and followed her

Bloody hell it was cold Doreen wrapped her thin cardigan tightly around her and braced herself against the wind Nohat did she do? She hadn&039;t quite thought this through She knehat she was doing, but now that she was standing unprotected on the roof the consequences of her actions really began to hit ho on the floor No more fear or confusion or disorientation Ti overdue and well deserved rest

Doreen walked towards the edge of the roof and looked down Bloody hell, she thought, it was higher than she&039;d expected That was probably a good thing, she decided Although she was only a few feet higher up there than she&039;d been in the suite just below, the difference was stark Perhaps it was because the protection of glass and concrete had gone Perhaps it was because now there was nothing between her and the rest of the world

The first few bodies staggered out onto the roof

This is it then, she thought, ti with the idea of suicide for few days, a feeeks if she was honest, but she&039;d always clung onto the sliet better Suicide had always seemed like the coward&039;s way out before today, but after listening to what Bushell had said earlier she&039;d come to realise that this was far from a cowardly act Her fate was sealed, whatever she did By ending her life this way she would nity and control, and that was all she had left

Nervously she climbed up onto the low concrete hich ran around the outside edge of the building The wind seeht She held out her arhtrope walker and tried to keep her balance Bloody hell, she thought, I can&039;t do it I can&039;t go through with it She looked down past her feet towards the street gering by the pavean to fill with stupid questions Was this going to be painful? Would it definitely kill her or would she soround with her ars broken as the dead sware she&039;d heard countless times before - it&039;s not the ju that kills you, it&039;s hitting the ground that does it She ed half a smile but those words were of little help now Would she feel anything? What would the fall be like? Would she knohen she&039;d hit the ground or would it all be over before then?

Doreen looked around and watched more bodies continue to pile unsteadily out of the door and onto the roof They hadn&039;t seemed to notice her yet They wandered around aimlessly like the empty, soulless vessels they were She turned her back on the back now Even if she changed her et back inside now

What are et closer to me? Do it noait until the last possible second? What will I gain fro onto a few ood will it docold and terrified, trying to keep s behindable to stop and rest Think about not having to run and hide

Doreen closed her eyes, tipped forward and let gravity take over

&039;Well?&039; Elizabeth sobbed Bushell was pressed against the door, peering through the spy-hole out onto the landing

&039;Not good,&039; he sighed &039;There are too many of them They knoe&039;re in here now&039;

Elizabeth began to cry uncontrollably Proctor attempted to put his arms around her and comfort her but she pushed him away

&039;So what do we do now?&039; Wilcox asked, the strained emotion in his voice clear

&039;Can&039;t see that ed, really,&039; Bushell answered, his face still pressed against the door

&039;What?&039;

&039;I said I can&039;t see thatround to look at the others &039;We&039;re still in here, they&039;re still out there They&039;re just a little closer than we hoped they&039;d be at this stage, that&039;s all&039;

&039;So what do we do?&039; Elizabeth pleaded, desperate for soot the same two options you&039;ve always had,&039; he answered, his voice low and resigned &039;You can sit here and wait for the inevitable to happen, or you can run for as long as you can keep going, then stop and then let the inevitable happen anyway&039;

&039;I&039; closer to the door to the fire escape &039;I&039;et in Fuck that I&039; now&039;

&039;Me too,&039; Wilcox agreed

Bushell looked at Proctor and Elizabeth, although he didn&039;t really care what they were going to do Proctor began to nervously side-step closer to the twoto hold herself together, instinctively did the same

&039;Come on,&039; she pleaded &039;Don&039;t stay here It&039;s suicide&039;

&039;I know,&039; Bushell smiled, &039;but it&039;s suicide onwhen there&039;s no point? It&039;s not your fault, but can&039;t you see that the gaarily