We're safe now. Once we're inside the shelter, we'll be okay. And there's a whole tunnel network down there - a way out of London.'
'I know, Steve. It's just that for a moment we almost had contact with ... with ...' She found difficulty in choosing the right word. 'I don't know - civilization, if you like. Something beyond all this.' She gestured at the ruins.
We'll have real contact soon, I promise you that.'
'Do you suppose the plane will come back?'
Who knows. The pilot might choose another route; he'd want to cover as much ground as possible.'
She nodded and wiped a hand across her nose. 'It's my day for crying.'
He smiled. ‘You've pulled through so far. Just a little longer.'
They returned to the grille set in the pavement and passed over it, no longer interested in the faint thrumming sound emanating from its depths.
Reaching the grey-stoned block, they studied its rough surface, walking all around, bemused at first and soon worried.
Terrific,' Fairbank said, wiping sweat from the back of his head. 'No opening. How the fuck do we get inside, Dealey?'
The object, massive and dark, a strange monolith, remained impassive and seemingly impregnable. At least twelve feet long and five or six feet wide, it resembled a huge tombstone. Or a sacrificial altar, thought Kate.
There's a hole in the top,' Dealey announced simply.
The others looked at each other and Fairbank grinned. The stone blockade was six feet high, perhaps more, and the engineer had scrambled up before anyone else could move.
'He's right,' Fairbank called down. There's a part at the end here that isn't covered. It's cunning, you'd never know. And there's a door.' He pulled the axe free of his belt. 'It looks as if it's locked, but I think I can handle that.' White teeth split his grime-covered face in a grin as he surveyed them from his lofty perch. 'Care to join me?'
Culver stood below helping up the others, Fairbank pulling from above. He scrambled up after them and looked down into the opening.
What is this thing, Dealey? It can't be newly built.'
'No,' Kate said. 'I've passed this spot many times over the years and never even given it a second glance, never even wondered what its purpose was.'
'It was an air-raid shelter during the war,' Dealey told them, brushing away a buzzing fly and wiping his face with a discoloured handkerchief. 'At least, it led down to an air-raid shelter. I explained to Culver yesterday that the original
underground chambers, built many, many years ago, have been expanded through the decades.'
Well, we can see how much for ourselves,' said Ellison, growing impatient. 'For God's sake, let's get inside.'
'Right,' Fairbank agreed. He slipped down into the opening, and examined the lock. 'Don't you have a key?' he called back to Dealey, who shook his head.
'Not for this place,' he said.
'Okay, it shouldn't be too much of a problem anyway.' He swung the axe.
It took no more than four solid blows to open the door. It swung inwards and a chilling coldness sprang out like an escaping ghost.
Culver shivered. The dank cold seemed more than just released air. It brought with it a sense of foreboding.
The coolness inside was a relief from the humid atmosphere above ground. They descended the stone steps, Fairbank in the lead, axe tucked back into his belt. The air was musty, the smell of disuse, and the concrete walls were rough to the touch.
Fairbank paused. There's no light down here.' He rummaged in his pockets and passed back two small bright tubes. Ticked these up yesterday,' he told them. 'Figured they might come in handy for lighting fires.' He flicked on the cheap throwaway lighter he had kept for himself. The flame, weak though it was, gave some comfort.
Culver passed his over his shoulder to Ellison, who was bringing up the rear.
‘I’ve got one,' the engineer said. 'Maybe you'd better pass it down to the front, though, and let me have one of those midgets.' He handed the lighter to Culver, who passed it on. 'It's the one I found yesterday,'
Ellison explained. The flame's stronger.'
They continued, the lighter casing growing hot in Fair-bank's hand. Their footsteps were hollow-sounding and loud. It was a long climb down and, inexplicably, Culver's unease increased with every step. He wondered if the others felt the same. Just below him, Kate let both hands slide against the close walls, as if afraid she might stumble and fall. Her
hair was tangled, dark in the feeble lighter glow, and her shirt was torn and still covered with dust. He squeezed her shoulder and she briefly touched his hand with her fingertips, but did not turn around.
Fairbank eventually stopped and brushed away cobwebs from the opening before him.
There's a big room here.' His words had a slight echo. He waved the light ahead of him. 'Seems to be empty.'
They crowded in behind him, branching out so that their lights covered more of an area. Other rooms led off from the first chamber and Ellison poked his head through a doorway to one.
'Nothing,' he pronounced, disappointed.
This one too.' Fairbank was at another doorway.
They're all empty,' said Dealey, walking to the far end. This is just part of the old air-raid shelter system. As you can see, it hasn't been used since the last war.' He reached an opening and called back to them. This way.'
They quickly hurried to him and he led them through what seemed a labyrinth of corridors with empty rooms branching off. He finally stopped beside a square doorway set into the wall two feet from the floor.
We'll need your axe again to force it,' he said to Fairbank.
The engineer slid the sharp end of the tool into the crack, close by the lock. He exerted pressure and the door easily snapped open. Inside they could see thick piping, some at least a foot in diameter, and heavy cables. The thrumming was louder, more distinct than when they had listened at the grille above ground.
'Maintenance entry,' Dealey said by way of explanation as he stepped through.
Inside, the narrow corridor with its wall of pipes and cables extended in both directions. Dealey took them to the right.
‘You sure you know where you're going, Dealey?' came Ellison's voice from the rear.
'Not a hundred per cent, but I think this way should take us close to the new complex.'
The darkness and the narrowness of the passageway began to have a claustrophobic effect on Kate.
Outside she had felt exposed; down there she felt threatened. She kept close to Culver, who was now in front of her.
Dealey had stopped once more and was kneeling, holding the small flame towards a two-by-two-foot grid in the floor. He inserted his fingers between the meshwork and pulled; it swung open like a trapdoor.
They saw metal ladder rungs disappearing downwards.
'It should take us down to shelter level.' The warm glow from the tiny flames softened Dealey's features, but to Culver the man looked ten years older than when he had first laid eyes on him. Odd that he'd only just noticed.
Culver squeezed past Fairbank and knelt on the opposite side of the opening to Dealey. 'How far down does the shaft go?'
Tm not sure. We must be fairly near.'
'Is it safe?'
Dealey looked at him sharply.
'Vermin, I mean,' Culver said.
They all tensed in the silence that followed.
Finally, Dealey said, There's no way of knowing. But what other choice do we have?'
The usual. None at all.'
Culver went in first, exchanging his weaker lighter for Fairbank's and wincing at the hot metal. He climbed down, holding the lighter between thumb and index finger, his other fingers curled around the upright support so that both hands were used. The shaft was circular and metallic, and the hum of machinery grew louder the lower he went, although it was still muted. He heard the others climbing into the shaft after him. It seemed a long time before he touched down in another passageway, this one wider than the one he had just left. Some of the piping and cables ran along its ceiling. There was water on the floor.