He was trembling slightly but managed to control the tremor in his voice. ‘I think,our best bet is to sit fight for a while, ladies.’
They all jumped as something fell against the door. Jenny began to moan loudly, her whole body shaking fitfully.
Violet did her best to comfort her. ‘It’s all right, dear. They can’t get in here,’ she soothed.
‘But you must keep quiet,’ Henry said, placing a hand kindly on her shoulder. ‘They mustn’t hear us. I think I broke that devil’s neck, so he won’t try to get in. I suggest we all crouch down on the floor and keep as still as possible.’
He helped lower the sobbing girl to a sitting position and took one more glance out of the window. He wished he hadn’t. His mind registered a mental picture he knew he would never forget for as long as - he quickly pushed the thought of life and death from his mind. Below him was part of a nightmare. A scene from hell. He saw bloody covered limbs; torn faces; ripped bodies. A man stood almost opposite him, against the wall, stiff and straight, his eyes lifelesslystaring, it seemed, into his own, while three or four rats gorged themselves on his bare legs. A fat woman, completely naked cried pitifully as she beat at two rats clinging to her ample breasts. A young boy of about eighteen was trying to climb to the top of the train by pushing his feet against the wall and slowly levering himself up. A huge rat ran up the side of the wall and landed on his lap, causing the boy to fall back on to the ground. Screams pervaded the air. Cries for help beat into his brain. All in the half-gloom, against the blackness of the tunnel, as though the whole event was taking place in black limbo. And everywhere scurrying, furry black creatures, running up the walls, launching themselves into the air, only stopping when the victims’ struggles ceased, and then eating and drinking.
Henry sank to his knees and weakly crossed himself.
He jumped when a hand touched his shoulder. ‘What should we do?’ Violet asked him, trying to see his face in the darkness. He made an effort to push the horrible scene from his mind.
‘We’ll wait for a while - see what happens. They’re bound to send someone down the tunnel to investigate. Shouldn’t be too long.’ He reached out for Violet’s hand and patted it softly. He began to secretly enjoy the woman’s dependence on him. In the past, he’d always been a little shy of the opposite sex, but now, amidst the chaos, he was finding a new side to his timid nature. Sense of pride inhimself began to quell the fear inside.
Abruptly, the screaming ceased. They didn’t move for a few seconds, their ears straining for the slightest sound. And then they heard moaning. It started with one long low moan and developed into several more. Soon the whole tunnel echoed with cries of misery, wailing voices, calls for help.
But there were no more screams. The strident urgency had gone from the voices. It was as though the mutilated people those left alive - knew that nothing more could happen to them. The horror had been perpetrated, now they could only live or die.
Henry raised himself and looked through the window.
He could see one or two bodies nearby, but the blackness concealed anything else.
‘I think they’ve gone.’ He turned back to the woman and girl. ‘There doesn’t seem to be any sign of them.’
Violet got to her knees and peered out. ‘But - but what’s that glow. There’s a red glow coming from somewhere.’
Henry leapt to his feet. ‘Of course. The fire! It’s spreading, and probably frightened off the rats. We’ll have to get out.’
‘No,’ cried Jenny. ‘We can’t go out there. They’ll be waiting!’
‘And we can’t stay here,’ he told her, not unkindly. ‘Look, I think they’ve gone now, frightened by the fire. I’ll go out and look first and find out. Then I’ll come back for you.’
‘Don’t leave us.’ Violet clutched at his arm. He smiled at her, his face now visible in the red glow. She was a fine- looking woman, he thought. Probably married. Kids too.
Wouldn’t look at me twice at a more normal time. Pity.
‘All right. We’ll go together.’
‘No, no, I’m not going out there.’ Jenny crouched back against the opposite comer.
‘You must, my dear. You’ll suffocate here before very long.’ The smoke had begun to get heavier. ‘It’ll be safe now you’ll see.’ He reached out for her and forced her to her feet, Violet helping him. ‘When we get out, I didn’t want either of you to look round,’ he told them. ‘Just hold on to me and look straight ahead. And please trust me.’
Cautiously opening the door he shone his torch along the tunnel, although he hardly needed it now because of the glow from the fire somewhere back along the tram. Bodies were strewn all along the track as far as he could see, some amongst them still moving, some crawling up the tunnel, away from the carriage, others lying perfectly still. He thought he saw small shapes moving against them but wasn’t sure whether it wasn’t the flickering light deceiving his eyes. ‘Come along, ladies. Remember what I said and keep your eyes straight ahead - we mustn’t stop for anything - or any-body.’ Normally a compassionate man, he knew it would be fatal to try and help any of the injured. They would have to be rescued later.
He climbed down and reached up to help the young girl, who was shaking uncontrollably. He talked to her softly, coaxing her, trying to soothe her distraught nerves. Violet smiled down at him, frightened, but placing her life in this kind little man’s hands. They went forward, bending to escape the smokey upper air. Henry first, the girl next with her face against his back, Violet following up close behind her arms around Jenny.
They stumbled forward, trying to ignore the moans, the feeble cries for help. Henry felt a hand weakly grasp his trousers but it fell away at his next step. He knew he couldn’tstop, the lives of the woman and the girl depended on him.
He would come back with the rescuers. His duty now was to get the three of them out, to warn.the people at the station ahead. He heard a squeal and felt something soft squirm beneath his feet. Shining the torch downhe discovered a rat glaring up at him. He saw others all round - but these were different from others he’d seen. They were smaller.Normal. Hideous - but normal. He kicked out at it and it scampered away as another dashed forward and bit into Henry’s trouser leg.
Fortunately, it only tore into the material and he was able to bring his leg up swiftly against the wall, causing the rat to lose its grip and fall to the ground. He brought his foot down hard on its back and was shocked to hear the crunch of small bones breaking.
Jenny screamed.
‘It’s all right, it’s all right,’ he said quickly. ‘They’re ordinary rats. They’re dangerous, but nothinglike the big ones.
They’ll probably be more frightened of us than we are of them.’
Through her fear, Violet felt admiration well up inside her for the’ little man. She’d hardly noticed him on the train, of course. He was the type you didn’t really see. Just a face.
The sort of man you would never speculate about – just wouldn’t arouse the interest. ‘But now, down here in this frightful place, how brave he was. Rescuing her from this carnage. Her and the girl of course.
But how brave!
When Henry had killed the rat, Jenny had been forced to look around her. The sight caused her to retch.
She sagged against the wall, wanting to collapse but being held by the woman behind her. Why wouldn’t the man let them get back on the train where they’d been safe? She tried to stagger back but Henry caught her arm.
‘This way, dear. It won’t take long.’
As they stumbled on, they saw rats feeding on the corpses of men and women - people who had set out to work, thinking it would be the usual Monday, minds filled with small worries and small joys, never expecting to die that day.