‘Mr Harris, there is no need for one to lose one’s temper.’
Grimble’s head was sticking out from a nearby classroom window. ‘If we all remain calm...”Shit!’
Grimble’s head disappeared abruptly. Harris smiled to himself. At least he was getting some satisfaction from today.
He looked down to see the firemen talking to his superiors, pointing out his window. He saw them nod and the firemen run over to where two others were controlling a hose. The streaming jet of water died and the heavy hose was man-handled towards the base of the long ladder. The first fireman mounted the steps carrying the metal hose point over his shoulder, his colleagues paying it out as he ascended.
Harris noticed a white van bearing the name of ‘Ratkill’ had arrived. Men in white overalls were unloading several long silver cylinders. He assumed it was some sort of gas.
The whole street was blocked now by police cars, fire engines, ambulances, and the crowds were being held back by a cordon of policemen at both ends. He saw anxious parents, the women crying, pleading with the police to be let through.
As the fireman neared the top of the ladder, it was swung over towards Harris’s window.
‘Good,’ he said, helping the man into the room.
‘Which way is it?’ the fireman asked looking round, ignoring Ainsley and the Headmaster.
‘Straight through. Follow me,’ said Harris, pulling more of the hose through the window. He noted more uniformed figures were climbing up.
They both carried the hose through into the corridor.
‘Just a minute,’ said the teacher, halting in front of the door to the stairs. ‘Let’s just check first.’ He wondered if he would ever be able to open a door confidently again as he peeped through the merest crack. He opened it wide when he saw it was safe. They went down to the bend in the stairs and looked at the closed door below. The fireman looked at Harris as he heard the clawing noise coming from it.
‘My Gawd, is that them?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ said Harris. ‘It’s them. Gnawing their way through.
It won’t take them long either - they’ve got teeth like electric saws?
‘Well, the place seems to be filling up with water all right,’ said the fireman, removing his helmet and scratching his head.
Harris nodded. There were three or four inches of water at least at the foot of the stairs. ‘The basement must be completely flooded by now. Up to the windows anyway, and the jet from the hoses must be preventing any rats from getting out.’
They heard footsteps behind them. Three policemen, one a sergeant and two more firemen were coming down to join them.
Harris gestured to them to stay where they were. ‘The rats are trying to break through the door. If one of your men stands at the window, another by the study door and another at the top of the stairs, we can signal back for the right moment for the water to be turned on.’
‘The only trouble is, we’ll only be able to use half-power, because of the bends,’ said the fireman at his side. ‘If we use full power, the force will try to straighten the hose out.’
‘Let’s try and make all the curves fairly rounded then,’ said the sergeant. ‘No sharp turns.’
They formed the hose in a series of curving arcs around the various corners.
‘The force will throw it against the right hand wall, so I’ll stand there and hold it off. Harry, you get on the other side,’ said the fireman at the teacher’s side.
The sergeant ordered the other fireman back to the window upstairs, and his two men into strategic positions along the way.
’Right. Let the bleeders come,’ he said.
They waited in silence, watching tiny cracks grow larger in the door below.
‘Get ready up there!’ the first fireman bellowed. ‘It’s un- believable. Solid wood.’
‘Yes, and this is the second time this morning,’ commented the burly sergeant.
‘What do you mean?’ Harris asked.
‘They attacked a train-load of people in the rush-hour. We don’t know the strength of it yet, but it seems it was a massacre. Didn’t believe it, myself, ‘til I saw this lot.’
‘A train-load of people? They attacked a train?’ Harris stared incredulously at the policeman. ‘I don’t believe it.’
‘Oh, it’s true enough,’ replied the sergeant. ‘As I said, we don’t know all the facts yet. It could have been exaggerated.
But we were called out last night as well, to Shadwell. Three people dead. We found what was left of the station-master which wasn’t much - inside a cupboard. The door had been cracked open. They were going to try and hush it up for a while, but you can’t keep something like this quiet.’
They heard the splinter of wood and a hole appeared in the door, spreading upwards as a large chunk was dislodged.
‘Right!’ shouted the fireman.
‘Right, right, right,’came the echoes from the other men.
A rat began to wriggle through the hole.
The lifeless hose stiffened as it filled with water and the fireman released the jet immediately, aiming it directly at the squirming creature. It hit the door a fraction of a second too late. The rat scrambled free just in time, its hind-quarters being knocked aside by the powerful liquid jet. The fireman aimed low, throwing it back against the wall.
‘The door. Concentrate on the door. Don’t let any more get through,’ shouted Harris, but it was already too late.
With lightning speed, another rat had leapt through the exposed hole. The fireman returned his jet to the door, completely covering the hole, and in fact, making it bigger by pushing the loose pieces inwards. The two free rats half-ran, half-swam towards the stairs.
‘I’ll deal with them,’ roared the sergeant, snatching one of the firemen’s small axes from his belt. He advanced to- wards the approaching rats taking care to keep out of the path of the cascading water. To gain him more time, the fireman lowered his aim for a split second, sending the two creatures sprawling back against the opposite wall.
The policeman jumped the last two steps and landed with a splash, brandishing the axe above his head.
He slipped, but lashed out at one of them as he did, managing to cut deep into its back. Once again, the child-like squeal of the injured monster. Without waiting to do further damage, he turned on the second rat, but only hitting it a glancing blow with the flat of the axe. It fell back, twisted round, and launched itself at the big man’s legs. The policeman cried out as the vicious teeth sank into his knee. He hit sideways at the tenacious beast, wary of cutting his own leg with his bloodied weapon, trying to dislodge it. In desperation, he fell to one knee, pushed the rat flat against the ground, and brought the axe down with all his might. He almost cut the black-furred body in half.
The other injured rat tried to make it to the stairs but
Harris ran forward and kicked it back as it mounted the first step. The policeman chopped its head off with one stroke.
Then he prised the jaws of the rat still clinging to his knee loose. He limped up the side of the steps, cursing loudly.
The fireman who had been stationed at the window came running down. ‘They’ve just brought the cylinders of gas into the playground. They’re going to feed it into the windows.
They said it’s harmless to humans providing you don’t get too much of it, but lethal to vermin - cover your faces with wet handkerchiefs to stop yourselves choking on it.’
‘Tell them to pour gas into the window around the side of the building. It’s the staff-room window - they may try to get back out that way? Harris shouted above the noise of gushing water.
‘Right!’ The fireman raced back up the stairs.
‘Think you can hold them?’ Harris asked the man with the hose.
‘No problem. Even if the door bursts open under the pressure, we can keep them off the stairs until the gas gets them!’