Chapters (45)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Prologue
- 2046
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- About the Author
Within that chaos of noise Ben detects a variance in the screams and spins around to see the ginger man kicking a woman to send her over the edge of the platform on to the tracks below. He wrenches another by her hair with a vicious strength that belies his lean frame. She goes down too, landing inches from the live rail. Ben runs towards him knowing that everyone will die if that man detonates his bomb. Another I Love London T-shirt lunges towards Ben. He stops, aims and fires two shots. One misses. The other hits the man in the face. Ben turns, his boots sliding on the blood-soaked ground. He looks to find the ginger man now holding a black stick in his hand, frantically hitting the top of it. The ginger man stops with a sudden cessation of movement and slowly lifts the stick to stare at the wires coming out of it with an almost comical expression on his face as he spots one wire hanging free. Ben points and shoots twice while running and misses with both shots. The gun clicks empty. The ginger man grins with victory and shoves the wire back into the stick as Ben grits his teeth, snarls and drops his shoulder to drive him off the edge of the platform down on to the rails with a sickening crunch. Ben’s head spins. Stars and strobes flash in his vision. He slams fists into the ginger head again and again.
A rumble vibrates through the ground. A rush of hot, dry air blasts past Ben. A train coming down the tracks with a driver completely unaware of the carnage unfolding. Ben glances at the rapidly emptying platform. Bodies everywhere. The people on the tracks scream as they try to climb back up.
The ginger guy hisses beneath him, his hands fumbling at the black stick. Ben rips the man’s waterproof jacket open to see a thick black waistcoat, like a paramilitary thing but with wires and big square chunks of plastic.
Without thinking, Ben stands up and stamps his foot down hard on to the man’s head, ending the struggle instantly. The body can’t stay here. If the train hits it, it could detonate the explosives and there are still too many people. Ben knows nothing about bombs but he does know there is electricity everywhere and a single spark hitting the bomb could cause the detonation.
Ben drags the man as fast as he can. Glancing from the body in his hands to the mouth of the tunnel at the far end. One foot after the other but the progress is too slow. The reflection of the train lights shows on the walls and Ben feels another gust of wind blast past him and the vibration of brakes being applied.