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
The noise of the drone blades increases. The engine rising in pitch and suddenly there is the sensation of lift being given by the camera. Grey rubble underneath from a distance of a few feet. Less than head height. All three watch it closely as Roland watches them. Movement is gained, the drone goes forward and rises steadily. More broken rubble shows on the screen. It could be anywhere. It means nothing. Ben scowls, feeling like a cheap trick is being played. Safa more so, she lifts an eyebrow at Roland, who simply waits.
The drone lifts higher. The footage pans out. A half-burnt child’s doll adds a dramatic splash of colour to the screen. Ben tuts. Safa rolls her eyes. Harry stares enraptured by the high-definition, pin-sharp footage.
‘Seriously?’ Safa asks.
‘Just wait,’ Roland says.
They wait. They see more rubble. The drone rises to show a ruined building. Dirty brown and grey bricks, a slate roof, window frames and household objects scattered in the debris. Something from the start of a movie. The drone continues the rise. More ruined buildings come into view and what looks like a bog-standard street that could be from any western country. Houses broken and falling apart. Roads buckled, broken and pitted. Trees now burnt stumps. A lack of life. A lack of anything living to be seen. It could be footage from post-Second World War bombing raids in Germany. It could be from any number of conflicts. It could also be a film set.
The shot widens as the drone lifts higher. More streets come into view in much the same state. Just rubble and debris everywhere. The scale starts to become impressive. A whole bunch of streets ruined and broken. Cars and vehicles are spotted but with the height of the drone it’s not possible to see the make or style. Still the drone rises.
The residential view of streets starts to change. Bigger buildings come into view. Still broken and laid to waste, but more commercial in appearance. Railway lines appear at the top of the screen as the drone flies on. Loads of tracks laid side by side but all twisted and broken. A huge roof of something lies smashed next to the tracks. Ben and Safa both edge closer with the first twinges of recognition.
Beyond the tracks a tower block lies on its side. Debris smothers the roads. The scale of whatever devastation happened becomes more evident.