‘No! We have to keep going.’ Rory yanked her up, her feet now dragging between them, leaving trails in the snow.

Tramlines, Thea thought. Like in that corridor.

She wished she could stop and look back at the building, just take a moment to watch it crumble and fall, fully take in each pop as the windows shattered, each bit of cladding a piece of skin peeling away.

Rosie drooped between them, a toy with her stuffing pulled out.

‘What are they – up there? Do you see them?’ Thea twisted to gaze into the sky, pointing up at the shapes she could see.

They looked like birds from a distance, dark, thin shapes hovering in the sky. But they weren’t, Thea realized with mounting terror. Birds didn’t hover over a burning building, they got the hell out of there before their wings singed and they plummeted to their death.

‘They’re not birds, are they?’ She turned to Rory who had paled, despite the effort of dragging Rosie around.

‘No,’ he said, ‘they’re not. They’re drones.’

‘Wait … they blew up the Centre by drone? Bombs are heavy, aren’t they?’ Thea frowned. ‘How can a little drone like that carry a bomb?’

‘I don’t think they can.’ Rory hurried her along, panting. ‘I think they’re just recording the demolition …’

Thea kept an eye on the sky. ‘Do you think they can see us?’ she said nervously.

‘Well, they will if we keep chatting out in the open like we’re having a bloody picnic. Move it!’

The old gift shop was nearest and, without needing to decide it amongst themselves, they ran for it. Thea half expected they would have to shoulder the door open, but the handle gave way without a fight and they skidded into the musty black, just as Thea was sure she saw one dark, bird-like shape angle itself away from the others and come straight for them.

Chapter 55

They found themselves in the rotting corpse of a gift shop.

Ing Enterprises hadn’t bothered to clear the old place out. As Thea’s eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, she made out display cabinets and shelves still full of the souvenirs that sightseers would have snapped up to gift to unsuspecting relatives who would, in turn, donate them to charity as soon as they could. A row of cuddly monks grinned at her, dust cataracts dimming their eyes.

Rory slammed the door shut and Rosie sank to the ground.

The windows were grimy, but Thea tried to peer through, scanning what she could see of the sky.

‘Do you think it’ll be able to see anything through those windows?’ Thea cast around for somewhere to hide.

‘It won’t need to if it’s got thermal vision,’ Rory said.

‘Huh?’

‘Heat detector spots the heat from our bodies – but it might not be able to do that through these walls.’