‘Yeah, but you still haven’t told me how you’re going to get there in that wheelchair,’ said Maeve. ‘And where exactly we’re going right now.’

‘You’ll see.’

They had left the museum grounds and gone out on to the Cromwell Road, then headed left past the Victoria and Albert Museum. The building next to it looked like a big church of some sort and they’d gone up the side of it towards the back.

It was quiet, and Robbie was confident that it would stay that way. He knew the area around the museum well. Had insisted that they wouldn’t accidentally stumble across a gang of hungry grown-ups. But the three of them were still tensed and ready to bolt to safety if they sensed anything dodgy.

‘You really thinking of leaving, Rob?’ asked Boggle.

‘Yeah, I’ve had enough, Boggo. You want to come with us?’

‘No way. No way, man. It might not be paradise here, but it’s safe. At least it will be when we get Paul. Oh Jesus. Let me tell you. I am not going out there. Not after what happened to Einstein’s lot. That was cold, man. Bare harsh. I don’t want none of that.’

‘That’s the way everyone thinks,’ said Maeve. ‘The only kids left who say they want to come with me are Ella and Monkey-Boy.’

‘Them two little kids?’ said Robbie and he laughed.

‘Yeah. They’ve got it into their heads that I saved their lives. Though I really didn’t do anything. They won’t leave me alone.’

‘Holy crap, you need me bad, Maeve.’

‘Yeah, right, cos it’s really going to help having a cripple along as well.’

‘Oh, that wounds me,’ said Robbie.

‘I’m serious, Robbie. I can’t go through with this.’

‘But once we’re out of London there’ll be other kids,’ Robbie insisted. ‘We can find a community, you know, like farmers and that, real life, not this scavenging crap.’

‘I’m not arguing with you on that,’ said Maeve. ‘You’re probably right, but how the hell do we get out of London?’

‘That’s what I’m about to show you.’

‘Well, go on then. Where? What am I supposed to be looking at?’

‘Over there.’ Robbie grinned at Maeve.

They had come to a small car park behind the church where four abandoned cars sat rotting beneath some trees, patiently waiting for their long-dead owners to return. Three of them had flat tyres and were covered in bird droppings and general dirt. Now that she looked Maeve saw that the fourth one was in slightly better condition. It was a black Range Rover with tinted windows. Boggle wheeled Robbie over to it. Robbie carried on grinning at Maeve.

‘What do you reckon then?’

‘What do I reckon to what?’

‘The wheels.’

‘Yeah, lovely … Wait a minute … You’re not saying …?’