‘They got me before I knew they were even there. Grabbed me and dragged me into a building, started ripping at me. Don’t remember much more after that. Not even sure I remember anything, to tell you the truth. I’ve sort of pieced it together from dreams and memories and what people told me afterwards. You know? Glimpses and pictures. Bits and pieces. Some other kids rescued me. I never knew what happened to Ed and the rest of the boys from my school. I hope they’re OK. That they got away. I tried to find out, but nobody knew.

‘The kids that found me weren’t from my school, you see. There was another school in Rowhurst. The local state school on the other side of town. Brockridge Park. The comprehensive. We never mixed with them. They were the rough kids. We were always told to keep away from them, but they saved me that day. The boy in charge, their leader, guy called Rav, he told me afterwards that, when they found me, I was so badly mashed up they thought I was dead. There’s been a lot of times since when I wished I had died.

‘They were looting my body apparently, when I grabbed hold of one of them by the arm, like something out of a horror film. Freaked him right out. Nearly crapped himself. They didn’t know what to do with me, but there was a doctor nearby who helped some of them. This was right at the beginning, when there were still some adults who hadn’t got the disease yet. You remember, we all thought maybe some of them would be immune or something? So, anyway, this doctor, Dr Catell – Chris Catell – he was trying to help us kids.

‘He had a medical centre near where we’d been ambushed. And they took me there. He’d barricaded it up, you see. Made it safe. He had two nurses with him and they were doing what they could. At first he didn’t want to take me in apparently. Told Rav that it was a waste of time; with wounds like I had I was a goner. But Rav’s lot didn’t want me either, so they dumped me on his doorstep and when I didn’t die straight off he kind of had to take me in.