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The climb to the top of the hill was agony, every surface hot to touch. The pungent air was acidic and foul to taste. They both panted with effort, their lungs filling with hot smoke which burned their throats and stung their eyes. Sam coughed so hard she thought she might turn herself inside out. Every precious breath she managed to take in was almost immediately forced back out again. They held onto each other as they climbed through fog-like banks of smoke.
Eventually the ground levelled out. Each step forward was increasingly difficult. The tarmac had softened but the soil on either side of the road had hardened like rock, brushfires hemming them in.
A wall appeared out of the haze on one side, and to his surprise Steven realised they’d reached the car park from which he’d first
