I found the room from which I had rushed to the fake fire-alarm, exactly as I had left it; my clothes on a chair, even the cigarette-case and lighter where I had placed them beside my improvised bed.
It was still too early to think of sleep. I lit a cigarette, put the case in my pocket, and decided to go out.
Before I went into the Russell Square garden I looked it over carefully. I had already begun to be suspicious of open spaces. Sure enough I spotted one triffid. It was in the north-west corner, standing perfectly still, but considerably taller than the bushes that surrounded it. I went closer, and blew the top of it to bits with a single shot. The noise in the silent Square could scarcely have been more alarming if I had let off a howitzer. When I was sure that there were no others
