10
Noises around midnight told me everyone had gone to bed. I gave them an hour to fall asleep then made my way silently around the house, exploring its many ground floor rooms until I found what I wanted. I turned in and woke moments before Kabir entered our room, candle in hand.
‘Time to leave, I’m afraid,’ he said.
‘No problem. Thanks for your hospitality.’
James climbed from under the covers fully dressed. I put on my own clothes and we both left the house. A polystyrene take-away food container squelched beneath my right foot. The vanished pre-Storm world seemed ever-present, courtesy of rubbish like this, which, although discarded countless years since, was still kicking around.
I was grateful the storm had blown out. It was a cold day, but not cold enough to kill us, as long as
