81

13 September, ten years earlier

BY THE TIME VICTORIA LLEWELLYN ARRIVES BACK, IT’S DARK. She climbs the fence and slips across the abandoned ground. At the metal gate, she finds her torch and makes her way inside. The tunnel is dark and damp, but cheap lanterns light the way. She climbs steps and, still in almost complete darkness, makes her way around camps and prone bodies. When she sees the hospital screen and the calor-gas stove she slows down.

A girl is lying on the mattress the two of them share. Victoria shines her torch softly on the girl’s face. She doesn’t want to wake her up.

The girl isn’t asleep. Her eyes are wide open. A second later, Victoria is on her knees, checking for a pulse, for breath, anything. Her friend isn’t dead yet, but close.

‘Oh God no, not you too.’ She has to get her up, get her to where they can find help. She slips an arm beneath the other girl’s shoulders and tugs. ‘Come on, wake up. You have to help me. Come on, Lacey, I can’t lose you too.’

Lacey’s eyes focus for a second on Victoria’s and she struggles to her feet. Slowly, the two girls make their way back out to the night.