Page 2

Instead of help, what I saw was a crowd of eight or ten people coming towards me from the next ward. A few of them were patients, but I knew the one in the lead, very well indeed; Dr Singh, a turbaned Sikh who was the one of the hospital’s top surgeons. Now he was swaying from side to side and making grabbing motions with his hands. I didn’t wait any longer. There was only one way open to me, through the exit to the stairs and up, and so that’s where I ran.

Upstairs, in the medicine wards, things were even crazier. I have only flashes of memory of what I saw, and I didn’t wait to see any more, but among them were these:

A doctor, whom I vaguely recognised, lying on top of a patient and apparently engaged in tearing her throat out with his teeth;

My old friend from nursing school, Elia, who ran past half-naked and screaming, pulled herself through a window, and jumped out into the night;

A patient, an old woman, standing in the middle of the confusion, a puddle of urine spreading around her, and looking up at the ceiling and howling.

Two or three people saw me and immediately began coming towards me. By now I was operating on pure terror, and I waited not a moment. I ran past them, up the next flight of stairs, threw myself into this little stock-room and slammed the door. And this is where I have been ever since.

6.15 am, 2^nd May.

Things have been quiet for a long time.

It’s been at least a couple of hours since I heard anybody outside, and the screaming stopped long before that. It’s dawn outside, which is why I can see to write; the lights failed a couple of hours ago. From the window, near which I’m standing, I can see the hospital grounds; they look deserted. A huge cloud of smoke is drifting over the city. Maybe it’s from whatever I smelt burning earlier.

I’ll have to risk it and make a dash for it now. If I can make it back to my room, I’ll get my cell-phone, a change of clothes, and some food. I’ll try and call for help, and see if I can get out of here, and how far I can get. There’s got to be somewhere I can go!

I wonder how it would have been if I’d been living near home, or if I still had a boyfriend to worry about. But I’m alone, and home is on the other side of the country. There’s no point even thinking about home until I’m safe and away.

I open the door and stick my head out for a quick look, but the corridor’s empty. Can’t hesitate any longer; it’s now or never.

Best of luck to me.

1 pm (approximately), 2^nd May

I’m writing this sitting in the driver’s seat of a stalled car, somewhere near the railway station. The key is in the ignition, but the car won’t start. The windows are tinted dark and are rolled up, and I’ve locked the doors, so maybe I’m safe for a while here, if they don’t see or sense me – safe, perhaps, until dark. When it gets dark I shall try to get to the railway station and see if I can get a train out of here. Things can’t have broken down so completely, after all. Something must be functioning, mustn’t it?

I managed to get down to the nurse’s quarters without anybody attacking me. There was hardly anyone around. The hospital seemed to be deserted. I trotted across the quadrangle and got to my room without mishap, and when I was in it I was very strongly tempted to just lock the door and stay there. But when I checked, I found I had only half a packet of biscuits, and no water at all. When I tried my cell-phone, I found the battery was flat, and the power cut off then, as well. Besides, from my window I could see a large group of people like those who had attacked me earlier, walking down the street. They seemed to be moving at random, but the way they were coming, they would soon reach the hospital. I needed to get out before I was cut off.

I have no idea what’s happened to the city. I’d thought there would be something functioning, the police at least, or the fire brigade, someone helping. But I found nobody – at least, nobody normal. The streets were full with debris, abandoned vehicles, and corpses. My god – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tenth as many corpses, even on TV after an earthquake or something. And the people, the mad people. I don’t know what’s wrong with them, but they’re everywhere, and the things I’ve seen them do...

[ Continue to page 3 ]