Tunnels 06 - Terminal

released.’
    ‘I knew Bismarck too. He might have been in the military, but he was a good man,’ the New Germanian said. He took a step back from Elliott, but kept his pistol on her. ‘So you know about how the plague started. And both of you are exposed to the air, but neither of you are showing any symptoms.’
    ‘We were given shots against it,’ Will answered, scrunching up an eye as sweat trickled into it.
    Will’s answer seemed to have impressed the man, who wassilent for a second. ‘So … so we’d have immunity against it too, if you allowed us to take blood from you,’ he finally said.
    ‘If it means it’s not going to be splattered all over the pavement,’ Will replied, now focusing on the end of the barrel of the boy’s handgun, ‘be my guest.’
    ‘Okay,’ the man said, and without further ado both he and the boy holstered their weapons. He went straight to the boy, and spoke to him in hushed tones while inspecting a gauge on the cylinder on his back.
    With a sigh of relief Will put the lemonade bottles by his feet. He was stretching his arms and rubbing his cramped muscles as he met Elliott’s gaze. ‘What?’ he asked. She hadn’t yet lowered her guard, her rifle in a semi-ready position at her waist. Then she gave a small shrug and slung the weapon over her shoulder with the others she was carrying.
    The man came over to Will, proffering a gloved hand. ‘I’m Jürgen, and this is Karl, my son.’ It felt a little strange to be spoken to by the cylindrical helmet, with only the man’s eyes visible through a window of clear plastic.
    Will introduced himself and Elliott. ‘We didn’t think anyone else was alive,’ he said, the surprise that anyone had survived in the city only now sinking in.
    ‘I think we’re the only ones,’ Jürgen said. He chuckled as he glanced at the doorway behind Will. ‘And not even a plague can keep Karl away from a Süßwarengeschäft … a sweet shop.’ His voice turned serious. ‘But now I need you to come with me,’ he added, also addressing Elliott.
    She was immediately suspicious. ‘Where?’ she demanded. ‘And tell me something first – how is it that your English is so good? The Colonel mentioned that all New Germanians learnt it at school, but you have even less of an accent than he did.’
    ‘The scientific fraternity here in the city employed it as the main language in their everyday work and for record keeping,’ Jürgen replied without missing a beat. ‘It started out that way because most of the scientific journals in the archives that were flown into this world back in the 1940s were in English. And many of the scientists at the time were reacting against the Third Reich and only too happy not to use their native language.’
    ‘Okay,’ Elliott said, still not wholly convinced that the man was to be trusted. ‘And where do you want us to go?’
    ‘To the hospital. Karl and I have to return there before our air runs out, and that’s where my brother Werner will be able to use the antigens in your blood to immunise us. You see, he was a doctor in the infectious diseases unit of the hospital,’ Jürgen explained. ‘When the first reports of the outbreak began to come in, he rushed my son and me into the quarantine ward just in time. That’s why we’re still alive.’ Jürgen paused. ‘So you’ll come with us now?’
    ‘Sure, let’s go,’ Will said.
    They moved off, a watchful Elliott following a few paces behind Will who was walking with Jürgen and Karl. As they passed them, Jürgen indicated the buildings on the other side of the avenue, which Will had taken for museums. ‘When the plague swept through the city, the concentration of people was high in this area. We think they were rounded up and brought here for the breeding programme.’
    ‘I suppose for Vane,’ Will guessed. ‘She was the Styx woman.’
    ‘I don’t know anything about that,’ Jürgen replied, ‘but it’s clear that the principal site for the breeding was in there.’ He swung round to look at the large glasshouse, giving his son apassing glance as he turned back to Will again. ‘I haven’t let Karl go in there because the human remains left inside are indescribable. And we haven’t begun to clear it out yet, but you can see that we’ve made a start in the streets … by burning the corpses on pyres.’
    ‘That explains all the ash,’ Will said.
    ‘Yes, we’re doing all we can to eradicate any pockets of virus.’ There was