I pressed my back against the door and my heart beat furiously. I looked at Mina with a mix of dejection and rage.

“We can’t just leave people to die like that, Mina!”

“She was out cold, Bradley. Let’s just hope she never wakes up.”

I continued to stand at the door but no cries or screams arose from the other side, and after a minute I had composed myself.

Mina regarded me. “Are we cool?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah.”

I had already returned the knife to my waistband. I checked the straps on my backpack, and together we opened the street exit door and peered outside. The way was clear and so we stepped into the street.

I could not help but look back at Meera. She was still in the same position as where she had fallen. The zombie was still on top of her tearing her to shreds. When Meera turned I didn’t even know now whether there would be enough of her to even stand.

The zombie sensed me watching, and turned and flung herself at the gates. Her two arms reached for me while her blood drenched face was pressed up against the bars while she gurgled and moaned.

We turned away from her and walked away from the campus heading for Kings Cross. The simplest route there would have been to follow Euston Road, but I wanted to avoid a main thoroughfare after seeing the horrors on Edgeware Road.

We kept to the side streets moving quietly and stealthily. We saw activity both human and zombie, but managed to move without incident until we got to Brunswick Shopping Centre about half way to Kings Cross.

Our supplies had already been dipped into both last night and again this morning. We saw that there were two different supermarkets here, and chose to get close enough to see if either were even an option for scavenging.

We could see that the plate glass windows on the first store had been shattered. We approached cautiously, and I winced as we trod across the broken glass fearing the noise we were making.

The lights within were off but daylight allowed us to see in the store. The shelves had been ransacked, but there were still ample supplies within.

I turned to Mina. “We go straight in, load up and then we’re off again. Two minutes max.”

Mina nodded her head in agreement, and so we stepped over the threshold. We each grabbed a plastic bag from a pile strewn across the floor and then made our way over to the aisles. I grabbed packaged food items both from the shelf and the floor. I saw the drinks aisle and threw in some canned and container drinks too. The liquids were heavy but essential.

I moved quickly back to the store window where we entered. I looked for Mina, but could not see her. I set down my supplies and looked into the dim lighting within. I called out for her in a hushed voice, but there was no sound within the store at all. I pulled my knife and set off in the direction she had departed.

The aisles in this direction were in as much disarray as the other side of the store. I looked along each aisle but could see no sign of her. I moved lightly on my feet rapidly wanting to cover the distance quickly. I moved further into the store and heard a can fall to the floor further within.

I paused as I saw the can roll down an aisle further ahead. Rather than go directly towards the source I moved quickly to my left, and then up.

As I got to the end of the aisle I poked my head around the corner quickly to scan what I could see. Mina was sat on the floor with a knife held to her throat by one of two men.

The first man who held the knife knelt behind her with his other hand gripping her hair. The second man held a knife too, but seemed to be looking down the aisle from where I had originally come from.

I grabbed a can from the shelf and flung it deep to the back of the store where the man was continuing to look. The noise was amplified greatly within the silence of the store. The men spoke together, but I could not make out what the other said. The second man then moved away towards where the noise had sounded.

I instantly moved towards the man with the knife held to Mina. I kept low, and I kept quiet. Two foot out with his back still to me I thrust out with my knife and stuck it into the side of his neck with enough force to knock him sideways off of Mina.

He dropped his knife and sank to the floor holding his hands to his neck where blood was spurting out in a great volume where the jugular had been severed.

He was younger than I had expected based on his size, perhaps no more than eighteen. I watched him while I spoke to Mina.

“They hurt you?”

“Not yet”, she whispered.

I took her hand, and raised her to her feet. We stayed low while the young man continued to lie there with his hands to his neck. He was in shock and was bleeding out quickly. We heard movement approaching and I took cover on the aisle where his colleague was approaching.

I could hear him gasp as soon as he saw his friend, and then I heard him grunt as I drove out and plunged my knife into his chest. He was if anything even younger than his companion, and much slighter of build. I pulled the knife out and watched him fall. I think he was dead even before his body struck the floor. I turned back to the one with the neck wound, and his hands had fallen away from the wound, and his eyes were lifeless.

I felt a numbness. I took Mina’s hand and we returned to the window and exited with my bag of supplies.