4
Ianto, Jack and Andy walk along the Docklands Railway in single file. Ahead is a train. Behind the train, as if spilled in its wake, are abandoned bags, suitcases, backpacks.
Andy drops pace to let Ianto catch up. "How's your head? Fucked?"
No reply.
Gesturing at the city Andy continues talking "I know where your head is. You're looking at these windows, these millions of windows, and you're thinking - there's no way this many people are dead. It's just too many windows."
Andy picks up a handbag from the tracks. "The person who owned this bag. Can't be dead."
He hands the bag to Ianto and walks ahead. Ianto pulls out a mobile phone. He switches it on.
It reads: SEARCHING FOR NETWORK.
The message blinks a couple of times. Then the screen goes blank. Ianto looks left. He is now alongside the train. The inside of the windows are smeared with dried blood. Pressed against the glass is the face of a dead man.
Ianto drops the phone and breaks into a run - running past Andy and Jack.
"Hey!" Andy calls softly.
Ianto, Jack and Andy jog across Greenwich Common. Ianto gestures towards one of the streets on the far side of the green. "Down there. Westlink Street. Second on the left."
The street is modest red-brick semi-detached houses. They stand outside Number 43. Ianto waits while Jack scans the dark facade. "If there's anyone in there who isn't human..."
"I understand." Ianto cuts him off, his face raw with need.
"Anyone." Jack emphasizes.
"I understand."
Jack shoots a glance at Ianto. Ianto is gazing at the house.
"Okay." Andy huffs, "Let's do this."
Ianto uses the key under the flowerpot to open the back door. Ianto, Jack and Andy move quietly through the kitchen and the downstairs of the house.
Surprisingly, everything is neat and tidy. Washed plates are stacked by the sink, newspapers on the table are neatly piled. The headline on the top paper reads simply: CONTAINMENT FAILS.
They reach the bottom of the stairs. Jack gestures upwards, and Ianto nods. They start to ascend. At the top of the stairs, Jack sniffs the air, and recoils.
Ianto has noticed it too. His eyes widen in alarm
"Wait." Jack whispers but Ianto pushes past and advances along the top landing, until he reaches a door. By now the smell is so bad that he has to cover his nose and mouth with the sleeve of one arm. Ianto pushes open the door. Inside, two decomposed bodies lie side by side on the bed, intertwined. On the bedside table are an empty bottle of sleeping pills and a bottle of red wine.
Jack appears behind him. Ianto stares at his parents for a couple of moments, and then Jack closes the door.
.
.
.
.
Ianto sits on the toilet in the bathroom, alone.
He is crying.
In his hand is a piece of paper: Ianto - with endless love, we left you sleeping. Now we're sleeping with you. Don't wake up.
The paper crumples in his fist.
.
.
.
.
Ianto, Jack and Andy sit in the living room, on the two sofas. Ianto looks dazed, uncomprehending. Jack watches Ianto, his expression neutral. "They died peacefully. You should be grateful."
"I'm not grateful." Ianto's words hang a moment.
Then Andy talks, simply, unemotionally, matter-of-fact "The roads out were all jammed. So we went to Paddington Station. Hoping: maybe we could get to Heathrow, maybe buy our way on a plane. My dad had all this cash, even though cash was already useless, and Mum had her jewellery. But twenty thousand other people had the same idea. The crowd was surging, and I lost my grip on my sister's hand. I remember realizing the ground was soft. I looked down, and I was standing on people. Like a carpet, people who had fallen, and... somewhere in the crowd there were Turned. It spread fast, no one could run, all you could do was climb. Over more people. So I did that. I got up, somehow, on top of a kiosk. Looking down, you couldn't tell which faces were Turned and which weren't. With the blood, the screaming, they all looked the same. And I saw my dad. Not my mum or my sister. But I saw my dad. His face."
A short silence then he continues with the same monotone " Jack's right. You should be grateful"
"We don't have time to get back to the shop before dark. We should stay here tonight." Jack says softly and Ianto nods. He isn't sure what he wants to say.
"My old room was at the end of the landing. You two take it. I'll sleep down here" Ianto finally decides.
"We'll sleep in the same room." Jack shakes his head, a hand resting on Ianto's knee gently, so gently "It's safer."
Ianto doesn't really care.