The command centre in York City Hall was as one surviving military official put it : "a bloody madhouse." None of the operators manning the radio equipment or monitoring the computers bothered to stand for the Prime Minister when he walked in the room, or even acknowledge his existence. Not that he minded, after all, they were focused on an important job. Blair caught snippets of the various conversations the radio operators were having. None of it was good.

"...how the hell would i know what's going on in Hull ? Send a recon team if you really need to know..."

"Well where is the 52nd infantry ? They were supposed to be engaging in a rear guard campaign from Manchester to Carlisle ?...what the fuck do you mean they're "on strike ?!"

"Is that confirmed ? We've lost Blackburn ?..."

"...Harrowgate refugee camp has been compromised. Harrowgate is now considered hostile territory, say again, Harrowgate is a hostile territory..."

"...RAF Brize Norton, this is York Field Command come in, RAF Brize Norton do you copy ? RAF Brize Norton, come in. Brize Norton, is anyone there?..."

"...tell the plods to move aside and let the professionals do their job. Daft coppers should be issuing parking tickets, not playing soldier !"

"Sorry, Sergeant, cant spare the fuel for cremations. Just dump the corpses in the nearest church, keep the dogtags for the families..."

"...well martial law is in effect, just run the bloody protesters over if they get in the way !"

Blair looked around the control room as the soldiers and officers went about their jobs whilst he stood there holding a cup of tea. He felt so alone and isolated even with all these people around. He felt irrelevant. Increasingly the military command was in charge of the country, and martial law ruled the streets.

"Tony," a voice behind him said, startling him.

"What is it Charlie ?" Blair asked his Home Secretary.

"Can i have a word with you in private ?"

"Sure, Charlie." Blair said finishing his tea "Its not like im busy anyway. This lot have it covered." he motioned to the army personnel.

Back in Blair's cramped office Charlie broke down in tears.

"Charlie, whats the matter ? Christ man pull yourself together..."

"She's dead. Carol. She's dead." Charlie said. "I should have been with her..."

"Wait a minute, you dont know that for sure. With things the way they are anything's possible..." Tony didnt get a chance to finish his sentence.

"I got through to her on the phone ten minutes ago. She was at the refugee camp in Hull. The boats weren't loading fast enough and the infected were at the docks...i heard her scream. I heard my Carol die on the bloody phone."

"Oh god, Charlie." Blair said sympathetically. "What about the kids ?"

"They're safe. They're up in Aberdeen, she sent them up on bus to her uncles place when this all first started." Charlie said, grateful that at least his kids were safe.

12 hours later

"Move, move it ! We have to go now !" a uniformed soldier with Sergeants stripes screeched above the sound of gunfire coming from a few streets away.

"I thought we had longer ? We cant lose York as well !" Blair said to General Michael Walker who was now accompanying him as they rushed through York City Hall to a nearby helicopter.

"Intelligence flopped, obviously. Communications are failing across the country. We didnt expect to lose York so soon. We dont have enough men to hold the city." General Walker said above the din of the helicopter. "I'll see you in Edinburgh Tony. Goodbye and good luck." and with that the General slammed the chopper door shut and watched as the Prime Minister and his few remaining members of cabinet ascended into the summer sky and took off for Scotland. It would be the last time Blair saw the General. He decided to fight to the last with his men, rather than get on the next helicopter.

Once again he was in a helicopter fleeing from an enemy who's existence only a few weeks earlier was confined to horror films. Once again he had failed in his duty as Prime Minister to protect the nation. One by one Britain's cities were going dark : London, Cambridge, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, York, Gloucester, Cardiff, Plymouth...the list went on and on. Nobody knew how many had died, but an initial estimate by the UN placed the death toll at over 25 million by that point.

All over Britain, the lights were going out.