Chapter 8

Nick Cutter was tearing his hair out.

Abby wouldn't wake up. Her fever was getting worse. Her pulse was getting weaker.

There were no ambulances. The infection, virus, whatever, had already spread throughout London. Lester had closed the ARC's doors to them. He said that their only chance was to keep the soldiers currently suffering in isolation and not allow anyone else in the building. He said not to bother calling back: he wouldn't be there. He said he had already given his orders to Becker and Connor and they were safe, or should be if they did as they were told.

Cutter's mind reeled. Every time an anomaly had opened they had waited with baited breath to see what massive, sharp-toothed, bloodthirsty beast would come through to terrorise their world. Every time one had, they had trapped it, killed it or herded it back through to its own time, or to oblivion. Never had they considered the possibility of an invisible threat. Not once had Cutter considered the multitude of primitive or future microbes waiting for a suitable host to appear to carry them through to a word where they could flourish. It had been unthinkable.

But now the unthinkable was reality.

London was in chaos. Roads were blocked. Hospitals were full. People were panicking. Almost every person Cutter saw, as he stared helplessly out of the window of Abby's flat, showed symptoms of the illness. An illness with no cure, that took over the body more rapidly than any virus or infection he had ever seen. Cutter turned and slumped back against the window and wall, sliding down until he was sitting huddled with his back to the wall and his eyes locked on Abby's unconscious figure.

Connor and Becker had been given their orders, Lester had said. What orders? Did they even know what was happening here? Would he be able to get in touch with them? Everything was slipping away from him. Abby, right in front of him. Connor and his team. Becker and Kate, wherever they had disappeared to. Even Lester!

Just like Helen had slipped away through the anomalies all those years ago.

Just like Stephen had slipped away into that hellhole of creatures, giving up his own life to save his friends and the world.

Just like Claudia slipped away out of his reality.

Just like Jenny had...

Jenny...

Jenny Lewis...

Helen...

Her last words to him...

Jenny, or Claudia?

She had them both.

Suddenly, Cutter's mind reeled with memories. Memories his brain had been suppressing in the blind attempt to deal with the momentous revelation his ex-wife had dumped on him. The hotel up in Seahouses. The nothosaurus beach. The kiss...

Cutter drew his hands down over his face, aghast. How much time had passed since then? How long had Helen had Jenny, and Claudia, in her grasp? How could he get them back?

A flash and a now familiar noise drew Cutter's attention. An anomaly. Right in the middle of Abby's living room. Cutter scrambled to his feet. A memory pushed itself forward in his mind. Helen, creating an anomaly and carrying Jenny off through it. He rushed to Abby's side, standing in front of her protectively. He watched and waited as a figure began to emerge through the sparkling aperture.

XXXX

"Explain to me why we're doing this?" Kate hissed.

"You were the one who wanted to have a look at what was on the other side," Becker replied, keeping his eyes on the dense, alien foliage ahead of them.

"Any you were dead set against it," Kate reminded him, not giving up. "Suddenly, one phone call from Lester later, and we're all through on the other side. Just like that. No going up to the farmhouse or the village for extra supplies. No leaving a guard on the other side. No shooing away the innocent bystanders. We're all, every one of us, on the Jurassic side on an anomaly that might close at any time with no extra supplies!"

"You know, my men do carry more than just guns and ammunition. We do have some supplies with us. In fact, we're probably better prepared for getting stuck on the far side of an anomaly than we've ever been in the past. I've made sure of that!"

"Well aren't you the regular boy scout!"

"When I got this job I asked Lester what sort of scenarios I should expect. He said 'all the unexpected ones'."

"And what unexpected scenario has made Lester order us through here? We're not even watching the anomaly any more! It could close at any time and then we'd never get back..."

"We're not going back," sighed Becker, keeping his voice so low that only Kate heard.

"What!" Kate shrieked.

Everyone stopped and turned to look at her. Becker stopped walking, stifled a sigh and the urge to roll his eyes and thought fast. Ahead of them and to the right was a rocky cliff face. The way the land sloped down to it suggested a river at the bottom. That would give them fresh water at least, maybe some shelter in the form of a cave.

"Look, whether you like it or not," he said, loudly so that everyone could hear him this time. "We're going to be spending tonight at least in a cave, if we can find one. I'd rather take my chances with the dark and the spiders than out in the open round here!"

Everyone looked from Becker to the cliff face. Good, that meant they had bought the lie. That would buy him some time. As long as Kate didn't pick this moment in time to start another argument. He shouted an order to two of his men to go on ahead and scout out the area. As they ran on towards the cliff, the rest of the party resumed their slow march. Becker hung back and was relieved that Kate took the hint and stayed silently by his side.

"What's going on?" Kate hissed, once they had started walking again.

"Lester has a minor situation on his hands and he has given us specific orders to follow."

"Horse manure. There's nothing minor about sending your son through a Jurassic anomaly."

"Okay, so it's not so minor."

"I'm going to need a little more detail than that, soldier boy."

"Don't you have any patience? And don't call me soldier boy."

"None whatsoever. And as long as you are holding out on me, I'll call you whatever I like."

"Fine. Just keep your voice down and keep it to yourself until I can find a way to break the news to everyone without causing panic and a riot!"

"Wow, you really know how to sugar-coat things!"

"Trust me: this will take a bit more than just sugar-coating."

"Well?"

"You know the anomaly you missed?"

"Only by your constant reference to my lateness."

"A virus came through."

"That doesn't sound healthy."

"It's in the process of wiping out London."

Kate stopped dead. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. She could feel sweat forming on her brow. With a start, she realised she'd forgotten to breathe. She dragged in a gulp of air, forcing her lungs to work normally and trying to ignore the lump in her throat and the stinging at her eyes.

"Connor and his team received the same orders as us," Becker continued softly. "Take whoever you've got with you and get through an anomaly now. The ARC has gone into lock down. They have enough stores there to last a considerable time, as well as facilities to grow plants and recycle water."

"So Cutter, Abby and Lester are safe?" Kate gasped.

Becker shook his head.

"From what Lester told me, Abby already had the virus, although Cutter seems immune so far. Cutter went to her flat to check on her and found her unconscious. He was about to call an ambulance last time Lester spoke to him. Lester called Connor, told him the details, then called me. He said he just had to get in touch with Cutter again, then he was done."

"Done?" Kate frowned.

"Lester's a family man, Kate," Becker shrugged. "Despite everything you see at work, they are his priority. He knows that John is safe, because he's with us, away from the virus, but the rest of his family had already been exposed. His wife was already sick when he called me. He told me so. He's going home to take care of her and their other kids."

"But he'll die."

Becker nodded.

"Sir James Lester is the bravest man I know," he said, refusing to meet Kate's gaze. "Everything he has done, he has done to keep his family safe, not himself. Now they are in danger and the only thing he can do is be with them, even if it does mean that he dies too. He can't bring them back to the ARC. That would negate their isolation and could kill everyone not yet exposed to the virus. He couldn't go to them and come back for the same reason. That said, his only choices were to sit and watch his family die from a distance, or to be with them and take the same risk. If he can get them far enough away to wait out the virus, he will, but the chances of that happening are pretty slim."

Kate rocked back on her heels, shell shocked.

"So you think this will take out more than just London?"

"I think it could take out the vast majority of the human population," Becker held out a hand to her. "Not just in Britain, but world-wide. You, me, Connor and the people we've brought with us might be the last groups of humans left alive. It's our job now to find a way through to somewhere where we can find out what the virus is and how we can stop it, then, if we're lucky, find a way home."