Strangled Silence Read Online Free PDF Page B

the
signal,' the woman said. 'He said there's been a
bomb scare, but it wasn't specific. All they know is
that it's in one of the stations in the south-west. All
the stations ahead of us are being closed and
searched. We could be here for hours.'
    The tall man in the suit in front of Amina
swore under his breath. Others started to talk
excitedly.
    'Did they say who planted the bomb?'
    'How many bombs are there? Does anybody
know?'
    'Are they just going to leave us down
here?'
    'What if the bomb's on one of the trains?'
    'Don't you remember the bombings a few
years ago? Nobody knew anything until it
happened. And then when people tried to escape
from the trains, the fires spread through the tunnels.
I heard the firemen couldn't even get into some of
the tunnels it was so hot.'
    'But there's nothing in the tunnels that would
burn!'
    'There's us . We'd burn.'
    'Oh my God!'
    Amina felt her pulse quicken. It was an ideal
time to bomb the Underground if you wanted
to make headlines – the rush-hour crowds were
swollen with peace protestors. If you were aiming
for a high body-count, this was the time to do it. It
didn't matter that the protestors were demanding
some of the things the terrorists wanted. Terrorists
were lunatics; they didn't care who died, as long as
it made shocking headlines and gruesome television.
Terrorists wanted publicity.
    Her piqued imagination was already cramming
her mind with morbid thoughts. If a bomb went off
on the train, the emergency services could take
hours to reach them. Aside from the blast, the
biggest killer would be the smoke; more people
died from fumes in fires underground than from the
flames themselves. Even if a bomb went off in a
tunnel nearby, the smoke might be enough to
choke them before they could escape to the surface.
    Amina tried to make more of a space around
her. At five foot five inches tall, she was smaller than
most of the people surrounding her and she was
beginning to feel penned in. Everyone was restless
now; there was a sharp smell of fresh sweat in the
air, feet shuffled on the floor. Was it getting warmer
in here too? Amina leaned back against the couple
behind her to try and get them to shift a bit, but
they were against the door and had nowhere to go.
There seemed to be less air in the carriage now. She
was finding breathing more difficult. That was to be
expected; everyone was anxious, so their breathing
would be faster.
    'Does anybody smell smoke?' the middle-aged
woman asked. 'I think I smell smoke.'
    'I don't smell anything,' the man in front of
Amina replied. 'Let's not get worked up about
nothing here.'
    'I'm not worked up, I just think I smell smoke.'
    'I think I smell something too,' a shabbily
dressed teenage boy spoke up.
    A debate began about whether there was or
was not a smell of smoke in the air. Amina craned
her neck to peer over people's shoulders. She just
wanted to see everyone's faces as they talked. It was
frustrating not being able to see who was speaking.
Her hands were pressed against the back of the man
in front of her and she pushed a bit too hard. He
stumbled forward and looked back at her, a
Roman-nosed horse of a face with fair hair and
reddening ears.
    'Whoa there, young lady! Easy.'
    'Can people make room, please!' a concerned
voice called from further down the carriage.
'There's a woman who can't breathe, here. I
think she's hyperventilating, or got asthma or
something.'
    ' Where are we going to make room to, may I
ask?' someone else snorted.
    'Everybody just calm down!' the horse-faced
man cried.
    'You calm down!' the middle-aged woman
retorted. 'You're the only one shouting!'
    Amina squeezed her eyes shut. She could feel
her own chest tightening up. A wave of dizziness
swept over her. If only they'd all just shut up!
    'I think we should get off the train and start
walking!' the man declared.
    'We can't get off the—'
    The speakers clicked again and the driver's
voice came through:
    'All right now, folks. Apologies again for the
delay,