Threads Page #5

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- Where are you going?

- To find Ruth. See if she's all right.

Oh, sh*t.

- Come on. Move it inside.

- What about all these?

Get the mattress on the bottom.

That's right. Put it down there.

Where's our Alison?

- This one's on Finningley.

- A brown burst.

- Four-three.

- What was the other power station?

Hang on.

There's something on the airport, I think.

Shine the torch further down.

Ruth, come down here

and give us a hand.

Ruth, come and help

your grandma!

Ruth, please!

It'll be all right.

Come on. All this stuff on.

Put that on. Come on, then.

Ruth!

Come on.

Michael! Michael!

Take it easy. Don't hurry.

Ah, that's the girl. Well done.

It won't be long now.

Well done, Gordon.

How long can you keep that going?

- Two weeks if we're careful.

- First-aid kit, quickly.

We've lost County again, I think.

Aerials must have blown.

They were on the roof.

Switch the lights off when you get there.

Can we raise any districts? Radio amps?

- Can we improvise an aerial?

- We'll try.

Let's do something quick.

- Where's the first-aid kit?

- On this shelf at the back.

I've looked out here. I can't shift a thing.

- How is he?

- I can't find the first-aid kit.

Forget the first-aid kit. Bring me

something to cover him up with.

- There.

- No!

Leave me.

Everybody all right?

Mother?

Jesus Christ, another one.

This could go on for ever.

It's Stocksbridge police.

What about rescue?

Is there anything you can do? Over.

Give me another bin liner.

- What is your RADIAC reading?

- What about the depot?

I repeat, what is your RADIAC reading?

Over.

- 100.

- 100.

It's too high.

You've got to get your men under cover.

Can you get us through to

the County Central Headquarters? Over.

Can you patch us through? Over.

Stocksbridge, are you receiving me?

Over.

- Green, I think.

- Have you heard anything from them?

Ask if they've got casualties.

They've lost them.

What about Hillsborough

and Stocksbridge?

Nothing from Hillsborough,

but Stocksbridge not too bad.

- Windows blown in but not too bad.

- That far out? Jesus Christ!

- Ask him where the last one was.

- Switch that thing off, Gordon.

The first fall-out dust

settles on Sheffield.

It's an hour and 25 minutes

after the attack.

An explosion on the ground at Crewe

has sucked up this debris

and made it radioactive.

The wind has blown it here.

This level of attack has broken

most of the windows in Britain.

Many roofs are open to the sky.

Some of the lethal dust gets in.

In these early stages,

the symptoms of radiation sickness

and the symptoms of panic are identical.

You all right, Ruth?

Ruth?

I couldn't help it. It just came on.

Don't worry about it, love.

It's not your fault. We've all got it.

I know, but I'm so ashamed.

Messing the bed at my age.

- It's the shock, isn't it?

- It's like being a little baby again.

Lie down.

Come and help me clean Grandma.

Ruth, be careful with that.

You don't know long it'll have to last us.

Ruth, don't just sit there. Do something.

Oh! Urgh!

Michael.

Michael... I've got to find him, Bill.

You stop here

and I'll go and look for him.

You stop here.

I'll only be out a few minutes.

- Stop here, love.

- No, I've got to come. No.

- Help me.

- All right.

Oh, my God.

Michael?

Michael?

We haven't heard from County HQ

for two days.

Who the hell else have you tried?

- All of them, but nothing back yet.

- Send another motorcycle.

- There are no roads left.

- All the people here will be dead.

Round here 50 per cent will be alive

but here they're as good as dead already.

They've probably received a lethal dose.

- What about here?

- It'll be pretty heavy there.

If the wind's still blowing from the

southwest it's in direct line from Crewe.

Depends what sort of cover they've built.

If they've got a decent cellar

we'll get it on the radio.

There's no way of getting anything out.

Listen.

Yeah. Yes, I'll pass the message on.

What am I expected to do?

I can't get anything out, can I?

Listen. I've got a message

from Rivelin Valley police.

They've managed to get through

to the works depot.

They've got some vehicles on the road

but they're nearly out of fuel.

What the hell

have they been doing with it all?

They didn't tell me. They want to know

where they can get some more.

- And they've got no food.

- Oh, God.

- I've got...

- Let me get on with it, OK?

Here you are, Mother.

Something to eat for you.

Better leave her. The rest'll do her good.

At least it won't go cold.

Ruth.

Ruth, love.

Come on, love.

You'll have to eat something.

But you'll have to, love.

It's not just you now, you know.

The baby needs some food as well.

Come on.

I don't care about this baby any more.

- Oh, Ruth.

- I wish it was dead.

- Don't say things like that.

- There's no point with Jimmy dead.

- But you don't know.

- He is. He is. I know he is.

You can't be certain.

We're breathing in all this radiation

all the time.

My baby. It will be ugly and deformed.

Oh, Michael. Alison and Jimmy.

All of them gone.

Alison... Michael...

- All dead.

- No. We don't know that.

They might be safe somewhere.

I wish I were dead. I wish it were me.

I wish I could swap places with him.

Right. Let's get in.

Watch that bloody water.

How far does this go back?

If four floors have come down

it could go back for yards and yards.

Try it again, Gordon.

Still nothing coming through.

It must be blocked further up.

How much stuff

do you think's on top of us?

Most of t'town hall.

- When can you get to us?

- I can't get t'lifting gear through.

- What about the army?

- There's no way through.

We've not heard from County.

If we don't hear soon,

we'll never get things under control.

- You try getting through to them.

- I've got starving mobs everywhere.

It's not our decision anyway.

It's up to Zone to authorize

the release of buffer stocks...

- We can't get through to County.

- Are we going to let them starve?

We're on our own. You've got

the authority. Do something with it.

Why waste food

on people who are going to die?

I agree with Clive.

The food stocks won't last long.

A lot of people didn't stock up.

How could they? The shops were empty.

They're coming out of the shelters. We

should hang on to the food we've got.

I need that food to force people to work.

There's about 2,000

outside Roxburgh fire station.

- Make us a cup of tea, Sharon.

- Make it yourself. I'm not your wife.

Anybody got a fag?

- Bad for your health.

- They're pulling the place apart.

I don't care

how much trouble they're causing.

We're not sending our men in there

with that radiation.

What's the point? They're all gonna die

on that patch anyway.

Bill, just get me a drink. Please, a drink.

I'll see if I can find anything.

I won't be long.

Just a minute. Just a minute.

- For God's sake.

- Just a minute, love. That's it.

- Oh, God. Look at it.

- Just a minute. Just a minute.

Can you manage? That's it.

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