Guy Fawkes Day

by KJ Griffin

  ***

  Darren Chapman was standing at the front of the press teams on the corner of Great Peter Street and Millbank when the terrifying explosion hurled him to the ground.

  The explosion was greater than anything Chapman could ever have imagined. Instinctively he covered his head and kept it down when he heard the secondary crash that followed seconds later.

  ‘My God, the entire Tower's collapsed,’ murmured a voice behind.

  Chapman looked up for the first time and gingerly got to his feet.

  ‘Jesus Christ!’ he wailed softly. It was impossible to make out with any certainty what was going on, so thick were the clouds of smoke and dust enveloping the southern end of the Palace.

  Only then did it strike him.

  ‘Shit, Sophie's somewhere in there!’ he screamed out loud.

  Frantically, he tried to dash forward but the policemen at the barricade were already back on their feet, barring his access to the Palace.