12th September
Angela and Paul watched as Lincoln’s head was lifted away by crane. The president, Elliot and Robin had returned to the White House.
The crane was mounted upon a vehicle with caterpillar tracks, and once the head was clear of the statue, the vehicle began to move away to deposit its load on the far side of the memorial building.
Suddenly, there was a flash and a loud bang at the front of the vehicle. It stopped and seemed to have sustained damage to the front of one of its tracks.
‘O fuck!’ said Paul, suddenly recalling a dream that he had experienced just after he went to bed on the previous night.
‘Nobody move!’ he screamed. ‘Starting to dismantle the statue has activated mines in the floor of this building.’
‘I wish you’d remembered that earlier,’ said Angela. ‘How do we get out of this?’
‘The army have to go over every inch of the floor,’ Robin replied, starting to make a call on his mobile. ‘In my dream, it took a very long time.’