I woke and saw daylight filtering into the room through the bare window. I was warm beneath my blankets. I turned and looked for Mina. She was sat on the floor facing the window with her blankets wrapped around her.

"Hey", I called out. "Did you manage to sleep at all last night."

She shrugged. "Maybe a little."

I rose and stood, but kept those warm blankets wrapped around me. I walked to the window and looked outside. The fires in the distance seen last night still seemed to be going and a heavy backdrop of smoke hung over the city from the horizon.

"I wonder if emergency services can even get to those fires. The roads were already becoming blocked with discarded and crashed vehicles yesterday", I said.

Mina met my eyes.

"Maybe there aren’t any emergency services left to attend."

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"Hey", I said. "It’s still only been a day. It was a rough night so things are going to feel pretty bleak right now. But don’t start losing hope. Let’s put the radio on and see what they are saying."

Around the world civilian aviation remains grounded. In New York evacuation procedures have been established along the Hudson River, with survivors being told to head there if they are unable to get to the manned perimeters on the outskirts of the city. Reports of outbreaks continue in Boston and Philidelphia. No additional major urban areas have yet reported attacks.

In Europe the European Union has moved its forces along with those from the United Nations to contain events in Gothenburg and its surrounding areas. And the Russian Government has said the Russian Baltic Fleet will take up key tactical positions within the Baltic Sea.

In London the west of the city is ablaze from Acton to Shepard’s Bush. Due to the severity of the outbreak a military cordon has been established with buildings torn down to create a fire break so that these fires cannot spread. Elsewhere in the city a military cordon has been established from Paddington eastwards to Edgeware and westwards to Bayswater. The outbreak has so far been limited to London and security officials remain quietly confident that this outbreak can yet be contained.

I reached out to Mina. "See. We just need to get beyond the military cordon and then we will be out of this mess!"