The burly man with the big black and white rucksack stared at Mona daring her to speak. Mona looked away, her gut churning. From the corner of her eye she saw him walk away and a breath escaped her lips.

“Hi, team! Excited for today?” a voice boomed and Mona turned to see Sarge, her boss, smiling with open arms.

Mona muttered something while Camilla went and gave him her usual air kiss.

“Very excited!” said Jekyll, beaming from ear to ear. Mona searched his face for any sign of anger towards Sarge, but found nothing. His happiness seemed genuine.

Ling came next, kiss, kiss, “so excited!”. Mona stepped next to her. She liked Ling the best of all her colleagues. Ling, their Hospitality Team Lead, had some unusual hobbies like shooting crossbows and reading about serial killers. Conversations with her were sometimes weird, but never boring.

Jem was the last one to arrive. He swaggered in trailing some expensive musky perfume behind him, his shirt, as always, a size too short, the better everyone to see how fit he was. He smiled at everyone and then went back to his phone, typing furiously. He was their Marketing and Sales Manager and he was always on social media.

Crew completed, Sarge lead them to the South platform where they were to meet the station manager.

Mona let everyone overtake her. She watched Ling and Cam talk and laugh at each other, feeling like an outsider. Mona told herself she had only been there a few months while they had known each other for years. Not that she wanted to become friends with them anytime soon. Being colleagues suited her just fine.

People were spilling from all directions, coming from other trains and from the ticket barriers. Mona kept close to the group, afraid of getting separated.

Finally they arrived at the platform. Tourists were anxiously angling their necks at the tube maps on the walls, checking that they had the right platform. Londoners were loud and happy, not a care in the world.

They were all crowding their group, pushing them forward, past the yellow line and dangerously close to the upcoming train.

When the train stopped, a swarm of people surged out almost emptying the carriage.

“Common, let’s not get separated,” Jem said, elbowing Mona from behind. Mona resented his elbow on her back but before she could turn and say something, he let go.

The train left but the crowd swelled again with a group of football fans chanting and laughing,

Mona looked around for Sarge and the gang and saw them further down in the middle of the platform. Cam was telling a joke, her mouth all exaggerated corners, Sarge was laughing, his hand on her shoulder, Ling looking up at him from under her eyelashes, Jekyll yawning.

Finally, after many “excuse me” Mona reached the group.

Cam was showing everyone a picture of her cat, Fluffy. A flat faced grumpy looking cat and indeed quite fluffy.

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“Oh,” Mona cooed. “So cute”.

Mona hated cats. They always wanted to be the boss and didn’t Mona have enough of those in her life?

Suddenly Mona’s foot felt like being stabbed.

“Sorry,” said a woman with a messy bun and a pram, taking her heel off Mona’s foot and stopping next to her, unable to move forward. In the pram a child was crying their head off.

Mona sighed. What were these parents thinking, going out with a baby so late in the evening?

Someone hit her shoulder. Mona flinched and was about to speak up when she saw that the man who had pushed her was the burly man with the rucksack.

He was stuck too now, next to her.

He turned his head and recognising Mona, smirked.

A stab of cold fear ran through her body and Mona swallowed her anger.

The man smiled, perhaps enjoying her frustration. He winked at her and looked down at his hand.

Mona looked down too instinctively and what she saw didn’t make sense. He was holding a small remote and smiling like a fool.

Mara’s breath quickened when she realised what it meant. The remote, the big backpack on his shoulders, his smile.

A picture of a bomb came into her mind but maybe it was just a sick joke. This man enjoyed seeing her uncomfortable and wanted to ramp it up.

She looked around for her colleagues. The woman with a pram stood between her and the others now. There was only Jem behind her.

She turned her head to call him but the man grabbed her hand.

She turned back sharply and pulled her hand away.

The man held a finger to his lips.

Mona bit the insides of her mouth. What could she do? If this was just a joke, as soon as the train came and there was some space to move, or as soon as the station manager was there, they would all go for the secret exit and the shuttle and this man would be on his way too.

But if it wasn’t? Could she push her way out through the crowd? Would he let her? Or would then he, fearing being exposed, trigger the bomb? But still, maybe Mona had time to put some distance between them and be safe.

Just then the baby stopped crying, and the woman with the pram sighed, relieved.

Mona looked at her, her face stricken. The baby! How had she forgotten? Could she walk away leaving a child behind?

She looked back at the man, pleading with her eyes.

“There is a baby, “ she whispered.

The man’ smile melted away and he scowled.

A whoosh and a cold breeze announced a new train coming into station.

“Oh, look, the station manager is here,” Jem said, pushing Mona out of his way. “Let’s go.”

As he stepped in front of her, the man with the backpack shot him a look.

Jem looked down at his open hand. The man bared his teeth at him. Jem reeled back, pushing into Mona.

Mona looked around for any police or staff to alert. There was no one and the crowd was surging now towards the train squeezing them from all sides.

Jem looked at Mona, then at the man and then back again. Mona hoped her fear was written clearly on her face and Jem would understand the danger.

The man raised his hand, his fist closing around the remote.

Jem’s jaw stiffened and he yelled:

“Move! Move, move, move!”

Mona felt glued to the spot. Before she could move, Jem put his arms around her waist, lifted her up and swung her around, placing her between him and the bomber.

He then let Mona go and barged his way out through the crowd, elbows raised and hands pushing out anyone in his way.

Time slowed down. Mona was speechless. That was it. She was going to tell the boss and the HR about this too. She had had enough.

The man shouted something, drowning the chatter and noise of the platform and time quickened back again. Mona blinked. She saw stricken faces all around her and people pushing frantically away from her.

She turned and grabbed a man’s collar. He pulled away and she dug her nails in his neck, afraid of being left behind. She managed to take one more step before hands pushed on her shoulders, elbows dug into her sides and she got dragged forward. The weight of people increased until it felt like a wall crashed into her.

A strong blow on her back knocked her on the floor.

A bright white light seared her eyes.

She closed her eyes and screamed but she didn’t hear herself.