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‘Let’s find out.’ Her voice was steady and determined as she pushed forward, following Sarah’s calls.

After another brief eternity of shifting rubble out of their way and slowly, slowly crawling forward in the devastation of what used to be the cosy, welcoming café, Liv came to a halt in front of what looked like a wall beneath the rubble.

Sarah’s voice was much louder now, but in the chaos of stone, metal, beams and dust, it seemed to echo all around him. He stared at the wall in frustration, completely disorientated and trying to figure out where they were in relation to where they needed to be.

Liv sat back on her haunches, holding herself awkwardly to avoid banging her head, and knocked gently on the barrier. ‘It’s wood.’

‘Wood?’ Callum repeated, confused. His breath caught as an answering knock echoed around them. ‘Sarah?’

‘I’m here, Daddy.’

But where was “here”?

‘Sarah.’ Liv’s voice was muffled by her mask, but still calm and strong. ‘We’re so close to you right now, but we’re just trying to work out how to get to you, and we need a bit more help. Can you shine the torch around a bit, please?’

They waited for long moments, before seeing a flicker of something in the darkness, far above their heads. ‘It’s not strong enough.’ Liv reached up to her helmet and clicked off her light. Callum did the same, and they disappeared into darkness. ‘All right, Sarah, can you do it again? Just a bit more slowly.’

They waited, both holding their breath until they saw a pale patch of light flicker again. ‘Sarah, stop! Hold it right there.’ Callum tried to work out what he was seeing as the light danced around. ‘Where it is doesn’t make sense,’ he muttered to Liv.

‘I think it’s reflecting off something,’ Liv murmured back as she snapped her light back on and started forward again, crawling along the side of the wooden “wall”, following it with her hand. After a few feet, she stopped again.

‘Everything all right? Well, as all right as it can be under half a building.’

‘I think we’re heading in the right direction.’

‘What makes you say that?’ As much as he needed to concentrate on what he was doing, at the same time he didn’t want to think about what was happening, and what still could happen.

‘I think this “wall” we’re following is really the side of a booth.’

‘Well, that’s good. Sarah said she was in the booth still.’

He looked down as the radio he’d hooked onto his jacket spluttered into life. ‘Docs, it’s Harry. Can you hear me? Over.’

‘Yeah, we’ve got you Harry. Over.’

‘Just thought you’d like to know the structural specialists are rolling up as I speak. Confirm, structural engineers have arrived. Over.’

‘Received and understood. That’s good news. Thanks, Harry. Over.’ Callum let the radio fall back against his chest.

‘Well, that’s good timing.’ Liv looked back from where she was exploring. ‘Because I’ve got bad news. I’ve run out of wall, or booth, or whatever just ahead, and we have a problem.’

‘Go on.’

‘It’s getting a lot narrower.’

‘Do you think we can get through?’

‘Honestly? No. I think I might be able to wriggle through, but I don’t see how you can.’

‘Let me see.’ He squished himself alongside her to peer into the narrowing space. He could have cried with frustration to be so close to getting to his daughter, only to be forced back now. ‘It doesn’t look like it’s this narrow for very far. I’ll make myself fit.’ He knew it was stupid as soon as he’d said it.

‘Do I need to tell you how stupid that is?’ He couldn’t see Liv’s face beneath the bright glare of her head lamp, but he was pretty sure she was scowling as she kept her voice low. ‘One wrong move and we could unbalance this mess.’

‘We can’t give up.’ He fought the despair that was choking him as much as the dust.

‘We’re not,’ she replied calmly, before rolling into a sitting position and stripping off her gloves. ‘Here, give me a hand with this.’ She struggled out of the heavy coat and undid the belt she’d been using to drag her bag along.

‘What are you doing?’