"All my passengers are dead." Close by is Gary Lewis, who also cannot believe what is happening to him. There are bodies on the road, and blood on the walls of the elegant buildings in Tavistock Square. The bus, he thinks, has opened up like a splitting olive.9.47amThe roof of the bus floats down to land 20 yards from the rest of the wreckage, whose red metal walls are twisted outwards like wings Smoke and dust hang in the air as debris patters down. The driver, who thought the bang was a tyre blowing, stumbles out of his cab The windscreen has gone The back of the bus has disappeared "How am I alive?" he wonders. A tall man next to him, who must be in his mid-twenties, is anxious and agitated, repeatedly diving into the bag at his feet "fiddling about with something". Every time he does that the men and women pushed up close to him have to move, adjust their stance.
The bus is stuck in traffic so Jones gets off and starts to walk. He has taken half a dozen steps, no more, when a loud bang scatters pigeons into the air and he sees the roof of the bus fly up to join them. Behind him, on the lower deck, where it is standing room only, a computer specialist from Bracknell called Richard Jones is getting irritated. He also passes the No 30 bus from Hackney to Marble Arch, driven by George Psaradakis, who has just been arguing with commuters trying to get on his diverted, crowded bus There is no room, it's packed. He is a student at University College London so he starts to walk, passing cars and black cabs moving slowly in the heavy traffic. He says nothing, unable to believe that this is not just some local tube accident. It is deliberate, and it is happening across London to others just like him.
The morning newspaper clutched tightly in his hand is soaked with blood that may well not be his.9.35amTony Blair leaves his meeting with the Chinese Prime Minister in Gleneagles and is told there is traffic chaos in London because of a series of serious and suspicious incidents.9.46amA student called Jeremy has been thrown off a train at King's Cross because of one of those incidents. Then the police start shouting, telling people to run, and Paul drags Davinia to her feet She is barefoot. He puts his arms around her as they run towards the hotel, to get inside to safety Somebody takes a photograph. Paul and Davinia, the woman in the white face mask, will be on the front pages tomorrow.Sniffer dogs search the area as a man in a jacket and tie, his collar bloody and his face bandaged, stands and watches television through the window of an electronics shop. They don't really care if he isn't because he's helping and comforting them. Sitting on the floor is a woman in a black jacket and skirt, who tells him her name is Davinia. There are red flash burns on the right side of her face and on her chin.
