Mighty bells rang throughout the city, reverberating from tower to tower. I cursed my luck. I knew I was running late but I hadn’t realized how late. The bells marked curfew and that made getting home . . . tricky.

Lights began to dot the streets below, like a river of stars. Except each of these stars was a German soldier equipped with an electric torch and MP 18. I don’t know what made the night different but there were always more men out at night. Maybe they thought us sufficiently cowed during the day. Personally, I thought they feared something in the night. Something worse than them.

My options shrank with every passing second. I could double back to the pub, resume drinking and stay there for the night. That sounded pretty good but I knew Emily would worry and I gave her reason enough to worry as it was.

It would have to be either the rooftops or the sewer. I found a manhole cover but there were no edges for me to get a finger under. It was flush to the ground. The only way left to go was up.