The second side began with “We’re Havin’ a Heatwave”, sung by Marilyn Monroe, and Kallie caught himself grinning. Wondering where the power was coming from, he searched the floor and saw that a pair of car batteries had been rigged to the system with jump leads.Now he was able to observe her properly for the first time, bent over the light in the booth, feeling for the controls. She was unable to see, blinded by time spent lost in the snowy wastes. There were no fingers at all on her swollen right hand, and just two on her left She had flipped the tape with her thumbs.

She wore a red satin leotard with leggings hacked off above the knee, and a yellow scarf knotted around her waist. She looked ablaze with anger and energy.Kallie dropped behind a record rack and watched as her music twisted through a dozen different styles. Now that there was no more culture, the abrupt juxtapositions did not shock. When the last song ceased in mid-track she crossed to the DJ booth and flipped the tape – obviously an item she had personally assembled – and continued dancing. Someone had used a bright yellow forklift truck to break in.Piles of cracked and broken CD cases littered the floor.

A primitive set of disco lights pulsed red and blue diamonds at the back of the floor near the stairwell The dancer was a short, slim woman in her late forties. Her body retained the litheness and aggression of a professional performer. She swung and slammed and span, kicking out, punching the chill air with a series of guttural grunts Her greying red hair was tied back with a green bandanna. He climbed over buckled steel struts to the interior, and was deafened by the surrounding, saturating noise. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the ice-jewelled shutters, allowing life to slip away.The explosion of noise that followed blasted him to his feet Somebody was playing loud music inside the building He could feel the bass tones vibrating the window panes. He stepped back, trying to see beyond the reflections into the rear of the ground floor.