November 2026
–Come on in then, get out of the rain.â€
The huddle of students all but ran inside to get away from the downpour outside, pulling off hoods and hats and taking down umbrellas as they did so. Thankfully, the pub was warm, and it wasn’t long before they were all in a back room taking off their coats and bringing out their instruments. Fifteen minutes later, the manager stuck his head through the door.
–By the way, what are you guys called?†he asked. There was a pause as Henrietta, Eddie, Emilia, Webster, Adam, Amy and Sam all looked at each other for answers, before Zak spoke.
–Phoenix.â€
The manager nodded and left without comment. As one, the entire group turned to Zak sitting on his bass drum.
–…Phoenix?†Amy asked sceptically.
–What?†Zak said, seeming to be genuinely surprised by her reaction. –I thought it was cool!â€
The others looked at each other again with raised eyebrows, and then Sam shrugged.
–It’s as good a name as any, I suppose,†he said.
~
Autumn 2027
For the third time in three years, Eddie stood in the doorway of his new home and looked around. He had a whole flat to himself now - a tiny one, yes, but on London prices it was all he could afford. Though that could, possibly, be set to change soon.
Eddie and the others had started playing together at pubs early in their third year; it was fun, good practice for university performances, and earned them a little bit of money. To start with it had just been tiny amounts, but they had had so much fun that they did it more often. And then Eddie had offered to write them some of their own songs so that they would not have to keep falling back on covers. The songs were good; very good. By the end of their third year, the eight of them were playing at one of three pubs every week, and when they finally had the opportunity to play some of their music at university their tutor suggested that they make some kind of record of it.
Fast-forward six months, and they had been offered a contract with a record label and had managed to find a set of rooms to rehearse in. This was based in London, so they had all scraped together what they had and found somewhere to live in the city.
Eddie dragged his suitcase in behind him and then turned back to shut the door. The flat was tiny, yes - a small living area with an armchair, a small workspace, and a place to put a television; a tiny kitchen that was open onto the living room; and through the only door other than the front one, a small single bedroom and tiny bathroom. But it was enough for one, and as Eddie began to unpack he felt like he could be very comfortable here.
~
Slowly, Phoenix (the name they were now stuck with, to Zak’s great amusement and delight) began to gain a footing. Their songs went on the radio and they released their first single which became very successful. They would never be ridiculously famous, they knew, but so far, so good. They did a couple of interviews for little magazines, and slowly they began to play at multi-band events, mostly around London. They settled into a routine, into a lifestyle. And anyway, Eddie thought, we can always go back to our original plans if need be. Eddie had been thinking of teaching piano and Amy guitar; Zak had been looking at proper, secondary school level teaching and the others had been planning to audition for orchestras. It was coincidence that they had formed a group and only sheer chance that they had made it this far.
~
Autumn 2029
The green room was cool. Zak was itching to shut the little window and block out the cold evening air, but he knew when they came back off stage in the interval, they’d all be grateful for the drop in temperature. No one was saying much - this was their seventh performance in nine days, and fun though it was, Zak knew he wasn’t the only one who was looking forward to some time off. And of course, there was that problem…
Zak shifted position, trying not to see Henrietta. The eighth member of their band was sitting on the arm of a sofa, leaning against the wall, reading a magazine, her long dyed-red hair cascading in loose curls down her back. Thank god she was leaving at the end of the run.
They’d already organised a replacement - Zak and some of the others had all been for just cutting the band down to seven members, but as Emilia had pointed out most of their music was written for eight. The auditions had been held quietly in the function room of an unpopular little hotel, and Finea Brae had been the third through the door. A talented violinist from Ireland, she was kind and got on well with the rest of the group - with the obvious exception of Henrietta, who treated her ‘replacement’ as something she’d found stuck to the bottom of her shoe, when she deigned to speak to her at all. Finea bore this with patience and the occasional witty remark, which Zak appreciated, knowing it couldn’t be easy.
Zak sighed, letting his eyes shut, frustrated. He knew that getting Henrietta out was the best thing for the group, who needed to work as a team. But it was so difficult, and the whole thing just made him so tired…
It was only when he opened his eyes again that he saw there was smoke seeping under the door. He took a moment to realise what he was seeing, before jumping to his feet, startling everyone else in the room.
–Zak - what -†Webster said. Zak couldn’t think of any words to say, so he just pointed at the smoke. Swallowing hard, he managed to articulate his thoughts.
–We need to get out,†he said, already feeling a catch in his throat from the smoke. Webster, Henrietta, Adam and Finea nodded, but they had barely gotten to the other door when Zak stopped.
–Wait, where are the others?†he asked. The words were barely out of his mouth before the other door opened in a whoosh of smoke and Sam stumbled through, slamming the door behind him, coughing heartily.
–Sam? Sam?†Zak said, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him, trying not to be as frantic as he felt. Sam straightened up a little.
–The others went out the back way,†he said. –There’s a proper fire back there, but I tried smashing alarms and none of them are going off...†he descended into another coughing fit. Zak nodded and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the door. The others followed. The six of them stumbled out of the room and towards the backstage area.
–There’s a fire in the back,†Zak called to one of the stage hands. –The alarms aren’t working - find the manager and make sure everyone’s out - we’ll handle the audience.â€
~
Jamie had just finished flicking through his programme when Zak walked on stage, smothering a cough, and gestured to the back of the hall for a microphone to be switched on. He took the microphone into his hand, cleared his throat, and spoke.
–Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?†He waited for a minute until the talk died down.
–Ladies and gentlemen, I need to ask you all to remain quiet and calm. We have a fire backstage - it’s not big and it’s not travelling fast, so you have plenty of time, can you please make your way calmly and sensibly out of the doors and across the road to the checkpoint. Please, do not go home - if you don’t register outside, we will believe you are still in the building. You have plenty of time, please do not push, just make your way sensibly out of the main doors - when you get outside you will see the manager holding a big sign, if you could all gather there then we’ll know that everyone’s safe,†he said clearly, raising his voice towards the end of it as people started to move. When they were half-way out, the backstage staff joined him on stage before clambering down to make their way out through the auditorium, along with Finea, Henrietta, Adam, Webster, and Sam, the latter still coughing slightly. A few minutes later, they were all outside waiting for the fire brigade to arrive and watching a strong plume of smoke drift upwards from the rear of the building when Zak felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned.
–Where’re Eddie and the others?†Jamie asked him, concern strong in his eyes.
–Sam said they went out the back way - they’re probably still walking up to the junction to get back here,†Zak said, but even as he spoke he felt fear twist his stomach. They should have gotten here by now, he thought. Suddenly there was a loud bang, and several screams from the crowd outside. Zak turned to look. There were now flames clearly visible in the first floor windows, fanned by the wind. Without really thinking about it, Zak took out his phone and checked that the volume was up, then a couple of seconds later decided to call Eddie.
He typed the number into the keypad without thinking, and raised the phone to his ear as he heard the sirens and the fire brigade arrived. He counted six rings before Eddie picked up.
–Zak?†Eddie’s voice shook, and that one word sounded breathless and pained.
–Eddie, where are you? Sam said you went out the back way -â€
–We’re still in the building.â€