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Scientists in Germany think they've found an antibiotic that's effective against Zips. Human trials have been accelerated. The horror is out there and growing. The countryside has become a smoking pyre. Government ministers sit in a crisis meeting and they simply don't know what to do.

News reports start to break up and then disappear. Aasmah in her lab talks about the grim prospects with a colleague. It's clear that some countries have collapsed completely. Civil society is starting to break down. There have been food riots in some cities. The dead are beginning to back up in the streets. Other diseases are flaring up because of the decay and decomposition.

Zoe........................................ Gina McKee
Sam....................................... Nitin Kundra
Dr Aasmah......................... Chetna Pandya
Cheryl....................................Emily Pithon
Receptionist...................... Emily Pithon
Home Secretary............... Conrad Nelson
Health Minister................ Jonathan Keeble
Editor................................... Jonathan Keeble
PM........................................ Malcolm Raeburn
Andreas................................Malcolm Raeburn

Written by Val McDermid

Directed in Salford by Susan Roberts

Programme consultant - Christopher Dowson Professor of Microbiology, University of Warwick and Trustee for Antibiotic Research UK
Developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental stories scheme.

First broadcast on Â鶹Éç Radio 4 in March 2017.