Pattern One:

Things still costing money even in an apocalypse:

  • Page 77: “He had to give threepence for a copy of that paper.”
  • Page 82: “The man was running away with the rest, and selling his papers for a shilling each as he ran−a grotesque mingling of profit and panic.”

Pattern Two:

A general unawareness of the situation and a very casual tone

  • Page 76: “Quite a number of people who had been expecting friends from places on the South-Western network were standing about the station.”
  • Page 77: “Heavy losses of soldiers were mentioned, but the tone was optimistic.”
  • Page 80: “At that time there was a strong feeling in the streets that the authorities were to blame for their incapacity to dispose of the invaders without all this inconvenience.”