Structure

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Beginning 

The short story "Survivor Syndrome" by Liz Jensen begins by establishing the setting and giving some details on the narrator: 

I arrived in London with a stash of antibiotics and full of hope. I was young, and it was my first foreign assignment. Like all Greeks, I'd seen images of the city's snaking river, its pompous clocktower, its Dome that hugged the earth like a flattened puffball. (p. 242, ll. 1-4)

This paragraph functions as a narrative hook, as it draws readers’ attention by suggesting that something strange is happening in London. The mention of antibiotics is a foreshadowing element for Londoners being exposed to diseases. 

As the exposition continues, Dimitri explains that London was unexpectedly flooded a few months back, which led to “mass exoduses (…) hunger, bad hygiene and waterpox” (p. 242, ll. 11-12). We also learn why Dimitri is in London: Alexander, his boss, has sent him to captu…