‘See, the thing is,’ the phantom voice said, ‘the thing is we’ve played fast and loose. We’ve besieged this planet with no thought for the consequences, no remorse for our complicity in its current state, and something had to be done. It’s been taken out of our hands. Now I don’t believe in God, never have, but I believe in a higher power, spirituality, and I look at those things and I believe retribution’s at hand. What that means, or how we come by it, is irrelevant. But whatever happens, I think it will be just, and beautiful, and it will redeem our species, I really do. I believe in the power of the planet to take care of itself, I always have, and if that comes to mean extermination so be it, because I for one—’

Misra switched the radio off. She sat back, her mouth a tight, thin line. Dapo kept his eyes on the bumper in front of him. More beeping horns. Three cars ahead a man got out, peering around a Transit van. A woman and child wove past their bonnet, wheeling a travel bag each.

‘What station was that?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said.

Dapo tapped the wheel. He muttered and switched off the engine.

19

It was better sleeping together, even though nobody got much rest and their bodies ached each morning. They’d given Iye the back seat but he woke up scared, so they crammed in with him, huddled like nesting birds. Misra always found sleep easy. Iye was his mother’s son and also slept well, but Dapo suffered from insomnia at the best of times, even in his own bed. Since the last motel he’d been unable to close his eyes without thoughts racing, his fear rising. He decided, unofficially, without telling his family, that it might be better to keep watch. They were most active in the night, people said. He couldn’t sleep knowing that might be true.

The rough blanket tickled his chin. He pulled at it. Misra snored and Iye lay across them, feet on Dapo’s legs, head on her lap. They had parked near the undergrowth on the far side of the field, illegally perhaps, but they hadn’t any choice. All accommodation had long been taken. Motorways and back roads alike were full of traffic, no matter the time of day or night. They were lucky enough to find an open gate which led to a path high on muddy hills, the slanted fields and woodland far away from any central roads. The unruly hedgerow seemed large enough to partially consume the Honda and keep it from all but the keenest observers. It wasn’t ideal, yet Dapo disliked the idea of sleeping near others. It made them a target, in his eyes.