‘Is it me, or is it getting hotter?’ I say.

‘I hate to say it, mate, but you’re getting sweatier, not hotter.’ Karim finally stops laughing enough to speak.

89 ‘I definitely think hotter,’ Kat says, and I’m glad she can’t see my face, cos I know it’s turning flame red. But then I think she probably just meant hotter as in temperature and I feel stupid for being so happy about the probably-not compliment.

‘The ground is sloping down,’ I say, to cover up my embarrassment. ‘We’re going deeper underground.’

‘Well, that’s always a good sign,’ Kat says.

‘Totally,’ says Karim. ‘And this humidity will be making my hair look proper bad.’

‘At least it’s dark,’ I offer. ‘And we might not make it out alive.’

‘Thanks, man.’

It’s hard to estimate how far we’ve walked, but we must have been following the corridor for about ten minutes when it stops being a corridor and becomes a tunnel. The painted walls become rock, supported by thick wooden beams, and the strip lights become exposed bulbs. The downward slope becomes steeper, the air chewier, and that rotten, sweet stench almost unbearable.

‘It feels weird doing this without Mak and Chets,’ Kat says.

90 ‘Yeah,’ I agree. I do wish they were here. Not that I would want them to be in a life/death situation but, you know. And there’s someone else missing, too, but though I think of myself as generally quite a courageous guy, I’m way too scared to say her name in front of Kat. We’re only just friends again, and the thought of losing that makes me feel more sick than the vomit stink.

‘You got me, though,’ Karim says. ‘And that’s good, right?’ And he’s saying it like he’s joking, but I think he’s a bit insecure underneath it all.

‘For sure,’ I say.

‘We wouldn’t have got this far without you,’ Kat says, because she always finds the right thing to say. ‘And I’m glad you’re here.’

Finally we reach a place that’s more like a cave than a room. The walls are uneven rock. There’s a water cooler in one corner, next to shelves of giant water bottles, sacks of sugar and boxes of cups. In front of us there are three metal doors set into the wall. Though the walls, floor and ceiling look old and rough, the doors are shiny new and look like they’d withstand a serious battering. They also each have a rectangular hatch, with a shutter fastened down over the top.

91 ‘We’re gonna look, right?’ Karim says.

‘Course we’re gonna look,’ I say, my mouth dry and my palms sweaty. ‘But we also need to try not to be seen. So be ready.’