‘And in the meantime, we’re stuck in a shed, surrounded by evil body-snatcher trees.’ Karim chucks a Lindor in his mouth. ‘So yeah, everything’s cool.’

‘If it is the trees,’ I say, ‘I can’t believe they came to Straybridge by accident. Someone has planned this.’

‘Oh great, an evil mastermind,’ Karim says. ‘Now it’s a party.’

I can’t help but laugh, at the same time Kat does.

119 ‘How is this funny?’ Karim says. ‘It’s literally the end of the world.’

‘Not if we stop it,’ I say.

‘Three kids against a whole town?’ Karim says.

I gulp down some water. It’s like the nicest drink I’ve had in my entire life. ‘Tomorrow we’ll get some back-up.’

Karim raises an eyebrow. ‘And by back-up, I’m hoping you mean the army, Tony Stark and Godzilla.’

‘Even better,’ I smile.

We try to chill out and rest while we can, although it’s pretty hard now that we know there are probably millions of alien spores floating all around us, along with a pack of hostile sporelings just outside in the garden centre. Our hiding place slowly grows darker around us as the sun starts to set, and we’re more than ready to make an exit by the time the first chimes ring.

We leave the stock shed of horror the same way we came in, sneaking around the side of the building in the failing light and out of the staff-only area, back into the main garden centre. We have our hoods up and scarves tied around our mouths and noses, so the only parts of our faces that are 120 visible are our eyes. Any customers are on their way home in time for curfew, so the aisles are dark and empty and the only sound I can hear is the jangling of keys, as somebody locks up the café. We’ve decided to try to get out of the back gates before they’re locked for the night, assuming the coast is clear, so we head that way, using the display Christmas trees for cover, and hoping we won’t have to resort to our back-up plan, which involves crossing more of the centre, and is even riskier.

We lurk in the trees, close to the gate, waiting for the perfect moment to sneak out. Though of course there never is a perfect moment for anything really – you just have to make your choice and go with it, and try as hard as you can to not mess it up. The sound of a large vehicle coming up the road makes me hold back a moment, and we watch as a delivery truck turns into the gate, loaded with more Christmas trees. The driver pulls up, opens the door and climbs down from the cab with a clipboard, leaving the door open.