The river runs through the golf course and cricket ground, which are, from what we can see, completely empty of people right now. The wind buffets the trees, making branches creak and groan, and the river flows in front of us: sparkling ripples fluttering over black depths. I hear a faint drip, drip, drip as the water trickles into a storm drain. I imagine the air would smell of frost and 127 earth, but all I can smell is the inside of my scarf, which I can’t remember having put in the wash, like, ever, so I’m not gonna lie, it isn’t exactly fresh. But who washes their scarf? I find myself wondering what Kat’s scarf smells like, and I reckon it’s white chocolate muffins, or buttery popcorn.

And then a sound hits my ears that is totally out of place. It’s a sort of thrumming – a vibration in the air above us. I freeze and press back into the verge, putting my hand out to push Kat and Karim back with me. I don’t need to – they’ve heard it too.

The noise is growing steadily louder and it’s just so weirdly out of place that I know it can’t be good. We huddle together and as far back into the ground behind us as we can – trying to make ourselves invisible. I don’t think any of us are breathing.

It’s a steady sound. Constant. No ups and downs or stops and starts. Just a low buzz, getting closer. Of course I look up, trying to see whatever it is that I can hear. But we’re under an overhang and all I can see is packed mud and a few dangling roots from the plants above. The sky on the other 128 side of the river is clear. Whatever is moving toward us is coming from behind.

Every millimetre of my skin is hypersensitive, feeling each tiny movement in the air, every brush of my clothes against my body, all of the places where the rocky verge is pressed into my back. I can feel Kat shaking next to me, and I squeeze her hand. To be honest, it’s as much for me as it is for her. The buzzing moves closer and, though the logical part of my brain has decided it’s most likely a drone of some kind, I know in my heart that it’s something much worse.