‘I need just one thing,’ said Oskar, half-pulling himself back inside the SUV before Nadia had a chance to protest. He resurfaced a moment later with a black canvas bag.

‘Through there,’ he said, slinging the bag over one shoulder and nodding towards a nearby vacant doorway.

‘In there?’ exclaimed Nadia. ‘Are you crazy?’

‘River’s on the other side,’ he said. ‘No time to argue. Just follow me!’

He disappeared inside the doorway without another word, Lucky bounding after him. I looked at Nadia and she shrugged helplessly before following him.

I ran after them both, finding myself inside what must have been a very upmarket mall in its time. Discoloured posters advertising perfumes drooped from the walls, while glass-covered counters on all sides still contained rows of tiny, elegant-looking bottles.

Oskar came to a halt and unzipped the bag before extracting something flat and oblong. He fixed it to the wall just beside the entrance, then tapped at a digital readout affixed to it. Some kind of explosive, I realized.

‘Move,’ Oskar screamed, and ran deeper into the building, Lucky in his wake.

I didn’t need any further persuasion. Nadia kept pace with me as we ran towards the sunlight coming through an open door on the far side of the mall. Oskar swerved behind an escalator and pulled Lucky down beside him, and both myself and Nadia moved to join him.

I had barely got behind cover when the air filled with a terrible thunder, the whole building shaking. Dense, choking dust filled the air, while what sounded like a couple of tons of glass came crashing down all around us.

I stood back up and peered through thick clouds of dust. All that remained of the entrance was a pile of rubble, blocking the bee-brains from following us.

Within seconds we emerged from the far side of the building and onto another street. I could see the banks of the Pinheiros, just past a row of warehouses parallel to it.

We ran, and kept running, until my lungs burned and my legs ached, but the thought of the creatures behind us was more than enough to keep me going regardless. It felt as if we’d run a hell of a long way before we began to slow down, but even then we kept walking at a brisk pace, darting wary glances at the shadows and street corners around us as we went.

I looked up and saw that the sun was well past its zenith. The plan, I recalled, had been to rendezvous with the others by nightfall at the latest.

Nadia finally came to a halt, bending over and putting her hands on her knees. Oskar collapsed to the ground beside her, rolling onto his back. I sank down onto a concrete bollard by the side of the road and looked around.