Two arrows in the big guy, one through his neck. His legs went into spasm as he bled out, wet ribbons of red coursing from under him. The smaller guy’s back arched in agony as Daniel yanked at him roughly. He was still alive.

Daniel tossed the arrows at Hannah’s feet, moving at double time. She scooped them up to reload. Grasping the smaller Adder’s arm, Daniel dragged him toward the water.

“What is he . . . No!”

Poppy grabbed for me but missed. I was out of Zephyr, racing to plant myself between Daniel and the edge of the dock.

“He’s alive!” I wailed.

Daniel straightened, his fist tight around the guy’s wrist. Took him a moment to identify the obstacle. “Out of the way! Or you’ll go in with him.”

“What?”

“Out of my way!”

“Daniel, he’s alive!”

“Not for long!”

What I saw in his eyes made me back away with a shiver as he rolled the moaning Adder into the water. The Adder’s face flashed upward as he tumbled over: a pimply, terrified kid, not much older than some of the Macys. The splash sloshed red-stained water across my feet, but I was rooted to the spot, sure now that I lacked some basic understanding, some crucial life lesson. Because it made no sense to be killing each other when we all needed every bit of help we could get.

Daniel didn’t spare me a glance as he went back for the first guy. This one was bigger, rotund at the middle and, by now, dead weight. Daniel struggled, impatient, eyeing the open doorway and Hannah’s rigid back, her raised, bow-bristled arms.

Finally, he snapped, “Give me a fucking hand here, will you?”

Me? I glanced around. Maybe Poppy had come up behind?

“Glim! We’re running out of time!”

“No. I can’t!” My throat closed. Touch that naked skin, the blood and fecal stench? “I can’t!”

“You can!”

“He’s dead! Leave him! Why does it matter?”

“It matters. No sign left behind.”

“Who cares?”

Another chorus of whistles and roars burst from overhead. And after, that same pulsing pounding, louder and louder.

“They will! Ditch their guns, at least!”

“Adders in motion!” Hannah called from the doorway.

“Where?”

“Over east. Still upstairs. I think.”

Daniel bent back to his grunting and hauling, inching the guy toward the edge. What more would a body tell them, with the dock already slick with blood? Did he mean to hide that, too? But the grim weight slid easier on the wet, and soon it was at the edge and tipping over into the water. Like I had all the time in the world, I watched it sink, then watched Daniel kick their rifles in after them, aware I’d ceased functioning but unsure what to do next. Moving was a start. I turned back toward the fishing boat. A task I understood.