A cloud of pink mist explodes out of Vasquez’s head. He falls over like a bowling pin. Thud.

Warner has the quickest instincts. She dives for cover behind the van.

Sariklis and Tane are still looking at me, as though I might somehow have made Vasquez’s skull burst with telekinesis. Sariklis says, ‘What the f—’ and then a rifle round punches through his heart. There’s a wet thunk as the bullet hits the side of the van. He staggers, gulping like a fish.

That gets Tane moving. He ducks behind the van.

I scramble sideways, getting out of the line of fire. Sindy hasn’t shot me yet, maybe because I’m on the ground and unarmed, but that could change at any moment. I manage to crawl over behind Sindy’s car as another shot rings out. Warner is screaming orders at Tane, but it doesn’t sound like he’s listening.

I get to my feet, keeping my head low.

‘If you’re not gonna fucking fire, then give me your goddamn gun!’ Warner roars. ‘Tane? Tane!’

From here, I can see what Warner can’t—that Tane is facedown in a puddle of sleet and blood.

I run into the forest, looking for better cover. I need to get a head start. Whoever survives this will be after me soon.

What’s the point? says someone in my head. It’s not Thistle’s voice. She’s gone. This is all me. Just let them kill you. You’re cursed.

Another gunshot. Nothing hits me, but the sound distracts me enough that I forget about the pit trap. I step into it for the second time this week, my foot plunging through the camouflage. This time I’m too dizzy to save myself. I tumble right into the foul-smelling hole.

And keep falling. This trap is way deeper than it needs to be to snare a deer. My feet hit a layer of something sticky, and then the freezing water beneath. The pit has filled up in the recent rain. The water is clogged with debris, big mushy lumps. Maybe wood, gone spongy after soaking up the water. I stifle a scream as my whole body is swallowed. Soon my head is under. I can’t see. Can’t breathe.

I thrash wildly around in the water. I can’t swim upwards. The surface is completely covered by chunks of … something.

Suddenly I realise what I’m drowning in. My whole brain shuts down. Don’t think about it. I try to find the edge of the pit, but everything I grab turns out to be a loose piece. Don’t think about Sindy flaying her victims. Finally I catch hold of something solid. Part of a tree root, connected to the wall. Don’t think about her dragging the skinless bodies to this pit.