‘I’m one hundred per cent serious. Eighty-six days she spent trying to find a solution. Apparently everyone around her thought she was insane.’

‘And did she help to stop it?’ I ask. Was she the secret mastermind behind Pfizer?

Madzikanda nods. ‘Yes, she single-handedly created the first vaccine.’

‘Really?!’ Mine and Kellen’s jaws drop in perfect synchronicity.

‘Of course she bloody didn’t! She was seventeen, Zach.’

‘Well, I don’t know!’ I say defensively. ‘I don’t know what to believe any more!’

‘She realized she wanted to be a dancer,’ Madzikanda explains. ‘That was always her true passion, deep down. It was calling her parents to tell them that finally did it.’

‘That’s all it took? A phone call?’ Kellen shakes his head. ‘And she was busy playing scientist? Actually trying to stop Covid?’

‘It always sounds easier than it really is,’ Madzikanda says with a comforting smile.

‘Maybe I should call my mum?’ I say. I haven’t spoken to her once through all this.

‘I’m sure she’d appreciate that, Zach, but you can’t just try to copy someone else’s solution. What happens here is always unique to the individual. Or individuals …’

Kellen groans. ‘I still have so many questions!’

‘Well, don’t go trying to steal any more cars, OK?’

‘So you’ll give us the keys then?’ I ask cheekily.

‘No, I’m not giving you the keys. You can’t leave. The loop won’t let you.’

‘The barrier!’ I exclaim.

Madzikanda’s eyes widen. ‘You stole my car already, didn’t you?’

‘Maaaybe,’ says Kellen.

She shakes her head. ‘So you already know you can’t leave then. You’re stuck here until you do whatever it wants you to.’

‘“It”?’ Kellen says. ‘What’s “it”?’

‘The loop, or whatever causes it,’ Madzikanda replies. ‘Believe me, I tried everything. There’s no way out. The second you breach that perimeter, you wake up back at the start of the day.’

‘But what if there’s another way? Something you didn’t think of?’

‘Such as?’

‘Going through backwards!’

‘Tried it.’

‘Tunnelling under?’

‘Tried it.’

‘Flying out by helicopter?’

‘Do you have a secret helicopter hidden away on the school grounds that you’re not telling us about, Zach?’

‘No.’

‘And do you know how to fly a helicopter?’

‘No.’

‘Then I think we can probably put a pin in that one then, can’t we?’ Madzikanda folds her arms.

‘What if you got a helicopter for us?’ Kellen suggests.

‘I’m not getting any helicopters! You make it sound like ordering a pizza …’

‘I could go for a pizza right now,’ he replies.

Madzikanda squeezes the bridge of her nose.

‘Listen, just trust me, OK? You can’t cheat. You can’t escape. You’ve got to do whatever it wants you to do. The only way out is through.’