I slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel, aiming to do one of those power-slide turns you see in the movies. Instead we spun out and ended up sideways, halfway off the shoulder. Heart pounding, I turned back onto the road and gunned it.

“Where is it?” I yelled.

Zion and Kara were huddled toward the center of the vehicle, one watching the passenger side and the other the driver’s side. I glanced in the only mirror we still had, on the driver’s side. Nothing along the outside of the car, there.

“It’s in! It’s in!” Kara shrieked.

“Get down!” Zion shouted, and opened fire.

Ears ringing, I risked a look back and saw the horrid thing flowing over the ruined rear window, right into the space where the deer was lying. I jerked the minivan into the median and stopped. We all piled out and ran around to the back of the van. Zion had her gun trained on what was left of the rear door. Kara gave her gun to me and got out her phone.

“Zion. Don’t shoot her.”

“Like hell I won’t,” she said, her voice shaking.

“I’m serious. That’s my sister-in-law. Don’t.”

The Porsche roared up, and Williams and Graham jumped out.

Something moved inside the van, rocking it slightly. Then a dark shaped leapt out and hit the ground running. Williams reached out and the shape tumbled to the ground.

We all approached. It was the deer, but now it was the color of the green man — dull black, like a chalkboard, with shimmering patches of green where a passing headlight caught it just so. Williams must’ve encased it in a small sphere. I couldn’t sense the barrier itself, but the deer was all balled up.

Kara sat down heavily.

“Girl, that was some sick driving. Sick.”

I hoped she meant “sick” in a good way.

Oddly, I didn’t feel frightened. Maybe it was because I’d been the one doing things instead of getting things done to me. I remembered I hadn’t felt afraid after the thing at the mill, either.

Graham and Williams turned to survey the minivan.

They were holding hands.

Oh my god, hilarious. I put both hands over my mouth to hold in the laughter. It was so not the time for that. If I pissed Williams off right now, I’d get to play battery instead of Graham.

The van was trashed, so we abandoned it. Williams stuffed the green-man-covered deer, still in its barrier, into the Porsche’s trunk, which was already pretty full of gear. Then he and Graham got in back. I perched in between them, though there wasn’t actually a seat there, just a flat console for drinks and doo-dads. Kara took the front passenger seat, and Zion drove.

“Sure not falling asleep anymore,” she said, shaking her head. “Damn.”