That relief had soon passed, of course. As the hours edged on towards midnight, she felt she was going out of her mind, trapped like this, unable to sleep or stretch or—

Suddenly, she saw Polar come creeping cautiously into her narrow field of vision. ‘Please,’ she whispered. ‘Let me out, Polar. Just for a minute. Please!’

He hadn’t come to see her. He was pulling at the lockers lining the adjacent wall. Of course, looking for his camera. But Swagger had thrown away the key …

‘Hey! Kid!’ Kate squinted through the rusting grille. A skinny woman was beckoning to Polar from one of the makeshift pens. Her bleached hair was greasy and matted, her eyes bruised and blue, and she was forcing a crooked smile. ‘I think I got what you need.’

Polar turned to face the woman. She was tapping a tiny key against the bars of her cage. Polar immediately rushed over to get it.

But the woman snatched her hand away. ‘What you gonna give me in return, sugar?’ She smiled like she was trying to flirt, but it came out like a grimace. ‘You got some more stuff? We need some … Just a little. You know you got it …’

Kate saw the woman’s companions in the cage feign careful disinterest in what was happening. Saw them pass looks and shift subtly into crouching positions. ‘It’s a trick, Polar!’ she yelled. If she could get some favour with him maybe—

But her warning came too late. He had reached in to the pen to take the key, and one of the men had grabbed his arm. Polar was yanked forwards and his head crashed against one of the cell bars. While he was held up against the door of the pen, helpless, the other men searched his pockets.

‘He doesn’t have any!’ shouted a man in ragged clothes. He turned on the bleached-blonde woman. ‘You dumb bitch, you said he’d have some.’

‘How was I supposed to know?’ she yelled back at him. ‘He’s one of them, ain’t he?’

‘We can hold him here,’ said an Asian guy, ‘threaten to kill him if we don’t get more!’

Someone else in another cell started up. ‘If you’re getting some stuff, we should get some!’

Soon the call was taken up by countless others. The noise boomed through the cavernous room, making Kate’s locker vibrate and rattle. She shut her eyes, clasping her hands over her ears.

‘All right, simmer down!’ Swagger looked like he’d come looking for trouble. ‘What is this?’

‘We want more stuff!’ snarled the Asian guy.

‘We’ll kill your buddy here!’ added the guy in the ragged clothes.

Swagger sneered around at his pet prisoners. ‘You ain’t getting nothin’ more till you earned it.’