Heather follows me in. My knee throbs and I should be elevating it, but Heather’s in no fit state to do anything. I light more candles so I can see what I’m doing and check the cupboards for something that doesn’t require cooking. There’s a can of tomatoes and several of tuna. Funny. I could have sworn there was more in here yesterday.

I grate cheese, keeping a close eye on both Heather and the doorway. My knee makes me vulnerable. I’m pretty sure I can take her on if I need to, but her and Dale?

Heather dashes into the corridor. I follow her out.

“I heard something,” she whispers. “Just then. Didn’t you?”

“No.” The corridor is dark and silent. “Maybe it was just the pipes.”

“There’s someone else in the building.”

I check over my shoulder into the shadowy restaurant. “What sort of noise was it?”

“A creak. Like a door shutting.”

“Maybe it was the wind,” I say, trying to sound reassuring.

We return to the kitchen. Away from the fire, my teeth are chattering, but I leave the ice pack on. I need to limit the swelling in case I have to walk down from here.

A distant bang. Heather gasps and grips my arm.

Voices in the corridor—Curtis and Brent.

Heather dashes out. “Did you find him?”

The answer is obvious. Dale isn’t with them.

Curtis can hardly meet her eyes. “Sorry.” He clicks the flashlight off and we crowd into the candlelit kitchen.

Heather turns from him to Brent in disbelief. “You have to keep looking.”

“It’s not safe,” Curtis says. “I’m sorry, Heather, I really am. But we’re tired. We’re making mistakes.”

He and Brent look wrecked. I know they wouldn’t give up easily. Brent pulls his hat off and runs his fingers through his damp hair.

“Where’s a fucking phone when you need one?” Curtis mutters.

Heather snatches the flashlight. “Okay, I’ll go myself.” There’s hysteria in her tone.

I zip up my jacket. “I’ll go with her.” There’s no way she can go out on the ice alone in the dark. With my knee like this, I won’t get far, but if I hadn’t insisted on doing that backflip, Dale might not have been out there on his own in the first place.

Curtis blocks the doorway. “You’ll end up in a crevasse.”

Heather tries to push past him. “We can’t leave him out there.”

“I put my foot through a snow bridge just now, Heather,” Brent says quietly. “Curtis had to grab me. The snow gave way under us both and it was scary.”

“He could be holed up in the snow somewhere,” Curtis adds. “We’ll go back out at first light.”