The night passed slowly. It was almost dawn when he started, finally, to nod off. He drifted in and out of sleep, reliving moments of the past few days. The abseil on Striding Edge. The battle through the snow. The gun work on the range. The heavy march through the forest. In his half-dreams he heard panicked shouting. The howling of the wind. The crack of firearms. And above it all, the constant thrum of a helicopter’s rotor blades. Mechanical. Repetitive.

Nearby.

Max sat up, eyes wide. The hut had no windows, so it was dark inside, but he could see a faint grey outline around the door which told him it was morning. He could see the outlines of Lukas and Sami sitting up too. He frowned. Had the helicopter arrived already to take him and Ash back home? He checked his watch. It was eight thirty. Hector had definitely said ten thirty. Maybe the helicopter had just arrived early …

It sounded like it was hovering directly above them, and very low. The noise was thunderous. It seemed to make the whole hut shake.

‘What’s going on?’ Sami shouted.

As if in reply, the door burst open. Light flooded in, and with it came Hector, followed by Woody and Angel. The older man’s face was as thunderous as the noise above. ‘Get out of bed!’ he screamed. ‘All of you! Get out of bed. Now!’

Sami almost fell out of bed. Lukas threw back the covers and stood up promptly, the muscles in his tattooed arm twitching.

Max didn’t move. He felt rebellious. Why should he get out of bed? What authority did Hector have over him any more? Give it a couple of hours and Max would probably never see the guy again. He stayed put.

If anything, the din of the helicopter grew even louder. It seemed to be inside Max’s head as well as outside. Hector strode up to him. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ he yelled.

‘Taking my time,’ Max said.

Hector grabbed him by the arm and yanked him out of bed.

‘Hey …’ Max complained, but his complaint was drowned out by Hector screaming at him, his face close to Max’s.

‘Spare me your stupid teenage lip!’ he bellowed. ‘People are going to die!’

‘Well, what’s that got to do with me?’ Max retorted.

‘Did you hear what I said? People are going to die. Maybe they already have. Get dressed! Get out of here! Right now!’

‘Mate, you’ve got to move,’ Woody said. He was standing at Hector’s shoulder. ‘Trust me on this. We’ll explain in a minute.’