‘No? Well, I guess you’re it then. What a fucking disappointment.’ He stormed out of the room, letting the door bang shut behind him. Holding his breath, he stomped off down the street, waiting to see what would happen.

It didn’t take too long. The man with the sunglasses followed him out the door.

‘Hey you, angry man! Come back here.’

Jack stopped but didn’t turn around. He could hear the man’s footsteps clicking on the pavement as he walked towards him.

‘What’s made you so angry?’

‘I don’t like seeing animals suffer,’ he said. ‘Seen too much of it and I want it stopped. You’re not going to stop it by sitting around.’

‘Where you from?’

Jack turned around and faced him. ‘Here and there.’

‘Full of information.’ The man crossed his arms and stared at him.

Jack shrugged. ‘I worked on a few different farms when I first left school. You know, lured by the romance of sunsets and horseriding. I learned real quick that sheep stations and cattle farms aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Got fed up with seeing animals get stuck in dams and eaten by maggots and dying through bad practices. Some of those animals suffered real bad, you know?’

He watched the man sizing him up.

‘Yeah, I know.’

‘If you understand that, then why the fuck are you hanging out with a mob of limp dicks like that?’

‘We don’t all have such passive approaches, you know.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

He shrugged. ‘How about you come back in and sign up and see what happens?’

‘Why? Doesn’t sound like you’re going to be doing the short of shit I think is necessary.’

‘Just get back in there and sign up.’

Jack regarded him carefully. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Crumbs. We’re on first-name basis only here. The less you know about us, the better.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘You’re full of questions. How about you answer one? What’s your name?’

‘Jack.’

‘Well, Jack, come back inside and back yourself down a bit. Sign up and we’ll take it from there.’ Crumbs turned and, as he walked towards the café, he called out, ‘By the way, when you’re filling that form out don’t put your real details on it. It’ll just make you easier to find if the cops come looking for us.’

That sounded promising to Jack, so he followed Crumbs back into the café.

Back inside, Josh was showing the group another video. Jack stood at the door and waited until he was finished before saying, ‘Sorry, all. Lost it a bit back there. I get worked up about this sort of stuff ’cause I want to make a difference, you know? Anyway, if you’ll have me, I’d like to join.’

Amber held up a form and said, ‘Fill this out and pay your membership.’