‘Drive carefully,’ he muttered towards Hassad. ‘She can’t take much more.’

‘We still have to get past the soldiers.’

‘Do what –’

‘You think they’re going to be happy to see you drive off with their hostage?’

‘You bloody promised you’d get us to the border.’

‘But my promise doesn’t extend to the rest of Hezbollah.’

Porter looked around. They were on a ridge on the top of the open-cast mine. The road twisted around its edge, before linking up with the main highway about a mile away. Porter didn’t know how many soldiers had remained on the surface and survived the missile strike, but enough to put up a stout resistance should they catch wind of what was afoot. Behind them was a tall, rocky set of mountains. The dawn was starting to break through now, spreading a fresh orange light across the landscape, and yet as Porter surveyed the rocks, he could see there was no way through. Not by car anyway. They might be able to make their way on foot, but the condition they were in, and without any water or supplies, they might easily die within a few miles.

‘Is there a side road?’ said Porter.

Hassad shook his head, gunning up the engine at the same time.

‘Do we look like idiots?’ he said. ‘We chose this old mine because it’s simple to monitor anything coming in or out. You take the main road, which always has some guards on it, or else you have to walk through the mountains and desert, but that’s a hard and difficult journey.’

Hassad tapped his foot on the accelerator. The Polo roared and started to rev, then spun along the track, kicking up a cloud of dust as it did so. ‘They think we’re still down in that mine, and that means they think we’re dead,’ said Hassad. ‘They won’t be looking for us.’

Porter glanced round. Katie was lying motionless on the seat. Her eyes were half closed and she was breathing slowly. They had to get her some food and water soon. She wasn’t going to last much longer.

How far is it to the border? Porter asked himself again.

The Polo was powering steadily. Around the perimeter of the open-cast mine was about half a mile, and for its age, the VW had plenty of acceleration left in it. Hassad was just keeping the engine ticking over, not trying to push it too fast. The road was rough and pitted with stones, and even if you did try to push it above fifty miles an hour, you would probably just crack the suspension. ‘Put your head down while I drive past the soldiers,’ muttered Hassad. ‘And then we just need to get through the roadblock.’

Porter ducked. He buried his head in his knees: in that position, if they drove past anyone at speed, they probably wouldn’t notice him. He glanced back at Katie. No need to hide her. She was already lying flat on her back.