‘Roger that.’ Warren sounded very calm. I caught a glimpse of what he must be like under fire. He spoke softly to Dean, then approached Matt and said, ‘Listen, mate, you’ve done really well. But it’s time you both went back.’

‘Go with them,’ I interrupted.

Warren raised his eyebrows.

‘You can meet the medics and bring them here.’ As I spoke, I heard the distant pulse of chopper blades. ‘They’ll be landing in a minute.’

‘Okay.’ He turned to the boys. ‘Packs on. Let’s go.’

They hesitated. Matt looked as if he was about to cry. ‘Are we in trouble?’ he squeaked.

‘No,’ Warren said firmly.

Dean started to mutter, ‘Fuck this. Fuck it. Fuck!’

‘It’s okay, mate. You’ve done well,’ Warren assured him.

Tyler said, ‘Hey, Hoegel? It was my fault. They’ll blame me, not you.’

Matt and Dean stared at him for a moment. Around us the tall trees danced and rustled in the wind. Then Dean emerged from beneath the platform, shouldering his backpack. He started stomping away.

‘Hang on, Dean.’ Warren snatched up the stretcher and followed him. ‘Mr Spiteri! On the double!’

Matt stammered something as he scuttled after the other two. Seconds later they vanished into the bush.

The throbbing of the helicopter was quite loud, by this time. Even so, I felt suddenly isolated. Adrift. Abandoned by the whole world.

‘Am I going to die?’ Tyler’s scratchy little voice trickled into my ear.

‘What? No. Of course not.’

The expression on his face was hard to describe. Haunted? Sceptical? His teeth were chattering, though it was quite warm.

Shock, perhaps.

‘Here.’ I pulled an emergency blanket out of the first-aid kit. Ripped open the package with my teeth. Tucked the silvery sheet around him. ‘It’s like aluminium foil,’ I joked. ‘You look like a piece of fish on a barbie.’

‘I’m sorry about the nails,’ he said.

I froze for an instant, then pushed a corner of the blanket under his arm. ‘Don’t worry about that now.’

‘It wasn’t personal. I don’t hate you or nothing. I just needed to get back to my sister.’ Almost every word was separated by a gasp or a grunt. The poor kid was in a lot of pain. ‘I knew I had to do something bad. Duggan did all that shit and you didn’t send him back home. It had to be bad enough to make you chuck us all out.’

I couldn’t help myself. ‘You don’t have to hurt people to help your sister. You just have to talk to them.’

He snorted weakly, then closed his eyes.

‘Tyler?’

‘You’re so dumb.’

‘Does it hurt?’

‘I feel sick.’