That decided it. All three of them bundled themselves up as best they could, and got out of the car. The wind was fierce, and the snow actually hurt her cheeks as Amanda bent her head into the collar of her coat. “Doesn’t look too bad,” she shouted, pointing at the front wheels. They were buried in about a foot of loose snow.

Bobby came over to where she was standing. “We could get it out,” he said, “but we can’t go any farther up this road in the car.”

She nodded. Flint came around the back carrying the guns. “Do you know how to use this?” he asked, holding one out to her. She shook her head and shrank from it, all the while thinking Don’t be such a baby, it’s just a gun. Her voice sounded like one of those stupid slogans in her head. Guns don’t kill, people do. Flint just smiled grimly and handed it to Bobby.

“Let’s go.”

All through the hike to the house, Amanda kept expecting to see the spiders again, but mercifully they didn’t come. She thanked God for that. But the snow didn’t let up either, and by the time she finally heard a shout from Bobby, who was in the lead, her ears and nose were numb from the wind and frost lined her eyelashes. They were passing a car, all but buried in the drifts.

A few minutes later, she saw the house herself. She thought that nothing had ever looked so warm and comfortable. That feeling was gone a second later when she watched Bobby and Dan sneak off with their guns cocked and ready, and she realized that Jonathan could be anywhere. She struggled with her emotions; here was a patient of hers who was in serious trouble. All her training told her to find him and help as much as she could. But her instincts were screaming at her to be careful, because God only knew how dangerous he had become. She knew that she was the only doctor there, and that she would be expected to anticipate his every move, and that filled her with dread. Because if she guessed wrong, someone could die.

In another second, she realized that she was alone in the storm. Flint and Bobby had disappeared. Feeling her heart leap to her throat, she began to walk carefully towards the house, her arms half out like a blind woman. And she did feel blind, with the snow blowing in her eyes and the wind drowning out all sound. She took several steps and could make out the porch about twenty feet away, its wooden boards now covered by close to a foot of snow, and with drifts up against the house that must be two or three feet deep.

Feeling that something horrible was about to happen, Amanda took a deep breath in the frigid air and walked towards the steps.