Addie felt like she’d never want to laugh at anything ever again. Part of her wished the man had just killed them before he disappeared, ending their misery swiftly, instead of leaving them here to watch each other slowly waste away. She turned her back to Zoey and faced the wall. She started to cry but no tears fell, her body shaking with each dry gasp. She supposed she was dehydrated and knew she should force herself to get up and drink some water, but she couldn’t muster the energy. Instead, she ran her finger over the hatch marks on the wall. At this point she couldn’t really say how long it’d been since the man had come for them. Her thoughts were a jumble most of the time, each day blurring into the next. It could have been a month. It could have been two. It felt like a lifetime. She kept thinking about Elizabeth Warren on the Senate floor refusing to back down, the men spouting what would later become a battle cry, ‘Nevertheless, she persisted.’ Addie had been repeating those words in her head for weeks, clinging to them like a mantra. But the words disintegrated under the fog that now took over her thoughts. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could persist.

A car door slammed outside. Addie rolled over onto her back and looked at Zoey who had stopped laughing. ‘Did you hear that?’

‘It probably wasn’t real, Addie. Maybe we imagined it.’

‘Both of us?’ Addie waited for other noises, and for a minute there was nothing. She closed her eyes, straining her ears to listen intensely. Then they heard the front door to the cabin scrape open. She looked at Zoey, her eyes wide.

‘He came back, Zoey. He came back!’

Both girls pulled themselves painfully up into a seated position. The effort left Addie panting. It felt odd to be happy that this monster had come back for them but she felt intense relief that he hadn’t abandoned them. Maybe that’s what he wanted, for them to see him as their savior. They waited in silence, hearing footsteps on the other side running from room to room. She hoped he’d come soon and give them more food. She knew they should wash up, be clean like he demanded, but she didn’t have the strength.

‘I know I said I never wanted to see beef jerky again but I really hope he brought some,’ Zoey whispered.

‘And Doritos,’ Addie replied with a small, weak laugh.