In Groveley Meadow, they’d gathered every scrap of food and fuel – every stick of wood, every drop of petrol – tents, bedding, and all the drugs and dressings they could salvage from the pharmacy. Small fires had been started to provide warmth; the big ones would be lit after dark.

Noel, rifle slung across his back, walked with Ellie along the perimeter. Reuben trotted at her heels. Neither spoke; perhaps Noel was still brooding on what he’d done. Or perhaps not: despite her initial reaction to Keira’s death, Ellie barely thought of her now.

Then again, she’d more pressing concerns: people looked to her for answers. They expected Milly to take care of them, but Ellie to know what to do. Which was fair enough. It was her job, her responsibility, and she was glad of it: often she felt horribly empty, a shell, as if all that’d happened had hollowed her out. She was – she almost laughed at the simile – like a balloon: a limp, empty shell that would collapse if she didn’t keep it inflated with some sort of purpose.

And she had no family, no faith. Nothing but her job. Not even a dog – then again, Reuben seemed to have adopted her. He likes you, Madeleine had said. The little bugger seemed more interested in Ellie than Madeleine now. Ellie glanced back towards the camp, but couldn’t make Madeleine out in the crowd; the only recognisable form was Milly, bustling from tent to tent in her bright pink jacket.

Maybe Reuben smelled the things’ traces on Madeleine: she was still in agony from her wounds, with Milly keeping her doped up. The creatures had marked her too, in a way. All the other injuries had been from shock, hypothermia, or accident: once the creatures got hold of you that was usually that.

After going through the Harpers’ Family Bible, the vicar had lost all energy. Most likely simple exhaustion from her injuries and the previous night’s events, but Ellie wondered if it mightn’t be something worse. Milly had given Madeleine as many oral antibiotics as she dared, but they hadn’t helped so far.

Ellie and Noel finished circling the camp. A crowd had gathered around Madeleine’s wheelchair: pale and sick, the vicar offered her flock what hope she could. Seeing Milly in the crowd, Ellie moved to her side.