Lewis’s throat felt dry. He needed something to get him through this. And then he remembered the CDs he’d brought along. Had kept them all these months in his backpack, in case he ever got the opportunity to hear them again. He jabbed the power button on the radio. There was a hiss of static, then he dug a CD out of his pocket, snapped the case open and slotted the disc into the little slit. After a quiet start ‘Crank That’ by Soulja Boy Tell ’Em started to blast out and the car was magically filled with noise.

He heard Ed tut, but the other kids cheered.

Lewis was ready.

Stay cool.

‘Let’s go,’ he said and pressed his foot down on the accelerator.

The mothers and fathers ahead had seen the car, but hardly reacted to it. They knew where they were going and nothing would tell them otherwise. They were staying cool too. Focused. Marching forward, following the call, whatever heavy bass throb was drawing them in. It was pretty clear, as the car got nearer to them, that they were not getting out of the way.

Lewis had seen a video on YouTube once of these crabs migrating on some island somewhere. They were all red and there were millions of them. Crazy. They just set off and crawled from one side of the island to the other, across roads, through gardens, schoolyards, fields and forests. Nothing could stop them, and so cars would drive over them, crushing them under the wheels. And still those crabs kept going. Off to spawn.

These grown-ups, these sickos, were no different.

Closer and closer the car got and Lewis was holding his breath. Should he go faster or slower? The grown-ups were pretty tightly packed.

‘I’m gonna need more speed,’ he said.

‘Go for it.’ Ed sounded wound up tight.

‘You’re the boss. This is your gig.’

A little faster. More pressure on the pedal. Just a little …

‘There’s too many!’ Trio shouted.

‘We need to clear them out the way,’ said Kyle.

‘Is my plan,’ said Lewis and he pressed harder. The car sped up and …

Thump. They hit their first one. A father. He was batted off to the side. Kyle cheered. And then they were in among them. Grown-ups were smacked off left and right. Behind the first row were some teenagers, thump, thump, thump. The car forced its way through them. Then a mother went down and there was a lurch and a bump as the wheels went over her. Kyle cheered again. Macca joined him.

‘Nuts,’ said Lewis. ‘They won’t move for us.’

The car was surrounded by grown-ups now. Lewis finally had their attention. They saw the car as a threat and started to crowd in on it, pawing at the windows. Shutting out the light.