“Shotgun not boot,” one yelled. The cry was quickly echoed by all. The group stared at Romy.

“I don’t know that she’ll actually fit in the boot, though,” a tall, lean girl said.

Romy looked at the boot and had to agree. She was the tallest there by far. “Uh, I can try?”

Nancy crossed her arms. “No. It’s your first time. And you didn’t know shotgun rules. Hannah, mate, you take the boot this time.”

The girl, Hannah, appeared mutinous for a moment, but a few pushes from the others had her grumbling and trudging to the boot.

After a few minutes of squeezing, everyone else managed to cram into the car. Eddie drove and two others crowded into the front beside him; a smaller girl stuffed into the area in front of the passenger seat. With five in the back, Romy ended up on Nancy’s lap, head bend forwards at an uncomfortable angle. It would have made more sense for Romy to be on the bottom, but she kept the observation to herself.

“The door won’t close!”

Romy couldn’t see who was speaking.

Nancy grunted from under Romy. No wonder; she was smothering the poor girl in her armpit. “Just hold on to it, then. We’re only driving twenty minutes!”

Eddie started the engine, and the vehicle lurched into motion.

Laughter bubbled in Romy’s throat. “This is ridiculous,” she burst out. Giggles erupted from her, muffled by the shoulder her face was smooshed into.

Nancy was snorting and hiccupping beneath her.

The car bumped along for what seemed like an age. And Romy realised this was a chance to find out more information.

“I thought there were soldiers watching the settlement,” she started. “Don’t they notice you going in and out?”

“There’s a section they don’t bother with because they reckon sheer cliffs block anyone from entering. But me and Eddie found a way beneath them,” Nancy said with a grin. “Awesome, huh?”

“Very awesome,” Romy agreed, deep in thought.

However funny the predicament was, not moving her legs for that long turned out to be unpleasant. And it was possible her neck would never straighten again.

After falling out of the car, closely followed by the violet-eyed Nancy, Romy stretched tall, looking around her. Nancy wasted no time before dashing off into the bush, orange hair bobbing like a torch against the dry leaves.

The area where Eddie stopped was similar to the forest Romy had hiked through after they crashed. Eucalyptus trees rose high and extended as far as she could see into the bush. Any ground not covered by grass and wiry shrubs was red dirt. The only difference to this area was the random array of target boards hanging from the trees.