Mad, I thought, staring at Hemslock’s eyes. He’s gone mad, and he’s the one with all the guns.

“Tell me: why the sudden interest in getting me a documentary so soon after Gail destroyed my reputation? You were so fucking critical when she first spoke out, Leo.”

“My decision to be here has nothing to do with you.”

“Ah, yes. Your beloved wife. You may not like me all that much, Gries, but unlike these other shitheads, I know you’re not the type to stoop so low as to participate. Which must mean you were kept in the dark. Can’t say much for Steve, Heussman, and the others. Hell I bet even Karl knows.” He grins. “Backfired on you though, didn’t it? You all came here thinking to put one over me. Well, I put ten shots into Gail in that tunnel. I’ll tell the courts it was in reasonable fear of my own life. She’ll never be telling lies again. None of you thought that the ghosts here were real, did you? And now you’re struggling to make sense of what’s a hallucination and what isn’t. Now what are you going to do about it? Arrest me?”

“Gail was never here! The god’s haunting you like everyone else!”

Hemslock shoots without warning. The bullet misses Gries, burying itself into the wall of one of the cabins. The sound makes everyone jump, makes some cry out.

“I’m your only ticket out of here,” Hemslock says calmly. “I know how to appease the god and get us out of this mess. It isn’t a coincidence that it’s been sprouting balete trees all over the place. You all saw that abomination underground. There’s gonna be two more sacrifices. And we’re gonna appease the god by making both happen.”

“You’re going to make things worse,” I say quietly.

Hemslock grins at me. “Kid,” he says. “You ain’t seen how much worse I can be.”

“Mr. Gries!”

One of the medics staggers toward us. His whole shirt is wet from blood. Hemslock shifts targets, the gun now trained on the newcomer.

“What happened?” Leo gasps.

“It’s not mine,” the man wheezes, as other crew members help him sit. “Not most of it. It’s Steve Galant. He chewed his way out of the restraints and attacked us. Amy and I were guarding his tent—he knocked her out and took a chomp out of me before running off.”

“That shithead is going to ruin everything,” Hemslock says tersely. “Where’d he go?”

“The mess hall, I think.”

Hemslock gestures at his men, and they head for the cabin.

“Is he just going to leave us?” Hawaiian Shirt asks nervously.

“What are we going to do?” Gries says angrily. “I don’t think we can stop him. We just stay out of his way. Until the helicopter comes.”

“But what if no one comes to rescue us?” Chase asks. “Then what?”

“We’ll find a way. We’ll use Alon’s boat and make for the mainland if we have to.” Leo turns to me. “What does he mean by a peace offering?”