Carly raised her index finger to her lips, warning her sisters to be quiet as she led them out of the room, turning away from the front door. Carly first, Marie’s fingers tightly around hers, Leah third, one hand holding her twin’s, the other clutching the bear in the red jumper. Ducks in a row, waiting for the hunt. To the left and right were rooms. If they hid in one of these they could be trapped, easy to find. At the other end of the corridor, the stairs. There was a chance Doc could turn around and spot them before they made it there. But even if they reached them, the wood could be rotten, the stairwell collapsing before they had climbed to the top – and if they did reach the second floor, what then?

She only had a split second to make a decision.

Think.

Carly led her sisters through the doorway to the room next door to theirs, the terror in her throat growing with every step. The room was smaller than theirs; the graffiti on the walls here was oddly beautiful. A woman riding a unicorn, long pink hair flowing behind her. The floor was littered with empty aerosol bottles, crumpled foil, syringes. A crumpled sleeping bag in the corner. Outside the wind howled, the rain blew through the empty window frame, puddling on the floor. Here, there were no bars.

The girls crunched over broken glass as they hurried across the room.

Carly linked her fingers together, her hands forming a step. She nodded at Leah, praying she didn’t protest it was too high, she was too scared, she didn’t want to be first. With a quick glance at Marie, Leah placed her foot in Carly’s hands, and allowed herself to be hefted upright, until she could scramble through the gap, dropping to the outside with a thud. She reached back through the open space and quickly helped Marie out.

The front door slammed. Doc’s footsteps echoing down the corridor.

Hurry-hurry-hurry.

Carly’s pulse accelerated. They had minutes, perhaps only seconds, before he discovered they had gone. She threw a leg over the window and hurled herself outside. Grabbing the twins’ hands she dragged them away from the building. It was stupid to stay out in the open. They’d be spotted almost straight away. The nearest building, the one with the NORWOOD ARMY CAMP sign was only a few metres away.

‘Oi!’ Doc roared.

Hurry-hurry-hurry.

They sprinted to the building. Pounded up the five steps leading to the entrance.

Carly wondered how many soldiers had felt as terrified as she was as they were summoned into the main building to receive their orders, hear their fate. Despite their uniforms, their weapons, they were only flesh and bone, just like her. Everyone was fallible. Expendable.

Not everyone got out alive.

You’re going to die.

The space was vast. A curved wooden reception desk directly opposite the entrance. Welcome spray-painted in thick black letters, alongside a coarse skull and crossbones. Carly briefly considered the stairs before ushering the girls to their left. They rushed through the corridor into a larger room. Clouds of dust rose around their ankles. In here was a large cinema screen, miraculously still suspended from the wall. Multiple wooden benches were upended, their legs broken off. In the centre of the room was a pile of ash and soot. This was where the briefings were held. Carly shuddered. The soldiers would have felt the same fear as her. Neither knowing if they’d ever see their families again.