Peter hated them for all of this. He hated them so much. Becky. Tokala. Those friends. All of them and for everything, whatever everything was about to be. Whatever it was Cooper was about to do that he now had no choice but to tell on. And as that betrayal of love started to swell, snow tumbled across the trailer windows. Peter glanced up, and while the other two were busy eating, very quietly wished that he were dead.

“There’s no need to be frightened.”

The sheriff’s voice quietly pulled Peter’s focus back into the room.

“I’m not,” he whispered. “I’m having a nice time.”

The sheriff smiled, but he understood the situation all too well. “I mean, don’t be frightened if you have somethin’ difficult you need to share. Isn’t that right, Teddy?”

“That’s right,” said Teddy. “You’re with friends now.”

“Yeah,” said the sheriff. “You’re with friends and there’s nothing you can say here that will lose you that position.”

The sheriff set his cutlery down, wiping some brown sauce from his moustache, and eased back into the seat, watching him. The candle’s flickering flame danced across the darkness of his pupils. But there was no malice hiding there waiting to step out of the shadows, just a kind of worn-in warmth that reassured Peter the truth was safe.

“Cooper’s leading a gang of Returnees,” he said. “They’re up in the woods right now. And they’re planning to lead the Dead into town.”

The sheriff exchanged glances with Teddy. But surprise didn’t enter his face once.

“Good lad,” he said. “Now take a deep breath. I know it won’t have come easy on you sayin’ that, but it could be the only thing that stands to save your boy and the others right now.”

Teddy leaned forward. “Dad’s right. We know they’ve been sneaking out of town every night since they came here. We just didn’t know what they were doing.”

“And I don’t know what they’re doing now either,” said Peter, “but—”

“But your gut’s tellin’ you somethin’ ain’t right.”

Peter pushed his plate away, watching the snow fall across the windows. But there was no escaping it. He nodded and the sheriff dropped his cigarette into the whisky glass to douse it.

“Tell us what you saw.”

“Cooper’s taken Becky, Tokala and two others from town up on the ridge where they’ve built a camp. There were others there too, people I didn’t recognize. For a moment I thought they must’ve made friends with a group of wanderers or people from another town. But they hadn’t. They were sitting there talking to the Dead.”

“And what were the Dead doin’ in return?”

“Nothing. They were just sitting there.”

23

“They weren’t agitated?”

“No,” said Peter. “But then, they wouldn’t be. Not when they’re—”