It made Tom want to pause, because this felt like one of those moments, like the moment with Naomi in the plane or the strange atmosphere in the hours before Freddie died. That was how it felt now, like something momentous was going to happen and the channel was already open, that if he allowed himself time to think he’d be able to see through the fabric of time and know what was coming, what danger lay ahead.

But there was no time to think. They were moving on, and as he looked at Alice walking in front of him, he was determined on only one thing, that nothing would happen to her. He wasn’t even sure why he felt it so strongly, but he felt it all the same—nothing could happen to her.

CHAPTER 36

They walked in complete silence now, hoping to approach the camp undetected. Tom studied the trees around him as he walked, searching for anything that might suggest they were entering tribal territory of some sort—he didn’t know exactly what he was looking for, but he looked anyway. Perhaps he was hoping for some reassurance, but there was none to be found, and it seemed even the jungle was ill at ease, a bristling beyond the eerie stillness.

Every once in a while, Joel would stop and listen, but it was after almost another hour that they stopped for a drink and Alice said, “I can hear a car or something.”

“Unlikely,” said Chris, but Joel hushed him and they all stood alert.

Tom could hear it now. “Could be a generator.”

Joel smiled, saying, “Told you.”

Tom merely stared back at him, giving him nothing, and it was Alice who said, “You didn’t tell us anything. So they’ve got a generator—that doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous.”

“Agreed,” said Joel. “But it also doesn’t mean they are dangerous.”

They moved on, and as they got closer they could hear the voices of several men, sounding like they were busy with some task. The group stopped again when they first spotted movement and the outlines of buildings ahead.

They moved forward a little farther, a position that offered a view but also enough cover that they were unlikely to be seen. There were three buildings, one like a large cabin or bunkhouse, another more like a small barn, and one that was partly open at the sides.

There were at least a couple dozen men in the clearing between the buildings, some of them heavily armed. Large sacks were being brought from the barn and passed on to the waiting men, the whole process being carried out with some urgency.

Tom and the others dropped back again and crouched down.

Joel said, “Okay, I think we need to be careful about how we go in. We don’t want to do anything to spook them and—”