The rest of them were still all talking more or less over one another, but they fell silent as Tom and Alice approached, and they were still a few paces away when Chloe said, “What happened to the rest of the plane?”

Her tone was so urgent that Tom wondered if she’d had a close friend or boyfriend in the front section, or whether she just wanted desperately for everyone to have survived.

Alice said, “It’s wrecked. They’re all dead.”

Chloe looked stunned and there were gasps and stifled outbursts from some of the others too. A couple of people simply broke down and started to cry. Tom found it hard to believe that any of them could be totally stunned by the news—sad, maybe, but not shocked. This was the real shock: all of them, standing here, breathing. They had to have guessed what had happened to the rest of the plane, but the confirmation of the fact seemed to hit them harder than the crash itself.

Once again, Joel rose above them, saying, “Did you check the wreckage?”

He’d always seemed to have that debate-society, future-politician tone, but his voice had developed an extra edge of authority now, leaving no one in doubt that he’d taken on the mantle of group leader.

It irked Tom in some way, and perhaps Alice too, because she sounded defiant as she said, “No, we didn’t. It’s a big valley, and the plane’s way down in it.”

“Even so…”

Her fire was up now, and before he could finish, she said, “Anyway, there’s something more important.”

Chloe sounded outraged, saying through tears, “More important than helping the others?”

“There are no others, so yes, more important. There probably won’t be any rescue party—no one’s coming for us.”

The babbling started again, smothered at once by Joel, who raised his voice above them all, shouting, “Quiet!” They did as he said, the whole group apparently just as happy to accept his adopted role. He turned to Alice and said, “What are you talking about?”

“Tom figured it out.” He was conscious of them all looking at him briefly before giving their attention back to Alice. “We should have arrived in Costa Rica about seven hours ago. But we didn’t, we kept flying, and the only way we could have done that without landing in water is if the pilot changed course. We think we’re in South America, but nowhere near where we’re supposed to be.”

The babbling started again, and this time Joel seemed disinclined to stop it.