“I know what you’re saying, but we’d be stupid to fall for something like that, wouldn’t we? If we saw something as obvious as a truck with the back open, we’d ignore it. Or maybe toss the coin then. But not now. This is ridiculous. This is leading us nowhere. What do you say, Eva?”
The question took Eva by surprise. She guiltily pulled her hand from her pocket and stared into the darkness.
“I don’t know,” she stammered. “I take your point, Nicolas, but I think we should listen to Katie. This was her plan. She knows what she’s doing.”
Alison spoke up.
“Anyway, Nicolas, I want you with us.” She used her little girl voice. Eva wasn’t sure, but she thought there was something there, right at the edge of her vision. Was Alison touching Nicolas?
Nicolas’ voice was grudging. “I want to stay with the group,” he said. “But this is stupid.”
“Do it for me,” said Alison. “Just this once.”
“Okay,” Nicolas whispered. “I’ll come with you. But just this time.”
They waited for a lull in the traffic before running across the road. There was a ditch at the far side between the road and the trees, then the rusted remains of a wire fence. Alison took the flashlight from Eva and swung the beam left and right.
“There’s a gap this way. Come on.”
“Shouldn’t we toss the coin?” Nicolas said petulantly, but he followed anyway.
They stumbled through the ditch until they came to a point where a rotten wooden post originally holding up the wire fence had fallen. Alison held the torch to form a path of light and they skipped across it, the wires twanging beneath their feet. Alison threw the flashlight to Eva, who caught it and then used it to illuminate the path for her companion. There was a roar of a truck approaching, headlights washing onto the road, and Eva turned off the beam. She turned it back on to find Alison picking herself up and rubbing her knee. The metal lace grips on her boots were tangled with the wires. Alison angrily pulled her foot free.
“Are you okay?” Eva said.
“I’ll be fine,” muttered Alison, taking the flashlight from her. “Come on.”
They walked on through the woods, following her.
The smell of leaf mold gave way to that of pine, the ground became springy and clear of other obstructions, the trees regularly spaced. The land began to rise and fall in regular waves and walking became a lot more tiring.
“We’re in a managed forest,” said Katie. “There will be roads. They will be easier to follow.”
“Only if the coin says so,” Alison said grimly.
Glancing up through the gaps in the trees, Eva could see pale morning light creeping over the world. A gentle rain was falling above; around them they could hear the steady drip and splash as it made its way through the canopy to fall to the ground. They came to a narrow forest road, a long scar of mud churned by heavy tires into water-filled ribbons.
Alison tossed the coin. “Left,” she said, and they were all relieved to take that path. Walking would be a lot easier.
“If we don’t come to a junction in fifteen minutes, I toss the coin again,” she said. “Agreed?”
“Agreed,” said Katie and Eva.
“Nicolas?”
There was a long pause.
“Agreed,” Nicolas said finally.
It was easier following the road, but not that much easier. They had to run along the edges of it, jumping from wet, swampy patches of mud to other less firm footings in an attempt to keep their feet dry. Nicolas jumped onto what looked like a firm patch of ground and his left sneaker sank deep into the mud. He pulled his filthy, sopping foot out of it and swore.
“I told you sneakers would be no good out here,” Alison commented unhelpfully.
“Some of us can’t afford proper boots,” Nicolas snapped. “And anyway, not all of us would think to bring them to the Center with us.”
Dawn had broken above them: the edges of the clouds picked out in pale lemon light. On the ground, in the narrow strip of land between the trees, it was still dark enough for them to need to use the flashlight. They walked two abreast, Alison swinging the light back and forth so they could all see where to jump. Occasionally she swung it ahead of them and they saw the seemingly endless road vanishing into the distance.
“Do you get the feeling we’re being watched?” said Nicolas.
“That’s just paranoia,” Alison said. Eva shivered. Alison was making sense, but Eva had the same feeling. She kept quiet, however. Katie gave a yelp of surprise.
“What is it?” called Alison.
“Up ahead. Something flashed at us.”
They stopped dead. Water was soaking through Eva’s shoes, oozing slowly through her socks, but she felt too frightened to move. Alison shone the flashlight back and forth. Two eyes flashed back at them. Perfectly circular eyes, about a meter apart, just above ground level. Eva felt her pounding heart shudder at the sight of them.
Katie gave a sudden laugh. “It’s a car. It’s just an old car.”
They all laughed nervously as they crowded forward. It was an old car, abandoned in the woods. The light beam had been reflected from the headlights.
“What’s it doing here?” Eva wondered.
“It’s watching us,” muttered Nicolas. “It’s the Watcher. It knows where we are. So much for tossing a coin. We should have hitched a lift into town and lost ourselves there.”
Alison spoke with ill-concealed disgust. “It’s just an old car in the middle of the woods. You’re being paranoid.”
Nicolas gave a high-pitched laugh. “I’m being paranoid? Well, golly!
He was pointing his finger at Alison. She shone the flashlight in his face in retaliation; he ignored it.
“Look, it’s got all the exits watched. It knows exactly what we’re doing and where we are going. We may as well give up now. If nothing else, it will save us getting any colder or wetter!”
Alison took a deep breath, trying to be patient. “Nicolas, we’re all cold and wet…”
“Some of us more than others. Or don’t you agree, Miss Hiking Boots?”
“Can anyone else hear something?” interrupted Eva.
They all fell silent, listening.
“Nothing,” Alison said eventually.
“I thought I heard something, too,” Katie whispered.
They stood in silence for a little longer, but heard nothing more.
“Okay,” Alison said, “time to toss the coin again. Heads straight on or back, tails left or right.”
“This is stupid,” said Nicolas. “Let’s go left and head back to the road. We’re bound to hit it eventually. After that we’ll just head for town, like we should have done all along.”
“No!” Alison snapped. “We agreed on this method. We can’t go back now.”
She tossed the coin.
“Tails,” she said. She tossed it again. “Okay, we’re going right.”
“I’m not going,” said Nicolas. Katie and Eva exchanged glances. They could see the other two glaring at each other in the dim light.
Alison’s voice was low, almost a snarl. “Don’t be so childish,” she said.
“I’m not being childish,” Nicolas said. “This is common sense. It’s onto us, face it. The Watcher is so good it can probably see the way the coin lands. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was even able to predict it.”
