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The girl, fey and wild, her callused feet bare and dirty, looks off toward the peak of the headland.

SOPHIE: It will come for us.

KAPOOR: Then we’d better hurry.

She unlocks a long storage chest at the back of the boat and extracts a pair of shotguns, along with a box of ammunition.

KAPOOR: Right. Any of you know how to use these?

SOPHIA: No?

KAPOOR: Well, all right, then. More for me.

She slings one strap over her shoulder and carries the other shotgun in the crook of her arm.

LIAM: You have shotguns?

KAPOOR: This island is overrun with monsters. Of course I have shotguns. There’s a gun in almost every room of the LARC, if you know where to look. I have a goddamn machete under my bed. I have been coming to this island for fifteen years and I do not fuck around. Now. Where are we going?

Sophie points up the hill.

KAPOOR: Bunker, then. Good. I’ll lead the way.

She sets off at a march, and the others fall in behind. The climb up the flank of the headland is uneventful, and though Sophia diligently keeps the camera focused on the procession, there is nothing out of place until they have nearly reached the bunker.

LIAM: What was that? Did you hear it? I think it was a voice.

SOPHIA: The mist is coming.

KAPOOR: Are you sure?

SOPHIA: The air shimmers before it comes.

KAPOOR: I don’t see any shimmering.

LIAM: She’s right. Look.

He points. Mist creeps from behind the hill, rolling southward.

KAPOOR: Let’s get moving!

They sprint for the bunker. Shadows dart and dash in the mist as it races toward them. They reach the door. Liam gets hold of the handle, hauls.

LIAM: It’s welded shut again. How is that possible? We came through it—

SOPHIA: You were already in an echo when you went through. Just a very faint one. We need to cross over before we can get in. Here.

She hands Liam the phone and turns to Sophie. The girls take each other’s hands.

KAPOOR: Whatever you’re going to do, do it quickly.

The mist rolls over them. Within it, a dozen voices whisper eagerly, and footsteps draw close.

30

WE HELD HANDS,my echo and I, and I looked into her eyes. I saw her and saw my reflection. The air hummed around us. I could feel every echo in my bones, a different frequency for every distorted version of the world.

“Sophia!” Dr. Kapoor yelled. “They’re here!”