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Michael grunted.

“We should go after them; make sure they’re all right,” Steph said, heading out in the direction of the beam of light that illuminated the tracks. Then the light disappeared. Steph turned around. Michael was walking back towards the pathway.

“What are you doing!” Steph hissed, trotting after him and trying not to slip on unforeseen patches beneath her.

“Heading back to the house like we planned.”

“What about the others?”

“They got away; us going after them won’t make a difference. We’d be playing catch-up.”

“But… they could be in trouble!”

“Then getting to the house, retrieving the necessary equipment and bringing a degree of control to the situation would likely be a big help to them.”

“One of them is clearly hurt!”

Michael didn’t answer straightaway. He stopped and turned before striding towards her. Steph instinctively squeezed the hilt of the knife tighter. He was marching towards her with purpose. She was almost certain he was going to hit her. But why?

Michael stopped right in front of Steph. She winced slightly.Then she felt something thrust into her hand. She looked down. It was the radio.

“If you’re so concerned, you go after them!” he said. He turned around, walked a few paces and then came back, rummaging in his pocket. “Here!” He thrust something else into her hand. It was a torch.

“You had a spare this whole time?” she snapped.

“I might have needed it,” he replied, then he turned and walked off into the sodden darkness.

For a moment, Steph thought she was going to follow him. He was probably right; what could they do? They would probably be playing catch-up and there was no guarantee they would find the others before they encountered something less friendly. The fact the giant cave bear was meandering about didn’t fill her with reassurance. Then again, perhaps that was why they had not encountered any of the other predators.

Steph turned on the torch. She shone it briefly in the direction of Michael, his own light already starting to become engulfed in the distant night. She shook her head and turned towards the buggy. She shone her torch down, found the tracks and began to follow.

THIRTY-FOUR

As soon as she was out of Michael’s sight, Steph radioed Kelvin. It was not on the hour mark, but she was sure current circumstances trumped that.

“And he just left?” Kelvin asked, his voice rising slightly.

“He said it made more sense to get to the house to try and bring everything under control.”

“I suppose I can see the logic,” he said, his voice calming a little. That reply did not surprise Steph. “Are any of the tracks… Martina’s?… Hello?”

Steph looked down. One of the sets of shoes was definitely smaller than the others. She had no idea what Martina had on her feet, but the size alone suggested these were likely women’s prints.

“Hello?”

Steph stood up and counted to six. She enjoyed listening to the slight panic in Kelvin’s voice on the other end. Something she controlled and not him. She had no intention of trying to play with him as a means of being vindictive, it was more to test him. She had not known any of these people long, and given the current circumstances, she thought it was likely important she knew what kind of people she was dealing with. A little forced openness was always useful. How strong was the bond between Martina and Kelvin? Besides, if she got out of all this it would likely make an interesting side-story. One she could sell well beyond her usual market of conspiracy theorists and dreamers. This was real drama. Screw being worried about earning respect in her professional field. She would gain the respect of her parents by demonstrating financial achievement.

“Hello!”

“Sorry, I was just looking at the prints. I think so.”

“You think so?”

“I think Martina was here. One set of prints is smaller than the others. One of the people is injured though. Martina and one other seem to be helping them.”

“Right.”

Right? Was that all he could respond with?