Matthew frowned. He didn’t understand where the arrow had come from. Turner was clutching it, and lowering himself to his knees. The head of it was sticking out of his chest, directly out of the middle of it. Matthew watched his face as the poor man winced in pain. Together with Lukas, he stepped toward the man.

From behind him, from across the stream, a figure suddenly appeared. The kid, Jimmy or Jacob, stepped forward. The last time Matthew had seen him had been in a lift at the hospital. And now, here he was, somewhere in South America. And not – Matthew stared at his groin. The kid hadn’t been castrated, no. From underneath his little rectangle of fabric his cock and balls were clearly visible. It wasn’t big enough to hide them.

Matthew stared and swallowed, and supposed that it was him who had been done instead of Jimmy. He felt suddenly more naked.

‘Did I get him?’ the kid said, putting his emphasis on the “I” as though it might have been someone else.

Lukas nodded.

The kid stepped around the man and came to stand beside Lukas and Matthew.

Turner wasn’t dead. He was wincing up at them, and leaning backwards onto an elbow, so that he was lying awkwardly on the ground.

Between his legs, Matthew could see what they had done to him, could see what Rodney had done. And they hadn’t bothered fixing the guy up. The place where his cock and balls had been was a mass of twisted scars.

Matthew stepped forward. He squatted down in front of Turner. The guy was in pain, obviously, his face working.

‘They’ve left me now,’ he said, looking up at Matthew.

Matthew nodded.

He wanted to do something, wanted to reach forward and take the arrow out of the guy’s chest, but he didn’t know how that was possible.

Suddenly he was aware of other figures and he looked up. A guy in his twenties, with his cock and balls also, and beside him, holding his hand, a little boy of ten or eleven who had lost his, and had been made like Matthew and Lukas.

‘I’ve made a bonfire,’ Turner said, speaking with difficulty. ‘It’s to the west, about three and half miles. In a clearing on the plateau. If you can ever get to it, and light it…’

Matthew nodded. But he knew it was hopeless. They would never have enough control over themselves to light it – and even if they did, who would see it? No one knew where they were.

Turner closed his eyes and lay back sideways in the grass. Matthew didn’t know why, but he couldn’t help himself. He reached his hand out, and stroked the guy’s hair away from his brow.

After a minute or so, there was blood on his lips. And then he was dead. Matthew stood up.

‘Well I want to fuck him,’ Jimmy said, nodding at Matthew. The others turned to him. There was another guy now, a fifteen or sixteen year old, and he too, Matthew saw, had been neutered. He looked at Matthew like he’d never seen him before.

‘Get down on your knees,’ Jimmy said.

Matthew frowned at him.

‘You have to,’ Lukas said. ‘It’s his reward.’

Matthew didn’t move.

Suddenly, and without any warning, the twenty-something, the fifteen year old and Lukas, all moved forward together and held Matthew. They forced him to his knees, and the guy in his twenties, whose name was Mark, Matthew gathered, pushed Matthew’s face into the soil and locked Matthew’s head between his knees. His rump was up in the air, exposed. He looked up from under his body and saw a seventh figure enter the clearing, a girl, about fifteen or sixteen, looking nervous. Her breasts were exposed, her groin covered by the same rectangle of fabric that the rest of them wore. She looked at Matthew’s arse, and frowned, obviously able to see his whole groin, from this position, and see what they had done to him.

Matthew felt awful.

Jimmy moved forward behind him. He straightened his cock out and thrust it into Matthew’s arse, and then continued to pump for a minute or more before blowing his load. His reward, Matthew gathered, for killing Turner.

They let Matthew up, and he turned over, sitting, and stared at them all. Lukas’ lip was wobbling and he looked like he was going to cry.

‘Well he’s next,’ Mark said.

Lukas was shaking his head, and tears were dripping out of his eyes the way he always cried.

Matthew got to his feet, and for the first time in months, he put his arm around Lukas. Lukas was shaking.

‘I want to fuck him again,’ Jimmy said.

Mark shook his head and looked at Matthew, looking like he was sorry, despite what he had just said. They would hunt Matthew next. Matthew understood that.

‘Well, you’ve got twenty-four hours,’ Mark said, looking at the sky. ‘We’ll stay here and wait for the others.’

Matthew nodded, and started to pull away from Lukas. He turned to go.

‘Wait,’ the girl said. ‘Don’t you want some of the meat?’