Chapter summary
3 DECEMBER - 19 HOURS, 25 MINUTES UNTIL DAWN
Jodie arrives at the office, perched on a desk edge, and exchanges brief, uneasy banter with her colleague Michaela about lunch orders. She declines Michaela’s offer to take the sandwich run, insisting on completing it herself as a personal ritual of solidarity among the temporary staff. Jodie describes the grim office environment—old computers, flickering lights, a dusty upstairs room—while reflecting on her job as a “digital sweatshop.” She mentions her long‑term friendship with Michaela, her recent migraine, and ongoing tension with her boyfriend Scott, including a recent argument and a decision to keep distance.
She gathers her iRiver music player, headphones, and phone, checks a message from Scott, drafts a similar message, but chooses not to send it, feeling that the “fake magic” would be cheating. She presses play, exits the building via lift, and heads into the rainy street, listening loudly to music to block out the drab city and her thoughts about Kevin and Scott. The weather is bleak; the sky is industrial‑grey, people hurriedly move through the rain.
Jodie follows her usual shortcut across a waste ground near the outskirts of town, a gravel‑filled area with sparse bushes where occasional fairs set up. While walking, she pauses the music after hearing a siren, then a baby’s cry that seems to emanate from the bushes. Despite hesitation about intruding, she pushes through the undergrowth, finds a baby in a pink blanket lying in the mud, screaming. She quickly places the baby in her coat, intending to help.
At that moment, a figure steps out from the bushes—a man wearing a large pink devil mask, holding a bottle of gardening spray. He sprays ammonia into Jodie’s face, causing severe irritation and coughing. He then kicks her in the head, knocking her to the ground. Disoriented, Jodie briefly sees the sky above her as rain pours, before collapsing. The chapter ends with Jodie incapacitated on the waste ground, the baby still in her arms, and the masked attacker preparing to leave.