Ember POV

What was it that people said about things seeming worse in the middle of the night? It had never been so real for a marksman as it had the night before. Drinking beer and ruminating on what he’d overheard hadn’t helped the feeling of hopelessness. It had built and built and built until around 3 am when he’d finally given up on sleep and tried to lose himself in late-night television. The distraction hadn’t completely removed the worry, but it had disrupted his thought patterns enough so he could fall asleep.

Waking up to the sun shining and the kookaburras laughing gave him a moment of hope that...