As we approached this huddled figure, I placed a calming hand on his arm to lower the gun. He gave me a look, and I shook my head.
It wasn't John.
It was a small, skinny woman, and her slim body was shivering with fear.
I touched her shoulder, and she looked up at me, eyes wide in terror.
"Janet?" I said. "What are you doing here?"
Her lips were shivering as she held her hands to her temples. "It's that song, that stupid, annoying song."
Matt and I exchanged a look, and I shook my head while she kept humming. She wasn’t well.
"It's okay. Janet. Let's take you back to your van."
She growled and then pulled away from me, then started to hit her head again.
Matt groaned, annoyed. "Let's just leave, Eva Rae. This is useless."
I looked at Janet and felt sorry for her. She seemed so tormented.
"I'm so stupid," she said. "I'm so stupid. I should have… I came to tell you something."
"Come on, Eva Rae, let's just go," Matt said.
"Wait,” I said.
"You can't be serious?" he said, rolling his eyes. "You know they call her Janet from another planet for a reason, right?"
I knelt beside her. "Tell us what, Janet? What did you want to tell us?"
She stopped hitting herself and looked at me. "Not want to. Oh, no, I definitely didn't want to. I need to. There's a difference, you know? Ineedto tell you something. The voices are telling me to."
"Okay. What do you need to tell me?" I asked.
"Geez," Matt said in the background. "This is ridiculous."
Janet looked up at him with anger.
"Don't listen to him," I said. "Focus on me, Janet. What did you need to tell us?"
"There was a thing on the ground outside of number 203 after they were there, the strange shadows—you know, the ones you asked about?"
"Yes, I remember," I said. "But what did you find?"
Her eyes looked mad as they lit up. "I found it and picked it up. It was so shiny."
"What was it, Janet? What did you find?" I asked.
"It was gold."
"Oh, here we go," Matt groaned.
"What do you mean gold?"
"Pure gold. It was beautiful."
"She found gold,” Matt repeated. "We're wasting our time."