After helping evacuate every wounded soldier from Hawk Shire, Iris, Attie, and Tobias finally leave once Keegan gives the order. The delay pushes them into dusk, but Iris feels energized by the small victory of having warned the brigade in time and prevented Dacre from capturing more soldiers. As Tobias drives east, Attie and Tobias joke with each other, while Iris notices soldiers boarding up buildings at the edge of town and feels growing unease about what is coming.

On a shortcut road, Iris spots danger too late and shouts just as Tobias hits a pothole. He manages to keep control of the roadster, but the impact leaves them with a flat tire. Tobias discovers he has a spare but cannot find the tire iron needed to change it, and Attie blames herself for distracting him. Wanting to help and also give Attie and Tobias space, Iris volunteers to run back into Hawk Shire to search for a tool, taking Tobias’s lantern and agreeing to signal from an upper window if trouble arises.

Back in the abandoned town, Iris is shaken by the empty streets and failing light. She searches one garage without success, then continues farther out until she reaches another open garage near the town’s edge. There, a fallen wrench seems strangely placed to draw her attention, and Iris realizes she is standing on a ley line. When a nearby door opens on its own, Iris senses that the adjacent house is rooted in magic and somehow knows what she needs, so she chooses to trust it and enters.

Inside, Iris follows the house upstairs to a bedroom window overlooking the road and uses the lantern and wrench to try to show Attie and Tobias what she found. Attie answers with a distant match flame, confirming they can see her. Before Iris can decide what to do next, the house trembles, a frame falls, and she hears a door open below followed by boots and voices moving through the house. Realizing danger has arrived, Iris blows out her lantern to warn Attie and Tobias while remaining trapped inside with the unseen intruders.