At that, Alice looked surprised. "Oh, is it?" she replied, sounding shaken by the revelation. "I thought I was just going mad." Again. When the world fell apart, it had only ever been just she who had to deal with it. But now that it wasn't, she didn't really know what to do.

"Well, then, I suppose we ought to get out of here, shouldn't we? I hardly fancy being smashed into a pulp." She might pretend not to care about her own survival, but the situation frightened her, loathe though she was to admit it. Then again, she didn't have to; it was present in the quaver of her voice.