Guggenheim Bilbao
Bilbao, Spain
K
arl watched highlights of the live stream posted earlier, the denizens of the Internet already grabbing their favorite parts and posting it.
She’s giving away everything! We have to find her!
He pulled her username from Instagram and Googled it, finding the same name linked to a Facebook page with barely anything on it, likely created for her parents’ benefit.
Though it gave him what he suspected was a real first name.
Petra.
He stuffed his phone in his pocket then scanned the guest list, finding the lone person here with that name.
Petra Marchand.
And smiled when he saw three others with the same last name.
I’ve got you now.
A
cton pressed his ear to the door, hearing nothing. He stepped back, his voice low. “We could try to take them down.”
Laura gave him a look. “But we have no idea how many there are.”
“True, but I’ve never seen more than two of them come in this room, and that was only when this thing began. Since then, there has never been more than one among us.”
Marchand pointed a trembling hand at the door. “We don’t even know if someone is on the other side.”
Acton glanced about. “There’s no other way out of this room, is there?”
“No.”
“Air ducts?”
Marchand shook his head vigorously, leaving Acton uncertain if the man would tell him the truth if he knew it. “No, this place has special security for that. Nobody is climbing through the air ducts here.”
Acton frowned. The man was probably right. “Okay, well, the next time that door opens, we could take care of that person easily, then escape.”
Laura shook her head. “We can’t do that. You heard what he said. He said if anyone tried anything, he’d kill everybody.”
He sighed. “You’re right. Then what do we do?”
“I think we just play along and let the authorities figure it out. If they decide to take them down, and there’s some way we can help, then we do it, otherwise we just stay here and keep our mouths shut and try to survive.”
“Sounds like as shitty a plan as any.”
She smiled. “Sometimes shitty is all you’ve got.”
