Someone screamed.
Then someone else did.
“What the hell?”Alice shouted.
“Jesus!”Carnie yelped.
My heart leapt straight into my throat, not panic exactly, but pure surprise.The suddenness of it.Thenothing.
“What just happened?”Mom asked, her hand finding my arm in the dark.
Before anyone could answer, two bright beams snapped on, flooding the room with white light.
Brinks stood near the doorway holding a flashlight like it was part of his arm.
Freak stood on the opposite side, another beam cutting across the couches.
The room froze.
“What the hell is going on?”Alice demanded.
“Yeah,” Karmen added calmly, tilting her head.“And how did you guys get those lights so fast?”
Brinks and Freak glanced at each other.
Then shrugged.
“We just like to be prepared,” Brinks said.
Karmen didn’t move.Didn’t jump.Didn’t even stop eating.
She popped another chip into her mouth, perfectly unbothered.
I leaned closer to her and lowered my voice.“Do you know what’s going on?”
She smiled, crumbs on her fingers, completely at ease.“I’m sure it’s just a scheduled power outage.They happen all the time.”
Mom stiffened beside me.
“Scheduled?”she repeated.
Karmen nodded.“Yep.I’d guess it’ll be back on in, oh… half an hour or so.”
My mom and I looked at each other.
We realized the same thing at the exact same time.
Plan B had just happened.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cole
Three big construction lights were set up around the bar area, flooding the space in harsh white glare.They cast long shadows across the floor and made every scuff mark, every crack in the concrete stand out.The rest of the building was dark.Just us, the lights, and the door.
We were all sitting at the bar.
Not drinking.
