Alex looked at him, then Ana. He flashed a quick smile at her.
“Thanks, Ellis, but I think I just did.” He brushed Ellis’s hand away and walked off towards the bus.
Ana watched Alex’s back, a wave of gratitude and optimism sweeping through her. Alex had stood up for her. Alex was on her side. They could do this. The bomb shelter could work. If Bates exploded the whole motel around them, just imagine how much smoke that would make. Someone somewhere would have to see it. They’d have to wonder what was going on, wouldn’t they?
Someone would come.
They just needed to stay alive long enough to be rescued. They just needed time.
17
Ellis
40:54
“Danny’s sister. A word.” It was a command. Ellis had mastered the art of dominating with the minimum number of syllables. It was essential in sports, and pretty damn useful in life too, as it turned out. He walked up to Ana, looming confidently over her, placing himself between her and the sun.
She looked up nervously at him, squinting awkwardly into the light.
He’d planned this, waiting until the others had gone. She’d challenged his authority in front of everyone with her whole bus-shelter plan. He couldn’t afford to lose his position as leader, not with so much at stake. Time to set boundaries.
“You do realize what you’ve done?” He dropped his voice, projecting calm control with a dash of barely concealed irritation.
Ana bit her lip and looked down, forced to by the harsh glare.
“You’ve given them hope,” Ellis said. “That’s a dangerous thing when we’re fighting for our lives.”
“I think—” Ana mumbled.
“You think you’re helping. I get it. But the truth is, your little plan is only going to delay the inevitable. Maybe it’ll get us through this hour, but when Bates figures out what we’re up to, he’ll find a way to destroy the bus and anyone cowering inside it. Your little shelter plan will kill us all.”
“But what if—”
“What if we get rescued? Come on. Think! We’re over an hour’s drive from the nearest town. That gives Bates plenty of time to pick us off one by one. By the time help gets here, it’ll be too late—we’ll all be dead. You read the message. It’s play or die. If we don’t play,we die.”
She shook her head, frowning as though trying to formulate her thoughts before speaking.
“I know it’s risky, Ellis…but what’s the alternative? If we don’t even try, then when the hour’s up someone must cross the line.”
“And your point is?”
Ana didn’t respond. Ellis didn’t like the way she was squinting up at him, with Danny’s bright hazel eyes. She was a mousey little thing, but Ellis could sense something beneath it. Something unbendable.
“I understand. We’re trapped between a rock and something fucking harder. But we have no choice, we need to play the game if we want to have a chance of getting out of here alive. We need to buy more time. When the hour’s up, if we haven’t figured out a way to get out, someone needs to cross that line, as brutal as it sounds. Then we reset—a new hour, more time.”
Her face was unreadable. No tears, no drama, just that annoying, watchful expression. Taking him in, processing. Ellis was starting to feel uncomfortable.
“But…we can’t just…”
“Let someone die? We are fighting forour liveshere! If we have to…lose one person to save everyone else, then that’s what we have to do. This is not a time for weakness. There’s no place for cowards here. Don’t you get it?We’re at war.”
She winced when he spoke—he’d struck a chord.
Ellis had made his point, there really was nothing she could add. It was a no-brainer. Hiding out in the bus would be a death sentence for all of them. They would do everything they could to escape or be rescued. But if they were still trapped by the end of the hour, they would have no choice. There was no way around it. Someone would have to cross the line.
Worst case, they would play out the whole game, and only one of them would be going home. Ellis didn’t want to think that way, but at the same time, he was a realist; if he wanted to walk away from this alive, he had to face the terrifying truth. Winning the game was his best shot at surviving, and he wasn’t going to give that up for anyone or anything.
He adopted a conciliatory tone. “Look, someone will notice we’re missing or see the smoke signal. Jax’s fans will raise all kinds of hell without their daily post. We will be missed. People will come looking for us eventually. Until then, we buy time. We play the game. We stay alive. Trust me, I’ll take care of everything.”
