Besides, they didn’t have a choice, did they? The truth was, at this stage in the game, with barely fifteen minutes to go until the next hour ended, it didn’t matter. There was nothing for them out here except more death and horror. Whatever was inside the hatch, at least they would have a chance, no matter how slim—and they would be together.
That’s all he wanted. That was enough.
They just had to guess the four-letter code. How hard could that be?
Bending down, he studied the keypad; it looked new and shiny compared to the metal hatch lid, which was pretty scratched-up and rusty. The lock must have been recently installed—and recently used from the looks of it. The surface was dust-free, with the full alphabet, a hash key and a delete button.
He wasn’t the best at math, but he knew that if the code was random, it would be impossible to break in time. But Ana was convinced that the code would be part of the game. If they made it this far, Bates wouldn’t miss the chance to taunt them with another twisted little manipulation.The whole set-up at the motel was so meticulous; there was nothing random. No. There would be some clever connection, there had to be, if they could just figure out what.
Leaning forward, he took a deep breath and tentatively typed in four letters:A B C D, then hash. There was a short beep; the keypad flashed white. The code he’d entered disappeared. Okay, so that was how this worked. It seemed pretty straightforward.
On his second attempt, he paused to think. What could the actual code be? What four letters might be the key to unlocking the hatch? He reached out and typed:C O D E.
Beep. The keypad reset. Yeah, maybe that was too obvious. He needed to think harder—what would Bates choose? What would a psychotic murderer choose?
Nervously he keyed in:K I L L.
Beep. This time the keypad flashed red. A countdown appeared on the small screen: sixty, fifty-nine… Okay, so those were the rules. Three wrong tries gave you a one-minute time penalty. Alex was relieved; it could have been worse. One minute wasn’t the end of the world. It just meant they needed to think things through and not waste time on random guesses.
So, what could it be? Four letters.Think, think…He started with A.
Ants, apps, acne…His mind blanked. He felt the same mild panic he got during exams.Back, ball, bear… None of the random four-letter words that popped into his head made any sense.Cars, cats…eggs…This was stupid, they had no connection to Bates or the motel. He wished Ana was the one doing this. If anyone had a chance of figuring this out, it would be her.
It wouldn’t be long, he reminded himself. She’d be back soon with the others. Between them, they would stand a fighting chance ofguessing the code. They’d get it. They could put together a list of ideas and—
Bang.
Alex jumped, falling back from the hatch.
Even though the sound was unmistakable, his mind pushed it away. It couldn’t be. No. Something had fallen. A box on a shelf that they’d dislodged earlier…or maybe it was Ana coming back?
Every nerve was on high alert, straining to listen. Faintly he thought he heard muffled footsteps, distant shouts, crying. No, no, this was all wrong. They had found the hatch. They were going to figure out the code and escape. No one else was going to die today.No one.
He tried to hold down the rising wave of panic.
Awkwardly fumbling, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The screen shone back at him, green numbers lighting up the dark, confirming his worst fears:
59:48
A new hour had begun.
Someone had crossed the line. Someone had been shot.Someone else was dead.
Without hesitation, Alex leaped to his feet and ran for the door, stumbling over boxes and broken furniture. He had one thought only:Ana is out there somewhere.
He had to get to her.
Crashing through the heavy metal doors, he tripped forward, sprawling onto the ground. Desperately he looked around, squinting against the glaring sunlight. Where had the shot come from?Where?
There was a quick movement off to one side. Ellis walked out frombehind the pool enclosure, shoulders hunched, heading away from the road sign, from the death machine. He was clenching and unclenching his hands, over and over.
What had he done?
Alex ran fast, fear and adrenaline surging through him, heading for the sign. Another one of them was dead, and it wasn’t Ellis. But it didn’t have to be Ana.It didn’t have to be Ana.
As he rounded the corner of the pool fence, he skidded to a dead stop. There it was—a long line of dust on the horizon. The red truck was already heading their way. His heart was in his throat. His legs were heavy, and for a moment, he couldn’t move.
A dark shape lay on the ground, across the line.
