only sound was Alex continuing to rattle t

id, my voice loude

e. Alex let his hand

alm, analytical persona from my podcast. "We need to figure this out.

l that do? We need a plan to get

hadows near the fence. "Knowing your nam

on't either. We're stuck here together. We might as well have a b

sed Chloe's face. Trust wa

use our real names. Our full names, anyway. This whole thing is weird. Let's

nonymity was comforting. It created a buffer, a small shie

Sarah. I host a podcast. A true-crime one. I came here for material for my new

n shifted to

an. I'm a graphic novelist. I needed inspiration for a dar

laiming control. "I'm Chloe. I run a tech company. I do extreme challeng

oping to find some, you know, real-life easter eggs. See how a horror experience is d

recording. It was more like a nervous habit. "Britney," she said, her voice

ed to the last arr

a

ve gaze. His earlier enthusiasm had ev

a student. I just... I thought it sounded fun. The flyer

? We all got personalized emails

a piece of paper tacked to the board. It said 'H

maly. The sixth person. The one who didn't fit the pattern. His story wa

A plant sent to mess with u

hung there,

had tried to build dissolved. The silence returned, but this

trapped outside a mal

was not suppos

group was already cracked, an