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‘The kid’s probably just busy.’ Colt hung up and scratched his beard, eyeing the phone up and down. ‘Bah. This thing doesn’t have SMS. I gotta find another cellphone so I can text him.’

‘How long is that going to take?’

Colt abruptly noticed the mobile phone store at the far end of the street. ‘Couple minutes, I’m guessing.’


Chapter Twenty-Nine: ‘Forth unto ruin...’
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Hector pulled the motorcycle around a corner and shut the engine off. From afar, he could see floodlights lining the street, trying to light up the otherwise pitch dark rubble. Teams of emergency services already surrounded the collapsed building.

Garovel proceeded on while Hector waited beyond the police officers’ line of sight.

‘Maybe I should go with you,’ said Hector. ‘For all we know, Geoffrey could be in there.’

‘He’s not,’ said Garovel. ‘If he were that close, I’d be able to sense his presence.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Sure as I can be. If I scream for help, come save me.’

‘Gah...’

‘Relax. I’ll be cautious.’

Before silence could return, however, he realized that his phone was beeping. He reached around the children attached to his torso and read the message:

r they safe?

“What the...?” He squinted through his helm. The ID of the sender was different from the one earlier. Hector asked why and waited for the response.

new phone. r they safe? lets meet

Hector’s face scrunched up. He could chalk the repeated safety question up to fatherly concern, but he couldn’t understand why Colt suddenly wanted to reschedule again. Garovel interrupted his train of thought, however.

‘Hector, there’s someone trapped in here.’

‘Shit.’ He forewent his questions for Colt and simply typed the address of the power station into the phone.

And Garovel was suddenly there in front of him again, reaching for his shoulder. ‘Follow me. I don’t think the rescue team will find him in time.’

He started running as he hit send. ‘Okay.’