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Another puppet sprung out at Sheryl as she passed an intersection. It grabbed her and dragged her to the ground as she shrieked and tried to pull herself away.

Hector coated the attacker’s face. The groove for its mouth bumped harmlessly against Sheryl’s neck, but the puppet still thrashed. Hector completed the coating and then shoved the iron statue off of her.

She tried to get up and flee again, but he grabbed her hand.

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed.

“It’s okay!” He pulled up the jaw of his helm, revealing his face. “Sheryl, look at me!”

Her glance turned to a stare. “H-Hector!”

“That’s right.”

“But you! Y-you killed that other guy! And--and--”

“He would have killed you,” Hector said. “Or someone else.”

“Why?! Who was he?! What the fuck is going on here?!”

“It’s--agh--it’s really hard to explain,” he said. “Please, you have to stay close to me. I have to--” And he realized that he wasn’t sure what to do with her. Just getting her out of the building didn’t seem like it would be enough. As long as Geoffrey was alive, she would be in danger. And so would the others. “Where are Gregory and Janine?” he asked.

“W-why? Are they in danger, too?”

“Yes.” He tried to keep his voice calm, for her sake as much as his own. “Do you know where they are?”

“Well, I--ah--” Trembling, she took a moment, squinting as she thought. “We usually come to school together, but uh--today it was just me and Micah. I, uh--I figured it was because of the power outage last night. A lot of people d-didn’t come to school today, because, b-because of that. Or I th-thought that was why, but m-maybe--”

“That’s good,” said Hector. “They’re safer at home.”

“Oh, that won’t make much difference,” said another voice, belonging to yet another of Geoffrey’s minions as it approached them from the rear corridor.