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“Guys…” I whispered, unsure what I wanted to say.

Something didn’t feel right?

This felt like a trap?

I wanted to run?

Any option would suffice.

We moved slowly towards the exit sign, Kace’s hand an iron vise around my own. I was honestly afraid he was going to cut off my circulation with how tight he gripped me.

“We’re almost there,” Aiden said from the front of the group. And then louder, “You okay back there, Maria?”

“Yes,” her small voice piped in from the back of the line. “I don’t think—”

The lights to the store flickered once before plunging us all into darkness. We froze, and the only sound we could hear was our ragged breathing, before a generator kicked on and the room was once again flooded in artificial, pale white light.

Only this time, we weren’t alone.

“Motherfucker,” Caleb cursed from behind me. Kace went ramrod straight beside me, his eyes fixated on the figures surrounding us.

Mannequins.

At least fifteen that I could see, all in various positions around the shop. Some were bent forward, almost as if they were pursuing the shelves of food, while others stood in clusters. One white mannequin stood behind the counter. All of them were naked, their featureless bodies giving no indication if they were males or females, and their faces were blank slates.

“Guys, we need to move!” Heath hollered from the back of the line. “Go! Go! Go!”

The lights shut off, and darkness once again settled over the store like a cloying smoke. Less than a second later, it flickered back on, but this time, the mannequins had moved. All of them were twisted in our direction, their sightless faces somehow spouting out accusations despite no discernible features.

No, I corrected mentally.They aren’t staring at us.

They’re staring at Maria.

“GO!” Heath roared, and Aiden broke into a run towards the exit, the rest of us behind him.

The second his hand would’ve clamped down on the handle, the lights turned off once again. When it flicked back on, the mannequins had moved a third time, surrounding a pale-faced, crying Maria.

Heath, who was directly in front of her, turned back in alarm and lunged forward, attempting to grab her. The lights turned off before he could make contact.

And this time, they didn’t immediately flick back on.

“Guys?” I whimpered, my hand clasped tightly in Kace’s. Wait…

When did Kace’s hand turn so…cold? Almost as if it was made of plastic?

With a scream, I yanked my hand free of the mannequin’s embrace and began to fumble blindly in the direction I last saw the others.

“Guys!”

“Bianaca!” Aiden’s voice seemed to be coming from the end of a long tunnel, which shouldn’t have been possible. The store had been small, so why did he sound like he was screaming from the end of a football field?

“Aiden?”

“B?” That was Tanner, his voice coming from the opposite direction Aiden’s had.

“Tanner? Beau? Kace?”

More and more voices screamed at me, some closer than others, but I ignored them all and trudged towards where I suspected the exit to be. It almost felt as if sharp, talon-like hands were clawing at my skin, though when I glanced down, I saw nothing. My pulse skittered wildly, but still, I forged on, trying to ignore the terror that siphoned oxygen from my lungs.