Wade stood outside the little gray house belonging to Traq and his mother, letting his friend think in silence. It was painful for him. He was talkative by nature, willing to ramble on and on about anything and everything.

Jake Martins ran down the alley, clutching the bag full of money tight against his chest.  Distant now was the sound of sirens, scouring the streets for sign of the Duke Station robber.

Mark smiled pleasantly, dipping his hand into the tray of olives and pulling one out.  Honestly, he considered the sweet fruit to be disgusting in the worst sort of way, but this was no time to be ungracious.  This was a time for cordiality, and more than a little discretion.

“What happened back there?” Haatim asked once Abigail was finally awake. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and rubbed the hair out of her face. “What happened in the park with that little girl? When you got back to the car you looked terrible.”

Kristi Grove adjusted the rigid fabric against her hip with a growl. Won’t this elevator move any faster? She picked at one of the blue straps digging into her skin, deciding that as soon as this wretched party was over she would burn it.

Bret wandered through the trees, bored and aimless. It was a cold and cloudy day; the sky looked like it was going to rain soon. He swatted at the branches and yawned, wishing his mom would just give up on this stupid vacation and take him back home.

“Come on!” Eddie Boleman shouted, pumping his palm against the metal bench press. “You got this! Come on!”

The car came to a stop next to the curb, idling just outside the playground on Miller Street. Haatim glanced out the window at all of the gathered children, running around and playing on the swings and climbing objects scattered throughout.

“That’s it?” Jayson Coley asked, staring out the train’s circular window into the forest beyond. A squat building had just appeared through the canopy of trees, ahead and above them on their path through the forest.