Z 2134

floorboard into place as hell melted the atmosphere on the other side of the door. A tiny, involuntary shriek fell from Ana and Liam’s sweaty hand slapped her shivering lips to make sure it didn’t happen again.
    “Shhhhhh…” he soothed. “They’ll hear us.”
    They huddled in icy terror as The Watchers came downstairs and interrogated Duncan. Ana listened as The Watchers told how Liam had escaped custody and was last seen entering the church.
    “I know the boy,” Duncan said. Ana imagined him shaking his head. “He’s a poor lost soul, for sure. But I’ve certainly not seen him today.”
    As one Watcher questioned Duncan, Ana and Liam heard a second one walking toward the storage room. Liam’s hand tightened on Ana’s mouth. The door to the storage room creaked open.
    Light spilled into the darkness, giving them a splintered picture view up through the floor.
    “Find anything?” said The Watcher beside Duncan.
    The second Watcher was looking around the storage room, footsteps clopping on the floor above them as he scanned the darkness. He turned over his shoulder and called, “Not yet,” then added, “Get the ID scans started. I’ll be out in a minute.”
    The next three minutes rang with the scanners’ light shrill as data chips were read and those still in the basement were cleared to leave, one by one.
    “Everyone is free to go but you three,” The Watcher farthest from them said.
    Ana listened to the footsteps climbing the stairs. She wondered which three were held behind.
    “No,” a woman said. “We didn’t do anything.”
    “Please, let them go,” Duncan said. “I’ll stay and answer any questions you have.”
    “Please, Mr. Watcher,” the voice of the young girl, Iris, pleaded.
    Oh God, they’re holding the little girl behind! Why?
    Ana felt Liam tighten his grip around her mouth as the footsteps of the closest Watcher stopped right over the false floorboard. Her heart stopped in her chest, waiting for the officer to recognize the difference in sound from one part of the floor to the other before ripping it open and flashing his helmet’s lights down on them.
    They were about to be arrested. She’d done nothing wrong, yet was now hiding under the floor with a known fugitive.
    They would take her in for sure. Then what? With a bigger what for Adam.
    The silence was killing her as The Watcher stood in place for an eternity.
    He’s toying with us. He knows we’re here. He’s got to. Why else is he just standing in a dark room?
    Then The Watcher walked out of the storage room, leaving the door wide open behind him.
    Ana let out a deep breath, and her heart seemed to start toward its normal beat.
    The Watcher joined his partner in the room for a moment and then went up the stairs.
    Ana couldn’t see anyone from the angle she was at. But she could hear every movement and word.
    The first sound she heard was the familiar sound of the shock stick charging with a loud hum. While the shock sticks delivered a painful surge on contact, they could also fire a lethal blast that could tear through a person’s body, killing in an instant.
    Then she heard The Watcher’s voice crackle through his helmet’s speaker, “I’ll ask you once,” he said. “Where’s Liam?” After a moment’s pause, he added, “You’ll be sorry if you lie.”
    Apparently Thou Shalt Not Lie didn’t apply to protecting your flock.
    Duncan said, “I don’t know.”
    Without warning, The Watcher fired a blast of energy that thundered through the basement, followed by Duncan’s and Iris’s screams.
    “Why?” Duncan screamed, his voice torn by anguish.
    The only voice Ana couldn’t hear crying was the woman, whom The Watcher must’ve murdered.
    Tears began to stream down Ana’s face, and she felt her whole body shaking.
    She couldn’t believe what was happening. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.
    “Tell us,” The Watcher said, with zero emotion in his warble.
    “I swear, I don’t know,” Duncan said. “I’ve seen him, lots. He comes in here, but I haven’t seen him today.”
    The second Watcher returned from upstairs, saying, “We have three independent confirmations. The boy was down here before we arrived.”
    The other Watcher asked, “Is that true?”
    Duncan said, “No, sir.”
    “I’m going to ask you one more time. If you lie, I shoot the child.”
    Iris screamed, and suddenly the sound of tiny footsteps raced across the floor above Ana.
    Iris ran into the