"...Hi," not-Tim said."You were supposed to stay in <strong>the</strong> house.""Sorry. I-"Ludlow turned on Neo. "What happened to keeping him <strong>the</strong>re? Huh?"Neo looked as though he would ra<strong>the</strong>r be anywhere else."We heard you got caught," not-Tim said. "It was on <strong>the</strong> news-""Yeah, and how <strong>the</strong> fuck does you getting caught help us?" Ludlow demanded. "We had a perfectlygood hostage situation. We could have told <strong>the</strong>m that we had left <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs with instructions to kill youin four hours if <strong>the</strong>y didn't hear from us. And now you've fucked it all up with your little rescue fantasies."Conor scratched h<strong>is</strong> elbow."They want me," not-Tim said. "That's why <strong>the</strong>y stopped <strong>the</strong> food and water earlier. They regret lettingme in, and <strong>the</strong>y wanted me out. If I'm here, I can talk to <strong>the</strong>m-""And you think <strong>the</strong>y'll l<strong>is</strong>ten?"Ludlow got up from h<strong>is</strong> bench and came towards him, and for a brief moment something fell away andnot-Tim saw Ludlow as just ano<strong>the</strong>r guy. Just a cop with dubious morals, a complete stranger whom hehad only really known for two hours, and who was now seriously p<strong>is</strong>sed off at him, and he was suddenlyscared.He was in a roomful of strangers. Strangers whose names he knew and whose lives he thought heknew in strictly one-way relationship, but two hours were nothing. Months or weeks or days spent actingout but a couple of hours of <strong>the</strong>ir lives, mere snippets in longer ex<strong>is</strong>tences that he was clueless about,hinted only briefly at in back-story notes and speculation, and <strong>the</strong> only thing that bound <strong>the</strong>m all toge<strong>the</strong>rwas suddenly superficial. They might not even share fingerprints. Looks aside, a random group ofpeople off <strong>the</strong> street might have more in common-<strong>Not</strong>-Tim backed off a step into <strong>the</strong> bars of <strong>the</strong> cell. "Tom-""What do you think <strong>the</strong>y're going to do with us?" Kevin interrupted. "They locked us up. It doesn't lookas though <strong>the</strong>y're going to let us go, does it?"Conor scratched h<strong>is</strong> knee."If <strong>the</strong>y wanted to kill us <strong>the</strong>y would have done it long ago," Neo said."Right," Ludlow said. "In front of <strong>the</strong> whole world? They're not stupid, Anderson. They'd never live thatdown. But <strong>the</strong>y could leave us here to die and claim we got home, and no one would fucking know."The guards reappeared around <strong>the</strong> corner, dragging Alex and Julian along. They unlocked <strong>the</strong> cell,shoved <strong>the</strong>m in, and locked up again.Conor scratched h<strong>is</strong> neck."Where's Griffin?" not-Tim asked, as Julian got back to h<strong>is</strong> feet and Alex decided that he didn't mindsitting on <strong>the</strong> ground."Hospital," Julian said. "He was injured so <strong>the</strong>y kept him <strong>the</strong>re.""The serial killer's in hospital and we're in jail," John Constantine muttered.Kip sighed.**
Stuck in House: Chr<strong>is</strong> Townsend, Matt, Tommy, Jesse, Paul, Tod, cornflakes guy, Eddie T, Ron,Derek, Jack Nimble, Heaver, Winston, Bill, Ted"I'm bored," Ron said, looking at Paul from out <strong>the</strong> side of h<strong>is</strong> eye. "Why're we just sitting here?""You could move around if you want," Paul suggested.Tommy sneaked a handful of cornflakes out of <strong>the</strong> cornflake guy's bowl when <strong>the</strong> cornflakes guy wasn'tlooking.The cornflakes guy looked at h<strong>is</strong> bowl. Something wasn't quite right about it. ":(," he vibed.Ron shoved back h<strong>is</strong> chair and got up. He stuck h<strong>is</strong> hands in h<strong>is</strong> pockets and trudged towards <strong>the</strong> door,<strong>the</strong>n stopped, turned around, and paced back. "So we're just going to stay here?" he demanded."That's what he said," Heaver said, now slightly less damp from h<strong>is</strong> encounter with <strong>the</strong> pool.The TV was still on, Winston deeply engrossed in some astronomy programme on <strong>the</strong> D<strong>is</strong>coveryChannel. Ron walked by, looked at it, looked at Winston's expression of awe, shook h<strong>is</strong> head, andcontinued in h<strong>is</strong> pacing.Ron casually brushed stuff off a shelf. M<strong>is</strong>cellaneous things crashed to <strong>the</strong> floor.Paul leaped up. "Hey!"Ron ignored him and crouched down by <strong>the</strong> hi-fi system. He poked at it."Don't touch that," Paul said, hurriedly returning <strong>the</strong> fallen things to <strong>the</strong> shelf and hoping <strong>the</strong>arrangement looked <strong>the</strong> same.Eddie was sitting out by <strong>the</strong> pool gazing into its depths."Hey – Paul?" Bill asked."Yes?""Do I have to stay here too?""Where do you want to go?""That's a good question, dude," Bill admitted."We could go back to <strong>the</strong> place with <strong>the</strong> really excellent pizza," Ted suggested."You're definitely staying here," Paul said."Keanu said not to let anybody in," Derek pointed out. "He didn't say not to let anybody out.""Yeah, and he also said not to let anybody kill anybody," Tod added."Those guys who went out got caught," Paul said. "I'm not going to r<strong>is</strong>k that.""Why are you in charge?" Matt muttered, not looking at him.Paul shrugged. "I'm <strong>the</strong> oldest."**Stuck in Cell: Shane, Conor, John C, Johnny U, Nelson, Kip, Perry, Kevin, Ludlow, Eric, Marlon, Harry,Martin, Mike, Bob, Alex, Julian, Neo, not-Tim"So," Alex said, getting up from <strong>the</strong> floor. "What's up?""What's it look like, Wyler?" Ludlow asked. "We're making cookies."Alex looked at not-Tim. "Rupert got away," he said. "Some of <strong>the</strong> guards can't really see. They senseus by th<strong>is</strong>." He lifted up h<strong>is</strong> wr<strong>is</strong>t tag. "H<strong>is</strong> was covered in blood. They didn't even know he was <strong>the</strong>re."
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"Your behaviour these past few mont
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Neo sank down on the sofa.He looked
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Next morning62nd Floor. Arrival Lob
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It is in fact at the cafeteria that
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'There is no exit here', read the h
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Back from his breakfast, Griffin sa
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Griffin glanced back at the three p
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Alex looked up."...That's Paul, tha
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The floor hackers stared at their l
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"Okay," Conor continued. "Situation
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"We want to get out as much as you
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Yawning, Paul pushed open the door
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Jack lunged at his neck. Both of th
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Then they fell silent again as Neo
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"I did you a favour, Jack," Griffin
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"That's one," Neo said helpfully, p
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New guy gave a start. "Uh," he said
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His mom made better waffles than th
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Tommy reluctantly handed over the b
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It is after a day or two living at
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There had existed for a time an Ame
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he was pretty sure was a broken nos
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Night. A shortage of actual beds me
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Neo yanked his finger away to safet
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Neo sat by himself in the cafeteria
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Splash.The sudden rush of cold shoc
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The stairwell door opened and the b
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"Get everyone in here in fifteen mi
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Human beings have a strange tendenc
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Jack shrugged. "Suit yourself." He
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**"We were just trying to get home!
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"It's John, assholes."John Constant
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The mob surged through both doors o
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"What?"A sudden telepathic message
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At the rear, not-Tim turned to face
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The lift dinged and opened its door
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Group B: Shane, Perry, Jjaks, Chris
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"Nah," Jesse said. "Might n-... - h
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The teen shrugged. "I don't know."
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"NO!" Shane yelled, running towards
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