Melanie's breath caught as the guard on the left stepped inside the room. Something was wrong—off by a fraction, but enough to raise alarms in her gut.
She hurried over to the remaining guard and asked, "Hey… did he just come on duty? Where did the person who was standing next to you just now go? He just changed when the power went out, right?"
The guard gave her a narrowed glance, eyes scanning her face as if gauging how much she knew and then nodded giving her a suspicious glance. But he nodded, "Yeah. It was time for a shift change," he replied, but his voice held a trace of unease now."
Just then, the radio at his hip crackled to life. "Unit 4, come in. There's a delay with the replacement officer. He's still en route—ETA fifteen minutes. Repeat: the new guard has not yet arrived."
The color drained from the guard's face and Melanie felt her stomach flip as they looked at each other in horror.
