Iris~~
I take a long pull from my coffee and set the cup to the side of the keyboard. In the middle of my monitor's screen, a sped-up video is playing of the front entrance to a convenience store. Above the video the clock in the corner says 2:58 AM. Across the Estate, Society members are doing the same as me, watching different storefronts of buildings in Cinderville and other entrances. We're running out of time. Tomorrow afternoon the rebels will reveal Jonas's Mark.
I'm set up in Tobias's bedroom where he's had the space rearranged with desks and computers on which the Order, Brydan, and me can watch our assigned footage.
Colton and Eli aren't present, one asleep and the other down with the rebels. They've been switching off with each other. As far as I know, the only thing they've gotten out of the rebels is confirmation that the base is underground. Nothing about Cinderville or North Carolina.
Seong-ho is here with Ana and Cassia. They're asleep for now. Gwen said they'd only be a distraction, but Seong-ho ignored her.
I've lost track of how many cups of coffee I've had since we started sorting through the videos before the sun had even rose. Once we had a city, there wasn't any time to delay.
I pause the video, making a note of the time stamp and taking a screenshot of a person's face before they go into the store.
I'm jittery yet all of my muscles feel heavy. My internal clock protests the caffeine.
Two more hours and I'll take a nap. Afterall, if my vision blurs too much and blinking no longer takes away the feeling of my eyes going in different directions, I could miss something.
I'm seated beside Sebastian who, besides for coffee, also has a basket of butter rolls. I need to send for a snack. I need something to munch on. Something to keep me moving.
Those rolls are mouthwatering though.
"Could I?" I point to the basket.
He grunts without looking away from his screen and pushes the basket toward me an inch.
I pluck a roll from the basket. It's still hot. "Thanks."
On his monitor is the back exit of an Italian restaurant.
"Could I have one?" Brydan asks from my left. Sebastian grasps the basket's rim and yanks it back to him.
Whatever is between them, I don't want to get involved.
I hit play on the video and gnaw on the end of the bread.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sebastian jab his hand into the basket and shove a roll in his mouth, tearing off a bite.
*****
"I think I've got something!"
I open my eyes, peeling my face and hands off the desk.
The light that comes through the drawn curtains is a hazy bluish-gray.
Gwen, Percy, and Riley stand behind Brydan. The rest make their way over to him.
Sitting up, I blink and twist toward him.
"I thought something might be up with this place." His screen shows a gym. "Isn't that Vienna and Erik?"
The people he points to are turned away from where the camera is positioned.
"It just looks like a blonde couple," says Enzo.
"Ehh . . ." Riley leans in closer. "The back of the head is very Erik-like."
Tobias raises his eyebrows. "What does that even mean?"
Riley shrugs. "I've walked behind Erik a lot."
Sebastian rubs at his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "I'm not convinced."
"Are they on any other footage?" Gwen asks, and Brydan opens a new tab.
"I'll look."
August grabs his coffee from his desk across the room. "Percy, Bently, help sort through the footage of that area. Gwen, ask Colton to come up here. Let's see if he thinks that's Vienna."
Eli snorts, his eyes bloodshot. "I bet he's spent plenty of time viewing her from the back."
Percy smacks him on the back of his head.
As some of the Order start shifting gears, I walk over to the coffee machine and brew another cup. I'd only been asleep for thirty minutes, but the idea of going back to sleep makes me feel guilty.
As I pour in sugar, Bently comes over to brew himself a cup. He doesn't say anything, but seeing him reminds me of our conversation on Kerrie-ah. "If we're not able to find them in time, what will happen?" It was his mother who was taken. I wonder how he's holding up.
Bently's eyes are focused on the coffee drizzling down into his cup. "We don't know yet. We spoke with the Head Order yesterday to determine if it would be best to meet their demands. They said they'd get back to us."
"And Jonas's parents have no idea?"
Bently shakes his head. "They're supposed to arrive at some point today. Once they're in range, Amoria will let them know."
When Colton arrives to Tobias's room, I've just returned to watching my footage.
He takes a look at the original video. "It looks like her but maybe I'm just wanting it to be her."
Brydan flips through the little footage that he's found of the two. Their faces are turned away from the cameras in all frames.
In one video they exit a car.
"That's not the car Erik left in," says Gwen.
"No, but"—Colton crosses his arms— "he has safe houses and cars stashed throughout the county."
Gwen drums her fingers on Brydan's section of the desk. "You said you thought there might be something up with the place?"
"I do, but I'll need to review some more footage first."
*****
It's an hour later when Brydan's convinced the gym has to be what we're looking for. As we review the footage he's gathered, it slowly becomes clear there are people going in that aren't coming back out for hours or days. The camera on the back exit has also been checked.
I rub the bridge of my nose. "They will definitely have a second entrance if not more."
"If we attack only knowing one entrance, then we may not be able to rescue them." Gwen drains her coffee and runs a hand through her hair.
"So we keep looking." August drums his fingers on the desk. "And in the meantime, we prepare."