Chapter 88 - Chapter 88

The walk back to the Starlight Inn felt like walking through a city of ghosts. The usual sounds of life were gone, replaced by an eerie silence broken only by his own careful footsteps. Each time a siren wailed in the distance, his muscles tightened instinctively. Every car that drove past felt like a threat, its headlights sweeping the streets like searchlights trying to find him. He was painfully aware of the small, flat computer drive hidden in his pocket. It felt like he was carrying a piece of a sleeping giant's mind, and the weight of it was immense. He kept his hand pressed over his hoodie pocket, half-expecting the drive to feel hot to the touch, as if it might burn through the fabric at any moment.