I don’t answer. I’m counting. We entered at 16:57, local. The file says response time was 45 MIN from the first hang-up. 45 minutes from the first call to patrol arrival.
At 35, I hear it: a voice. Not from any direction. From inside the shape of the silence itself. It’s finishing a sentence that began before language existed.
Below it: 10 06 2023 . The day they vanished.
“What the hell does that mean?” Lena whispers.