That’s how it became a sort of No Man’s Land, where the house and the patch of land it’s on aren’t under the control of any of the four frats on campus.
I like to come here to walk around when I’m feeling overwhelmed and need to decompress. This entire section of campus is empty except for some utility sheds, a few access roads, the woods, and The Crypt, so I rarely have to worry about running into other people if there isn’t a party or event going on.
I try to shut my brain down as I follow the familiar path around the field, but it’s no use. A highlight reel of all the things I don’t want to be thinking about right now is on repeat in my head, and the more I try not to think, the louder the thoughts get.
The quietsnapof a twig or something breaking pulls me out of my distraction, and I freeze, my senses on high alert as I scan the area.
I’m on a side section of the path that runs in front of The Crypt, and as far as I can see, I’m completely alone. The woods are behind me, the house is beside me, and the dark path is in front of me. I do another sweep of the area, but I don’t see anything. I’m just about to start walking again when I hear another snap, then there’s the scrape of a shoe dragging on the concrete path.
I dart across the thick grass and duck behind the side of The Crypt as a tall figure rounds the corner and comes down the path in the opposite direction, heading right for where I was just standing.
I don’t know why my first instinct was to hide when I’m not doing anything wrong, but for some reason, my gut is telling me to stay out of sight.
I press myself against the building as he passes me, but he stops when he’s near the porch steps and pulls a phone out of his pocket. He flips the phone in his hand a few times, then he flashes the screen up as he presumably checks something, then tucks it away.
Seconds, then minutes, tick by, and the more time that passes, the more my anxiety spikes.
Is he waiting for someone?
Or maybe he knows I’m here and he’s waiting me out?
Should I keep hiding? Or should I make a run for it and hope he doesn’t see me?
I’m on the verge of working myself up into a panic when I hear a set of soft footsteps on the grass, and I sink deeper into my hiding spot as another guy seems to almost materialize out of the darkness as he walks toward the first guy from the opposite direction.
“Do you have it?” he asks the guy who was waiting for him.
He’s talking quietly, but not whispering, and I’m able to hear him without having to strain too hard.
“Depends,” the first guy says in an equally low voice. “Did you bring it?”
The second guy pulls what looks like an envelope out of his pocket and holds it up.
The first guy digs something out of his own pocket and also holds it up. It’s too small for me to make out clearly, but whatever it is, it’s at least partially metallic as moonlight flashes off it.
They stare at each other for a few beats, then slowly exchange items.
The first guy quickly slips the envelope into his pocket. “You’d better have counted right,” he says, a note of warning in his voice.
“I always do,” the second guy says, and I’m impressed at how much sass he manages to inject into those three words.
They kind of stare each other down for a few seconds, then the first guy spins on his heel and takes off in the direction he came.
The second guy watches him for a moment, then slips whatever he exchanged that envelope for into his pocket. Something shiny falls out of his coat pocket when he pulls his hand free, and tumbles to the ground.
He doesn’t seem to notice, and instead of picking it up, he also heads back the way he came.
I stay in my hiding spot for almost thirty seconds just to be sure they’re both gone, then cautiously creep over to where they were just standing.
Lying in the tall grass is a flash drive, and I carefully pick it up like it’s a bomb and not a memory stick.
Did they meet out here so they could exchange whatever was in that envelope for this flash drive?
I know I should probably put it back down on the ground and pretend I was never here, but my curiosity won’t let me, and before I can change my mind, I shove the flash drive in my pocket and head back toward the main part of campus, my senses on high alert in case whoever dropped the drive comes back to look for it before I can get out of there.
3
ANTHONY
