Was this a bad idea? Wouldn’t this be the first place he looked? I suppose not since I hear him shuffling up and down the alley before finally cursing and running back into the kitchen, probably to get a radio and a gun.

I wait a moment before daring to open the lid. I know I only have a minute or so before he calls someone and alerts the guards to be on the lookout. That gives me little time to run back to my apartment building.

I’m sure he didn’t see who I was. At least, I hope he didn’t. I close my eyes and focus my hearing toward the top of the building. The echoes on the walls indicate he’s running up the stairs. This is my chance.

I hop out of the dumpster and make my way to Main Street. I stay crouched as I run to the roundabout, and when I get there, I watch the guards on the wall to make sure they aren’t looking in my direction. Satisfied, I take a deep breath and sprint for my apartment building and don’t stop until I reach my home.

I’m almost wheezing by the time I close my apartment door and lock it behind me - as if doing so will keep me safe. I hurry to the window on the other side of the room and stare out at the guards on the wall. They are talking on their radios now.

“I don’t know who it was,” the voice of Paxton says over the radio. “I want you to do a sweep of the entire town.”

“Can you give a description?” one of the guards ask, but he is met with silence.

I smile, thinking Paxton probably only saw a shadow of me, never getting a good enough look to even tell that I am a woman.

“I know it was a woman, but I didn’t see her face,” Paxton says.

So much for that thought. But it doesn’t matter. There are plenty of women here in Crestwood. Sure, I might be one of the first people he questions because I’m newer, but that doesn’t mean he’ll find his precious journal.

I hold the book in my hands and sigh, hoping that I’ll find out something good enough for Gabe. But more than that I hope I don’t find anything too damning. I would like to stay here, after all. It would be a shame to find out Paxton was planning to kill everyone in Crestwood or something. Then I would feel obligated to leave.