"Oh? So what did the sandman tell you about that ad?"
"Only that it's kind of a push-me-pull-you."
"The two-headed antelope from Dr. Doolittle?"
"Uh-huh. I think there's a counter-subliminal layered in as well. So I suspect someone on the inside is trying to subvert the new church's message."
"And this... second subliminal," Tony said, self-consciously glancing around the room, "what's it about?"
"That's what I've been puzzling over. If that second layer is intended to short-circuit the effects of the first one, the attack would have to be pretty specific."
"Great. So what's the countermeasure for---."
A screech of tires and a resounding thud stilled the room. Someone near the door shrieked.
"What was that?" Flynn said, squinting into the doorway's glare.
"Car crash!" The voice was anxious and a bit frightened. "Quick. Someone dial 911."
An earnest-looking man at a nearby table said, "Done," and grabbed his cell. He calmly reported the crash, giving the name and address of the restaurant as if he'd done it a thousand times. Then after listening briefly, he said, "Okay, I'll go look. Hold on." He had just reached the register when the people crowding the doorway gasped and stepped back, revealing a very angry man with a gun in one hand and a terrified hostage in the other. Two other men, both younger than the gunman, followed him in, and closed the door behind them.
While the gunman, who was clearly the leader, demanded that the manager lock the door, his two lieutenants told everyone to get up and move towards the back. The guy talking to 911 was only a few feet from the leader by this point, and he asked what was going on, holding his cell out like a mike. The gunman knocked it from his hand. "Back off," he said threateningly. "Join the others by the wall."
Even though the crowd was only a few feet behind where he sat, Tony slowly rose and joined them. Flynn, however, remained seated.
"You," thug number two said as he approached. "Up. Get over there."
Flynn looked solidly at him, his heart racing. "No. I'm already near the wall. There's not much further I can go."
A slammed fist rattled the plates. "I said go!"
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