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The people who had gathered for Chester’s non-talk became an amoeboid mass working its way through the hotel corridor in macro-scale Brownian motion. They filled the hall, begrudgingly squeezing to one side or the other to let people pass the other way, then immediately reclaiming the space as they flowed forward. Dale would have happily let the crowd creep ahead of him, not so much losing them as politely drifting away, but Ralph kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure Dale was right there. The attention discomfited Dale, but at least the person leading the crowd knew where to get a beer without punching a path through to the bar.
After today, a drink might help.
Heck, he wasn’t driving; maybe two.
The lobby wasn’t nearly as crowded as it had been two hours ago. Seven people s
