Amy made herself as small as possible. Her hope of being cured, her wish to have the warden find her, everything that had filled her head withered when she heard the noises coming from the Path. It was the sound of meat being pounded into pulp. She knew that she was a coward for not helping Basil, but she couldn’t let them find her. She couldn’t let them put her back in her chair. She dragged herself farther under the table, tucked herself into a ball, and waited for the noises to stop.

They went on for a very long time.

Even after the noises ceased and the army receded, dragging Basil away with them, Amy remained hidden underneath the table. She was tempted to stay there until dawn, until the floor lights automatically powered up and first shift arrived. It would be so much easier not to move. But Warden Worth was looking for her, and she knew it would be only a matter of time before the penitents came back, sweeping the floor, searching for her. She had no doubt they would find her, just as she knew Warden Worth was not a man who believed in forgiveness. She had to go. Now.

But to get out she needed light, and the only light was with Basil. She crawled on her hands and knees up the aisle, expecting at any moment for a hand to come out of the darkness and grab the back of her neck. The flooring ended and she felt the lip of the Bright and Shining Path. It was gritty now, smeared with mud and sand and something sticky. A marshy odor hung in the air. Amy swept her hands in big arcs across the grimy floor, searching for Basil’s phone. The longer she searched, the more panic tightened her bruised chest. If she couldn’t find the phone, she would have no light, and if she didn’t have light she would have to creep through the store in the dark, wandering in circles, lost.

Her fingertips brushed something plastic that skidded away. Got it, she thought. She powered on the phone, and its dead television light bloomed in her face. She flashed it around to make sure nothing was waiting for her in the shadows, and then she studied the screen to find a way to brighten it.

It was locked with a passcode. Amy thought for a minute and then remembered Basil’s devotion to Orsk. She spelled out the letters on his keypad, 6775, and to her delight the home screen opened. She thumbed through to the flashlight app, the light brightening as she punched it on.