“I’m getting out of here. I’m a civilian for fuck’s sake.”

“So are the docs. They don’t go anywhere either.”

“How did you get stuck down here?”

Dean grinned. “I volunteered like everyone else, having no fucking clue what I was signing up for.” He thought about that for a moment, then snapped out of it. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit, but whatever they’re doing is working. I get stronger every day.”

A loud bang sounded down the hall, and something cried out.

Dean laughed at my reaction.

“What the fuck was that?” I asked.

“Probably something getting treatments like you and complaining just like you.”

“Something?”

Dean’s expression changed like it always did when we got too close to a conversation about Deep Echo. “I’d better go. You should get some sleep.”

“I can barely keep my eyes open, but my brain’s not tired.”

“I keep forgetting to tell you. I saw your girlfriend this morning.”

“You saw Naomi? In here?”

“No, dumbass, she can’t come back here. I’ve told you that. Everyone has told you that. I saw her through the corridor entry glass. She was patrolling.”

“Damn it. How do I keep missing her?”

“You’ll see her again eventually. She’s upped her stops here to four times a day instead of once.”

“How did she look?”

“She’s a fine piece of ass.” I didn’t respond, and Dean began to laugh. “I’m kidding, my dude. She looked good! She takes no shit off our security team, that’s for sure.”

“If her team is so specialized, why does she just walk the halls all day?”

He shrugged. “I’ve asked myself that several times. The rumor is that Bennett brought her here. They were married or something when they were young and split up because he didn’t like her getting deployed. He created the team, added her and her crew so he could keep her out of the field.”

“Sounds like a rumor to me,” I said.

“Yeah, but around here the rumors usually turn out to be mostly true. You just have to figure out which part. Her team has to be bad asses, though. They’re the last line of defense before anyone or anything gets to Deep Echo.”

“Is there treasure down here or something?” I teased.

“You don’t want to know what’s down here,” Dean said, his smile gone.

I stood.

“Where are you going?” Dean asked.

“To look for treasure.”

He grabbed my arm, shaking his head. “Zeke, you don’t want to do that. Besides, most of it is blocked off by checkpoints.”

“Then I’ll go as far as I can. I haven’t even been past the offices.”

“There’s a reason for that. Just … let it go.”