I lay back, lacing my fingers behind my head. My chest ached, my back, too, and my head was throbbing. “I need to see Naomi. If you see her again, find me. That’s what’s most important.”

“Will do. But, Zeke? If they find out you know more than you should, you might not ever get out. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re not prisoners.”

“Try to leave. See how that works out for you.”

“We’re contracted in a high security facility. There’re protocols. Stop being so paranoid.”

Dean stood. “I guess it’s easier to believe that. Get some rest.”

“Thanks,” I said, staring at the ceiling.

When the door closed, I sat up, waiting for Dean to get back into his room and the stars to clear from my eyes. A sharp pain stabbed through my chest, and I pressed my fist against it, rubbing in circles until the sensation leveled off. The stars came back, and again I waited.

Once the dizziness went away, I stood, shuffling to the door in bare feet. The hallway seemed longer than usual, but I set out anyway, hoping to either see Naomi or prove Dean wrong.

I passed the quarters, then offices, the kitchen, the commons, and arriving at the blast doors.

I looked up, squinting even though it wasn’t that bright. The meds Dr. Patel had given me made my eyes more sensitive to light. “Gibbs,” I called.

He looked down at me from the platform the entrance security team manned.

“Didn’t you get banned from the blast doors, Lund?”

“What is the protocol for passing through those doors?” I asked.

Gibbs breathed out a laugh. “What are you talking about?”

“If I wanted to get some fresh air for a day.”

“No one walks through those doors,” Gibbs said, amused. “Not during a contract. Not unless you’re brass.”

“So I can’t leave? I’m a civilian. That’s false imprisonment.”

Gibbs laughed, and so did the rest of his squad. “Yeah, I guess it is. You’ll find the rules in here are very different. That’s why you’re able to get the treatments you’re getting.”

“Is that why I keep hearing screaming deeper down the corridor?” I asked.

Gibbs’ smirk vanished. “What screaming?”

“It sounded like an animal. Are they doing experiments down there?”

“You didn’t hear anything, Lund. Trust me.”

“Nazi Germany,” I said, nodding and looking away from Gibbs as I tried to nonchalantly take in all the info I could on the blast doors. If there was a way out, the entrance wasn’t it. “I willingly agreed to forgo my rights and live in Nazi Germany. That’s great. Just great,” I said, walking back toward my room.