I stared at the hand for a long moment, and then, feeling the urgency in my bladder, I slowly put my hand on his palm, barely touching it—the way I would have touched a snake if for some reason I was ever forced to.

Jeb led me through the blackness with sure, quick steps. The long tunnel was followed by a series of bewildering twists in opposing directions. As we rounded yet another sharp V in the path, I knew I was hopelessly turned around. I was sure this was on purpose, and the reason Jeb had left the lamp behind. He wouldn’t want me knowing too much about how to find my way out of this labyrinth.

I was curious as to how this place had come to be, how Jeb had found it, and how the others had wound up here. But I forced my lips tightly together. It seemed to me that keeping silent was my best bet now. What I was hoping for, I wasn’t sure. A few more days of life? Just a cessation of pain? Was there anything else left? All I knew was that I wasn’t ready to die, as I’d told Melanie before; my survival instinct was every bit as developed as the average human’s.

We turned another corner, and the first light reached us. Ahead, a tall, narrow crevice glowed with light from another room. This light was not artificial like the little lamp by my cave. It was too white, too pure.

We couldn’t move through the narrow fracture in the rock side by side. Jeb went first, towing me close behind. Once through—and able to see again—I pulled my hand out of Jeb’s light grip. He didn’t react in any way except to put his newly freed hand back on the gun.

We were in a short tunnel, and a brighter light shone through a rough arched doorway. The walls were the same holey purple rock.

I could hear voices now. They were low, less urgent than the last time I’d heard the babble of a human crowd. No one was expecting us today. I could only imagine what the response would be to my appearance with Jeb. My palms were cold and wet; my breath came in shallow gasps. I leaned as close as I could to Jeb without actually touching him.

“Easy,” he murmured, not turning. “They’re more afraid of you than you are of them.”

I doubted that. And even if there were any way that it could be true, fear turned into hatred and violence in the human heart.

“I won’t let anybody hurt you,” Jeb mumbled as he reached the archway. “Anyway, might as well get used to this.”