I didn’t expect him to share—of course not—but I wondered sometimes if he thought I was hoping he would. One of my few entertainments was hearing him eat his treats, because he always did so ostentatiously, perhaps rubbing it in the way he had with the pillow that first night.

Once, Jared slowly ripped open a bag of Cheetos—showy about it as usual—and the rich smell of fake powdered cheese rolled through my cave… delicious, irresistible. He ate one slowly, letting me hear each distinct crunch.

My stomach growled loudly, and I laughed at myself. I hadn’t laughed in so long; I tried to remember the last time and couldn’t—just that strange bout of macabre hysteria in the desert, which really didn’t count as laughter. Even before I’d come here, there hadn’t been much I’d found funny.

But this seemed hilarious to me for some reason—my stomach yearning after that one small Cheeto—and I laughed again. A sign of madness, surely.

I didn’t know how my reaction offended him, but he got up and disappeared. After a long moment, I could hear him eating the Cheetos again, but from farther away. I peeked out of the hole to see that he was sitting in the shadows at the end of the corridor, his back to me. I pulled my head inside, afraid he might turn and catch me watching. From then on, he stayed down at that end of the hall as much as possible. Only at night did he stretch out in front of my prison.

Twice a day—or rather twice a night, as he never took me when the others were about—I got to walk to the room with the rivers; it was a highlight, despite the terror, as it was the only time I was not hunched into the unnatural shapes my small cave forced on me. Each time I had to crawl back inside was harder than the last.

Three times that week, always during the sleeping hours, someone came to check on us.

The first time it was Kyle.

Jared’s sudden lunge to his feet woke me. “Get out of here,” he warned, holding the gun ready.

“Just checking,” Kyle said. His voice was far away but loud and rough enough that I was sure it was not his brother. “Someday you might not be here. Someday you might sleep too soundly.”

Jared’s only answer was to cock the gun.

I heard Kyle’s laughter trailing behind him as he left.