How long can you be in solitary confinement, flitting from torture room to torture room before you lose yourself completely? Evan is one of the strongest people I know, but everyone has their limits and I could see in his eyes that he was scared when they called his name.

Priya senses my stress. “It’s been a good few hours now, but I’m sure he’s fine.”

I shake my head. “But he keeps having to do this over and over. How do you stay strong through that?”

“He’s stronger than anyone. Caleb, Owen, and Matt know that, which is why they kept him in those rooms for months, Piper.”

“Right. Yeah, that makes sense. They punish him harder.”

Hazel scoffs. “He’s probably dead. We don’t know where Kevin is. They’re probably in room zero.”

“Hazel!” I snap, scowling at her. “If you can’t be positive, then don’t speak! I’ve had enough of this doom-and-gloom attitude you’ve adopted since we got here.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for being realistic.”

“You’re not being realistic; you’re being pessimistic, and it’s not helping.”

She rolls her eyes and flicks through one of the old magazines, ignoring me.

All our lives, she’s been so upbeat. Whenever I had a freak-out that I’d done badly on a test or essay, she would talk me down. I hate what this place is doing to my best friend. I miss the old her so much.

There is nothing I wouldn’t do to be back in my room with her, eating popcorn, watching some stupid rom-com, or trying to pick out the killer in a mystery movie.

Hazel never guessed right because she always overthought it.

I probably shouldn’t have snapped at her, but her attitude is crappy. Constantly hearing the worst-case scenario is bringing us all down. I’m not naive. I know what they’re capable of, but I can’t let my mind constantly go there. Hope is all we have.

I turn back to Priya. At least she’s trying to make the best of things here until we figure a way out of this mess. “You’re right. Evan’s probably just being kept in there longer. I hate that he’s been treated worse because he tried to escape. I mean, it makes sense for them to do that, as a deterrent to the rest of us, but it sucks. Royally sucks. We would all escape if we could,” I say.

“We can,” Priya whispers. “Remember, there is a way out of here. We just need to figure out which way is most likely to work.”

Any new ideas would be welcomed.

What if Kevin and Evan are in room zero?

The door in the hallways clicks, unlocking. Priya and I jump to our feet. Lucie dashes out of the bedroom, and Theo puts down his plate to walk closer.