“Is that door locked?” I ask, pointing to it over my shoulder with my thumb.

“No, but the one it leads to is. We get notified when someone is back in that corridor, so we usually meet them. And I know what you’re thinking, but we’re not told until they’re back on the other side and it’s locked again.”

“What if you were to wait by that door to the clothes room?”

He shakes his head. “Don’t do that.”

“Why? What’s the punishment for it?”

“Room zero. Straight there, no questions asked, and no mercy shown.”

My body deflates, and I sink back against the sofa.

“They’re evil.”

What if I do end up dying in here? What if Hazel and I are sent to room zero together?

10

Theo hasn’t offered to show me the little corridor that leads to the clothes room, and although there is no one in one of those torture rooms right now, I don’t want to risk going there.

Priya, Lucie, and Kevin bring our sandwiches, and we eat in silence.

Hazel doesn’t eat; she just stares at her food.

My sandwich feels odd, as if my body is trying to keep it out. I swallow, forcing the food down. It must be getting late now, but I don’t have a watch on and there is no clock.

Everyone is so quiet, I don’t want to break the silence. I can see they’re in their own heads, thinking about this place, no doubt, wondering how and if we’ll be able to get out.

I finish half the sandwich, and my stomach closes up completely. I put the plate on the coffee table and focus on keeping the food down.

“You okay?” Priya asks.

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Not all that hungry after all?”

Shaking my head, I reply, “Not really.”

“That’s okay, it takes a while to be able to eat normally.”

It doesn’t seem right, getting used to everything that goes on here enough to be able to shake the nauseated feeling in my stomach, but I suppose it will happen. It’s survival, right? People keep going through the most horrendous situations because the survival instinct is so strong.

“When do you think I’ll have to go in one of those rooms?”

Now that Priya has broken the silence, my thoughts spill out.

Theo swallows and puts his empty plate down. “Some have waited weeks, others days.”

Days or weeks. Great.

I hope Hazel gets weeks. She needs more time to adjust. They might see that, and if they do, they could make her go sooner.

“Don’t think about that, Piper. You’ll drive yourself mad. Believe me,” Kevin says, shaking his head as if he’s recalling his early days here.