“Your bed is in there,” Slick said, jerking her head in the direction of the barrackslike bedroom. “You aren’t going to like the arrangement, but you better get over it in a hurry. We have eighteen minutes until it’s time to go to the orientation building, wherever the hell that is. The dog is supposed to lead the way. The guy who met us said we shouldn’t be late.”

Hawkins moved at the speed of light. He was back in sixteen minutes with two minutes to spare. They exited the Omega Three building as a group. The huge dog looked at them, seeming to take a head count before he started off.

“That is no true German shepherd if that’s what you’re thinking,” Hawkins said. “He’s part wolf. I know everything there is to know about dogs, and when I tell you that dog is part wolf, I want you to believe me. Translated, that means the dog is loyal to one person only, and that’s his master.”

“Is that supposed to scare us?” Slick asked.

“A dog like that scares the piss out of me, Slick. They don’t play by the same rules dogs play by. Think about this place, and it figures,” Hawkins said in a serious, ominous voice.

Sam, minus her khaki jacket, sniffed the air. It was pure and clean, heady with the scent of evergreens. It reminded her of the Christmas season. This was another world, and she hoped and prayed she could conquer it. Her shoulders started to twitch when she remembered Donovan telling her Big Pine Mountain was the second highest mountain in North Carolina. What bothered her more than anything was that the only way off the mountain was by helicopter or cable car. She knew in her gut that if any of them tried to leave via the forest, the vicious dog that was part wolf would be sent to bring them back. She shivered in the bright sunshine.

The dog stopped in front of a long, low building that was constructed of pine logs. It had a sturdy front door, a skinny porch, and wraparound louvered windows. The sign over the door read ORIENTATION. The dog barked once, then once again. The parade halted. No one moved until the door to the building was opened by the man who’d driven the golf cart. He motioned them inside to what looked like a classroom. Most of the seats were already full. Sam counted eighteen people. With her five roommates and herself, it came to four teams of six.

The room looked just like a college classroom minus the charts and blackboards. The wooden chairs with wide arms for writing and books were comfortable. What surprised her more than anything was that there was no chatter.