“Wait,” Kanani said. They paused to listen again. If any guards came down here now, they’d be cornered. Yet only the caged light bulbs hummed above, and the screams from the break room had faded and ceased. Coast clear. They continued on, the corridors longer and colder than she imagined. The route turned, reached a fork. A right corridor had stairs at the end, leading up at a sharp grade. Jock pointed them left. The left corridor ended at a large door with a wheel-like handle, like on a ship. The wheel’s hub had a lock. Jock spread the keys out in his palm and tried a few in the lock while Kanani stood back as if Jock were defusing a bomb.

The seventh key released the wheel. Jock spun it; the door popped open. Stale and sour air hissed out, warm on Kanani’s face, making her squint. The cell was dark inside. Jock drew his flashlight. He pointed the light in. The beam hit the scarred, stained concrete wall opposite, no more than ten feet away. A rusty drain in the middle of the floor. This was surely a cell. It smelled like an outhouse. In the near right corner stood a latrine bucket. A dull metal dog bowl sat empty. In the far left corner was a lump, under a dark blanket.

“Wendell?” Jock said.

Kanani rushed into the doorway, then stopped.

No answer.

Jock went inside on the balls of his feet, careful not to step on anything. The dark lump had legs and toes sticking out. Jock tore off the blanket.

It was Wendell Lett. He was facing the wall. He wore a torn and soiled white T-shirt, Army-green boxer shorts. He lay curled up as if to shield himself. His hands were pressed flat to his ears so that he couldn’t hear whatever was invading his dark cell.

Kanani had frozen just inside the doorway with a hand outstretched, as if begging.

“Lett. Wendell,” Jock said. He tugged at Wendell’s elbows and barked, “Lett, Lett,” but Wendell only recoiled. Jock hooked his fingers around Wendell’s and pried half a hand off an ear. “Wendell, it’s me, Jock,” he repeated. “The Marine.”

Wendell loosened. He looked up at Jock.

It was the blankest look Kanani ever saw on a face that wasn’t dead.