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2

It was an hour past one, and break was fast-approaching. The LED clock buzzed and Sarah’s boredom finally disappeared. She couldn't wait to get out of here.

Through the morning, she and Andy talked with Pip and Valerie about the door in the cafeteria. Sarah expected them to offer something more, for whatever reason, but as it turned out they were just as lost as they had been, if not more so. Valerie never paid much attention to the door at all, she told them. She figured it was a restroom of some sort for the robot zombies – although she coined the term Big Bullies for humorous reasons – and felt plenty confident that it led nowhere special. The only way out, she reiterated, was through the prison elevator.

But Sarah found that difficult to believe. She found it impossible to believe even. What if there was a fire? What if one of the dangerous animals got loose? Lulu, for example? There was no way they could all fit in that elevator; or maybe they could. Maybe they would leave the children behind.

But what about the drugs? They cared a great deal about those, needed them to make those millions Andy was telling her about. It just didn’t make sense. Even if the mysterious door didn’t lead to another exit point, she figured that somewhere, anywhere in this labyrinth of tunnels, there would have to be at least one other way out. At least one.

Sarah's hands were killing her by the time Teslaface came to open the door, even more so than yesterday. Andy explained that that would happen – the first few days were always the worst – but she would get used to it eventually. Sarah didn’t think so. She was a slow-learner. And this sort of learning was highly physical.

They made for the breakroom, sat at the picnic table, and Sarah sucked on apple slices and drank her cherry juicebox, eyeing the cogwheel-shaped door closely, remembering the nightmare she had earlier that morning. Then she looked at the giant fish tank; while it didn’t quite rock from side to side, it most certainly had various fish types, ranging from bright peacock cichlids to blue dolphins to those marvellous queen angelfish. An artificial waterspout snagged on the rocks and plant life, seeming to tilt on its axis.

Sarah saw her reflection on the Plexiglass: pale, as expected, and sort of… off. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but –

A hand touched her shoulder. “Sarah?” It was Pip, him and that big, facetious smile. “You okay?”

“She didn’t talk crap to Teslaface today,” said Andy with a laugh, “so of course she’s okay.”

“Might be the best idea,” said Valerie, fixing her red locks over her shoulder. She had finished up her chocolate bar and now crumpled the wrapper noisily in her hand. If Sarah did that around her sister she would lose it. “You looked awful terrified yesterday, Sarah.” She pouted.

“No I didn’t,” said Sarah defiantly.

“You were crying,” said Andy.

“No I wasn’t. I was just really upset.”

“Yeah, and water started pouring out your eyes ’cause of how upset you were,” quipped Andy, sipping his bottle.

“You’re a lot braver than the other kids,” said Pip. “I mean, I thought that was awesome from you yesterday, like, really awesome!” His smile spread across his face and cracked open into a grin. He was missing a tooth, and Sarah saw for the first time how yellow his teeth had been. What would he do if someone told him there was such a thing called toothpaste, and that people often used it to stop themselves from getting those nasty gum infections?

Sarah decided to find out. “Did you know toothpaste can get the yellow out from your teeth?”

Laughter from the group – from Andy especially, but not from Pip. No, his smile left him like a deadbeat father, gone as quick as summer rain.

“No I didn’t know that,” Pip said evenly.

“You’re welcome.” She sucked on her juicebox straw, grinning a foolish dog grin.

A moment of silence passed between him. The voices of the other children dinned in it.

Eventually, Sarah heard the whoosh from the sliding glass door, and a robot zombie stepped through. It took a moment for her to recognise him at first, but it was Bic; the man with the scary-looking eyes was back again, and this time he had someone with him. Another guard. She recognised him vaguely as one of the men at the front entrance two nights ago. A large chunk of flesh was missing from his ribcage, tamped with metal plating and treated with a gauze. His muscles were sharp and defined, and the wisp of black hair falling over his eye was greasy and spattered with white.

Andy turned, then Valerie, and soon all four of them were watching the men with a sense of incredulous regard. They walked across the cafeteria, going fast, as if late for a meeting. Sarah saw vials of Afterburner glowing from Bic’s utility belt, next to a fist-sized fannypack. He stopped at the 01 DOOR, reached down, unzipped the fannypack, and then the other guard stood forward, mumbling something she couldn’t understand. Bic zipped up his pack again and the guard pulled out a keycard before swiping it through the access slot. The door didn’t beep open, it didn’t squeak; instead, it cogged inwards, stopped, and began slowly parting at the centre. As the 0 split from the 1, the piston machine on the ceiling pumped faster, breathing great palls of black smoke into the vent, and for a moment the ozone tang grew thicker. Sarah coughed, feeling the smell somehow metamorphose into a tangible taste and slip down her throat in a condensed stream. It burned a little.

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Then the 01 DOOR plates separated fully, and she saw, just barely, what looked like a regular dark tunnel on the other side, one with rooms, a junction in the distance, and a single pink light bolted to the ceiling. A light that she couldn’t quite make out only for how bright it was.

“It’s a hallway!” said Sarah, surprised.

The robot zombies stepped through. The door closed and the piston slowed to its original pace.

“Well duh,” said Pip, looking at her disapprovingly. “We know that part.”

“The choices are it either leads nowhere or somewhere,” said Andy. “And that’s a pretty big difference, especially when you can easily get caught and… well, ya know.”

Sarah knew where he was going with it. He was going to mention Billy Wilson again. She looked at Andy with a cocked eyebrow. “Do you think Bic keeps his card in his fannypack?”

“His fannypack?” said Pip, seemingly amused by the word. “And behold, word of the day.”

“It’s a real word – !” said Sarah.

“I knoooow,” Pip said, frustrated. “I’m not stupid. You keep telling us about this key and trying to get out but we told you already that it’s not a good idea. Why do you keep talking about it?”

“Because my sister’s in trouble,” said Sarah, knowing that was only half the reason. She deliberately left out the part about her being afraid of Teslaface and Mr Steel. She tapped her fingers on the table, thinking of Slack Off Smoke.

“You think she’s not already in enough trouble with you here?” Pip swathed his chocolate-bar wrapper around his water bottle.

Before Sarah could respond, Valerie leaned forward and said:

“I’m with Pip.” Her voice was high with authority. “It’s too dangerous, and the chances of you getting away with any of this are very slim. Actually.”

Actually, thought Sarah, the chances of living are the same if I stay here. Teslaface said so. “But what about them killing us anyway? That’s what Andy said.”

“What?” said Pip, gape-mouthed. Both he and Valerie looked at Andy questioningly.

Andy sighed, flipped the bowl over, finished off his water, and laid the bottle inside. “The guards kill us once they’re finished with us.”

“How do you know that?” snapped Pip. “And why didn’t you tell us before?”

“One, because Mr Steel told me when I first got here, that I was gonna work for him until I died so I should get used to never seeing my sister again. And two, because I figured you already knew, I figured Mr Steel had the same ole shtick for everyone on that bus.”

Pip’s eyes bugged. His arms fell limp at his sides. “How long till they kill us? And why?”

Andy shrugged, keeping his eyes on the bottle. “Dogged if I know.” Then he looked at Pip with pursed lips. “My guess is they don’t wanna, you know, have us rat on them after we're released. But it’s different for Sarah. Sarah’s sister is, what, a criminal?”

Sarah didn’t consider her such; only someone who cared about her so much that she would do anything to make sure she led a happy life, to get her off the streets and into a warm home. And she did all that. As a loving sister should. “She’s a hacker, I told you.”

“In other words: a criminal,” said Pip.

“Nuh-uh.” She shook her head. “She’s a good person. Don’t call her that.” She furrowed her brow and Andy raised a calming hand.

“My point is your sister’s probably wanted, correct?” asked Andy.

“Think so,” said Sarah.

“Yeah,” he said, picking up the bottle and flipping it around his fingers, “that’s what I mean. The rest of us aren’t blackmailed into anything. We’re just… kids.”

There followed a moment of silence so heavy that Sarah couldn’t help but hum Slack Off Smoke and think about the 01 DOOR in greater detail. Whatever was on the other side was important – flipping had to be! – and must have had a separate exit point. If not, then… who knew? Maybe it was a secret base where all the robot zombies got together and discussed ways to torture the children further. She supposed she was better off getting her new friends’ approval before doing anything rash, like going in to find out for herself. Her and that detrimental curiosity, coming to sink its claws into her stomach again, filling her with worry and doubt.

“What do you think, Andy?” she asked suddenly.

“About what?” he said.

“Do you think we should try to see what’s on the other side?” she said.

He sighed again, and then the sigh turned into a neigh. There was just something so damned about him; the way he acted so cool yet, deep down, perhaps had a reason for not wanting to leave. “How do you plan to do it?”

Sarah thought for a moment. She had actually been thinking about this a lot more than she let out – all night and day to be specific. She had a hunch: Bic’s fannypack. She explained this, explained that his keycard was likely stashed inside, and if he came around again they might have been able to somehow snatch it without him noticing.

“Surely he’ll know when he realises he can’t open the door,” pooh-poohed Pip.

“Not if the other robot zombie opens it for him,” said Sarah.

Andy chuckled. “Robot zombie…. Gosh….”

Right after, Pip said, “You’re willing to risk that? Are you stupid? You could get us all in trouble!”

Sarah pouted with anger. “I’m not stupid, don’t say that.”

“I’m not saying you’re stupid,” Pip said, clenching his fists. “I’m saying the idea of you somehow zipping through his pack without him noticing, and somehow opening the door in broad daylight with everyone watching, is stupid.”

Valerie nodded. “Can’t we just do our work and get on with life? I doubt they’ll kill us. Honest.”

“Honest?” said Sarah, thinking of Luna. “I want my sister. I want her now!” She spoke louder than she had anticipated, and one of the guards looked over at her and told her to shut it. Her face softened, and her muscles relaxed. She grumbled, “You guys wouldn’t understand.”

Andy chuckled again, and after another long pause, the bell whirred across the walls. The guards came storming in, shouting and telling everyone to get to work.

Even through the babel, Sarah heard Andy speak, a single line which reignited her curiosity:

“We could always stage a fight.”