This is where it was, this very spot.
I stand in the exact area where guards dragged me just a few months before. If it weren’t for Cole and Zeus, they would’ve raped me right here. And probably murdered me afterward. I clear my throat and take a deep breath, feeling a twinge of guilt for being angry at Cole. He grabs my arm, and my hands reflexively come up.
“I’m right here,” he says.
“Thank you,” I say.
“Come on, faster people,” Bruno says.
I straighten my shoulders, put the flashlight away, and focus. “The stairs are that way.”
Cole leads, flipping on his night-vision goggles as we get further in. He steps over things we can’t see and tries to lead us safely away from them. He stops. He’s maneuvering in the darkness, and I wonder what he’s doing. Then a flashlight flips on, and I notice he’s pulled off his night-vision goggles He points the light toward the wall and nods for me to follow it.
The doorway to the staircase. Next to it is a sign that reads STAIRCASE/8 WEST. An eerie feeling washes over me. The morgue is only next door. It’s too bad we can’t take the elevator, but I know the cameras would probably pick us up immediately.
“This is it,” I say in a flat voice.
He jiggles the handle, which doesn’t budge. He slams his shoulder into the door, but it won’t open. Another flashlight flicks on, and Bruno comes to the front of the line.
“Never get lucky,” he says. “Everyone back up.”
“Seriously?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’m going to blow this sucker.”
“Oh, hell,” I say, covering my ears.
Cole pushes us away from the door and holds the flashlight as Bruno fires at the lock. Next thing I know, the handle’s dangling from the door. When Bruno pushes the door open, it squeals in protest.
They have to know we’re in the building now.
“Run, Forest!” Bill says. But I have no idea what he’s talking about.
Cole flashes his light up the dark stairwell. “Follow me.”
We move in procession up the first flight. I do my best to be quiet, even as Zeus’s nails tap along the floor.
Two flights. Roméo stops to catch his breath. He gasps and coughs.
“Come on, we’re almost there,” Bruno says. He pulls Roméo forward.
Three flights. Grace bends over, placing her hands on her knees. I run to her side and put my hand on the back of her backpack.
“What do you need?”
“Water, please.” She sounds raspy, so I grab her water and let her drink some before putting it away.
Four flights. My lungs are on fire. My legs ache. I hope I don’t start cramping up.
Five flights. Even Cole is breathing heavier now. He’s not running so much as jogging up the steps now. His flashlight bounces, and he checks every door along the way. So far, all of them are locked.
Six flights. I’m pretty sure my backpack has completely stripped the skin off my shoulders. I glance back into the shadows. Roméo and Grace look worse. Bruno, on the other hand, looks like he could take another twenty flights carrying Grace and all her equipment on his shoulders.
Seven flights. Bill chugs from his flask, then chucks it away. It clanks on the way down the stairs, making me want to punch him for being so thoughtless.
Eighth and final floor—where Sutton’s office is. Once again, the door’s bolted shut. I feel all jumpy as Bruno and Cole try to get through it without using their guns. It’s no use. Cole shakes his head. Bruno aims his gun.
“Stop,” Bill says from the back. “Let me try.”
Bruno pulls his finger away from the trigger and allows Bill to step in front of him. In his hands, Bill holds two tools that look like small bobby pins, except one of them is curved. First, he sticks one in the hole and jiggles it up and down, pulling it back out. Then he puts the curved end of the other one at the bottom while shoving the first tool back in. He pulls the bottom tool left, while flicking the other up.
With a click, he pulls the door handle, and it opens.
“What the hell was that?” Bruno asks. “Why didn’t you tell me you could do that?”
“You didn’t ask.”
Bruno slowly opens the door an inch. Nothing happens. He slides in, Cole moving in behind him. I give cover as the others enter, following shortly after. I can tell the sun’s rising because the hallway’s a strange hue of light blue. The doors to the patient rooms hang open, but I don’t hear a sound.
This seems too easy.
Bruno moves toward the first room, clearing it. Cole moves to the next.
“Clear,” Cole says.
“Clear,” Bruno says.
They head into the next rooms as Grace, Bill, and I move farther down. I kick in a door and shove inside with my gun raised. I scan the room. My nerves are taut, but my hands are steady. The bed’s undone, sheets half on the floor. The chairs are overturned, and the bathroom’s dark. I slowly walk to the bathroom door and push it open. Nothing.