“Are you okay?” Ethan looked down at Zoe as she collapsed on her side on the bed and covered her face with her hands. She looked so small on the white mattress, like a doll in her baggy coveralls. He felt a twinge of something forming in his chest, a protective instinct. He wondered if this was part of who he was, that he was the type of person who liked to protect other people, or if this feeling had something to do with Zoe in particular. He felt drawn to her for no reason he could define.

  Crouching down beside her, he waited for her to respond to his presence, half expecting to hear her begin to cry at any moment. But she remained silent, simply breathing deeply even though her breath caught on every exhale and her body shook with shivers as if she were cold. “Zoe?” he asked finally, his hand hovering over her arm.

  She reacted violently, jerking away as soon as he got close. Retreating across the squeaky mattress until her back was pressed against the wall, she glared at him. “Don’t,” she gasped. “I. Just. Have. To. Catch. My. Breath.”

  “Are you having a panic attack?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, her breath finally coming a little easier. “This horrible feeling… it feels familiar, but I don’t know why. And I feel so ashamed for some reason, like this is something I should hide.”

  “You don’t have to hide anything. We don’t even know each other,” he said patiently, retreating so that his back was against the wall opposite her. “But for some reason I get the sense that I’ve seen a panic attack before, and I know that you probably need more space. Sorry for getting so close.”

  She laughed weakly. “It’s okay. I don’t even know what I need right now.” She rolled over onto her back and looked up at the featureless ceiling. “All I know is that those two kept saying all those horrible things and making wild speculations and my heart kept beating harder and harder until the walls started to close in on me and I got all hot and cold at the same time, and—”

  “Zoe,” he said gently but firmly. “Slow down. You’re starting to get sucked back into it again. Just breathe. You’re okay. You’re safe. Everything is going to be fine.”

  Her eyes focused on him as she forced herself to breathe more deeply, slowing the breaths down deliberately until they began to come more easily and naturally.

  “That’s it. Much better.”

  “Thank you,” she said, her voice faint. Suddenly a sweet smile bloomed on her face, and it made his chest begin to ache, “If we did know each other before this, I think we must have been close.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I don’t know. Just a feeling I get.”

  He smiled. “Yeah. Me, too.”

  ///

  “I guess that’s it,” Sloane said with disappointment after they returned from the utility room. They had found the supply chute but it was empty. Luckily, the kitchen appeared to already be stocked with enough food to get them through at least a day.

  “Except for that damn door that won’t open,” Jade countered.

  “You mean the one with the wheel on it? The exit?”

  “What other door could I mean?” she demanded.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you saw something I missed. That video did say something about additional amenities appearing later, didn’t it?”

  “Did it?” She looked genuinely surprised and he wondered how she had managed to space out during that video. His eyes had been riveted to the screen. “Anyway, this place is ugly as hell. The bedrooms are so bland, and everything is as generic as you can get.”

  “Including the food in that kitchen,” he agreed, thinking about the stupid names on the containers. They were all parodies of recognizable brands. “Speaking of which, am I the only one who is getting hungry?” He began walking toward the kitchen with a purpose.

  She scoffed. “Are you sure you want to eat that food? What if it’s poisoned?”

  Screwing up his face at her, he asked, “Why would it be poisoned?”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “You did watch that stupid orientation video, didn’t you? That thing was fucking suspicious.”

  “I got the impression you didn’t pay much attention to it.”

  “Not because I wasn’t interested. I got distracted by all of my suspicions.”

  He began searching through the cabinets for something small and convenient to eat. Finally coming across a bag of “Waffle Crisps” he pulled it out and tore it open. The chips were a little stale, but tasted enough like his favorite potato chip that he didn’t mind. Jade leaned back against the counter next to him and watched him eat for a few minutes before finally reaching into the bag and pulling out a chip. Sniffing it cautiously, she shrugged and popped it into her mouth.

  “Mmm. Thahs goo,” she said, mumbling around a mouthfull. Swallowing loudly and reaching her hand back into the bag, she said, “Feels like I haven’t had anything like that in a really long time. Like I’ve been on some kind of stupid diet and haven’t eaten junk food in ages.”

  “You do look pretty fit,” he pointed out.

  She arched a brow at him. “Like you don’t. What, do you lift a car every day or something?”

  “Who knows? But these chips taste like something I haven’t given up to get in shape.”

  Pointing at him with a chip, she said sagely, “Men don’t have to work as hard to get into shape as women.”

  He stiffened defensively as if this were a tender spot for him. “Or maybe I just eat chips on my cheat day.”

  “I suppose that’s possible.” Munching happily, she squinted suddenly at his arm. “What’s that thing on your wrist?”

  Looking down at his arm in confusion, he noticed that the watch on his wrist was a little bulkier than he would have expected. Matte black with a digital display, it was blinking occasionally with a subtle blue light. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly, looking closer and discovering that the face of the watch brightened when he brought his finger closer. He found that the screen changed when he swiped over it in certain directions and that it scrolled through several different screens that appeared to be providing up-to-the-second information about his body, including heart rate, distance walked, last activity, current goals, stress level and reminders.

  “Weird,” he said. “Looks like I walked several miles today and I went for a run yesterday. My heart rate is excellent, by the way.” He held up his wrist to show her.

  “Super fit,” she said with a coo in her voice. “Look at your resting heart rate! Are you even human?” Twisting his arm at an uncomfortable angle to get a better look at the screen, she asked, “What’s that little icon on the top? It’s blinking.”

  He looked closer and noticed it looked like a Bluetooth icon. Feeling for pockets in his outfit he suddenly felt as if he were missing an appendage when he realized they were all empty. He got the sense that he never went far without a phone. “I guess it isn’t connected to the device it’s supposed to be connected to.”

  “Was there a phone in your bedroom?”

  “No. There wasn’t anything in there. Except for that stupid contract.”

  She sighed and stopped in the act of reaching for more chips. Although she hadn’t said a word, he instinctively knew he agreed with her when he rolled the bag shut and put it on the counter with a sinking feeling. His appetite was completely gone. What were they doing here? It was eerie thinking about the data on his fitness watch and how it knew more about what he’d been doing before he got here than he did.

  ///

  “Did you learn anything from that?” Micah nodded at the rulebook that Olivia had discarded on the coffee table when she got up to look closer at the screen.

  “Nothing. Just a lot of legal nonsense. More elaborations on what was already in the video. But I couldn’t really focus on it either.”

  He picked up the book and began flipping through it absently.

  “You don’t seem as freaked out by all of this as everyone else does,” she observed.

  Looking up at her startling green eyes, he blinked at her a few times before responding. “Yeah, I don’t know why. But you’re right. I’m not really worried. I guess it’s because it feels a little like a puzzle and I’m too wrapped up in solving the riddle to worry about the bigger questions, you know?”

  She considered this silently, and he noticed how still she could be. When she was lost in thought, she almost looked like a statue. “I wish I could look at it that way. But I can’t help feeling like something is wrong. Like I’m missing something important. I can’t relax.”

  “There’s no use in wasting energy over something that might not even be an issue. This place seems comfortable enough, and there isn’t anything threatening us at the moment, at least, so why not settle in and consider it at your own pace? There’s no time limit or countdown clock to worry about.” He shrugged and then frowned. “At least not as far as we know.”

  A faint smile curved her lips. “I know you’re right, but I can’t stop feeling uneasy, even if my brain is telling me I don’t need to be afraid.”

  “Maybe exploring a little more will help,” he suggested. “I know it always makes me feel better to get the lay of the land.” Even as he said the words he wondered if they were true. How could he know something like that about himself when he couldn’t even remember who he was?

  But his words seemed to shift her mood. “Good idea. Walking around would help burn off some of my anxiety too.” She stood up and stretched. “We should all regroup here later to compare notes. Tell the others if you see them.”

  He glanced at the clock on the wall and noted that it read ten o’clock. Given that they had only woken up a little while ago, he imagined that it was morning, not evening. “Why don’t we all meet up around noon?”

  A crease formed between her eyes as she regarded the clock, and he could almost hear her wondering if they could trust the time. There were no windows, after all, and they had no way of knowing if the clock was at all accurate. “Okay. See you later.”