William didn't answer. He didn't bat an eyelid as the other woman asked for water. An orderly instantly entered with a blue cup of sea water, and let her drink it.

   Susan waited until the orderly had left, and locked the door behind her. She rested her arm, it was beginning to cramp, and looked away from William to the wall. She was silent for a while, only occasionally flinching from pain as her wrist began to bleed, but her hand was almost half way free.

William dozed for awhile, and when he woke up asked for more water. He knew sea water was bad for you, so intended to drink as much as possible. He asked for more every few minutes, his throat getting sore and his tongue swollen. The other two patients asked as well, until it became too much for them and they stopped and fell asleep.

   Susan didn't ask for anymore water, even though her throat was itching and her mouth was dry. Everytime William asked for more, she glared at him in disgust. After a while, her hand finally jerked free of the bond, and she reached across to quickly rip the velcro away from her other hand.

William turned and watched with interest, trying to swallow. He made no move other than to watch, a spark of derision in his eyes.

   Susan freed her hands, and got her feet out of the chair. Standing, she looked toward the door, but no one had come in to stop her. A moments surprise later, she leaned down over William, "Want to come?"

William sighed. "No point. They'll catch you." He rotated his wrists in the velcro bonds, and imagined what it would feel like to have them off. It just made him more irratated.

   Susan glanced toward the door, no one had come in. She narrowed her eyes and straightened up, glancing to the camera in the corner. She new the door was locked, but the fact that she wasn't in the chair anymore was, good. She reached over and ruffled William's hair for fun, "How long has it been since you've had a good run?" she asked, moving over to study the other two, as if they would have something on them to pick the lock. Fat chance.

   Checking the woman's hair, Susan found nothing. No hair pins. She sighed and walked behind William as she pondered, constantly asking why no one had come in to stop her.

"A few weeks ago," William answered gruffly, also acutely aware of the strange absence of orderlies with huge shots of anesthesia. Unconsciously he began tugging harder at his bonds. He began to doubt. What if they really had a chance?

   Susan glanced down at him from behind, to watch him. After a moment, she leaned down over his shoulder and ripped the velcro bonds open, "Too long. Time for fresh air." she took a step back and looked up at the camera again, her gaze harsh.

William froze when his hands were freed. He didn't even breathe. He turned his head to look at Susan's face, and she could see the terror in his expression. Terror borne of years of captivity. Now, in the face of potential escape, he found he was afraid. Of trying, of being caught, of actually getting out... of surviving the experience.

   Raising an eyebrow at him, Susan nodded encouragingly, "Get up." she said, trying not to sound like it was an order. She was a bit shaken by his expression. He kept doing that to her! Setting her off balance by his state of mind, his comments, and his looks. She folded her arms, glancing down at her wrist, it had stopped bleeding, and was quite a mess. She looked back to William, waiting to see what he would do.

William swallowed hard, the soreness of his throat and tongue making the process painful, but it didn't show on his uncertain face. He took a shaky breath through the nose, and sat up. He swung his legs over the side of the gurny, visibly trembling. But there was that set to his jaw; a hard line of stubborness that tempered his fear. He lightly pressed his toes against the cold linoleum, but didn't move his weight fully off of the gurny and onto the ground. "What now?"

   She watched him with her arms folded and her weight on one leg, until a sigh of impatience blew past her lips, "You know what." she walked around to stand infront of him, "Stand on your own two feet." she said firmly, looking down at him with a dare in her eyes.

Anger immediately flooded his eyes, and he pushed off of the gurny so hard that it scuttled backward and crashed into her empty gurny. He stood tall and uncomfortably close, glaring down at her like she had just been doing to him.

   Susan smiled slowly, looking up at him with satisfaction. She nodded her head once, "I like you."

The anger was instantly washed away by confusion. The strong, broad-shouldered stance of challenge melted into outright surprise, his shoulders dropping and head jerking back. Ruddy color rushed to his cheeks and he stuttered. "What?"
How was it possible for one person to be so utterly charming? She yanked his emotions around like she held a chain attached to them.

   Susan laughed, for the first time in months, shaking her head, "Well, I mean that its good to know that you're still alive in there." she looked toward the camera again, and then to the door. She is silent for a few moments, in thought. She looks back to William and sets her hands on her hips, "There has to be a way out of here." her eyes roamed up to the ceiling.

Clearing his throat and turning away from her, he tried to recover. "Ah... frankly I'm surprised that we're not unconscious right now. When I used to try to escape, I found that all the windows in this place are made of bullet-proof glass, with wires running through it that carry an electric currant. You try to break through, you get blown back twenty feet." While thinking about this, he started to get that hollow, hopeless look back in his dark eyes. "Every door to the outside is hooked up to a klaxson, and if you try to force them open, they jam. You can only get out if you have a pass, an eye-scan, and a fingerprint on file that match up. And they can tell if the person staring into the scanner is unconscious, and the alarm will go off. Most of the facility is underground, anyway. Who knows how deep we are right now? We don't have a chance," he finished heavily, shoulders bowed.

   Susan glared at him and cranked back her fist to slug his shoulder, "Would you get a grip!" she sighed explosively and pointed a finger at him, "I refuse to believe that. I will not, I can't, let myself fall into that hole." she shook her head, "I swore I would get out of here. And I'm going to die trying if it comes to that."

William gave her a small, sad smile. "They never let you die trying." He shook his head and looked away, running his eyes over the door, and the other two people in the room. "Whatever you're going to do, do it."

   Susan rolled the gury over to him, "Keep this steady." she climbed up onto the gury and hit the ceiling panel. It came loose, and she pulled it down, tossing it over to the door. Reaching up, she tested the integrity of the panels boarder, "I'll bet this could get us to an outside vent."

"Ladies first." All emotion seemed to have deserted William. He was just going through the motions, refusing to believe that they would get out.

   Susan pushed off of the gurny, and pulled herself up into the pipe infested and dusty ceiling space. Wiggling around, she poked her head back down, "Coming up?" she asked, just as the sound of heavy footfalls echoed from down the hallway outside.

William looked at the door, shrugged, and wobbled up onto the gurny. He reached up and pulled himself through the dark square with powerful arms. He weighed more than Susan, and the ceiling panels cracked ominously, but didn't break. He drew his legs up and pushed them forward, flowing into the narrow space in an astounding display of acrobatic grace.