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The door swung open on an eone

Two AM The night was un well for Grey After his run-in with Paulson in the commissary, Grey had returned to his room in the barracks He still had two hours to kill until his shift, h time to think about what Paulson had said about Jack and Sam The only upside was that it sort of took his , that funny echo in his head, but still it was no good, just sitting around feeling worried, and at a quarter to ten, just about ready to jump out of his skin, he put on his parka and crossed the co area he treated hi down the s heavy winter coats over their scrubs, exited the building and got into their cars and drove away Nobody so much as waved at him

The floor by the front door was slick with ed his boots clean and stepped to the desk, where the sentry took his badge and ran it through the scanner and waved him to the elevator Inside, he pushed the button for Level 3

"Hold the elevator"

Grey’s insides jumped: Richards An instant later he stepped briskly into the car, a cloud of cold air fro to his nylon jacket

"Grey" He pushed the button for L2 and quickly checked his watch "Where the fk were you this ?"

"I overslept"

The doors slid closed and the car began its slow descent

"You think this is a vacation? You think you can just shohen you feel like it?"

Grey shook his head, his eyes cast down at the floor Just the sound of the man’s voice couldto look at him

"Uh-uh"

"That’s all you have to say?"

Grey could s off hi in a crisper drawer Probably Richards could s Grey kneas deciding what to do

"I’ his eyes forward "Twelve hundred bucks"

The doors slid open on L2

"Don’t let it happen again," Richards warned

He exited the elevator and strode away As the doors closed behind hi in his chest Twelve hundred bucks-that hurt But Richards He made Grey more than a little juiven in thehad happened to Jack and Sam, that they hadn’t just flown the coop Grey reht in the field It had to be true: soht on Jack and Sa a view of the security detail, two soldiers wearing the orange arround nohich always made him feel a little claustrophobic at first Above the desk was a big sign: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY BIOLOGICAL AND NUCLEAR HAZARDS PRESENT NO EATING, DRINKING, SMOKING REPORT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS TO THE OD This was followed by a list of what sounded like a bad case of sto, disorientation, seizures

He gave his badge to the one he knew as Davis

"Hey, Grey" Davis took his badge and ran it under the scanner without even looking at the screen "I got a joke for you How htbulb?"

"I don’t know"

"Hey, you wanna go ride bikes?" Davis laughed and slapped his knee The other soldier frowned; Grey didn’t think he understood the joke, either "Don’t you get it?"

"’Cause he likes to ride bikes?"

"Yeah, ’cause he likes to ride bikes He’s got ADD It et it now"

"It’s a joke, Grey You’re supposed to laugh"

"It’s funny," Grey hed heavily "Okay, hold your horses"

Grey stepped back into the elevator with Davis Fro, silver key and placed it in a slot beside the button for L4

"Have fun down there," Davis said

"I just clean," Grey said nervously

Davis frowned and shook his head "I don’t want to know anything about it"

In the locker room on L4, Grey switched out his jumpsuit for scrubs Two other men were there, sweeps like hie whiteboard listed the duties of each worker for the shift They dressed together without speaking and exited the room