I crept up to the door, listening for sounds of people. When I heard nothing, I cracked the door, peering into the hallway.

I knew they had cameras recording me behind the two way, but judging by what I had seen a few minutes ago, nobody was actually watching.

It definitely looked like a hospital.

I hate hospitals.

Gray corridors stretching both ways, into a maze of other gray corridors.

I had to find a way out. Somehow.

But first, Gertie.

Nobody seemed to be patrolling the hallways, at least for the moment.

Like a hospital, they had signs telling you directions. Although it might have been clever to throw people off by not having any, the government didn't want their employees getting lost on the way to the bathroom...or Room 206.

I tiptoed down the corridor to my left, peering around the corner.

I saw a security guard stepping into a restroom.

I had to go too, but this wasn't the time.

I followed the signage, checking the numbers on the closed metal doors.

Hearing footsteps coming my way, I ducked into a breakroom, diving under a table.

A pair of boots clomped in.

I watched the figure in green clothing put change into a Coke machine.

He grabbed a glass bottle, tugged on it, but the roll bars refused to let go of the product.

He shook the machine, kicked it with his boot, tried to pull the bottle free again.

"Son of a bitch."

Still grumbling, he bought a packet of cigarettes from the machine next to it.

The moment he lit up, the Coke popped out of the other machine, shattering on the floor. The liquid pooled my way, seeping under the table.

The man swore, got himself a coffee instead.

I heard him slurp the drink, then flinched as he noisily snatched up wads of paper towels.

He squatted down to clean up the mess. My heart leapt into my throat when I saw his head turning my way.

With as much silence as I could muster, I darted out from under the table, racing into the hallway with my pulse pounding in my head.

201...202...

When I found the door, I pulled out the key, trying it in the lock.

It didn't work. I mean, why would it? Some guy just tucked it in the padded wall.

I sighed. If Gertie was in there, how was I to get her out?

I heard bootsteps again.

It wasn't very smart to make noise, but I had to know if Henry was right, so I knocked.

"Gertie!" I hissed.

No answer.

"Gertie!" Any louder and the guy in boots would hear me. I kept knocking.

"Big brother?"

"Gertie!"

"How'd you get out?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter! I...I'm going to get you out of there...somehow." I glanced back up the hallway, trying to think if I'd seen any place that might contain a bobby pin or a paper clip.

The door popped open, and there was my sister, also clad in a bland prison uniform, her hair robbed of decoration.

I didn't ask how the door got open. There wasn't time.

She rushed up and hugged me, crying on my chest. "I want mommy!"

I rubbed her back. "Me too. C'mon. Let's get out of here."

Easier said than done. Nothing was clearly labeled `exit' except a fire door that would set off an alarm the moment you pushed on the handle. I had to steer Gertie away from it.

I figured the men hadn't taken me far from their front door, so I retraced my steps back toward my cell. Admittedly not the greatest plan, but it was all I could think of at the moment.

"How did you get out?" I whispered as I led her past my room.

"I don't know. It just came open. What about you?"

"A monkey helped me."

"Henry, you mean?"

I stopped, gawking at her. "That's really his name? How...?"

She shrugged, answering my question the wrong way. "I asked the nice lady with the granola bars."

I frowned. "You got granola bars?"

Gertie nodded. "What did you get for breakfast?"

"Never mind," I groaned, pulling her further down the tunnel.

We snuck past a room full of ladies with electric typewriters, file cabinets and noisy phones.

The air was filled with the sounds of clacking, phone conversations, mimeograph and Xerox machines. They had a fancy new telephone that made copies. That thing made a lot of noise too.

"I think that black lady saw us," Gertie whispered.

Scowling, I glanced back for a second.

There was literally only one non-white face in the sea of women in skirted military uniforms. The woman didn't look up from her hammering typewriter.

"C'mon," I muttered.

"She looks lonely."

"Do you want to keep her company, or do you want to see mom?"

Gertie whimpered and clutched my hand.

We cracked a set of double doors, slipped into the next hallway.

Spotting a guard in a glass windowed security booth, we both ducked, creeping around below his field of vision.

"What now?" Gertie hissed.

"I don't know. If we move that door in any way, he'll see us."

I heard gibbering noises, then the door to the booth creaked open.

"Henry!" Gertie exclaimed.

"Shh!" I pointed to the door we'd been trying to sneak through.

"But what about Henry?"

I heard the guard shouting as the monkey screeched and attacked him. "I think he's helping us. C'mon."

The door next to the booth was locked, but the key actually worked. We entered another gray hallway.

"Now what do we do?" my sister asked.

"I...haven't thought that far ahead."

Hearing the sound of clopping high heels, we pressed our backs against a door, the recessed frame offering us a slight amount of concealment.

The heels clopped closer.

A female figure stepped around the corner. White lady, red hair, gray pantsuit.

"Hey!" Gertie cried. "It's the nice lady!"

She moved her arm to wave, but I held it down. "We can't trust her!"

The woman smiled, marched closer and waved to us. "Hello, children."

A moment later, Henry came scampering up to her, climbing up on her shoulder.

It made soft "Ook" noises, saying `I'm sorry' with its face.

The woman fed him a biscuit.

The door behind me came open, and a pair of soldiers grabbed us.