"… It's quiet," said Morello suddenly, breaking the prolonged silence that had settled over the closet. "Isn't it? It's too quiet. Where did everybody go?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Nicky asked, staring at the doorknob - terrified that it would begin to turn. "They're probably hiding like we are." Morello let out a strangled sob.
"They're dead. I can just feel it, can't you? That— that thing killed them all, and now—"
"They're not dead, all right? Just… stop it; calm down. It's okay." Nicky rubbed Morello's back, roughly but soothingly. "Don't have a breakdown on me here, Morello; I swear to God."
"Okay. Okay, you're right." She tried to take deep, calming breaths. "Maybe we should get out of here. I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic, you know what I mean?"
"Fuck no," was Nicky's immediate response. She was pretty sure she didn't ever want to leave this closet, and she sure as hell didn't want Morello to. "Let's just wait a little bit longer. Just a little bit longer, okay?"
Morello sobbed again, but nodded. "If we don't hear footsteps for ten more minutes, then we go."
"Good plan. Ten minutes, starting now."
Maxwell slammed the door to the kitchen, shutting in herself and a small group of inmates. She hadn't seen the attacker first-hand, but she'd heard enough to know that this was serious— by now, word had spread that Ricci and an A-Dorm inmate had been killed. Brutalized. And if the TV reports were right, it would spread. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. This was just insane. There was no protocol for this.
Then she spun around, facing the inmates— B-Dormers and A-Dormers who she'd been able to grab and shove into the room ahead of her. Others had run down the hall, down the stairs, outside… God knew where they were now, or what was happening to them.
"We're still on lockdown," she said slowly, aware of how ridiculous that sounded. "But the prison isn't safe anymore. This is gonna sound nuts, but you all need to go through the back door and out the loading dock. Get out of here."
Nobody moved.
"You heard me!" Maxwell snapped. "A CO died. An inmate died. This is some kind of brain virus that's making people violent, and it's in here now, so you guys need to get out. If they won't let you through the front gate, climb the fence and go through the woods. Nobody is going to stop you— they're too busy with this."
"You're really telling us to escape," Taystee said, disbelief written across her face. "You a guard, and you're telling us to escape from prison."
"I'm telling you this isn't a prison anymore." Maxwell brushed past her and the others, heading for the loading dock door. She threw it open. "It's a death trap."
"That way. Down there— go, go, go." Daya went first. Gloria and Aleida, both jockeying for the position of her main helper, went next, followed closely by Maritza, Flaca, and Maria. Bennett hadn't been happy about yet another new addition, but a snap from Gloria ("She's family") and a glare from the rest had stifled any protests he might have made. They were now a group of seven, whether he liked it or not.
"There's a side door down there," Flaca said. "We can—"
"I know." Bennett glanced back, making sure they weren't being followed. "That's where we're going. Come on."
They hurried along in silence, faces drawn and tense. When they neared the door, Bennett sped up, positioning himself at the front of the group. "We're going to go to the main gate. We're going to go to my car. I think they're going to let us out." He didn't really think that. In fact, he was almost sure that this plan would fail— he was pretty confident that he could sneak out one person, but there was no way he could think of to get off-camp with six inmates in tow.
But when they tried it this way and it didn't work, maybe it would be easier for him to convince Daya that she needed to come with him— alone.
"We're gonna walk out just like that?" Maritza said skeptically. Aleida crossed her arms, also looking unimpressed.
"Really? You can't come up with a plan better than that? Ai."
"If you want to come up with something, be my guest. But unless you think of something in the next minute—" he was cut off by screams from outside. Flaca and Maria both took several quick steps back from the door; Gloria grabbed them to keep them from bolting.
"… Okay. Uh, stay here," said Bennett. "I'm just… gonna go check that out. Nobody move."
"John, no." Daya grabbed him hard, fingernails digging into his arm. "Please don't go out there." She was almost in tears. "You can't leave me."
"Hey," he said softly, bending slightly. "It's gonna be okay. Don't be scared. You… you're gonna be with your mom, and your friends, and then we're going to get out of here. Okay? You'll be fine. Our baby will be fine. Just wait here for a second. This'll take two seconds."
"You promise." Daya didn't break eye contact.
"I promise. I'll be right back." She hesitated— and then nodded, letting him go. He went out the door.
