[5: warm up / “I remember...”]

Meera woke up, cold, stiff, and sore. She rolled over and she found the cold wall of the little house with her shoulder. 

She groaned and started to remember the past day.

She woke with a start to what seemed to be a deafening silence.  It was dark, a moonless night with heavy cloudcover. The inky blackness was only held back by the glowing blue of the clock. It read 5:23.

She took a deep breath and tried to go back to sleep, but she could swear she could hear her blood rushing in her ears, and feel her heart beating. 

5:27.

She lifted her covers off and slid from the bed. It was cold, at least as cold as the house ever got with Uncle Ram keeping the heat up most of the time, always complaining of being cold lately.

She heard a wheeze from the hallway and she paused. A door opened, and there was the sound of a slow shuffle. Then there was a pause.

Another slow shuffling step or two.

Then there was a dull thump. 

She knew that wasn’t right.

She found the pair of buttons on the wall by the feel of the cold, metal plate. She pressed hard, and the room was flooded with light. She blinked for a moment, then tore the door open.