"I know," Melanie says, her latent pragmatism beginning to reassert itself. "We have to wake up sooner or later." It's what might happen before they wake up that worries her. Even if the hungries leave them alone, she doesn't like the idea of being shut in with her own body.

It's a dream. It's not real. There has to be something they can do to get out of this place - to really get out, not just the room, but this whole terrible situation.

Melanie frowns, thinking hard for a few moments. This has to be her dream. Can she change it? Make the dream do what she wants? That seems reasonable. The only problem is that it's not easy to imagine the world any other way than this.

Maybe she doesn't have to. Not on her own.

"I have an idea," she says, letting go of Daniel so she can pad over to the little bookshelf. The textbooks she disregards, and many of the others are in rough shape - 'Anne of Green Gables' falls apart under her hands - but there's a leather bound copy of 'The Secret Garden' that has weathered the years with relative success. Melanie cradles it in her hands and turns back to Daniel. "Maybe if I imagine someplace nicer," she starts, uncertain and hesitant. Daniel probably knows more about these weird dreams than she does.