"Do yourself a little favor, Kat. Take some cloth, wrap it around your mouth. I can hear you just fine. I can feel what they're putting in the air," she said, having ample experience in dealing with it. She could resist the stuff better. And she wanted the other girl more aware ... at least when it started.

"I don't know why you, or even me. They're awful little men, and none of us knows. I only know what they want." She shrugged, reaching up and giving the door a tentative rattle, so Kat could tell it wasn't opening.