Simon steps back slightly from the door and it opens a crack. He can clearly see the double barrels of a shotgun pointing out but the room behind is dark and he cannot make out whoever is holding it. A woman's voice comes out of the darkness.
'Hands up, turn around.'
Simon follows her instructions.
The door opens further and he catches sight of the room's occupant, she looks tired and disheveled, but it is unmistakably
Lindsay Peale.
She continues to train the shotgun on him, looks up and down the corridor, and then backs into the room.
'Come in. Slowly. Keep your hands where I can see them.'
Inside the room is lit by a desk lamp and the glow of the television screen, which is playing cartoons. There is a double bed on the left side of the room with a chair beside it, a door ajar on the far side with light coming through the gap. There are also curtains on the far wall which have been drawn, presumably covering a window.
Simon sees the wooden dresser has been pulled out from the wall and moved in front of the main door, although it has been pulled back to allow him in, there's also a round desk lying on its side nearby.
Lying on the bed, with a blank expression on her face, sort of watching the TV but not clearly taking it in, is a young girl, she looks like
Regina Balfour.
Lindsay circles around
Simon, the gun still trained on him, her finger on the trigger, and she closes the door and locks it, fastening the chain.
'Show me what you're carrying, empty it on the floor.'
