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the general stock of ashes.”
    Maz gently placed his hand on Hank’s shoulder. “I know it’s an awful lot to take in at once, Hank. I must seem pretty nonchalant about it to you, but this has been my life for over twenty years. You’ll be okay, trust me. Just remember, when you woke up yesterday you were fully expecting to die.”
    “But I can never go home again, can I? Never see my family?”
    “Afraid not. You’ll never have contact with the outside world for the rest of your life.”
    Hank rubbed his arm where the needle pierced his skin. It felt like a lifetime ago. “Then I may as well be dead.”
    “Try not to think of it that way. You’ve got a second chance. It’ll take a while, but you’ll adapt.”
    Hank slowly nodded. “I…I’m not sure what to think. This all seems like a bad dream.”
    “Tell ya what,” Maz clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “How about we get you out of this depressing room and into some real clothes? I just can’t get comfortable talking to man with his ass hanging out of the back of a gown.”
    Maz let out another one of his loud hacking laughs and Hank found himself joining him. He still didn’t feel very well and his mind was spinning from the last few minutes, but he was alive. For now, he was glad for that.

Chapter 6
     
     
    Maz led Hank out of the recovery room and down the hall. He stopped at a door marked 34R and gently rapped on it with his knuckles. “Here we go, Hank. Home sweet home.”
    It was the size of a typical bedroom consisting of bare cinder block walls and no windows. There was a bed, chest of drawers, closet, and a reclining easy chair pointed at a small television. A three piece bathroom completed the simple dwelling.
    “You’ll find three work shirts hanging in your closet and two pairs of shoes on the floor,” Maz said. “The top drawer holds five boxer shorts, five undershirts, five pairs of socks, and one pair of sweatpants. Drawer under that, two pairs of work pants. Laundry room is down the hall on the left.”
    Hank slowly walked through the room, taking it in. It was simple but everything was clean and in good condition. He paused under the ceiling vent, enjoying the cool air pumping into the room. It was a nice change from the stifling heat of his apartment.
    Maz stood in the doorway. “I’ll let you get cleaned up and dressed. I’ll be back in a little bit and we’ll continue your tour, get you a bite to eat.”
    Hank placed his hand over his stomach. “Sounds good, I am getting pretty hungry.”
    “Great. Just go in with low expectations and you’ll find the food in the cafeteria to be entirely edible.” Maz closed the door behind him, masking the sound of his hacking laugh as he walked down the hallway.
    Hank entered the shower and was surprised by the lack of a water gauge on the faucet. As the hot water washed over his body he thought that any place with air conditioning and unlimited water couldn’t be too bad. He showered for fifteen glorious minutes, the longest he’d ever bathed in his life, and finally turned off the water.
    After toweling off he got dressed in the same khaki uniform Maz wore and sat down in his recliner to check out the television. It offered a modest selection of what appeared to be internal channels, not the standard networks he had back home. He flipped through a few different movies and sitcoms before a knock at the door interrupted him.
    Maz greeted him and led Hank down the hall to the cafeteria. A handful of other khaki-clad men, all older than Hank, sat at a table in the corner, but otherwise the room was empty. Maz explained it was in the middle of a shift and most of the other men were working. “Dinner service won’t be for a few hours, but they have some sandwiches in the case over here,” said Maz.
    Hank chose a cold meatloaf sandwich and a bag of chips. He sat down at an empty table as Maz brought them cups of coffee. Hank looked around the room. “So where is this