Marcus, the Kid Behind the Second Door

When I started writing Door Two, I thought it was a story about a shooter game. Walls that blow apart, patrols that turn at the fourth step, a heavy gunner that comes slowly and never stops.

Then Marcus showed up, and it turned into a story about him.

Marcus is thirteen. He has been inside Door Two for two years. He can't leave. He's tried every door and every glitch, and every stupid idea a bored kid can come up with in that much time. He can't fight for the boys, either. The game won't count a hit he lands for somebody else.

So what does a kid do with two years in a place like that?

He straightens a shelf, twice a day, every day. It isn't because the shelf needs it. It's because a day needs a beginning and an end, and when nobody else is keeping track of you, you have to keep track of yourself.

That shelf is my favorite detail in Book One. It's not the explosions. It's a thirteen-year-old in a ruined building putting cans in a straight line so he stays a person.

Marcus is also why the boys change. Before they meet him, Jr and Dakota think the doors are a game to beat: get the key, get out. After him, they can't think that anymore. Every door might have somebody in it who has been waiting a long time for anyone to walk in.

If your reader likes games, they'll love Door Two. If your reader is the kind of kid who notices the quiet one in the corner, they'll love Marcus.

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