julia hickson finds the snack foods, drinking spigot, toilet, shower, and drain. her bare feet try to adjust to the tile floor, but it's fucking cold. she glimpses herself in the mirror and is startled by what she sees - a terrified girl.
like a rock climber in a crevasse, julia shimmies up the walls of the cell by bracing herself in a corner and using her hands and feet to push up. the tile is slippery and each movement precarious.
the water is near the ceiling. kicking her legs to keep afloat, julia digs with the ring and we see she has created a gap between the light fixture housing and an unused pipe leading to the surface. she pushes, but can't get anything to move. the opening will get no bigger. julia sucks the last bit of oxygen and swims to the bottom of the cell. searching for something, she finds a juice box and pulls out the drinking straw.
julia is entirely underwater but alive. she uses the straw to suck oxygen through the gap in the ceiling, but it's difficult to tread water and her lungs are aching.
julia tries to hold herself up by pressing her arms and legs against the walls, but as she does, the straw slips from her mouth. she reaches for it, but only succeeds in pushing it away from her. it heads for the drain. and disappears.
hearing the sirens, novak relaxes. for the first time in god knows how long, he relaxes. and holds julia hickson as if his life depended on it.