The next meeting in the warehouse was tense, and quiet, with a still-furious Leilani. Even Avae was tense. When a letter slipped under the door, we all jumped and shrieked, making a mad dash for the door. There was nobody in the shadowy corridor, though, and Hayley grabbed the letter and headed back to her perch. We all gathered tensely around her as she read out:
"Go to the warehouse by the sausage factory. Second level. There's only one room there. You can't miss it.
**"
All of us gathered in front of the warehouse, which looked terrifying in the weak moonlight. It was a tall structure of corrugated iron. The eleven-foot door was slightly open, and we all slipped in. Instantly, military-grade lights flipped on, nearly blinding all of us and earning a collective shriek from the five of us. Slowly we progressed forward, where a huge metal staircase with a gate chained and padlocked at its entrance. A white metal sign was painted crudely with the words DO NOT ENTER UNLESS PERMITTED. DANGER AHEAD. We all looked at each other, unsure of how to head on, but Avae sighed and with a grunt of,
"Come on, cowards!" threw a leg over and clambered easily over. The rest of us followed reluctantly, Hayley and Thea looking less sure of themselves. As we tiptoed up the second flight of stairs, Leilani just had to say,
"Do you think the challenge will be to go through a meat grinder and come out alive? This is next to a sausage factory."
"Sh!" Hayley hissed, glaring sternly from behind her glasses. We arrived on a landing, where a few hallways branched off into complete darkness, but a heavy iron door was softly illuminated with backlights. As we all approached the door, a voice boomed out from speakers above us.
"One at a time, please. You will each get twenty minutes." It was a generic male voice, flat and toneless. Slowly, Hayley headed for the door without hesitation. The door swung open, a cool breeze blowing out, cooling all our hot, sticky bodies. The breeze was soon cut off, though, and everything went quiet. We waited, and waited, and finally the door swung open again. This time Avae went forward. No more than ten minutes had passed before the door swung open again, and this time Thea went forward. Twenty minutes later, Leilani was gone, leaving only me. Ten minutes after Leilani had entered, the door swung open again, and I stepped inside. There was a huge timer on the wall. As soon as the door swung shut behind me, the timer began to tick. Was it just me, or was it a lot colder than before? Rubbing my arms, I made my way forward, then stopped suddenly. Something- or someone- was crawling across the floor towards me. I backed up instantly, feeling the icy wall scrape against my back. Yes, it was definitely colder than before. The thing/ person kept crawling towards me, and when it got closer, I could see that it was Thea. Her eyelashes were encrusted with frost, and her hands were blue with cold. Rushing forward, I pulled her to her feet.
"What happened?" I asked frantically, rubbing her cold hands.
"I got stuck," she whispered. "The door wouldn't open."
"T-there's a door?" Shaking, she led me across the room, where another door, heavy and metal, was. Collapsing onto a nearby unlabelled box. Thea curled up, breathing onto her hands. I tried to push open the door, but it wouldn't budge. Then I saw the panel. First I tried 1-2-3-4, but of course that didn't work. Glancing around, I started examining the boxes. Desperately, as the room grew steadily colder, I entered in as many of the dates and numbers I found on the boxes. All wrong. Rejected code after rejected code, the panel flashing red. Beep. Beep. Beep. Thea's frost-encrusted eyelashes were resting on her cheeks. Hopelessly, I punched in random numbers. Suddenly a thumping sound made me turn around, panicked. There was a blood-soaked body on the floor, snow already starting to cover its body. Hurrying over, I frantically searched for the source of the blood. Avae's breathing was rapidly becoming shallower.
"Listen." She croaked.
"Sh," I said, pressing my hands to her neck to staunch the flow of blood.
"No. The code is- 5-7-3-" abruptly Avae's eyes closed and her grasp slid from mine. Her head thudded back onto the floor.
"Avae," I said, rapidly becoming more panicked. "Avae? Open your eyes. Please wake up. We're almost out of here. 5731? 2? 3? Please respond, Avae." I begged. Avae didn't respond. Frantically, I passed my hand over her blue mouth, but no breath, warm or cold, met my hand. I pressed my ear to her frosty chest, but it was met with silence. With a sob, I ripped myself away from her body and ran to the panel, pressing in the code. 5-7-3-1. Beep. 5-7-3-2. Beep. 5-7-3-3. Beep. The numbers kept increasing, and I kept an eye on the clock, as the time ticked away. Three precious minutes were left. I punched in the numbers. Finally, 5-7-3-7 let out a soft sound, almost like a check mark in sound. The door swung open, and I grabbed Thea, dragging her along with me into the fantastic warmth. Hayley and Leilani were both waiting outside.
"What happened?" Leilani asked in a panicked voice. "And is Avae with you? Hayley and I thought she'd gotten stuck…" Hayley rushed forward and helped Thea up. Breathing hard on my hands, I managed to get a little feeling back into them, along with my legs as I briskly moved about. Hayley had covered Thea with a towel and was rubbing her face gently, melting off the frost and snow. Leilani clutched my arm as she whispered,
"Avae… didn't make it out, did she?"
"No." I shook my head regretfully, feeling a rush of tears come into my eyes. Leilani gave a small gasp and collapsed against my shoulder, her head thudding onto my shoulder. I supported her for a moment, then she straightened up and wiped away her tears. Thea started moving about more, breathing shakily, and we managed to get out of the warehouse without a hassle. Outside, we began a slow trudge home, each of us taking turns to support Thea. We stopped by a cemetery when Thea's legs gave out and she nearly brought Leilani down with her. Supporting Thea's body between the three of us, we managed to drag her for a few more meters, where we collapsed in front of the cemetery keeper's cottage on the hill. Peeling off, Leilani ran for help, and was soon back with a tall wiry woman, with a mass of flyaway grey hair in a tight plait. She widened her eyes at the sight of Thea on the ground, but she quickly brought her back to her cottage and started to bundle Thea up in blankets. I checked my watch. It was only 10:42. Did time pass that slowly? For a while, we sat in silence, watching Thea and the old woman treat her. Finally Hayley asked the woman's back,
"She'll be okay, right, Mrs-?"
"Anne. Where were you girls at this time of night? She's freezing."
"Uh… down by the river." Leilani answered. "She fell inside."
"Well, she'll be alright. You'd best keep her warm and don't let her go out at night again."
"We will." Hayley said anxiously, bending over Thea as she shuddered out a breath. It took a while for Thea to get warm, and Mrs. Anne served us porridge with cheese. Spooning the thick, hot gruel into my mouth, I watched Thea's blue lips as they contracted, struggling to get air in. But after a while, her breathing eased up and she fell into a deep sleep. Finally, as my spoon scraped the bottom of my earthenware bowl, Thea's eyes fluttered open and she gave a weak cough. Instantly bending over her, Mrs. Anne spooned a fragrant herbal mixture into her mouth, clucking gently, her thick woolen jerkin rustling. My spoon clattered into my bowl, and I thumped it down, rushing to Thea's side. She sat up weakly and ran a hand through her blonde hair, damp with melted frost.
"Can we go home?"