Chapter 12: Puzzle Door!
It wasn't until a few hours later that the group got up; some of the members who needed no sleep, like Speed and Zen, made sure nothing happened.
"You've got any idea how to open this door, Zen?" Melissa asked, yawning.
"I think so." Zen said. He got up, dusted himself, and slowly walked towards the door.
The door was more like a gate; on its front, there were multiple blocks of sorts that one had to touch and enter the correct combination to open it.
*Click*
"This is more of a trap than a puzzle." Zen spoke as he clicked on a block on the door.
*Click*
"A death trap, to be exact." He added sweat on his face.
*Click*
"A death trap?" Alex asked, looking at the blocks that turned yellow with every touch; They gave him a slight feeling of oppression, which he ignored.
*Click*
"Yeah, it's probably made to kill whoever pushes the wrong buttons, and... It doesn't give off hints; I can only feel where a trap would go off." Zen replied, focusing on where he put his hand.
*Click*
"Which sick in the head made this trial?" Sabrina cussed, sweat falling down her face from anxiety.
*Click*
"Someone sick in the head." Max replied, stretching his arms.
*Click* *drrrrrr*
The ground vibrated as the blocks Zen clicked turned from neon yellow to blue.
The path forward was opened, and the air it emitted, made the group suck in cold air.
"What in..." Sabrina's eyes opened wide.
"What the hell is this?" Alexander shouted, speaking the words the group wanted to bellow out.
"Beware of the Maze Walker." Zen read the words splattered with blood on the dark walls.
The corridor was dark, only lit enough by the torches from their sides to see the letters.
"What does that mean?" Melissa asked.
"Trouble." Alex replied, his danger sense from years of being a Hitman tingling like never before.
"From this point forward, keep your guard up." Zen turned back to address the group, his tone as heavy as it could be.
Gasps and gulps could be heard from a few members of the group. Whatever Zen could see, they couldn't, and the only thing they could do was blindly trust him, as they had since the start, as he was their only hope out of this hellhole.
"The only reason we can move right now is because we can still see; if it gets any worse, we might need to stop." Zen announced.
"Let's go." Before the group could say anything, he walked.
The way forward was as dark as it could be, and the farther they moved, the darker it got, until they couldn't see anything...
"Anybody have something we can use? This is getting scary." Melissa asked, slightly shivering.
"You guys can see those in front of you; the path forward isn't as drowned in traps. For now, we can somehow pass; let's get moving." Zen's voice was heard from the front as he continued on his way.
It was not until 30 minutes later that they could finally see some light, no matter how dim it was.
"What's this?" Dali, who was close to Zen, asked, confused by what he saw.
"It's an opened door; somebody was here before us." Alex replied.
"Are they close?" Zen addressed Alex. The area they were in was quite wide, enough for them too move comfortably, unlike the narrow corridors. On the wall, there was a slide door that was opened wide, giving them access to the way out of the maze.
"Yeah."
"Enemies?" Sabrina came closer, asking.
"... Yeah." Alex's tone turned serious. They once again had to deal with trouble.
"What do we do?" Lisa, who was clinging to Sabrina, asked. Memories of what happened to her friend were resurfacing, making her shiver.
"Let's take things slow. Speed, can you check the situation for us?" Zen asked as he turned to look at Speed.
"Leave it to me! Anything I should be careful of?" he asked, stepping forward.
"The first turn to the right." Zen replied.
"Roger!" and he vanished, leaving only a trail behind.
Zen watched the blur of Speed slowly fade away with concentration on his face, something unspeakable on his mind. Was it jealousy? Was it worry? No one knew.
It didn't take a minute for Speed to return, his dashing smile on his face as if he wanted to say 'Mission Complete'.
"What's up?" Alex asked.
"There are three guys, one sitting on a corner with eyes closed, waiting for someone to come and open the way forward, and two... mindless looking fellas standing on guard." Speed replied with nonchalance on his face.
"Mindless fellas?" Zen asked, his hand on his chin.
"It might be someone with some type of mind control trait." Dali spoke, looking at Zen.
"That's what I was thinking." Sabrina came closer, and Alex followed to stand next to her, Dali, and Zen.
"We have to deal with him somehow." she added.
"Do you want me to?" Speed, still with a smile on his face, asked.
Zen and the others turned their heads to look at him in surprise.
"Can you?" Zen asked.
"Heh, wait for me here." And he left once again.
*Fwshhh* *Fwshhh* *Thump* *Click* *Wsh* *Wsh* *Wsh*
30 seconds later... he came back.
"Done." He announced.
The group looked at each other, and while nobody wanted to ask after hearing the sounds coming from beyond the gate, Alexander moved forward, and looked at him straight in the eyes.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"Simple, I just threw him where Zen warned me not to go." He replied, hands crossed, head nodding.
"Good, Let's move." Zen, not wanting to keep the group's mind busy with the death of the Mind Control guy, led the way forward. The group hearing this just followed him without speaking, Alexander and Speed on the far back, walking leisurely, unlike the heavy atmosphere projected by those in front.
-----End-----