Chapter 2
My thoughts are surrounded with terrifying screams. My head is throbbing and I can't move. Screaming. More screaming. It feels like days, weeks even before the world starts to make sense before my eyes. I slowly move my fingers across the floor where I lay. The cold, rough concrete steals the warmth from my fingers. Screaming. I think the screaming is coming from whoever is next to me. Jared? I can't tell if it is him or not. Suddenly the reality of it all slaps me upside the head when I see Jared leaning over me, tears on his cheeks and terror in his eyes. Zack is running around and Madison is unconscious and being held by a giant brown monster.
"Claire! Wake up! Holy crap… Claire!" Jared says as he shakes me.
I look up at him and try to get up. That's when I get a good look at the horrifying creature. It's a brown colored mountain of what looks like mud. Its arms are the size of semi trucks and it seems to have no feet. A literal mountain. It roars in anger as Zack tries to distract the monster and get it to put down Madison. I realize that I'm shaking like a leaf when Jared tries to pick me up and get me to my feet. He pushes me to the wall and tells me to stay put, his bright hazel eyes glistening with fear and determination. He and Zack start screaming at the creature. It seems to be working because the monster at least isn't trying to crush Madison in its fist anymore.
I'm looking around the enormous room, looking for anyway out. Then I see it, there is a big lever above the door in which we came through. Or what used to be a door because it seems to have disappeared. Now there is only a wall behind me. But I see the lever; it is about 10 feet above me. There is also a pole right next to me. If I climb it maybe I can reach it and pull the lever and hopefully save Madison. I take my white canvas shoes off to get more traction and start climbing. Inch by inch, I get closer to the lever. It seems even further away now that the shock of the circumstances has been replaced by fear. Finally I reach the lever and pull it as hard as I can.
The ground shakes as the brown mud creature crumbles to the ground. Zack and Jared run to Madison who is still unconscious. I climb down the pole and run over to them.
"Madison! Oh god is she okay?!" I yell as I run.
"She's breathing," pants Zack. He puts his forehead on hers and just lies there. Suddenly her eyes flutter open and she groans something unintelligible.
"Madison! Oh we thought we lost you!" says Zack. He hugs her tightly and we all join in. She buries her face in Zack's shoulder and starts crying. I hug her even tighter and stroke her hair as we sit in the remains of the mud creature. Soon after, we help her up but she immediately falls down and whimpers in pain.
"Oww! My ankle, I can't move it…" Madison says as she tries to get back up again.
"Here, get on my back, I'll carry you." Says Zack. Madison climbs up on Zack's back and he carries her to the door that opened on the other side of the room when I pulled the lever. It seems we are in an exact replica of the room we started off in. Except this time there are four sleeping bags and a box of fruit and crackers. At least the videogame has some decent hospitality. Zack sets Madison down on the thin black sleeping bag and immediately bunches it up to make a makeshift pillow for her ankle. Madison thanks Zack with a small smile on her face. I grab an apple and give it to Madison as I sit down next to her. She lies her head down on my shoulder as I eat a handful of crackers and tell the boys about how I found the lever.
"Wait, so there was a lever above the door, which disappeared, and you pulled it?" asks Jared.
"Yeah, I think that's why the monster went away as well." I reply.
"I see…"
The room is small enough where none of us really get our own space to sleep, so I just try to sleep with my back against the wall. I wake up with my head on Jared's shoulder. He seems to be sleeping too. I don't really care since I am too tired to really move anyway. The faint scent of Jared's cologne brings me back to sleep.
When I wake up, there are more words on the wall. I wake the others up tell them we should get ready.
"'If the last challenge wasn't fun enough, let's heat things up a bit.'" Reads Zack. "Oh no, I'm not going anywhere after what already happened. You guys can go but I'm staying here."
"Well the food is gone, apparently the game only gives us enough to last us until the next round or something." I say back to him. "I think we should go."
So we open the door that appeared on the wall and we walk into another large room. Only this time it's five times as big and rigged with all kinds of obstacles.
The obstacles are to my right and to my left is pretty much nothing. I look back at the obstacles and I see something hanging up on the wall at the end. Zack notices it too because he replies to my thoughts with what may be the answer.
"I think it's a first aid kit…" Zack whispers.
That's just what we need.