Fortunately, the rest of the journey was easier to handle. Chell did not run into any other 'Jaguarets' and she managed to avoid the scientists and engineers to the best of her abilities.
Chell reached the opening, gripping the three cans of beans tightly, before suddenly realising she was still clutching the piece of paper she had found earlier.
She ducked down into the hidden room, where she found Flynn laying down, staring up at the ceiling. He heard her come in and sat up quickly, his hand feeling his stomach embarrassingly as it rumbled.
Chell suppressed a smile as she threw him a can of the beans, which he caught gratefully before prising open with a piece of sharp metal he had been perfecting during Chell's time away.
Unperturbed by Chell's glances, he scooped a handful of the baked beans out with his hands and into his mouth.
Chell was about to say something before shaking her head and instead sitting down, putting the two other cans in the corner of the room by the other supplies they had somehow managed to gather. A dim purplish light flickered on and off above the cans and other objects, illuminating the corner of the room eerily. Chell glanced upwards to the source of the strange light. It seemed to be coming from a broken lamp that had been wedged between two broken panels in the ceiling.
That left the piece of paper.
Carefully, she opened it, her hands trembling for some weird reason. She was half-expecting something like a drawing, or a scrawled message giving them some sort of instruction, but to Chell's dismay, she saw nothing. It was blank. She tried turning it over, but there was nothing on the paper at all. Nothing.
What was I even hoping for? Chell sighed, and she stood up, moving towards the supplies corner, with the weird light still flickering. She threw the piece of paper down onto the beans, and walked away.
Flynn had finished his can of beans and was licking his lips, savouring the taste.
Chell sat back against a wall, wondering what to do. In some odd way, she almost missed testing- not because it was fun, but because it gave her a sense of freedom. Sure, she knew the beady eyed scientists were constantly watching, but she felt so free when she was out there- and every time she reached the exit, maybe for one stupid moment, she felt free- free from being stuck inside a routine.
She closed her eyes.
And to fly. How it felt to soar through the air- like a majestic eagle, cutting through the air without a care in the world. It felt glorious. Oh, how she missed that.
Flynn snapped out of her trance. 'Aren't you hungry?' he asked.
Chell hadn't been until he had asked. Suddenly, she was ravenous. 'I am now,' she sighed, as she got up to get a can.
Her legs felt worn and achy, like she had run marathon. It was not pleasant at all.
Chell walked to the corner of the room and bent down to pick up one of the white cans, but as she did so, the piece of paper shifted into view. At first she thought nothing of it, but as the dim light clicked on, something appeared on the paper- but as soon as Chell had seen it, it was gone, disappearing as soon as the light flickered off.
Her eyes widened, and she picked the paper up, dropping the beans to the ground with a loud clunk. She raised the paper to the light, watching as words appeared and vanished in the flickering of the light.
Her heart beat fast as her eyes worked their way across the page, piecing the words together.
A HYENA SMILES WHITE
Oh no. Another cryptic message. What does it mean?
'What you got?' Flynn asked, walking towards Chell.
'Here,' she said, showing him the piece of paper.
Flynn read it out loud, and Chell watched as his face became puzzled.
'I take it you don't know either then?' she asked, knowing the answer already.
Flynn studied the paper again. 'Hyenas … aren't they the ones that laugh a lot?'
'I think so …' Chell said slowly, deep in thought.
'Maybe the white bit is a reference to their teeth.'
'Maybe …'
Flynn gave the paper back to Chell, who put it inside her jumpsuit. 'Whatever it means,' he said, slowly, 'do you think it could be something to do with us?'
'I honestly don't know,' said Chell, shaking her head, true to her word.
Flynn paused for a moment, thinking about something. 'And what about Thana, and Nelson?' he eventually asked. 'Do you think they're OK?'
'They'll be fine,' Chell said, reassuringly. 'Don't worry.' Inside, she knew she could only hope so much.
She didn't feel hungry anymore.
