"Okay. I swear. I've seen this fucking wall at least 5 times already." Celeste said. "We are still walking round in circles!"
"All the walls look the same, Celeste." Glenn said.
"And besides, I would do better recalling the directions if you keep your mouth shut." AJ said
"You!"
Celeste was about to lunge at AJ but with one hand around her waist, Big Show held her back.
"Look. This isn't working. I think we should split up and do the search." Kofi said.
"I agree." Ryan said.
"I don't." Bradley said.
Everyone looked at him as he continued.
"We all need to stick together if we are going to find my sister." Bradley said. "If we split up, how are we going to contact each other if we found a way out? Or if we get attacked, how are we going to call for back up?"
Phil cracked a smile, seeing the young boy mature before him.
"Bradley's right." Phil said. "We stick together. If you want to go on your own, be my guest. If you encounter a situation, don't expect us to save your sorry ass."
Letting the reasons sink in, Kofi and Ryan kept quiet. The others took a minute to absorb the boy's words when AJ let out a gasp.
"That is it." AJ said. "That is it!"
"What?" Glenn asked.
AJ pointed at a wall panel of a darker shade from the others. "I couldn't see if before because I was looking for a button of some sort. But I remembered Nemeth telling me that design is important. So the color is the factor that differs the door from the wall."
Ryan was about to say something when Celeste stopped him.
"It means Nemeth values color over having a button distinguishing his door." Celeste said.
All of them made their way over to the door and stood looking at it.
"Okay, smart-ass." Celeste said. "How do we get it open?"
"There should be a touch mechanism somewhere on the surface of the door." AJ said.
She put her hands on the door and started lightly grazing the surface she touched. She started from the centre, with her palms together before separating them, moving one towards the left and the other towards the right. Seeing the slow pace AJ was going, Bryan was starting to get impatient.
"Can't we just kick the door down?" Bryan asked.
AJ scoffed. "Sure. And once you're done, better make yourself look juicy for whatever is behind this door."
Glenn reached out and caught a hold of one of AJ's wrist before she could continue.
"What did you say?" Glenn said.
"Sure?" AJ said.
Phil looked at her, his arms across his chest. "No. The line after that. The one that tells us something is waiting for us behind this door."
"Look, I was just joking... I.."
AJ stopped talking the moment she felt the muzzle of a gun against the back of her skull.
"No one jokes about something like that." Celeste said, from behind AJ. "The way I see it, you only have 2 options. One, tell us what is behind that door and we shoot you. Two, we shoot you and feed you to whatever's behind that door"
"That's not really any sort of options at all." AJ said.
"Well, boo-hoo. Beggars can't be choosers." Celeste said.
"Are you guys going to just let her do this?" AJ asked, "What happened to keeping me alive?"
"That deal fell through." Kofi said.
Worried she can't talk her way out of this one, AJ had no choice but to put away whatever pride she had left.
"Alright, alright!" AJ said, "Don't kill me! I only know that Nemeth has these doors rigged. I don't know what's behind the door."
"Well, thank you for your information." Celeste said. "Nighty-night now."
Celeste just about readied her finger to pull the trigger when Phil stopped her by putting his hand on the gun.
"Wait." He said.
She looked at Phil. "Seriously? We're giving her another get out of jail free card?"
"No." Phil said. "Just listen."
The group stopped and listened as they heard something on the other side of the door. In unison, they all stepped back and readied their weapons for whatever was about to come through the door. The dark panel rumbled softly just as it pulled itself up from the floor.
AJ closed her eyes, not wanting to see whatever she thought was coming for her.
"I would say nice to see you but given the circumstances, I'll accept this stand off as a warm greeting."
Everyone lowered their weapons and Bradley ran forward, colliding into his sister. AJ opened her eyes to see Jasmine standing in front of her.
"You're alive!" Bradley exclaimed.
Jasmine smiled, hugging her brother tight. "Of course I am. You know me. I won't go down without a fight."
"How did you get out, kid?" Glenn asked.
"Let's just say I deliver a mean throw when I want to." Jasmine replied.
"Wait, and, how did you find us?" Celeste asked.
Jasmine handed Celeste the tablet. "With this... Which I believe you can use to help us get out."
Celeste smiled and held the tablet tightly as she tried to figure out a route for their escape.
Phil looked at her and she smiled. She was just about to say something when a voice came on.
"Well... If it isn't a reunion that warms the heart."
Everyone stood closer together, ensuring they have their sides covered.
"I must say I never thought you'd be this smart, Jasmine. But of course, I did underestimate you on that part."
"What do you want, you fucking psycho!?" Big Show shouted.
"Oh... nothing much, really. I did want Jasmine back but she's different from the one I fell in love with. So, now... I'm interested in something else."
"Spit it out, Nemeth!" Phil exclaimed.
"I'm so glad you gave me permission. I'd like to see how all of you react when you realize that you've been played the whole time by a certain someone.. who helped develop the serum."
"What are you talking about?" Jasmine said.
They heard Nicholas laugh a little before clearing his throat.
"Check the tablet you stole."
Everyone looked at Celeste, who was looking at the tablet in her hands.
"You have 12 hours to make your decision before I send in my wonderfully undead friends to find you. Kill this person or be killed. Good luck~"
Just as the voice disappeared, Celeste saw a pop-up appear on the screen.
1 new file. Accept?
