4. Found Reason

Time had now marched on considerably, light had begun shining into the room from under the door causing the eyes of the animals contained within to light up like diamonds in the gloom. There was a deep sense of apprehension amongst the room's residents, they knew their lives hung in the balance. The next few moments would either grant freedom or guarantee a prolonged stay in the lab and a slow lingering death.

Under Macaw's instruction both Red and Autumn had moved to the right of the door frame, Macaw assured them that this was the best place to be when the door opened.

"See now the door opens inwards, if we stay here, once opened it will hide us from the humans when they enter the room," explained Macaw.

"What happens then?" asked Autumn inquisitively.

"We get caught," replied Red before Macaw could answer.

Macaw shook his head and dug his claws deeper into Red's fur, Red let out a yelp of pain. "Don't listen to him my dear, I'll get you out of here," he said shooting her a reassuring glance "just follow my instructions as I give them and we'll all be fine."

Autumn smiled back, she knew Macaw wouldn't let them down. Macaw turned his head back to look down at Red and whisper some choice words in his ear concerning his latest outburst of negativity, but he stopped short, something in the room had caught his eye. There were now two voids in the light shining from beneath the door frame, Macaw inhaled sharply, he knew what this meant. Leaning forwards, he whispered to Red and Autumn. "It's time, stay calm and stick together!"

There was a rustle and a click, the door to the test lap swung inwards, creaking loudly as it went. Macaw and Autumn watched the door intently until it came to a complete stop perpendicular to their position by the door frame. Time seemed to slow to a stop, neither Macaw nor Autumn could see what was beyond the door as it was obscuring their view, however the look of fear in the eyes of the other animals arrayed in front of them painted the picture in their minds as clear as their own eyes ever could. A panicked cry rose from the back of the pack of animals. "Run! Run away!" Complete and utter pandemonium ensued.

The hundreds of animals lined up in front of the door began charging around the room in random directions in a vain effort to escape the gaze of the human standing in the newly opened doorway. Like a bunch of headless chickens, they danced around the room, colliding with just about everything in the room as they did so. The man in the doorway was stunned, he couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Quickly and without stopping to think he took two large steps into the room, this turned out to be a real mistake. As he brought his foot down to complete his second stride, he felt something round and soft stop his heel from meeting the ground, he'd mistakenly stepped on a small male rabbit. As he applied more pressure the rabbit began to squeal and squirm frantically, this threw the man totally off balance and he toppled headfirst into the mass of moving fur that the test lab floor had become. With the door now clear of its imposing guardian the pack of small animals bolted out of the room into the corridor beyond. Picking himself up off the floor the man quickly pursued.

"Now!" whispered Macaw insistently "quickly while his attention is elsewhere!"

Without questioning both Foxes followed Macaw's instructions. Macaw led them to the right outside the cage room, following the corridor in the opposite direction to the way the other animals had gone. The corridor was long and winding, flanked on either side by doors identical to the one on the room they'd just left. It took some minutes before they reached the end of the corridor, it culminated in another door, only this one was different to all the others, it was almost transparent. Macaw hopped off Red's back and approached the door with Autumn in toe.

"Hmm..." puzzled Macaw "this one seems different to the others, it's got no handle, I can't open it."

Autumn looked across at Macaw. "It's made of something different too," she lifted a paw and pressed it to the door "it's cold, and I can almost see through it."

Macaw and Autumn looked at each other once more before turning in unison towards Red. "Any idea-" they started to ask together before being knocked against the walls by a black blur that sped in between them.

Red had listened in on part of Macaw and Autumn's conversation concerning the new door, however he had reached his own conclusion on how to open it. Backing up several meters down the corridor Red had turned and charged, head down, straight towards the door. Pushing his companions apart Red threw himself at the door with all the force he could muster. He leapt at the last moment, twisting his body in the air as he did so in order that his left flank connected with the door first. There was a deafening crash as the pane of glass that made up most of the door gave way like tissue paper as Red's physical mass was forced through it. Red hit the floor hard on the other side of the door, he felt a searing pain run the length of his body as he slid to a halt. He immediately knew he'd miscalculated, his decision to use brute force to unlock the exit wasn't the cleverest idea he'd ever had, it would cost him, and he knew it. Pushing the pain aside as best he could Red got to his feet.

Autumn and Macaw hesitated for a moment before following Red into the room beyond, shooting each other concerned glances as they did so. The room beyond the door looked somewhat different to the other rooms in the test lab, Macaw was puzzled by this. The room was warm and inviting, the sterile foreboding feeling present in the other rooms was strangely absent. The floor was carpeted as opposed to the cold hard tiles of the rooms the three animals had just left and it contained lots of comfortable looking furniture. However, none of this really mattered, it was all superfluous to what was visible through a window on the opposite side of the room.

"Over there!" screamed Autumn as she bounded forwards towards the window at the other side of the room.

Macaw looked across at Red. "I think we may have found our way out." Red didn't reply, he merely nodded his head in acknowledgement. Macaw peered at Red narrowing his eyes to slits as he did so. "Don't get too excited now," he exclaimed. Red said nothing in response, he couldn't, not without giving away the excruciating pain he was currently in. Macaw sighed. "Let's just go, I'll deal with you outside." He hopped forwards and remounted Red's back. Red let out a loud hiss and bared his teeth. At first Macaw put this down to Red being difficult, however after adjusting his footing to get a better hold on Red's fur Macaw realised there was more to it than that. Red's fur was damp, and he hadn't been out in the rain or for a swim, which left only one explanation.

Macaw guided Red over to Autumn's side and immediately dismounted. He studied Red, watching as he blatantly attempted to position his body so that his left side was hidden from Macaw's and Autumn's view. Macaw knew he couldn't have this out with Red now, Autumn would go to pieces if she knew Red was injured. He couldn't let that happen, not yet anyway, everyone needed to be alert and concentrating if they stood any chance of escaping this place. Macaw shifted his view away from Red and up to the windows that had Autumn so excited.

"It looks less green than I remember," announced Autumn.

"That's because it's almost winter," snorted Red. Even in his fragile state Red could still find the strength of mind to string together a belittling response to Autumn's queries.

"Now how was she to know that? hmm?" snapped Macaw "she's been in here since last summer and was only born in the spring! How do you expect her to know what winter looks like!"

Red sat in silence, Macaw had a point, even if Red had no intention of admitting to it. Macaw looked across at Autumn and nodded, she smiled back, silently thanking him for standing up for her. "Now, how do we get out there?" Macaw asked himself as he unfurled his wings and launched himself up onto the marble work surface that ran the length of the window.

"Can we break it?" asked Autumn inquisitively.

There was the sudden sound of scrambling clawed feet as Macaw rushed to the edge of the work surface. He looked down at the two foxes.

"No...no...it's...it's too high for that!" stammered Macaw, his eyes flicking guiltily towards Red.

"Oh...okay...maybe there's another way then?" replied Autumn, a little taken aback by the forcefulness of Macaws response. "I'll help you look."

Macaw and Autumn spent the next few minutes frantically searching up and down the length of the work surface for a way to reach the freedom on the other side of the window, however in the end their search proved fruitless, there was simply no way out of the room. All the windows were sealed tightly and the door that was midway along the work surface was shut and locked, the situation had started to look desperate. Red meanwhile had moved to the opposite side of the room from Macaw and Autumn, he was finding it increasingly difficult to stay vertical, a fact that he was trying to not let them discover.

"So what now?" asked Autumn bowing her head glumly "we're stuck, aren't we?"

"Now, now, don't you give up," said Macaw reassuringly as he stared out the window from his vantage point on the work surface. "A way out will present...itself...you'll..." he trailed off, failing to finish the thought he'd started, something outside had caught his attention.

"What's the matter?" said Autumn.

Without answering the question Macaw turned and hopped back down to the floor. He looked across at Autumn. "Go get Red, we need to hide."