Time Maze

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

"What was that?" Marcus asked, skittering away like a startled rabbit.

"It sounded like gunshots," Tyson said calmly, although he was as shocked as Marcus.

"Whatever it is, it's close," Marcus said as a few more bangs filled the small space.

"Can you feel that?" Tyson asked.

The gunshots had gotten all of their attention, so Tyson failed to notice the familiar tingling sensation of an opening portal. However, the moment he registered it, he understood where the gunfire was coming from.

"Is that coming from the portal?" Marcus asked, shifting uncomfortably. "If it is, then we better skip this one, Tyson."

The fact that his irrational friend, who was jumping into everything headfirst, wanted to be cautious made Tyson even more nervous about entering the portal. Still, he wasn't sure what would happen if they didn't do so.

Would they miss their opportunity to move forward in the maze? Or would they simply catch the next ride?

What Sybil had said about it being a twofold maze kept running through Tyson's head. He tried to fit that information in with everything else that he knew. That was when one thing became clear to him. Although Sybil might have been wrong about it all being a sick game, she was probably right about the maze being spatial and temporal at the same time. That meant that if they missed one step in either one, they might get stuck in it for eternity.

"Hm," Tyson said, contemplating Marcus's words.

"What are we going to do?" Marcus asked, shrinking away from the general direction of the portal.

There was no way for Tyson to know if they were even heading in the right direction but moving felt better than sitting and waiting for the help that would never come. After all, every time they stepped through the portal, they learned something new about their circumstances. Maybe if they did that often enough, Tyson could figure out what needed to be done to free them from the maze's clutches.

"I think we need to go through it," Tyson said after a few more moments of quiet contemplation.

"But we'll die. Someone is shooting out there!" Marcus exclaimed stubbornly.

"Maybe, but I don't think so. I think we are far safer from the past than we assume. What should worry us more are the other mazers," Tyson said.

It made sense that if all of them thought only one person could leave the maze alive, they would want to make sure that the competition was dead. Tyson knew that he could try and explain things to them but what was the point when they were more likely to kill him than to listen to something that made no sense to them.

As if summoned by his words, a few mazers started sliding down the opening in a hurry. What was worse, they didn't sound happy. From their loud voices, Tyson summarized they had a bad day. Having that in mind, he was pretty sure they would take it out on them.

"Come on, we need to go," Tyson said, dragging reluctant Marcus towards the portal.

However, before they could step through, three tattered mazers appeared, quickly scanning their surroundings and noticing the intruders.

"We have company," the tall, dark-haired man said, pulling out a gun.

"We mean no harm," Tyson said, putting himself in front of Marcus while simultaneously pushing his friend closer to the portal.

"It doesn't matter, does it? You have to die for us to live," the guy said with coldness in his voice.

He pointed his gun at Tyson's forehead, and Tyson could only hope that at least Marcus would get out alive, having in mind that he was one step away from the portal.