The Ranch

Salty Smack Talk (5)

After finishing all five puzzles and unlocking the five dials situated around the room, they check the bucket. It's about two thirds full, meaning it's only been forty minutes.

Something else Kai notices is that the flipper he turned is back to its original space. He walks over to the map he first completed to find the dial back at [0]. He tells the others," Looks like the dials turn back on their own, we'll need to hold onto them to fill the bucket."

The other four nod and they each move to a button. "All at once?" Abel asks.

Sherlock gazed at the numbered dials," No, it shouldn't be that easy. Five buttons, five numbers. Kai, anything important with five digits?"

Kai is already mumbling to himself, "Between fifteen-hundred and twenty-hundred survivors, no zeros on the dials...unearthed bodies haven't reached five digits. Ten mile mushroom cloud, fifty-two thousand eight-hundred unlikely...lasted twelve hours no. Erupted over fifty times, no. The mountain's height? No. Oh wait, is it that simple?"

"What?" Lucien questions.

"The eruption date is five digits. It would be eight, two, four, seven, nine.

"Wait, is the eight August? I recall evidence that proved it actually happened in October." Sherlock questions Kai's information for once. He remembers reading an article shortly before coming to the island.

The audience looks towards the announcer for answers. They've already watched previous games and know the right answer.

Simon D coughs hinting at the staff while explaining," It seems our research team may be slightly behind if the child's words are to be believed. If that's the case, we apologize. Our information is all derived from common history books."

"Hm, Really? There's nothing in my memory about that, but if that's the case, it won't fit." Kai scratches his head, riling up his dirty blond hair.

"She says to use it." Abel conveys.

The group pauses for a moment before nodding. "Who does what number?" Pierre wonders.

"Everyone test it one at a time to see who controls which flip." Sherlock settles it. They do it one at a time, connecting each pinball flipper to each dial.

They get ready to turn the dials when Kai pipes up,"Wait wait wait, hold it for a moment." Kai pauses his actions and finds where he placed the walkie-talkie. He speaks into it," Hey, how ya doin, bilge rats?"

"What's a bilge rat?" Abel asks.

"Who knows." Lucien mumbles, rolling his eyes.

"Kai, you have the leisure to talk smack, how about we finish this up?" Pierre catches Kai's attention.

"Sshhhh shush, shush. Hold on a moment. Shush. Wait for it." A sh*t-eating grin is spread across his face.

"YOU!-" Sound peaks from the device and an ear-piercing sound hurts those listening. "YOU MOTHERF*CKER! YOU LIED TO US! I'LL KILL YOU!" Frustration and embarrassment, but mostly anger, can be heard in the man's voice.

"Woah, threatening a child? That isn't very morally ethical of you." The device moved into Pierre's hand at some point.

"F*CK YOUR MORALS-" The sound abruptly cuts off. Pierre had turned the communicator off.

"Tut what a horrible influence, spouting such profanities. How could I continue to make you all listen." He refers to the audience on the other side of the hidden cameras, his words filled with self-righteousness. He throws the walkie-talkie on the desk and smirks at Kai," Shall we end it?"

Kai nods and they turn their dials... it doesn't work. The water is still flowing into the wrong bucket.

"Was it the wrong combination? Or the date was wrong?" Pierre questions.

Kai frowns. Before he can start thinking of other number options, Sherlock suggests," Switch the day and month?"

They look between each other. Kai coughs," Lets try it."

The first three numbers are reordered and they turn the dials all at once. The flippers turn, creating a new pathway for the water to flow into, right into the correct bucket. With a wider pathway, the bucket fills up much quicker.

The group high five in celebration, ready for the door they entered to open back up when a small tremor occurs. They pause, trying to sound out the cause.

"Ceiling!" Abel shouts. Right after, the ceiling splits open and water starts flooding in, quickly consuming the room.

They didn't have time to notice the correct bucket overflow and flood the city, hence the name of the game: escape the flood.

A sheet of water slams down, sweeping them off their feet and into the walls. They fall into the water that's already up to their torsos. They're a disorderly and confusing mess. It's Sherlock that leads them at this time," Up! Head up!" He says through mouthfuls of water, almost choking on it.

With a new goal, the five dive into the raging water and swim upwards, but the current is too strong for some. Abel swims out on his own, Pierre struggles a little more but also makes it out to the surface of the water.

Sherlock drags Lucien over to find a small remaining pocket of air. He doesn't know if Lucien will be able to hear over the sound of raging water, but he attempts anyways," Take a deep breath and wait until the room completely fills!" He takes a deep inhale immediately afterwards and lets himself sink into the water, trying to calm himself and not waste oxygen.

Kai found an air pocket as well. He takes a breath before heading back into the water. He looks around at the disorderly room that's almost completely flooded. The flow of water seems to be calming down as there's nowhere left for the water to move. He makes eye contact with Sherlock and Lucien next to him. He nods in understanding.

The three wait until the room fills and for the water to calm down before swimming out of the room with the little air they have left.