Escape Games

Chapter Six

The white and blue tiles stretched far down the corridor, the florescent lights above flickering eerily and not doing much more to light their way than the lanterns had.
"I think I see a right turn coming up a little way ahead," Jorik said, still wanting to be helpful in some way.
"Thanks," Mac said. Jorik nodded. Another minute of walking and they reached the turn. Bear walked slightly ahead as the group followed the tiles, a locker door falling off its hinges twenty feet ahead as they made the turn. The dog looked at it, but kept going after a few seconds when nothing jumped out.
"She must not sense anything wrong right now," Mac said, relaxing his shoulders but still keeping alert overall.
"Is she usually good at sensing danger?" Jorik asked, stretching his neck trying to see as far as he could.
"Very," Mac answered. "It's one of many reasons I was allowed to keep her in the first place." Mac gazed at the dog for several seconds.
"So armorhounds like her usually aren't allowed as pets?" The elven asked, thinking of a few times when he'd seen other elvens being followed around by the canines.
"It's highly unrecommended," Mac answered. "But I found her as a baby so it was an uncommon situation, not to mention I'm a hunter, so I probably know a few things about them that a typical suburban family may not." He paused to see if Jorik would asked another question. When he didn't, Mac continued.
"She'd already proven herself to be pretty friendly, so the squad leader at the time let me bring her back and I was allowed to keep her on the condition that I take notes on her response to a domestic environment for the first year. After that, I came back to field work and they've let me bring her with ever since." 
     "So she's like your partner?" Jorik asked. Mac nodded.
"Essentially," he answered. "And she's the first dog to join a squad, which is an achievement in and of itself."  They reached the end of the corridor, where it split into a T. 
     "Can you see anything on either side?"  Mac asked.  Jorik took a full minute to check both sides before answering. 
     "I can't see anything," he said.  "I think they're both just long corridors." 
     "Okay," Mac said.  He took several seconds to look down both corridors.  "Let's try left first, then maybe we can come back and try the other way if that doesn't work out."  Jorik nodded. 
     "All right," he said.  Mac began walking and Bear followed.  After a minute, Mac noticed Jorik seemed to be getting a bit agitated. 
     "You good?"  He asked, pausing.  "Do you want to be put down for a few minutes?"  The elven huffed as Mac crouched to let him slide off.  He huffed again before answering the question.
"I just don't like that we haven't seen whatever that shadow was in a while," he said.
"That could mean it's nowhere near us," Mac knelt beside him as Bear sat down to keep watch.
"It could also mean that thing might appear around a corner at any second," Jorik said. "And I don't like that chance."
"Bear will let us know if there's a threat nearby," Mac told him, trying to help him feel better. "And I would likely be able to sense its presence. You'd probably be able to hear it coming, too. I think we're fine for the moment." Jorik huffed again. Then he sighed.
"I suppose you're right," he said.  He diverted his gaze for a second before looking back at Mac.  "I just don't like the feeling of this place, it doesn't sit well with me, don't like the heaviness of it.  Or the quiet." 
     "I hear you," Mac told him.  "I don't like it either, but we'll have to deal with it until we can get out of here.  We can sit for a few minutes, but then we'll need to start moving again, okay?"  Jorik huffed again as he leaned back against a locker. 
     "Fine," he sighed. Mac took a deep breath, and the elven found himself doing the same. He wanted to be calmer, but little worries kept nibbling at the back of his mind like biting ants. It was something he'd never liked about himself, but he'd learned to manage it most of the time. He would've bet that Mac could sense it.
"Do you need to talk about something?" Mac sounded genuinely concerned, but also like he didn't want to push too hard for an answer at the same time. Jorik huffed and grumbled in response. Mac blinked and stayed patiently quiet for a moment.
"Talking things out can help you feel better about them," Mac was trying to be encouraging, but Jorik didn't seem to want it at the moment. He huffed again, but this time the sound that followed was more of a cooing groan or whimper.
"What?" Mac asked. He waited again, but Jorik only huffed again and shook his head.  Mac slowly reached out to put a hand on the elven's shoulder.  Jorik eyed the hand, but let it stay for a moment before huffing again and turning his head to look at Mac.  He said nothing, but his eyes told Mac he really wanted to.  Mac gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze of encouragement. 
     "Come on," he said.  "Let's keep going.  Maybe if we find a somewhat safe room, you'll feel a little more comfortable talking."  He let go of Jorik's shoulder, and the elven began to climb onto his back without protest, this time putting his arms around Mac's neck instead of holding his shoulders.  This made Mac feel a bit better himself, as it told him Jorik was beginning to warm to him more.  He began walking and Bear followed at his side. 
     After a couple dozen steps, the rows of lockers broke to make space for two doors, one on each side of the hall. 
     "See?"  Mac asked.  "We found some rooms.  Hopefully these aren't going to be like the last room."  He tried the knob on the door on the right, and it opened.  Mac carried Jorik inside, followed by the dog. 
     The room appeared to be some type of teacher's lounge or recreation room.  There were a bunch of couches and comfy-looking chairs.  A handful of snack and drink vending machines stood along the far wall, with a refrigerator, water cooler, and coffee corner with a sink along the side wall next to them.  A pair of long plastic tables sat in the middle of the room for eating. 
     Mac walked to one of the sofas and let Jorik slide off his back to sit while Bear went to sniff the vending machines. 
     "I don't think you'll find anything in those for you, pouch," Jorik told the dog.  Mac smiled to himself, happy to see the elven seemingly more comfortable, if only a little. 
     "She's sniffing for anything that might be dangerous to eat or drink," he said.  "In case we want to take anything with us when we leave.  She does love people food, though."  He sat on the opposite side of the couch from Jorik, leaving the middle cushion empty.  He set his backpack on the floor and unzipped the biggest pocket. 
     "Speaking of food," he brought out the open package of jerky and offered it to Jorik, who cautiously took a piece and began nibbling halfheartedly.  Mac was happy to see he was at least trying to eat.  Bear had noticed her human with the food, and went to his side, staring until he offered her a piece.  The dog ate it, and rested her massive head on the empty middle couch cushion as she lay down in front of it.
Mac placed a hand on the dog's back to scratch it. Jorik slowly reached out to scratch one of the dog's ears with one finger. Bear's eyes shifted to him for a second, but her head tilted into the scratching and her tail began wagging slowly.
"She really does like you," Mac told him. "She usually walks away if anyone but me tries to pet her." Jorik huffed and sighed in response. He looked at some random point on the floor for several seconds in silence. Mac could tell that he still wanted to say something, but he waited patiently as the elven's eyes shifted to the wall.
"I always wanted a dog," Jorik broke the silence after about a dozen seconds. "But we never got a chance to get one before my family was killed." He huffed again and Mac waited for him to continue. There was a full minute of silence before Jorik just huffed and sighed again.
"Dogs are wonderful companions," Mac finally said, hoping to encourage the elven to speak again. Jorik looked at him for a couple seconds.
"Yeah," he said, now rubbing Bear's neck.  Mac waited for the elven to say more, but he didn't, so Mac left the conversation there.  He didn't want to push Jorik too much, he'd say more when he was ready.  They sat in companionable silence for about ten minutes before the dog suddenly gave a half-bark and jolted up, trotting to the door and staring it down, standing rigid and unmoving. 
     "What?"  Jorik began to ask, but Mac put a finger to his lips to shush him.  They could hear something massive moving out in the corridor, the heavy footsteps and breathing growing closer by the second.  A huge shadow suddenly appeared under the crack in the door, and both Mac and Jorik froze as a large, glowing eye appeared in the door's thin window, seeking its owner's prey.