Escape Games

Chapter Nine

     Mac tested the door knob before pushing open the door of the new room.  Inside, the room looked like another classroom, but this one actually looked like one you'd see in a normal school.  Empty fish tanks sat on a table against the back wall, and more tables lined the sides of the room with student desks in the center.  A wipe board hung on the wall at the front of the room, behind a teacher's desk.  The most disturbing thing about the room, besides the flickering lights that matched the ones in the hall, were the handful of mannequins sitting at the desks. 
     At first, Mac thought the low growling he heard came from the dog, but then he realized it was actually Jorik.
"I hate mannequins," he grumbled. "They're creepy."
"Don't artists use little ones sometimes?" Mac asked, bringing Jorik closer to one of the tables so he could lean on it.
"Those are tiny ones that I could punt across a room if I had to," the elven replied. "These are life-sized ones, and they look like they're staring at us." Mac noticed he was right. The mannequins all had their heads turned towards the group.  Mac thought for a second. 
     "Just stay there, and I'll check the room as fast as I can.  If you want, just keep an eye on them and yell if they move." 
     "I'll do more than yell if one of them even twitches," Jorik said.  "You'll hear me jump on the table shrieking like a child."  Bear walked up and stood next to him. 
     "The dog will stay by you," Mac told him.  "She'll get them before they even touch you." He moved to begin looking for anything helpful while Jorik stroked Bear's back. 
Mac started with the cabinets that hung above the tables along the walls.  The first few didn't hold anything of much importance, but one at the back of the room had a flashlight, and another hid another box of regular bullets for Mac's gun. He moved to the other side of the room to check the other cabinets, but not much was there except for a switch blade that Mac slipped into his pack. None of the bottom cabinets held much more than text books. As Mac moved to check the large cabinet in the back of the room, he heard both Jorik and Bear growl. 
     He looked behind him to see the mannequins had all turned their heads towards him.  He kept his eyes on them as he reached behind himself to open the tall cabinet.  He quickly turned to check the cabinet and found nothing of interest.  He walked back to the others, keeping one eye on the mannequins. 
     "Come on," he pulled Jorik's arm back over his shoulders.  "Let's keep moving."  The mannequins didn't move again as they left the room, but all three watched them until the door was shut.  Mac let Jorik lean on the wall as the three continued down the corridor. 
     "Just tell me if you need a rest," Mac told the elven.  "I know it can't be easy trying to hop around for long periods of time." Jorik let out a long breath.
"I'm okay for now," he said. "I just want to get away from those mannequins." Mac let out a breath of his own.
"You and me both," he said.  "I just hope we don't run into any more of them." 
     "Don't jinx it," Jorik grumbled. 
     "Oops," Mac said, but grinned in a slightly mischievous way.  Jorik let out a short laugh and a long breath.  Mac let out a breath of his own, relieved that Jorik seemed to be slowly releasing his tension and was opening himself a little more. 
     "Are you mimicking me?" The elven asked, but there was a slight joking tone to his voice. 
     "No," Mac answered.  "I'm just glad that you seem to be feeling less anxious than you were  earlier." 
     "Because I'm starting to feel safer with you," Jorik said.  "You're clearly wanting to take care of me as well as yourself and the dog.  That goes a long way with me."   Mac shook his head. 
     "My job is to protect people from harmful creatures and anomalous situations," he said.  "I'm not going to abandon that just because Bear and I are in danger, too."  Jorik breathed out and shook his head. 
     "I mean from the second you woke up in the cell, you were trying to be good to me," the elven explained.  "Even when I was being difficult.  And you kept me with you even though it slowed you down.  Not everyone would've been as happy to do that, especially after the chain was broken."  He looked up at Mac with genuine gratitude in his face. 
     "I haven't met anyone so willing to stick with me since I lost my family," Mac noticed small tears starting to form in the corners of Jorik's eyes.  "So thank you."  Mac wasn't sure what to say for a few seconds. 
     "I wasn't going to leave you behind if you were still able to move," he finally said.  "There would've been no guarantee I could've remembered exactly where I'd left you if I'd been able to get help.  Not to mention, it could become even more dangerous for you being alone with no defense.  As far as we know, you, Bear, and I are the only three in here besides whatever was skulking around earlier.  I have my gun, the dog has her teeth and claws.  We're staying with you at least until we all get out."  Jorik looked at him for several seconds, seeming like he wanted to say something, but then just huffed and turned his head away, but not before Mac caught a tear or two running down his cheeks. 
     "Hey," Mac stopped walking.  "Do you need a minute?  Do you want to sit?"  Jorik shook his head, wiping at his eyes with his right hand before putting it back on the wall to brace himself. 
     "I'm fine," he huffed and sighed.  "I just didn't realize how much I missed knowing someone was there for me." 
     "If you need to cry, you can cry," Mac told him.  "Bear and I will wait."  The elven shook his head again, sniffed, and took a deep breath, and let it out loudly. 
     "I'm okay, really," he said.  "I'd rather keep going right now."  Mac nodded once. 
     "If you're sure," he said.  The group began slowly walking again.  Jorik still had Mac's grey jacket, and after a minute he pulled it closer around his shoulders. 
     "Are you getting a slight breeze?"  He asked.  "Or is it me?"  Mac paused for a second. 
     "No, I feel it," he answered.  "But where's it coming from?"  Walking a dozen more paces brought them to a split in the corridor.  One path continued straight, with what looked like soil as flooring.  The other turned to the left, and had the same stone flooring they had seen when they escaped their cell.  The hall with the soil seemed to be where the breeze was coming from. 
     "Which way?"  Jorik asked.  Bear had decided she wanted to sniff at the ground, as if trying to test if the soil was real. 
     "Let's trying the dirt looking path," Mac suggested, noting the dog's interest.  "Bear seems to be interested, and we seem to have had some luck with picking the different flooring.  The stone looks the same as the path outside the cell, following it might bring us back to square one." 
     "Sounds fair enough," Jorik said.  "I don't hear or see anything dangerous from here." 
     "Then let's go," Mac started slowly walking again.  "Let's see what we can find."  About twenty feet down, the soil-floored corridor opened up into a massive area filled with trees.  The sound of birds happily chirping and a river bubbling came from somewhere nearby.  The soil path continued in front of the group, but it was hard to tell how far it went into the distance. 
     "Wow," Jorik seemed almost mesmerized by the new surroundings, or at least he was thinking about wanting to paint or draw the trees. 
     "Come on, Mister Artist," Mac joked.  "Let's find you a spot to sit and you can start drawing."  He moved Jorik further down the path, letting him use the trees to lean on, until they found a conveniently flat rock.  Mac helped Jorik sit down and the dog dropped his red backpack nearby.  The elven dug his napkins and pen as Mac walked a few steps off the path. 
     "Well, we have a real stream over here," he said after a few seconds.  "No telling if we're actually outside or not, but we have the option of refilling our water and washing up if we wanted."  He pretended he hadn't seen Jorik blush at the mention of washing, sensing the elven may or may not have been thinking of something slightly naughtier. 
     "Right now," Jorik responded, already doodling.  "I just want to draw.  Maybe I'll want something to eat in a few minutes."  The elven felt himself starting to get hungry from his healing during sleep, but Mac's presence had him realizing he was craving something else as well.  Mac opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden noise had the whole group of three suddenly on alert.