The P.U.L.L || #Wattys2017

Chapter 14: The Lock?

The three of them walked forward inside the dark passageway. They could feel the cold and dampness creeping to them as they went deeper and deeper. They approached the fork on the tunnel.

Does Emma really know which way these tunnels run? Joshua wondered to himself. It would be pretty scary if we get lost down here. The trapdoor must be locked by this time. He thought. Then, he suddenly shook off his head. No, I shouldn't think of being trapped down here. We need to trust her in the meantime.

"Which way?" Rick asked as he and Joshua followed Emma.

"We go to the right." Emma confidently said. "Come on, walk faster!" She told them.

Emma picked up the pace. She began brisk walking, glancing at Rick and Joshua to make sure that no one gets left behind. Rick and Joshua smiled, they felt reassured because of Emma's tone. Seems like she really knows which way to go! Rick and Joshua excitedly said to themselves.

These tunnels look really different from the way I remembered it. Wonder if they changed anything. Emma bit her lower lip as she began thinking. Well, nothing will happen if I just think about the situation. Hope they just added some tunnels, not change some it.

Minutes passed, they finally reached a fork on the tunnel once again. This time, there were three different passageways: one going to the left, one towards the center, and one to the right. Emma looked at the three tunnels intently. As I thought! Phew! Good thing they just added a tunnel. That right tunnel shouldn't be there. Emma sighed in relief.

"Next, we go towards the left." Emma gestured towards the left tunnel.

"Sure, we'll just follow your lead." Rick said.

Emma began walking towards the left tunnel.

"Wait!" Joshua suddenly exclaimed as he grabbed Emma away from the tunnel.

"What did you do that for?!" Emma asked as she stood up and dusted herself.

"Look." Joshua pointed at the tunnel.

A huge gap in the left tunnel was barely visible! Had Emma walked one more step, she would have fallen towards the huge gap.

"Phew, thanks for the save, Joshua!" Emma said. "Sorry for snapping at you just a moment ago."

"Sure, anytime!" Joshua responded.

"Wait?! How did you even see that gap, Joshua?" Rick alarmingly asked. "I mean, Emma has not pointed  the flashlight that way and it's pitch dark here!"

"I don't know, my eyes had adjusted fairly to the dark." Joshua answered. "I don't know how it works, but my eyes resemble that of a night vision. I could see clearly even without the flashlight."

"Really?!" Emma exclaimed. "That reminds me, Rick's got incredible amount of strength and stamina. Could it be that the one behind all these has some interest on those sort of thing?"

"Maybe, I dunno. I guess the mastermind is the only one who could answer that." Rick commented. "Anyway, let's go."

At the end of the tunnel, there was a huge space. After reaching the space, seven different tunnels lay in front of them. Emma stood in front of it, perplexed.

"Where do we go, Emma?" Rick asked.

This is not how I remember it. By this time, there should be a secret trapdoor in the middle of this space. But, there aren't any. As far as I can remember, that secret trapdoor leads to some sort of a narrow passageway with a ladder at the end. That's right! The ladder! Emma thought.

"Ummm, I don't know." Emma replied. "There should be a secret trapdoor in the middle of this space. Well, never mind that, can you see any ladders, Joshua?" Emma asked.

Joshua began looking towards the tunnels intently.

"Yup, there is. It's at the end of the tunnel at the center." Joshua replied.

"Whoa! You can really see without a flashlight, huh." Rick said.

"Anyway, let's get out of here." Emma said.

The three of them reached the ladder in no time. This is definitely the ladder. I could still remember how it looks like. Emma excitedly said to herself.

Rick approached the ladder, smiling to himself. Emma quickly grabbed him away from it.

"That's not an ordinary ladder, Rick." Emma said. "Anyone who touches it gets electrocuted. It's a high voltage ladder, in other words."

"What?!" Rick exclaimed, then he sighed in relief. "Who would put that in their place? Anyway, thanks for the save, Emma."

"Anytime." Emma said.

"But, how do we get up from here?" Joshua asked. "We cannot use the ladders, right?"

"We can, but we must disable the power source, first." Emma said. "That means, finding where the electronic lock is and typing the designated code. It changes every three hours for it was programmed by the Quillers so we could play with it." She explained.

"Oh, so you just need to guess what the password is, right?" Joshua said. "First, we need to find...Ahhh, there it is." He pointed at the left side of the tunnel."

"Nice, but, we only have three tries. Once it's done, it will trigger the alarm of the house." Emma continued.

Joshua went towards it and pressed it with his forefinger.

Click.

"It's unlocked." Joshua said.

"How did you do that?" Emma asked, surprised. "Before, it takes us a while to unlock this thing."

"It's a secret I couldn't tell anyone." Joshua grinned. "Anyway, let's go."

Rick and Emma closed their eyes as Joshua began to grab the handle bars. They thought that he'll meet his end once he touches it.

But he wasn't electrocuted.

The two of them heaved a sigh of relief as they followed Joshua.

How did he managed to unlock that so fast? That has an intense security as long as I can remember. Only hackers on our level could do that. Emma wondered. Well, at least we're out of these tunnels.

"There's another electronic lock up there, Joshua!" Emma said. "If you force open the trapdoor, you'll get electrocuted."

"I already unlocked it." Joshua said as he opened the trapdoor at the top of the ladder.

That's really fast! How could he do that? Even the Quillers can't do that! That electronic lock is far more advanced than the one at the bottom. Emma said.

Emma looked upwards as light streamed towards them. Joshua got out of the tunnel as soon as he opened it. He looked around and smiled.

They were now inside the house