The Beige Room

Chapter 10

After hearing the squeal of the door, Osiris pointed out three vials lying on the podium just as the transmission said. Greyson pushed his way through the crowd to get to the vials. He grabbed one and thrusted the fluid down his throat. Yuno did the same and took a vial for Nala. A sudden wave of fear washed over her. What happens when Nala wakes up? Although the cut was shallow she will still probably feel pain and confusion when she wakes up. Yuno shook off the feeling and bent over and forced Nala's mouth open. She gently poured the vial of fluid down her throat.

"We should get going guys." Osiris said.

The group moved forward through the door down a short hallway. Kalum took Nala into his arms gently and followed the group. At the end of the hallway two doors lay ahead of them. One of the doors was labeled with Archer's name. The other door indicated everyone else go through the other one.

"Well what do we do? Should we split up?" Kalum wondered.

"Well that's what the sign says," Archer replied.

"Should we trust it?" Kalum asked.

"Well I guess it makes more sense than sending someone else down a door thats not meant for them." Archer said.

Archer took a breath and tried to calm his racing heart. Archer then casually strolled in through the door. Everyone stood there nervously watching him disappear into the door.

"Well what are we waiting for!" Greyson exclaimed.

The group trotted through the other door. When they entered the new room they saw that one of the walls was made entirely out of glass. Through the glass they saw Archer in the room next to them. The room looked like a hallway, Archer stood near the door. The group glanced at him and he shrugged. The room they were in was made of concrete. fluorescent blue lights flickered above their heads. Above them in the center of the ceiling hung a rusty pipe. While the group was looking at the room another transmission suddenly blared through the room.

~ This task will be different from the other ones you have encountered so far. For this task you will have to trust in one of your group members for your survival. If you correctly followed the simple instructions on the doors laid out earlier you will find that Archer has been separated from the rest of the group. That's because he is the only one that can save you. After this announcement the room you are currently in will start rapidly filling with water. It will come out of the pipe on the ceiling. Archer will then have to run through a long hallway full of dangerous traps to get to a button that will stop the water from flowing. Enjoy your swim.~

After the announcement the whole group frantically ran to the door. It was sealed. Water suddenly began rapidly gushing into the room. Everyone looked through the glass towards Archer who was nervously planning how to get to the end of the hallway.

He heard shrieking and he twisted around, peering through the window. It was utter chaos: Yuno was banging on the glass, screaming; Osiris and Kalum were trying to plug the gushing water; and Greyson was slapping at the water while also struggling to hold up Nala.

Archer could see Nala waking up and staring in horror at their situation. He needed to help them A.S.A.P.

He swiveled forward and, seeing no immediate harm that would follow, dashed down the hallway and bolted for the button that lay at the end.

Everyone's wailing provided a morbid symphony that made Archer's skin crawl. It did, however, motivate him to keep running. His body was coiled the whole time, expecting something to spring up on him.

At the end of the hallway he skidded to a halt. Looking closely, he observed that to push the bright red button he would have to stick his hand through a metal clamp first. He howled in frustration, which faded quickly into fear. He would survive this, but his hand....who knows what this thing could do to it? How could he hobble through the rest of the traps with an injured hand? Would he forever be cumbersome and fumbling? Why was it his responsibility to save anyone, anyway? If he leaves them to drown then he would be the de facto winner...No! no! no! He yanked his thoughts away from that sinister route. He had to do this. He had to.

He glanced back at the other victims. The water was up to their necks and it was obvious that some of them couldn't even swim. Greyson was doing the worst, thrashing furiously while fueling the panic. Yuno was also having some trouble, she was in shock and was hyperventilating at their new predicament.

Archer threw his left hand in, slamming the button down with a bang. However, the clamp also threw down, devouring Archer's hand with a snap. He yowled in excruciating pain. It bubbled hotly on his hand, spilling through his fingertips and igniting his muscles. It was so unbearable that even his shoulders huddled together and his head rolled back, unable to assuage the agony.

Suddenly he heard a stampede of footsteps rushing towards him, followed by a chorus of: "'Are you okay?' 'Oh my god!' 'Does it hurt?'"

Osiris and Kalum pried the metal clamp off his hand and pulled out his arm. It was a gory catastrophe, his hand was completely mangled and blanketed in blood. His thumb was thankfully intact but the rest of his fingers were shattered and the pain--oh it was unbearable!

Archer had tears skimming his cheeks and he couldn't suppress his screams.

Everyone was blurry, moving around too fast for Archer to process. Yuno's pink hair whizzed around his head, circling him like a shark. He saw other bodies whistle past him, but with nondescript qualities too banal to assign them to one person: whiffs of gray clothes, breaths of denim, and wafts of sopping hair. Osiris was the only stagnant one, the only one that was focused in Archer's vision. He was kneeling in front of him, trying to wrap up his hand in a stringy bandage.

Archer yelped and growled and moaned through the futile process, his obdurate fingers unwilling to mold against the bandage. Blood had soaked right through the film, making it soggy and useless. Osiris muttered a few curses under his breath and searched around the room for anything that could be helpful.

Archer's hand was now marinated in blood, twisted and mauled beyond visible repair.

"Oh my God, I can't look! It's horrible!" Yuno whisper-shouted to Nala.

Nala sighed in pity and mumbled: "I wish it wasn't Archer. He's much more useful than other people in the group."

Yuno bristled. "What are you saying?"

"Oh, no, no I was just speaking generally--I wasn't trying to insinuate anything about anyone here," she tried to clarify.

"You know," Yuno rushed on, her anxiety fueling her aggression, "It's not my fault that I'm not some kind of fighter or war hero or whatever. I shouldn't even be here! I'm doing my best in here!"

"Whatever!" Nala snapped. "Look, I'm not trying to fight with you. I don't care about anyone here. I'm just trying to get of here." She stalked off the the far end of the room, eager to distance herself from Yuno.

"Oh! Guys," she called. "Another door opened." She stood by the dauntingly rusty door

and found it ajar. Everyone except Archer and Osiris rushed over to her and peeked through it.

"So...what should we do about this one?" Greyson jerked his head in Archer's direction. "Should we leave him here?"

"No," decided Yuno. "We should stick together."

"The kid's right," Kalum said. "He'll only slow us down. It's probably safer for him to stay here."

Archer hobbled over, cradling his wrapped hand. "I'm going with you guys."

Osiris followed him, making himself the caboose of the pack. Everyone glanced anxiously at each other, the thick air getting caught in their throats.