Cathy's laugh rang through the room. "Amazing job, I can't believe you're still alive, Zack! To congratulate you on solving the puzzle, I'll open the door to the next room for you!~"
Click!
You and Zack walked towards the door, and Zack started to open it. "Zack, the room looks kind of dangerous... We should think this through."
Zack turned to look at you. "Think it through? There's nowhere else to go but forward. Getting cold feet now, are we?"
You shook your head. "No, you're right. Let's go." Zack opened the door. The room that presented itself to you was dimly lit and musky. Zack entered the room without hesitation, and you cautiously followed behind him. The doors slammed behind you.
You turned your head to look at the doors then back at Zack. A rotting corpse laid at your feet, and you struggled to not gag. Cathy's voice came over the loud speakers yet again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, your wonderful condemner will now proceed to punish these filthy sinners for the crimes they've committed!" She blathered on to nobody. "This is my 'gas room!' You may be wondering why I call it that... I suppose you'll just have to find out!"
Zack looked irritated. "Just tell us you bitchy bimbo!" He shouted.
"My my, impatient, are we? Fine.~ I'll tell you. In a few minutes, this room will be flooded with poisonous gas! Ahahaha!~ Do not fret, yours truly has provided a gas mask!" Cathy let out a laugh.
You reached down to pick up the gas mask and held it with delicately. "It's practically destroyed..." You breathed.
"As you may know, I'm a bit impatient... If I were to wait for the poison to kick in.. How boring would that be? As a solution, I've set a very deadly poison to flood the room once a certain amount of time, that is, unless you make it out in time!" Cathy cooed.
Her voice faded and gas enveloped around the two of you. You held out the gas mask towards Zack. He pushed it back lightly. "You take it." He protested.
You shook your head. "No, you wear it. We can switch off." Zack rolled his eyes and took the mask from you.
"Fine, but let me know before keel over!" He huffed, and you nodded. You looked around the room, and turned to the corpse. You kneeled down beside it. You spotted writing underneath the foot. You pushed it aside reluctantly.
'The man that lies in front of you was a foolish sinner who stomped out the lives of others with his own feet.'
'Had he understood his crimes and felt remorse over them, he only needed to rid himself of these feet, but he could not even manage that.'
'What body part has committed the crime? Sever it if you understand. Balance it and the crime against each other on the scales.'
'The weight simply needs to balance.'
You read it first to yourself, then aloud to Zack. He cocked his head to the side slightly. "I've got no clue." The taller ebony haired male shrugged.
"Zack, I've got it. Put that- Ah-" You stopped for a moment to pace yourself. You put a hand to your head. You began to wobble, but you steadied yourself. "Put the foot... On that scale.."
"What?! Why do I gotta' do somethin' gross?!" Zack retorted.
You deadpanned. "Fine." Your eyes were half closed by now. Zack grabbed your wrist, catching you off guard. He forced you to look at him.
"I said, tell me when you're startin' to feel sick, dumbass! Put on the fuckin' mask." Zack removed the mask and placed it on your face. You nodded and held it in place.
"So all I gotta' do is put this..." Zack picked up the foot. "On that?" He placed it on the scale and glanced at you and you nodded, but he looked skeptical. "Nothin' happened." He mumbled.
You glanced from side to side. "It probably triggered some secret switch." You guessed. "Here, you should wear this... If you die then.. I wouldn't survive for much longer anyways..." You passed him the mask. And he reluctantly took it.
"Let's split up to look for clues.." You murmured dreamily. You dizzily wobbled away. 'It's getting harder to breath... Everything is blurry...' Thoughts like that clouded your mind, distracting you. You hadn't even noticed Zack, who had wandered up behind you. You felt your knees buckle, and you fell to the ground. Zack grabbed your hand as you sat on your knees.
"Ya can't die just yet." His voice echoed over all of the thoughts running through your head. You glanced up at him drowsily.
"Where's the... gas mask...?" You murmured.
"I broke it. It was already on the verge of being destroyed when the bitch gave it to us..!" Zack huffed in annoyance. "Now look at me..!" He pulled your face close to yours.
"We're getting out of here alive, ya' got that?!"
"Pull yourself together!"
Zack shouted. All of the thoughts running through your head vanished. Then you spotted it, behind Zack's head was an air duct. You pointed towards it and Zack glanced at you then to the air duct. "So are you feelin' better?" He asked.
You nodded and before you knew it, you were thrown into the air.
Crash!
You landed in the air duct with a thud. You sat there, stunned for a few moments, before you crawled through the vent. 'There..! The key card!' You grabbed the small card and made your way back to the opening of the duct. You emerged from the opening. "Z-Zack... It's too high.."
He looked up at you and held his hand out. "Well? Come on, what are you waiting for?" You couldn't help but smile to yourself. Zack wrapped his hand around yours and pulled you down. The timer that showed how long until the deadly poison was released seemed to be on the brim of running out.
"Zack.. the key card.." You felt your knees give out and you fell to the floor. Zack grabbed the card from you and fumbled it around in the slot for a bit, and his face contorted. "What is it..?"
"I uh... Broke it.." He breathed, clearly embarrassed. You frowned and Cathy's laughter rang out through the room.
"After everything, Zack broke it?! Ahaha, how hilarious! Absolutely hilarious! Don't you see the arrow?!" Cathy's proceeded to taunt him. Zack shot back protests. Meanwhile, you stood up. You looked around the room and found two batteries and some wire. You wrapped the wire around the batteries and created a mini explosive device. You set it on the ground and grabbed Zack's hand.
"We have to go in there.." You mumbled and pulled Zack into a small safe room. You tried your best to avoid getting to close to him, for his sake. "Assuming the gas if flammable-"
KABOOM!
You shielded your eyes with your hands as a wave of heat swept through the room. You and Zack cautiously stepped out of the room together. Zack let out a laugh. "That was fuckin' awesome! Nice job, (N/N)." The two of you began waking through the halls.
"I'm glad.. I was useful." You slowly walked behind Zack. You walked in silence for a while, before Zack spoke up.
"Can't you walk any faster?! I can't go without you, eventually I'll hit a dead end! So hurry up!" He shouted, clearly irritated.
"Zack... The poison... I need... Can we... If you would.." You started, but Zack cut you off.
"Just spit it out, jeez!" Zack rolled his eyes. You nodded.
"Could we rest...? Please..?" You finally said. You patiently awaited Zack's response. He walked towards you and grabbed your wrist. You looked at him questioningly.
"Come on, around this corner. There are no cameras over here, so that sadistic bitch can't see us." He huffed and leaned against the wall. Zack slid down the wall and you fell beside him. You fell asleep soon enough. Your head fell on Zack's shoulder. He flinched slightly, but he didn't move.
"I'll leave you be, just for now."
