First Soul
Page 10
“How do we get out?!” Deyna screamed as she tried to make her body sink further into the jagged, rocky wall.
That wouldn’t work but he kept the comment firmly in his mouth. She was pushing herself against the sharp, gleaming weaponry that was held on the wall. When, not if, but when the wall finally found their vulnerable little bodies, she would feel the sharp edges of that weaponry penetrate her flesh.
They were going to die in here and it was going to be a painfully slow, bone crushing one.
Stephen tried to think, the loud crunching from their rocky impending doom made it difficult, as did Deyna’s hysterical screams. Phillip was stood silently watching it approach. He’d probably realised there was very little he could do. Lester eyes were zigzagging as he looked around them. Was he looking for an exit? If he knew where one was then he really needed to find it, and fast.
The corridor was much thinner which meant their exit points were few and far between. Stephen could feel the creeping deadly snakes of panic rupture his chest and head towards his rapidly beating heart. He was going to lose the plot any second and fall to the floor in a crying, hysterical mess.
The idea hit, like a good solid smack in the gut.
“Drag every item you can off the walls and put in on the floor. We have to stop this wall!”
They quickly set to work, including Lester. Stephen could see the amount of energy it took the ghost to make his hand pick up an object that existed in this world. The strain on his features made it clear that Lester wanted to save them as much as Stephen wanted to be saved, which was, at this moment in time, an awful bloody lot. He could only hope that the obstacles on the floor would put a stop to the wall’s movement towards them.
Guns, swords, shields, anything that could possibly stop the course of the wall littered the floor. The wall, oblivious to the road block, continued its journey. Stephen assessed the mess and realised the weapons would move closer to them. The weapons would move until they reached the wall, the wall they were going to be crushed against.
Stephen saw the expression cross Lester’s face as soon as the thought came to him. He launched himself towards the pile of metal and picked up two very large guns.
“Lester, you must make the exit. You got us in here, you can get us out,” Stephen shouted above the noise of the moving wall. The crunching and scraping was growing louder and louder as it neared them.
“It doesn’t work like that, Stephen. I cannot make an exit.”
“Why the hell not?!”
“There is no intended exit. You are not meant to leave.”
With those words, Stephen felt his stomach drop to the floor. Lester had to be mistaken. If they were going to die in here then the person controlling this whole game wouldn’t have anyone else to manipulate. It wasn’t over yet. There had to be an exit.
“There is always an entrance and exit to a room. There has to be one.”
“The rules in this place are different to the ones up above in your world. He wants you to die in here.”
“Who?!” Stephen shouted.
Lester didn’t answer. The man was good at giving as little information away as possible but he’d given away little bits without knowing. Those he could work with, Stephen loved to pick apart clues and he’d pick at this one.
Stephen could hear Deyna’s whimpers over the rush of blood in his head. They wouldn’t die in this room. He forbid it. He was, however, rather happy to see Phillip gathering the weapons and putting them around his body. Phillip was preparing himself for a fight and Stephen would definitely join him.
“Right, we only have one option.”
He shrugged his shoulders knowing that they were at a loss. If he was going to be crushed in this small room he would do it whilst fighting his way out. He turned, grabbed two guns from the floor and let them loose on the wall.
Bullets whizzed in all directions, they shattered upon impact against the hard rock. He reloaded and started the assault once more. Bullets joined his, he turned to see Phillip and Lester both handling guns which were directed towards the rock. He turned back to the wall to see Deyna hacking away at the hard rock with a large sword, her screams of desperation drowned out by the lethal gun fire. She moved back, panting with exertion. She’d barely made a dent in the rock. Stephen continued with his lead attack on the rock.
“Oh my god, everyone move!”
Deyna’s shout registered through the manic thud of bullets. He stopped and whistled loudly, bringing Phillip and Lester’s attention to Deyna. She held her hand in the air, the smile on her face was one of pure joy.
“Oh my god! Deyna’s found a grenade!” Phillip shouted the obvious.
Stephen rushed over to Deyna who handed him the grenade without a word. He felt the niggles of doubt in his gut again, never in his life had they given him this much responsibility. He’d been thrust forward as the leader and his two friends hadn’t complained. They’d simply accepted it and allowed him to lead. What a fine job he was doing as well! He held up the grenade and almost whooped with glee, the clip was still in place. This might just work.
They pulled shields off the wall and positioned them creating a protective wall around them.
“Right, get down!”
Stephen watched as Deyna and Phillip positioned themselves behind the shields. Lester stood in front of the shield, acting as, well, as a shield. He wouldn’t be a great shield as most things will fly through him, but the thought was there.
Stephen looked at the grenade, took a deep breath and pulled the clip out with his teeth. He’d seen someone do it in a film once and had always wanted to do it. No time like the present. Taking a deep breath, he threw the cold metal and then launched himself behind the shield and put his hands over his ears.
Covering his ears hadn’t prepared him for the angry rumble of the ground, or the smash of dust and rock that ripped the air right out of his lungs. He coughed up what felt like a lung and stood. His ears buzzed like a swarm of angry bees were trapped in there.
The shield held up but it wouldn’t for much longer. He choked on the smoke and noticed that the wall was still moving towards them. Squinting, he could see that he’d blown a hole in the other wall and that the gap was big enough for them to leave through. He didn’t have time to celebrate, what with the death wall coming towards them, celebrating would come later when they’d found a way out of this place.
“Get out! Get out!”
He all but pushed Deyna and Phillip towards the hole as he followed them stumbling over rubble, he rummaged around for the thing he wanted. The wall moved ever closer as his hands pushed aside rocks, shards of metal and weapons, he found the Hunter and jammed it in his trousers.
He held panic at bay as the wall sandwiched him, he pushed his body closer to the rock and shuffled. Why was his body suddenly unable to react to the requests his brain was demanding? There was some sort of minute delay. He could hear Deyna scream as his body felt the pressure from the rock. He could see and smell the freedom. He wouldn’t let a bloody wall finish him off. Not here, not now, not ever.
He pushed himself through the hole just as the wall came to rest with a bang and a shudder. The weapons that they’d thrown on the floor would be mincemeat by now. He tried not to think of what their bodies would have looked like.
His knees buckled beneath his body. He’d never been more grateful to be alive, ever. Deyna flew into his arms taking away any ability to breathe. Murmuring something incoherent to him, she pushed away and hugged Phillip. He smirked at Deyna’s exuberant display of gratitude. Phillip also smiled at him. He looked at Lester and the smirk dropped from his lips. The expression on Lester’s face revealed far too much sadness. Stephen had that feeling again, he knew something waited for them to fail, pushed them to fail.
They’d survived this, but at what cost?
Stephen took a deep breath, made sure the guns were safe in his belt,
and walked to Lester to look at the map. They had to find a way out of here, alive. The look on Lester’s face didn’t give Stephen one ounce of hope.
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CHAPTER TEN