7 IN THE OPEN

We started pacing as we calculated both the options. We were hungry and thirsty and advancing with the maze seemed pointless if we were going to die of fatigue or thirst or starve to death. “we should take the riddle option”, I said. Cheryl stopped pacing and looked at me in agreement “we should, we’ve managed to answer all the others to this point what’s one more”. We didn’t hesitate this Time, we went at the door and tried to look for a speaker, “hello? We’ve made our choice, hello?” I shouted. Suddenly the lady from earlier reappeared again on top of the wall. She was still blurry and she asked what we had agreed on. We told her we had agreed to solve the riddle. “you have agreed to solve the riddle. The maze ends here”, she said.

Suddenly the walls around us started rotating aggressively blowing a cloud of heavy dust. We moved closer to the door as the ground shook. After some minutes the dust cleared and we couldn’t tell what had happened over the wall but could have guessed. Suddenly the door rattled and a tiny scroll fell out of it. Cherly walked over and grabbed the scroll, she opened it and started turning it side to side. She seemed deep in thought as I stood there in suspense, "so? What's the riddle?" I asked. She didn't even look at me as she handed over the scroll. I took it looking at her hoping the riddle was either too easy or not a riddle at all. "What is this supposed to be?" I asked. On the scroll were three black doodles. The first picture was a stickman figurine pushing a cart, the other one was what I assumed to be a pregnant stick man figurine and the third one was a stickman figurine of a man pushing a stone up a steep. "A picture riddle, the one thing I was never good at", Cheryl said in frustration as she sat down on the ground. I too sat down across her as I stared completely attentive at the doodles.

The clock behind Cheryl where she was leaning on was moving oddly quickly. Cheryl had zoned off staring at the ground but then again that could have been just her usual facial expression. "Hey, a little help?", I said. She suddenly snapped out of it and started mumbling. She stood up and started pacing back and forth, "OK the doodles are three, they can be represented by one word, what's the word that can represent a man with a cart, a pregnant woman and a bolder?", she explained. It was like looking at a genius work out a math problem. "You're right, one word four pics", I said. "Think, come on think, what is the answer", she said as she knocked her head with a palm. Suddenly it hit me, maybe it was far fetched but was worth the shot. So I went over the door and started shouting, "pain!". "whoa whoa what are you doing there Sherlock?", Cheryl asked as she looked around in tension. "relax, it's the only answer", I said.

"it can't be...she said." what do you mean it's not, how do you... " I said as I got interrupted by a loud bang. It was the clock, it had stopped." see", I boasted. But after a few seconds after stopping, it began rotating again this time faster than usual. "Uuum whoa whoa, that was not the Answer", I said. "ow really captain obvious?" she said sarcastically. She grabbed the scroll and looked at me then it again. "wait, wait", she said as she snapped her fingers repeatedly. The clock was going faster after every rotation, and a red light started blinking, "uuum any time now Cheryl", I said in hesitation. "Quiet!", she shouted. I moved back a little looking at her and the clock constantly. "Got it!" She said as she walked over to the door. "Labor! The answer is labor!", she shouted. I stood behind her with anxiety. The clock didn't stop for a few seconds then suddenly stopped. The red light that was blinking suddenly stopped and turned green.

"OK that's a good sign", I said. "Yeah let's hope", she said. Suddenly the woman from earlier appeared on the wall, she was still blurry, "congratulations, you answered the riddle correctly, please enter and follow the way into your chamber", she explained. The door started rattling mechanical rotating gears and opened. We looked at each other and entered Cheryl first. The way was dark but there were light bulbs that turned on just as soon as we took a few steps. I was anxious and excited at the same time. We didn't know what to expect. There was no living creature in sight. We reached a dead end with a door in front of us. We stood there staring at the door which looked very heavy and had no handle. I looked at Cheryl who was staring at the door anxiously, “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier, you know how I almost got us killed”, I said apologetically. She looked at me and it was like the first time I was seeing her as her eyes glittered at the bulb’s reflection. “Well thank goodness you’re stuck in here with a genius huh?” She said playfully as she bumped me on the arm. “Yeah, thank goodness”, I said as I looked directly at her eyes. She looked away and smiled and I loved it. Suddenly the door started rumbling as it opened slowly. We moved back a little a few steps while trying to see inside.

It then got quiet after fully opening. Then one after the other lights started turning on. We figured we get in slowly with caution. It was a corridor, a long and wide one. But something was strange. On the sides were metal doors like rooms. I couldn’t hear anything from the inside but I figured it was just paranoia. After walking for a distance we suddenly reached an open door, it had a green light on top of it and below it written 293b. We could’ve continued walking but logic suggested otherwise. We entered inside and the lights turned on. The room was nice bunk beds with white sheets and blankets, a small glass table with nothing on it and a painting on the wall. “Uuum so where’s the water and food?” Cheryl asked as she jumped on top of the bunker. “Wow I missed this”, she continued. All that time I was still thinking about how strange this place was and why was there numbering on our door. “Hey, didn’t you notice anything strange about this place?” I asked. She sat up and looked at me, “strange? You mean the a hundred doors we walked by, the numbering on each door or the fact that this room has only three items, so yes I noticed something strange but if you excuse me I’m not in the mood to play detective right now, I’ve done that enough”. I kind of felt bad for asking in the first place so I too sat down waiting for the food if it was there. I sat there and remembered the tore up piece of paper we found from the island. I took it out and started staring at it. The words still didn’t quit make sense. Then all of a sudden our door mad a loud horn noise. And it rumbled open. We stared there in disbelief, Cheryl jumped from the bed and stood there staring. It was a real life person standing there with a covered tray. He said nothing for a whole minute.