How I Get A Great Idea

With smoke hindering our sight, I couldn't use a sharpie. I hoped Kat and Nick also understood this problem because I couldn't even tell them with that mask on my face.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my mind and realization dawned on me. So that's why there was cellophane behind the box. I grabbed Kat's backpack and almost earned a Karate kick from her because she stopped in the middle of attacking me and frantically shrugged off her backpack. Maybe she got the same idea. I was about to open it when Dominic did the courtesy. Finally, he got the idea too, even if a little late.

I took the stash out while Nick searched for something else in the bag. He took out two rolls of duct tape. What it was doing in Kat's bag, I didn't know but I was glad that it was there.

There were green lights on either side of the corridor after every five steps. Kat and Nick had equally divided the cellophane between them and were walking on either side of me, covering the green light with red cellophane while I guided them through corridors.

It was much easier than using a sharpie and much faster too since we didn't have to search for the little black lines I made with the sharpie. We steadily advanced towards the center of the maze but encountered nobody. Strange. We hadn't seen one soul except for Dominic since that little incident when I had fallen over Kat. It was too easy. What was happening?

Kat stopped suddenly and extended one hand to stop us as well. I followed her gaze and saw what made her stop. We had reached the center of the maze and a guy was lying in front of us. He looked dead and probably was since he didn't have a gas mask.

Kat rushed to him and propped him in her lap. I spotted the guy's gas mask in the corner and brought it to her so she could put it on his face. I checked the guy's pulse to know if he was even alive. His pulse was weak. Kat and I looked at each other but before we could formulate any plan, the smoke slowly disappeared and lights came on. I looked around and saw Nick standing by a huge red button.

He removed his mask and smirked. "I pressed it."

I grinned but realized that he couldn't see it so I removed my mask as well. "Well done, partner."

"Can you continue your lame conversation later and help me with Trevor now?"

I turned to Kat. She was struggling to prop the guy in a sitting position. I helped her and removed his mask. I didn't know what else to do to bring him back to consciousness so I started rubbing his back. Dominic rubbed his feet and palms while Kat gently slapped his face, trying to wake him up. It seemed like she knew him. What had she called him? Trevor, yes. So, she and Trevor had met before.

Suddenly, the guy coughed. And then kept coughing. We waited for quite some minutes before he stopped and opened his eyes. He looked at Kat and coughed. "Kat." And he lost consciousness.

We walked towards the stairs to the next level. Even though I was glad that no one attacked it, it didn't feel right. Something was up. Trevor had just woken up and was having trouble walking so Nick volunteered to let the poor guy lean on him for support. We let Trevor in our team because he belonged to the Both category and also because he had saved Kat before. She seemed like an entirely different person around him. She even helped Nick carry him.

"I wonder what's ahead. It's been quite interesting so far." Nick remarked. How could that guy be so cool about all this?

"I don't even wanna know. I still have some of the smoke in my lungs and believe me, it's not a good feeling." I admit, I was being sulky but this game wasn't feeling like a game anymore but well, it never did.

We were on the next level and the maze was in plain sight. So it had to be a trap.

"It seems like a trap," Kat spoke for the first time after Trevor joined the team.

I nodded. "That's what I'm thinking. We need to be careful."

"You just worry about finding the way to the center, leave the rest to us," Dominic said. His sea-green eyes shining with excitement. I could never understand some people's obsession with violence and stuff.

"Yeah, Nick's right." Trevor joined in. He looked much better now. Fresh air — as fresh as it could be inside a windowless building — did him good. His blonde hair, although still a bird's nest, no longer made him look like a scarecrow. His grey eyes looked less haunted than before and some color had returned to his extremely pale face.

"Let's go then." I shrugged. If they insisted so much, I guess I could leave it all on them. Navigating the maze was so easy, now that I had the experience of navigating around three. We were quite close to the center according to my calculations so I relaxed a little and decided to talk with my unusually quiet partners because yes, I couldn't possibly stay quiet for long.

"I—" and that's it! That's the only word I'd spoken when the lasers decided to burn us. Nick took me in his arms and dove for the floor while Trevor and Kat’s counter-attacked.

So we were back on the battleground.