Last Straw, Last Challenge

Adding to my grief I realized that the air which was initially cold was now hot and damp from the activity. And I was feeling discomfort in breathing too. Loss of sight and movement restriction wasn't enough, then failures and now this!?

'Shit! I am fucked! The box may be airtight. The sound was not getting out anyway.'

That was bad news. If box was really air tight, death due to asphyxia could occur. Then again, it wouldn't be lack of oxygen to breathe but accumulation of too much carbon dioxide, reaching fatal levels.

I didn't have enough strength and no tricky contraption to get out was discovered. No help was coming out from outside either.

Starvation was a distant future, I could have died of CO2 poisoning earlier. And death would have been agonizing to say the least.

Rage came to me after every defense of my psyche had been broken by the inevitable threat, taking away the calm temperament.

'Maybe only rage is at my core.' I surmised helplessly before letting go.

Purely out of rage, I grit my teeth and banged the back of my head against the floor. It was purely an impulsive action to vent the overflowing anger.

But that was also the moment were something truly amazing happened.

*Dhwak!*Creak*

"Huh!?"

"What was that!!?" My mind was instantly pulled by that sound, anger losing hold instantly. I had checked all the six walls earlier but no amount of knocking or hitting made that kind of sound.

'Why now?' It seemed that the world gave way or truth dawned on me only when critical junctures were reached. And the time spent beforehand turn out to be only useless struggles no matter how thoughtful and cautious I was. This was another truth of my life. 'How ironic!'

While pressing the painful bump that had appeared on the back of my head, I turned around to face the floor.

I started knocking where the hit with my head transpired and yes, there it was. A small special spot. The knocking sounded different than other places, a bit deeper and a bit louder. There was possibly some empty space behind!

Considering that the box was laid on ground as the obvious fact, I had not given the floor much attention previously. Because when laid in a box facing up, doors normally don't open in the other direction, right?

I tried pressing, hitting and then sliding but nothing changed. I couldn't give up though, it could be my last straw.

Unlike before when I stopped after knocks at random places, this time I kept doing it all over the floorboard.

And to my amazement, I found out that such small and easily overlooked spots were scattered throughout the floorboard. The lower portion was a bit uncomfortable but I managed to do it anyhow.

'Maybe there's a compact framework underneath which supports the thickass board. So only few places are vacant behind.' Since the box was quiet, once I reduced my own sound to only low breathing and heartbeat, the difference in knocks was clearly audible.

I kept checking and memorizing their locations, to imagine the kind of frame that lay underneath and check if these spots carried any meaning or hints.

And finally discovered that these 'hollow' spots formed a pattern which was symmetrical about the central line along the floorboard's length, except for one particular region. Now that I had turned towards the floor, this irregular spot was to my right, under my hips and near the floorboard's edge.

By examining it more closely by touch, since it was completely dark, I discovered that the texture of its surface was different too from those around. It was a bit rough.

I began to scratch it and push it silently, putting all my concentration over that single simple action.

Earlier a lungful gave me a full breathe but now multiple inhalation felt unsatisfactory. I knew I didn't have much time before my brain cells started dying. A lot of time from the start had been wasted and the spot-the-spot also took significant amount of time.

*Creak*

Suddenly, that spot sunk in and a noise was heard followed closely by air becoming lighter and the shortness of breath vanishing.

'Something has changed.'

I checked the box again with renewed hope and discovered that a bit bigger square hole had opened up opposite from that pressing spot on the floorboard.

Carrying a pleasant surprise, I inserted my hand in. What was revealed first was that the floor was really thick, about ten centimeters? And second, there was indeed a hidden compartment underneath which just supplied me the new breath. Beyond the space I touched another wooden floor, which I believed was the final one.

With head plastered and cheeks squeezed against the floor, I had to insert the full length of my arm to check things inside and around. The position was really uncomfortable and stressful for my lower body as much for the upper. It should be worth the effort though, I believed. But.....

"Fuckk!!" An electric shock zapped me when my hand was about to touch something. It was even flunked back.

'Shit! There's something electrical in there. Naked wires? Circuit boards?' But I had to check it one way or the other. 'It could be so much easier if I could just see!!'

So I tried again, this time feeling in different direction. As I did that, I managed to get hold of something. It felt like a metallic handle. 'This is it!'

When I pulled it with lots of expectation, it actually.....came apart and nothing really changed. Without letting my optimism slip and in order to inspect the misleading item, I drew it out carefully to share my space.

In the blinding dark, I touched it with both my hands and search my memory database to figure out what it was.

A long metal bar with intricate carvings on the surface, slightly curved. On one end was a peculiar metal head attached, one side a curve edge and spiky blades on the other two. At the other end was a curved horny spike. These were sharp, nearly cut my fingers.

I knew what it was effortlessly. An Axe!

"WHY?" Not to mention, the overall shape was quite uncommon.

When I tried to insert my hand below the floor for the third time, I was zapped strongly yet again that few curses just leaked out. So I gave it up temporarily. The shock, pain and numbness from being zapped was quite repulsive. First few times may have been surprising due to the unknown, now it would be intentional.

For now, I had a make miracle happen with this axe. And actually I could.

With the pointy side I started pecking at the ceiling. The limited space didn't give much for swinging it.

The surface was hard so continuous scratching and digging over a small area was needed to not waste the limited energy in my muscles.

After enough thinning and one good thrust with the axe head, a small hole with size of a fist burst open.

And what felt like water with some weight poured in.

Was just surprised at first but frightened the very next moment.

"NO! NO! NO!!!!"