In the Shadows of Reality

Making Friends With Death

The woman lifted the now very heavy backpack and placed it down on the table, "I put some extra stuff in there, free of charge. You got all of that?"

Thomas nodded before picking up the backpack with ease and setting it next to him on the ground.

"Do you have a map?" Thomas asked, leaning on the table.

"What level? We have level 1 through 161." the woman said, shuffling through a couple of papers with scribbled on them."

"All of 'em." Thomas said.

The woman only nodded and shuffled through the papers, before pulling out a stack of them and handing them to Thomas. He took them with a nod.

"Huddle around." He said, placing the paper that said, "Level 2" on the top of the stack.

The group huddled around Thomas and the paper, each of them having a clear view of it.

"Okay look, the closest exit is a small walk, we take this path, speed past any monsters, and get to the elevator that goes to level 4." Thomas said, point out the route.

"Level 4? But we're on level 2, wouldn't we go to level 3?" Arny asked.

"The Backrooms are a maze, anything can take you anywhere, it doesn't have to be in chronological order." Thomas explained.

"Like a door in level 4 could lead to level 39." Apollo added on.

"Or a door in level 65 could lead back to level 0." Dr. Tanaka stated.

"Same with safety, level 35 might be the safest level but level 34 might literally be hell." Imani said.

"Anyway, let's get back on track. If this path is blocked, we'll take a turn here." Thomas pointed to a corner that was just outside a circle labeled, "L.I.D".

"Then we'll go through this hall and quickly get to the elevator. Under no costs will we go to these stairs." Thomas pointed to stairs that were on the way to the elevator.

"Why not?" Arny asked.

"That leads to level 3, and if we go to level 3, we aren't coming back out." Thomas informed, taking the pen from earlier and crossing the stairs out.

"Level 3 is one of the most dangerous levels out there. It has many supplies but twice as many entities, we're better off trading for supplies." Thomas placed down the pen and switched the papers so the paper titled, "Level 4" was on top.

"Level 4, we want to make sure not to skip this level. It has great amounts of almond water and almond water keeps you hydrated and for some unexplained reason, sane."

"It also has a lot of colonies which has the potential of being good or bad. There aren't a lot of entities besides hounds and a couple of smilers."

"We'll take this route, it's easy to navigate. If we need to, we'll rest here." Thomas pointed to a spot on the map.

"I got all of it." Blaise said from behind them, rushing towards the table and placing the bag down.

"Is that everything?" Thomas asked, unzipping the bag and taking a peek inside.

"It's everything."

Thomas nodded in acknowledgment.

"The colony is getting ready for curfew, if you want to rest here, follow me." Blaise instructed, walking down the hall.

Everyone followed except for Arny, who stayed behind at the table.

"Are you not coming?" Blaise asked, glancing to Arny.

"No... I think I'll have a walk around the camp for a few, I'll come back when I'm ready." Arny says, pushing up from the table.