The Beige Room

Chapter 7 - A New Room

Everyone's eyes were ripped from the intercom and raced towards the door. There was a heavy tension in the room, cording everyone's muscles and oppressing their lungs.

Kalum was the first to be wrenched from the spell. He dashed towards the door, eager to be released from the hostility of the chamber.

 Everyone else followed his lead, running so close behind him that they were barely a hand's breadth away.

His calloused fingertips scratched and swiped at the leaden door until it finally gave in with a squeal.

Nala released a rattled gasp that resonated harshly in the silence. Raw fear rooted in all of them, making their bodies as stiff and unyielding as tree trunks.

The new room presented to them was vast and dank, much bigger than the room that they were previously in. 

Some of the victims seemed to be relieved at the stretched size, but Archer was skeptical. 

He felt threatened by the open space, as if he were game for a hunter. 

He drifted to the rear of the pack, preferring to be the caboose to exploit the naiveté of any wanderers in the front.

The room was not only bigger, but it also had a different shape. 

It was almost asymetrical in its jagged way, its volume containing eight skewed edges, akin to an octagon. 

Located in six of the slants of the wall was a flimsy wooden door, housing mysteries that they would soon uncover. 

The seventh slant held the room in which they were previously located, while the eighth positioned on the opposite side, with another heavy steel handle-less door.

"Should we open the doors?" Yuno asked tentatively. She stepped forward but Osiris grabbed her shoulder before she could advance further.

"Wait," he said, "Look. The wooden doors have all our names on them."

Everyone squinted and leaned closer so they could observe the same thing.

They were astonished upon noticing a name on each door. 

This changed everything. This made it personal, and definitely more frightening for the victims.

"I'm not standing here anymore," Kalum growled. "We are gonna get to the bottom of this."

He marched off towards his door despite the protests of the group. No one wanted him to open that door carelessly, but their curiosity prevented them from stopping him.

 Instead, they watched him silently as he approached the door with watery eyes and twitchy fingers.

 He paused briefly with his hand on the knob, but muttered something to himself and swiftly yanked the door open. 

He peered inside. Everyone held their breath as he took a tentative step in, toeing the creaky floor while repressing a shiver.

"Is it safe?" Yuno asked in her mousy thin voice.

Kalum glared at her with his familiar bout of tetchiness before taking a few more solid steps inside the room.

"Guess so," Archer muttered and trotted towards his own door.

Yuno almost called out to stop him but she stammered on her words and let her voice dissipate.

Her apprehension made her hesitant, but she struggled against it. She knew that she would have to be brave enough to step into her own room, and escape would inevitably fail without mild obedience.

 Uncertainty lurked behind her door, sticky and waiting to devour her but she steeled herself regardless and headed off for the entrance.

Each person opened their own door, investigating the secrets that they hid. 

When all doors were open, a loud beeping noise caused everyone to jump out of their skin. 

Each person emerged from behind their door cautiously. Everyone's eyes were immediately drawn to a monitor mounted on the wall.

 On the monitor was a countdown for 24 hours. Everyone could feel chills running up and down their spine. Kalum was the first to speak.

"Guys focus, investigate your closet and then we can deal with the countdown later. We have 24 hours anyway, that's plenty of time."

Nala visited her closet once again. Inside was a briefcase with a 3 number code lock. 

She tried to pry open the case, but it didn't budge. She grabbed the briefcase and headed to the center of the room, where everyone else was gathering.

"My briefcase has a lock on it," Nala said.

"Same," both Yuno and Osiris said.

"Anyone think of any code ideas?" Osiris asked.

"Try 1-2-3," Yuno said.

They all tried, nothing happened. Kalum and Archer joined the group, leaving Greyson still occupied in his closet. 

The others tried random combinations of number, no of which worked.

"Let's go back to the beige room and look for anything we may have missed" Osiris suggested.

The group, minus Greyson, who was still occupied with his closet, gathered in the previous room.

 Each person searched their cots up and down. After finding nothing, they all gathered on the brown rug. 

Yuno slumped against the wall, hoping for some answers. Kalum was playing with his dog tags.

"That's it!" Osiris shouted, "Your dog tags, they hold the key!"

Kalum looked down at his dog tags. On it there was a series of numbers:

532-09-7642

"Everybody try this 532," Kalum instructed.

Each person tried it and each time the briefcase clicked open.

 Archer's briefcase was full of files and articles, talking about a prison break.

 In Yuno's briefcase was articles talking about a dojo. There were medals and certificates from competitions, from about everything from Judo to Tae Kwon Do.

 In Osiris's briefcase there was a bunch of survival guidebooks, a long length of rope, and an LED flashlight.

 In Kalum's briefcase there was a purple heart and a decorated army jacket.

 In Nala's briefcase there was nothing but a laptop. There was no charger or battery, just a laptop. 

They all sat down and shared what was in each others cases, that is until they hear the intercom buzzing to life.