How I Rush Towards My Death

"But wait, let me get my gun."

So he had a gun. How silly of me! Of course, he had a gun, he wouldn't have promised not to shoot if he didn't. He didn't look like a Slinker anyway.

"Great! He's bringing his gun. It won't be long before he shoots and reduces us to ashes." Kat whispered furiously in my ear. I hadn't noticed when she came to stood exactly behind me.

I rolled my eyes to hide the surprise I felt at her sudden appearance on my shoulder. I turned towards her even though I was quite sure she could see my expression anyway. "He's bound by the peace pact. He can't do such a thing." I told her. God! Why was she being so stubborn about this?

"We'll see — Wait! He has a vest and a gun—"

"Yeah, I do. What about it?" He interrupted Kat. When did he return.? I had to say, he was quite fast.

"You're in the Both category." She stated it as a fact.

"Yeah. So?"

She seemed reluctant to say whatever she was about to say. "Well…um…maybe we can work out an arrangement." He raised an eyebrow in question. "You can join our team if you want, and if you're not already in another." Wow. Was Kat offering him a place in our team? She could change faster than a chameleon. It wasn't bad though. I knew why she was doing this. The more, the better.

The guy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. After a moment, he fixed his gaze on me. "Alright, I'll join your team." He smiled and it was so infectious that I couldn't help smiling too. He extended his hand and I shook it. "Oh, by the way, my name's Dominic Vasquez."

Kat raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Dominic Vasquez? Who are you? Drug Lord of Columbia?"

He smirked. "You're funny, I'll give you that." She rolled her eyes.

I decided to stop their little banter before it could turn into a full-fledged battle. "I'm Jane Lewis and this is Kaitlyn Coleman." I chimed in.

Kat glared at me. "There wasn't any need to tell him my full name."

"Why? Don't like it?" He raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely curious.

"None of your business. Just call me Kat but it'll be better if you don't call me anything."

Dominic looked at me like what's her deal? I shrugged. I had no idea.

"Well, you guys can call Nick. And I don't mind that." He said, in a teasing tone. I was sure he'd win over Kat soon.

Kat scowled but didn't respond. She walked towards the exit, signaling that it was time to go. We followed.

"So, was my phone the thing we were supposed to find in the center?" I asked Kat as we searched for a way out. Dominic had been quiet all this time so it felt like it was just me and Kat again.

"No. Don't think so"

"Then? Did we miss the thing?"

"Nope. The thing's walking with us." She said, looking at Dominic who gave a charming smile at his mention. Kat rolled her eyes. They were getting along already.

"So, will we keep meeting new people in the center of every maze?" I asked, just to keep myself from getting bored. This navigation work was boring and also exhausting.

"Don't think so. Not after we complete our team."

"Do we have to?" I wasn't sure if I could handle more people as targets for Kat's anger.

"I guess. Maybe that's what we're supposed to do to win." At my quizzical expression, she added, "Everyone's supposed to do a special thing to win. One of the rules."

"This is all so lame." I wasn't insulting the game or anything but what's true is true.

"I agree." I'd almost forgotten that Dominic was with us but there he was, walking just a step behind me. He was a quiet person, my total opposite.

"Stop the chit-chat and hurry up," Kat ordered.

We finally reached the third level. After Dominic entered our team, we'd not been attacked even once. Maybe he was our lucky charm. I liked this peace, I was enjoying it. I wish we could complete all the levels this peacefully. But of course, my wishes never came true.

All that could be seen was smoke. A glass wall separated us from the smoke chamber.

"It says here that we'll find some gas masks inside," Dominic informed us, reading a little booklet that was stuck to the wall.

"How about we skip the whole getting inside part and go around it?" I suggested hopefully. I was getting claustrophobic just thinking about going in there.

"No can do. The maze is inside the chamber. We can't skip the maze. What if we something important in the center?." Why did he have to talk so logically? I was beginning to doubt he was a Vulcan in disguise.

"Fine. Let's go." I gave in, sulkily.

"Take a deep breath and hold it there before you plunge into the smoke. Stay behind me all the time and don't you dare stray from the path." Kat instructed us. I could tell she was enjoying this.

I stood with my partners at the entrance of the smoke chamber, a glass door the only thing preventing the smoke from suffocating us. But this was soon gonna change.

I took a deep breath and at Kat's signal, we plunged in.

This was too hard. I couldn't see so it was hard to follow Kat. There was no sign of the gas masks so far. How was Kat even going to find the masks at this rate? I could feel my lungs burning from the lack of oxygen which was making me dizzy. I'd have fallen face-first if Nick hadn't caught my hand and pulled me back. I couldn't even thank him for that while holding my breath. This is exactly why I was against the idea of coming here, I couldn't talk!

I saw a green light ahead. Kat was advancing towards it too. We reached the light and found four masks lying in a glass box. We hurriedly put them on and stuffed the extra mask in the bag since everyone would find them replaced anyway. So, no harm.

Kat and Nick were ready to go when I spotted something besides the box and stopped them. There was a stack of red cellophane stashed behind the box. I pulled it out from there and gestured for Kat to store it in her bag too. If it was there then it must be important.

We were looking for the maze but the smoke made it almost impossible to do so. And I still couldn't talk as I had a gas mask on. This was so irritating. Finally, we spotted some more green light. We rushed towards it and found the entrance to the maze. It seemed like all the corridors were illuminated with this eerie green light. With the problem of darkness solved, only one problem remained — with so much smoke in the air, it was near impossible to even walk straight, how were we going to navigate the maze?