Chapter 14: The Shifting Maze

Suddenly a hologram-like screen appeared at the top. It was a timer just like before.

[45:00…44:59…44:58…]

Zack exhaled slowly, scanning his immediate surroundings. 'Find the others. Stay together. That's the only way out.'

Somewhere in the distance, he heard hurried footsteps, someone running. Then, a sudden grinding noise echoed through the maze, followed by the unmistakable sound of stone scraping against stone. The maze was shifting. 

He pressed his hand against the cool stone wall, feeling its rough texture beneath his fingers. A distant voice, low and muffled, called out. Zack turned, listening.

"Jake?" he called.

"Arya?" voice barely above whisper. 

No response. 

'Think. Focus.'

'If we all need to escape together, the maze won't just let us wander aimlessly. There's always a pattern.'

He checked his surroundings. The corridor stretched out in both directions, but before he could decide where to go, the wall to his left rumbled and slid forward, closing the path. His heart pounded as he instinctively stepped back.

'Great. Just great.'

He ran his fingers along the stone wall beside him, testing its texture. A childhood memory surfaced, his father once told him about an old maze trick. 

'Follow the right hand wall, and it will eventually lead you out. '

With no better plan, Zack placed his right hand on the cold surface and moved forward. 

Zack pulls out his dagger. He thought that every turn he does, he will mark the wall with an X and a number on which he turned first to identify how many walls he already passed. 

This will also help him know if he was going in circles or if the walls were shifting in a way that led him back to where he started. 

The dagger's tip scraped against the stone, leaving a rough "X" at the intersection he just passed. Beneath it, he carved a small "1".

Minutes passed, and the maze continued to shift, trying to confuse him. Twice, he had to backtrack as walls slid into place in front of him. But he stuck to the method. One direction. No second-guessing.

The maze shifted again, the deep groan of moving stone vibrating through the floor beneath his boots. He waited, letting the walls settle before proceeding. As he turned the next corner, he marked the stone again, X,2.

He kept moving. He looked up at the hologram at the top, the timer beeping.

[35:00… 34:59…34:58…]

Another corner…X,3.

Then. Something new.

A faint smear of chalk on the wall ahead. Zack stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing. He hadn't marked that. Someone else had.

His pulse quickened. He reached out, running his fingers over the faded chalk. Not fresh but not too old either. Someone was here before me.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft scuff of movement ahead.

Zack tensed, his grip tightening around the dagger. "Who's there?"

Silence.

Then, a voice. Low, controlled. "Zack?"

Relief crashed through him. "Arya!"

He gestured towards the marks on the wall. "Been using this to track where I've been. Helps me know if I'm walking in circles."

Arya nodded, glancing at the markings. "I saw one of them earlier. That's how I found you. Figured if someone was smart enough to leave a trail, it had to be one of us."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "And you just decided to follow it?"

She smirked slightly. "Had a feeling it was you. Jake's mark would've been messier."

Zack huffed a quiet laugh. "Can't argue with that." He ran his fingers over the three vertical lines and the faint "J" beneath them. 

"Looks like Jake's out here doing the same thing. If he left this behind, it means he already went this way."

Arya stepped closer, scanning the maze's dim pathways. "If I found you by following your marking, maybe we can do the same for Jake. He's leaving a trail; we just have to figure where it leads."

Zack nodded. "Then, let's move. The sooner we find him, the better."

Without another word, they pressed forward, following Jake's trail deeper into the shifting maze. 

Arya looked up at the timer and sighed heavily as if projecting she is tired but she can do anything about it.

[29:00…28:59…28:58…]

—

Jake gritted his teeth, moving cautiously through the ever shifting maze. Every thirty seconds, the walls groaned and rearranged, cutting off paths and opening new ones. The first few minutes had been frustrating, but now he had a system.

He dragged his dagger against the stone, carving three vertical lines into the wall and adding a rough "J" beneath them. It wasn't much, but it was enough for the others to know he had been here. 'If Zack or Arya saw this, they'd recognize it. '

The air in the maze was heavy, the silence broken by distant echoes–unfamiliar footsteps, shifting stone, and the occasional low hum of the system monitoring them. Jake tightened his grip on the dagger, his instincts on high alert. 

He rounded a corner and froze. He saw an "X" with "1" beneath it.

Someone was there. 

A shadow moved in the dim lighting, stepping forward with a calm, measured pace. Jake raised his dagger, ready to fight. "Who's there?"

A familiar voice answered. "Relax, Jake."

It was Ambrose. 

Jake exhaled sharply, lowering his weapon just slightly. "Didn't think I'd run into you first." Ambrose's gaze flicked to the wall where Jake had left his mark. "You're leaving a trail," he noted, his voice neutral. 

"Smart. But it is also dangerous if the wrong person follows it." 

Jake smirked, tapping the hilt of his dagger against his palm. "Yeah, well, I'm counting on the right people to find it first."

Ambrose regarded him for a moment before nodding, "Then let's hope your gamble pays off, just as mine did before."

Jake rolled his shoulders. "You got a plan, or are you just wandering?"

Ambrose glanced down the corridor. "For now? We follow your trail. If you left those marks, someone else will, too. And when they dp, we'll find them before this maze swallows us whole."

Jake hesitated, then nodded. 'For now, Ambrose was an ally. But trust? That was still up for debate.'

—

As Zack and Arya pressed on, the maze seemed to shift more aggressively, the walls grinding and scraping like a hungry creature. The tight passageways twisted and turned with an unsettling rapidity. Their footsteps echoed, but the sound of shifting stone drowned out everything else, like the maze itself was alive, pulling them in different directions. 

Zack's heart pounded in his chest as he kept his hand pressed against the cold stone wall. The maze felt like it was closing in on him, the air thick with tension. He knew they were close–too close. He could hear Arya's footsteps behind him. His hands trembled slightly as he turned the corner, his eyes scanning the path ahead.

Then, he saw them. 

At the far end of the narrow corridor, he caught a flash movement. Jake and Ambrose, standing just beyond the reach of the next turn. Zack's pulse quickened. They were almost there.

"Arya," Zack murmured, barely above a whisper, as he grabbed her arm. "Look."

She followed his gaze, her eyes narrowing as she spotted the same sight. Jake and Ambrose. They'd finally found each other. But the feeling of triumph was short-lived. 

The walls shifted. 

Not far from them, they heard a scream —It was Ellie.