«We found it! Symbol!» I exclaim.
«Do you think this is our subject – a palm tree?»
«Maybe a piece of bark with a symbol? Let’s take a closer look.»
Examining the base of the palm tree thoroughly, we notice a square of earth directly below the mark. It differs from the rest of the tree’s surroundings: grass also grows on it, but the ground under it is red. Without thinking twice, we break the square with our hands. At a depth of about five centimeters, our fingers press against a plastic box.
Alex takes out a white box with the familiar black symbol – three sevens, placed in a volumetric cube. It contains a small glass bottle with a red liquid.
«Doesn’t look edible,» Alex says, disappointed.
«Not at all,» I confirm grimly.
A note is glued to the bottle with the words:
«Where one begins,
The other finds its end.
Great God created this
Best thing He ever made»
Alex reads the legend aloud and says thoughtfully:
«You don’t need to be a genius to guess the answer „Earth“. In addition, this element was mentioned by Maestro in the initial formulation of the task. Most likely, the phrase hides something more significant.»
«What strikes me is the contrast. Suppose all vegetation starts and sprouts in the ground. A person ends his life there,» I add.
«Smart girl! Even at the beginning, Maestro opposed the natural and harmonious to all the unnatural and called it „darkness“. What can disturb the harmony of nature? Only a human. That is, we have a conflict between nature and man.»
«In any case, we’ll find out more when and if we find all seven objects or, as Maestro put it, «mystirious seven elements’,» I sigh.
«Chin up! It hasn’t been long, and we already have something. Quite not bad. It would be nice to eat. There is nothing edible in this jungle except you and me. Let’s hurry up, I wouldn’t want to be someone’s late night meal.»
For a long time we follow forward, carefully making our way through the dense jungle, talking on various topics from our past lives. Our real lives seem to be something distant, having nothing to do with the current reality, only two days after we left our homes to plunge headlong into an adventure. Too much has happened in the past 48 hours. And first of all, tha fact we had to die and rise again.
I try my best to be vigilant, looking at my feet before every step in fear of seeing a snake or some unknown animal. We move extremely slowly, no more than two kilometers per hour.
With each step, the road becomes more and more difficult. The sun is now directly overhead, and there is not a cloud in the sky to somehow alleviate the midday heat. The shadow of trees is the only defense against the scorching rays. Sweat rolls down my face. Gradually, our conversations fall silent. Based on the position of the sun in the sky, we have been on the way for more than three hours. Given how quickly it gets dark in the tropics, there are maximum five hours left to reach the camp.
Hunger, thirst and oppressive heat are merciless. The water that I drank before leaving the Platform came out long ago with sweat. My tongue is swollen, the mouth is dry and I find it difficult to say something. My stomach is cramping, and I remember with longing about yesterday’s tasteless food on the plane, as well as the banana trees growing around the Platform. In addition, the humid stuffy air and the scorching sun depress consciousness. More than anything, I want to sit on the ground and fall into a deep, painful sleep.
But Alex is certainly right. In such dense vegetation live… who actually? I’m even afraid to think about it. I know one thing for sure: at night they go hunting. After getting dark, there will be little chance of reaching the Platform. And so we go on, and each step gets harder and harder. Every thought delivers almost physical pain. Alex, who at first after the discovery was still making some jokes, gloomily keeps silent and goes forward.
«I’m dying of thirst. Let’s go back? Maybe other groups have found something?» I did not expect to hear such a plaintive squeak from myself.
«And you quickly give up,» Alex hoarsely replies, who himself can barely keep on his feet, «let’s sit down and rest, and then turn back. How could they have sent us into the jungle, in which there is not a single coconut tree?! You know, once in some survival guide I read a phrase that somehow stuck in my memory: «In tropical jungles and rainforests, the soil is always wet and teeming with insects, leeches and reptiles. Therefore, during sleep, you should isolate yourself from the soil, otherwise the heat of your body will attract the snakes, and in the morning you may find one or more of them curled up around your intimate places.»
«I used to think that my worst nightmare is a plane crash. But THIS attracts me even less. Thanks, no.» I feel horror and disgust at the mere thought of a snake curled up in a ball in my lap.
We sit down on the trunk of some tree lying on the ground. Never in my life have I felt so tired, but falling asleep here is putting myself in mortal danger. To somehow cheer up, I ask my partner:
«How did you manage to be here? Without a drop of water and crumbs of food? Well at least you are lucky with the company».
However, Alex does not react in any way to my attempt to joke and answers seriously:
«You know, there was a moment when my life seemed meaningless and uninteresting – a terrible depressive state. It was probably then that I got carried away with online quests. It was a way to escape reality and plunge into a fictional world, where I was something. Subconsciously, I was always looking for an adventure that would shake me up and get me out of depression.»
«Found?»
«Found. You’re quite an adventure,» he laughs, «although a million dollars won’t hurt. What are you doing here?»
«I suffer from my pernicious love for adventure. Frankly, I didn’t expect to win the prize. It was more important to participate in the Game of the Century, solve complex riddles and recieve the most vivid impressions.»
«Received?» Alex mimics me.
«Not! Instead, I sit here and ready to die for a sip of water!»
There is a painful silence, so at one point I doubt if my fellow traveler has fallen asleep. Suddenly a strange sound comes to my weary hearing. Subtle, distant, but unmistakably sweet sound of water.
«Alex, can you hear that?»
«Hear what?»
He is listening for a moment, then, without saying a word, we jump to our feet and rush in the direction of the noise. The hope of finding water gives a new burst of strength. From time to time we stop and listen, choosing the path. After a few minutes, there isn’t the slightest doubt: we are moving in the right direction. I almost run forward, unable to contain myself and forgetting about the constantly threatening danger under the feet.
Thirty minutes later, the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen and heard in my life opens up to our eyes: a small waterfall with clear, cool water, which falls into a crystal blue lake. We fall to the knees and greedily drink, wash, splash and laugh like children. How little you need to feel happy! I’ve never drank anything tastier in my life!
After some time, having quenched our thirst, washed off a little dirt and sweat from our faces and fooled a lot, we sit on a large stone and drooped swollen and rubbed feet in the water, enjoying its delightful coolness.
Alex looks at me seriously and speaks in a voice full