«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: three hours and thirty minutes.»
«I just… No, nothing. Let’s start,» Martha brushes aside, and without further discussion, we head towards the three dark tunnels Alex found.
All players literally tumble down from fatigue when they finally reach their goal – a spacious, light grotto. The height of the walls is significantly lower than the first hall, where we woke up a little over three hours ago. However, there is still not the slightest chance to climb up due to the smooth surface, treated for years by the salty ocean waters.
Apart from the dark tunnel we just came from, the cave has three more exits, which Alex spoke about. («Or entrances,» I note to myself sadly).
We are catching our breath for ten minutes, then dive in twos – me with Alex and Runner with Joleo – into two of the available passages. I shudder when the familiar metallic voice announces the inevitable:
«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: three hours zero-zero minutes.»
It takes about ten minutes before we reach the next bright room.
«Oh no,» I whisper and cover my mouth with the hand in horror. Alex just shakes his head silently. A new fork opens in front of us: three more dark corridors.
We return to the others almost at the same time as Runner and Joleo do. I don’t even need to hear their story to understand from their expressions: there is also a fork in the other tunnel. There remains one uncharted dark corridor. If at the end of it there is no way out, this means the end, inevitable death: we simply will not have time to explore all the newly discovered grottoes. And we can only hope that the whole task was a complete farce. The countdown will end, the lights will turn on, and Maestro will announce some next test for our emotional endurance, as then, during the «plane crash». Another announcement interrupts my thoughts:
«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: two hours and thirty minutes.»
The lights will turn on and Maestro… Wait a minute! A hunch dawns on me and makes me shudder with annoyance. How could we be so blind?!
«Martha was right!»
Everyone turns their heads to me, interrupting the heated discussions. I continue, trembling with excitement:
«All this time, the clue was under our nose, and we ignored it, instead of sitting down and thinking. And we made an unfortunate mistake!»
«What’s clue?!»
«It’s in your hand, Alex! Yours and Runner’s! These are two lanterns. Do you hear? Two, not three or four!
«So what? I don’t see any connection,» Blonda asks nervously, but not without hope in her voice.
«It’s obvious! Remember, Maestro gave a hint:
«Let the light guide you
To your cherished goal,
Leave doubts in the shadows
Bury them into oblivion.»
We can simultaneously explore two dark grottoes and as many light ones as we like, in this case we are moving towards the light…
«But as soon as the third dark tunnel appears at the same time – this is the wrong path, which must be buried in oblivion. We only have two flashlights! You are a genius, Lavina!» Alex jumps to his feet despite his tiredness.
Everyone livens up noticeably, unexpectedly receiving a clue, at least something resembling a hope to get out of our common grave.
«So far we’ve been going relatively well and, judging by the narrowing of the walls and the lowering of the ceiling height, in the right direction. We’ve never met three dark passages at the same time. Until then,» Planck says excitedly.
«We shouldn’t have come here. The right path is the very narrow hole that we so carefully tried to avoid,» Joleo sums up.
«No! No! No! This isn’t true! What if this grotto is the final destination?!» Yu looks around pleading. «Why can’t we wait for the tide and just float up like the corks? Planck, how will the water behave when it arrives at the grotto?»
For a while, Planck ponders her proposal:
«I’m afraid it’s impossible to predict. I don’t have enough information about our location for that. It all depends on the geographic latitude. The water can come slowly enough that we just get tired of staying on its surface and drown before we can reach the top of the cave. But if the tide passes quickly, then, on the contrary, under the pressure of water we can be knocked down, taken into a whirlpool, hit against the rocks… But the main danger is that this grotto can not completely flood, but only to a certain level. Then the chances of getting out are zero. It remains to wait for low tide and stay on the water until that time… And we still don’t take into account the relief on the surface…»
«If this is really a way out,» Martha interrupts him calmly, «then the organizers plan to kill at least one person today,» after a pause, she adds, «I can’t swim at all».
Martha is right. The organizers of the game must know about this. The question about the ability to swim was clearly present in the questionnaire.
«Be that as it may, we must return. I don’t want to become fish food. Whoever wishes can stay here and hope for a miracle. And I went to hope for a miracle where I can still do something».
With that, Runner turns and walks without hesitation into the tunnel we just came from. Planck, Martha and Alex follow him.
BeBe stands near the wall, hiding her face in her palms. Joleo approaches the woman and whispers something softly in her ear. I can’t make out the words, but gradually BeBe lifts her face and despair is replaced by some new expression, similar to hope. Finally, she breaks into a faint smile. Joleo carefully takes the woman by the hand and gently leads her behind him, like a frightened child. This is how they join the rest. This gesture touches me deeply. Joleo, so absent-minded and plain at first glance, became a real savior for BeBe in her moments of deep despair. He found the strength for two. I am imbued with indescribable respect for this player. Some people in stressful situations tend to panic, while others, like Joleo, are able to reveal themselves from a new side – full of nobility and human dignity.
My attention turns to Angel and Blonda. The guy sits detached on the floor of the cave, Blonda kneels in front of him and holds his hand.
«Angel, baby, you have to move. (Baby?!) Please come with us», she begs him, “’cause staying here means death. Please don’t leave me alone!»
She either shakes him by the shoulders: «get up, I said, do you hear?», then tearfully asks: «please, follow me.» Angel seems to be in a daze and only occasionally shakes his head.
I really don’t understand anything about human relationships. Blonda, self-confident, sharp tongue beauty, in love with, albeit outwardly attractive, but weak man? It looks like Runner is tormented by the same thoughts. He returns from the tunnel and sharply addresses Blonda:
«Leave the baby here, it’s his choice».
«I’m not going anywhere without him,» she snaps.
«If you don’t go by yourself, I’ll carry you by force,» Runner seethes with indignation and jealousy overwhelming him.
«I’m not going anywhere without him, you understand, you son of a bitch?» she repeats with undisguised contempt.
Runner takes a deep breath and, grabbing Angel by the hand, drags him along, thereby pulling the guy out of a deep trance. It seems that Angel is moving forward by inertia…
Me, Leeloo and Yu close this strange procession of people who are fighting not