Chapter 95: The End Game Has Begun (Part 1)
Cliff didn't attempt to fight or run away while Hunter and I tethered him to a tree nearby, which I was internally relieved about. Ember mentioned that if we needed to, we might be forced to knock him out if he tried anything. Personally, I didn't want to resort to violence to subdue Cliff.
I wasn't very hopeful walking over to him, but his unexpected compliance made the entire process run smoothly. Too smooth for my liking. Cliff's complete silence left me feeling on edge… he didn't even utter a peep. Not knowing how to address this unnerving feeling, I decided to push my concerns about Cliff aside for the time being.
After bounding Cliff's hands together on the backside of the tree, Hunter and I joined Ember and Delta. We passed Sky on the way over and checked in on her as she picked up Faith. Code was also there, chomping away at the loaf of bread Sky must have given him. Sky returned to her usual optimistic self and assured us that Faith needed to rest.
We then parted ways, with Sky carrying Faith to her tent to get her out of the sun while Hunter and I continued walking toward Ember and Delta. We made our presence known as we approached, offering our aid in case they ever wanted extra hands on deck. Still, Delta quickly rejected our proposal for assistance. Given that, Hunter and I just stood behind and patiently waited. And soon enough, the two women pushed the door open enough for one of us to crawl inside.
"You guys can get started on opening the next crate. I'll check what's in this one," says Hunter.
Delta rolls her eyes, "As if I would let a simpleton get all the glory from my hard work. I'm going in. You stand right there and wait for me."
Hunter opened his mouth to protest, but Ember turned back to him and shook her head while Delta entered the crate. Ember then tossed Hunter both keys, one after the other, and nodded toward the next crate. Catching the keys, Hunter gave her a thumbs-up and walked to the next crate.
"I'll help you flip it over in a minute…. I want to see what's inside this one," I whispered to Hunter, not wanting Delta to hear anything.
Recognizing that I wanted our interaction to be secretive, Hunter gave me a pat on the shoulder and then walked over to the crate, immediately embarking on the task of finding the keyhole.
At that moment, I announced to everybody that we should label each crate with a number to make things easier. Everyone agreed, so crate one is the crate that we opened on day one. Crate two is the crate that Delta is currently crawling inside, crate three is the crate that Hunter is examining, and crate four is yet to be touched.
Focusing my attention on crate two, Delta stuck her arm out, a piece of paper cradled between two fingers. After neither Ember nor I grabbed the paper from her after probably half a second… if that, Delta started waving it violently back and forth, "Hello?? Anybody there?!"
Ember heaved a sigh, plucked the paper from Delta, and inspected it. I walked over and took a stance beside her, wanting to get a look myself.
It was more or less blank, just like the paper we obtained from crate one.
"The crates hold the key, if you want to be free…" I begin to say, remembering the riddle Faith discovered with the plank.
"As when joined each piece, a map there will be…" Ember finishes, the two of us making eye contact. "You think this goes with the other paper?"
"Only explanation that makes sense. Perhaps each individual part remains blank until pieces start joining with one another," I say.
"Psst," murmurs Hunter, and I glance over to see him gesturing for my attention.
Hunter’s crate is notably taller than the others, and from my angle, his head and shoulders were peeking out from above the lid.
I shrugged and gestured for him to speak or project his voice by motioning my hand away from my mouth.
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"I found the lock. I'm going to try and open it," quietly says Hunter.
Ember and I both gave him nods of approval, and then-
"Heyyyy! Is nobody going to me pull– what the hell is this thing?!!” squawked Delta, her high-pitched hollering heeding both my and Ember's concern.
"One- one moment!" I hastily responded, looking at Ember and jerking my chin toward her as if to say, 'You're up.' As I did so, she pursued her lips and folded her arms.
"I already helped her. It's your turn," she whispered, her eyes judgementally narrowing.
"You're closer with her…" I uttered, looking over my shoulder to see if Delta heard anything. "She respects you more than anybody else here."
Ember snorts in amusement, "She… respects me? Wow… you're clueless. You know what, just for that…"
Before I could recognize what she was about to do, Ember stepped forward and grabbed my shirt collar. After spinning me around, she walked me over and shoved my head down as she forced my face inside the crate with Delta.
"Took you long enough! Here, put this outside! Now!" orders Delta.
Already tired of her voice as it echoed off the inner walls of the crate, I wondered how Ember put up with it all day yesterday as Delta passed me a heavy backpack. I set it outside behind me as Delta hollers, "Are you going to me with this already? What is taking you so long?!"
Huffing out a breath of air from my nose, I only ask, "I can't see that far inside. What is it that you're referring to?"
"I-..." she grunts and then grabs the shoulder of my shirt and pulls me further in. "I don't know. I can just feel it. Here."
She grabbed my wrist and placed my hand on a chilled, level exterior. I stroked my hand across its surface and eventually felt little ruts that interrupted the smooth dexterity.
"Okay, let's get this out of here. Are you able to get around to the other side of it?"
"You go to the other side! It's too dark back there!" she whined, switching places with me.
Not possessing the will to argue a battle I can't win, I do as she says and make my way around to the other side of the mysterious item.
"Okay… on three, we lift!" I say, getting my hands into position. "One… two…"
"Three!" she interjects, and the two of us lift up the heavy item with little trouble, but its' weight wasn't a walk in the park.
"Go… go!" I command, trying to keep my back hunched over until we get the item to the doorway. The pressure on my shoulders exponentially increased with every passing second. I knew my arms would inevitably give out before long. And that's just me. Between the two of us, it was evident that Delta was physically weaker. And considering the lack of words spewing out of her unfiltered mouth, she must be struggling.
After the first two minuscule steps, we found an awkward rhythm to move the item and stuck to it. After placing a foot outside the crate, Delta released her end, and due to the sudden increase in weight… the item slipped out of my hands, snapped against the ground, and almost crushed my toes. Furious, I was about to project my vexation of her selfishly letting go without warning, but as I glared in her direction, I noticed she had collapsed outside the crate. I surmised that she must've tripped over the little barrier that edged along the crate's perimeter, causing her to lose footing.
The item we were holding was now also angled upward, signifying that her end must be lodged on top of this little uproot along the edge, meaning that the most challenging part of our job was done.
Ember pops in and says, "You good to lift again?"
Panting, I put a hand up, "A few seconds… I just need…"
"Okay. Delta, you might want to move out of the way," warns Ember as she takes position outside the crate while I bend back over and curl my fingers under the edge, ready to lift despite my weariness and the lingering pain in my injured left hand.
"One… two… three!" I count down through gritted teeth, both of us lifting the item up on the count of three. The effort went much more smoothly this time, partly because Delta and I had already gotten some of it outside and partly because Delta was no longer involved. As I ducked my head under the top of the crate and stepped back out into the fresh outdoors, I instantly felt the sun's warmth welcome me back as we dropped the item we were carrying a few feet away from the crate.
As I suspected earlier when I felt the grooves etched in along the polished surface and the weight when I picked the item up, this was another stone slab. However, this slab was much thinner than the one we got before and was comparatively a much lighter tone of grey. Additionally, there was one rectangular black box beneath the etched-in grooves that contrasted the soft grey hue of the slab.
The aspect that caught my eye the most was that the writing on the slab was formatted to where it contained the contents of another message.
Walking around the slab to where I could read the writing right side up, I joined Delta and Ember, standing alongside them.
Fighting for my life, that's all I've ever done.
Now it's your turn, to learn what I've become.
The trials are sacred, the end game has begun.
And come three days from now, there'll only be one.