“MOVE! NOW!”
Jere leaned behind the entryway to the cells. He could hear the cages rattling a little clearer now. There was a scraping noise that followed after a body slam, as if the metal itself was bending with each thrust. He wasn’t sure how Penzer knew, but Jere was inclined to believe him. The old man had been in the cages far longer - perhaps his vision had adjusted. The only issue was what to do next.
“WHERE?!” Jere roared. He couldn’t disguise the fear in his voice.
“BACK! FAR RIGHT!”
It took Jere a moment to figure out what Penzer was telling him. If the screamers were about to escape from a cell, Jere’s only chance would be to lock himself in one of the cages. Penzer must have known that there was an empty cage. His plan was becoming more ludicrous by the moment.
Jere struggled to remember the layout of the cell room. There were three cells on each side of the walls, but its layout was asymmetrical. On which side was the door? If Jere was running blindly in the dark he could run directly into the screamers. One scratch and he was done for. He needed light, but he didn’t have time.
Before Jere could make a move, Penzer yelled again. “WAIT!” Jere hesitated, acutely aware that the rattling of the cages was becoming louder as if a door was about to become loose. Jere eventually made out the phrase “NEED KEYS!”
“KEYS?!”
Penzer responded with a clap. It was an effective confirmation.
This raised questions. If Jere needed keys to open the cell door, did that mean that someone let them out deliberately? But why would anyone want to do that? It certainly wasn’t the guards, and Jere couldn’t think of any reason why Boah or Juddken would have done it. Regardless of the reason, it was good news for Jere; it meant that the locks on the doors still worked. He would be safe from the screamers.
The scraping noise interrupted Jere’s procrastination. It was coming from the left side.
“WHERE ARE THE KEYS?”
“NO IDEA!”
Jere yelled in frustration. He didn’t know where to run and now he had no idea if he could even get in the cells.
“Okay.” Despite everything, Jere found himself thinking critically. “Someone opened the door. Did they take the key out before the screamers got to them? They can reach through the doors. More likely than not, whoever was here had to get out as fast. The key must still be in the lock.”
That would have to do for now. The scraping was getting louder. Now it was only a matter of where he had to run.
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“BACK RIGHT?!” Jere yelled into the dark. He was greeted by another clap. He was going to have to guess.
The scraping was getting more pronounced. The screams coming from the left side of the cells grew louder. Jere still couldn’t see clearly, but he could make out the blurry shape of a body squeezing through the bars. It looked as if the door was bent open at the top, and the torso and arms of something were reaching through. The figure was staring straight at Jere with bloodshot eyes, reaching for him.
Once again, Jere made the decision to sprint. He opted for running ahead at a slight right angle. All Jere could do was hope he would avoid the screamer’s reach.
Jere didn’t sprint long before he hit a cage door. The door must have been half open, as it swung back into place. Jere hesitated briefly, waiting for a screamer to attack him. No scratches came. The screams were deafening now though, they must have been no more than a few paces away. He could catch the swiping of emaciated arms next to him, but they couldn’t reach him.
Jere fumbled his hands over the bars, searching for a knob or a lock. After running his hands up and down the door, he found what felt like a handle. He patted it for a moment, trying to find a key. Nothing stuck out to him.
“Shit.”
As Jere struggled, the scraping noise was becoming more constant. He heard the thumps of a body squirming through the cage door. He could imagine it in his head: a screamer squeezing through the door and falling face-first onto the ground. It sounded like it was out of the cage now. It only had to get to its feet.
Jere had only one hope. He kneeled on the ground, patting his hands at the base of the door. A piece of metal poked his palm. It was the key: whoever let the screamers out must have dropped it as they escaped.
A loud roar came directly behind him. The screamer was getting closer fast.
Jere fumbled with the key before jamming it in the lock. He maneuvered his body around the door, pulling it shut once he was inside. He reached for the key and twisted it left. As he did so, the fuzzy image of a skinny torso sprinted at the door with outstretched hands. Jere tried to pull out the key, but seeing the figure made him lurch backward. Jere pulled the key as tight as he could, breaking the end of the key he held in his hand. As his arms pulled out of the cage door, two others shot through on the other side, flailing wildly through the bars. The cell door held.
Jere fell back against the wall of his cell. He grasped the broken key in his hand, trying to catch his breath. His eyesight was a little more adjusted now. His cage made up the entire corner of the cells; he didn’t have much area, but he was out of reach. The escaped screamer had now been joined by the others in adjacent cells. There must have been four or five of them, all with outstretched hands only paces away from reaching him. Jere curled his knees into his chest upon realizing how close they really were.
Although the screaming was even louder now, Jere heard a succession of claps. Penzer must have been yelling for him, but it would have been impossible to hear now. “MADE IT!”, Jere yelled. He couldn’t make out whether Penzer had heard him, but he at least owed the former guard the courtesy that his simple actions saved him.
“Saved.” He couldn’t believe he even thought that. He had no food. He had no water. He effectively locked himself inside a cage completely surrounded by monsters, and they were strong enough to get through metal doors. The guards were still outside trying to kill him. Other than Penzer, he was completely alone. He had no armor, no weapons, and no plan.
And the screaming would not stop.
Jere curled into a ball in the corner of the cell. He pressed his shoulders into his ears, watching the outstretched arms of his new neighbors do everything in their power to reach him.
All he could do now was wait.