The Fox

Griff-

Griff watched the girl, Casey, pull out the grate. Just as she did another kid, the one who had been staring at him earlier, spoke up.

"Don't go into the grate," Alasdair said, "It seems to be the only way out, and he probably knows that is the only way out. He wants us to go through the grate. He wants us to play his game!"

Griff sighed, the pain in his shoulder just barely starting to go away. He looked around the room. There were a bunch of hysterical girls, Flea who was, well, Flea, this freaky Alisdair kid, and another guy, Dan or something. Their odds weren't looking so great.

He absentmindedly slid his hand into his pocket, hitting something. When he pulled the contents out he found his cigarettes and lighter, thank God. He shoved a ciagarette into his mouth and lit it.

"What are you doing?" Dahlia asked, her expression had a look of distaste.

"Crazy over here thinks best lying down and I think best with a cigarette," he shot back, then regained his compsure. "Look, I don't think our best bet is through those grates either but if nobody else can think of any other way out of here then we just might have to play along." Everyone looked around at eachother, unsure.

"He said two weeks," Kricket said. Griff turned to look at her, "on the intercom he said we would be here for two weeks. This is just the first day, he's not killing anyone yet."

Griff nodded and crossed the room to the grate, "Right then, I'll go first." He shoved the cigarette between his lips and despite the screaming pain that shot through his arm he hoisted himself up into the small, dank duct system.

Kricket

"What do you see?" I called.

"Not much, it's pretty dark," Griff answered. "I think there are two paths, though. We'll have to go one by one, so who's next?"

No one seemed ready to volunteer, so I stepped forward. "I guess I will."

After a boost from Casey and Dahlia, I was in the vent. Griff was right, it was pretty dark. I fumbled around blindly until I tripped over his foot.

"Ouch! Kricket, is that you?" he asked.

"Oops, sorry! Yeah, it's me." I slowly turned around in the vent and stuck my head out the hole. "Who else is coming?"

Griff-

Griff helped Kricket up into the darkness. She managed to trip over his foot and stub his toe in the process but he didn't mind. She was kind of adorably clumsy. Focus Griff, he thought.

"Who else is coming?" She asked. No one seemed to eager to climb up into the duct with them.

"Maybe we should split up, half stay here, half go. Or maybe just a few go to get help?" Someone piped up. He wasn't sure who it was but Griff stuck his head out next to Krickets and looked around.

"Have any of you watched those scary movies where the group of teens being tormented decide to split up? And then they all die." The group collectively took a step forward and started arguing about who would go first.

Griff did the best he could to help them up into the duct. They formed a single file line in the narrow space and started into the darkness. Griff and Kricket were at the back.

Griff pulled the lighter out of his pocket at tossed it to the boy at the front, Dan, "Here, use this." The lighter clanked to the floor but Dan retrieved it and then lit it, only providing some illumination to the uncertain.

"Put that thing out," Kricket said, pointing at Griff's cigarette, "no one can breath with you fuming that aweful smoke everywhere." Griff sighed then put out the cigarette, tossing it back down the hole to the room they had just been in.

"Better?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"Yes," she said continuing down the path.

*I wasn't sure if we were crawling or walking or how big necessarily this thing is but let's just say for all intensive purposes were walking. It's a tall and narrow shaft haha.*

*I'm pretty sure Dan and Flea are the same guy (at least that's what I was under the impression of) Casey just calls Flea Dan because they are good friends and she prefers his real name. Just in case anyone was confused *

Casey

Somehow Casey had ended up leading the line through the vent. She fumbled through the darkness ahead of her, hoping there would be another grate soon.

After what seemed like forever, a light appeared ahead. "Hey guys," Casey said. "I think we're almost out of here!"

The light was from another grate, about the same size as the one they entered through. Soon enough, they were all out of the duct and onto a ledge shortly below the grate opening.

The room they were in was huge. It reminded Casey of the garage she had been practicing in when she had been knocked out. The room was filled with machinery and stacks of boxes.

"Looks like we're in some sort of factory," Dahlia said.

"I didn't know there were any factories around Oakridge," Casey said. "How far away do you think he took us?"

No one seemed to have any idea how far exactly they had been taken from their town. Casey sat down on the ledge and let her feet dangle over the edge. "So, even if we do escape from here, we have no idea where we are or how to get back to any sort of civilization," she said. Mostly she was thinking out loud, a habit of hers. "I think it sounds like we need some sort of plan."

Alasdair

"I think it sounds like we need some sort of a plan."

Alasdair didn't know any of the peoples names, but he recognized them all from the few cases when he actually decided to show up at the shool. even though they had not known each other for long, he was getting an impression of their different characters already.

"You know, if we are indeed inside some weird factory, they obviously have to have an address. If we can get out of the building and out to the front, then maybe we could find the sign saying its address, and from there we an start heading back to Oakridge in the direction that is deemed necessary," Alasdair said, wearily. He stood a bit away from the rest, as if he was scared to get any closer.

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~Incognito

Lydia


"Looks like we're in some sort of factory," Dahlia spoke, gawking at one particularly odd-looking metal arm.

"I didn't know there were any factories around Oakridge," Casey frowned. "How far away do you think he took us?"

"So, even if we do escape from here, we have no idea where we are or how to get back to any sort of civilization," Casey continued. "I think it sounds like we need some sort of plan."

"You know, if we are indeed inside some weird factory, they obviously have to have an address. If we can get out of the building and out to the front, then maybe we could find the sign saying its address, and from there we an start heading back to Oakridge in the direction that is deemed necessary," Alasdair added, seeming a little nervous.

"It's worth a try," Griff nodded.

No one looked impressed nor enthusiastic, but on other ideas were suggested. Lydia looked into their anxious faces, "so I guess we look for an exit?"

"Yeah," Alasdair replied, "or a window..."

And without another word they all split up, except for Kricket and Griff who kept one another rather close. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes soon added up to an hour.

"Any luck?!" Someone shouted.

Since no one responded, everyone assumed the answer was no.

The big empty room was silent, with the exception of scuffling shoes. Then a muffled buzzing, followed by some ringing, filled the air.

"The phone!" Kricket exclaimed.

Griff answered it, but put it on speaker for the whole group to hear.

"Ah, I see you've discovered my machinery room," the voice chuckled. "A little later than I thought you would, but still. Now, comes your first real challenge.
"It is obvious that you little rabbits have been searching for an exit. Nice try. I'm going to have to speed up your search, because I have so much more in store for you. So you have exactly thirty minutes to find safety before I release this little carbon monoxide on you all... Have fun!"

Griff-

Griff wanted to throw the phone, smash it into a million pieces, but that wouldn't help much. If anything it would probably just piss this psycopath off more.

"Deadly gas, a little cliche isn't it!" Giff yelled wondering if this guy could hear him. The others looked at him nervously, now he looked like a psycopath. Great, "He's watching us, how else would he know where we are. Keep looking for a way out and if you see a camera, smash it."

"We've already looked for a way out, we haven't found one," a girl said. He wasn't still sure on all of the names. Maybe Dahlia or something.

"Well we either keep looking, or we lay down and die. I'm not much for the second option so I'm going to keep looking." Griff looked down at the clock on the phone. A countdown had started, "Twenty seven minutes."

Kricket

"Griff, calm down," i said, trying to take a deep breath myself. "He said we could live if we found somewhere to hide from the fumes."

"I want to rip this guy to shreds!" he muttered. I reached up, took his face in both hands and forced him to look at me. "Just stay calm," I murmured. "Panicking isn't getting us anywhere."

"Uh guys, we still only have 26 minutes and thirty seconds," Lydia pointed out.

"All right," I shouted so everyone could hear me. "We need to act quickly, so everybody start searching for somewhere to hide!"

Everybody began to scramble around the room, turning over machinery and boxes frantically.

"I think I've found something!" someone called out.

Sorry I haven't posted but I will tomorrow, I swear!

Casey

"I think I've found something!" someone called. Casey wasn't positive, but she thought it sounded like Lydia's voice. She sighed, she really wished she knew these people better.

In fact, it was Lydia who had found something. When Casey reached her, she was rumaging through a box and pulling large contraptions out.

"What are those?" Casey asked.

Lydia threw one at Casey and she caught it. "Gas masks!" she said with a smile on her face.

Casey breathed a sigh of relief. Now they would be safe from the gas while they searched for some way out of this room. Everyone started pulling them on. Then it was only a matter of time before the gas would come on.

Griff-

They all pulled on gas masks with relief. They would be safe, for now. Only twenty minutes left.

The minuted ticked by like water dripping out of a leaky faucet. Some started to get tired and sit down near the only door in the room. Griff was wondering around the room still, absentmindedly rumaging through things looking around for anything useful. Ten minutes left.

He pulled off his gas mask and rubbed his face, his mind racing. Eight minutes.

Time sure flies when you're having fun, he thought sarcastically. His shoulder still ached a little but he didn't have time to notice. He wondered what time it was, and if anyone had started looking for them yet. His step-father was probably jumping for joy that Griff was finally gone.

Five minutes.

"Hey," someone said behind him. He turned around very fast, scaring the person and she tripped over something. It was Kricket, she had tripped over a crow bar.

"Hey!" Griff said, picking up the crow bar. He could break down the door with the crow bar, or at least he could try.

He crossed the room towards where the others were sitting, crow bar in hand. He went for the door knob first, it was easy enough to knock out. The door was wood, not metal, like the rest of everything else. He starting smashing it, watching the wood splinter against the crow bar. He couldn't believe it was actually working.

*Dahlia*

As I watched Griff start smashing the door, some sort of premonition kicked it.

I ran in front of Griff, putting my hands up. "Wait!" I cried.

"What?" he asked.

"What if that's the room where he keeps the carbon monoxide? What if this is another trap?" I asked the group.

"What if it isn't a trap?" Casey asked. "What if it's our only way out?"

"He said that we won't find a way out, remember? This is too simple!" I replied, my voice getting louder.

"Two minutes!" someone said.

"We don't have time for this." The Lydia girl came forward. "We have to break down the door."

"You guys, please, this could be the trap to kill us all!" Why weren't they listening?

Casey tugged me out of the way and Griff went back to banging down the door. He got a hole the size of a fist and looked through it. He looked at the group. "There isn't anything in there. Only a small can in the corner, but that's it."

"Thirty seconds!"

I started to hear a hissing noise, but I wasn't sure where it was coming from. We looked around, and the hissing started to get louder.

"Where is it coming from?" the boy with glasses asked, looking like he was about to pass out.

I looked down and frowned. There were lines on the floor, spanning the length and width that we were all standing on. I looked to the left and then to the right. There was something we hadn't seen.

There was a door, and that door was directly below us.

Lydia


"Guys!" Dahila cried. "There's a door down here!"

Griff stopped his hacking for a moment and looked where everyone else was.

"She's right," Flea confirmed, falling to his knees and feeling the ground.

"Keep your gas masks on," Casey reminded as she too fingered the door outline. It seemed to be an exit of some kind, but there didn't seem to be any way to open it from that side. "Griff, the crow bar?" Kricket requested.

Agreeing, he planted the metal tool into the crack and pulled with all his might. "Not... budging..." he concluded, red in the face.

"Let me help," Alasdair said, reaching for the crowbar.

There was a splintering crack, and a hole was made. Through the gas, which was now flooding the room, they could see fresh air swirling through opening. Griff hacked some more and revealed a tunnel. But unlike the vent there were little glowing lights clinging to the wall.

"Let's go," Griffin whispered, hoping their captor wouldn't hear them.

"But--" Dahila was cut off by a look from the holder of the crowbar.

Kricket

"This is what he wants us to do!" Dahlia insisted.

"We have to, there's no other choice," I pointed out. "We can't stay in here forever."

Griff nodded, and Alisdair finished off the door.

"At least we'll be able to see," Lydia said.

"Right. Let's go," I replied, jumping over the splintered remains of the door and into the tunnel.

Griff and Alisdair followed right behind me. I turned and faced the others. "We can waste time fretting over what to do, or we can actually try to escape," I told them.

Casey, Flea, and Lydia stepped forward, but Dahlia stayed behind, hesitating as though contemplating the consequences.

"C'mon Dahlia," Griff urged. Dahlia sighed and stepped into the tunnel. "It's your fault if we die," she muttered to me and Griff.

"We won't die, we can do this!" I reassured her, and myself. The tunnel was pretty deep, and the farther we got, the more nervous and jittery I was.

"Kricket, you okay?" Griff asked.

I gulped and nodded. "I'm fine."

He picked up my hand and looked at me. "You're shaking and you look pale."

"I-I'll be okay," I stuttered, placing a hand on the wall for balance.

Alasdair

Alasdair was sweating and pantng heavily. Removing that door was almost too much for him. And the gas mask didn't help. It was restraining, almost contracting, and it made him breath quicker as he was brought close to another panic attack. He had surprised himself back there, he never thought that he would have ever jumped in like that to help people. They weren't bad people, he had realized, and though he did not know what they thought, they were human like him.

He smiled lightly under his mask as he watched Griff and Kricket talking, but caught alarm when she put her hand on the wall to stable herself.

He looked back and started to examine the gas mask which was on Casey. There was no oxygen casks on the sides to feed them oxygen if they needed it, but they rarely made them like that unless it was really needed. But that meant they had to have an air filtering device in the mask, and for some odd reason he had a nagging feeling that there wasn't though he couldn't be sure.

"Guys, I don't think these masks can be relied on too much," Alasdair said timidly. "I am afraid that he may have gave them to us because he would have known that we would think we were safe. I am not sure if these masks will protect from the carbon monoxide." Alasdair looked at Kricket, and noticed she was covered in a sheen of sweat. It was not a good sign.

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~Incognito