Day Seven

10/14/85

They were exploring others places. Terrence didn't find much of the rest of marks he made a day ago, but it didn't matter, since he started to make new ones and draw them, along with a map.

"Cool", said Terrence, looking at his own work. "We have things a little more clear now."

"Yes, we have a good portion of this place covered", added Linda.

Terrence lifted the map on his notebook, and turned it upside down. For that moment, the map was just a geometric U, since they didn't take sideways, but rather follow a wall, turning left or right when it went into that direction. It was easy to read, essentially because they know where they were and the marks helped to make everything clear, but Terrence imagined the place could be an out-of-the-world labyrinth, thought this could get a bit complex as the map become bigger, and they were forced to take other ways.

"Mmm... For now", he said, "we can say where we are. We know where right and left are, but in the future, when we forget where we were and how we got there, we gonna get loss, I'm afraid."

"Don't worry", said Linda. "I would know how to find ourselves when it happens."

They walked a little more, and found another of Terrence's marks, and when he compared it with his last map, he discovered something odd: According to his map, that mark, the number 8, should be only a few steps from number 9, but according to his new map, that was not the case; 9 was around thirty nine feet away from number 8. And the only way that could happens, was that the walls were moving when nobody was looking.

"What's up?", Linda asked. "Are you okay?"

Terrence felt the need of tell her about his new discovery, but something on her young face, on her pleasing smile, made him stop. Maybe it was not a good idea to be way too honest about the strange things that happened in there.

"Oh, nothing", said Terrence. "I just got confused, that's all. Okay, we should continue... this way."

He didn't want to kill her enthusiasm for getting out of there. Maybe, still was a chance and they should keep searching for the exit; and even if there wasn't any, they should keep searching any way. What was the point in dying in here, without fighting?, he thought. He felt that any new finding would kill his sanity and his hopes. And if that were the case, at least Linda should be positive; positive for both of them.

On the other hand, thought Terrence, it's not sure the first map is accurate. I was so tired and desperate when I made it. It could be all wrong. In the condition they were, it felt like a pleasant possibility.

"Okay", said Terrence, drawing his map. "We walked a lot today."

"Yeah. It was a good walk," said Linda. "Even in a weird place such as this."

"At this pace, we gonna find that exit soon, don't you think?"

"I hope so, yes."

"Don't worry, Linda. We are making a good job. You and me, two heads working better than one.
We make a terrific team!"

Linda laughed.

"I think. You have a lot of energy today, mate."

"I do", said Terrence. "We should walk more today. Cover more areas. I think that..."

Without saying a word, Linda stopped. Terrence looked at her; she had her eyebrows frowned.

"What's that?!", she asked.

Behind a wall, they noticed something dark on the floor. Terrence was afraid; when he saw it, he
felt the desire of telling Linda to hold back and don't look, but it was late.

"Oh, god...!", said Linda.

Laying half on the floor half on the wall, there was a cadaver. It was almost fully naked, and his skin was grey. Red stains were on the carpet, like plastic. The body was as dried and skinny as a mummy. His left hand, only skin and bones, was pointing at the ceiling, stiff. On the dark skull that was his face, there was a horrid expression of horror but no eyes.

"Don't look, please!" shouted Terrence.

"It's okay", said Linda. "I'm not afraid."

Terrence didn't reply.

Only a few steps away from the dead man, there were some cloths: A dirty jean; a t-shirt; a pair of sneakers; a baseball hat.

"What happened to him?", Linda asked.

Terrence got closer to the body.

There was a tattoo on his chest. The skin was so dark and wrinkled, that was really hard to see, but using his glasses Terrence saw it was an eagle over an anchor; maybe, the man used to be a soldier. His right hand was closed.

"He is holding something", Terrence said.

Since the dead man's fingers were so thin, Terrence noticed some golden capsules inside his gray hand.

"Bullets?"

Terrence drew the body on his notebook, as a reference point.

"He must been here a long time", Linda said. "How he died?"

"I don't know. Maybe trying to find the exit."