Respawn: Last Man Standing

Chapter XXII: Keep Moving

"So, do you think they'll do it?" Judy asks as she sits in a giant boxed-off area in the maze with Ziya and Gerald. "Do you think the boys will pull through?".
"No use worrying about it" Ziya says. "Either they do, and we get out... or they don't, and we die".
"That sounds like a reason to worry, if you ask me" Gerald says, with his head resting on his hands.
"Look" Ziya says, "worrying won't help here. Even if we tried to scream, I doubt any of them could hear us from here. All we can do... is wait".
"Right..." Judy says as she presses her back against the wall, slowly sliding downward into a sitting position. "As bad as it seems... you're right. Nothing we can do about it now".
"Even if you used your sledgehammer to break through the walls?" Gerald asks.
"It's been tried before" Ziya says. "The walls are reinforced with rows of rebar. Even if we can hammer away all of the concrete, we still won't be able to fit through the bars".
"You could still create holes in each wall" Gerald says. "That way, we could at least hear what's going on beyond these walls... maybe communicate".
"That'd be one thing to do..." Ziya says. "But more than likely to no fruition. It's not like we can help from in here. We can't give them directions. All we would accomplish is wasting our energy".
"Well, at least do that later" Gerald says, "if they take too long. We only have so much air in this small space... I get the feeling we're going to be stuck here for a while".

"Quick question" Chris says as he, Drake and the rest of the team walk through a few corridors, "how long have you and Ziya known each other?".
"I dunno" Drake says. "Don't remember...".
"Oh... that's right" Chris says. "Sorry".
"All I know is" Drake continues, "is in damn sure not leaving her behind".
"Where do you think a switch would be?" Chris asks.
"I think the point of a maze is to not know the definite direction of any said objective" Drake says. "So if we were to use that logic, we'd likely just keep running in circles".
"That's fair..." Chris says, "but counterpoint: if we tried to honestly think about which way the exit was... don't you think, that with your logic, we'd be playing right into a trap?".
"Right into a trap?..." Drake asks.
"That's what we're here for, right?" Chris asks. "So try to change up your mentality real quick. Try focusing on the exit, and maybe you'll find the trap you're looking for. Like... finding what you need when you've stopped looking for it".
"I feel like your time in Pyramid has made you completely lose a grip on your sanity, Chris" Drake says.
Chris shrugs, then says "Sanity never really lasts long in Pyramid... I'm actually kind of surprised you've found something to keep your mind in tact... even if just a little bit".
"In tact..." Drake repeats with an unsure tone, as he recalls the voices he hears on occasion. "If that's what you want to call it. How about you? You're insane, no doubt, but you don't seem... completely off of your rocker".
"Me?" Chris asks. "I'm afraid I'm a lost cause. I've already lost what kept my mind in one place... the closest thing I have to that now is... well, probably Ziya".
"Ziya?" Drake asks. "Why?".
"Well, not that I'm a personal fan of hers..." Chris says, "but her and my sister were awfully close. At this point, Ziya is kind of like... the last piece... the last... representation of when life were... better?".
"Was that a question?" Drake asks with a laugh.
"I told ya, didn't I?" Chris asks. "I'm a lost cause!".
Suddenly, as they were talking, the group heard a loud banging sounding behind them. When they turn around, they see the wall behind them, far done the corridor had closed. Then, another part of the corridor closed behind them. Then another one, slowly getting faster as the walls start closing in on the group. The corridor was trying to crush them. "Run!" Drake yells. Everyone begins to run as fast as they can. Loud banging of the walls now rapidly closing behind them, nearly swallowing up the whole team, being heard over and over. As the walls start closing in faster and faster, the walls nearly managed to crush the team as they ran. Just as the walls got too close, they barely made it out to the next corridor. They quickly turned the corner towards their left, and the intersection of the two corridors closed also. "That was a close one" Drake says as he pants and tries to catch his breath.
"Keep moving!" Chris yells as they start running down the corridor. As Drake looks up, there was another turret at the end of this corridor, and it had already began firing at them. Chris tried to shove Drake out of the way of the turret as it began to fire. Immediately pulling out his sniper rifle, he tries to line up his shot. However, the turret killed them all before Chris could fire a single bullet. As they all began to revive, Chris takes cover behind Tyler, and uses him as a shield as he aims his sniper rifle. He takes a quick second to aim, then shoots the turret right in the camera just before it had the chance to kill him or Drake a second time.
"On the bright side..." Drake says, still trying to catch his breath, "the path with the most resistance is often the correct path in these sort of games".
"Yeah... something like that" Chris says. "Come on, let's go save the rest of the team".
Shortly after moving, partway down this corridor, the team hears a click as they feel the ground beneath themselves sink. The walls started to rumble and move again. "Quickly, we've gotta move out of here, in case it's another trap!" Chris yells.
"We can't go backwards though!" Drake yells. "The last corridor is still closed off!".
"Then we move forward!" Chris says as he shoves Drake down the corridor. The walls behind them closed, and the corridor shifted around. They kept moving, as the maze once again rearranged itself. The wall next intersection closed off, and the wall behind them once again closed. However, a wall ahead of them opened up. They quickly ran through the newly opened pathway, and came out to a wide open area in the middle of the maze. Chris looks around as everyone in the team was once again trying to catch their breath. "So..." Chris says as he sits down, "break time anyone?".
"Y-... Yeah" Gregory replies. "I think I've had enough running for now".
"Yeah, we need to wait for the others to catch up now" Drake says as he sits down. "Do you think that they got out finally?".
"Let's hope so" Chris says.