Storell sat huddled against her bed pod, trembling. Tears ran down her face, though she cried silently. Her voice had become hoarse from screaming frantically earlier.

The others wanted to console her, but there was nothing they could say to her. Brady sensed this feeling of cautious empathy. He knew deep down, that despite Paul’s untimely death, the people trapped in the room still had something to do. They had to get out. They had to get back to the real world like Bennett did.

Now that Paul was gone, there was only one other person in the room who had experienced this ‘Bennett’ effect before, and it was him, Brady. Paul had only revealed a few of the details of the event from two years ago, but Brady knew more to the story than Paul had let on to the others.

Brady walked over to Storell and knelt down beside her. "Storell," he said.

Storell turned her head towards him, though her vacant expression remained.

"What happened to… what happened just now, that was a terrible thing to experience, and we’re all sorry that it had to be Paul. But," Brady interrupted himself to cough through tears he started to shed, "we’ve got to get through this and figure out how to get out here, otherwise Paul’s sacrifice will be in vain."

Storell sobbed. "Sacrifice?" she said. "He didn’t sacrifice himself."

What did Storell mean? If it weren’t for Paul, the door would not have opened. If it took the sacrifice of one person in the game to open it, well then Paul had taken the fall for everyone else even if he had not realized it. To Brady, that was one of the most noble things a man could do, and he was going to remember it forever. It was a great sacrifice. "Look Sto’, I don’t know where we are, I don’t know if we were abducted by aliens, or if we’ve travelled into the future, or if we’re in some other dimension, or what. What I do know is that it’s possible to return home. And we’re not going to get home if we just sit around here sulking."

"Aren’t you being a little insensitive?" Earchon Franche said. "Her boyfriend just died."

Brady stood up to confront her. "My best friend died. But we can’t be like this. We can’t just sit around depressing ourselves to death."

"Well if you want to lead us so much, why don’t you go through the door and tell us what it’s like outside?" Earchon Franche said. When she saw Brady look over to the door and flinch, she continued. "Or do you not wish to go through that which your best friend experienced?"

No, that was unthinkable. Was the outside really booby-trapped like that? Yet, knowing what happened to Paul, Brady could not bring himself to walk out. Even if it was a 1% chance of occurring, it was too much of a risk for him.

Xecure, who had been resting on the floor after fainting, stood up. "Wait, maybe we should do some tests first."

"Tests?" Earchon Franche said.

"Yes, tests. Just to lower the probability of making a mistake," Xecure said. He reached into his pile of stuff on the ground and picked up a tennis ball. "This is the first test," he said as he walked towards the door, stopping at about ten feet from it. He then threw the ball out the door.

It landed onto the dirt ground outside and rolled around for a bit. Nothing else happened.

"So it’s not an illusion, there really is something out there," Xecure said. He pushed his slipping glasses back up against his face. "Also, the ball has not inflated or anything. So whatever caused Paul to explode wasn’t the act of walking towards the door."

"What could it be then?" Brady said. "Is it the floor?"

Brady looked at the floor near the door. Other than Paul’s remains, the floor contained no tiles and had a uniform white tile pattern. "Xecure, you have any more balls?"

Xecure nodded. "What do you want me to do now?"

"Try rolling a ball out the door. Maybe the tile tripped it," Brady said.

Xecure took another ball and positioned himself about ten feet from the door. He gently threw the ball towards the floor. The group watched as it rolled towards the door and past it, into the forest outside. They waited a few seconds but nothing happened to the ball.

"Any other tests?" Brady asked.

Xecure shook his head. "I don’t know what else we could do."

"So, " Brady said as he surveyed the room. Everyone’s eyes were on the door. Even Vesuvius, who had ignored the group, slid behind Derrin and Cassidy. He held a small bag over his shoulder. "Does anyone want to go through the door? I mean, it seems safe."

Everyone looked around the room. Nobody seemed willing to go through it. And Brady sure as hell did not want to go first. Well, they did have enough food to last for a day or two, but that lead to unpleasant realizations. If someone had to take care of bodily functions, well, there was a lack of privacy in this circular room.

"Damn it, if nobody goes, then I’ll—" Brady’s voice trailed as the rest of the group stared at the door.

Without hesitation, Vesuvius had walked through, and they could see him walking around in the forest outside.

Vesuvius looked back at the group and uncharacteristically waved. He then turned around and headed down what appeared to be a trail path cut through the forest.

"Um," Xecure said. "It appears to be safe."

Brady still hesitated. Vesuvius had been somewhat of an anomaly among the group, having willfully entered the room to begin with, dragging the rest into this mess. If anything, Vesuvius knew something that the others, Brady himself included, did not. Perhaps he possessed something that allowed him to walk through the door into the outside world unaffected.

But, if Brady wanted to demonstrate leadership among the group, he had to go out. He looked over at Storell. She remained huddled against her bed, a dazed look on her face. She wasn’t paying attention. The rest of the group looked onwards, nervously waiting for the next person to walk through.

No, Brady couldn’t leave Storell behind. He decided to wait until she was ready.

And to his relief, someone stepped forward. Derrin, with his backpack clasped over his shoulders, headed straight through the door without hesitation. "It’s got to be okay," Earchon Franche said. Brady could sense nervousness in her voice, but he had to give her credit for trying. He looked on as Earchon Franche slowly approached the door.

Xecure, Cassidy, and Lettiere followed her from behind. They all proceeded without harm. Xecure waved at Brady and Storell from outside. "Come on!"

Brady looked over at Storell. "Come on, we need to go," he said as he extended his hand out to her. She slowly turned to him, nodded, then picked up her sack and took his hand.

*

As soon as Brady and Storell were out, Brady turned around to examine their surroundings. The room they had just left was a white circular building with a dome covering. It looked like an observatory. Nothing seemed alien about it. The building lacked the strange markings that would have been identified by Cassidy’s camera. Surrounding the building were trees. Brady didn’t know what kind; he skipped the field trip to the downtown Arboretum, though he felt certain Xecure might know. "Xecure!" he shouted.

Xecure stood a few feet from the group, bending down on his knees and examining something on the ground. He looked up. "Yes?"

"Do you know if these trees are real? Like, they’re not something alien are they? They are real trees? And this is real dirt? Those are real…" Brady looked down. There were small odd shaped insects crawling about. He knew these weren’t normal insects. They were shaped like cubes or polygons, and had glittering eyes. "Xecure… Are you looking at the insects?"

"Yes," Xecure said. He was still hunched over. "I have a hard time even professing what these are." He stood up and held up one of the insects between his fingers. "They are quite fragile. I don’t think they’re robots or anything."

Brady walked over. "Dude, you best be careful with that."

Someone held out an open jar. Brady turned and looked down. "What? You want to collect them?"

Derrin held the open jar out. He nodded silently to Brady’s question. Xecure shrugged and tossed the insect in. Derrin quickly screwed the lid on the jar and walked away. "Strange kid," Brady said in a whisper.

"Hey, are you guys going to stick around here? We’re going on," Earchon Franche shouted. She, Lettiere, and Cassidy stood on the path ahead, with Derrin close behind.

Xecure couldn’t see Vesuvius anywhere. He looked over at Storell who stood close by, staring ahead blankly. "Hey Sto’," he said. "You okay?"

Storell looked up at Brady. Her eyes were red and teary. "I’ll be fine," she said. She reached for sack and pulled out her notepad. She started writing.

"Making notes?" Brady asked.

She finished writing and showed the notepad’s contents to Brady. Brady stared at it before jumping back. The note had read: DAY ONE. WE FIND OURSELVES IN A STRANGE ROOM. PAUL EVENTUALLY FINDS A DOOR AND OPENS IT. HE THEN DIES. WE ARE ABLE TO LEAVE THE ROOM.

"Day One, huh? Shouldn’t we be using the real date?" Brady said.

Storell shook her head. "I don’t even remember what today’s date is."

"Oh shit, you’re right. I can’t remember it either," Brady said. And then he felt a pang of depression. If he couldn’t remember the date, what else had he forgotten?

Xecure walked on ahead, trailing the rest of the group. Brady looked at Storell. "Come on, we better go, else we’ll be left behind."

Storell nodded, and the two walked on ahead.

*

The forest path slithered through dense foliage with trees that towered towards the skies.

Earchon Franche headed the group. She pushed away thin low hanging branches and vines in the way of the path. One branch swung back and ripped her dress. "No! Not my dress!" she said while trying to cover the rip in frustration.

"It must suck to be wearing that," Cassidy, standing close behind, said.

Earchon Franche rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know. I wasn’t suited up for an adventure." She looked at Cassidy. The asian girl was wearing a light jacket and khaki Bermuda shorts. She held her camera out in her hands. "You on the other hand. Steve Irwin must be your role model."

Cassidy grinned, but didn’t say anything. She snapped a photo.

"Watch out, you don’t want to turn her into a peasant," Lettiere said jokingly from behind.

"Oh this camera is not magical! At least, I don’t think it is," Cassidy said.

The group pushed through the thick forest. The light streaming from above the trees grew thinner as they stepped through thicker and thicker foliage. Brady, as big as he was, found it increasingly difficult to navigate through the dangling tree branches and thick weedy bushes.

The group stopped when they heard a rustling noise in the distance.

"What’s that?" Earchon Franche asked out loud.

"Maybe it’s Vesuvius?" Xecure said. The spiky haired punk gang member had been missing since they left the room.

The rustling noise grew louder. It began to resemble a bull stampeding through the woods.

Lettiere looked around and upwards. "That does not sound good! Guys?" Lettiere said. As she looked backwards, towards Brady and Storell, her face turned pale. She shrieked.

Brady turned around to face the source of Lettiere’s fright. In the distance, he could see something approaching them at inhuman speed.

Storell jetted forward through the group. "Everyone run! Now!" she shouted.

In a state of mass panic, the group found themselves running and tripping over each other as they tried to get over the thick foliage. Brady, taking advantage of his athleticism, hurdled one of the smaller bushes and then grabbed Storell’s hands from the other side, helping her over. Once she cleared it, he did the same for Earchon Franche.

The thing chasing them drew closer. It appeared to be some kind of beast. The closest animal that came to mind for Brady was a warthog, only their attacker looked much more dangerous. "Guys, hurry!" Brady shouted as he helped Cassidy and then Lettiere over. Derrin and Xecure remained on the other side, frantically trying to climb.

Xecure looked over at Derrin. The short boy struggled to get over. "Here, hop on my back!" Xecure said.

Derrin nodded and got his foot onto Xecure’s back. But he slipped and fell onto the ground.

"Hurry! It’s getting closer!" Brady said. The beast stood only ten feet away. It had slowed down and now growled menacingly.

"Trying to!" Xecure shouted. "Come on Derrin!"

"Y-you should save yourself too!" Derrin shouted.

Brady looked around. A small opening in the bushes lay near Xecure’s feet. The beast wouldn’t be able to fit through there. "Guys, try to take cover there!" Brady said.

Xecure nodded. He pushed Derrin down into the opening and then tried to get in.

As Xecure tried to get down, the beast threw itself toward him. "Xecure! No!" Brady shouted as he watched the beast get within inches of his friend.

BANG!

The beast gave out a grating shriek and fell back a bit. Another loud BANG noise followed, and then it slumped over, dead. It took a brief moment for Brady to realize what just happened.

Copious amounts of blood seeped from a large gaping hole in the beast’s head and thigh. It had been shot. But by who? By what?

A figure stood nearby in the bushes, away from the group. He waved.

"Vesuvius! What was that?" Brady shouted. When his eyes turned to Vesuvius, he froze. Every muscle on Brady’s body tensed in fear when he saw the object Vesuvius dangled in his hand.

It was a gun.