Chapter 6

Perry walked, with the others, out into the corridor. They didn’t need to be so close, now that they each had a potent light source. They spread out but still kept close enough no one could easily get separated. Perry held his torch up and looked around as they walked. For a moment, his other hand found its way to his other two spears, tucked into the back of his pants. Their rough splintery surface provided comfort, like a safety blanket, calming his nerves.

Most of them had backup spears. Greg and Heather even carried a spear in their main hand. Shane had his knife in his main hand, and the other two girls caressed the wall as their own form of a safety blanket. For some reason, they all seemed to crouch as they walked. As if that would help them at all in hiding from the minotaur, should it appear. Although, maybe it helped with the sound of their footsteps.

They carefully placed their feet, dampening the sound of their footsteps, as they continued in silence. Perry listened out for the sound of scraping, the sound of the minotaur’s battle-axe, but heard nothing except the crackle of the fire from the torches, and his companion’s breathing. They came to a fork and, as planned, Shane, who was at the front of the pack, marked the corridor with charcoal making an arrow that pointed back down the path they came from. Then he started down the left path. When they came to another fork, Shane did the same thing.

Perry was near the back, with Katie taking the last position. He had to keep looking over his shoulder to make sure of Katie’s position, and each time she seemed to be further and back. She must be nervous, he thought. She, as the worst runner of the group, was the most vulnerable out here. He could guess her thinking, she would need the biggest head start to ensure she wasn’t eaten, so she was making the gap as big as she could. But, if the minotaur appeared on her side of the pack, she was a goner.

“Hey, come on,” Perry whispered back to her. Her movement was jerky as she heard his words. Perry gestured for her to come closer and she did. “I know you’re worried about running away, but if the minotaur comes at us from that direction you’re definitely dead. Stick close to me. Then if it comes from there I might be able to try and distract it. Maybe make it chase after me instead of the rest of you.”

“Then you’ll be dead,” said Katie. “I know I’m not a good runner. Or athletic at all. But you aren’t exactly the king of the football team either. If anyone, we should have Shane or Heather act as a decoy.”

Heather was the clear athlete of the group. She was on the track and field team. Tall, skinny, with long powerful legs, she was probably the best runner in the group. Shane, although not a star athlete, was in shape and a good runner. Of the guys here, he was probably the strongest and fastest, always hitting the gym and playing soccer. Perry guessed that Shane was probably faster than Heather, for no other reason than that he was a reasonably in shape guy. Perry, on the other hand, would play sports, when the occasion called for it, but otherwise, would prefer to play video games. He was lean enough that he was limber, but no one would call him an athlete.

However, Perry wasn’t about to go to Shane and ask him to be a decoy. He owed so much to Shane. He could never ask him to put himself in that position. If he asked Heather, and Shane heard it, there was a chance he would volunteer, which again wasn’t something Perry found acceptable. “Don’t worry about it,” he told Katie.

“It’s your funeral ... Sorry, forget I said that. Thanks. And thank you for earlier, for stopping to act as a decoy. It would have been a lot safer for you to just leave me behind.”

Up ahead, Shane found another door. He pressed against it and it didn’t open. “It’s locked,” said Shane. “Let’s just keep moving.” He marked a big X on the door and continued in the same direction.

They continued on. Perry gave the door handle a jostle as he walked past it, just for reassurance. As they moved, the flame on his torch got closer to his hand, after all, the handles of their torches were just as flammable as the rest.

“Ah!” shouted Heather, and she dropped her torch on the ground. The flame had touched her hand.

They all stood still and listened. They heard that same roar as before, the roar of the minotaur, off in the distance. Which direction did it come from? How far was it?

Perry knew, and spoke first, “It’s coming from behind us.” Back in the direction they planned to retreat in. “Katie, start moving to the front, with Heather.”

She scurried forward next to Heather. Heather had taken out another of her spears and started trying to light it using the flame from the one on the ground. “Come on, we should keep moving. Hopefully, that thing won’t be able to follow us,” said Shane.