Adam punched Orion in the arm, not really in a mean way, it could be viewed as playful. But it was a little hard.
"Oh shut up. We need to find something to defend ourselves because…" Adam looked them up and down, "We both know that our fists won't be enough."
"No touching," they said, less harsh this time, though. "I had a knife in my boot."
"Well?"
Adam looked at them.
"Is it still there?"
They knelt and wiggled their fingers inside their Docs. "Yes. I guess whoever put us in here thought I wasn't a threat." They drew a thin bronze blade from a sheath and held it up near their eyes, making sure it was in good condition. "It isn't for fighting, really. It's a ceremonial blade, but it'll do in a pinch."
"Ceremonial? What do you mean? It's a knife."
Adam turned to the pink door.
"Nevermind, it's not that important, you said that this door looked weird or something?"
"It's a pink door. Of course I think it's weird. I mean, honestly." They twirled the knife in their hand. "Anything else?"
Adam sighed, "You're not being much help."
He looked around him.
"We seriously need to get out of here before someone comes."
~~~
James grew imapatient. He had to take action. So, he stepped out of his room, and started down the hall, quietly singing the ABC's as he went.
"I'm sorry. It isn't like you are either, Adam. Anyhow. Next door." They walked to the next door, strapping the sheath of the knife to the inside of their left arm and sliding the knife into it.
"What are we even looking for, seriously."
Adam scratched at his wrist.
"I don't know? A way to get out? I'm not sure. What do you think?"
"Yeah? We can't stay here, obviously. Let's just look for daylight."
"What if it's nighttime right now. We'd have no way of knowing. That isn't the best plan, but it's something."
"I didn't even think about that, shit."
Adam thought for a moment.
"Well, what if we find a pipe or something? It could lead to a water heater or something and maybe out?"
"Again, congratulations on a good idea." They crouched down and looked around on the floor. "I see a pipe. But I don't know what it's for. I'm not exactly well-versed in the mechanics field."
"Well, if we follow that it can lead to two different things. Either a bath, toilet, sink or something like that which wouldn't be entirely helpful, or it can lead up to the source ad hopefully the outside, a window, or something."
Adam looked around.
"I don't know, I just want something to follow, because there are so many doors, we can get lost and run into whoever owns this place."
~~~
James heard voices from afar, knowing that he was getting closer.
He continued to quietly sing the ABC's, getting closer and closer.
He wouldn't kill them, no, only scare them. After all, he had worked so hard on their trial. He had worked so hard, so he couldn't foil his plans now.
"Alright then. Let's go." They stood up and began walking alongside the pipe. "It goes into this door. Do we want to risk opening it?"
"Just have your knife out."
Adam nodded his head and respectfully stepped behind Orion.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you, you big baby." They hid a grin, eyes on the pipe. "How long do you think this goes for?"
"Oh shush, you're the one with the knife, and I couldn't tell you. I say just follow it."
Adam bumped into the back of Orion before stepping back a bit, "Sorry."
"Don't. Touch," they said. "No touching unless I tell you otherwise."
'Yes yes yes, I know, I said sorry, it was an accident, just- go on."
Adam stopped, and looked over his shoulder.
He could hear a very faint tune, something far away, but he could hear it.
And that meant someone was in there with them.
"Orion, do you hear that?" He whispered.
They nodded once and turned slowly, drawing the knife from its sheath. Taking a step backward, they watched the corridor carefully.
"Don't you think we should hide?" He whispered, pointing at several of the doors, "We have a lot to choose from."
~~~
James heard whispering as he neared a corridor that split into four halls.
He had a choice.
"Here kitty kitty kitty." He said, trying to decide which hall to go down.
"I don't think so. We could be trapped. It's better to stay in the hallway. Where we can run. Or maybe fight. But if whoever it is has a gun, don't fight."
Adam nodded, looking up and down the corridor that they were in. His heart was beating out of control and fear got the best of him.
~~~
James heard more whispering, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. He didn't want to go down the wrong hall, but he needed to move sometime.
He started to get frustrated.
"Come out come out! COME OUT! COME OUT!! COME OUT!" James screamed.
"Calm down, Adam. Jeez. I'm not going to let you die. Take a deep breath or something. This isn't the best time to be panicking," they said quietly.
"Easy for you to say."
Adam jumped at hearing screaming from afar, and impulsively grabbed Orion's shoulder.
"Yes yes yes don't say it I know."
He let go and brushed the front of his shirt, "Do you think we need to move? They're screaming."
"Did you just wipe your hand on your shirt? Do I have cooties or something? And no. Why would we move? We have the upper hand here. We can hear them coming, and we can look and see them, if we wanted to. We could end up running into them."
"You don't have 'cooties' Orion, it's just a habit. And what if they have a gun or something? We only have a knife, we need to hide."
"If they have a gun, we surrender. Hiding is just going to back us into a corner. A corner would be the worst place to be. I mean, we can't run anywhere. We have no way out. And whoever that is knows that. They put us in here."
