Chapter 237 - Prison Escape (1)

Team A changed into their uniforms quickly and Edward laughed at how oversized the clothes were on Scarlet. The pants were too long and they had to borrow some safety pins from the actors so that Scarlet could keep the hem up without tripping her. She blushed at how he compared her to a kid playing dress-up and smacked him playfully much to Nook's chagrin. He didn't want to see a couple flirting in front of him but still maintained a neutral expression as much as he could.

Edward fit the holster for the paint gun snugly on the belt in a place that Scarlet would be least likely to see. He didn't need help with the holster and looked like he was used to strapping such things which made Scarlet puzzled but she didn't question.

The couple was ready and spent the rest of their waiting time chatting with Alex and strategising. Again, Edward committed the layout of the map on the other side of the elevator door to memory and Nook took that as a sign to leave before his frustration showed. Normal people didn't memorise the layout of the playing field!

Scarlet was slightly lost and confused but she took note of the important rooms. Other than the maze of corridors, the next stage had normal lighting but an increased number of prison guards walking around. There were fewer places that they had to go to but it was going to be trickier avoiding all the patrol guards even after knowing their patrol routes.

"The first two rooms closest to the elevator would be the janitor's room and the supervisor's office. There are also some access controls that you need to unlock in order to get to the cell blocks. We are in Cell Block B but you'll need to find keys to our handcuffs and door before you come here. There's also a cafeteria which is the biggest room, there should be some useful clues hidden there so don't forget to search thoroughly. The prison guards don't enter those rooms but they pass by the three cell blocks very frequently and go through the corridor maze regularly."

Edward took down the key points and agreed. "How many doors are there in the maze?"

Jasper took the map and counted it. "Five," he replied through the walkie talkie and Edward licked his lips, holding Scarlet's hand tighter. Ten guards, five doors and three keys for the cells, one for the handcuffs to free the hostages... The objective of the second stage was more straightforward but trickier to pull off given the limited time.

"We might have to split up to search," he told Scarlet and felt uneasy. One person had a walkie talkie and the other had a gun. This would be Edward's best bet. He could remember the patrol schedules of these guards and could act alone but he was also worried that Scarlet might get caught in the middle of the search with only the walkie talkie with Alex and Jasper guiding her.

Scarlet caught onto his unease and leaned on his shoulder. "I'll follow what you have in mind. So the priority is to unlock all the doors in the maze while finding all three cell keys and the keys to the handcuffs to escape?"

Edward thought hard. There were no hints about where they could find the cell keys or the handcuff keys so Edward was starting to suspect something. They were given an outfit change but what for? The second stage sounded trickier.

"The game is beginning in five minutes," Nook announced. "Get into position and good luck! You have thirty-five minutes to clear the game."

With the announcement, Scarlet and Jasper stepped into the holding bay and waited for the doors to open. At less than a minute mark, the countdown began and Edward paid close attention to the walkie talkie. His line of attack was to escort Scarlet to the supervisor office while he searched the janitor room.

The doors slid open and Edward held onto Scarlet's hand, giving out instructions for her to follow closely and run when he did. Nook watched the couple evade all the guards successfully and Edward seemed too much like a pro to this game as if he had done this thousand of times. His confidence and ability to make quick judgement saved them from many close calls in order to get to the supervisor office. Most participants usually headed to the janitor room first and this was the first time he saw someone heading for the strategic command centre with goodies to spoil.

Scarlet did as she was told with a professionalism that she never thought she would show Edward. However, his seriousness made her match his pace and they took this game much more seriously than before. Perhaps it was adrenaline, perhaps it was the love hormones but Scarlet felt her heart racing for him. Edward was usually very gentle and considerate with her so she never thought there would be a day he would take over the lead in their dynamics so readily. He always waited until she was ready to do something and never pushed the boundaries until now.

"Stay here," he told her after they entered the supervisor office. "Do not leave this room until I arrive, understood?"

His emphasis on the word made Scarlet nod and Edward quickly scoured the desk to look for a few things he wanted. Scarlet took a fake ID card that Edward found in the drawer and an access card that Edward found. After Edward deemed that there wasn't anything else important here, he told Scarlet to look around for anything that could help them understand the prison structure or system better as he went to scout the rest of the place and do the necessary things.

Scarlet could only agree as Edward left in a hurry but not forgetting to remind her to stay in the room and hide if anyone passed by. He didn't want a repeat of the kitchen incident again from earlier and Scarlet gave him her word.

Once her worrywart boyfriend was gone, Scarlet started her search in the supervisor's room. There should be something more than some passes and IDs, right? Not having tagged items in the second stage gave Scarlet a little more freedom to think about what would be useful for their objective and what wouldn't.

From the information she knew, there would be a cafeteria to explore that might hold crucial clues to the cell blocks. She didn't know where the cell block keys were or where the handcuff keys were but Scarlet was willing to bet a clue would be hidden within this office. While Edward checked out the janitor's room, it would be up to her to think of how to break Alex and Jasper out.

The room was rather empty and didn't have many things. The key that Edward found was only useful for unlocking the side drawer where he found their fake IDs and access card. The desk was rather clean and apart from the workers' punch cards and some useless doc.u.ments, Scarlet eyed the laptop that was conveniently left on. 

"They wouldn't leave this on if it was merely a prop right?" Scarlet reasoned and tried to access it. Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. The laptop was locked by a password and when Scarlet clicked on the hint button, she spent a good minute staring at it.

"A brand of tea?"

Was this an easter egg? She only had three attempts to unlock this computer and now that she was here, Scarlet decided to look around the office for additional clues. Were they referring to the tea in the first stage or was it something else?

The brand of tea in stage one would be Darjeeling but Scarlet didn't think it was correct. The password only had eight letters and Scarlet sighed. As a tea person, Scarlet thought of the different brands she knew and looked around the office for props that might have a clue. Then, her eyes landed on an empty coffee mug by the side.

Scarlet went back to the drawer and searched the cabinets. If there was a coffee mug, there should be some pantry records and supplies somewhere even if they didn't have the actual coffee machine or tea. This was the supervisor's office so some records should be seen.

A good few minutes of digging proved useful and Scarlet found a box of Twinings tea.

"One... two... three... eight letters! This is it!"

Typing in the password, Scarlet whistled lowly as the computer allowed her access. This puzzle was too easy for her and while Edward wasn't back yet, Scarlet would dig out everything she could.

Nook groaned. Scarlet had already figured out the password and Edward was doing funny things near the elevator. He didn't know how the boy thought to use the cleaning signs to block off certain paths but this was certainly going to throw the prison guards off and buy them time for their escape.

Is there nothing that could stop this couple?