The Odds - Jeff Strand Page 0,57

or not. There might be a much safer path to the keys, or this might be it.

He decided to go forward. There was enough room to maneuver around the knives as long as he was extremely careful.

Ethan turned sideways and stepped down the corridor, moving cautiously but also trying not to fall behind in the race. Though there wasn’t much room to spare, as long as he didn’t lose his balance he should be able to avoid getting impaled.

He was a quarter of the way through already. See, this wasn’t so bad. He could do this.

The corridor seemed to be narrowing a bit.

Yes, the tips of the blades were scraping against him, though not breaking the skin.

Ethan kept moving.

Halfway through. Still going fine.

“Holy shit,” said Kenny.

Ethan glanced over. Kenny stood at the end of the hallway, where Ethan had been, looking at the knives without much enthusiasm.

Then, like Ethan, Kenny turned his body sideways and began to move through the bladed corridor.

Ethan kept going.

He winced as a blade tore the back of his shirt.

Another blade tore the front of his shirt.

And suddenly he was feeling claustrophobic.

Ethan kept his focus on the path ahead, even though it sounded like Kenny might be quickly gaining on him. Surely Kenny wouldn’t attack him while they were squeezing through the corridor of blades—if Ethan got disemboweled, Kenny would almost certainly be the one to go into the oil.

Now Ethan could see that this corridor did indeed have a dead end. He’d have to go back through the knives again.

The blades were breaking the skin. Not enough that he’d bleed to death or even be slowed down, but they hurt like hell. There really wasn’t room for him to contort himself to avoid getting cut. He pretty much had no choice but to just keep going and hope the blades didn’t cut too deep.

Kenny was breathing heavily, as if he was starting to panic.

Three-quarters of the way there. Still doing fine.

The blades were now cutting his chest, back, and legs. Still not badly.

At least it wasn’t too difficult to avoid the knives protruding from the floor.

Almost there.

One blade across his back cut deeper than the others and he yelped. He allowed himself three seconds to pause and regain his composure before moving again.

He made it. Ethan exhaled deeply, not having even realized he’d been holding his breath. A red, green, and blue key dangled from strings. Ethan took the blue one and shoved it into his pocket.

“Ethan has his first key!” The Claw Man announced.

Kenny had stopped moving. His eyes were squeezed shut and he looked like he was trying to control his panicked breathing.

This was a problem, because there was no way to get past him.

Was Ethan allowed to climb over the wall? Nobody had said it was against the rules. He was far from a star athlete, but surely he could pull himself up and over a wall that was about the same height as he was.

He reached up and grabbed the top of the maze wall.

The Claw Man spoke over the megaphone. “There is no rule against climbing over the walls. But you will become target practice.” A gunshot rang out.

Ethan did not want to become target practice, so he let go of the wall.

“Turn back,” he told Kenny.

Kenny didn’t open his eyes. “Not a chance.”

“I’ll bring you your key.”

“That isn’t allowed.”

“They didn’t say I couldn’t bring you your key. They said I couldn’t steal it.”

“No. I can’t trust you.”

“Then at least get moving. Lisa already has one of her keys.”

“I’m trying!”

Kenny didn’t budge. Ethan couldn’t wait here forever, so he turned sideways and moved back into the bladed corridor.

The knives immediately began to cut him, but he knew that this time it would get easier as he went along.

Well, at least it would until he ran into Kenny.

20

As Ethan moved through the bladed corridor, Kenny opened his eyes. Then Kenny began to slowly step toward him.

“Go the other way,” Ethan told him.

“I’m not backtracking.”

“Do you really want to fight here? It’s barely even safe to breathe.”

“I’d rather die here than get dunked in boiling oil, so yeah, I’d rather fight you than let you get ahead of me.”

“I said I’d get your key for you,” said Ethan. “Why not work together? Hell, I can get all of our keys, and all you have to do is keep Lisa from getting past you.” It would be a dirty trick, but one of the players was going to die an agonizing death soon,