Green Means Go

Where am I?

Groggy and disoriented I sat up using my elbows. I looked around the dark room finding nothing but shadows and blank walls. There was only the single cot that I laid on.

How did I get here?

I tried to remember the last thing I did before falling asleep, but my thoughts felt like they were swimming in a lake of molasses. I couldn’t even remember going to sleep. Or the previous day. Actually…

Who am I?

I felt a slight rise of panic. Who was I? I couldn’t remember my name. Had I been drugged? Was I in an accident and now in the hospital. No, that’s not right. There were no machines, no bright fluorescents, no chemical smell, or anything else to indicate a hospital room. How did I know that? When had I ever been in a hospital?

My thoughts were interrupted as I noticed that parts of the floor were lighting up. Three green arrows illuminated a path towards a door that I hadn’t seen before. Do I get up and follow them? That’s what it seemed like I was being told to do. Could I even walk? My whole body had a sense of numbness to it. Well, what else was I going to do?

I swung my legs over the edge of the cot. Okay, good, I could move. But this small movement made me dizzy. I sat there for a moment trying to decide if getting up was possible.

BZZT.

I screamed. A loud buzzer went off, obviously displeased with my lack of motion. A chill ran down my spine as it occurred to me for the first time that I was being watched. I heaved myself off the cot, not wanting to find out what a second warning would be like. Once my feet were on the floor and I was vertical…mostly, I swayed. I took labored steps towards the arrows. When I got there, I was unsure about whether or not I should open it. I didn’t know anything about my captors, I didn’t want to make the wrong move.

The green arrows started blinking. They grew increasingly faster. I guess this meant that I should open the door. I tried the handle, it wouldn’t budge.

What the Hell?

I was confused, but whatever sedative they’d used on me was starting to wear off. My thoughts were a little clearer. Now that my eyes were adjusted to the darkness, I looked around the room to see if there was anything that I’d missed before. There it was, in the corner, a plain, rectangular table. I walked over to it with slightly more ease than before. Nothing lay on the table.

What?!

I was starting to get frustrated. What the hell was this? Who would do this and why? The government? A bored billionaire? Was this just a game to someone or something more?

BZZT.

I screamed again, this time rage entering my tenor. Whoever I was, I apparently wasn’t mild-mannered-Mary. My blood boiled and my face grew hot. Anger traveled from the pits of my stomach, through my arms and into my hands as I reached out, grabbed the table, and flipped it across the room. I heaved, feeling a little better now with the release. I gazed at the spot where the table used to be, catching my breath and regaining my senses.

I audibly groaned when I realized what the table was hiding underneath it. A trapdoor was built into the floor.

This better open.

I tried the floor door and it easily swung open. I inspected the hole and saw three rungs for me to climb down on, but beyond that, nothing. I pondered for a moment on whether I should start climbing and just let blind faith guide the way or if I should look around the room again to see if there was anything else I’d missed. For example, something to light my path. I decided to give the room another sweep.

As soon as I moved away from the opening, the buzzer went off again. Unsure of where the camera was, I stuck my arm in the air and waved around my middle finger. I did a perimeter around the room. I found nothing. Then thinking of the trap door’s placement, I walked back over to the cot to search it. Underneath was nothing, just cold, hard floor. However, when I lifted the thin sheet, I found something that resembled a glow stick. I cracked it and a bright, neon orange light began to swirl and fill the tube. Despite the bizarre situation I was in, I couldn’t help but feel proud of my discovery. I walked back over to the trap door, stuck the stick between my teeth and began to climb down.

I climbed 47 rungs before I reached the bottom. It was pitch black and the glow stick only illuminated 4-5 steps ahead of me. I decided to move slow. I’m glad I did, because it didn’t take me long to encounter another hole in the floor. It stretched the width of the narrow corridor and was deep enough that I couldn’t see what was at the bottom. The hairs on the back of my neck perked up at the sight. Was death a possibility in this twisted game?

I took a few steps back, got a running start and jumped the gap. It wasn’t massive, so it was fairly easy. I kept walking to find no other obstacles in my path until I hit a dead end. I let out a noise that was like a whine mixed with a groan. What could I have missed? I traveled up and down the corridor three times before I found it. Right after the pitfall was another hole. This one was in the ceiling. It wasn’t as wide as the one before, this one was just big enough for me to fit through. I held my glowstick in the air to see rungs just like the ones I’d climbed down. I couldn’t reach them just by lifting my arms. I’d have to jump and pull myself up. I took a couple of breaths to prepare myself and then made the leap. My fingers grazed the first bar. Upon landing I took another second to collect myself, trying to remain calm. I wouldn’t be able to make it if I just started jumping up in a frenzy. I crouched low and pushed off the ground with all my might. This time, my hands grasped the lowest rung.

I reached for the next to find them further spaced apart than the ones I climbed down from. This annoyed me and once again I asked myself what the purpose of this was. I extended my reach and started climbing. About 30 rungs up my arms started to ache. I looked down to see nothing but vast, black empty. My head started to swirl. Afraid of falling, I adjusted my view back in front of me to steady myself.

BZZT.

Terrified, I let out an echoing scream and nearly let go of the rungs. This time I shouted at my sadistic shepherds,

“Oh, I’m sorry! Am I not moving fast enough for you?!”

In response, parts of the walls around me began to shift. Small openings appeared in a checkboard pattern 3-inches apart from one another.

Great.

Jets of water sprayed out of the holes in unison. I sputtered and coughed, unprepared for the barrage. The pressure of the streams increased until I was crying out in pain. The rungs of the ladder grew slippery. Fear gripped my chest. With water coming from every direction, I was forced to close my eyes. I became laser-focused and started climbing again. Each placement of my hand was careful and purposeful, yet quick. After several minutes of climbing, my head entered a dry spot. I quickly pulled myself out of the hole without opening my eyes and curled up into a ball on the ground. If I just fell asleep, it’d be over…at least for now. Who knows what would happen when I woke up? The pain and immediate danger gone, I started to relax. My body stung from the jet propulsion, but it was starting to level out. I was experiencing a different kind of numbness than from hours before.

BZZT.

“No…” I groaned in disbelief. For a moment, laying down with my eyes closed, I had started to forget where I was.

BZZT.

I wonder what would happen, really, if I just didn’t open my eyes?

BZZZT.

The last buzzer was louder and more aggressive than the previous ones. Remembering what I’d just gone through, I found it in me to open my eyes and sit up. I found myself and the room I was in, encompassed by a green light. The hue was oddly calming. I breathed a little easier, releasing some of my anxiety. This room was…weird. It was larger than the first room and was set up like a studio apartment from the 60’s. There was a sofa with an old T.V directly across from it. The sofa had end tables on either side, complete with lamps and vases with flowers. There was a bookshelf on the wall to the right of the sofa, filled with books. Over in the corner was mini-kitchen with a refrigerator and a dining table. Over the table was a window with the curtains drawn. On the other wall was another shelf stocked with board games, puzzles and playing cards. There was a door to the right of that. The vibrancy of the green light was so overwhelming, you couldn’t make out anything in the room’s natural color, but they’d even gone as far as to decorate the room with a rug.

My stomach growled. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate…but then again, I couldn’t remember anything. Did I trust the food that they provided? It might be my only option. I opened the fridge to find a single glass of water and a sandwich. My reservations were gone at the sight of actual food, I was starving. I had no interest in the water. The first bite didn’t raise any suspicions, tasted like ham and cheese to me. Sandwich in hand, I walked over to the window and drew the curtains. It was just black beyond the window, no view.

Of course.

I moseyed over to the sofa and tried to take a whiff of the flowers. Had the jets impacted my sense of smell or was there no scent? I touched them to find they were plastic. I scoffed and walked to the bookshelf. They had covers of seemingly real books, but when I flipped through them, each page was blank. This was becoming disturbing, and the uneasy feeling started to return. I hurried over to the game shelf and opened a deck of cards. Blank. Suddenly disgusted, I discarded the rest of my sandwich by tossing it on the floor. I rushed to the door and went to try the handle.

BZZZZT.

I placed my hand on the door handle. The green light was swapped for an angry red one and the buzzer started going off in repetition. I ignored the warning signs and started to turn the handle. A piercing siren joined the buzzer noise.

I swung the door open. The brightest white light I’d ever seen, flooded my vision. I flung my arms up over my eyes to protect them. The noise halted. When I lowered my arms, I squinted to see a tall, slender grey man with his back towards me. He turned and I gasped. The only features on his face were large, oval black eyes. He handed me a slip of paper that read,

“Phase 4 Testing complete. Back to sleep.”

Then another person, like the first, appeared behind me and injected a needle into my neck. Immediately, I slipped into a deep sleep.