Guardian academy (6) - Escape room

Elena listened closely to Nate's words. Her eyes moved as she tried to analyze what she had heard. Reyes, on the other hand, felt worried as he held tightly to him.

"You have to ensure that the tile picked at the top is equal to the tile picked at the bottom and that they are on opposing ends…" Nathan struggled to breathe. He was almost out of it, but… He was not done yet.

At this point, those that were still lucid enough struggled to their feet as they heard Nathan's words. They were willing to grasp any form of hope that they could find.

"Ensure that the tiles in the center of the room are in the same line. The design is meant to form a miniature X once you are done… That should be the key to solving this puzzle." Nathan buckled with Reyes tightening his grip over him.

"What did you do to get this info?" Nathan managed a smile. "I did what was necessary…" His head slumped forward and his consciousness slid down rapidly.

"Is he okay?" A muscular guy with a rugged physique asked. "He is out…" Reyes turned to Elena. "What now?" Elena did not answer immediately as her eyes kept on searching.

"He must have been delirious from the poison gas." Jeremiah chipped in. His remark wasn't welcome as Elena shot him a glare before slowly answering. "You guys heard what he said… If you still have the strength to move, then let's start."

There were still eight of them standing including Reyes, Elena, Jeremiah, and the Japanese dude that slept in the same room with Nathan.

They nodded in agreement with Elena's words as they quickly got to work. Jeremiah grumbled somewhat but still joined them.

Their chances of passing the test hung on to this last opportunity. They couldn't afford to waste any second.

Elena was the first to move a tile, only to discover that the tile pressed down after she exerted some pressure. This was the push the others needed.

They quickened their pace until they finally got to the middle of the room. By then, only five remained, the other three having already collapsed from mental overexertion.

"This is the last one," Reyes mumbled to himself. "Stop talking and just push it." Jeremiah reached forward and pushed it down but the moment he removed his palm, it shot back up.

"Ah… why didn't it stay in place?" They all frowned as this was an unexpected development. "Maybe we are missing something. Try pushing them together."

They turned to find that it was the silent guy that had spoken. Reyes took a glance at him before turning to Elena to get her approval.

Subconsciously, they had already established her as some kind of pseudo leader.

"Let's push the two tiles at the same time as he said," Elena remarked. Reyes simply nodded after which he reached out with both hands and pressed down on the tiles.

At that moment.

***Twang***

There was a guitar riff that echoed after which there was movement.

It started as a slight vibration and then slowly but surely, the walls of the enclosed room shook and then lowered until it collapsed completely on the ground to reveal a larger observation center.

They breathed a sigh of relief as they dropped to the ground.

They nearly cried tears of joy as they had finally escaped this most trying challenge. It had tested their mental limits to the extreme.

It wasn't something that they could ever get used to. At that moment, save for say, Jeremiah, the others looked at Nathan with appreciation.

His 'sacrifice', allowed them to escape from the enclosed room just before they all passed out.

"We did it, buddy… We got out." Reyes forced a slight chuckle as he glanced at Nathan's unconscious body.

Just then, there was a loud clap that caught their attention. Five of them moved their necks to the source to find Captain Rodgers alongside a few other military captains.

"Hahahaha… Good job cadets, you guys showed us a good show. I was thoroughly impressed." A captain commented as he laughed heartily.

They could, more or less, tell that these captains were watching them while they were suffering in the room. Jeremiah fought the urge to curse them out.

"Congratulations cadets, you guys did well." Captain Rodgers was also smiling but his method of addressing them was calm, cool, and collected.

Elena sat up with difficulty. "Thank you, Captain." Reyes and the others could not be bothered as they remained on his back.

"You guys performed well even though you lucked out on having a member of your team privy to the fact that this was a test. I had originally planned to give the impression that you had been placed in an intensive center."

"It was merely a bit of good fortune," Elena replied with Captain Rodgers nodding as he continued. "This test had two purposes. The first was to test your chemistry.

"In that regard, though it wasn't perfect, the fact that you lot quickly accepted the leadership of Elena is enough to earn some praise.

"The second purpose was to introduce you guys to the other members of your newly formed Squadron."

This statement drew an exaggerated reaction from Elena and the rest as they stared wide-eyed in shock. "Squadron?"

"Mn, we decided to make things a bit interesting for this division's cadets by not just directly choosing the Squadrons but instead allowing the cadets to pick their squads themselves.

"It is safe to say that you lot have done excellently well. This means that from today onwards, you all are now part of the Red Wing thunder Squadron.

"Your squad uniforms, as well as Team AI and squad activities will be distributed once all your members have recovered."

Reyes suddenly put his hand up. Captain Rodgers turned to him. "Yes?" Reyes pointed to Nathan. "He strained himself to ensure that we passed the test. I hope the academy takes special care of him."

"Of course. Why would we forget about the one that gave us quite the good show? Don't worry, he will be rewarded accordingly.

"Also, since you lot are the fastest team to finish, some prizes await. Come and retrieve them once your squad is ready. I believe you will be the Herald of the Red Wings, Ms. Blake."

Elena was taken aback as she turned to her side to find that the others were looking at her. They had accepted her as their leader. "It's a natural choice," Jeremiah muttered.

"That will be decided once everyone has recovered." Elena did not immediately accept. The position of Herald was not something that could be easily given as far as she was concerned.

A Herald was the leader of a Squadron. He or she took the important decisions and held the life and death of their comrades in their hands. One mistake and they could end up watching their squad members getting cut down.

"I understand. I look forward to your performances in the upcoming tests." Captain Rodgers remarked after which he turned and left with the other captains.

A minute later and medics rushed in and began transporting those that were unconscious to the medical bay.

***

Three days later.

Nathan finally came to as his eyes slowly opened. "You are finally awake." He looked to the side to find Reyes seated, watching over him with a bright smile.

"From the look on your face, I'm guessing we passed." "After what you did, even Jeremiah felt unwilling to allow you drop like that."

Nathan chuckled. "I'm glad everything worked out." Reyes got to his feet as he stretched before looking squarely at Nathan. "You shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard."

"It was worth it, wasn't it?" Nathan smiled but Reyes was having none of it as he had a serious expression.

"Honestly though, don't try that ever again. You are the last person to wake up and that's because the medics said that your body was severely damaged. They were flustered as to how you managed to damage your body so much."

Nathan could only remain silent as he knew what he had done. But he felt happy that he had managed to help them pass the test. Even with the injuries he suffered, it was worth it.

"I understand." Reyes sighed. "At least, you are awake now so I guess it's fine."

Nathan sat up with Reyes moving to assist him. "Thanks… So what was the purpose of the test?" Nathan was already aware that every test in the school was for a reason.

They did not blindly test their cadets in cliché aspects like strength, speed, and the like. They were aware that different people, had different capabilities.

Thus, their tests were unique in that they took into account those differences. "It was to test our chemistry and also… to introduce us to our squad members."

Nathan's eyes widened in surprise. "Sorry what?"