‘Doubt it,’ he says.
‘Well, we can try to burn this image into our minds in case it’s useful for later,’ Josh says happily, hopping off the desk.
‘I won’t be trying that hard,’ I hear Owen remark, as he moves around us to look at the old, clunky computer monitor on the desk, and wiggles the mouse next to it. Nothing happens.
He turns back to us and shrugs. ‘Was just curious.’
‘Onwards!’ Josh croons.
When we emerge from the corner unit, Owen and I head right, while the others go left.
‘We just came from that way,’ I point out.
‘Are you kidding? We came fromthatdirection,’ Josh insists, gesturing behind us.
‘You guys are on something–’
Squabbling ensues, none of us able to decipher or agree where exactly we had come from. I look around for markers of where we may have entered from, but can only see neon green signs pointing to emergency exits on every side of us.
‘This place is fucking disorientating,’ Owen says. ‘Let’s just pick a direction and go with it.’
‘Yeah, great idea.Ourdirection,’ Josh replies.
‘Oh my God,whatever,’ Hennie pipes up. ‘I’ve changed my mind. I’m following the two people with the most sense here.’ She walks over to Owen and I.
‘There we go! We have a majority,’ Owen says, turning to lead the group through the maze of grey and white walls. We walk past a line of large printers and see our first batch of Ransom-dwellers, a couple of them pressing their faces onto the scanner as the hot, yellow light slowly lights up their features.
‘This is just bizarre,’ Hennie murmurs, still baffled by our surroundings. ‘I hope you guys weren’t expecting a party in here or you must be feeling disappointed.’
‘Non, mon amie. We have no idea what Ransom has in store for us yet,’ Josh says, beaming.
Another drawing in black ink adorns the walls: a cloaked figure with a briefcase looming over us. It’s unsettling, to say the least.
‘So,’ Elliot says quietly. ‘Are we supposed to know what we’re doing here?’
‘I think we know as much as you do,’ Hennie replies.
‘Ah, lighten up, Walker,’ Josh says. ‘We’ll find our place in this world.’ He opens his arms out wide to gesture at the ‘world’ that is Ransom. I can’t help but agree with Elliot. Something about Ransom makes me feel strange. Adrift.
As we make our way around more corners and winding corridors, I start to notice the increasing number of post-it notes attached to the walls, along with the odd, haphazard sketch and bits of graffiti. A large piece, made up of pink and black thick lines, simply reads: Rapture.
A different kind of music is pounding loudly just ahead of us, Josh bobbing his head to the rhythm. The source becomes clear when we stumble past a larger unit completely surrounded by wire fencing, breaking up the uniform white walls. Thick, black fabric is draped across the top, blocking the light from above, submerging the people inside into almost total darkness. An undeterminable number of people dance inside, pumping their fists and banging their heads to heavy guitar.
‘Well. There’s your party,’ I say.
Owen frowns at the sight. ‘Pass.’
35
We eventually reach the end of the corridor, hitting a wall of metal and a new path that leads around the edge of the space to another set of doors. They swing open to a small passageway lined with fire exits, and yetmoredouble doors. This time the piece of paper taped to the door reads:Ransom II.
‘Okay, here we go,’ Josh whispers.
We’re greeted by a wall of dark-brown fabric. Josh roughly pushes it aside to reveal: more of the same.Moreoffice space. I just about hear Owen’s disappointed sigh.
If anything, this space looks even larger. But compared to the previous room, this one is well-lit. Warm orange and yellow lights illuminate the space and highlight every nook and cranny. And I realise the music is more pleasant; an easy, ambient track courses smoothly around us as we make our way in.
Another contrast to the previous room are the separating walls that line every corridor – this time covered from top to bottom in pink and yellow post-its. Not a single inch has been left uncovered.
