Aiden looks to Ethen to see if he will object to Aiden going first, but when Ethen says nothing, Aiden checks to see if anyone is coming, and then he makes his way to the first booth.

Before Aiden reaches the booth, Ethen turns to me, “You trust him?” he asks.

I take a second to think about it before responding. ”Yes,” I tell him.

Once Aiden reaches the first game booth and makes sure no guards are coming, he waves for one of us to come over.

“Do you want to go next, or do you want me to?” I ask Ethen.

“I’ll go,” Ethen says.

Ethen pokes his head out from where we are hiding, looks to his right and then his left, and slowly moves to the booth. Midway there, his feet get faster, and he almost runs right into Aiden, but he stops himself at the last second.

While I cannot see Aiden's face all that well, I know he is sending death glares to Ethen. It will be a miracle if we manage to get out of here without Ethen doing something that will end up alerting a guard.

I wait for both boys to duck down further into the game booth before checking for any guards and making my way to the booth. Once I’m there, I crouch down and look at Aiden and Ethen.

“Be as quiet as possible. If this area is anything like the other one, then there should be a guard passing at any moment,” Aiden says.

The three of us sit in silence for maybe thirty seconds before I hear the sound of footsteps coming our way. I know that Ethen hears it, too, because he looks at Aiden with panicked eyes. Aiden shoots Ethen an angry, threatening look, and Ethen’s expression changes. Now, he looks like he is trying to act brave, but it looks more like he is in pain. His face starts turning red, and I realize he is holding his breath.

Once the sound of footsteps passes us and fades away, Ethen releases the breath of air he was holding in, and the red in his face slowly starts to disappear. More footsteps are heard in the distance, and when they start getting closer, the process on Ethen’s face repeats.

I wonder if letting Ethen pass out will help us get out of here safer. Carrying an unconscious man out of here would probably be easier than having a conscious Ethen.

After a minute of silence, color returns to Ethens face, and Aiden slowly looks up from the booth. When he comes back down, he tells us that there are no guards coming at the moment. Aiden once again moves to make his way over to the second game booth, and Ethen once again sees that as an opportunity to ask me about Aiden.

“How do you know?” Ethen asks.

“How do I know I can trust him?” I ask Ethen, and he nods his head. “I know I can trust him because he saved me and my brother. He got us out of here, and then he was kind enough to bring me back in to try to find my Dad. He also promised my brother that he would bring me back alive, and I believe him when he says that he will.”

Ethen does not ask anything else, and Aiden waves one of us over from the next booth.

“I trust him,” I tell Ethen one more time with a hundred percent certainty in my words.

He does not say anything in response, he just looks to see if any guards are coming, and then he makes his way over to Aiden. I follow after him, and then the three of us repeat this process one more time until we are behind another row of games like Aiden and I were earlier when we first came back into the carnival. We get behind the game booth titled Water Bucket as Aiden takes a look around to try and determine if we should go right or left.

“I think if we go left, we’ll get there quicker, and it should be relatively safe,” Aiden says.

“Where is there?” Ethen asks, “You keep saying you’re going to get me out of here, yet you fail to mention how we are going to do that. Do you know of some secret exit or something? Are we just going to walk right through the front gates of the carnival to get out of here?”

“We’re going to get out of here. That’s all that matters,” Aiden says sternly.

I can tell Ethen does not like that answer, but I don't care. I don't trust him with the real one.

“You know you are a real asshole, right?" Ethen says in frustration.

"I may be an asshole, but I am a smart one. You don't need to know how to get out of here. You just have to trust that we will get you out," Aiden says back.

"Why would I trust you? I don't know anything about you."

"You know my name. You know where I am from. You don't know my personal life, but you do know my personality. I don't like people who complain. I also don't like people who freak out at the first sign of danger. It not only puts themselves at a greater risk of getting killed, but it also endangers the people around them."

"Fine,” Ethen says, “as long as you get me out of here alive, I guess I shouldn’t complain.”

I don't believe that Ethen will stop complaining. He is too much like a little kid who just wants to get his way.

“You’re right, you really shouldn’t complain.” Aiden says, “You should listen instead. Listen for any shooters, and listen to me when I say watch your step. There are a lot of wires back here, and they are easy to trip over or unplug, so I recommend you be careful.”

The three of us start moving behind the game booths. Aiden is in front, I’m behind him, and Ethen is behind me. Every now and then, I hear Ethen mumbling to himself about the wires or the rubbery smell, but I try to ignore him and focus on where my own feet are going.

I hear Ethen fighting with the wires on the ground some more, but this time, he has to stop and untangle his foot before we are able to move again. We turn a corner and continue making our way to the maze.

I walk around the wires as if they are a minefield. Every time I look behind me, I see Ethen walking on top of the wires and accidentally looping his foot up in one as he walks. I try to tell Ethen to walk to the left side, where there are fewer wires, but he doesn't listen.

"I shouldn't be much farther," Aiden says quietly to me. "Is Ethen bothering you?"

"No. He keeps talking to himself about our situation. It is annoying, but I can put up with it."

"Let me know if you want to trade places," Aiden says while looking behind me at Ethen.

“Okay, stop. I need help,” Ethen says.

“Of course you do,” I say as I turn around and see that Ethen’s foot is once again caught up in a bundle of wires.

“I think I accidentally tightened it when I tried getting it off.”

“Let me see it,” Aiden says.

Aiden walks over to Ethen and starts pulling at the wires. I hear more complaining from Ethen, and I can’t help but laugh a little bit.

“You think this is funny?” says Ethen.

I look at Ethen’s face and bluntly tell him, “Yes.”

I hear Aiden laugh a little as well, and then he asks Ethen to lift his foot up a little more. After another thirty seconds, Aiden says, “Sam, can you please make sure no one is coming?”

“Why does she have to check to see if anyone is coming? You are not going to leave me here, are you? You can’t do that to me!” Ethen starts pulling his leg up harder, but all that seems to do is tighten the wires around his foot.

“I’m not going to leave you here, but I do think that I have to unplug the game in order to get you untangled. If I do that and someone is walking by, then they might get suspicious and come over here. You don’t want that, do you? No? Great, now shut up, and Sam, please make sure no one is coming.” I can't help but smile at Aidens words and the monotone way he says them to Ethen.

I do as Aiden says, look between the two booths in front of me, and see no guards coming from any direction.

“All clear,” I tell Aiden.

“Okay,” Aiden says, putting his hand on the wire to pull it from the wall.

“Wait! What if-” Ethen’s words get cut off when Aiden pulls the wire, and the lights to the game booth we are behind turn off.

Ethen goes silent and closes his eyes, and Aiden finishes getting his foot out.

“Done,” Aiden says.

Ethen gets both of his feet back on the ground and free from any wires. “Well then, let’s go.”

We continue walking along the same way we were going before. We make another turn, walk a little longer, and then Aiden stops us. I look up at him, and he mouths the word guard. I nod in response, and then I look over to Ethen, who looks confused. Ethen opens his mouth to ask a question, but I quickly put one finger over my lips to signal to him to be quiet.

We are all quiet for a few seconds, and there is no noise. There is no sound of footsteps, no sound of movement, nothing.

After another minute, Ethan asks, “What are we waiting for?”

Aiden looks at Ethen with wide eyes. Ethen didn’t even whisper those words. He might as well as shouted them for the guard to hear.

“Who’s there?” Asks an unfamiliar male voice.

A head sticks out from around the corner of the booth, and Aiden quickly grabs my hand. “Run!” He shouts.

Aiden pulls my hand to go around the side of the game booth opposite the guard's. I look at Ethen and see his foot is stuck in another set of wires.

“Wait, you can’t leave without me! Please! Stop! Please!” Ethen Yells to us, “You can’t leave me here! You can’t!”

Ethen tries to break free of the wire, but he falls to the floor instead. He then tries to fire his gun at the guard but misses. The guard easily knocks the gun out of his hand and moves to grab Ethen. The guard then grabs his walkie-talkie and starts talking into it.

“We need to go! Now Sam!”

Aiden pulls my hand, and we start running.

I hear the guard’s voice yelling in the distance. “I’m in the southeast plaza. They’re heading west. Send more…”

Chapter 24

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