Escape Room

The large door seemed to tower over Ellie as she sucked in a deep breath.
She wasn’t one for adventure, especially where an escape wasn’t possible, but here she was. How did she let her friends talk her into this ridiculous thing.
“Are you ready?” Brian asked, nudging her in the ribs.
She shook her head, “I don’t know about this Brian.”
“Oh come on Ellie, it’ll be fun!” He said, shoving Ian into Samantha as they smiled and laughed. Everyone else was excited about this Escape Room business, but there was something about being trapped in a room with the only escape coming at the end of puzzles that was unsettling for Ellie.

The host of the game opened the door, wishing them good luck and locking it behind them. The first room seemed to fly by, although Ellie wasn’t too much help as her friends thought quickly, moved through the clues to solve the riddles and opened the door into the next room.
As she followed along, Ellie noted every item inside each space, trying to make her brain move as fast as theirs. By the third room, their team had only 15 minutes left to clear it, and the final room. She squeezed past Ian and moved towards a chair in the corner.

The theme of this particular escape room was Pioneer Apocalypse, and Ellie was sick of seeing mannequins with racoon hats and bonnets around the rooms. Their eyes followed her, and she never wanted to see another log cabin as long as she lived. The large arm chair in the corner was her best option as her friends eagerly followed the clues around the room. She rolled her eyes and leaned on her elbow, looking in the closet to her right. The ‘bedroom’ was similar to all the others, and peeking through the closet clothes, was another mannequin.

She sighed, staring at another expressionless face. Frowning, she narrowed her eyes and looked closer. This one’s eyes were closed and it was slumped over, instead of sitting up straight and looking rigid. Maybe it was an actor paid to jump out and scare them into the next room?
Ellie carefully stood and took a step closer, reaching out and poking it, then quickly retracting her hand.
“What have you found?” Samantha asked from across the room.
Ellie shrugged, “I don’t know. This doesn’t look like the other mannequins around.”

The group dropped their clue quest and huddled together behind Ellie, staring at the strange figure. Ellie reached forward and pushed her hand into the man’s shoulder. It pushed back and the body fell onto the ground in front of her, exposing a large blood stain on the mans back. Ellie’s gag reflex activated and she pulled backwards, pushing herself up against the furthest wall.
“I don’t think that’s part of the escape,” Brian said quietly, looking between his friends. They picked up the radio, still able to use two of their three clues.
“Would you like a clue?” The voice on the other end asked. Ian pulled the radio away from Brian, “Is there supposed to be a dead guy in the bedroom?”
Silence on the other end of the radio echoed loudly in the room, until a voice finally came through the static, “Please wait a moment. Someone will be coming to assist you.”