Chapter 10:

Joey's eyes bulged.

"Sherene?" he hoarsely whispered.

Sherene looked away. Any trace of remorse she had, vanished, as she looked at him, indifferently. "One more minute."

Joey flinched. He couldn't understand why these people thought he was an agent. Was his luck so bad that the people he wanted to kill turned out to be lunatics?

"Okay, I'll tell-" Joey started, but was kicked in the shin by Sherene.

"Time is up, " Sherene said, sharply. To Utopia, she snarled, " Get the shark tank ready, you eijit." 

Utopia grumbled. "Why do YOU get to the cool jobs? You can get the shark tank ready. I'll kick the guts out of this, creature," he said, looking at Joey with malice distaste.

Sherene grabbed the video game from him, and threw it across the wall. Joey looked at Sherena agape, while Utopia was enraged. "HOW DARE- "

Sherene stopped him with a no nonsense hand. Utopia knew better than to argue back. Muttering under his breath that he would get her to pay him back for the video game, he left.

Sherene now turned her full gaze towards Joey. He swallowed nervously. He didn't like the look she was giving him.

Then, all at once, her hard demeanor vanished. Instead, it was replaced by a wistful look.

Sherene walked to his chair and bent down to untie him. She untied his feet and hands. Joey stood up, spreading his hands and feet out in order to stretch. 

"Aughhh, " he said, stretching. Sherene covered his mouth. "Are you trying to alert them?" she growled at Joey. He instantly shut up. 

"Just tell me one thing. Are you really an agent?"

"Is this a test?"

"Just answer me, " she snapped.

Joey sighed. He looked down, shamefacedly. "No."

"Oh my god, " Sherene cupped her face, looking very white. "You don't have time, " she scarcely whispered. "I need to get you out of here." 

Sherene went to a wall behind him. She wore her goggles, and drew on the wall. What she saw, Joey will never know, but the wall split into two, and slid to the side automatically. 

Joey stood transfixed. Behind the wall was a staircase that led into a tunnel. He gulped. It was too dark, and it gave him chills. 

Sherene tapped her foot impatiently. "Are you coming, or do you want to be fed to the sharks."

"You are helping me?" Joey asked, shocked.

She shook her head. Joey was just too slow. She ran up to him, and grabbed his hands. "Just run and follow me," she said.

Joey ran to the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Sherene to close the wall.

"SHERENE, WHAT THE HECK- " Eric barged into the room, just as the wall closed.

"MERYLN, hit the alarm system, NOW!" he shouted. Joey could hear him behind the wall. It was obvious that he was fuming mad. 

Joey was about to talk, as Sherene told him to shut up. 

"This tunnel has a couple of security alarms. We have less than a minute to run through this 13 kilometer tunnel," she wailed. 

"You needn't have risked your life for me, " Joey said, sadly.

"I wasn't doing this for YOU, now keep quiet and let me think, " Sherene snapped.

Joey heard a loud whirring sound. It didn't sound very welcoming.

"Noooo! This WASN'T supposed to be the first one!" she whispered. Giving Joey no warning, she jumped onto him pushing him down, so that she was lying on top of him. In a few seconds, the tunnel started twirling, making Joey and Sherene roll.

It was slow at first, and then proceeded to twirl faster and faster. A new person would have remained in the same spot,as he wouldn't be in the correct position, but because of the quick action Sherene took, they kept rolling away from the wall.

Joey found it very difficult to breathe, but Sherene was sort of plump, so he had a soft landing when he rolled on top of her. But when he was under, it felt like his soul was being ripped out. He oomphed and oofed for the next fifteen minutes, while Sherene was too busy thinking of what the next obstacle would be. 

Finally they came to stop. Joey almost rolled into the open space underneath him, but Sherene stopped him just in time. They got up, and Joey followed Sherene.

A thin light illuminated the area, and Joey almost tripped and fell into the open space beside him. He looked over the edge and saw something red deep down. At first he thought it was fire, but then a burning smell emerged and he realized it was oil. 

Sherene finally halted. The thin light was seen on the other side, and Joey could see a thread joining to the two platforms.

"This is the only way to reach the other side," Sherene said, softly.

"Can this withstand our weight," Joey asked, doubtfully.

"It's a specially designed thread. In case of emergencies, only the skilled can cross this obstacle. It's very strong. And you can only walk on this thread if you walk. Run, dance, slip, or fall, and the thread will break. I'll go first, okay?" she said.

Joey mutely nodded. He watched Sherene beautifully balance and walk on the thread. She didn't look like she was walking on a string at all. She reached the other side, and urged Joey not to look down. 

He did just that. Joey's eyes bulged as he saw the oil level rise to half the platform. Since there wasn't much light, all he could see was the reflection of the light, but it was definitely much closer than the last time.

"Hurry, Joey! You need to make it fast! But walk slowly, " Sherene urged.

Joey took a deep breath and closed his eyes. With determination he opened his eyes and placed one foot on the string. It was very slippery. His yoga master had asked him to fix his concentration on one thing if he wanted to do an aasna (yoga pose) without losing balance. The first thing his eyes came into contact with was Sherene's eyes. Looking at her without batting an eye, he started walking.

At three fourth of the way, Joey could HEAR the sizzling of oil. In a moment of panic he looked down and freaked out. Thinking he could make it, he started to run, but Sherene stopped him faster than he could blink his eye. 

"DON"T RUN, " she shouted.

Remembering all of a sudden that he could only walk, Joey resumed eye contact with Sherene and walked for the rest of the distance. The thing that puzzled him the most was that throughout the walk, all he could think of was how beautiful Sherene was. Her eyes were the most mesmerizing thing he had ever come across. Even after he reached the other side, he continued to stare at her, until he heard her cough.

"Let's go," she coughed. Sherene didn't know what happened back there, but she didn't want it to continue. It was scaring her. The way Joey looked at her. No one had ever looked at her that way. 

Joey walked two steps ahead of her until he heard a crack and jumped back.

"Oh my god. They can see us," she whispered, horrified. The order of the obstacles completely changed, and she knew there were video cameras everywhere. 

"So this obstacle is called quick sand platform. You have to run as fast as you can, or else the platform will break and you'll fall into the pit of darkness."

Joey gulped. What was the need for such a security system, he wondered.

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