I was ready to take the final step, my weight already shifting to my other foot, when I heard it. Screaming from behind me, loud and horrific as the once open gateway slammed shut, separating me from everyone else. Turning only my head, I looked on in horror as the shadows in the corners of the room I could see through the iron bars began to shift, gathering and moving in the most unnatural of ways. The screams grew louder, desperate cries filling my ears as I turned my head away, tears running down my face. There was nothing I could do to help them anymore. I had failed them all.

 If only I had figured out the puzzle sooner, taken that last step a bit faster, maybe it wouldn't have ended like this. Maybe the gate wouldn't have shut if I had been quick enough, smart enough, to solve everything within the time limit given to us.

But I wasn't. I was too slow, to average to save everyone else. And now I would have to face the outside world alone. I could only hope that whatever awaited me out there would either be a safer world than what I left or would grant me a swifter end than the shadows ever did.

Placing my foot on the final tile, I closed my eyes, hearing stone grind against stone before me. Without looking, I began walking forward before opening my eyes, seeing a long tunnel before me with a soft light shining in the distance, leaving behind the monsters my people had created. Leaving everything behind.