Mark got up and started to stretch his limbs. "What are you doing?" Tom asked him. He reached out both of his arms and bent his knees, "Stretching, just in case we need to run"
Tom laughed hysterically, "Do you think all that's going to matter?"
"You're just making yourself look stupid"
Mark chose to ignore him as he continued his routine. Jen got up from resting and joined Mark as well.
"You too?" Tom asked her, surprised. "Mark's right in the way that we have to be prepared, we're still not out after all" Jen said as she tried to follow Mark's movements.
"Eh, what the hell" Jim said before joining them.
"Now I feel left out" Jug complained, he rushed in and joined the others.
Tom remained sitting however, "Fine, you guys can do whatever you want" He turned away from them, trying to focus himself on something else.
he went up to the walls and noticed just how smooth it was, "Hey Jug, how long did it take for you to make this?"
"I can't really remember, it took me ages. I started digging this tunnel as my last resort" Jug explained, he was still trying his best to copy Mark's routine.
"It should be a month after coming here that I started digging this whole thing"
Tom looked further ahead, "And it goes all the way to the surface?"
"Yup, I had to cover the exit up, make it hidden well enough that they wouldn't notice" Jug told him.
He was sweating from the exercise, "Okay, I think I'm done" He gave up and went up to Tom.
"It's been done for a while now, but there was a reason why I haven't told you guys about it yet"
"Why?" Jen asked, "This seems like it's already been finished for a while"
Jug looked at her, "Well, you'll see when we get there" He sat down to catch his breath.
"Maybe I shouldn't have joined you guys actually"
Mark smirked, "I'm surprised you even dug this with that much stamina" He did his last set of stretches and stopped.
"Alright, we should be good to move now" Jim told them, "I don't feel any different than before though, maybe Tom was right"
"Told you so" Tom said with an obnoxious tone. Mark patted Jim's back, "Don't worry, it'll be useful for later" They began to go towards the exit again.
"Wait" Jug said, he was still tired from the exercise. "Mark, can you help carry me?"
Mark sighed, he got down and carried Jug in his back.
"I would've stood in your hands like usual, but I barely have the energy to stand now"
Jim laughed, "Looks like you're carrying him one last before we get the hell out of here" The others laughed along with him, they knew how much Mark hated the role of carrying Jug around.
Jen patted him in the shoulder, "Just deal with it, it'll be over after this anyways" She tried to comfort him.
It made Mark feel better that someone tried, but he still hated the others for laughing at him.
They kept going until they ended up seeing a huge door blocking the exit. "How the hell did you install this?"
"The size of this thing is about a hundred of you" Jim joked, but Jug wasn't laughing.
Jug tapped Mark, signaling for him to let him down. He reached his feet down and got up to the door.
"This is it, the exit" He stood in front of the door, "I've actually been keeping a secret from you guys"
"I actually wasn't digging alone. In fact, I dug this path with the help of many others. We mined upwards, excavating the dirt and scattering it around elsewhere where no one looked"
Jug looked at each of them, "You guys, you weren't the first people to revolt against the three wardens"