Stop for a rest

Despite her brave words, Cassia looks exhausted, her feet stumble over the uneven footing and twice she nearly falls supported only by your strong grip around her thin waist. You pass several passageways that lead into the darkness in both directions and several more chambers whose doors have long ago rotted away when you reach a different door. This one appears to be made of solid metal, and it still swings stiffly on its hinges when you push against it.

"We should stop and rest" you tell Cassia as you peer into the chamber. "We're both exhausted, and we could get hurt if we keep pushing ourselves." Cassia nods her head mutely in agreement but pulls herself into a straighter posture as you push the door open wide enough for you to slip inside. The hinges squeal loudly in protest as the door opens into the round room off the main passageway. The space beyond is relatively free of debris and there are no signs of any of the beasts that you have been dreading. In fact, except for the thick layer of dust that covers everything in the room this chamber is ideal.

"Come inside" you urge Cassia as she hesitates at the threshold "I want to get this door closed as soon as possible." Three open doorways lead away from the first chamber, and you want to check those out before you relax, but first you have to secure the metal door behind you. You have to use all your weight as you shoulder the door shut, and the hinges shriek even louder than before but you get the heavy metal door back into its frame. It takes more time and effort, but you are able to work the latch loose enough to bar the door.

"I hope we don't have to leave here in a hurry." You grunt as you lean heavily against the solid door, comforted by the feel of thick metal between you and the horrors of the labyrinth. Cassia is leaning against the wall next to you with her pack on the floor between her legs.

"Stay there." You tell her and you drop your pack on the ground next to hers. "Let me make sure we didn't wake anything nasty up."

A quick look through the open doorways show more of these oval shaped rooms. You can see your footprints clearly marked in the dust on the stone floor and notice happily that no other tracks larger than a rat's mark the even coat of dust.

"It looks safe enough, I guess" You tell Cassia as you walk back into the room and see that she has laid one of the blankets out in the middle of the room and is setting out some food to eat like a picnic. As you drop heavily onto the blanket beside her she looks at you questioningly.

"Maybe we should we explore this apartment thoroughly before we relax?"

It would be the safest thing to do, but each of the other rooms had doorways leading from them and it could take a lot of time and energy to make sure the whole place was truly secure.