dreamstuff
extended sequence in which I and about 20 other people were being held (for ransom, as it turned out) prisoner in an unused office suite, which included a small kitchen, common room, and bathrooms with showers. there were six or eight rooms, enough for us to spread out, but no furniture. for some reason we all had backpacks or duffle bags with some stuff, enough to have a change of clothes or two, some toiletries, snacks, a few blankets, that kind of thing.
dreamstuff
there was only one person keeping us prisoner, a woman, and she didn't seem to be armed, so I'm not sure how she was doing it, how she'd gotten us, whatever. I was one of the last to be added, along with my head-Loki (who was mostly passive in the dream, other than giving me emotional support and occasional cuddles and kisses).
as soon as I went into the offices I recognized it from *several* dreams I've had in the past, and knew that one of the rooms had a secret passage.
dreamstuff
it was one of two rooms in the back, and by tapping on the walls I was able to determine that it was the second-to-last, and I found the panel--there was a sheet of drywall over it, but it had just been taped in place and painted over. our kidnapper hadn't taken anything away from us, so somebody had a utility knife. I cut through the tape and slid the panel out, and there was the passage. I knew it would be complicated, but I didn't know where it would go exactly.
dreamstuff
I'd explored a couple of times but hadn't found a way out when we got a fax (we had a fax machine in the kitchen, but it was set to only receive incoming calls) of a letter saying "FINE WE'LL PAY YOU" and a picture of a check for $250,000. evidently this was the ransom needed to free @Ferrovore , who was one of the captives. after the captor-lady came and took Ferro away, there was some dispute among the remaining prisoners whether we should escape or wait.
dreamstuff
I still hadn't found the way out, and none of us were being harmed (and we were being fed), so it seemed like a viable option, while trying to escape was risky and might get us recaptured or injured/killed, so I said we'd vote. we scrounged up enough black and white "tokens" of various kinds for everybody to have one of each, then set up a bucket, and everybody voted by putting a black (stay) or white (go) token in.
dreamstuff
while this was going on, I found the way out, but I realized that if Loki and I escaped, or if anybody knew, the vote would be impossible; either we all had to stay, or all go, because she'd know we had a way out if only some of us left. I was still trying to figure this out as the vote went on, and I woke up.
that's all! *fanfare*
dreamstuff
so I told the other prisoners that Loki and I would explore the passage and find the way out. everybody else needed to make sure all their stuff was either packed or close at hand and ready to go, but also don't make our captor suspicious, so still be kind of spread out and relaxed while we were searching. I had them put the panel back in place after me. the captor-lady was gone most of the time, and evidently didn't have cameras or microphones or anything set up. *shrugs*