Perhaps it was a bad assumption on my part, but I had just assumed that when entering a dark and suspicious place you would already have your shield strapped on.
The exit is West, as Evret, who was leading, was furthest East.
And yes, it is a move action to ready a shield, and a move action to draw a weapon, and you can still take a 5 ft step. As far as I am concerned you were pretty much ready to fight in the first round. You can assume that at this point your shield and weapon are both on if it was your intention to draw them in the first place.