She could relate.
“Game Master, don’t keep us in suspense! We’re dying to know what you have up your sleeve.” Fitzy turned to Louis, who had been patiently waiting his turn to take center stage.
Louis rubbed his hands together. “How’s your geography?”
Carter winced.Terrible.
Luckily, Beck spoke up. “For the US, fantastic! For everywhere else . . .” He waved his hand, so-so.
“Mine’s not bad,” Adi said.
“Let’s hope it’s enough,” said Louis, “because I have devastating news.” His expression grew serious. “Aliens are invading the planet.”
Beck whispered, “I love aliens.”
“Shocker,” said Sierra.
Louis continued. “A globally united resistance put together a team and found the extraterrestrials’ hidden base, wiping out the alien soldiers stationed there. They’re now sending in you, the intelligence team, to stop—and even reverse—the attacks. The longer you take, the more cities will be wiped off the face of the planet, and the more human lives will be lost.”
“So, the fate of the entire planet rests on your shoulders,” Fitzy said. “No pressure.”
“None at all,” Carter said with a nervous giggle.
“Try not to get abducted.” Fitzy winked at her, sending Carter’s stomach into an inexplicable free fall. “Game Master, what clue can you offer to help our operatives?”
“Your clue today is: The enemy of your enemy is your friend.”
Carter tried to commit the clue to memory as they were handed their blindfolds.
And then—the buzzer. Thatobnoxiousbuzzer.
“Are you messing with me?” Sierra demanded.
“Afraid not,” Fitzy said. “Team Dread has once again chosen to target you with a snag. Seems a bit like a grudge, eh? Because they were the fastest team to get through the first lot of doors in the snag round, they won the ability to give a rival team a blackout period. You’ll enjoy full darkness sometime during this round forone whole minute.”
The team groaned.
Fitzy winced sympathetically. “Good luck?”
As they were led blindfolded toward the escape room, the naysayers’ comments that had been posted on the Domain that morning echoed in Carter’s head.
What a hack. She should’ve stuck with making videos.
Solve Specialist? More likeSuckSpecialist.
Guess Carter can’t kick it after all.
At first, the comments had made her want to crawl beneath her bedspread. But between Fitzy’s encouraging grin and the presence of her teammates, she felt resolve harden inside her chest. Her desire to do well crystallized into something else entirely.
A refusal to fail.
She was Kick It Carter. She would show them what she could do.
The heavy door slammed shut, followed by the auto-lock and Fitzy’s voice in her earpiece.
“Three . . . two . . . one . . .Escape!”
THE
