THE ESCAPE GAME
SEASON FIVE
ROUND TWO ELIMINATION
“Team Helsing saved Sydney, Australia!” says Fitzy, offering a fistbump to Sierra. She glares at him and he changes direction and fist-bumps Emma instead. “I’d definitely be in mourning if my home-town had been wiped off the map.”
“We should be given a medal of honor,” Sierra says wryly.
“I don’t know about a medal, but maybe you’ll be rewarded with one more week onThe Escape Gameand a chance at that one million dollars. Shall we see which team had the best time in our war of the worlds?”
The clocks on the board shuffle.
Tick, tick, tick—
“Team Dread!” bellows Fitzy.
Team Dread erupts into cheers. The camera pans over to Team Mind Hack, who don’t try to hide their annoyance, especially after using their one and only snag to add thirty-seven seconds to Dread’s final time.
After some back-and-forth with Team Dread and Fitzy, the board blinks, the clocks tick, the team names flash—
“Team Mind Hack!” Fitzy shouts, and Nadia folds over in relief. Sierra’s black lips press tight.
Fitzy gestures back to the board. “That leaves two teams. Helsing. Crown Jewels. One of you will be leaving us tonight.”
The camera zooms in on Sierra and Emma. Emma’s hands are clasped in prayer, but Sierra is stoic, her determined gaze locked on the scoreboard.
Ticking. Blinking. Shuffling.
The dramatic music reaches that thunderous crescendo, and the names on the board finally still, the results flashing.
Emma covers her face, crestfallen, while Sierra tears her attention away from the board. She looks at the Game Master standing on the other side of the stage. Louis Augustus Russell smiles approvingly and claps his hands in congratulations.
Sierra does not smile back.
31
Carter
Carter didn’t really believe they’d made it until the four of themwere back in their villa, dazed from the emotional roller coaster.
They were still in the game, at least for another week.
And they were meeting Louis Augustus Russell.
Tonight.
“I have to go. Team stuff,” she said, faking a smile as she blew a kiss at the phone screen. Her dad jokingly shoved her mom out of the way to “catch” it.
“We love you!” her mom said, pushing her way back into the frame. “Try to get some rest. They’re working you too—”
“Okay, I will. I love you too. Bye!” She hung up, guilt gnawing at her. It was getting harder to talk to them. Harder to find safe subjects. The rooms? The elimination rounds? Fine. Literally everything else? No way.
She walked out to the living room and crammed a handful of Beck’s Doritos into her mouth. She was stress-eating, she knew, but who could blame her? She gazed around at the rest of her team.
Her . . . friends?
It was what she had hoped for. That she would find her people— puzzle lovers and passionate nerds. People who understood her. People she could be herself around. Not Kick It Carter but the real her.
