SILVER 'S POV
"I must survive… I must survive… I must survive…" Natasha kept whispering, her voice trembling like a prayer on the verge of breaking.
"That's enough," I snapped, disgust curling in my stomach.
She ignored me and continued chanting under her breath until a distorted voice suddenly crackled through the speaker above us.
"Look behind you. You will find the system."
All three of us spun around at once.
A computer terminal now stood in the middle of the room.
It hadn't been there before.
The dim fluorescent lights flickered violently, casting restless shadows across the metallic walls.
"The password is the very thing you came here to find," the voice continued coldly. "Unlock the system, obey the rules, and take it with you. But return it to this room before leaving… or the exit will never open again."
Static swallowed the final words.
Then the speaker vanished.
Not switched off.
Vanished.
For a few seconds, none of us moved.
The silence in the room felt unnatural, heavy enough to suffocate.
Finally, Natasha stepped toward the terminal. The screen glowed to life the moment her fingers brushed it. A password lock appeared.
"The password is something we came here to find," she muttered.
Simple.
Or so I thought.
I typed in Herb C.
ACCESS DENIED.
A sharp warning beep echoed through the room.
My chest tightened.
I tried again more carefully, but the same red message flashed across the screen.
This time, another line appeared beneath it.
ONE ATTEMPT REMAINING BEFORE PERMANENT LOCKDOWN.
Cold fear crawled down my spine.
"This should've worked," I murmured. "We came here for Herb C."
"Any herb could be Herb C," Zoah said calmly. "Move."
He pushed past me and typed something before I could see it properly. His fingers moved too quickly for me to catch the full name.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then
ACCESS GRANTED.
The screen unlocked.
A breath I didn't realize I'd been holding escaped my lungs.
New words appeared across the monitor.
"To leave this room alive, you must solve three riddles. Failure will result in immediate execution."
Natasha read the message aloud, but her voice had lost all confidence.
The first riddle appeared.
Why was six afraid of seven?
NOTE: ONLY TWO ATTEMPTS ARE ALLOWED.
A timer materialized in the corner of the screen.
00:59
The countdown had already begun.
"This is insane," Natasha whispered.
We fell silent, each trying desperately to think while the seconds bled away.
"Why would six be afraid of seven?" Natasha repeated over and over, pacing anxiously.
Then it hit me.
"You fear those above you," I said quickly. "Seven is greater than six."
Natasha's face brightened.
"That has to be it."
She typed:
Because seven is superior to six.
The answer flashed red instantly.
WRONG ANSWER.
Zoah let out a mocking scoff.
"Brilliant."
Twenty seconds remained.
Panic closed around my throat like a noose.
This was it.
We were going to die in a foreign country over a stupid riddle.
I thought of my family.
Mum would break completely. I had lied to her, told her this trip was for academic research. She never wanted me to come, but I insisted. I told her I was old enough to make my own decisions.
Now those decisions were about to kill me.
Dad would pretend to stay strong, but losing a daughter would destroy him. Even my siblings, annoying as they were, would mourn me.
And my friends…
God.
We were never going home.
"One… two… three…" Natasha suddenly counted aloud, frustration cracking her voice.
Then her eyes widened.
"Six… seven… eight… nine…"
She froze.
"Wait."
Her head snapped toward me.
"What's the homophone of eight?"
"Ate," I answered automatically. "Why?"
Her expression changed instantly.
"Seven ate nine."
Before I could react, she typed furiously.
Because seven ate nine.
00:01
The timer hit zero.
For one horrifying second, nothing happened.
Then the screen turned green.
CORRECT ANSWER.
A shaky breath escaped all of us at once.
We survived.
Natasha laughed weakly, half-hysterical. "Oh my God… we actually survived."
But before relief could settle, the next riddle appeared.
Why was ten scared?
Natasha groaned loudly. "Oh no. I hate numbers."
"This one's worse," I muttered.
The timer reset.
00:59
"Maybe ten saw seven eat nine and realized he was next," Natasha said quickly.
Without waiting, she typed the answer.
WRONG ANSWER.
The word flashed blood-red across the screen.
Only one attempt remained.
The room suddenly felt colder.
Zoah folded his arms, staring at the screen with narrowed eyes.
"If it's not about seven eating nine, then the answer must involve the numbers around ten."
"Nine, ten, eleven…" Natasha murmured nervously.
"Twelve doesn't matter," I said. "The pattern stops at eleven."
"Nine, ten, eleven," Natasha repeated slowly, trying to force meaning from the numbers as the timer continued counting down.
00:31
And somewhere beyond the walls…
Something scratched against the metal.
"The question is about ten," Zoah said, his eyes fixed on the glowing screen.
"And ten stands between nine and eleven," I added slowly.
Natasha suddenly froze.
"Wait… nine and eleven can also be written as nine-one-one."
My eyes widened instantly.
"That's the emergency number."
"You only call emergency services when there's danger," Natasha said, her voice rising with excitement.
"And seven eating nine definitely counts as danger," I added.
Without wasting another second, Natasha typed:
Ten was scared because he was between nine and eleven.
The screen flashed green.
CORRECT ANSWER.
A collective breath escaped us.
For a moment, relief flooded the room.
Then Natasha groaned dramatically, rubbing her temples.
"Please let the next one not involve numbers. Numbers are evil."
As though mocking her, the final riddle appeared on the screen.
Why is the letter F like death?
"Oh, come on!" Natasha shouted. "This is even worse!"
She began pacing again.
"E, F, G… E-G… F-G…" she muttered frantically. "None of this makes any sense."
"You can't approach alphabets the same way you approached numbers," Zoah said calmly.
I folded my arms. "Then what format are we supposed to use?"
"I'm out of ideas," Natasha admitted weakly.
The countdown timer appeared again.
00:59
Her face paled.
"We're going to die."
"No one is dying while I'm here," Zoah replied.
Natasha scoffed nervously.
"This isn't one of your combat missions."
"Neither is it a racing challenge," I added.
"Or some drug-refining experiment," Natasha continued.
"Or a medical emergency," I said.
"This is a riddle game," Natasha snapped. "Not one of your specialties."
Zoah ignored both of us entirely.
Instead, he asked quietly,
"What's the opposite of death?"
"Life," I answered immediately. "Why?"
"Eliminate the letter F from life."
For a second, silence swallowed the room.
Then Natasha stared at him in disbelief.
"You've got to be kidding me."
She looked at Zoah as though seeing him for the first time.
"You're actually a genius."
Excitedly, she reached for the keyboard, but I grabbed her wrist before she could type.
"Wait."
Both of them looked at me.
"This last riddle only allows one attempt," I said carefully. "If we get it wrong, we die."
Natasha swallowed hard.
"What remains after removing F from life?" she asked slowly.
I frowned.
"The letters L… I… E."
"Pronounce it, you dummy," she hissed impatiently.
"Lie."
Then it hit me.
Without the letter F, life becomes a lie.
A chill ran through me.
Natasha spun toward the terminal, fingers flying toward the keyboard, but the timer struck zero first.
00:00
The screen went black.
For one dreadful second, nothing happened.
Then the walls shifted.
Sharp metallic clicks echoed all around us.
My blood froze.
Arrows burst from hidden compartments in every direction.
"MOVE!" Zoah shouted.
Natasha barely dodged the first volley. Zoah rolled across the floor with terrifying speed.
But I was too late.
One arrow tore through the air straight toward my chest.
Too fast.
Too close.
Death rushed at me with merciless precision.
And strangely…
I smiled.
Then I closed my eyes.