Page 34 of Wicked Games

“We’re locked in now,” Brooke said. Her olive complexion had turned white.

A crisp robotic voice addressed us from a speaker on the front wall. “Welcome to Simon Says Survive,” it said. “All players must proceed to their squares now.”

Kiara snorted. “Simon Says Survive? What the fuck is that?”

“Ah, pretending you don’t know. Classic deflection technique so no one will suspect you,” Tate said. Evan nodded and snickered alongside him.

“What if we don’t do it?” I asked, frowning over at my square. “Like, what if we straight up refuse to play any of the games?”

The speaker crackled to life again a few seconds later. “Those who fail to participate in the games will be eliminated.”

Rhys whirled around. “He’s listening to us,” he said, voice edged with panic. “He heard what Carey just said.”

“Or maybe it’s an automated script playing,” Kiara said. “I was just wondering the exact same thing as Carey, and I bet the rest of us were too.”

“Ah. A script your employees wrote and programmed, right?” Evan asked, tilting his head. “Do you have a little button in your pocket that you can press to control things around here? Or are your employees working behind the scenes for you?”

“For fuck’s sake, I’m not the Game Master, and I don’t have anyone working for me in this shithole!” Kiara shouted. “How many fucking times do I have to tell you?”

The robotic voice piped up again. “Here are the instructions and rules for Simon Says Survive. They will be read out twice to ensure you can all grasp them,” it said. “The challenge is loosely based on the game Simon Says. For those who’ve never played it before, it’s a classic children’s game that involves listening, memory, and following instructions.”

“A children’s game?” Maverick muttered from the square to my left. “This is so fucked up.”

The monotonous voice continued blaring from the speakers. “There are twenty levels in the game. All must be passed to ensure your survival. In the first level, one of the smaller colored squares around your square will briefly light up. When you hear a beep, you must tap your foot on the square that lit up. In the second level, two squares will light up, one after the other. The first will be the same one from level one, and the second will be a new one. At the beep, you must tap your foot on both squares in the correct order. Each subsequent level will introduce a new colored square in the sequence, and you must recall the exact sequence from previous levels while also memorizing the newest addition. If you step on an incorrect square, you will be eliminated. If you make it to the final round without any mistakes, you will survive.”

“They weren’t kidding about this being a dumb kid’s game,” Rhys said. “I literally played this at an arcade on my seventh birthday. It’s easy as fuck.”

“Was there any risk of you dying in that arcade if you lost the game?” Brooke snapped.

“C’mon, guys, we aren’t going to die,” Evan said. “I’m telling you, Tate is a hundred percent right. Kiara set this shit up for more followers.”

“I thought you said it was Carey,” Jasmine shot back, folding her arms. “Now suddenly you’re totally certain it’s Kiara? Make up your mind, dumbass.”

“Oh, Ihavemade it up. Carey is out, Kiara is in,” Evan said. “This is all some stupid influencer bullshit to get views and likes. Pathetic, if you ask me.”

“Funny. I don’t rememberanyoneasking for your shitty opinion,” April said.

Evan opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off by the robotic voice running through the instructions for a second time.

“The game begins in one minute. I hope you’re all ready. Have fun, players!” the voice concluded. There was a faint whirring sound from above, and I looked up to see several of the metal gears on the ceiling spinning in slow circles.

“What the hell is all that stuff?” I asked, pointing upward.

“No idea,” Zach replied, lifting his gaze too. “The hanging things look like pipes, but I don’t know what they’re for.”

He was right. When I craned my neck and squinted hard, I could see a hollow running through the center of the thick metal cylinder above my head.

“Could it be for some sort of gas?” Brooke said, lifting a brow. “If we fail the game, maybe we get knocked out with that.”

“Or acid could drop on our faces,” April said with a shudder. “Anyone else want to hazard a guess?”

“Why don’t we just focus on playing the game and hope we never have to find out what the pipes are for?” Maverick said. “Speculating like this isn’t going to do shit except scare everyone.”

“True,” Brooke murmured, lowering her eyes to the floor.

Our squares suddenly lit up around the edges, and a robotic voice reverberated throughout the room. “Level one.”

The blue square to my right lit up. I waited for the beep, and then I tapped my foot on it. Everyone else did the same.

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