Countdown

when the small selection of stores were thrilled with any potential customer. But I knew where I was going.

The food court. My friend Colin hung out there a lot. If he wasn't there, then he was at his other main haunt, some basement in the city where he disappeared sometimes for days to play networked games with other tech- heads.

I actually gave a small whimper of relief when I saw him sitting there, tapping away on his laptop, an extra- large soda sitting in front of him on the table. Just looking at it made me realize how thirsty I was. Other than Colin there were about ten people in the large food court, scattered at different tables. There was a clock hanging from the ceiling in the center of the court. The glass on it had broken years ago but had never been fixed. It still worked, though. It told me that it was just after five o'clock.

I walked right up to Colin and stood in front of him. He didn't immediately look up from his screen.

'Colin,' I said.

He finally looked up. 'Kira, hey. I've been looking for you. I wanted to tell you about this awesome job offer I got. You totally disappeared yesterday.'

Yesterday? God, how long had I been unconscious before I woke up in that room?

'Colin, I need your help. Badly.'

His eyebrows raised. 'You look serious.'

'You have no idea.'

'Are you in some sort of trouble?'

'You could say that.'

I felt Rogan's hand on my arm. 'Kira, this isn't a good idea.'

Colin's gaze shifted to him and his eyes widened. 'New friend?'

I looked at Rogan, and then back at Colin. Rogan outweighed him by about eighty pounds of muscle.

'This is Rogan,' I said. 'We both need your help.'

'Rogan …' Colin's eyes widened even further. 'Kira, do you have any idea who this guy is?'

'Yes, but you have to listen to me…' I trailed off. I felt something then. Something very strange. A feeling like we were being watched.

I darted a glance over my shoulder and was positive I saw a silver camera slide behind the corner.

'We can't involve him in this,' Rogan whispered loud enough for only me to hear. 'Unless you want to get your friend killed.'

Colin's knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of the table. 'Look, I don't know what's going on, Kira, but if you need my help, you know I'd do anything for you. But him …' His voice caught a little with fear. 'I don't want him anywhere near me.'

Colin had a crush on me. Fortunately he'd never acted on it, but it was always there, like an unignorable presence in the room with us. And I'll admit it, I took it as a compliment. It was nice to feel wanted. I was banking on that emotion to make him want to help us. To help me. But the last thing I wanted to do was to put him in danger.

And that was exactly what I was doing by even talking to him.

'Where do you want to go?' He closed up his laptop and stood up from the table.

'You know what?' I swallowed and shook my head. 'Never mind.'

He moved a step toward me. 'No, Kira, you look way stressed. If I can do anything I will. Just tell me what's wrong.'

I took a step back and felt Rogan behind me. 'This was a mistake.'

He eyed Rogan with a mix of fear and hate. 'Is it him? Is he forcing you to do something? I can help you. You just have to come with me.'

Rogan snorted. 'You think you can save her from me?'

'If I have to.'

'Brave kid.'

'I'm not a kid,' he snapped, and then looked at me again. 'Is he hurting you?'

I shook my head. 'No … Rogan and me … we're together.'

'Together?'

I nodded. 'I just wanted you to know so you … so you stop bothering me.'

He put a hand to his chest. 'I'm bothering you?'

'Just leave me alone, Colin.'

He blinked. 'He's a fucking murderer, Kira. Don't you know that?'

I gave him a blank look and turned my back to him. 'Maybe I don't care.'

'Kira-'

'Don't follow us, kid,' Rogan said. 'Or you'll regret it. Trust me on that.'

I didn't look back. I left the food court with Rogan at my side. I never should have gone there in the first place. Now Colin must hate me. I didn't want to hurt him. He had nothing to do with the mess I'd gotten myself into.

Tears slid down my cheeks, and I pushed them away before Rogan could see that I was crying.

Two men in security uniforms approached us.

'We're going to have to ask you to leave the premises,' one said firmly. He had a hand on the gun at his side. 'Now.'

An almost-smile twitched on Rogan's lips. 'My, how times have changed. How do you know I wasn't about to do some shopping with my gold card?'

One of the guards eyed Rogan's dirty clothes and the bloodstain on his shoulder and then glanced at me. 'Is this vagrant bothering you, miss?'

They didn't seem to recognize Rogan like Colin had.

Tell them! my mind screamed. Tell them everything. They can help you.

I saw a flash of silver out of the corner of my eye. The camera.

'The level's already begun, hasn't it?' I asked Rogan quietly.

'I think so.'

I knew then, without a shadow of a doubt, that if I told the security guards what was going on, I would be severely and painfully punished. And the guards themselves would probably not walk out of there alive.

I knew it.

I was too scared to risk it. The people running The Countdown seemed to know absolutely everything.

'He's with me, actually,' I said instead. The words felt thick and unnatural leaving my mouth.

'Then you'll both have to go.' The other guard grabbed my arm.

I wrenched away from him. 'Fine. We'll go.'

I didn't say anything else as we cleared the food court and headed down a mostly abandoned hallway toward the exit. I felt like crying again, but I forced the tears back. Crying wouldn't solve a damn thing.

'What are they doing to us?' I asked after a moment, mostly to myself. 'How would anyone find this entertaining?'

'Some people are sick,' Rogan said.

'Why did they even put us here in the mall? Just to mess with our minds?'

I felt Rogan's arm tighten around my waist then, and it was a strange feeling. Like he was trying to comfort me. Weird. As if he realized what he'd just done he pulled away from me.

'Do you remember what Jonathan told us this level is all about?' he asked.

I tried to think back through the thick cloud of memories. 'The accountant.'

He nodded. 'Take a look.'

I looked in the direction he pointed to see the man who had been on the holoscreen. I think his name was Bernard Jones-I recognized his balding head and bland features. He emerged from an electronics shop with a bag of purchases, then turned left and started walking toward the same exit we were headed for.

I heard the whir as a camera moved behind us. It was moving behind things to stay hidden. No one even gave it a second glance.

Rogan's attention was fixed on the man. 'We've got to follow him.'