The Price of Life - A Novella

Chapter Two :: Level Zero

"Hello! Someone! Is anybody there?" A male voice echoes around the room.

Simone wakes on cold asphalt, drowning in sweat. The room is in thick darkness with few streams of lights, one is especially blinding. 

"Hello," a female voice answers.

"Who's there? I can't see you!"

Simone pulls herself to her feet, placing a hand on something too hot. She pulls away with a yelp. Maneuvering herself around the light, she sees the source is a car. She can make out the shape of several other cars apart from the three sets of headlights. Beside her is a pillar divided into sections, one rotated slightly more than the other, creating a stair-like edge. 

Figures peek into view from the murk. 9 of them, 5 men and 4 women, all faces Simone remembers from the orientation. All of them, Simone included, are in white and wet with sweat. She notices their numbers printed on their shirts and looks down to confirm her number is there too.  

"What's going on," says 14. A middle-aged woman with brown hair.

"Ain't it obvious," answers 55. An older man with dark skin. "The council fucked us." 

"What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck," says 38, a man in his twenties with tan skin and facial hair, panics.

A screen turns on. Its bright white light illuminating just a foot more in each direction. 

A familiar feminine voice blares over a loudspeaker. "Level Zero, Escape Room. Solve the puzzle in the correct sequence to find the exit before the room reaches boiling temperature. Each incorrect attempt will turn up the heat by ten degrees. You have thirty minutes." A timer appears on the screen.

"Boiling?" Simone stares at the timer, then at the others. 

"What fuckin' puzzle?" 55 throws his arms up, looking around for something obvious. 

"I just wanna go home." 71, a young pale boy cries. He wipes the thick sweat from his forehead, hugging himself.   

"Obviously, that's what we have to figure out." 97, a woman in her early thirties, crosses her arms as she takes in the room. She starts inspecting the inside of the cars, throwing several random pieces of trash to the ground.

"It's getting really hot." 14 complains, pulling at her moist shirt. 

"It's like you didn't hear anything she said." 97 rolls her eyes, checking another car. 

"Why you all zen about this shit? You workin' wit em'?" 

"If we don't figure this out, then I boil with you; so, no dumbass, I didn't lock you and myself in a human size easy bake. So how about you stop blaming and start looking for a damn puzzle."

"She's right," Simone says, allowing herself to exhale. The taste of her salty sweat on her lips. "It's not like we have a choice and we've already lost almost ten minutes."

"Oh my god." 3 crumbles to the floor. "I can't do this. Why did I come here? So fucking stupid. Why did I think I could get out?" He pulls his legs to his chest in an attempt to muffle his sobs. 

"Seriously, shut the fuck up," 97 yells. 

"There are twenty minutes remaining," the feminine voice reminds. 

"We are running out of time and your crying and weird self-loathing isn't going to find the door! Either help me find it or shut the hell up!"

"We can't see anything, and it's getting hotter by the second." 71 cries. "What are we even supposed to do?"