by Jack Heath
‘I’m in charge,’ you say, trying to make your voice sound deeper. ‘And I’m telling you we want the code. Not later. Right now.’
Miss Scarlet looks taken aback. Behind her, Mr Signet is trying not to laugh. You can feel yourself getting tangled deeper and deeper in this mess.
‘OK,’ Jess says. ‘I can make that happen. But first I need to know the hostages are OK.’
‘They’re fine,’ you say.
‘I need proof. Send one out the front door and they can verify that everything is OK inside.’
Miss Scarlet shakes her head.
‘We don’t have time for that,’ you say. ‘Just give us the code and we’ll be out of here. No-one will get hurt.’
You look at Miss Scarlet as you say this. It’s like you’re giving her an order. As though you really are in charge.
‘I have one of the bank’s employees with me,’ Jess says. ‘It’s her day off. She says the vault code is written on a sticky note on the table closest to the vault door.’
You look. There it is. You point it out to Miss Scarlet. She grabs it and runs over to the vault door.
‘Now you have what you want,’ Jess continues. ‘So you can let the hostages go.’
The vault door is now wide open. Mr Signet and Mr Sharp run inside. ‘Sure,’ you say.
Miss Scarlet shakes her head again.
‘I mean, no,’ you say. ‘Not yet. But soon.’
The two men come out of the vault dragging a metal box, about the size of a desk.
‘Our getaway car is coming,’ Miss Scarlet whispers. ‘A black van. The police need to let it through.’
‘I need you to let a black van through the police cordon,’ you say. ‘We’ll jump in and leave. Then you can come in and get the hostages.’
‘Except one,’ Miss Scarlet says, and points at you. With a sinking feeling, you realise that the robbers are taking you with them.
‘Don’t shoot the van,’ you tell Jess. ‘There’ll be a hostage inside.’
Miss Scarlet mimes hanging up. You put the phone back on the hook.
‘Good job, “boss”,’ she says. ‘Let’s go.’
You follow Miss Scarlet into the customer area of the bank. The two men carry the box out after you.
Do you grab a bundle of cash off the trolley on your way out, or do you leave it? Make your choice, and then Click Here . . .
Unless you run back and lock yourself in the vault so the robbers can’t get you, then Click Here.
You run over to the steel box. The keypad doesn’t seem to have a cancel button. The screen has a progress bar, which says: 11%.
12% . . . 13% . . . 14%.
You lift the lid. It’s not locked. Inside, you can’t see the nanobots, but you can see what they’re making. You were expecting wires, a countdown timer, and maybe a nice big ‘off’ switch. Instead, there is just a pile of grey slush, getting bigger and bigger. You can’t defuse this. It has no fuses.
Too late to run. You look around the room, desperate. No sign of the ninja. Maybe if you dump water on the slush the nanobots won’t be able to ignite it. But there are no buckets, no taps, no water bottles.
You look at the vault. Thick concrete walls. A solid steel door. Maybe you don’t need to stop the box from exploding. Maybe you just need to put it back where it came from.
You drag the box back towards the vault. It’s heavy, and seems to get heavier as the nanobots build more and more explosive slush—although that seems impossible, since they must be getting the materials from somewhere.
You haul the box into the vault and run out. Your arms burning, you push the mighty steel door closed. The locks engage automatically.
Now you run. Out of the staff room and through the customer area. There’s no sign of the other hostages. Someone has unlocked the shutters over the front doors. Maybe the ninja opened them on his way in, or perhaps Miss Scarlet did it on her way out.
You can almost feel the pile of explosive slush growing in the vault behind you, getting closer and closer to detonation.
The street is chaotic. Police are running around everywhere. Journalists and camera operators are fighting to get through a police cordon set up around the bank. The other hostages are wrapped in blankets, huddled next to ambulances. Miss Scarlet has been caught. She’s on the ground, yelling furiously as the ninja binds her wrists together with glue.
‘Run!’ you scream. ‘There’s a—’
BOOM.
A shockwave rolls out from the bank. You stagger and almost collapse. The windows blow out, showering the street with glass. Concrete crackles like fireworks. And then the building is falling, caving in on itself like a half-baked cake. A fog of dust chokes the street. Soon you can’t see anything.
Eventually silence falls. Coughing, you pat yourself down. You’re not hurt. People are shouting, but no-one is screaming. You can’t see anything, but it sounds like everyone is scared rather than injured. The vault contained the explosion.
‘Kye!’ you yell.
‘I’m here,’ calls a voice in the distance.
Kye is covered in so much dust that he looks like a black-and-white photo. You run over and hug him.
‘What happened to you?’ he asks.
‘Long story,’ you say.
00:00
You survived! There are thirteen other ways to escape the danger—try to find them all!
‘I’m just a hostage,’ you say. ‘I can’t make them talk to you.’
Her tone becomes less soothing, for some reason. ‘OK. But I assume they can hear every word I’m saying, is that right?’
You look at Miss Scarlet for permission to admit that, but Jess keeps talking. ‘You and the other hostages just sit tight. Don’t try to intervene. We’ll get this resolved very soon.’
The robbers don’t seem very keen on negotiating. You wonder how Jess thinks the situation will be ‘resolved’.
‘The code,’ Miss Scarlet says.
‘They want the code for the vault,’ you say.
‘The bank’s staff called us from the panic room,’ Jess says. ‘They say it’s written on a sticky note on the table near the vault.’
You look over. There it is. How did you miss that?
Miss Scarlet has already spotted it. ‘Great,’ she says. ‘That’s all we need. Hang up.’
You’re reluctant. Jess is the only thread connecting you to the safe world outside.
‘Now,’ Miss Scarlet says.
Jess says one last thing. Her voice is muffled, quiet. She’s talking to someone else at the other end of the line.
‘Send in the ninja,’ she says.
Wondering what that means, you hang up.
Mr Signet and Mr Sharp have opened the vault door. They’re dragging a metal box out.
‘Be careful with that,’ Miss Scarlet tells them. ‘We need it in perfect working order.’
There’s a thump.
‘What did I just say?’ she snaps.
‘That wasn’t us,’ Mr Signet says.
They all look at you. You raise your hands. ‘I didn’t do anything.’
As the three robbers scan the room for the source of the mysterious thump, you notice a drip of water on the floor. You smudge it with your shoe, and look up.
A man is stuck to the ceiling.
At least, you think it’s a man. His baggy clothes cover everything except his eyes. The shiny fabric should make him stand out, but instead it makes him practically invisible—just a shimmer in the air. He looks right at you.
You turn back to the robbers. They haven’t noticed him yet, but it can’t be long before they look up too. You need to distract them.
If you ask what’s in the box, Click Here.
If you ask to go back to where the other hostages are, Click Here.
You follow the robbers out into the waiting area. The hostages are still huddled up against the wall. Kye watches you walk past with frightened eyes.
‘It’s OK,’ you tell him. ‘The pol
ice are coming in soon.’
‘No talking,’ Miss Scarlet snaps.
Mr Sharp and Mr Signet drag the box into the airlock-style foyer and wait by the shuttered front door.
The city outside sounds unnaturally quiet. The police must have evacuated the area.
‘Where’s Omar?’ Mr Sharp asks. ‘How long does it take to sabotage an air conditioner?’
You’d completely forgotten the fourth robber—the man with the silver tooth and the overalls. Where has he been all this time?
‘Forget him,’ Miss Scarlet says. ‘If he’s not here when the van arrives, we’re leaving him behind.’
‘He can identify us.’
‘That won’t matter for long.’
Tyres screech outside.
‘That’s our ride,’ Miss Scarlet says. She unlocks the door.
Click Here.
The getaway van is the same one that sped past you less than thirty minutes ago, although it feels like a lifetime has passed since then. The side door is open. The driver is hidden in the shadows inside.
Plenty of cops are around, but they all keep their distance. It’s as though you have a contagious disease. They stand behind cop cars and peer out from alleyways. Silhouettes, which might be police snipers, are visible atop nearby buildings. Even Mr Sharp and Mr Signet look nervous as they haul the box into the van.
Not Miss Scarlet, though. She scans her surroundings casually and says, ‘All right. Everybody in.’
You clamber into the van. The inside smells like glass cleaner. The driver is a pot-bellied man with a huge moustache and bristly sideburns.
The robbers sit on the box in the back of the van. Miss Scarlet makes you sit up the front next to the driver, where she can watch you but you can’t easily see her. You buckle up your seatbelt.
Miss Scarlet closes the door. ‘Get us out of here,’ she tells the driver.
The van lurches through a gap in the police cordon and zooms towards the highway.
‘Where are you going to drop me off?’ you ask.
There’s silence. The van goes up a ramp and trundles onto a bridge across the river.
Right now, they need you alive. The cops are still close by, and only your presence is stopping them from attacking the van. Once the robbers have given them the slip, they won’t need you anymore. But does that mean they’ll let you go?
This could be your last chance to escape. Right now the van is driving pretty slowly. A crash would probably not be fatal.
If you grab the steering wheel and try to crash the van into a streetlight, Click Here.
If you ask them to pull over so you can throw up, Click Here.
When the robbers aren’t looking, you dash back towards the vault. You slip through the doorway and grab the steel door. It weighs a tonne, but the hinges are well oiled. You haul it closed. It hits the frame with a boom and locks automatically.
You rub your hands together nervously. The vault seems airtight. You’re not sure how much oxygen is in there. Hopefully enough to last until the cops come in to let you out.
A quiet sound reaches your ears. Something tapping, scratching, tapping. You look around the vault. Nothing is moving. The noise must be coming from outside.
The door clanks. Someone has unlocked it from the other side.
You back away as the door swings open, revealing the three robbers. Miss Scarlet looks amused. The other two just look annoyed.
‘You gave us the code, remember?’ Mr Signet says.
‘Well, a stupid hostage is a safe hostage.’ Miss Scarlet gestures with the laser pistol. ‘Come on, kid.’
You meekly follow them out of the vault.
Click Here.
You slowly and carefully unbuckle your seatbelt. The robbers don’t notice you moving, but Miss Scarlet hears the click.
‘What was that?’ She looks around.
You don’t give her time to figure it out. You lunge forward and grab the steering wheel.
The driver swears. He snatches the wheel back and shoves you away. You flop sideways, winded.
The van is about to hit the streetlight, but the driver swerves just in time. Horns blast from other cars as the van careens across the traffic.
‘Watch out!’ Miss Scarlet yells.
The van has turned too far. It’s hurtling towards the concrete barrier which is there to stop cars from falling off the bridge and into the river below.
You brace yourself against the dashboard.
The van smashes into the barrier. Everyone inside lurches sideways. The concrete cracks but doesn’t collapse.
‘You little—’ Miss Scarlet begins.
Before she can finish her sentence, another car slams into the van from behind. Everyone is jolted again. This time the concrete shatters, and suddenly the van is falling off the bridge. It’s as though gravity has turned upside down. The world spins around you as the van plummets faster and faster.
The last thing you see is the dark river rushing towards you.
THE END.
To try again, Click Here.
‘What’s in there?’ you ask, as Mr Signet and Mr Sharp drag the box through the staff room.
‘The end of the world,’ Mr Signet says.
Miss Scarlet silences him with a sharp look. ‘The getaway van should be here in a couple of minutes. Get that out of here.’
You risk another glance up—but the man in the shiny clothes is gone. He’s disappeared.
Ding! It sounds like a coin striking the wall. Everyone looks towards the sound. But nothing is there.
‘What was that?’ Mr Signet says.
Miss Scarlet looks at him, and then says, ‘Where’s Alex?’
You look around. Mr Sharp has vanished. You didn’t hear him leave, and you only took your eyes off him for a second.
Miss Scarlet turns to the open door, leading to the customer area of the bank. ‘Alex?’ she yells.
Silence.
‘Where could he . . .’ She stops talking when she realises Mr Signet has vanished too. Now it’s just you and her in the staff room.
Finally realising that she’s under attack, she grabs you by the collar.
‘Show yourself,’ she says, ‘or the kid gets it. You have five seconds.’
Ding! You both turn to face the noise. Again, there’s nothing. But when you look back at Miss Scarlet, the gun has vanished from her hand.
Her face pales. Defenceless, she raises her hands.
‘I surrender,’ she says. ‘There’s no need to—’
This time you do see him—the man in the shiny suit, sprinting impossibly fast on perfectly silent shoes. He whips through the room, slamming Miss Scarlet off her feet. They both disappear.
You’re alone.
‘Hello?’ you say.
There’s no reply. The ninja has done his work.
00:00
You survived! There are thirteen other ways to escape the danger—try to find them all!
‘Pull over,’ you say. ‘I’m going to be sick.’
Mr Signet shrinks away, but Miss Scarlet completely ignores you.
‘I’m . . .’ You bend over and start retching. You’ve never done such a great performance. For a second it feels like you might actually be sick.
‘Don’t stop,’ Miss Scarlet tells the driver.
‘Do it out the window,’ Mr Sharp says. You roll down the window next to you.
You stick your head out. The wind buffets your face. There are plenty of other cars around, but there’s no way to ask the drivers for help. Not without getting the attention of the robbers.
If you took the bundle of cash from the trolley, Click Here.
If you didn’t, Click Here.
You roll out of the way as the four-wheel drive draws nearer. The brakes shriek and the tyres squeal. A smell of scorched rubber fills the air.
It’s not enough. The half-melted tyre rushes towards you—
THE END.
Click Here to try again!
You di
g the bundle of cash out of your pocket. There must be five thousand dollars here, at least. Before the robbers can stop you, you rip off the rubber band and chuck the money out the open window.
The notes get picked up by the wind and flutter all over the bridge. Some drift over the edge into the water. A few stick to car windscreens. Others fall to the road.
For a second nothing happens.
Then the whole world goes crazy.
Cars screech to a stop all over the bridge. Drivers and passengers leap out. Other cars swerve to avoid them. Suddenly the bridge is a mess of haphazardly parked cars and scurrying pedestrians. You’ve created an instant traffic jam. There’s nowhere for the van to go. The driver slams on the brakes.
You wrench the door open. Mr Signet tries to grab you, but he’s too slow. In a second you’re out the door, pushing past greedy people as you sprint across the bridge.
Miss Scarlet takes aim with her laser pistol. She can’t let you get away—you’re the only one who can identify all the robbers, including the van driver. The road is covered with people. If Miss Scarlet shoots, someone will get hurt. You have to get off this bridge right now . . .
‘Freeze!’ Miss Scarlet roars.
You dash over to the concrete barrier at the edge of the bridge, and leap over it.
As soon as you look down, you realise you’ve made a terrible mistake. You’re hurtling towards the water, twenty or thirty metres up. Can you really survive the impact?
Too late now. You’re already falling, faster and faster, the dark water is rushing towards you.
Wham! It’s like hitting a hardwood floor. The impact shocks every part of your body and knocks the wind right out of you.
There’s no time to recover. Desperately you paddle upwards, fighting the current. Your head breaks the surface and you gasp. Breathing is painful—you think your ribs might be broken. You probably shouldn’t have taken that money—but it saved your life.
The river carries you away from the bridge. You’re well and truly out of range.
Maybe the robbers got away. Maybe they didn’t.
