The maze had become a living nightmare of steel and shadow. No more cheerful announcements from Chris. No mocking laughter echoing through the speakers. Just the endless grind of metal on metal, the distant rumble of shifting walls, and the ragged breathing of the contestants still trapped inside.
Duncan, Sadie, and Katie had stuck together since the beginning of the challenge. At first it was just instinct—Duncan leading with his usual cocky swagger, the two best friends clinging to each other like lifelines. Now the cockiness was gone. Duncan's green mohawk was plastered with sweat and dust, his eyes narrowed in constant suspicion. Sadie and Katie walked shoulder-to-shoulder, hands clasped so tightly their knuckles were white.
They hadn't heard a single word from Chris in what felt like hours.
"Where the hell is he?" Duncan muttered, kicking a loose chunk of concrete out of the way. "Usually by now he'd be laughing his ass off at us tripping over our own feet."
Katie swallowed hard. "Maybe… maybe the cameras broke? Or he got bored?"
"Bored?" Duncan snorted. "Chris McLean? The guy who once made us eat cockroaches for fun? Nah. Something's seriously wrong."
Sadie squeezed Katie's hand tighter. "I just want to get out. I don't care about the money anymore. I just… I want to go home."
They turned a corner into a narrow corridor lined with rusted grates on the floor. Faint red emergency lights flickered overhead, casting long, bloody shadows. The air smelled like oil and old metal—and something sharper underneath. Something like fear.
Duncan stopped abruptly, raising a hand. "Wait. Look."
Ahead, the floor changed. What had been solid concrete gave way to a patchwork of slightly raised metal plates—each one about a meter square, edges barely visible in the dim light. They looked almost like tiles… but wrong. Too clean. Too perfectly spaced.
"Pressure plates?" Duncan said quietly. "Like in those old adventure movies?"
Katie's voice trembled. "We should go back. Find another way."
"There is no other way," Duncan snapped, glancing behind them. The wall they'd just passed had already slid shut with a heavy clang. No turning back. "We have to cross it."
Sadie whimpered. "Duncan, please… what if it's a trap?"
"Then we die trying," he said flatly. "Or we stand here until we starve. Your choice."
He took the first step.
Nothing happened.
He exhaled sharply through his nose. "See? Easy. Just step where I step."
Katie nodded frantically. "Okay. Okay, we can do this. Together."
One careful foot after another.
Duncan moved like he was walking on thin ice—slow, deliberate, testing each plate with his boot before committing his full weight. Sadie and Katie followed exactly in his footprints, holding their breath every time metal creaked under them.
Halfway across.
Duncan paused on a plate, looking ahead. Only five more to go.
He glanced back at the girls. For a split second, something almost soft flickered in his eyes.
"Listen," he said quietly. "If we get out of this… I'm sorry. For a lot of stuff. The bullying, the attitude… all of it."
Katie blinked back tears. "Duncan…"
Sadie managed a shaky smile. "We forgive you. Just… get us out, okay?"
Duncan nodded once. Turned forward.
And stepped on the next plate.
Click.
Not loud. Just a soft, mechanical snick.
Then the world exploded.
A deafening roar swallowed everything. Fire and shrapnel erupted from beneath the plate in a blinding white flash. The blast wave hit Duncan square in the chest, lifting him off his feet like a rag doll. His body disintegrated mid-air—limbs torn apart, torso shredded, blood and bone fragments spraying outward in a horrific radius.
What landed in front of Sadie and Katie wasn't recognizable as human anymore.
Just red mist. Chunks of clothing. A single green sneaker still laced.
Sadie's scream died in her throat. Her eyes rolled back. Her knees buckled. She collapsed like a marionette with cut strings, hitting the bloody metal floor hard.
Katie stood frozen for one endless second.
Then her stomach heaved.
She dropped to her knees and vomited violently—bile and whatever was left of her last meal splattering across Sadie's unconscious face and chest. The acrid smell mixed with copper and smoke.
Katie wiped her mouth with a shaking hand, sobbing.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, voice cracking. "I'm so sorry, Sadie… I didn't mean to… I didn't…"
She crawled forward, trembling fingers brushing Sadie's cheek, smearing vomit and blood together. Gently, desperately, she tried to wipe it off, as if cleaning her best friend's face could undo what just happened.
"Sadie… please wake up. Please. I can't do this alone. I can't…"
Tears streamed down Katie's face, mixing with the mess. She curled around Sadie's limp body, rocking back and forth, clutching her like a lifeline.
Behind them, the remaining plates stayed silent. Mockingly still.
The maze didn't care.
It just waited for the next step.
Somewhere far above, in the blood-streaked control room, Chef Hatchet watched the feed in grim silence.
He didn't speak.
He didn't announce.
He just stared at the screen, jaw clenched, knowing the nightmare had only just begun.