“You’re damn right I’m not. The rest may be too scared to speak out, but I sure as hell am not.” They stood facing each other, each not willing to back down, staring at each other like boxers in a weigh-in. Samantha watched this encounter with interest, wondering what would happen next and most importantly if he would be kicked out of the assessment day.

  Scott slowly and carefully chose his words.“You either leave it, eat it quietly or go. The choice is yours.” Everyone watched, the air had been sucked out of the room as if each person dared not to speak. They stared at each other until eventually, the man grabbed the cardboard packaging and sat down. Scott smiled with one side of his face in contempt. “Anyone else wants to complain about the food?”

  The hall was silent. Samantha looked around the room. Everyone was either looking around the room or at their shoes. Scott replied, “thought not. Well, thanks to Mr big shot here you have five minutes to finish your lunch.”

  Samantha heard a female voice shout up and the whole room turned to stare. “We’ve not even had ours yet!” A sentiment that Samantha thought in her own mind, thanking her hungry belly for making her eat her sandwich early. Samantha watched as Scott turned round to look at them all. Samantha was sure at one point he stared directly at her.

  “That is not my problem. If you have a problem with that, thank the ponytailed idiot over there.” Scott turned and walked out, leaving the room in stunned silence. For a while, no-one said anything until the room started to relax and the rumble of chatter began.

  David turned to Samantha, “I guess I’m not getting a cheese and pickle sarnie then!”

  Samantha laughed, “I guess not. I’m pleased I had mine earlier!”

  As the dinner lady came to Samantha, she grabbed the cardboard packet that was given to her. Samantha noted it looked in a similar style to what they gave out on aeroplanes. Samantha told herself that it was probably the upper-class snobs who were used to business class food who couldn’t handle it.

  She studied the packet they had given her, she tore off the lid and looked at the contents. Samantha thought it looked like the contents of what she had threw up earlier on. There were three compartments each with a different colour of clumps in. Samantha looked at the lid she had just torn off and noticed on the top there was in small black print the words “freeze-dried fruits - various.”

  David turned to Samantha, “my wife said I needed to go on a diet, I guess this is one place to start.”

  Samantha took out a red clump that she thought once began life as a juicy strawberry. She put it in her mouth. It was hard and difficult to chew. She twirled it around her mouth for a while, waiting for the saliva to moisten it. Once it was a bit wetter, Samantha could actually taste a bit of strawberry.

  Samantha turned to David. “To say how much that guy moaned, it isn’t that bad.” She continued to munch her way through the selection of strawberries, apples and blackberries. Samantha was surprised to note that she did feel slightly better for eating the fruit, it got some natural sugars into her body and made her feel less sickly. She wondered if that had been the intention or if it was just an experiment to see how they reacted after minimal food. She couldn’t tell if there was good in their intentions or not.

  A hushed silence resumed as Scott walked in. Samantha checked her watched and thought that he was a man of his word. He had given them just five minutes. All he said were the names of the first group and called them through.

  After they left, Samantha turned to David. “What do you think lies ahead for us this afternoon?”

  David replied, “I’m not quite sure. If it is anything as physical as the last one, I’m doomed anyway! I’m hoping they go for a challenge that is more intellectual this time around.”

  Samantha considered this. “Well, they did promise a mixture of both.” Samantha secretly hoped it was more physical if it was a mental challenge she couldn’t go up against the likes of David. “What do you think it’s all for?”

  David looked around the room surveyed the type of people in turn. “I’m not sure but I think it must be some kind of physical challenge. A bit like an SAS challenge. If it is, I’m not going through with it anyway. I doubt I would be picked in any case. I was hoping for something more like a game show!”

  “Maybe it still is something like that” Samantha lied. To Samantha, it felt every inch like a game and they where the pieces of the board being moved and dictated into place. Samantha felt like the pawn on a chessboard, being moved and at times, being moved into places they knew she would fail. There was another reason why she felt like a piece in a board game, she couldn't shake off the feeling that even when they were alone, she was being watched constantly.

  17.

  After a few more groups had been called through and the hall started to diminish in numbers, Scott came through and said, “group 6- Mohammed Akmed and co.” Samantha and David got up off the floor and Samantha noticed that her bum had gone numb from sitting on the hard surface for so long. She gave David a hand getting up and hoped for his sake that what was in store wasn’t too physical. David looked at Samantha as he got to his feet and said, “thanks, here we go!”

  They walked across the hall in silence to a large wooden door at the far end. As the door was opened they made their way down the hallway pausing in front of a crossroads. In front of them was a large double doorway that looked like the ones that had come through at the start and to their right was a single door. Samantha could feel the breeze coming through the door in front of her and realised that it was the door to the back exit. The cool spring air hit Samantha and came as a welcome relief from earlier. She took a deep breath to inhale in the fresh air, feeling refreshed.

  Scott paused and surveyed them all. “Welcome to test two. The group will be divided into two halves. Mohammed, Tina, David, Miles and Bethany you will be in the door on the right. The rest of you will follow me.”

  Samantha felt sad and suddenly very nervous, her only friend was in the other group. She was also left with Ross who would surely take the role of leader upon himself for the opportunity to boss everyone around. She watched as her only friend in the group left her. She was surprised at how much she had relied on their friendship to make her feel at ease. She looked around at the other members of the group she had been left with, none of which looked particularly friendly or co-operative.

  Scott opened the double doors and Samantha was hit by the cold air. It awoke all her senses like she was stepping off a plane on a holiday to Iceland. She looked around her and the greenery and trees comforted her. She no longer felt closed in with strangers, giving her almost a sense of freedom. The walked down the steps and followed Scott who turned to the left. Samantha noticed the big swimming pool in front of her, Usually, a pool looks inviting, twinkling in the blue sunshine, but on a grey day, it was not inviting at all. It looked grey and murky and very, very cold.

  Scott stood in front of the pool and they all stopped behind him. “Unlike the first challenge, this challenge requires your group to work together. The other part of your group is locked in a room and only you can let them out. They will be challenged with a series of questions and provide you with the answer. On the keys at the bottom of the pool are several answers. Depending on their answer, you must obtain the correlating key from the bottom of the pool. There are three keys in total, which will unlock this box.” Scott pointed to a small metallic box to the side of the pool which was rectangular in shape and had three padlocks on it.

  “The three keys will unlock this box which will provide you with the door key to free your group. You must then unlock the door to free them. If you fail to free your group, you will all fail. You have 3 minutes which will start when I say” Samantha peered forward and looked into the pool, she stared wide-eyed at the keys at the bottom. She thought there must have been at least a hundred keys lying at the bottom.

  “Miss Harrington!” The voice bellowed. “If you do that again you will be disqualified together with your group.”

  Samantha shuffled back into line. Ross elbowed her. “Way to go, Miss Harrington,” he said sarcastically. She stared at her shoes. She eventually picked her head up in confusion as to why they were standing around, unsure what they were waiting for. She saw Scott with his finger to his ear, awaiting instructions.

  “Go!” Scott shouted. He passed Samantha a radio which Samantha assumed would be the way the other group would communicate the answers.

  Immediately Ross said, “one of us needs to be the one to get the keys.”

  Gracia replied, “I’m not doing it, I’m not a great swimmer!”

  Samantha watched as the group argued amongst themselves about the most basic decision. Samantha then tried to speak but could barely hear her own voice over the arguments. “I have an idea. We need three people looking for the keys, one on the radio and one unlocking the box.” Samantha looked around at the other four faces in her group and noted that her suggestion had either gone unnoticed or unheard.

  Samantha shouted “oi!”. The group stopped arguing and looked at her. “We have to work together otherwise it won’t work. I’ll do it, Ross you help me get the keys. One of the rest of you needs to help too.” Samantha looked around and waited.

  Elizabeth in a posh accent said “I’ll help. I was a semi-professional swimmer at one point.”

  Samantha resisted the urge to comment on how that was not a big surprise and carried on. “Great. Grazia and Rowan, you await instructions from the radio. One of you decides who will try the keys.”

  Grazia and Rowan nodded at her and discussed between themselves. Rowan turned to Samantha “pass me the keys.”

  Samantha took off her shoes and socks and got her goggles out of her bag. “Great. Let's get started.”

  Ross stopped taking off his shoes and watched her closely, scrutinising her every move. “It’s almost like you knew what was coming.”

  Samantha rolled her eyes, “That either makes me a spy or psychic, either way, I would have prepared better for this. Now come on Ross we don’t have time for this.”

  Samantha dived into the water. The coldness of the water sent a rush of adrenaline through her body and made her gasp for air. She regained her natural heartbeat and paddled in the water. She looked at Elizabeth who dived into the water gracefully, her legs flowing behind her. Ross was on the edge of the pool, standing in a t-shirt and boxer shorts. Samantha thought it was amusing that he wore bright blue boxers for the occasion. Now he was the one who looked out of place. He stood with his arms crossed looking at Samantha. “What it is like?”

  She replied, “like being in the bloody Bahamas. Come on Ross or are you afraid of a little cold water?” Ross dived in creating a big splash that wet Gracia and Rowan. They exclaimed in surprise and Samantha let out a laugh. Feeling herself relax a little for the first time all day.

  As they laughed, Samantha heard a faint crackle on the radio. Ross shouted, “shut up everyone!” The crackle disappeared. “Did anyone hear what they said?”

  “Sounded like Photon or Pluto or something like that” Rowan replied.

  “Well, which one was it?” Ross demanded. Samantha noted that it was difficult for Ross to give off the same air of authority when he was bobbing in a pool trying to keep afloat.

  “I’m, I’m not sure,” Rowan replied.

  “Well, that is fucking great. The first key and we haven’t got a bloody clue what the key is thanks to Miss laughs-a-lot over here.”

  Samantha defiantly replied. “Oh, you didn’t laugh too then Ross? Look this is no-one’s fault and its not helping arguing. Let’s look for a key that has the word photon or pluto on or something that sounds similar and try it.”

  Samantha dunked her head down under the water and felt the cold wash over her head. She noticed the pool wasn’t particularly clean, over the course of the day, several dark small particles now floated in it. She swam to the bottom and looked at the small keys, each with a band attached to them in a variety of colours with a single word written on it. Samantha had never been so thankful for her carelessness in forgetting to unpack her goggles. She scraped the bottom of the pool looking for a word that sounded like photon. She felt the air fill up her lungs and the need to exhale increase. She held on as long as she could before she thought that she may breathe in a gulp of water. She swam to the top of the surface.

  As she got to the top, she gasped, breathing in a large gulp of air. She paddled at the top regaining her normal breathing pattern. Samantha could feel her legs starting to tire, constantly battling the pressure of the water. Through her loud breathing, she heard the word “infinity” being shouted by Gracia.

  Samantha shouted back “Infinity? Is that the next word?”

  Gracia and Rowan shouted together “Yes!”

  Ross suddenly resurfaced, gasping for air. “I can’t see that bastard key anywhere.”

  Samantha quickly shouted, “next one infinity.” She took in a large gulp of air and dived down to the bottom of the pool. She scraped the numerous keys away looking for the two words. By chance, she came across a red tag which said the word infinity on it. The writing was faded but she could still make out the word. She grabbed the key and swam to the surface. She reached the top of the pool and in her breathlessness shouted the word “key” and stuck her arm out. She swam to the edge of the pool and gave it to Gracia. Samantha noticed that Rowan was already at the box trying another key. She asked, “did we find the other key?”

  Gracia replied, “We think so.”

  Samantha put her arms of the edge of the pool allowed her arms to rest. She felt tired. She could feel the blood pumping around her body and could feel the lactic acid creeping into her arms and legs. The constant paddling to keep to the surface and diving had tired her calf muscles. She felt like she couldn't dive down again but knew at some point she must.

  As if to interrupt Samantha’s thoughts, a loud voice shouted across all the commotion. “One minute remaining.”

  Elizabeth returned to the surface. “What’s happening?”

  Samantha replied, “we might have found two keys. We’ve only got one minute left.” Samantha watched as Elizabeth swam over to her and rested her arm on the top of the pool. Samantha thought she looked like she had barely broken a sweat.

  Gracia turned to Samantha as she heard a faint crackling noise. “Geodesy.”

  Samantha looked at her puzzled. “What does that mean?”

  Gracia shouted back, “I haven’t got a bloody clue.”

  Samantha turned to Elizabeth. “What is that and how do you even spell it?” Samantha turned around as she heard Ross gasping for the surface. “Next key is geo-density, geodesy, something like that?”

  Ross gasped and spoke through his pants for air. “Well, which is it?”

  Elizabeth interrupted. “Geodesy, I think she said. We have only got one minute, well I imagine about forty seconds now.”

  They all took a large gulp of air and dived down. Samantha scraped her hand across the keys. Samantha wasn’t sure what the word was or how it was spelt and therefore looked for any key with a word beginning with the letter G. She found a key that said ‘gravity’ but dismissed it. She continued looking for the key. She found a key with a yellow tag that said ‘geometry’ and doubted whether she had heard it right. She swam to the top of the surface, the need for air increasing.

  She tightened her grip on the key, feeling the steel sharp edge dig into the palm of her hand. She reached the surface and swam across to the edge. “I’ve. Found. Key. Not sure. If. Right.” She said through her exhausted pants for air.

  She held onto the edge of the pool, allowing the edges to take her weight. She could not dive down again and hoped the key was the right one but doubted it was. She thought that in her tiredness, she had picked the first key that sounded familiar. She turned around and watched as Ross and Samantha carried on searching at the bottom of the pool. She watched as Ross returned to the surface holding a key of his own.

  When he returned to the surface he shouted. “Got one!” Samantha watched as he swam across and threw the key at Rowan. Elizabeth then returned to the surface holding a key and shouted, “Got it.” She swam across and passed it to Rowan. Samantha watched as Rowan tried the three keys and one of them unlocked the padlock. Samantha noticed that one of the padlocks still remaining locked. She shouted, “What about that padlock?”

  Rowan replied, “that was the first one. The key didn’t work.”

  Ross shouted back. “Why didn’t you tell us? Which one was that?”

  Samantha replied, “I think it was Photon or Pluto.”

  Gracia replied, “It wasn’t Pluto. It didn’t work.”

  Samantha turned to Ross and Elizabeth. “We need to find that other key. Look for photon.” Samantha fought against her tired body. Her body seemed to weigh twice as much as when she started. The effort to dive to the bottom was greater and she struggling to move her forearms to keep her swimming at the bottom of the surface. Each stroke resisting the urge to allow her body to float to the surface. That was when she saw it. A light blue tag which the words ‘photon’ on. She cursed herself for missing it earlier. She grabbed the key and swam to the surface. As she pierced through the grey veil she shouted “got. It.” She threw it across the edge of the pool and swam over.

  Samantha hauled herself out of the pool. It took three attempts to use her energy to pull herself out. She lay on the side of the pool and stared at the grey sky. She overheard Gracia shout. “That’s it!” She heard them running past her but no longer cared. Her teeth began to chatter as she felt the cold of the water and the cold of the spring air around her. No towel was offered.

  She faintly heard Elizabeth and Ross get out of the pool. Elizabeth lay next to Samantha. “Did we do it.”

  Samantha replied, “I don’t know. I heard them running.”

  Scott shouted “Times up. Make your way back inside to the grand hall. We will reconvene then.”

 

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