The Odds - Jeff Strand Page 0,54

wasn’t processing any of it.

This went on for three days. He couldn’t sleep. He had no appetite. And Rick wouldn’t give him any information about how much longer this was going to continue. Was the challenge imminent? Was it a week away? Was this the actual challenge—an endurance test to see how long he could last before he started clawing his own eyes out?

That moment might not be far away.

“It’s time,” said Quincy.

“Thank you,” said Rick, who knew perfectly well that it was time but who was trying to be as polite as possible to his co-workers. He called Ethan. On his monitor, he saw Ethan lunge for his cell phone.

“Hello?”

“It’s time for your next challenge.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you that. But I can tell you the odds.”

“I’m listening.”

“You have a one in three chance of winning a fantastic prize. You have a one in three chance of winning a good prize. And you have a one in three chance of incurring a penalty.”

“A penalty.”

“Right.”

“And I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what the prizes or penalty is?” Ethan asked.

“I wish I could.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Are you asking for my honest professional opinion?”

“Yes.”

“You should do it.”

“Okay. Then I accept.”

“Great. A van is on the way to pick you up.”

“I’ll be here.”

They hung up. “Are you asking for my honest professional opinion?” had been obvious code for “Do you want the inside scoop that I’m not supposed to share with you?” And technically Rick had given him an honest answer, because he did truly believe that Ethan should accept the challenge in an attempt to win the prizes.

But, God, the penalty was horrific.

19

“That was work,” said Ethan. “They’re on the way to pick me up for another job.”

Jenny, Patrick, and Tim all looked very serious and scared. Ethan tried to give them a reassuring smile, though it probably looked more like a grimace.

“I’ll be totally fine. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way back.”

They all got up off the couch. Ethan gave each of them a hug, trying to avoid the vibe that this could be a goodbye hug. He’d be fine. Rick had gone rogue and would make sure this all worked out okay.

He heard a vehicle pull into the driveway and went outside. It was a black van that could not have looked more sinister if it had a scary clown drawn on the side and a sign reading “Free Candy.” The side door slid open and Rick got out.

“Good morning,” said Rick. “How are you this fine day?”

“Never better.” Ethan walked over to the van. “Nothing quite like getting into a black van to make me feel at ease.”

Rick chuckled. “It’ll be fine. Climb on in.”

Ethan got into the van. The driver, who looked old enough to die of natural causes while operating the motor vehicle, glanced back and gave Ethan a polite nod. Nobody else was in there. Ethan sat down and fastened his seat belt as Rick climbed in after him and shut the door.

“Looks like you got screwed,” said the driver.

“Why?”

“You’re the closest. You got a van instead of a private jet.”

“Yeah, that does suck,” Ethan admitted.

As they drove off, Rick handed Ethan a phone. “It doesn’t have an Internet connection, but you can play games on it. Just to keep you entertained on the way.”

“How long is the drive?”

“Not too bad. Six hours.”

Ethan sighed. “Am I allowed to just sleep?”

“If you can, sure. Rest up.”

Ethan reclined the seat and tried to go to sleep, but of course that was a wasted effort. He tried to play some games on the phone and couldn’t focus on any of them. He tried again to sleep, unsuccessfully, and ultimately just settled for staring out the window as Rick immersed himself on whatever he was doing on a laptop computer.

The six hours did not pass quickly.

They stopped at a couple of rest areas for bathroom breaks. Ethan was not given any instructions not to run off, since apparently it wasn’t something that needed to be underscored at this point. He used the restroom and dutifully returned to the van.

“Not much further,” Rick told him as they pulled off the highway. They drove through a residential area, and then through an area that had more of a post-apocalyptic feel, where roving gangs of mutants would attack you to steal your teeth. Actually, the area just didn’t look like many people lived around there—the whole post-apocalyptic thing was added by Ethan’s imagination, which