Chapter Three
Alex held onto the door handle. He twisted it slightly when he caught something from the corner of his eyes. He looked over and saw Turtle quickly put his hand behind his back, but he was not quick enough. The glimmer of a gun was something Alex had gotten used to in the past few months. He let go of the handle and backed away from the door. So, the red door was the wrong one. If he had gone through that one he would have been shot- he was sure of it. Why else would Turtle be bringing out a gun? The man was silently cursing himself inside, but did not show any outward emotion to the boy. He had made a mistake, but he would not give anything away.
Alex turned and walked towards the blue door. Hesitating for a moment, he turned the handle and walked through the door. He was in a small square room with a metal floor. Was this it? He wasn't certain he had made the right choice, but he wasn't dead yet so that was a good sign. He searched the room for some sign of what to do next but there was nothing in there. Suddenly, he heard the door slam shut. Spinning round he made his way towards the door. Lifting his hand as if to turn the handle his hand froze in mid air- there was no handle. Starting to panic a little he tried pushing the door. It wouldn't budge. He wasn't claustrophobic, but there was something unnerving about being trapped in small spaces with no means of escape. He searched everywhere in the room but the walls were plain. What was going on? He was about to kick the door when he heard a machine like sound. Looking down at where the sound came from he gasped. The metallic floor was parting.
Alex pressed himself onto one of the walls trying to avoid falling. He looked into the gap and gulped. It was filled with water. The floor was almost gone by now, only the ledge that he was struggling to stand on was left. Soon, that too was gone and Alex fell into the water, managing to suck in as much air as he could before he was completely covered. The first thing he noticed was the temperature of the water. It was near freezing. He tried to swim back towards the room, but it was useless- the floor was once again closed. This was when he began to really panic. Did he make the wrong choice? Was this how they were going to kill him? He could already feel his lungs straining for air so he tried to calm himself.
He was about to look around when he felt something grab a hold of his legs. He kicked out but whatever it was wouldn't let go. He looked down and saw a diver clamping something around his left leg. There was a chain attached to it. Pulling his leg up he tried to get rid of it but it was too late. He was trapped. The chain was attached to the ground. The diver had disappeared from sight, but Alex had worse things to worry about. Just then, he felt someone grab his hands from behind. He struggled but the person was a lot stronger than he was. Something was being pulled onto his mouth, and it took a while for Alex to realise it was an oxygen pipe. By now, his lungs felt like they were about to collapse, so he gratefully took in whatever air he was offered.
He allowed the unknown person to put the oxygen tank on his back, and he secured the diving mask on his face. It was filled with water and he found himself remembering the time he went diving with his uncle. He had taught him how to put diving goggles on underwater. He angled his head so one side was up, and pushed on the lower side. Breathing through his nose he felt the mask fill with air. Relief flooded through his veins and he relaxed. His relief did not last long though. A voice came from somewhere to his left out of a hidden speaker.
"Alex Rider. Congratulations on picking the right choice. You will proceed to the second round, but it all depends on if you survive this," he heard a chuckling from the speaker. "The oxygen mask you are wearing will only last you ten minutes. Your task is to locate the keys to unlock the chain in the tank. Simple really. The chain attached to your leg is long enough for you to swim around the tank. Once the keys are located, you must unlock yourself and the floor to the room you were just in will be opened once again. Understand?"
He didn't bother responding. They knew perfectly well that he understood.
"I take that as a yes," the voice said, "Oh…by the way- you only have nine minutes left."
It sounded easy to Alex; too easy. Nine minutes was more than enough time to find a key, at least he had oxygen. He began swimming forward, keeping an eye out for the keys. The tank was not overly large, probably about seven metres in length, three metres in width, and he was chained to the middle. It took him three minutes to search one side of the tank but he found nothing. The next three minutes were spent scouring the other side, but there was nothing there either. His heart started beating loudly- he only had three minutes left. His body felt numb, and he was afraid. What if he didn't find the keys? He had picked the right choice only to be killed in a much worse way? It was unfair- but when was anything ever fair for him? He shook his head and tried to concentrate. He had searched either side but hadn't found anything.
"Two minutes left," the speaker sounded.
He swam up and down, looking everywhere in the tank. Was there even a key? They wanted him dead. This was it- he was going to die.
Alan Blunt sat in his office observing his plasma screen television. His second in command sat next to him, neither making a sound. He watched as their youngest agent swam around in a tank searching for the keys. He was not the type of man who would let his emotions get the better of him, but at this second he wanted to scream. He wished there was some way he could communicate with the boy- to tell him that-
"THE KEYS ARE ON YOUR BACK ALEX!" Tom screamed at his TV.
A/N: Sorry I didn't update earlier! My internet didn't work last night and I was out today…sorry for the cliff-hanger, I just love them too much...