The Red Zone warning siren wailing from the distant watchtower stopped five minutes ago, but its echo still felt vibrating in the air. On the tablet map, the transparent red circle moved slowly but surely, consuming the island's edges, forcing every living creature to run toward the center.
Group 27 moved in tactical formation. Udin in front as the breacher, though his step was slightly limp. Salma and Alya in the middle. Rehan in the back, monitoring signals. And Salim... Salim moved freely on the flank, his eyes scanning for every possible ambush.
The tropical rainforest began to thin out. Giant trees with hanging roots were slowly replaced by low scrub and rocky terrain. The air, previously humid and smelling of wet earth, now began to mix with other scents: rust, old cement, and industrial dust.
"We're almost at the Central Zone border," Rehan reported, looking at his tablet which had a slight crack in the corner. "According to the map, there's a ravine ahead. The only access to the Building Complex is an old suspension bridge."
"Bridge," Salim muttered. "That's a choke point. The most strategic place for an ambush."
"Can we find another way?" Salma asked, wiping sweat mixed with mud from her forehead.
"Can't," Salim shook his head. "The red zone behind us is moving at 5 meters per minute. If we circle around to find another way, we'll get burned by the zone. We have to cross that bridge. Now."
They sped up their pace. Five minutes later, the trees opened up completely.
In front of them lay a deep natural ravine. At its bottom, about 30 meters down, flowed a rocky river with a swift and deadly current. And the only link between the forest cliff where they stood and the concrete cliff across was a wooden suspension bridge that looked pathetic.
The bridge was about 20 meters long. Its steel cables were severely rusted. Many wooden planks were missing. The valley wind made it sway with a terrifying creak-creak sound.
However, it wasn't the bridge's condition that made Udin stop dead in his tracks.
"People," Udin whispered, immediately pulling Salma to cover behind a large rock.
At the end of the bridge on the forest side (their side), five students were sitting casually on large boulders, blocking the entrance. They wore modified uniforms—sleeves cut off, headbands made from ties. Beside them, several looted backpacks were piled up.
They were Group 33. The "Extortionist" Group.
Their leader, a stocky student named Baron, was busy twirling a motorcycle chain in his hand.
"Well, well. New customers," Baron exclaimed loudly upon seeing Udin who didn't manage to hide completely. "Just come out, Bro. Don't be shy. The red zone is close, you know."
Salim signaled his friends. Don't attack. We negotiate first.
The five of them came out of hiding. When Baron saw Salim's face, his eyes widened. He elbowed his friend.
"Hey, look! That's him!" Baron shouted enthusiastically. He opened his tablet, matching Salim's face with the photo on the Bounty Board. "Salim Nur Hidayah! Jackpot, Guys! Five thousand points walking right to us!"
Baron's four henchmen immediately stood up, holding their makeshift weapons—iron pipes and baseball bats.
"Move," Udin said coldly, standing in front of Salim. "We just want to pass."
Baron laughed out loud. "Pass? Sure thing. The tariff is cheap. Transfer all your points, hand Salim over to us, and the rest can pass... oh, except the girls. Maybe they can keep us company for a bit."
Baron's henchmen whistled teasingly at Salma and Alya. Alya looked at them with a look of disgust as if seeing pathogenic bacteria.
"A difficult choice," Salim said, stepping forward past Udin. His face was calm, too calm for someone whose head was priced so high. "How about I offer a third option?"
"What option? You wanna teach me math?" Baron mocked.
"Physics option," Salim answered flatly. His eyes didn't look at Baron, but at the old iron stake anchoring the bridge's main cable to the ground near Baron's feet. The soil around the stake looked loose due to last night's rain.
"This bridge," Salim continued, pointing to the rickety structure. "Its dynamic load capacity is probably only 400 kilos. Main cable condition 40% corroded. The anchor stake is shaky due to soil erosion."
"What are you babbling about, Bum?" Baron started getting annoyed. He stepped forward approaching the bridge mouth.
"I mean," Salim smiled thinly. "If the five of you run chasing me together onto the middle of that bridge... the law of gravity will be a fair judge."
"Kill him!" Baron ordered, feeling toyed with.
Baron and his four friends charged forward.
"Run to the bridge! Now!" Salim shouted to his friends.
"Huh?! Are you crazy?!" Rehan shouted. "You said the bridge would collapse!"
"RUN!" Salim snapped.
Without thinking twice, Group 27 ran recklessly onto the suspension bridge. The wooden planks creaked horribly under their feet. The bridge shook violently.
Seeing his prey escape, Baron and his group didn't want to lose 5,000 points. They chased. They ran onto the bridge.
Now, there were ten people on that old bridge.
Salim was at the very back of Group 27's line. When they reached the middle of the bridge, Salim stopped abruptly. He turned to face Baron who was only five meters away from him.
"Udin! Hold the right cable!" Salim shouted.
Udin, who was in front of Salim, reflexively grabbed the steel cable on the right side of the bridge with both his strong hands.
Salim pulled out the folding knife—the knife Adel used to stab Udin, which was now theirs.
"What are you doing?!" Baron shouted, his steps halted because the bridge was swaying too hard.
Salim didn't answer. He didn't attack Baron. He crouched down and slashed the knife with all his might at the floor support ropes on the left side of the bridge. Not the main cable, but the ropes keeping the walking planks balanced.
SNAP!
The old hemp rope severed instantly.
"Udin, pull!" Salim commanded.
Udin pulled the right cable with all his might toward him, while the left side of the bridge lost its floor support.
The result was fatal.
The bridge didn't snap, but it tilted extremely to 90 degrees. The bridge floor turned into a vertical wall.
Group 27 survived because they were already holding onto the right-side cable on Udin and Salim's instructions. They hung like monkeys.
But Group 33? They weren't ready. Baron and his henchmen, running with heavy weapons, lost their footing.
"AAAAAA—!"
Their bodies slid off the bridge's "floor" which was now perpendicular. Baron's hand flailed in the air, trying to grab a cable, but the slippery rust and sweat made him fail.
One by one, the five members of Group 33 fell into the abyss.
Thud. Crack.
The sound of bodies hitting river rocks at the bottom of the ravine was heard faintly, followed by silence, and then...
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Five consecutive small explosions. Their collars detected vital signs stopping, or the hard impact triggered the fail-safe mechanism.
Total Elimination.
On the tilted bridge, Salim hung by one hand, breathing heavily. Below his feet, the gaping abyss was ready to swallow.
"Crazy..." Rehan hissed, hanging in front of Salim, his face deathly pale looking down. "You're truly crazy, Lim. We almost died!"
"Almost doesn't count in math, Han. Only the final result counts," Salim answered, pulling his body up.
With great difficulty, Group 27 crawled along the remaining bridge cables one by one toward the opposite cliff. Udin helped pull Alya and Salma who were exhausted.
When Salim's feet touched the concrete of the opposite cliff—the Dead City Zone cliff—he immediately collapsed on his back. His heart felt like it was going to explode. That was the biggest gamble he had ever made. If Udin wasn't strong enough to hold the cable, or if the main cable snapped due to overload, they would all be mush down there.
Salim looked at his tablet.
NOTIFICATION:
GROUP ELIMINATION DETECTED.
GROUP 33 (BARON) – STATUS: WIPED OUT.
REWARD POINTS TRANSFERRED: 2,500 POINTS (SPLIT EQUALLY).
"We got the points," Salim said, showing the tablet screen. "500 points per person. Enough to live until tomorrow night."
Salma sat hugging her knees, staring into the ravine. She didn't see the bodies down there, but she could imagine them.
"We didn't kill them directly, right?" Salma asked softly, seeking justification. "They fell on their own."
"They fell because of their greed, Sal," Salim answered coldly. "They chased the 5,000 points on my head but forgot to calculate the bridge capacity. Gravity just did its job."
Udin patted Salim's shoulder. "Whatever it was... you saved us again, Lim. Your brain really is the most dangerous weapon here."
Salim stood up, brushing concrete dust off his pants. He stared ahead.
The view before them made their skin crawl.
THE DEAD CITY.
An abandoned industrial and residential complex spanning several hectares. Multi-story concrete buildings with broken windows, factories with leaning smokestacks, and cracked asphalt roads overgrown with weeds. The atmosphere was gray, cold, and silent.
Unlike the "living" forest, this place felt "dead". Yet Salim knew, behind the dark windows of those buildings, dozens of pairs of eyes from other groups were watching.
"The forest is over," Salim said. "Now we play hide and seek in a concrete labyrinth."
"What's our target?" Rehan asked.
"Find a base. A tall building, limited access, defensible," Salim answered.
His eyes fell on a four-story building in the eastern sector of the dead city. An old dormitory or administrative office that looked sturdy.
"There," Salim pointed.
They stepped into the dead city, leaving the tilted bridge behind as a monument of death for anyone who dared underestimate the power of physics and desperation.
Unbeknownst to them, in one of the tall buildings in the distance, someone was observing them through the lens of a sniper rifle scope.
"Target 5,000 Points confirmed," the person whispered. "Welcome to my cage, Salim."