The days after the memory challenge dragged on, heavy with tension. Those of us who survived walked around like ghosts, our eyes haunted by what we'd seen and heard. The absence of the ones who failed was a constant reminder of what was at stake.
I kept to myself, avoiding the whispers and sideways glances from the others. Some looked at me with a mix of respect and fear after my performance. Others seemed to be sizing me up, probably wondering how they could take me down if it came to that. I didn't care. I wasn't here to make friends or enemies. I was here to survive.
The guards didn't give us much time to recover. Every day brought new drills, new tests of our physical and mental limits. But nothing as intense as that memory challenge. It was like they were giving us just enough rope
