♠ ♦ Alice in Borderland ♣ ♥

40

While we spent days hoping we could travel through time to make sure we never got to the Beach, now that it's gone, we still seem lost. The only thing that keeps me from keeping my gaze on the street in a dead way is the thought of the old Beachers who may be closer to us than we realize. That's why I look around every step of the way, and every few seconds I look back suspiciously, as if I expect we're about to be attacked by them at any moment.

We're still miserable and the lack of sleep hasn't helped, but I'm doing my best to keep myself focused. I must live, otherwise Chichiro's sacrifice would've been in vain. 'Where will they have gone?' I wonder out loud, but neither Soran nor Yuki respond. 'Will Reo, Yoshua and Kyo have stayed together, or would the latter have gone on alone?' Again no response. 'Reo was pretty mad at Kyo, but maybe they decide to stay together and terrorize the others in the games. What do you think?'

The last thing I want is to deal with the old Beacher any longer, but if we're going to maintain our own chances of survival, we have to. We don't know how many people died during the game, or more importantly, who. We will not be at the top of the list of the new executive members for the foreseeable future. They will be far too busy to pick themselves up now. Still, I can't help but wonder how long it would be before they turn to us again. We'd better not run into them during a game, but unfortunately we can't choose that ourselves.

'Where would Ringo have gone?' I ask. 'Looking for him is a risk, but if we have to play a game that involves teamwork, it's definitely more convenient to have him around. Maybe we can persuade him to work with us.' After I get no response from the guys for the umpteenth time, I'm fed up. With an exasperated sigh I accelerate my walk, to which they finally respond. 'What are you going to do?' Soran asks. It's clear that he had not taken in my words. Yuki also seems to have just now shaken out of a kind of haze. 'I don't know,' I answer as I stop walking and turn to face them. 'What can we do? Except wandering aroung aimlessly until it's time for the next game.' The boys lower their eyes. They also don't know how to proceed. Even though Yuki said we need to get hope from each other now, it doesn't seem like there's any progress in our state of affairs.

We're startled by the sound of electricity on the billboards at the buildings. I look at it with a strange expression on my face. Surely the power only came back in the evening, when the arenas became known? We stare at it like cavemen for a while, before deciding to get a little closer to get a better look.

"Additional news broadcast" appears on the screen. There's a trumpet sound, to which the image turns on and a young woman comes into the picture. 'Mira,' I mumble in surprise. One of the executive members I played the condemnation with. 'Congratulations everyone,' she says with a smile. 'Except for the face card games, you have completed all the card games. So you are winners.'

Winners? In a flash I see several images of my time in Borderland. I've lost so many things, so many people. I don't feel like a winner at all.

'It was a nice victory,' Mira continues, 'with several lives being sacrificed. How many friends have died?' In the silence that follows, it feels like my heart is being stabbed with a needle. Despair, sadness and anger fill my body. She really pulls the corners of her mouth up as she says this. What does she mean? Why is she doing this? 'Try to remember the ones that were shot, burned alive, drowned, crashed into the rocks.' Yuki takes a step back in shock when the screen shows Kenta letting go of him and falling off the cliff. I put my hand on his arm to support him.

Then follows a series of horrific images shot during the games. I see unknown people die, but also people I've played games with. There are the clowns, there are the players in the mall, the ones that Matsu finally managed to kill that night we went to the Beach. Soran is startled when Nyoko and Shiho are hit by the arrows. I see Manari and Kenshin fall to the ground. With wide eyes I look at the images from last night, of the game on the Beach. The militants shoot dozens of people, the resort burns down and the bodies are thrown on a large pyre. The ten of hearts. My eyes fill with tears again as Chichiro opens his capsule, jumps out and receives a laser through his head. I hadn't experienced that consciously because of the lack of oxygen, but now it will remain in my brain forever.