Alice in Borderland ~ Niragi

3

Slowly it feels like my body is regaining consciousness. I can feel it by the way I'm shivering when a gust of wind blows against my skin. Just before I'm able to move I see again how a large wall of debris is coming my way, crashing into my arms when I try to shield off my face. Instinctively I roll over, gasping for air because of the hard sting I feel going through my head. I want to rub away the debris, but there's nothing on me. When I open my eyes, it's not night anymore. The sun is just about to come up, giving light to the streets beautifully.

What happened? Was I out the whole night? Why am I the only one lying here? Why has no one come for me?

'Mom?' I say with a rusty voice, clearing my throat to get more volume. 'Mom?!' I was expecting to have more difficulty standing up, but my body doesn't even seems to be hurt from the impact. The building that collapsed on me is only half destroyed. That's strange, I could've sworn the whole thing fell apart. 'Ryozu?' I call out, but only the wind takes my words into heart. 'Tomoko?' I yell reluctantly. Even my stepbrother is better to have around than to be alone at this moment.

Nobody answers.

'Anyone?!'

Why isn't anyone responding? Why didn't someone come for me? Wait... When those fireworks came down, it was full of hysterical people. Where is everybody? I'm sure I'm not the only one who got hit. Why am I still the only one here? It's impossible that the paramedics dragged away all those bodies and helped some injured people but not me, right? Even if my mother can't stand me, she would've surely come for me, wouldn't she? Or Ryozu.

Something's really wrong, I can feel it.

I reach for my pocket to grab my phone, but the thing isn't working at all. Maybe it got damaged internally. I will have to find another phone.

Confused I roam the streets in search for our car, but it's nowhere to be found. I do find other cars though, but no owners.

The streets of Tokyo seem different. Sometimes there are subtle differences, but sometimes it looks like nobody had stepped foot in a store for weeks now. That's strange. It was only one night that I was out.

'Mom?!' I yell as soon as I'm home. She didn't lock the door, which is strange, but maybe she's waiting for me. 'Ryozu?!' Still no response. I just can't shake that itchy feeling inside. Everything seems to be the same at home. Nobody robbed us. Even my room looks the same; the trophies I received when I participated in figure skating competitions are still there. Then why does everything feel different? Why didn't I come across a single soul when I walked all the way home?

When I try to use the house phone and my laptop, I discover that they don't seem to be working. Running water is also out of the question, I painfully realise after I don't seem to be able to flush the toilet.

What is this strange reality I'm in right now? Am I dreaming? Am I still unconscious from the impact of the debris, and is this some kind of fantasy my brain came up with? No, I'm wide awake. This is real. I can feel the restlessness in my body. I have to keep moving, otherwise I will certainly panic. I just have to keep calm and find an explanation for this.

There's nobody in my mother's building, yet everything is still decorated for the party. A few clothes are missing; it looks like someone stole them. That seems to be the pattern of many places I go to: it all looks deserted and robbed. Where are all the people? Mostly the streets in Tokyo are quite busy, but now I haven't seen a single soul. The lack of electricity is becoming a problem when it gets dusky. Soon it will be dark with no means of light. How will I be able to find my way?

When I'm halfway home, I'm shaken up when I hear a few loud thuds, followed by large beams of light radiating towards the sky. It seems like those places have electricity. I decide to walk towards the beam of light that is the closest to my current location and end up in front of a large store that's a restaurant and bakery at the same time. The smell of a freshly cooked meal penetrates my nose, causing my stomach to growl. Only now do I realise I haven't eaten anything all day. If there's light, it must mean there's someone there, right?

Just as I'm about to step into the store I see two humans walking up to me. I'm almost startled when I see them, as I haven't seen anyone all day.

'Hi,' I say relieved. 'Do you know what's going on here? I woke up alone without electricity or running water. I haven't seen people all day.'

The two girls look at me, frowning. 'Newbies,' the one with blonde hair says. 'Come on.' She drags the brunette with her, walking past me whilst ignoring me. 'Hello?' I ask them, stunned by the fact that they're ignoring me. 'I'm sorry to bother you, but could you please tell me what's going on?' They continue walking into the store. When they go through the open entrance I see some translucent red lasers flashing. It's over so soon that if I would've blinked, I wouldn't have been able to see it.

How rude of them to ignore me like that. I just want to walk after them to ask why they would do that, when another person comes into my field of vision. By the looks of it the boy has seen me talking to those girls just now. 'Excuse me,' I say in my most polite voice, 'could you please tell me what's happening? Everything seems to be different now.'

'This is your first day, isn't it?' the boy replies in a sad voice. Why does he look at me compassionately, as if he knows I'm about to be hurt? 'My first day where?' I mumble. 'I've lived in Tokyo all my life. Well, except for most weekends, when I'm at my dad's...' Why do I tell him that? As if he cares. He looks at me searchingly for a moment, before sighing in the same tone he had used when he spoke to me just now. 'Come on,' he says to me, 'we have to go inside.' At that moment I can hear my stomach growl again. With my cheeks flushing red I nod at him. When we walk through the open entrance, I see those red lasers again. 'You can't go outside anymore,' the boy says, 'until this is over.'

Until what is over? And why does the tone in his voice give me goosebumps? I don't dare to ask him any more questions. We join the two girls and two boys who were already there in the waiting lobby. 'You have to grab a phone,' the boy who came in with me tells me. 'Can we make a phone call?' I ask him, to which the blonde starts laughing. 'Newbies,' she just says again. If she would start explaining things to me, I wouldn't have to be such a "newbie". I keep my calm though and grab the last phone on the table.

'Sogowa, Ari,' a female computer voice says when the boy I came in with holds up the phone to his face. I expect I must be doing the same, so I follow his lead. "Facial recognition, please wait" can be seen on the screen. After a few seconds the computer voice says my name: 'Okada, Shiori.' From the corner of my eye I can see three pictures with numbers and symbols on Ari's phone screen. Why does he have those pictures and I don't? 'Oh, you really are new,' the blonde says, looking over my shoulder at my screen. Ari quickly shields off his screen from the others.

'Maximum numbers of participants has been reached,' the female computer voice tells us. 'Registration is now closed. The game starts now.'

'Game?' I ask confused. 'Are we going to play a game?' I'm not the only one who's looking confused. It seems as if the other people in the room find my enthusiastic tone very odd. Ari wants to say something, but the blonde quickly says: 'Yes! We're going to play a game. It will be fun!' She tries to smile at me, but it's more like a menacing grimace. 'Bibi...' the brunette starts, but her friend just says: 'Ssht, Jayda, this will be fun!'

'Difficulty,' the voice says, to which everyone holds a tense breath, only to release in relieve when the voice continues, 'four of clubs.'

Four of clubs? What does that even mean? I think I'm about to find out.