Alice in Borderland

Chapter 6 - All in

After two rounds, the first player of ours went bust. I expected the suit man to be killed by a laser from the ceiling, as was the case with my first game. But the dealer pulls out a pistol under the table at lightning speed and shoots him with a shot to the head without hesitation. I'm not the only one twitching and looking at my chips. I have won the fewest after the woman, which makes me nervous. The man who stood at the entrance next to the military type owns by the game just the most.

The game manager at our table will play the next round. I get off after a round, but the woman goes all in. The spectacle wearer two places further holds against it and looks greedily at his hand. He can't control his emotions and after two rounds I know now that he's easy to see through. The woman loses and the dealer opens her up without even flinching. I wonder if he's like the axe man. That he can also be killed under certain circumstances or does the whole thing voluntarily. The next round goes to me and I can top up my chips so as not to be the next one to die. The eyeglass wearer has only about ten chips left and seems to swallow hard.

The people of roulette seem to be ready and split up to watch the games that are still running. Of the eight players, three remain, including the military type and Satoru. So more than one could survive in this game. Watching them on means either that they enjoy it all here or that they are not allowed to leave yet. We're playing the next round and I'm trying to focus on my teammates and the way they play. The man behind the military type always seems to have pretty good cards, but he puts too many bets too quickly.

Eyeglass wearer chews nervously on his lip and wobbles restlessly with his right leg. The other player with the moustache still alive is playing against him and the other, because I got out pretty much at the beginning because with a pair of sixes was too risky. The people of blackjack also seem to be ready and everyone is around our table. Of the six players, two still live, including the boy with the white vest. He stands in the middle of me and the man opposite me and seems to be watching everyone closely.

The game manager turns the last card and the spectacle wearer panics. He repeatedly taps the table with his fingers and looks into his cards. He doesn't have a good hand, I can see that from his gaze. The other reveals his cards and waits anxiously as the wearer gets up and tries to run away. The card-layer targets and shoots him in the chest. With a scream, the man tries to run on, but the next shot hits his knee and he slumps to the ground. He remains whimpering and screaming, but the blue-haired man seems to have had enough of him and shuffles the cards again. I look sadly at the man and then try to focus on the next round.

We are only three and I have the fewest chips. When the cards are dealt, I look briefly at my two and then focus on the reactions of my teammates. The man next to me with the moustache shrugs almost unnoticed with a corner of his mouth, which means he does not have such a good leaf. I can use this to my advantage. I try to get as much out of them as possible before they fit. The pot goes to me. In the next round I get out and leave it to the two men. Both play arrogantly and risky, their eyes widen and they seem to be barely able to wait. The man opposite me wins the whole pot and the game manager shoots the man next to me. I feel a few blood spatters on my cheek as I turn away a little.

So now the last round begins: All or Nothing.

The cards are dealt and I begin to doubt. The man grins broadly and I get nervous. I play nervously around my skirt and my knife is awkwardly pushed into my back by the chair. He puts in quick and big assignments and I have no choice but to go along.

"Just give up right away, then you save yourself a minute of agonizing inevitability," he says, wet and I get more and more restless.

The game manager has now revealed the third of five cards and the man looks at me waiting. The Third Card gives me hope and I literally have to put everything on one card. I can win if I don't let anything happen now, so he pulls back. I put on a poker face, which seems to amuse the man.

My only advantage over him is that I'm weak and petite, and that's what I have to use against him.

I let a tear escape from my corner of my eye, but so conspicuous that most people notice. The man laughs loudly and puts all his chips without knowing the last two cards. Hesitantly, I also push all my chips into the middle and the card-layer reveals the remaining cards nodding. My opponent gets up and his laugh gets a sick undertone. He throws his cards on the table and says he has a straight flush. The second best hand in the whole game. He greedily grabs the chips on his side and the man with the blue hair pulls out his pistol.

I close my eyes for a moment and listen to my heartbeat. When I reopen them, a slight grin surrounds my lips and I put my cards open. The game manager pauses and everyone except my opponent seems to understand. He continues to laugh until the gun is pointed at him. He first stares at the card-layer in confusion and then his gaze glides onto my cards: Royal Flush, by far the best thing in poker.

"No, no, no," he curses in panic, and the next moment the bullet hits him. He collapses and I sit there, at a table with four collapsed corpses and five spectators. I look at the blue-haired man and he nods at me, so I get up and leave the table. The game is over.

I won.

Our phones light up and the ringing appears again.

Congratulations, they won

I take my sports bag at my feet and put it back on my shoulder. It feels weird, but I don't just feel a spark of relief this time. It kind of feels good.

"How good that I didn't have to play against you, smart head," Satoru laughs and we all run to the exit. Suddenly someone grabs my foot and I look down to the man. His face is pain-distorted and he lies in his pool of blood. The man with the glasses tries to talk to me and I almost don't understand a word.

"Please"

He wants me to take away the pain, for good. And I understand it. He looks at the knife on my back and I pull it out. I want to bend down to him, but someone suddenly grabs my wrist and stops me. I look beside me to the military guy and he shakes his head.

"The Rules"

He means that you can't kill your teammates. But what he doesn't know is that I've already thought about it.

'I know I don't want to kill him. It's his decision"

He nods and releases my wrist. The boy with the blond white hair has stopped next to him, just like Satoru and they watch us. I put the knife in the hand of the dying man and he nods thankfully to me. I get up and keep running, because I don't want to watch what's happening now. I leave the casino and breathe in the cool evening air. As usual, I pull the football jacket closer to my body and close my eyes for a moment. It is better to finish this game and leave the dead behind. That's what I decided before the last game. The first man I saw die here keeps popping up in my dreams and I want to prevent that for the future.

"See Sayuuri," Says Satoru, strolling towards the city. I didn't think he could remember my name. He just called me a clever head all the time.

"Mhm. Sayuuri?"

I turn around and see the man in the white vest. He put his hands in his jacket pockets and raised his eyebrows slightly. He looks at me slightly arrogantly and grins slightly. Next to him, the man with the military pants stands and looks at me without emotion. A distorted voice reports and the man picks up a radio.

"Return to the Beach"

"To the beach?" I ask incredulously, pointing my head at the device.

"That's why we want to talk to you," he begins, putting the radio away again, "We're a big group and we're looking for people like you. We have a safe place with guards, enough food and drink"

"A kind of sect?"

"A refuge, we want you to come with us"

"And why should I do that?"

"Because we have the answer. The answer to getting back into the normal world"