Surviving The Borderlands

Chapter One

Another night, another game.

What kind of game would she play tonight.

It had been just over 2 weeks since she had woken up alone in her home. Roommates vanished, along with the rest of Tokyo.

She had wandered the streets for hours before stumbling into her first game.

There were a lot of newcomers at that game but they all learnt the rules quickly. One of players had tried to exit the arena and been killed instantly by a laser, the death creating panic among the rest. She had to admit it had scared her too, watching someone die so suddenly with no cause.

Two players took pity on the rest and explained what they had learned so far.

Each night there was a game. You played the games to earn visa days.

If you survived, more days were added to your visa, if you failed you died.

If you simply chose not to participate at all and let your visa expire, you died.

Their words had terrified everyone but not her, to her it was simple – she would just play to win.

The first game was a clubs game and most of the group made it out alive, the only ones that died were the ones that panicked and became unreasonable.

At the end of the game the eccentric man who had explained the rules offered them all shelter at some 'Utopia' called The Beach. A place where everyone could work together in collecting all the cards, a place to live and party together in what could be their final days.

Everyone but her accepted the offer, her plan was to go her own way for a while.

The Beach could offer some luxuries, but she imagined that luxury came with a leash, one she didn't want or have enough reason to accept. She wanted to explore this world a bit more, find out as much as she could about these games and who created them.

Another thing she was looking to avoid was attachments, attachments can weigh you down in these games – something she had learnt in her second game.

She quickly became fascinated by the games and enjoyed learning them. So far, she had found out that each suit meant a different type of game.

Spades were physical games, not her strongest suit but they were usually games where more than one person could win.

Clubs were team battles and again multiple players could survive, group projects were never really her thing but she was clever enough to always survive.

These games weren't her favourite, but they wielded less death which she appreciated.

Diamonds were games of wit, she liked the challenge of them and the feeling of making it out and feeling superior. Truth be told she wasn't the smartest, but she was very observant.

Then there were the Hearts games. In a Hearts game you toyed with people, with their emotions – most of the time they only permitted one survivor.

Hearts taught her that friends were weaknesses, but they also gave her the biggest rush.

It seemed weird to enjoy a land full of death games but there was an excitement with winning, a rush of completing a challenge and her own curiosity to know more. It was an added bonus there were less people, crowds were never her thing.

Since her arrival she had played games almost every night, visa days didn't concern her anymore. Her plan so far was to collect all the cards, a difficult task for one person, so far she had ten.

Excitement coursed through her as she thought about the upcoming game. She was playing the game before she even arrived.

Before she left the apartment for any game she stretched and then dressed herself up in clothes she'd taken from nearby stores. She did her hair and makeup then packed the nights outfit with items to help her in the games. A pocket knife, a mirror (as silly as it seems reflections can help), floss and some snacks.