came as a 3, left as 1

time to rest, or not

________________

the roads still empty, i guess we are still living life like this.
i see a car, its unlocked i open it.
i try to start it.
the keys inside, whys it not working?!
"what?" I say to myself.
i give up, i tried to press everything.
there was a bag beside me.
i slowly looked in it.
a rotten tomato?
it smells.
i cough a little.
i decide to exit the car after that.
i close the door
i make my way back to the others.
"howd it go?" I ask.
"not good, i got nothing" alex replies.
"alright, lets just grab anything that might be useful" karube says.
"Just as i thought, all the IC chips have been destroyed!" Alex says.
"video cameras..digital clocks, anything that oprates with a electronic circuit board wont function at all!" Alex says.
"but old stuff like this still works" he says as he picks up a old radio.
"since none of it has IC chips" he says turning the radio up.
"what does that mean?" I ask.
"it might mean.." alex says
pausing as hes thinking back.
"an electromagnetic pulse attack." Alex says.
"ive read about this online" he adds.
"it can destory everything in the entire city." He says.
"seriously?" I ask
alex nods.
"so, why is this working?" I ask as i pull out my phone.
"no idea.." alex says.
The phone dies on me.
"Huh." I tap on the screen.
"its completely useless of we cant charge it!" I say as i throw it on the counter.
meanwhile, karube is with the lady.
" this place looks safe enough." karube says.
he picks up a sharp knife.
"alright, this might be a good weapon." He says.
"what do you need a weapon for?" she asks.
"zombies" karube says kiddingly.
she laughs fakely.
She picks up a cooking pot.
"you know we cant use electricty or gas, right?" He says.
"but, i can still use the portable stove." She says.
"it has batteries that i can also use in my flashlight and i like a hot meal sometimes" she says smiling.
later on,
the radio plays some music as we drink beer and eat some canned pinapples like we are a family or something..to be honest i would prefer this as my family...
"this is so good!" Alex says.
"we havent eaten anything since yesterday!" I say.
"hey, what were u guys doing, when everybody disapeared." She asks.
"bathroom" i say.
"we were all in the same stall" alex added.
"why were you all in the same stall..." she weridly asks.
"where were you?" karube asks.
she has a flashback.
"i was at work" she lies.
"i was in the confrence room, doing some...paper work" she adds.
"and then...everybody in the office disapeared.
"did you happen to see, or hear anything at all?" I ask.
"Not really.." She says.
"I came to this place three days ago" she says.
"and..i was forced to play this game just like all of you were." she adds.
"everybody died, but me.." she gets teary eyed.
"you mean you used them as bait, right?" karube says.
"think what you want!" She says
"All i wanted, was to survive" she says.
the table goes silent.
"Well.." karube says sipping his beer.
"what kinda game was it?" I ask.
"it was at the subway.." she says.
"they used posion gas in the game, everybody was vomiting blood.." she says.
"blood was coming out of there eyes!" she cries.
"werid huh..when everybody disapeared was yesterday for the three of us." i say.
"yes.." alex answers.
"but, it was three days ago for her. Why the time difference?" I say.
"thats right." Karube says.
"and thoses vegatables that were rotten. They take longer then a few days to go bad..whats going on?!" I question.
"maybe the speed of time is..different from the normal world" she says.
"huh?" I say.
"i dont really know but, take the time difference when everbody disapeared was different with the 4 of us." She says.
"did we time travel? while we were in a subway bathroom stall?" Alex says.
"theres no way." karube says.
"its also impossible for people to just disapear!" Alex says.
"time traveling isnt real!" Karube adds.
"then how do you explain the game and everybody disapearing?" Alex says.
" i dont know alright!" Karube says.
"anyways.." alex says.
"all we know for sure about this game is that, a game masters running it." I say.
"game master?" Karube says.
"somebody came up with this game!" I say.
"thats for sure." I say.
"so while we are in a bathroom stall, they get rid of everybody in tokyo, to set up this game?" Karube tries to wrap this around his head.
"they keep track of our movements, and fire lazers through our heads when we make the wrong move."
i say.
"what kind of person would do that?" Karube asks.
" i dont know, but its definatly possible if they insetered a highly accurate GPS microchip into our bodies." Says alex.
"spoken like a real IT geek" says Karube.
"But, who the hell can be behind this thing?" I ask.
"could it be some..goverment run exprement or something." I add.
"there were some rumours going around at my work, an IT company from europe wanted to conduct a experiment, they destablished a VR space then created a world completely identical to the real world." She says.
"but we should be able to tell VR from the real world" says Karube.
"man..this..hurts" alex says.
"i dont think VR can cause burns like that.." i say.
"maybe its god.." alex says in pain.
"this has to be the work of god!" He adds.
"otherwise..how else do you explain it." he sweats
"Your talking crazy now" karube says.
"nah man i think...god really does exist.." alexander says so worryingly.
"urgh.." he lets out a noise.
"hey is it getting worse?" Asks the lady.
"its alright...its gonna be fine" he assures us.
i look down as i hear him in pain.
it comes later at night.
i walk around with karube.
"i think we gotta get alex to a doctor." I say worringly.
"you know how he is, its probably hurting more then he says!" I add.
"Arisu, lets get in the game tommorow night. Just the two of us" karube says.
"what?" i ask suprised.
"but, we got three days left on our visa's!" I tell him.
"its better to get in the game, while we still have time" karube says

i just dont think, alex is going to be able to make it through.." Karube says sadly.
i get teary eyed.
meanwhile, alex and the lady are back at the house.
"how are you doing?" She asks.
"not bad thanks..." he says.
"if the two of us dont get through this game..we wont be able to protect alex" he says.
"your right..but" i say.
"maybe we could find a doctor to, we will meet more people if we keep playing." karube says trying to preswade me.
"do we really have to play again?" i ask.
"maybe we will get a idea of what this games about!" karube says.
i think
"well, i guess if we play we might find out there signature." I say.
"signature?" Asks  karube.
"ye, if somebody acctually created this game. There a kind of signature they use. If we are able to find that we can figure out a stragety for the game." I say.
later that night i agree.
we make our way
"theres a lot of people here this time, maybe we will find a doctor" karube says.
we both grab a phone.
"registration has closed"
"there are a total of 13 participants. The game will now commenence"
"e-excuse me, what is this?" A guy asks us.
"i was brought here..and i dont know whats going on!" He says.
"its a game" i reply.
"stopp" karube says.
"newbies will slow us down they might hate us but i think its a better idea to do what shibuki did" karube adds.
"diffuctly: five of spades"
"five of spades?" Karube asks.
"its gonna be physical, only the strong survive" a man answered his question.
"im nitobe, nice to meet you" he says.
karube ignores him
"each mark has a different meaning?" I ask.
"exactly!" Nitobe replies.
i shake his hand.
"the playing card usually means what game its gonna be" he says.
"clubs is a team battle, diamond refers to a battle of the wits" Nitobe explains.
"and as for hearts...thats the worst one" he laughs.
"whys that?" I ask.
"ahh, cause you play with peoples hearts then tear them apart." He says getting close to me.
i gulp.
"and the number?" I ask
"diffuclty." He replies.
"the higher the number on the card, the harder it is." He smiles.
"game is tag"
"rule: avoid whoever is it"
"so whos it?" I ask.
"how should i know?" Karube says.
"clear condition: discover and touch the sample hidden in one of the building rooms within the time limit, you clear the game when this objective is filliled, time: 20 minutes"
"If not, the time bomb hidden in the building will explode."
meanwhile..alexander
"oh holy mother..please save us from all of our moral sins. Our smiles are the hope." x2

So you believe in god?" asks shibuki.
"here" she says passing him some water.
"i've also been doing nothing but praying recently" she says sitting on his bed.
" i dont believe in god.." alex says.
"but, my mother was obsessed with some cult for a while" he says.
"mm" she says.
"because of that i will bullied in school, but arisu and karube saved me" he says.
"there really good friends arent they" she says smiling.
"Karube is good at fighting and the girls really love him and Arisu is so smart and comes from a respected family. Then theres me, my family is poor and im not really good at anything" alex says.
"and even now, when im hurt and useless there still helping me.." alex says.
"some people like being the strongest ones in the group.." she says.
"It makes them feel at ease" she says.
he smiles.
"there just so different!" he says.
"do you think your good enough to play the next game?" She asks.
his smile fades.
she rubs his leg
"how does your leg feel?" She asks.
"there just so different.." he says.
"are you willing to die too? To save your friends.." she asks.
he stops.
Meanwhile me and karube are exploring around.
"the game will commence in two minutes"
"stop following us" karube insists.
"Hehe, just looking around. I feel like you two might be good enough to be a my allies." Nitobe says.
"lucky us.." karube says saracatically.
"are you a doctor?" I ask.
"no, im a real estate agent" he says.
"how many times have you played the game?" I ask.
"err..lets see maybe five times?" Nitobe says.
"and you've always won?" I ask
"i guess so ye" nitobe laughs.
meanwhile, a white haired guy on the top floor, he says to himself.
"if i wanna see where everybody is. This is a perfect location."
his white hair blowing as he sees two men come up the stairs.
he waves and smiles.
"yep...i got a werid feeling about this" he tells himself.
"Hmm..looks like everybodys about to die just like they always do" he chuckles.
meanwhile back to alex.
"maybe, you have always been screwed over, shibuki" alex says.
"you've never met anyone decent" he adds.
"your right" shibuki says.
alex looks at her.
"isnt it the same way for you?" She asks.
"No, your wrong" he says.
he starts crying.
She pulls him closer
"it must of been rough." She says.
he nods, his head shaking.
she touches his hair and pats it.
meanwhile back to us.
"The game will now commence"
"the time limit is 20 minutes"
"game start"
"the tagger is on the move"