𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐌, alice in borderland

002

The rumbling of the blimp in the sky, along with the King of Spades card, brought a sense of dread, goosebumps arising from your skin as you swallowed dryly. You could still hear the clamour of the citizens on the move, their screams ringing in your ears along with your pounding heart.

In the distance, you hear, "Arisu! Now's our chance!"

"Let's go!" you hear Arisu respond.

Peeking over the hood of the car, the pitter-patter of Arisu and the girl's running footsteps prompted you to stand from your crouched position.

They start to dash along the road before Arisu suddenly stops in his tracks. "Arisu?" the girl asks worriedly.

"He's still alive!" Not giving the girl a chance to respond, Arisu sprints towards a car off to the side.

Deciding to go up to them, you jog over to see the body of a man, barely alive, writhing and squirming in pain.

"Hey! You okay?" Arisu asks loudly, checking the man.

The sound of your footsteps made Arisu and the girl look up at you, eyes wide with adrenaline.

But before you could get a word out of your mouth, you felt the hair on your skin rise, a pulse of energy splashing over you in waves. You felt your heart drop. Craning your neck to look behind, the sight of an ominous figure clad in black made your breath leave your lungs sharply.

"Shit," you curse lowly.

"The King of Spades is here," Arisu agonised.

Said King, with his flowing robe and dark attire, head covered and face obstructed by his hood, was slowly, calmly approaching you. Although at a distance that felt safe enough for you to move, the aura he brought along felt like it was consuming your surroundings every step he took, bringing down your dose of hope along with it.

The short-haired woman, who you still needed to know the name of, gasped. "Come on!"

And with that, Arisu swung one of the dying man's arms around his shoulders ("Hang in there! Get up!"), the woman holding him up by the other.

"This way!" you instructed, running over to the other side of the highway just before the gunfire resumed.

You ran behind a car, Arisu and the girl arriving shortly after. The gunfire had halted, and you looked over to the man who still hung around Arisu's shoulders. Noticing the slow draw of breath and the faraway look in his eyes, you purse your lips hopelessly.

"He's..." you trail off, voice soft and brows furrowed. Arisu whipped his head to look at you before he noticed your saddened face. He turned to the man.

"You all right, huh?" Arisu asked, but no response came. The short-haired woman's eyes widened in worry. Gently, they laid the now-corpse on the asphalt by the neck, you taking it upon yourself to shut his eyelids. But there was no time to mourn.

"Hey! You three okay? You hurt?"

You hear the dreadlocked woman's voice, this time much closer, prompting you to crane your neck to look behind. And there she was, Chishiya beside her. Said man flicked up his wrist, palm up in a motionless wave. The dreadlocked woman gave you a grin. "I'm Kuina, by the way!"

You sent her a quick smile back before a burst of gunfire made you flinch.

"Go! Go! Run!" you heard a citizen yell, the sound of gunfire and a body thudding following.

Arisu exhaled. "The King of Spades is just one guy."

Another round of sudden spitfire made you flinch back. You were getting sick of it at this point.

"Can he stop doing that?" you complained, palms covering your ears.

"We're pinned down here!" The tall woman, whom you finally know as Kuina, pointed out.

The woman in front of you— I really need to know her name, you thought— replied with a, "If we step out, he'll get us!"

Then a blessing in the form of a car arrived, horn honking three times before it quickly drove up towards where your group was.

"Huh?" you blurted.

Its horn blared, the tires squealing as it halted. On the driver's side, a man in a blue cap stretched out of the window, tapping the roof frantically, yelling, "Get in!"

"Tatta!" Arisu shouted in recognition.

"Don't just stand there!" the passenger, a woman with short, dark hair, and red lips demanded.

"Ann!" Kuina called.

The rain of bullets resumed again, Arisu, the woman, and Kuina immediately dashing out of their place towards the open backseat of the car. Since you were closest to Kuina, she dragged you by the arm, pulling you towards the vehicle. She had just sat down on the seat, you right behind her, when the clatter of metal somewhere below you grabbed your attention. There, on the asphalt, lay a grenade. Your eyes widened.

"That's bad," you heard behind you just before you were immediately pulled back by an arm around your waist. It only registered in your head who the person was after you saw a blur of grey and white.

"Get going!" you heard Chishiya shout before a series of "Drive!" and "Okay!" followed.

"Chishiya!" Kuina yelled worriedly, your name leaving her lips after.

Both of you had just managed to shield yourselves behind a car before the screeching of wheels driving off was muffled by the rumbling boom of the grenade. Your hands flew to your ears, desperately trying to lessen the deafening sound from damaging your eardrums. You regret inhaling, the smoke entering your lungs, leaving you a coughing mess. Once your fit ended, you and Chishiya took a second to listen for the footsteps of the King, but you were only met with silence.

Chishiya shuffled from behind you. "You still alive?" he asked, voice low as to not let the King catch onto where you were.

You nodded. "Yes, unfortunately," you grumble sarcastically. Chishiya let out a breath of a chuckle.

A round of bullets echoed, and the screams resumed. Flinching back, you planted yourself closer to the car, Chishiya pulling back his arm from its position around you.

Feeling a pressure, you palmed your body until you recalled having picked up a gun earlier.

Then an idea popped up in your head.

Pulling out said gun, you held it firmly in your dominant hand after checking the magazine and positioned yourself into a crouch. You edged yourself closer towards the hood of the car. Once the shooting had stopped, you made sure to listen to your surroundings keenly, senses sharp and focused.

A few shuffles of the King's shoes. The ruffling of fabric. The quiet click as he tightened his hold on his gun. The crackling of the asphalt against the bottoms of his boots.

You grit your teeth.

The sound of the wind whooshing as the King turned his weapon to a direction, and you swiftly popped up from behind the car, gun aimed towards the King. The motion made the King immediately turn towards you, but you already took the shot as soon as he moved.

The King took a step back, his hood almost falling off his head. Your bullet had penetrated a hole through his hood, barely grazing his ear. The King shook his head and let out a grunt. He quickly raised his gun, now aimed towards you.

Suddenly, a citizen started running, not away, but towards the King, a thick plank in his hands. He slammed the object against the King, but the King barely flinched. The citizen dropped his makeshift weapon, regret visible in his wide-eyed expression. With no hesitation, the King rammed the butt of his gun onto the poor citizen's forehead, resulting in the man flopping towards the asphalt.

"Now it's time to go," Chishiya finally spoke up, pushing himself to stand.

You let out an exasperated, "Yup," before you and Chishiya ran towards the buildings, disappearing into the alleys.