Alice in Borderland: New York

Side Story 1: Five of Hearts (2)

"The Weasel has been chosen. Good luck to all players."

Die? Someone here...had to die for everyone else to live?

As Alice's mind reeled and everyone's phone blipped, Max said lightly, "So, which one of you is the Weasel? Because I'm not." "I'm not the Weasel." the brown-haired man said. Alice checked her phone. It said, "You are the Eagle. You may check the roles of 2 other players." "I'm not the Weasel, either." Alice said. "Me neither." Dexter said nervously. Max's smile became more forced. "Well, you see, I want to believe you all. I really do. But one of us has to be the Weasel, and it's not me. And I don't-" he suddenly reached into his bag and pulled out a rifle that he aimed at Dexter before bellowing, "-LIKE BEING LIED TO!" Alice's eyes went wide. She wanted to help Dexter...but she didn't know how. "I'm not the Weasel! I swear!" Dexter shouted, clearly panicking. "Then why are you so nervous, huh? You have something to hide?" Max yelled, shoving the gun closer to his face. "Even if you're a kid, I'll kill you if it means I can clear this game." "He's my friend! I trust him!" Alice yelled. "Well, good for you! I don't!" Max fired back. "This is a Hearts game, even your best friends can be enemies!"

Suddenly, the brown haired man walked up to Max, hands outstretched in the air. Max noticed him and jumped backwards. "Are you afraid?" The man said softly, his eyes shining with amusement. Max's eyes went wild, but before he could respond, Alice ran at Max and shoved him away before grabbing Dexter by the wrist. "Come on!" Alice yelled to him, trying to ignore Max's howl of anger.

Alice and Dexter ran into a hallway, breathing heavily. Alice wiped away the sweat on her forehead before stumbling into a classroom, still dragging Dexter with her. She quickly ran to the center of the room and crouched low, Dexter following suit. "Are you okay?" Alice asked between gasps. "Yeah, I'm-" Dexter suddenly went pale and stopped, having seen something behind Alice. "What?" Alice questioned, but Dexter didn't answer, so she turned around...and gagged.

Corpses. The back of the classroom was full of them, stuck in various poses. They came in all different ages and sizes, but they shared one thing in common: they all stared lifelessly back at her. Resisting the urge to vomit, Alice closed her eyes and slowly backed away...
Until her head hit Max's gun barrel.

"Sorry, kid. Nothing personal. But that kid there is my number one suspect for the Weasel, so we gotta kill him to survive. And if you get in my way, I'll kill you too. So just sit back and let me win." Max said calmly, the barrel following Alice as she slowly stood up, before Max turned the gun on Dexter again. "OR ELSE." Dexter swallowed and slowly raised his hands, standing up as well. "No!" Alice yelled, trying to run to him, but Max fired the gun.

Bang!

Alice's eyes widened and she backed off as the desk in front of Dexter was blasted through by a bullet. Max grinned. "See? I knew you were a smart cookie. With any luck, I won't even have to kill you." He pointed the gun at Dexter again. Dexter silently looked at Alice, his eyes pleading for help. "Any last words?" Max drawled, his finger on the trigger. "I have some for him." Alice said, stepping closer. Max raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Alice took a deep breath and looked at Dexter's scared face.

"Run!"

Alice shoved Max away as hard as she could, causing his gun to fire into the air and both Alice and Max to crash into a desk. Dexter scrambled to his feet and ran out of the classroom as fast as he could, slamming the door behind him. Alice dashed towards the door, but then felt something grab her ankle, and she fell onto the floor. As she tried to get back up, she glanced backwards. Sure enough, Max was pulling at her ankle with one hand and aiming the gun at her with the other.

"You're more trouble than you're worth, brat." He hissed, moving the gun around to get a clear shot from around the desks and  pulling on Alice's ankle to stop her from getting up. "Just remember you brought this on yourself." Alice desperately kept trying to free herself, but to no avail. Max pressed the gun against the back of her head. Alice kept trying to pull away, until...

She suddenly felt the tugging on her ankle stop.

Alice scrambled back and watched in horror as Dexter charged back into the room right at Max, sending both of them tumbling to the floor, desks crashing to the ground around them. "Run! Now!" she heard Dexter call out to her as the two continued scuffling. Alice stood up and ran away as fast as she could. As she ran through the empty halls, she heard the muffled sounds of gunshots and scuffling grow fainter.

Eventually, Alice found a closet and ran inside, slamming the door shut. Breathing heavily, she looked at the door. Was Dexter alright? He'd run back...to save her. How could she have just run away without helping him? After a few agonizing moments that felt like hours, Alice heard a faint voice say "Alice? Are you there?" Alice slowly opened the door. It was Dexter, breathing heavily, his curly hair messed up.

A bullet hole in his chest.

"Dexter! Oh my god, are you okay?!" Alice said, panicking as she rushed over to him. She helped Dexter stagger into the closet before slamming the door shut and barricading it. "I'm fine." Dexter said, breathing heavily and wincing as he collapsed onto the floor. He was very clearly not fine.

Alice laid him on his back and began examining the wound. Blood had pooled and created a fairly large stain on Dexter's shirt, which was still growing. "Dexter..." Alice said softly, not sure what to do. She didn't have any medical experience. She didn't even know CPR! Desperately, Alice searched for medical supplies, but there were none in the closet. "I'll be fine, Alice." Dexter smiled weakly. "I won't die. After all...It'd be...really lame...if the hero died here, wouldn't it?" His voice was getting more strained and weak, like it was getting harder for him to talk.

Alice briefly smiled faintly despite herself, remembering how Dexter had introduced himself to her as a superhero when they first met and she admitted to him that she liked superheroes. Dexter fell silent. "Dexter, please stay with me." Alice begged, taking off her sweater and wrapping it around Dexter, hands shaking. "Maybe the other man knows how to fix you! We just have to survive until the end of the game and you'll be fine!" "I'm here..." Dexter said softly, looking right at her.

"Everything's... going to be fine." Dexter said, trying to smile, to reassure Alice. "You're safe. You...don't have to...worry about me..." Despite Dexter's attempts to calm her down, Alice felt incredibly worried for Dexter as he struggled to shift his body closer to her. "Sorry...I'm...feeling tired...gonna take a nap." Dexter said quietly, closing his eyes. Alice watched as Dexter's chest slowly heaved up, then down...

And then stopped moving.