The Border's Ace

#17

Chapter 17 - Play Pretend

izumi

17th day in Borderlands

Considering the summer season, It's quite warm inside the stadium but I felt a december air for a moment when Ann told me that. Her gaze pinned on the ground while she let me process her words.

"Let me see your card." I said, hands trembling for what might be written on a piece of paper she was holding.

Find the scapegoat!

I let out a frustrated air and grudgingly handed the paper back to her. She bursted out laughing at my reaction but immediately stopped when she noticed my glistening eyes.

"Iz, I was justー I apologize. I shouldn't have joked like thatー"

"I'm tired of losing everyone. I thought I'm gonna lose you too for a moment. You can't die on me, Ann. Not on my watch."

She reached out to me, constantly apologizing, and pull me into a tight embrace. If ever all of this was just a fucking dream, I might never want to fall asleep again once I woke up. We're running out of time, and nothing has been planned yet. We both don't know where or how to start.

She suggested to approach everyone and asked for cooperation, but everyone seemed to have their own boats now. It said that only the real scapegoat has the real missionー observation. That's what we need to do, observe everyone, analyze their moves even their slightest expressions. We wandered our eyes to the 15 people with us, nothing suspicious, just a bunch of people whispering with each other while giving looks to everybody.

"This is hella hard," says Ann as she rubbed her temples. "How can we know who's who if no one wants to cooperate with us?!"

"Well, you can't blame them. In a world we're playing, it's impossible to trust someone." I pat her shoulder and give her an encouraging smile.

Trust is a very big word in borderlands. Differentiating people who can be a comrade and people who can commit betrayal are hardly impossible. A friend can turn into an enemy in a split second, even a family can turn into an opponent by chance. No one can ever be trusted but yourself. That's why I don't blame people who choose to be selfish, after all we all just want to be saved and survived.

In a corner of my eye, I saw a glimpse of a mother and a son, seeking comfort with each other's arms. Afraid that it might be their last hug, last kiss, last chance to tell how much they're happy that they're a family. The boy had so much fear in his eyes.

"I also have a brother, maybe same age as his." Ann's voice made me snapped back at my thoughts. "I miss him so muchー"

Ann was interrupted by a commotion across us. The players gathered at the mother and son, "He's the scapegoat!" a man yelled. Without second thoughts, we rushed to them. Too many voices, different opinions, all at once.

"What's happening?" Ann asked the other player.

"He's the scapegoat, the child. It was confirmed by that man. He said he accidentally saw the paper as his mother tried to ripped it. Poor boy." she said, tone's full of sympathy.

"Maybe he's lying?" says Ann.

"He doesn't have any reason to. Besides, all of us will die if he did." the player replied.

I looked over to Ann and held her hand. It must be hard for her to see this, he reminds her of her brother. The countdown come to an end, and as expected, the players voted the boy as the scapegoat.