Alice in Borderland: New York

Pain (4): Everything falls apart

It was already 7:55 when Jake arrived. The motorcycle roared through the night, as Jake flashed through the city, and finally arrived in a satisfying venue. The one world trade center, with around 100 floors, a tower representing America's great economic success, created just after the terrorist attacks to avoid panic among the people. It's also called "Freedom Tower". A very fitting name, Jake thought while riding in the moonlight. When he arrived, he noticed many people. He counted and saw that, with him, they were 13. The only game in that area, with this venue and no player limit... It was either a spades or a club. And not a low one. That was nice... He recognized that old lady named Karen from yesterday. They were just playing for visa... And now they have to play again. That old lady would definitely die if it was too high of a spade... 1 other old person, middle-aged people, some random guy that introduced himself as Bruno, a high schooler named Celeste, a Middle-aged Italian woman called Maria, a young man named Johnny and... A little boy? What the fuck was a child doing in that game? No, there was no point in warning him... After all, if he had to care for everyone here, he would never leave that place... He deep down knew he could not save everyone, and he was fine with that. He was not a hero, just a survivor.

Suddenly, the voice started to announce the game:

"Game: Emergency. Difficulty: 10 of spades"
"What the fuck is that?" Bruno screamed. "A 10? And a 10 of spades?" "A Ten...shit, that can't be good..." Celeste muttered.
"Hoping for you it's cooperative" Jake replied, nonchalantly...
"Rules:" The voice continued to announce, as the crowd became more nervous. "The players must reach the top floor, without taking the elevator."

All players expressed surprise. What? That was it? For a spades? And there wasn't even any time limit? Maybe there would be enemies in the tower... But, as he waked up and up, without even getting tired, Jake realized... There was nothing... Nothing special. And that was the problem. As a 90 years old guy named Patrick entered the room, they were all 13 of them, and no one had lost. How could it be so easy for a 10? Then, the voice talked again:

"Congratulations to all players. Now, all survivors will be able to leave the one-world trade center and get a GAME CLEAR by grabbing their visa and their 10 of spades card on the bottom floor." "Yeah! Now we will not have to worry about the games for more than a week! It's absolutely perfect!" Maria said, completely joyful.
"Well, it's damn time. After yesterday's game, I knew spades were just going to be so easy", Karen said, overconfident.
"Does this mean I'll get to escape, mom?" The child asked to a 40 years old lady named Ophelia.
- "I don't know, Anthony, I don't know." She replied, still in shock about the world she just arrived in just today.

As screams of joy and relief started in the room, Jake realized something was off... There was a buzzing sound. Something... Louder than a bug. Then, questions started filling his head: Why the difficulty? Why was the game called emergency? And why was it in the one-world trade center? As the buzzing sound got louder and louder, Jake realized the awful truth. Of course, a 10 could never have been so easy... He let out a scream of fear, the first of his life, as he opened the exit door and rushed down the stairs... Intrigued, the child followed him... But as the buzzing sound intensified, Celeste then came and rushed down the stairs... Then, Bruno followed, running, and letting out a scream of fear. All the others tried rushing out, but were accidentally preventing each other from escaping... Maria rushed out, trying to get down the stairs, arriving on floor 98, followed by Karen on floor 102 and then...

A Boeing 747 crashed in the tower. Maria, Karen, Patrick, Ophelia... And everyone that stayed on the top floor... Everything that was left of them could fit into a glovebox. The structure of the building was not made to be resistant... And so it started collapsing... Parts of the ceiling were falling on the ground...

Jake knew it... It couldn't be that easy...

The games.... They never were so easy.

Anthony was running, unable to catch up to Jake and the others, as he tripped on the ground on the 79th floor. Bruno and Celeste rushed past him, as and then... As he cried from having lost his mother and all the panic, rushing for his life, a piece of debris fell from the ceiling, crushing both his legs, as he let out an agonizing scream of pain.