Hour 12

The blade that punctured Emi's stomach was so sharp that it actually didn't even hurt at first, but when Alice twisted it with a murderous carving motion, she screamed in agony. Emi's palms reflexively crushed Alice's hands in a vice-like grip; she knew she couldn't let her withdraw the knife or she'd bleed out. They fought for control of the weapon still embedded in Emi for a brief instant, but as Jake, who was still IT, staggered towards them, Alice abandoned her blade and took a rapid step back. Jake meant well as he positioned himself close to Emi, but he was still IT, and having just been betrayed by Alice, she commanded firmly, "Don't come any closer." Jake put his hands up in an almost guilty way and said, "Sorry, sorry." Emi felt the blade burn in her midsection, and as she collapsed to a knee, she could feel its weight shift uncomfortable in her flesh. Jake exclaimed, "Are you ok?" And Emi replied harshly, "Do I look ok!?" She witnessed Jake wince, which prompted her to apologize, "I'm sorry, just give me a minute." Alice asked, "You really think you can win this game in your condition?" Emi ignored her as she limped her way to the meat wall, which currently housed chicken breast at 20 cents off a pound for registered members, and sat on the lip of its cold case. With her back to it, she had a perfect view of the store, Alice, and Jake. Jake had politely given Emi space, but he was still too close for Alice to feel comfortable rushing in; just a touch from him would be fatal. Emi activated the app on her phone and browsed the offers currently available to her. She found a perk called "heal," which would mend any physical injuries but required payment of 50 hours, and she only possessed around 27 hours. She had amassed 3 hours after killing Liam for the first time and then obtained 24 for killing him the second time after using his revive since he came back with 24 hours just like Alex had. She settled on buying "pain negation: 1 hour" for 5 hours leaving her with 22 hours remaining. From the moment her finger tapped her phone accepting the purchase price, the smoldering weight in her stomach lifted, and she no longer felt anything. It wasn't some kind of fancy numbness like a drug might be able to induce, she felt completely normal. As she stood up straight with renewed vigor, Jake remarked, "Wow, you look way better." She replied, "It's only a temporary fix." Then, she motioned to his stomach as she asked, "I'm guessing she did that to you." Jake recounted, "We had decided to work together, power in numbers and all that." He continued, his face painted in regret, "She killed him, she killed Richard and I couldn't even react. Then she tried to kill me. Before she could finish the job, I luckily became IT, and she retreated." Emi thought, "That must've been when I killed Liam the first time; after reviving, he had too many hours to stay IT so the title had to go to someone else." Alice retorted, "Only the smart survive. I killed Richard because he didn't have many hours left, he'd definitely be IT soon and become an enemy. I eliminated that enemy before they could attack." The friendly girl Emi remembered from before was gone, replaced with a cold and calculating woman. Emi asked, "Was it all an act?" Alice asked, "What?" Emi clarified, "The good girl routine, the nice guy act." Alice explained, "I got close to people to figure them out, make them easy to read." Emi asked, "Was it worth it?" Alice shrugged, "I'm still alive, so yeah, I'd say it was." Towards the end of the meat wall on Emi's immediate left, a door propped itself open. Cliff backed out with slow and deliberate steps as he held his hands above his head, completely unaware of what was going on a few dozen feet away. Emi could see that Alex had him at gunpoint, and even though Alex recognized Emi in the periphery of his vision, he made sure to keep his attention primarily focused on Cliff. As Alex exited the staff area he turned and backed his way towards Emi, who ran to his side. As Emi turned her attention to her brother, Jake was careful to keep a watchful eye on Alice; he wouldn't allow her an opportunity to get around him. Emi said, "Nice work, I'm glad you're ok! You're so cold, though." Alex, .44, still trained on Cliff, responded, "Emi, you're seriously injured! What happened, Did you beat Liam?" She said, "Yeah, I did. He's gone, but we can't talk about that later. Alice is the one that stabbed me." Alex, genuine shock weighing down his voice, asked, "Are you serious!?" Suddenly, and very unfortunately, there was a scream in the distance followed by a heavy crash and Cliff became IT. He couldn't tell at the moment since he couldn't look at his phone or the title above his head, but it was true. Emi's gaze flew to Jake, who had lost his status, then to Alice, who had begun walking towards them. Alice, trying to gain Cliff's trust, spoke, "Hey there, military man, that boy pointing the gun at you is bluffing. They used up all their bullets last round, he can't hurt you." Cliff replied, "The more I thought about it, the more clear it became." His lips curled in a smile that revealed teeth so white they could've been carved from porcelain, and said, "he would've killed me by now if he really wanted to protect his sister. I'm a threat to her just by being a player in this game, so if he doesn't remove that threat then that means he can't." Alex lied, "I had more bullets in my bag; I reloaded during the hour break." Emi thought, "Nice save!" And Alex's eyes flashed with confidence as if he had read her mind. Alice laughed, "No, you didn't. I checked both your bags last game when Liam knocked her out, you didn't have any extra ammunition." "What?" Emi thought in anger. "She could've checked mine easily since I was unconscious, but Alex..." She looked at him and saw a fresh bead of sweat caress his jawline. He admitted, "Before Paul came to sit with me, she had spent some time with me. At one point, she asked if I had anything to drink but she was still naked because of her dare, so I looked away when I gave her my bag." He shook his head, "I'm sorry, Emi. I let her look in my bag. I was so stupid!" Before any more disadvantages could take hold, Emi regained their dominance by taking the shotgun that had once belonged to her neighbor that was slung across Alex's back and pointed it at the advancing Alice. Alice threw her hands up in fear, then laughed, "Just kidding." Emi didn't care for any meaningless comebacks, she simply pulled the trigger. When nothing happened, Alice's laughter subsided as she took 2 slugs from her pocket and asked, "Missing something?" A frosty chill constricted Emi's hands; her muscles felt paralyzed. She was appalled as she realized "She took them. She took them before she gave the gun to Paul to hold, and when Paul sacrificed his life to aim the shotgun at Liam, it was empty. He never could've saved anyone." Alice added, "By the way, military man, you're it." Jake couldn't help but shift uncomfortably, and Emi thought, "This is bad, really bad." Cliff said, "I want to trust you. You've been helpful so far, but you're an enemy too." Alice smiled as she told Cliff, "Check your phone. Anyone whose IT will be notified." Emi thought, "Damnit, I didn't know that!" Cliff, who was already suspecting Alex was bluffing and now had confirmed Emi's shotgun was empty, boldly dropped his hands to check his phone even while Alex held the .44. without looking up, Cliff said, "Looks like you're right, I'm IT." Alice started walking towards Jake and Emi with a stride that was only a quick step away from a run, and Cliff fearlessly marched at Alex. Alex stood his ground, and Emi asked, "What're you doing? He's gonna kill you!" Alex replied, "Don't worry, I'll hold him off while you take care of her. He can kill you guys with a touch, but not me; it's best this way. You get rid of her while she isn't IT, and then you can find a way to help me." Emi reasoned, "he's a grown man, Alex! In the army! What can you do to hold him off?" Alex gave her a thumbs up, indicating "I have a plan, but I can't say it out loud. Trust me." At least, that's how Emi interpreted the gesture. Against her instincts, she turned her back to her brother and helped Jake outnumber Alice as Alex blocked Cliff from them. The final showdown of the phase had begun.