Hour 13

As Cliff towered over him like some kind of monstrous Greek statue Alex knew he was at a colossal disadvantage. Speed, strength, stamina, technique, he was no match. The only thing Alex had was the fact he could be underestimated; since he was outmatched to such a comical degree, there was a chance, no matter how slim, that he could work something in his favor. Cliff had proven himself observant though, obviously not someone who would actively underestimate an opponent, even someone of Alex's stature. This meant Alex would have to force him to do so and control the situation to his advantage, which was easier postulated upon rather than acted out. Cliff pretended to throw a left hook, which Alex immediately reacted to, only to be blindsided by a powerful right jab that hit him hard enough to make his teeth painfully clang against each other as he hit the floor. Normally, such a punch would've knocked him unconscious, but Cliff, who was used to sparring with adults, had slightly misjudged the height of his target, and his fist slacked off. Alex was still barely conscious and only narrowly avoided a merciless kick to the face by pushing himself off the ground in the opposite direction. As he stumbled to his feet, his ankle twisted uncomfortably, and he instantly knew it was sprained. He had no time to consider this, though, as Cliff sent him into the meat wall with an elbow to the chest that was adjusted to his height for maximum impact. He spiraled into the case hard enough to rock the frame as he landed unconscious on a row of chicken thighs in an anticlimactic heap. Cliff had knocked plenty of people out in his time, and he knew by the way Alex had braced himself as he fell and the way he continued to produce rapid, anxious breaths that he was faking being unconscious. Cliff pretended not to notice his ruse as he approached him and Alex acted as anticipated by trying to kick him in the sternum, but he brushed his full-force kick away with a simple sweep of his arm like he was pushing away a side dish he didn't like. He grabbed Alex by the shirt and hoisted him up, and as expected, Alex tried to grab at his face with his dominant hand, his right hand and was smoothly stopped as Cliff captured his wrist in a meaty grip. Just as Cliff had stunned him with a false punch, Alex had copied it, his dominant hand thrust in a gesture leaking with desperation meant to catch Cliff's refined attention. As Cliff lightheartedly secured his hand Alex's demeanor shifted, something Cliff realized only a second too late as he used his left hand to hammer a plastic container of chicken livers from the sale display directly into the center of his face. Cliff, unfortunately, trying to act upon the deceit he just picked up on, turned into the impact only heightening its damage, breaking his nose in a crippling slam. The cheap plastic container split open down the nutrition label and flushed his eyes with oily chicken juice forcing him to release his hold on Alex to massage his burning eyes. As Alex broke free from his grasp, the first thing he realized was the stench of the chicken entrails that now clung to Cliff's face, and the second thing was that this was probably his only chance to take Cliff off guard. He tried to tackle him, but it was like running into a brick wall; there was absolutely no give. Cliff pushed him aside and tried to retreat, feeling his way down the cold case as he began to run towards Alice's voice, hoping to regroup with her.

Emi knew Alice would go for the knife still in her stomach the first chance she got. As Alice tried to accomplish this, Emi slammed her fist into the side of her face hard enough to ripple the impact up her arm; even though her pain negation was still active, she could feel something tingle with a numb pulse deep in her forearm. She didn't know how to fight and had never thrown a real punch before, but she had put all her strength behind the fist she had thrown. Alice tripped backward in a blind shuffle over her own feet, obviously not expecting the blow she had just endured, and Jake jumped to subdue her. He forced her to the ground in an awkward sitting position but she had a brief moment of lucidity and ruthlessly mashed her fingers into the wound she had previously inflicted upon his stomach. He cried out in the most purely distilled misery a human voice could produce, releasing his hold on her and bracing himself against her hand to stop its painful flexing. Before she could devote any more thought to her rebellious actions, Emi snatched her by the back of her head and brought her face down on the lip of the cold case, splitting her lips and chipping a tooth. Alice shouted in pain as she pushed herself free of Emi's hands, but before she could escape, Emi brought the butt of the shotgun under her chin with bone-cracking force, laying her out on the floor. She was about to administer the fatal blow when Alex yelled, "Watch out!" Emi had just enough time to see Cliff reaching for them in a blind rage. Jake shoved her out of the way, but in the process of doing so, Cliff's right hand grazed his elbow, and Emi watched in horror as his sacrifice caused him to fall to the floor; his final words, "Emi... win this!" Before he never moved again. Alice clawed her way to her feet, now IT, and charged Emi, but she kicked the blinded Cliff to her, causing her to tag Cliff and kill him. Alice screamed, "I'm going to kill you, Emi!" As the IT title disappeared from above her head. As she galloped to Emi in a mad hysteria, Emi shouted "I've had enough of you!" She threw the shotgun at Alice, who reflexively caught it, but as she did, Emi had already taken the knife out of her stomach and proceeded to bury it deep in her chest. She howled in pain as they fell to the tile floor, but Emi wasn't done; she took the knife back out and sunk it in again, all the way to its hilt, making sure to twist it in just as Alice had done to her, only Emi had all her body weight behind it. Alice convulsed, tried to grab at her chest, blinked twice, and then sighed in a gurgled heave, all the air and strength leaving her body. Alex had made his way back to Emi and had said between heavy breaths, "I'm sorry I couldn't take Cliff like I promised." Emi, who was also breathing quite heavily, replied, "It's ok, whatever you did messed him up enough for us to win. I couldn't have done it alone." Alex looked to Jakes lifeless body and was instantly depressed by the end result of the game. As Emi looked over Alice's body, she checked her phone to make sure she didn't have a revive in her purchase history, which she didn't. Alex checked Cliff's phone and he also, luckily, had no revive. Alex said, "Hold on, the voice never said the game was over. And... You're not IT, Emi, which means someone-" That's when they both saw a figure lurch out of the chip aisle. It was Richard, his Hawaiian shirt soaked in blood and his face burning with rage. Emi thought, "Jake said he was killed by Alice. That means, he must've had a revive." Richard growled, "You're all traitors, good-for-nothing pieces of shit." His jolly nature had been peeled away, the person before them only interested in revenge. Emi said, "We never deceived you. Alice is to blame for that and she's already dead, so let's talk this out." As she spoke she could see the IT title above his head, and he showed no signs of trusting Emi. "I don't believe anything you say. You're all cheaters!" His beer belly bounced with every step as he continued to spew, "Everyone walks all over me! She cheated on me, then took the kids! That snobby big wig fired me even though I made the company what it is! My car was stolen but the insurance company wouldn't help! Now, the house is going into foreclosure! I'm just one big joke to everyone!" His eyes glowed with murderous fury as he frothed at the mouth and roared, "Not anymore! Not when I kill you all! Then I'll be the winner, then I'll be the big shot!" As he got closer it was obvious he wasn't going to listen to reason. Emi told Alex to cover his ears, and when he saw her face, he decided not to ask why. Emi lifted the shotgun up and told Richard "I'll kill you if you come any closer." Richard cackled, still lost in the throes of madness, "I'm finally going to be a winner! I can't die, winners don't die!" Emi shot him with one of the two slugs she had taken back from Alice's corpse and the recoil was enough to make her sit down. His midsection was immediately speckled with a meaty texture that blew threw his shirt like some kind of modern art piece. He took 3 more steps, collapsed, made a snoring sound, and then was silent. The voice congratulated them, "You have cleared the phase; please take the door to your right." As they looked right, there was an open door built into the meat wall, and there were strange dark veins formed at the base similar in composition to the sludge that had formed the door to truth or dare. The black veins pulsated with a purple light as if beckoning them to continue. If Emi had been thinking logically, she would've gathered more supplies from the store before continuing on, but she had reached a mental strain she had never sustained before. The voice had promised her some answers if she beat the next few challenges, and all she could think about was just that. What had everyone been dying for? Her mother, and now Jake, what was the point? As Alex held her hand through the door, she fainted from blood loss due to removing the knife that Alice had planted in her, something she didn't feel coming on as her pain negation had interfered with any biological warning signs.