Eve makes a choice

"You'd think they would have some way of seeing what's on the other side of this door," Eve says, looking around the mostly blank wall at the far end of the tunnel. "A periscope, or something."

"They probably do," Jade says, indicating the screen. "They use this, and that way they can control what's on it. I don't think I'd trust it if it were showing an empty house, anyway."

"Wait," Eve says, stepping in front of Jade. "I'll get the door. You take cover behind me, and keep that gun pointed at whatever might be on the other side. If there's someone there, he's probably been tipped off that you have it, and he'll try to grab it from you."

"He might grab you, and use you as a hostage."

"Why would he think that that you'd care?" Eve shrugs, and Jade feels a sting at the matter-of-fact tone. "Ready, then?"

Jade crouches down behind the other girl. "Ready."

Eve pushes the door. It rises slowly and silently on hydraulic lifting arms, until it's raised enough for them to easily step through.

The house on this side is a near-duplicate of the one they left; if the tunnel hadn't been perfectly straight, Jade might almost think that they'd somehow gone in a circle and ended back where they started. The girls emerge from the tunnel, and after a quick look around the room ensures that there's nowhere someone could hide, Jade makes her way over to the cabinets to check for supplies.

"Anything there?" Eve asks.

"They're all empty," Jade replies. "The Director knew we were coming here, of course. He probably made sure the place was cleaned out. He's done giving me any advantage."

Eve looks out the windows, sees her reflection. The interior lights are much brighter than the outside, making it impossible to see their surroundings. "He's probably got the place surrounded," she says. "He's not going to let you get away, even if you leave the flare gun here."

"Probably not, but if I try to take this with me, he'll have me removed from the game completely. It's the difference between a slim chance and none, and I'll take the former." Slowly and deliberately, Jade places the flare gun on the counter, right in front of the small screen where she half-expects to see the Director's face appear... but it remains black.

Eve puts her face up to the small window by the door, cupping her hands around her eyes, trying to see out. "You said they hadn't caught you yet," Eve says. "You're still a virgin?"

"By their definition," Jade replies.

"You might be the last one, then."

"It's... possible, sure." Something about Eve's tone is wrong; she's too calm, too collected, as if she's come to a decision that's very final.

"So if you get caught, that's it. It's over. We all go home."

Jade feels her blood chill. Is she thinking what I think she is? "Eve, we're both in the lead right now," she says quietly. "Your chances are as good as mine. You can't just give up and throw it away after all you've been through!"

Eve takes the door handle firmly. "I'm not going to win," she whispers. "I don't have what it takes to win this. I want to be with Anna again, I want to go home!"

"Don't do this Eve," Jade says. For just a moment, Jade considers going back for the flare gun... No! she scolds herself. There are lines I won't cross! "Please, I'm begging you! What if... what if I'm not the last holdout? It'll be for nothing!"

"Evelyn Marie Kimble," Eve says, slowly and clearly. "116 East 43rd Street, Chicago. We're about to get evicted so we probably won't still be there, but we won't be far away."

Jade stops short. "What?"

"I can't win," Eve whispers, "but you can. I'm trusting you to do right by me, Jade... don't let me down!"

Eve flings open the door, runs out into the night. "HEY, GUYS!" she shouts. "COME AND GET ME, I'M ALL YOURS!"

She's crazy! Jade runs for the door, but it's too late to stop her - and at the last second she stops and dodges to the side, hiding behind the doorframe. She can see Eve dashing across the grassy clearing, her nude body glowing in the moonlight, and perhaps five or six men leaping up out of hiding to run after her. She's letting me escape, Jade realizes. She sacrificed herself so I could get away... she's counting on me to win, and to find her afterwards and pay her back for this! There's no way every guy out there ran after her, some of them must have been told I was with her, but it's the best chance I'm going to get!

Jade bolts out the door, heading around the house to the back and running as hard as she can in the opposite direction from Eve. Behind her, she can hear footsteps approaching; someone is chasing her!

There was no time to get her bearings or even a clear look at what she was running into. Jade can see that the woods are not nearly as thick as they were, they're closer to the beach now. There's still some cover, but her pale skin makes it almost impossible for her to lose herself in the shadows. Somewhere behind her, she hears a crashing noise and a cry of pain; one of the men must have tripped, but there are definitely others still closing on her!

I'm smaller than they are, Jade thinks. I need to use that to my advantage, find a place where they can't fit, or - there!

Up ahead, Jade can barely make out a ditch running in front of her with a low branch hainging over it. With the strength of desperation, she leaps for the branch, grabs it, uses it to swing over a ditch too wide to jump. She lands badly on the other side, sliding halfway down into the ditch on soft and muddy ground, but grabs at a tuft of grass at the edge to pull herself back up. Even as she does so, one of the men catches up and tries to swing on the branch the same way - except under his weight, it snaps off and he drops into the hole to land heavily on his back.

"ARRGGH!!"

His pained shout slows the other men behind him; Jade dares to glance back and sees that they've stopped at the edge. She doesn't stay put for a moment longer; they could easily drop down into the ditch and back up the other side, and resume chasing her! Jade turns and dashes up the slope into where the trees start to grow slightly thicker, keeping her hands in front of her face to ward off twigs and branches.

Come on, there has to be a way out of this!

Up ahead is a tree larger and taller than the others, with a branch low enough to grab onto and others which she could climb. If anyone is close enough to see her, climbing the tree would just lead her into an inescapable trap - but if she can scramble up into the higher branches without being spotted, they might run right past her!