Fateful game of Poker

The girl didn't hesitate, pointing a ferocious-looking gun at him and pulling the trigger. John thought he was a goner, and he closed his eyes, ready to succumb to the sweet embrace of death, but he felt nothing. Startled, he opened his eyes only to see a pistol in his face, and a when he looked down a bullet hole was clearly far next to him. This girl had a truly terrible aim.

Shaking her pistol to get John's attention, the girl once again steadied the pistol at his head and rested her finger on the trigger before speaking to him in a very confident and overbearing tone. "Who are you? What are you doing here? Why the fuck were you hiding in a closet like a sissy? And why is there only grape soda in this house?!"

Obviously John wasn't concerned with telling her the truth, she would never believe such a mess of a story, no one would, so he tried hard to think of something good. And then he began to speak.

"A good story huh. Well, my story isn't good, so we'll see about that. Hmm, where to start. Well I don't know how I got here. Honestly, I don't even care all that much, anywhere is ok as long as I'm alive I've learned. When I first opened my eyes, I was lying on the floor here, in excruciating pain, and the first thing I noticed besides this fancy house was the sound of gunshots, so I wasn't inclined to move, you know. I don't know how long I lay there, but when I finally got up and looked out the first window I spotted, the one in this master bedroom, I was just in time to see the end of what seemed to be a long and harrowing gunfight right outside my new residence. I even got to see a beautiful little girl get sniped right in the head, and I never even figured out where the bullet came from."

"It was a very cruel and beautiful way to go. I swear timed slowed down as I watched her head explode from the sheer force of the bullet. Her head seemed to balloon at the point of impact. It wasn't quick either. At first, nothing, then a second of pure silence as a hole appeared in her head. Then, finally, her head got bigger and bigger before, well, you know."

"That was over a week ago. After waiting there frozen for a few minutes after the fact, I came to my senses and scoured this house for any and all supplies I could find. I moved everything of considerable value to me onto the second floor as I'm sure you noticed. All food, drinks, books, and weapons can be found here and in the second room. I've been spending my time here, listening to the screams and shots around me, acclimating to the honestly semi-peaceful environment of this abanded suburb, and then imagine my horror when someone barges into my house with a bang."

The girl pondered for a moment, before nodding her head. "Okay, I probably believe you. Or at least, you pose no considerable harm, you actually seem quite pathetic." John exaggeratedly winced but had to admit she was right. If he wasn't pathetic, who was? Seeing no negative reaction from him, the girl smiled and pulled out a deck of cards from nowhere. John was stupefied.

"You can call me Shadow. I can be considered one of the most native people here. It's very boring around here with all the fighting. Let's play a game." Wholly confused, and a little amazed that the girl could change her attitude so suddenly, John asked, "What game?" "A game of poker, of course! Now let's go downstairs, I saw a nice table that was perfect for my cards."

Heading downstairs, John followed Shadow down to the dining room, where a suspiciously fancy table was occupying most of the space, along with four chairs. John raised his eyebrows as he thought, "That wasn't there before." Shadow sat down in a chair before eloquently gesturing for John to sit opposite her. Again, the cards flashed out from nowhere. John still couldn't figure out how she did that, and it was repeatedly confusing him.

"Ten rounds. Winner takes all." Shadow briskly said, confusing John. "All of what?" "Well, let me phrase like this. If I win, you die. If you win, you don't die. Hardly fair, but I have spared you so far." "More like your aim was utter shit," John thought to himself. He did not say that of course, for the MP9 he just noticed strapped to Shadow's shoulder was a pretty good deterrent to any sassiness.

The poker game began.

Round 1, Shadow won. Round 2, John won. Round 3, Shadow won. Round 4, John won. This cycle continued until John was one step away from losing.

"Okay, last round, but I can't let you lose so easily." Shadow was beaming brightly, quite clearly proud of herself for having a lead right before the end of the game. She was a little worried earlier. After all, John almost took the lead. She simply couldn't let him do that, could she?

John snorted, but let her continue with what she had to say since she was about to win. "Let's draw blind, whoever wins this, wins it all." John thought for a moment before nodding. "I'm fine with that, let's go."

Nodding, Shadow took a deep breath before dealing the hands for the final round. "Okay, let's reveal," Shadow smirked and flipped her cards over. A royal flush. John breathed in sharply, and Shadow merely smiled wider. "Nobody has a better fate than I do. It's best you give up, that's the highest hand in poker." Shadow stood up and took her MP9 out, preparing to end his life. He panicked. "Wait, it's not over yet! Don't you want to see what I have?"

Shadow had to admit she was somewhat interested. "Fine, let me see how bad your luck is," Shadow laughed. John took a deep breath. He was breathing heavily, knowing that he was probably about to die there, and desperately trying to think of a plan to escape. "Come on, hurry up and flip them," Shadow whined. Without wasting any more time, John flipped the cards over, all at once, to reveal, five straight Jokers. The two were completely stupefied, followed by a sigh from John. A sigh of relief.