(enter #6. he/she stands in the middle of the stage, looking very alone, holding the script tightly. he/she seems about to cry.)
(enter #4. #6 jumps and clutches the script tighter. he/she backs away from #4)
#4: Let me read the script.
#6: No.
#4: I want to.
#6: I know.
#4: Then why not? No one would know. (pause.) They said we could do whatever we wanted.
#6: They’ll get mad. We’re not supposed to...
#4: I don’t want to follow the script. I just want to read it.
#6: (babbling) But if you read it then maybe you’ll want to follow it and you can’t follow it. (pause) Please.
(#4 stares at #6)
#6: Look, I don’t want to fight with you. (pause) I – I like you. It’s just, they, they said not to. You can’t read it.
#4: You’ve read it, haven’t you?
#6: No.
#4: You have! (pleased) You sneak, you read it!
#6: No I didn’t. Please, I didn’t! I just want to find everyone else.
#4: Well, if you read it, I can certainly read it.
(suddenly #4 leaps at #6. #6 cries out and drops the script, and then, panicking, falls on top of it. #4 struggles to push #6 off of the script and stops suddenly.)
#4: I kill you.
#6: (terrified) What?
#4: That’s why you’re so scared. I kill you in the script.
#6: No, no, you don’t! No, please! You don’t! I – I didn’t read it! I don’t know!
#4: Yes you do. I kill you, and that’s why you won’t let me read it. You don’t want me to know for certain.
#6: All right! Yes, you kill me. You kill me in the script but you don’t have to kill me here! This isn’t the script! This is real!
#4: Get off.
(#6 stares at him/her in terror)
#4: Get off the script. I want to read it.
(#6 continues to stare at #4. #4 sighs and pushes #6 off the script, snatching it. #6 panics and grabs for it, but #4 punches #6 in the face. they fight. #4 is the superior fighter, and eventually gets on top of #6 and hits him/her until #6 faints. then #4 crawls away from #6, and picks up the script.)
#4: Now, let’s see if I really do kill you.
(he/she skims through the script.)
#4: Hah! I knew it!
(#6 has been coming slowly out of his/her faint. #4’s loud voice rouses him/her completely and he/she sits up. #6’s eyes widen when he/she sees #4 with the script.)
#6: I – I’ll tell them. I’ll tell them you read it. You weren’t supposed to!
#4: No you won’t.
(#4 advances on #6, who scrambles away in terror. #4 reaches #6 and grabs him/her by the throat, forcing his/her head to the ground. #6 babbles incoherently, pleading with #4. #4 stops, a puzzled look on his/her face. he/she reaches for his/her pocket and withdraws a knife.)
#4: How did – ? (pause) Oh, well. (he/she looks down at #6.) You were going to tell them. And the script says I kill you anyway. I might as well. (he/she stabs #6 in the throat. #6 thrashes, his/her hands scrabbling at the knife, choking. a red cloth falls from #6’s throat, onto the floor. gradually he/she becomes still.)
(#4 withdraws the knife and stands up. he/she picks up the red cloth, puzzled.)
#4: Cloth? (he/she shrugs.) I suppose people like us don’t even bleed normally. (he/she looks down at #6.) You’re wrong, you know. Whatever happens here isn’t real. There’s people watching.