Chapter 1
The Game Begins
Nolan, Jake, and Ike were dropped off at the dock with the 27 other kids. The boat they were going to board was colossal. Nolan stared in amazement at its size. They were going to ride that? "No way!" yelled Ike "This is awesome." Nolan looked at Ike and smiled. Ike doesn't really get out the house much so this trip was good for him. The strange part though was that all of his classmates got the notice in school that they won an all expense paid trip to West Indies.
Now was not the time to worry about that though. All Nolan had to think about was relaxing and having fun with his friends. Nolan grabbed his bags and raced Jake to the ship. "Wait up!" wailed Ike "Show some spine man." retorted Jake. When they got to the entrance of the ship they waited impatiently for Ike to catch up. Nolan was so happy. He had never been on a cruise because his foster parents were overprotective and didn't let him go to strange places or towns. Nolan was totally relieved of them for one whole week.
Nolan and his friends climbed the grand staircase. The staircase was made of oak railing that was well polished. The steps themselves were soft on your feet with soft fabric that had intricate designs. The ship's air conditioner cooled Nolan as he walked. The had been on that port for an hour. Nolan's bags started to feel heavy in his hands. Finally, they made it to their rooms. Nolan propped his bags on his bed. The room was great. It had two king size beds, a master bathroom, a walk in closet, and a built in plasma screen television. Nolan lay on his bed for a minute.
At least Annie was coming. She was his next door neighbor and friend since he moved to Florida (which was around 3rd grade), but he never developed feelings for her until about 5th grade. Nolan turned on the television, and turned it to MTV. TRL was on. It was a bunch of rap videos. "Gawd" thought Nolan. Nolan hated rap. The beats were ok but the lyrics made Nolan feel sick. Sex, violence, drugs. Is that all kids worried about theses days? Nolan sighed. He heard a knock on his door. It was Jake and Ike. "S'up Nolan? We're gonna go check out the pool. Wanna come?" asked Jake. "Sure." Nolan replied. Nolan went through his bag until he found his bathing suit. "Just a minute!" He called.
A few minutes later Nolan was ready to go. The boys ran up the stairs to the top deck. "Whoa!" Jake said with excitement. The pool was enormous. It was at least 20ft long. It had three diving boards and a water slide. The three gaped in amazement. Nolan smiled. He looked over to the tanning area. There was Annie laying on the chair talking with her friends. Nolan stared at her for a minute. Geez, she was hot! She looked back at him and smiled. Nolan quickly turned his head and blushed. He felt totally retarded. "Nolan come here" Annie called. Nolan walked over to her. "Can you go get me a drink?" She asked. "sure!" He said, " What do you want?" he asked. "Surprise me." She said. Nolan walked over to the bar. When she asked him what he wanted he said "Surprise me." He felt like a jerk, but he didn't know what she wanted so he had to improvise. He handed the drink to her. "Thanks." She smiled. "Uh… you're welcome." He replied. Nolan headed back over to the pool. He saw Jake in the line for the slide. Nolan ran up the line careful not to trip. He finally reached Jake. "Where's Ike?" asked Nolan. "He's going down the slide right now." They watched as Ike plunged from the top of the slide. They could here him scream. "Dude that's awesome!" cried Jake. Nolan couldn't wait to go down the slide. He saw Annie at the end of the line. He called out to her. She looked up and grabbed a double tube. She climbed the stairs up and through the line. She reached him. "So… You ready to slide?" she said. After a few minutes they reached the top of the line. "You ready?" He asked. "Sure am!" she replied. The life guard let go of their tube.
It started of with a little slant. Then, suddenly it got steeper. Water rushed past them as they entered the tunnel. Then it got dark. Nolan could feel the cold water splashing on his face. "This is awesome Nolan!" She screamed. They exited the tunnel and hit a steep curve. They almost flipped, but thank fully Annie leaned to the other side. Nolan could see the end of the slide. "Lets jump" She said. "What!?" Nolan replied. "Jump out the inner tube and do a belly flop. Duh!" She retorted. "OK!" she yelled, "Get ready!" Nolan kind of leaned/stood in the inner tube as they approached the exit. "3-2-1!" Annie yelled. They jumped. The momentum of the water made Nolan trip a little The inner tube flew off the slide as their weight was lifted. Annie jumped perfectly. She made a loud smack as she hit the water. Then Nolan landed.
The water felt like cement as he hit it. "UGH!" Nolan lurched. He felt like he was about to blow chunks. He hoped it didn't. It would make him look like a fool, especially in front of Annie. That would be the worst part. Nolan floated to the top. "You okay Noly-Poly?"(Noly-Poly was Annie's nickname for him.) He looked up at her. "Yeah I'm fine." He replied out of breath. "It doesn't hurt that bad once you get used to it. Trust me." She told him smiling. Nolan saw Jake from across the pool talking to Ike. "lets go hang with Jake." Nolan suggested. The rest of the time they were in the pool they had swimming racing and breath contests. After about two hours they got out. They dried off and sat in the chairs for awhile. Life was great on the ship. They heard voices chanting across the ship. There was a crowd gathering as well. As they got closer the voices were yelling "FIGHT! FIGHT!" Nolan wondered who was fighting. They made their way through the crowd. When they reached the end of they crowd they saw Josh the wimpiest kid in the class getting pummeled by Dan the school bully.
Dan jerked Josh against the rails. "I'm gonna kill you!" Dan yelled. This wasn't looking good for Josh. "Help him Nolan!" Annie pleaded. Nolan stepped out of the crowd. Why did he always do these things for Annie? It usually got him into trouble but he always prevailed. He would never give up in front of Annie. "Stop Dan!" Nolan yelled. Dan dropped Josh and turned around. "And what are you gonna do?" Dan said. Nolan didn't know how to answer that question. "Uh.. Um.." Nolan stammered. "What are you gonna do?" Dan repeated. Nolan backed up. "Nolan's gonna kick your ass Dan!" Yelled Annie, "Right Nolan?" Nolan backed up a little bit more. "You kick my ass!" Dan laughed, "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!" Nolan looked up. His fists tightened. "I'll show you Dan!" Nolan punched Dan in the stomach as hard as he could. Dan opened his mouth as if to puke. "You little prick!" screamed Dan. Dan started wildly throwing punches. Nolan dodged most but the ones that hit hurt like hell. Dan paused for a moment. This was Nolan's chance. Nolan uppercut Dan.
Dan's head lifted when he threw the punch. Dan's eyes went white. Nolan didn't think he could do that. He looked down at Dan's unconscious body. Annie rushed over to him. "Nolan that was awesome!" She screamed. She hugged him. He just stared at Dans body while cuddled in Annies gentle embrace. Nolan smiled. He can't believe he did something like that. Annie kissed him on the cheek. "Lets go hotshot." She said. Jake and Ike joined them as he and Annie walked. "Two blows! Amazing!" Jake exclaimed, "No ones ever taken out Dan before!" Nolan basked in his glory for a moment. Nolan and his posse walked to to his room. Then they all split up to go change so they could explore the ship. Nolan slapped on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. He didn't wait for the others. Nolan made his way to the promenade deck. Nolan wandered the halls till he found the elevator. "Finally." He thought. He pressed the button with the shiny golden 3 on it.
The time it took for the elevator took get there seemed like forever. When the elevator showed up he walked in and looked for the button with the initials prom on it. Initialing the floors really made things convenient. Nolan waited on the elevator for to stop so he could leave. The elevator music was driving him mad. The elevator came to a stop. Ding! Nolan stepped out. Nolan looked around the room a row of huge windows lined the walls. Nolan looked outside them. The ocean was rolling. Waves crashed on the side of the boat. The weather out side was sunny not a cloud in sight. He remembered when he was in the pool a few hours earlier. How the warmth made his skin tingle with delight. "Wonderful." He thought. Tomorrow he'd go tanning with Annie for sure. Maybe he could win Annie over before the trip ended. That would be the best. Nolan walked pasted the long hall with rows of shops ranging from jewelry stores to arcades. Nolan stopped when he saw one shop however. It was a gun shop. Called "Loaded". "Loaded?" Nolan thought.
Nolan felt a wave of sadness sweep over him. He remembered why he was with foster parents. Nolan shuddered. Why did he have to remember now. He had just gotten over the nightmares. Nolan's mind to him back to that melancholy day.
It was a typical day. Cold as usual in the mid-winters of Pennsylvania. There was a man walking by. He looked like a thug. Not unusual in the gang littered streets of this city. A car screeched around the corner. He turned around. A black thug put his hand out the window. He was holding a gun. The gun appeared to be an Uzi. The gun started firing. Then a bunch of thugs came out the window and started firing at the man who had walked by several seconds earlier, but the guns didn't stop firing. In fact they kept firing. "Get down!" a bystander yelled. The thugs fired at everyone on the street. Innocent people were dropping dead. The car rolled past Nolan. The bullets went through Nolan's mom and dad. Killing them.
Blood squirted all over Nolan. Nolan stood there watching the life disappear from their eyes. A single tear rolled down Nolan's moms face. Nolan got on his knees trying to wake them up. "Wake up! Wake up!" He cried. The survivors just stood there. Watching. Nolan looked at them. "Help me!" He screamed. Yet, no one lifted a finger they just watched him mourn.
The police and ambulances showed up in a few minutes. They carried his parents off in stretchers. He got a lift from a cop to the hospital. They wouldn't allow him to see his parents. He wouldn't accept it but deep down he knew he had lost them. A doctor came out and called someone on the phone. He knew it was about him. An hour later people came to pick him up. Nolan asked why. They never answered. Finally the stopped at a huge house. He could see other children playing in the yard. He read the sign on the gates. Oakwood Foster Home. An orphanage. Nolan didn't remain in that place very long though. In about two weeks he was adopted to a family moving to Florida. That's when he met Annie. His neighbor. His foster parents were overprotective so she was the only person he could hang out with outside of school.
"Nolan!" yelled a voice from behind. Nolan turned around to be greeted with a hug that almost knocked him over. It was Annie (obviously). He saw Ike and Jake at the end of the hall. "I'll just avoid this shop." he thought. He turned back to his friends. "Ddduudde!" yelled Jake, "A gun shop! Lets go inside." Nolan got a pissy look on his face.
The shop smelled a little like new plywood. Glass cases filled the room. There was a bunch of sub-machineguns lined up on the wall. In the corner was an old Gatling gun. The man in the shop had long brown hair tied in a pony tail. He was wearing big nerdy glasses and was reading a game magazine. He looked up at the kids. "May I help you?" He asked. "Yeah, hook me up with some tazers make sure there the strongest voltage on the market!" replied Jake. "Stop wasting my time kid guns aren't a joke there used for killing things especially kids like you!" yelled the employee. Everyone looked at Jake. Jake just shrugged and walked away. "Come on guys lets get out of here."
Nolan hadn't seen Jake like this before. Jake didn't usually get in trouble for his antics. Nolan heard Jake mutter something under his breath. Annie walked up to him and started to cheer him up. Then finally made we made our way to the arcade.
Chapter 2
First Death
An announcement went out over the intercom. "We hope you are enjoying your stay in Melancholy a ship from Golden Cruise Lines. Please join us for the captains dinner tonight at 9:00. Thank you!" the intercom clicked off. Ike checked his watch.
"Guys its 7:45 and 37 seconds now. So, we have 3 hours and 15 minutes before dinner. "Plenty of time for me to beat Nolan in Street Fighter 2!" Annie exclaimed. Nolan frowned he was losing to a girl at his favorite arcade game. Nolan started to winning again when Annie pushed his hand away from the controls. "Cheater!" he said. "You should have a firmer grip" she laughed.
At 8:30 Nolan and his friends headed back to their rooms. Nolan thought about Annie. She was very competitive sometimes. Nolan laughed at face she made when she lost at street fighter. Nolan got dressed in the fancy shmancy clothes his mom packed. They clothes were itchy and kind of tight, but he only had to wear them for tonight. He walked down the long corridors each step made the clothes itch even more.
He finally reached the formal dining room. His friends were sitting in a booth. They saved a seat for him beside Annie. The wait for dinner was filled with chatter and Jakes funny stories. The dinner plates came out on platters. He felt like he was at a fancy restaurant. The food was quite good. Nolan looked around the room happy he could be on such an awesome trip. The stdent council was sitting at the captains table. Suddenly, the captain stood up.
"Looks like we have a lively crowd 'ere today eh mates. Well lil' ones I 'ave a few announcements te' make." Said the Captain with an evil grin. Everyone turned their attention to the Captain. The captain looked up. "Your all dead." He announced calmly. Some kids whispered about terrorist about 2 tables over. Annie got a panicked look in her eyes. Nolan looked over at her. Trying to stay calm he said " Don't worry it's probably just a joke. A very sick joke."
Annie didn't seem to buy the joke excuse. "Nolan," she whispered, "Am I gonna die?" Nolan couldn't answer that question he probably never could. Right now he could only reassure her with lies. Jake and Ike looked dumbfounded. They probably couldn't believe this was happening either. Nolan could see Annie fighting to hold back tears.
Out of the commotion Bret a jock on student council (out of popularity) stood up. "What are you talking about old man! I'm not gonna die not without a fight!" The Captain smiled. "Really, I'd like to see you try and fight me." Bret walked over to the captain a picked him up by the collar of his shirt and raised his fist. The captain reached into his sports coat and pulled out a 44 magnum, he pointed it to Bret's head. Fear came into Bret's eyes. A shot went off. Screams filled the room. Blood went all over the table. The shot had ripped of a side of Bret's face. Bret was still alive, barely.
No one made a sound. No one moved. It seemed as if time itself was standing still. Some of Bret's fan girls were crying at the next to the Captains. The Captain stood over the body. Tears were rolling down Bret's face. "No need to let you suffer any more Lad." the Captain said solemnly. A second shot was fired, the one that ended Bret's life. Bret's body twitched a little before it stopped moving and went pale. The only thought that crossed my mind at that moment was "Is that how I'll end up to?" Sounds like a selfish thought, but at a time like this the only thing you could think about was yourself.
I glanced at Annie. Her face was pale and filled with horror, but that's how ant person would react to seeing a person die right? One that hadn't seen death before that is. Her eyes met mine and I turned away quickly. Ike was staring down at the table. I could see the tears dripping from his face. I reached across the table to reassure him but he slapped my hand away. Then he stared at me with fire in his eyes. Deep down I knew he thinking he was going to die and never see his only mother again. The mother that had loved so much, the one that was always there for him even though his dad abandoned him, the mother who would be devastated to lose her only child. Nolan could feel tears swelling in his eyes. "Stop thinking like this Nolan!" he thought, "You'll only make yourself cry.
The Captain cleared his throat. "Okay children settle down! I know what you're all thinking right now "are you going to live?" well only one of you can survive. You see your class has been randomly chosen for a secret government experiment called project GAME. Project GAME is when we escort one class to an abandoned island for three days you will all fight to the death the last one standing wins, but if there is more than one person left standing then we'll drop a hydrogen bomb on the island and you will all die. The ocean won't be used for escape either. We have set up something like an electric fence around the perimeter of the island if you touch it the shock will immediately kill you. Oh and don't worry your parents have been notified and will be watching you through cameras and bugs placed everywhere on the island. Any questions?" But no one had anything to say.
Everyone went back to their rooms. Nolan lay on his bed maybe he'd sleep a little bit but that was long shot not with everything that was happening. Who could sleep. A knock came upon Nolan's door. Nolan walked over to the door. It was Annie.
"Uh..hi." said Nolan. Annie just smiled. She walked in and sat down on his bed and fondled with his suitcase. Then, she looked up at him. "Nolan," she said, "I love you" and with that said she left the room.
Nolan just stood in the door way watching her walk away. Deep down he knew this would most likely be the last time he saw her and the rest of his friends.
Chapter 3
The bond that breaks
A loud siren rang out through the ship. It was the morning that project GAME started. Nolan couldn't bring himself to get out of bed. Nolan stood up and fell to his knees. He broke down on the floor crying like a baby, but who wouldn't. The hot tears left wet spots on the floor. His fists pounded at the floor. "Why?" he thought, " Why has God forsaken us." Project GAME was making him question everything he had ever known including his faith.
The door slammed open two men dressed in cameo came and picked him up under his arms and carried him out of the ship. Surprisingly, everyone else was already out side staring at him. Finally, Nolan managed to pick himself up, and moped over to Annie, Jake, and Ike. Was this really happening? It has to be a dream a bad bad dream. The captain came out of the ship escorted by six army officers ( three on each side.). "Project GAME officially starts in ten minutes. Each of you will be sent out in 5- minute intervals. Weapons and ammo are scattered through out the island there are plenty of make shift buildings to hide in, but I wouldn't advise it because every 6 hours the perimeter around island gets smaller and if you are out side the perimeter you will explode because while you slept last night we put chips in the back of your neck that monitor you vital signs, and if they receive the appropriate signal, if you are outside the perimeter. Then well lets just say it'll be a blast!"
Nolan could only stand looking at the ground. To afraid to move. He knew what he had to do the how problem was could he do it? Did he have the guts? He could feel the tears coming back. He could see the bodies of his class mates laying on the ground. Lifeless. Could he murder them all would he slip up and die? Die. What would happen if he died? Where would he go? Heaven. Nolan was seriously starting to doubt heaven existed. What if no one died. Then they would all die. There was no way out. The only way out was to indeed die.
The army officer stepped up and announced it was time to start. The first name was, please don't let be me,.
Ike Weir. Ike looked up shocked. His face pale like…like death. He slowly walked into the forest. Head down awaiting death. Ike. Ike. He had known since 6th grade. He wasn't the richest kid. His mom only made enough to get by. The extra money was spent to make Ike happy. His mom tried so hard. Ike loved her so much. Now, they were torn apart. A bond that was broken by Project GAME.
One by one each of his classmates were filed away. Each a different bond broken. A bond of love. A bond that should never be broken ever. Nolan wanted to go up and punch the Official kill him, but doing so would result in his own death. He couldn't let that happen.
About the fifteenth name called was his. He looked at Annie and said " I'll wait for you. Annie." He ran into the forest. Only stopping to rest in the bushes where he could stop Annie if she came this way. Nolan closed his eyes. He opened them slowly. The sun was setting!? He must have dosed off when he closed his eyes.
Annie! He had to find her before… before
Chapter 4
Lost
Everything around him was quiet. No sounds. No nothing. Movement suddenly came from behind him. He wasn't armed what if it was Dan or someone else. "Well well Nolan." said a voice. Nolan turned around. Dan.
Dan stood there holding a shotgun. Nolan's body went numb. He wanted to run, but couldn't. "Nolan are you ready to be my next victim?" Victim? He'd killed more. Had he killed…her? "DID YOU!!" yelled Nolan, " DID YOU KILL HER!!" Dan looked dumbfounded. A wave of anger and courage shot through Nolan. He walked over to Dan. Dan pointed the gun to Nolan's head. Nolan grabbed to top of the gun, and pushed it away. Nolan felt like he had never felt before. Pure rage pulsed in his veins. First his family now… now this. He wasn't going to whimper like a whipped dog and die. No. Never again.
Nolan raised his fist and punched Dan in the face as hard as he could. Dan dropped his gun and fell to the ground. Nolan looked at Dan's face. Some of his teeth had fallen out his nose appeared to bleeding and broken. Nolan picked up the shotgun and cocked it. "Stop Nolan please!" Dan pleaded. Would anyone care if Dan died? The world would be better without him. Why was I hesitating? "Shoot him Nolan!" Nolan thought to himself. Nolan closed his eyes. Nolan pulled the trigger. A slight yell emitted from Dan before everything went quiet again.
Nolan finally opened his eyes. Nolan felt his guts flip over. He couldn't help but vomit at once was Dan's face. Nolan's aim obviously needed work. His shot was off center and he wound up blowing up only a quarter of Dan's face. Nolan smiled. "No use playing a game if you don't play to win." he said to himself.
There was rustling in the bushes. "Nolan!" Annie yelled. "Annie.." Nolan whispered. Annie walked over to him and screamed. "Oh my god Nolan! Did you kill him!?" She asked. Nolan looked at her. "Yeah." he said, "I did." Nolan looked at her. "You don't hate me do you Annie?" he asked. Annie gagged. "Nolan you murdered him!" Annie Screamed. "You don't understand Annie!" Nolan screamed, " I had to! HE was gonna kill me! I thought he… he killed you too." Annie looked at him and forced a smile across her face. She walked over to him and grabbed his hand. "We're gonna get out of this alive Nolan." She whispered.
Gunshots were heard in the distance. "We'd better head the other way." Nolan suggested.
Ike was standing over 4 bodies. "This is what they get." He said. "This what you get for humiliating me!" He fired more shots at a corpse and watched it bleed. "I'm not gonna die! Mom I'm all you got left. I'm not dying!" Ike turned to walk away. "Oh look Ike's getting all the kills eh?" said a voice, " We can't let this streak go on much longer can we?" Ike quickly turned to shoot but fumbled his gun. He looked up to see a desert eagle pointing at him.
"Oh its you Will." he said. Will was one of the most popular kids in school. His hobby picking on Ike. "I'll be sure to tell your mom I killed you when I win." Will said sneeringly. Ike fell to his knees, crying. "You wouldn't." Ike cried, "I won't… I.. wont… LET YOU!!" Ike grabbed Will's arm and flipped him on his back. Will dropped his gun. Ike grabbed it. Will quickly scrambled to get up, but it was too late. "The tables have turned Will." Ike said. All it took was one shot and it was over. Ike looked at the corpse one last time and walked on his way. "I'll be sure to tell your mom Will, That I killed you."
Nolan and Annie rested on the grass in a shaded area. "Nolan." Annie said, " Are we gonna die?". Nolan looked at her. "Yeah we're gonna live, but we sure are lost." Annie leaned close to Nolan. Nolan wrapped his arms around and they slept, waiting for the next horrible day.
Nolan woke up sometime in the afternoon. Annie was there beside him. Something caught his eye in the distance. A person. Nolan reached for his gun, when Annie woke up. "Nolan no! Don't shoot!" she screamed. "I'm not gonna kill you Annie." he replied, "I just see somthin' in the distance." Nolan crept on the ground trying to stay quiet. "Stay here Annie I'll make sure the coast is clear." Nolan told her.