Battle Royale, a decade ago would've been inconceivable anywhere but Japan. The whole concept was spat at by the modern world. The UN came incredibly close to intervening in Japan's affairs.

However, over the next ten years, the world went through a rapid series of developments that changed the face of government irrevocably. Riots on an unprecedented scale exploded around the globe, as Western governments did their best to solidify their strangle-hold on their citizens. Dictatorships sprang up in formally peaceful democracies. These new tyrant leaders tried every measure they could think of to crush insurgents and rebels, but found it far more difficult than they expected. High profile leaders in France, the US and the UK were assassinated, leading to, among other things, the creation of a 'secret' police-force in most developed worlds. The right to free speech was all but stripped away, and protestors were executed without mercy. The disaster in Tiananmen Square paled in comparison to the massacres that took place at the turn of the millennium.

It was the US that found the way out of the anarchy that was about to befall the world. Taking a leaf out of Japan's book, the reigning President instituted a national Battle Royale. Within two months, the country was under control, and a calm peace was established.

The UK imitated their cross-Atlantic neighbours, and soon Battle Royale's were common occurrence in France, China, Germany and Canada as well. Each country experienced an amazing drop in organized resistance that could only be attributed to the BR Program. The public no longer trusted each other enough to even contemplate banding together to rally against the government.

Though it had faced little of what other nations had experienced during the 'Dark Years' as they had come to be known, Australia began its own Battle Royale run, just in time to take part in a grandiose event that had been being planned since Canada joined the BR brotherhood.

The eight countries would hold their Battle Royale as usual, but upon a winner emerging, they would immediately be entered into the greatest spectacle of slaughter yet seen on earth, broadcast live throughout the world.

The Australian segment of the competition began on July 24, 2005.

バトル ロワイアル

ホヮルド シーリズ

©Hour 0: 42 remaining: Noon

"WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON!"

"Where are we?"

"What the fuck?!"

Suddenly the darkness that surrounded the forty-two teenagers turned to light, as several fluorescent lights flickered into life.

Adjusting to the sudden, harsh brightness, the class took in their strange surroundings. The room itself was quite big, enough to fit the forty-two of them in easily. Along the left side of it ran a series of windows, each almost as big as the wall, but these had been boarded up with black wood. All that the students could tell from them was that it was still daylight outside.

The room looked like it had been stripped bare, but there were still a few odds and ends that allowed the group to identify it as a classroom. Up the front was a blackboard, which was cracked and its age was easily distinguished by its many blurred chalk-marks, undoubtedly from decades of use. To the left of the board was a television set. It seemed brand new, and when compared to the rest of the room, it looked distinctly out of place.

The only other thing in the room was an old music stand, where a teacher had probably once taught a class, much like their own.

Everyone fell quiet. It was disturbing. Had they not been happily anticipating their annual school trip? Had they not been bouncing with excitement in their bus seats as the vehicle pulled out of town?

Looking around at the others, Georgina Walsh noticed something about them. There was something out of place.

They were all dressed in their uniforms (white shirts, black tie and pants for the boys, white shirts, short red tie and plaid kilt, in both long and short styles for the girls, coupled with black and red blazers for all) as they were before the un-explained unconsciousness, and no one seemed hurt. Finally, it dawned on her.

Speaking up she said, "What the hell are these things around our necks?"

Everyone gasped, and in unison reached up to their throats, where they found cold, metallic, for-lack-of-a-better-word collars. Looking around at those worn by the others, they saw a silver band running around the whole of their necks, connecting in back. Around the front was a small black screen, and a tiny un-lit light.

Georgina couldn't believe it, "What are they?" She said again, "Does anyone have any idea what they are or what the hell's going on?"

Across the room, in the furthest corner, a glasses-wearing, braces-sporting boy named Sam knew exactly what was going on, and he knew others did too. Not everyone, obviously, but some.

Looking around, Sam took in all his classmates.

Up the front was the guy group. If any social clique in the school could be labelled bad, it was them, but they were hardly worth it. Stu McGuckian, a tall, beefy guy was investigating the room's only door, a huge black metal thing. Flanking him was Kris Haintz, and David Border. Those two were pals, through and through, almost inseparable, and they were always clowning about in class. Next to them was the last two of the group, Oliver Cross and Darren Salem. Oliver was a pretty nice guy, occasionally capable of disgustingly misogynist and sexist statements, but still a good person. Darren on the other hand was much worse. Truly the only bad element in the group (which naturally made him its leader) Darren was known for hating almost every race on the face of the planet bar his own. He especially despised Jewish people, even though he'd only met one in his life-time. He was also notorious for his violent homophobia, something the two boys sitting a few metres ahead of Sam knew only too well.

Stefan Trent and Calin Granger had been out and dating since the eighth grade. The two were never ones to be shy or coy about their relationship, and could often be found making out in janitor's closets. Stefan was quite straight-acting, but Calin was the most flamboyant queen in town. Flouncing about in short-shorts and a pink boa on free dress days, Calin had often been targeted by Darren and his gang. More often than not they'd just call him a 'fag' a couple hundred times and punch him in the stomach. But once Darren had become so enraged by Calin's sexuality he'd dangled him over the edge of a twenty-foot high bridge, only pulling him up when a passer-by had threatened to call the police.

Despite this, Calin never toned down his inherent gayness, which was one reason Sam had made such good friends with the both of them.

Sam's gaze shifted from those two over to the gaggle of girls that sat in the middle of this strange room. These were the nice girls. Truly, every one of them was a fantastic girl, despite their many failings.

There was Zoe Creelman, a born-leader, she was never afraid of voicing her opinion or morals, and always happy to lend a hand. Her right-hand girl was Meghan McDonough, who just as much a chief as Zoe. Also present was Chloe Lanyon, Rachael Ward, Melanie Stuart and Georgina. Chloe was a tiny, tiny thing, flame-red hair and a timid nature. Rachael was wacky, and bounced off the walls and ceiling at any given moment. Melanie was another red-head. Often found with her nose in a book, Melanie had sadly been the butt of much name calling from most, especially those in positions of 'popularity'.

Further up the back was the second group of girls. While they were still nice girls, they were most often the ones to be found having a bitch-attack. Their group's unofficial leader, to an outsider, would have been a shock. Short and chubby (festively plump, as her mother called it), Alexandra Kingsley was no physical prize. She'd only been at the school for two months, but already she was commanding the group. The group's comic was Sarah Keck, an itty bitty imp who often garnered enormous laughs with single word sentences. The mascot for the group, who could often be seen flitting about in other social circles, was Melissa Kelly, yet another red-head. Next, was Thirapat "June" Santa-Annop, a student from Thailand, who had come to Australia seeking to improve her English, which was already better than her Thai. The last two that made up this sextet was Jessica Cunningham and Madeline Gillard. These two did not get along. Often arguing at the top of their lungs, throwing insults that mostly consisted of calling the other a slut, they always had to be kept separate from each other.

Sam's eyes travelled back down to the front, where the last group of girls sat. These were the 'popular' girls, the ones seen to be the prettiest and the best. In charge of this squad was Elle Kirk-Patrick, who undoubtedly had the best reason to be incharge. She was sassy, sexy and always ready for anything, Elle was a natural leader. Her second in command was Felicity Jones. Ditzy and blonde were the best words to describe her. Although a great athlete, Felicity didn't appear to have much going in the brains department, and was really just eye-candy to almost everyone, but she still wielded a lot of power in the school hierarchy. Next in the chain of command was Alana Woodward, who definitely the most athletic and sports-oriented of the bunch. She still had a definite visual appeal, but she didn't spend anywhere near as much time in front of the mirror as the other girls did. Coming in behind her was Tess Moller. Tess, though she might not be the smartest tool in the shed, held a lot of sway with the group. She was the one who pointed them in more charitable directions. It was her idea that they chair the Year Nine Dance committee.

Last on the list is Veronica Maclay, definitely the most unlike able of them all. While still drop-dead gorgeous with her silky black hair, cut short above her shoulders, and big eyes, Veronica was just too much of a rumour-spreader and general idiot for anyone to really like her. Even Elle could see this, but she was kept around merely so their circle was bigger.

While often doing good things for the school community, this was the group that screwed with the more unpopular kid's lives. Often known for spreading salacious rumours about certain people, these girls were not to be messed with.

The next group to slide into Sam's view was the mixed group, the gang that anyone could be a part of. Most of them though, were boys, particularly athletic boys, jocks if you may. Jack Frantz, though exceedingly short, was seen as the top guy, and no wonder given his history with leadership roles. His pal Tom Brady was less of a leader and more of a clown, a sporty clown at that. But in comparison to Nick Locandro's athleticism, Tom was almost laugh-worthy. Participating in almost every sport in the school's extra-curricular program, Nick was definitely at a top physical condition. Angel Summers, resident hunk, came close in terms of fitness, but beat him easily in terms of muscle. Angel was most certainly the buffest of them all, and it had helped in Angel's latest conquest, Felicity Jones.

Oddly enough, this was the place that Emma Philips had slipped into. Tall and strong, Emma wasn't the sportiest girl in the world, although she was no girly girl. She spent a lot of the time outside though, working with machines and the like.

Nearby, to Sam's right, sat his circle. His best friend, Anthony, was doing his best to comfort his tiny girlfriend, Rebecca. They'd been dating a while, and out of all the couples in the room, they were the tightest, and most likely to go on and on. They were looking into each other's eyes with love, and to an outsider it would've looked incredibly romantic. But to Jonathon Hill, who was seated behind them, it was gross! From behind them, and without their knowing, he was pulling over-exaggerated faces of disgust, much to Calin and Stefan's amusement.

Finally, Sam took in the last students of his class. There was Ben Corden-McKinley and Alexander Caine, who'd been stuck as friends since primary school. There was Sophia Crouch and Stephanie Weaver, who'd been boisterous, rambunctious and supremely likeable together since kindergarten. There was Gavin Hawkins, who, despite everyone considering him 'pretty cool', had never slipped into one particular group, always preferring to float between them. Also there was Andrew McCallum, the biggest stoner ever to hit the school.

The last two Sam noticed were definitely the dregs of high school society. Dan Darke and Francis Ford. Dan was the complete stereo-typical nerd. Huge glasses, suspenders and a calculator of all things, Dan was just begging to be tormented his whole pubescent life.

And Francis Ford, well, there was an insane bible-basher if there ever was one. Known to shout damnation from street-corners, Francis was unbeatably the most hated kid in school. The entire Year Nine student body had once turned on him when he'd put up posters that read "God's giving you AIDS mother-fuckers" and sent death threats to Calin and Stefan.

As Sam stared at his classmates…one thought ran through his mind…

We're all going to die…

Anthony, Bec and Jonathon slid along the ground to Sam's corner, each of them with the same fearful look as the other. Sam knew that they knew what was happening. They'd talked about what was coming quite often.

Over in Zoe's group, Sam could tell Meghan knew as well. A few others in the class had that utterly terrified look about them as well, but most were blissfully unaware of what was to come.

Georgina stood up and away from her friends, heading over to where Stu was still trying to force the door open.

"Can't you get it open?" She asked, tentatively.

Stu hissed and kicked at the metal, "No, this thing's heavier than fucking Magda Szubanski."

"Who's Magda Szubanski?" Kris and Dave asked, puzzled.

A whirring and a thump suddenly came from the other side of the door. Stu jumped back, pushing Georgina away with him. The door began to grind open.

Worried moans came from almost everyone in the class, as they waited to see what was outside the room.

The door swung open. Everyone gasped.

"Hey kids!" Said a voice, an all too familiar voice.

"Muh-Miss Leech?!" Georgina cried, falling backwards onto her behind in shock.

"Yu-huh, it's me!" Leech said, smiling.

Miss Leech had been their teacher since the start of the year. Almost everyone liked her. She taught well, and she'd regularly organized days off for the class to just chill.

But what was she doing? And why was she grinning such an evil grin?

Stepping up to the music stand, Miss Leech surveyed her class. She could see they were terrified, and it made her glad.

"Hello, hello!" She said, "Did you enjoy your naps?"

"What's going on?" Zoe asked, standing up, trying to assert herself and take charge of the situation.

Leech merely laughed.

Zoe was infuriated, "Miss Leech, tell us now what's going on!"

Leech stopped laughing, "You'd better watch your tone, especially when speaking out of turn!" Her eyes narrowed. A gasp rippled throughout the room. Leech never talked that.

Zoe was stunned, and flumped back down to the floor.

"Now, Class." Leech said, addressing the entire group, "I'm happy to announce that you, Class C of Ballarat & Clarendon College, my class, has been chosen for the first Australian Battle Royale."

Sam's heart sank. He'd been right.

"Well, it's not really the first ever, but the first official one." Leech said, off-handed, "But that's beside the point!"

Zoe hadn't given up. Her hand flew into the air and shook vigorously, "MISS LEECH!"

Leech sighed and nodded, "Go ahead."

"What on earth is Battle Royale?"

Leech giggled, "I'm surprised so many of you don't know. I mean, considering how important it is, so many of you are so ignorant!" Leech continued, "Well, for the un-informed, Battle Royale is a state-sanctioned exercise. A class is selected out of the thousands across the country, and taken to an undisclosed location, this one being an island off the coast of Queensland."

"But what is it!" Zoe said, "Why are we here?!"

Leech spat, "I'm getting to that!" She swore underneath her breath, "Anyway, Battle Royale was originally instituted in Japan, soon after the Second World War, as a means of controlling population and allowing the country's dictatorship to gain total control. However, ours is a little different. Ours isn't for populous control, we're using it for pure fear. This single event will show to the citizens of this country just how far the government will go to control them, and especially you kids. You're all just a bunch of hormonal time-bombs waiting to go off and destroy this great country."

"Man, she is so under the government's thumb," Anthony whispered in Sam's ear.

"SSh!" Sam hissed. Anthony was surprised. Sam had never told him to 'sh' before. Looking at him, Anthony was shocked to see he was staring with the most serious face he'd ever had.

Jack held up his hand, and Leech pointed to him, "So," He said, "This is a way for the government to…scare everyone straight?"

Leech whooped with joy, "Bingo, right on the money!"

"But," He pressed on, "How? What is it?"

Leech whooped again, "Oh, this is the fun part!" She yanked a cord that dangled in front of the black board, and a large map fell down. It showed a v-shaped island rotated so the point was pointing out the right, divided into a series of grids.

"This is the island." She said. Pointing at an x in the middle she added, "You are here on this map. Now, soon, once the clock hits one pm, I'm going to start letting you out, one minute apart. And you're going to start playing this game."

Jack was about to ask "what is this game", but before he could, Miss Leech said, "The game is simple. You kill each other off, until there's only one left."

Almost every girl screamed.

"NO!" Georgina screamed, stumbling up to her feet, "That can't be right! How is that going to help?!"

"Like this," Miss Leech said, sighing.

Reaching around, she pulled something silvery and metallic out from her back pocket.

Georgina stared at it, her eyes widening as she realized what it was.

In a flash Miss Leech had pulled the gun's trigger. The bullet rocketed forward, ploughing through Georgina's left cheek and out through the back of her head.

Her blood splattered the floor behind her, as she made a few, desperate attempts at speech. Her eyes stared at Miss Leech, stunned by the sudden, enormous pain that had erupted in her face. But she could tell, somehow she could tell that this wasn't going to kill her, at least not now. She was still standing, she still had feeling.

Miss Leech frowned, noticing this too. She paused for a moment, holding the gun to her chest. After a quick thought about what to do, Leech pointed the gun again and fired once more.

This time the bullet struck on the tip of her jaw. The bone disintegrated, instantly ejecting shards of itself into the air. Her teeth collapsed inside her mouth, as the bullet ricocheted inside her head. Eventually it struck another bone and it changed direction, heading slightly down into her throat before stopping.

This time, there was no mistaking her fate. Her bottom jaw practically annihilated, blood coating her chest, Georgina slipped to the floor.

Everyone stared at her lifeless form for a few moments. No one made a sound, or a movement.

"See how it works? Now you know not to speak out of turn or else you'll be blown away! Soon, after our Battle Royale's been on a while, Australians will know not to fuck with the system!"

The class whimpered.

"Now, to explain things a little better, we have a video here, prepared special for you to watch." Leech bounded over to the TV and pushed a small black tape into the VCR. Pressing play, Leech stepped back and said, "Pay close attention now!"

The screen flickered to life, presenting to the class a young Japanese woman, in a skimpy orange boob tube and combat shorts

"Konnichiwa kids!" She cried, "You can call me Oneesan! I'm on-loan from Japan, and I'm here to tell you everything you need to know to make it through Battle Royale! And to do that, I'll need the help of someone you all know and love…" She took a deep breath, her grin getting bigger and bigger, before she practically screamed, "SKIPPY! The Bush Kangaroo!"

Sam sniggered. It was exactly the same Skippy from that crappy old show, complete with the paws attached to a stick that were waved across the screen.

"So, Skippy, you want to help me explain to these lucky kids what they're going to need?" Oneesan asked, bending down so her face was next to the 'kangaroo's'. The puppet nodded and 'hopped' over to a nearby bench, on which was a green back-pack.

"First thing you'll find, is three loaves of bread, a pack of rice crackers and two litres of water…Skippy, can you show these nice kids their food?" She asked, sweetly.

Skippy bounced twice and nodded comically and used his 'hands' to pull out the food Oneesan had described.

"Yay!" Oneesan squealed with glee, "Next in your pack, you'll find a map, a compass, a torch and a marker. The map is of the island you're on, and obviously the torch is to help you get around and night…Skippy if you could show them it'd be great!"

Skippy dug around in the pack, and, because of the incredibly bad puppeteer, only managed to get out the torch.

Over by the wall where she leaned, Miss Leech had her head in her hands, embarrassed. She was whispering, "That stupid fucking kangaroo…why…WHY the kangaroo?"

Sitting near her, Zoe couldn't stop staring at Georgina's dead body. Her face was a mess. The bullet had made such a hole that her left eye was now sitting on the floor in front of the corpse, staring at the ceiling.

Oneesan continued on the video, "And of course, you'll each be assigned a weapon! Not just guns and knives, no, some of you might get lucky, some might not. Some are luckier than others, but my personal favourite is this!" Having learned from the puppet disaster of Skippy, Oneesan pulled it out herself, brandishing it in front of her face, "The fire-axe…it's SUPER-LUCKY! Sadly, some of you will get unlucky weapons…like this!" She held up, of all things, a plain old kitchen fork.

"Now, when playing this game," Oneesan said, putting down the fork, "You'll need to keep track of time. Every six hours, at 12 pm and am, and 6 pm and am, your teacher will broadcast an update on who has died since the last report, and to warn you about which grid-zones on the island are going to become dangerous!" Oneesan giggled and picked up from the bench a collar, just like the ones the class were all fitted with.

"100 water-proof and shock-proof, these collars tell us whether you guys are alive or dead, and where you are at any given moment. And, if you enter a Danger-Zone once it's been activated, or you piss off your teacher, a signal will be sent. The collar will pick this signal up no matter where you are, and, once it has, the collar activates and…" Oneesan took in a deep breath, "IT EXPLODES!!"

Some of the class, most noticeably Calin, screamed, while the rest merely put a hand to their throats.

"Now be careful," Oneesan said, "You screw with the damn things too much and they'll blow, so you better watch what you do with them!" She laughed, "One more thing about them, if, after three days, we haven't found a winner, all the remaining collars will blow, and nobody wins, and that's a very bad thing, right Skippy!"

The puppet nodded, and jerked around. It appeared that the puppeteer was trying to make it dance, but all he succeeded in doing was make Skippy's head to fall off.

Oneesan's huge smile didn't fade, but the class could tell she was a little bit perturbed by the dead puppet. Not that they cared of course, there were more important things at the moment.

"So, that's all from me and…Skippy," Oneesan said, saluting, "So I say, fight to make your country proud. Life's a game, fight to see if you're worth it!"

The screen turned black, as the tape ended.

Heading back up to the music stand, Miss Leech sighed, "Now, even I knew that was lame," She said.

"Miss Leech…" Felicity had said, raising her hand cautiously.

"Yes?" Leech asked.

"Um…you said that this isn't the first…Buh…Battle Royale. You mean there have been others? How come I haven't heard of it?"

Leech laughed, saying, "See, now, that's where all the people behind Battle Royale were shocked. I mean, you'd think everyone would know, considering how 'unconstitutional' it is. You'd think that there'd have been more about it? Protests and the like? But…it seems like proof that society has definitely gone down the drain when people seem to care more about two American actors getting a divorce than forty-two of their own students slaughtering each other."

Felicity sat back down, crying.

"Anymore questions?" Miss Leech asked the rest of the class.

"Yes!" Maddy said, lifting a hand and standing before Leech had said she could, an action which caused her classmates to gasp, thinking she'd soon be following Georgina to the grave. Maddy ignored this and said, "You actually expect us to kill our friends?"

Miss Leech narrowed her eyes in contempt, and said, quite pompously, "You're lucky I don't kill you now, Maddy, for your lack of respect. But that's for your 'friends' to do."

Turning away from her, Leech said, "Well, with questions out of the way, let's get this thing underway."

THE GAME BEGINS

Hour 1

01:00 pm

41 Remain

"You'll be leaving in a completely randomized order, going girl-boy, girl-boy. There's really no system to how you leave, I'll just be choosing your name out of these bowls." Leech said, pointing at two small glass bowls, one that said 'boys', and one that said 'girls'.

"Now, as soon as you leave through that metal door, you'll find a rack with those packs on them. Take one, and get out of dodge post haste. Run down the corridor, and you'll find yourself outside and officially in the Battle Royale."

"Understand?" She asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Good, now get it through your heads. Only one of you is going to make it out of this. Just do your best to make sure that that one is you. As soon as you step foot outside that door, you're in the game. No one will protect you…so you've got to protect yourself."

A silence followed these words.

"Remember, you're only being let out one minute apart, that's not much time. Run as fast as you can, because who knows, the person who comes out behind you might just try to slit your throat!"

"Starting now…" Leech said, jamming her hand into the girls bowl. Pulling a scrap of paper out, Leech read out…

"Girl #1 is…Meghan McDonough. Come on Meghan…run!"

Whimpering, Meghan got up and stumbled out the door, grabbing a pack and leaving the room. Reaching the outside, Meghan shielded her eyes from the sun, before catching sight of the building she'd been in. It looked like some kind of warped bunker. From the outside it was blackened, like something had burned it, but the corridor had been brand new. There must have been a fire or something, and been done up later, as the arrival site for the Battle Royale.

Back inside, Leech read the first boy name.

"Boy #1 is…Sam Langsford, out you go Sammy boy!"

Sam gulped, got up, and charged at the door, leaping over Georgina's corpse and out into the hall. He grabbed the first pack he could get his hands on and bolted, heading straight for the trees that waited for him outside. He didn't even look back to see what the building he'd come from looked like.

Rebecca was next. She kissed Anthony good-bye and jogged outside, taking a pack. Once she was out the door, she spotted Meghan, standing in a bank of bushes twenty meters away. She ran over to her and hugged her. But before she could do anything, Meghan had grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the forest, and begun to drag her away from the bunker they'd left, crying "We gotta get out of here" despite Bec's protests.

The list of names continued. Amazingly, Anthony was the next boy, but to his dismay, Bec wasn't waiting for him.

"Boy #3, Jonathon."

Jonathon ran outside, and, doing what he hoped no one else would do, ran around the edge of the bunker and headed north, in the opposite direction everyone else had.

Soon, the bunker was empty, and the final class list ended up like this:

Girls:

Girl #1: Meghan McDonough- hunting knife

Girl #2: Rebecca Edwards- frying pan

Girl #3: Stephanie Weaver- UZI

Girl #4: Melanie Stuart- Nunchaku

Girl #5: Tess Moller- Katana

Girl #6: Alana Woodward- Hatchet

Girl #7: Melissa Kelly- Desert Eagle

Girl #8: Zoe Creelman- MAC-10

Girl #9: Rachael Ward- Ice-pick

Girl #10: Georgina Walsh- Cyanide

Girl #11: Chloe Lanyon- Two by Four

Girl #12: Sophia Crouch- Machete

Girl #13: Sarah Keck- Glock Machine-pistol

Girl #14: Madeline Gillard- Shovel

Girl #15: Jessica Cunningham- Megaphone

Girl #16: Alexandra Kingsley- SPAS-12

Girl #17: June Santa-Annop- Sai

Girl #18: Felicity Jones- Crossbow

Girl #19: Emma Phillips- Sawn-off Shotgun

Girl #20: Veronica Maclay- Sniper Rifle

Girl #21: Elle Kirk-Patrick- Tazer

Boys:

Boy #1: Sam Langsford- fork

Boy #2: Anthony Heath- Colt .45

Boy #3: Jonathon Hill- Nail-gun

Boy #4: David Border- Kama

Boy #5: Kristofer Haintz- AK-47

Boy #6: Jack Frantz- Stake

Boy #7: Tom Brady- Fire-axe

Boy #8: Nick Locandro- Chainsaw

Boy #9: Ben Corden-McKinley- Steak Knife

Boy #10: Alexander Caine- Smith & Wesson Revolver

Boy #11: Oliver Cross- Police Baton

Boy #12: Gavin Hawkins- Heckler & Kosch MP5

Boy #13: Stefan Trent- Pick-axe

Boy #14: Calin Granger- Ballpoint Pen

Boy #15: Darren Salem- Screwdriver

Boy #16: Stu McGuckian- Walther P22

Boy #17: Ian Redfield- Hand Grenades

Boy #18: Dan Darke- Crowbar

Boy #19: Andrew McCallum- Switch-blade

Boy #20: Angel Summers- Molotov Cocktails

Boy #21: Francis Ford- GPS Locator

Leech laughed to herself.

"Little shits are going to kill each other…that's just what they deserve!"

Turning, she walked out the same door the kids had. But instead of heading down the corridor, she shoved the rack the BR bags had been hanging on away from the wall, and pressed forward on a small black square. It depressed, and for a moment nothing happened, until the wall itself begun to slide open.

Walking into the BR command centre, Leech laughed again.

In every Battle Royale she'd read about, someone had tried to blow up BR headquarters. To counter this, most BR's had a permanent danger-zone put up immediately after the last child left. However, on one recent occasion in Japan and a few other times in Europe, this danger-zone had, to put it lightly, stuffed up. It was activated too early, and had lead to the deaths of all the class' students before the game had even begun.

As a precaution so that never happened again, the Australian BR Committee had decided to keep the headquarters hidden, so the students didn't even know it was there. Even if they returned to the bunker, all they'd find was an empty room.

Miss Leech pulled her microphone closer and tapped on it once. The sound of this reverberated across the island, and every student stopped to listen.

"So this is it boys and girls," She said, "Battle Royale. The game has begun. An hour in, and already we've lost Girl #10, Georgina, but don't worry, There're still 41 students out there, all with weapons. So get cracking. Happy Hunting."

Leech turned off the mike and laughed. She looked at her watch.

"Damn, I let them out far too late…"

The time read- 1:45 pm.

41 Remain