A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave me a review.
"Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die..."
We are greeted with the sound of static as a television bursts to life. The TV starts off by playing a typical reality show that can be found on any channel these days, where two trashy looking teenage girls are currently arguing over who slept with who this week, before getting into a physical fight in a kitchen area. The viewer quickly decides to change the channel, flicking through a numerous amount of unintelligible programs before settling on a live news report. A pretty young woman dressed in expensive clothing sits at the news desk, staring at the screen as she delivers the days news.
"...and the violence in Detroit continues today as hundreds of people march down it's streets protesting against the government's current regime, calling for a change in office as they wreak havoc in their cities streets. Police have closed off all major roads in and out of the city as they attempt to quell the rioters and put an end to the violence that has taken hold of the city for close to three weeks now. We now cross live to our correspondent in Detroit, Sally Kwon. Sally, what's the situation like down there?" The anchorwoman reports, showing next to no emotion as she reads the teleprompter.
The news report now cuts to a disgruntled looking middle-aged Asian woman, standing on the sidewalk of one of Detroit's main streets. The street behind the woman is overflowing with people of all races as they march together down the street. Some are holding signs that read anti-government messages, while others run with weapons of all sorts in their hands. One man has even constructed a homemade flamethrower using a hose and propane tank, and he is currently leading the brigade as the others follow him. As soon as the reporter has realized that the camera is on, her angry expression quickly changes to one of determination as she speaks to the woman back at the studio.
"Thanks Tracy. I'm down here on Woodward Avenue, where as you can see the situation has only escalated as hundreds of people at a time are taking to the streets in protest. Civil panic is at an all time high as homes all over the city are being broken into with accounts of assault, rape and even murder are recorded everywhere, leaving police vulnerable as their forces are being stretched thin. We managed to score an exclusive interview with one of the ringleaders of the protesters, and we will air it for you now! Jerry! Roll the clip!" Sally the reporter barks at her off-screen cameraman.
"Wait! Wait Sally! Something's going on over there!" Jerry yells off-screen as he points the camera towards the front of the crowd of protesters.
The apparent leader of the crowd, the man with the flamethrower, has reached a police checkpoint that has been erected at the end of the street in an attempt by police to control the situation. The leader makes multiple attempts to get past the checkpoint, but he is rebuffed by the officers who man the checkpoint, each one clad in riot gear. Getting frustrated at not being able to pass, the leader brings up his flamethrower and aims it at the police in a threatening manner.
A gunshot rings out in the city street, causing the whole crowd of protesters to become silent for just one moment. The leader of the rioters slowly lowers his flamethrower as it droops to his side, before falling backwards onto the hard concrete road, smashing his homemade weapon on the ground as he does so. A rookie cop stands at the front line of the police, his hands shaking as he holds his firearm, smoke rising from the barrel where his shot was emitted. A superior officer looks down at the rookie and whacks him with his riot shield, causing the shivering man to drop his standard issue Glock handgun onto the ground.
"What the hell did you do?!" The older man barks at the rookie, who is still standing still from shock.
After finally realizing what has happened to their leader, the army of rioters break out into a roar as they swarm upon the police. Many officers are knocked to the ground as they are pummeled with baseball bats and steel pipes, while others are hit with flying bricks and other debris. A young man who looks to only be in his early 20's scoops up the fallen leader's flamethrower and attempts to use it on the police, but he can't seem to get it operational. He decides on what the weapon needs to operate, and swiftly pulls a Zippo lighter out of his jeans pocket. He lights up the lighter, and holds it up to the hose end of the device.
This proves unfortunate however as the man soon explodes into a shower of flames and gore, painting the people and scenery around him in both fire and blood, wiping out a large bunch of rioters and police in the process. This only causes more chaos on the street as the crowd gets even more out of hand. Deciding that he has enough footage of the violence that surrounds him, Jerry frantically turns the camera back to Sally, who is in shock and on the verge of tears. She musters up the willpower to speak however and turns to the camera.
"As you have just seen, the situation down here has gotten even further out of hand as the crowd have now converged on the police checkpoint and are now-" Sally's report is silenced as an overhead Molotov Cocktail smashes into the ground in front of her, silencing both her and the report.
The report cuts to static for about ten seconds, before cutting back to Tracy in the studio. Tracy is still in awe at what she has just witnessed, tears running down her face as she stares at an off screen television in the studio.
"Sally..." Is all she can muster, before wiping the tears from her eyes as she realizes that the camera is back on her.
Tracy clears her throat and begins to speak again.
"Ahem. We are having 'technical difficulties' with our reporter Sally in Detroit. Hopefully we can get back to her shortly... In other news, reports are coming in from all over the country that similar incidents have broken out in many other states including New York, Florida and Indiana. We aren't sure if they escalated to the level of what was shown in Detroit, but we are assured that all civilians should remain indoors if they are located in one of these areas. Now, we have a special guest joining us on the show tonight to discuss the current events-" Tracy reports, before she stops reading the prompter and holds her hand up to her ear, revealing that she is being notified of something through her earpiece.
Tracy looks off-screen once again, with the same look she wore before, after Sally's demise. After almost a minute of silence, she looks back at the camera, this time being unable to keep her tears from flowing as she repeats what she has just been informed.
"Ladies and gentleman, it is my great 'honor' to inform you that breaking news has just come out of Washington. Our great president, Severin Carmack, has just announced that-" Tracy does her best to keep her composure, but she is ultimately interrupted as the news report is cut off.
The station instead cuts to a still image, which is a black screen with a symbol in the center. The symbol is the shade of red, and is a circle running around the initials 'BR'. 'Battle Royale' is written above the symbol, while 'Survival Program' is written underneath. Suddenly, the station cuts to a Japanese flag being shown to cover the entire screen, while the word 'JAPAN' appears in large capital letters, appearing right in the center of the screen. Trumpets play a somewhat inspirational theme in unison as the flag ripples and blows in the wind.
Footage of thousands of Japanese citizens marching through the streets of Tokyo is now shown. Members of the crowd wield both weapons and signs bearing anti-government messages, just like the rioters in Detroit that were shown earlier. They leave what seems to be a flaming trail of destruction behind them, on a much greater scale than what has been seen in the U.S. so far. Multiple angles of this footage are shown, before the video feed seamlessly switches between several different riots that have previously taken place in Japan. A mass melee between Japanese police and the civilians they are meant to be protecting is shown as people on both sides are beaten to the ground and trampled upon.
After a couple of minutes, this harsh violence is replaced by the image of a North Korean flag, and the exact same scenario plays out again, only this time on the streets of North Korea. This cycle repeats one last time as England is shown to be in the same state of violence as it's Eastern counterparts. These images of violence finally disappear as they make way for the American flag. Like the other flags, it stays on screen for a few moments while the trumpets play. This time they play the American anthem. Instead of cutting to footage of riots afterwards though, it cuts to a man sitting at a desk, facing the camera. This is no ordinary man or no ordinary room however, with the man being the current U.S. President Severin Carmack, while the room is the elegant oval office.
President Carmack is a very stocky man. He is short, but wide in a non-obese way, possessing what someone might describe as being the body of a footballer. He is also very intimidating, as not only is he well-built with muscly arms and legs, but he also has very noticeable scar that runs down the left side of his face, right next to his eye. He acquired this scar while fighting as a soldier in the Vietnam War, something that his publicists love to accentuate in their campaigns whenever he is forced to re-run for office. His jet black hair is seemingly greasy as it hangs low over his head, stopping just above his eyes. His eyes are quite piercing, and he has used them to his advantage to win numerous arguments. After getting the all clear from his off-screen camera crew, President Carmack clears his throat, and begins to speak into the camera.
"My fellow Americans, I'm afraid I must address you all today, my supporters, my friends, my people, with terrible news. As I'm sure must of you have heard, a horrible wave of devastation has gripped this great nation. Not by our enemies, but by our very own citizens. They have polluted our streets with their senseless violence and their bigotry. They claim that my position in office is what fuels their rampage, and that they won't stop until I have been removed from office. But I ask all of you, did I hold a brick in my hand and striked an honorable policeman with it? Did I break into the home of Natalie and Kevin Jones from Michigan and murder them in cold blood? Did I trap poor little Kenzie Wuthers inside a flaming car and take away her precious life? No America, I did not. But the people roaming our streets and preying on our people have. So I ask you my fellow Americans, who really needs to be stopped? We have tried to peacefully negotiate with these rioters, but I'm afraid they will not listen to reason, instead preferring to carry on with their horrendous behavior, becoming more like terrorists than freedom fighters. As you know America, we do not negotiate with terrorists! So, today I am here to inform you that I have personally approved a new bill that has been passed through congress. This bill is named The BR Act, and I am sure that those of you familiar with the previous riots over the years in Japan, North Korea and England will be familiar with it. The BR Act was extremely successful in quelling violence among it's people in those nations, so we are now aiming to do the same here. For those of you who are uninitiated, BR stands for Battle Royale. Starting soon, a random high school class from anywhere across the nation will secretly be chosen via a lottery system, giving them the glorious honor of being martyr's for the salvation of our great nation. These youths will be taking to an undisclosed location, where they will be forced to fight each other to the death, much like the gladiators of old. Only one student can emerge victorious in the end, and this champion will be rewarded accordingly. Every 6 months, this cycle will repeat with a new class, and so on and so forth. Why would we allow such a thing you ask?" President Carmack soothingly reads, never missing a beat.
President Carmack rises aggressively from his chair and stares even more menacingly into the screen, disregarding what he is meant to read from the teleprompter.
"Because of you! All of you citizens out there who take what you have for granted, and who then claim that you want more and that you want your country to be run by someone who can give you more! When this doesn't happen you carry on in a selfish manner and cry and whinge with no care for the well-being of others, like a baby that has had it's toy taken away! If you won't listen to reason, then fine, neither will I. Maybe the demise of your children will shock some sense into you. The actions that you take in life will always affect the children that you raise, and this has never been more apparent than now. The youth of today have been raised in a sheltered society where they never have to work for anything. Well now is their chance to prove that they are worthy of the gift of life that has been passed onto them. If you want to save your children, simply throw down your weapons and embrace me as your leader, so I can get to steering our nation into the right direction. Now, the arrangements for our first classes' selection have all been made, and to those who find themselves within the program, I salute you for your sacrifice for your country. Neither I or your country will forget you. God bless America". President Carmack finishes as he salutes the camera, before it cuts to a black screen.
Words start appearing in the center of the screen, as if they are being typed on a keyboard.
"STAY TUNED FOR HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PROGRAM IN JAPAN, NORTH KOREA AND ENGLAND"
After a few more moments, the screen cuts to a forest area, with a large open field being shown in the center of it. The field seems to be relatively uncared for, as the dry dead grass gives the impression that the well being of the location was forgotten long ago. A young girl sits alone in the center of the deserted field. All that lays around her is dead grass, weeds, blood, bullet casings and the bodies of her dead friends. She quietly sobs as she firmly holds her head in her hands, letting her tears flow out onto the dirt. A young boy cautiously approaches the girl, holding what appears to be some kind of gun in his hands. The boy isn't responsible for the slaughter of the girl's friends, having only stumbled upon the scene after he heard the gunshots from nearby. The boy nervously scratches the side of his neck, revealing that he is wearing a black metallic collar. It resembles something of a more expensive dog collar. After a couple of seconds of catching his breath, he walks up to the sobbing girl and leans over her, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey..." The boy says nervously with a British accent.
There is no response from the girl.
"I'm not going to hurt you. You're Caitlin right? My name's Howard. We had Chemistry together, remember?"
Still no response.
Howard takes his hand off of Caitlin's shoulder and looks around at the dead girls that lie on the ground around him. He counts five in total, recognizing all of them. Each body is oozing fresh blood out of the numerous bullet holes that litter their young bodies. Not only have the bullets pierced through their bodies, but they have also shredded their skin, turning the deceased girls into messes of blood and ripped, tattered skin. Howard gulps, deciding that he never wants to die like that. He looks back at Caitlin with tears in his eyes.
"Who...who did this to your friends?" Howard asks as the first tear makes it's way down his face.
Caitlin ceases her sobbing, and lifts her face out her knees. Blood stains her pretty face, turning it into an almost even split of white and red. This helps to cause her beautiful light green eyes to stand out even more, as she stares at Howard for the first time. Howard finds himself lost as he loses himself in Caitlin's emerald eyes, forgetting about the horror's that surround him for just that very moment. Unfortunately for Howard, this also means he fails to notice the fully loaded Uzi that rests in Caitlin's lap.
"I did..." Caitlin replies.
Howard gives Caitlin a confused look, before Caitlin grips her weapon and aims it firmly up at Howard. Before he can muster a single word, Caitlin squeezes down on the trigger, causing it to spew forth a flurry of bullets. Most of the bullets hit Howard directly in the face. These bullets rip through him, tearing flesh open, knocking teeth out as they obliterate his jaw and turn the roof of his mouth into nothing more than a destroyed mess as blood gushes out from all over. Other bullets pierce through one of his eyes, causing it to explode into a mess of goo and blood, while others tear off one side of his face entirely. Some even rip through his throat, nearly severing it from his neck as it hangs by a few lone strands of skin and sinew.
All of the blood that spills from Howard's destroyed head rains down upon Caitlin, who stares at Howard with those same beautiful emerald eyes. Her finger finally leaves the trigger after several seconds of firing, and Howard is dead before he even hits the ground. His tattered carcass joins the five others around him as it lands in an awkward position. Caitlin makes no attempt to clean the blood off herself, and after making sure that the coast is clear, she hides her Uzi in her lap again and proceeds to cry into her hands once more, waiting for her next victim.
After this scene between Howard and Caitlin, the station begins to cut between footage from previous programs held under The BR Act.
A boy is shown hitting another another boy over the head with a sledgehammer several times as he lays sprawled out on the ground. Each successive blow from the hammer breaks through more and more of the downed boy's skull, before crushing it completely in a very violent scene.
Two girls stab each other over and over again in the stomach as they fight over a bottle of water. Intestines begin to fall out of one girl's stomach as her gut is ripped entirely open by the blade, while the other deals with a knife that has penetrated her stomach, slicing through various vital organs.
A boy tackles a girl to the ground and bites down hard into neck, ignoring the girl's agonizing screams. The boy puts an end to her screams by tearing out the girl's windpipe with nothing but his teeth, before he spits it out onto the nearby ground with a stream of blood. He then sets his sights on the girl's friend as he chases her into the woods off screen. Her screams are eventually heard in the distance.
A grenade goes off, turning 4 students into a shower of gore as their guts, blood and severed body parts slam into the walls of a burning house.
A girl jumps out of a tree and snaps her neck with a noose she tied around herself.
The dead body of a boy is shown. His corpse is held upright due to a spear that has impaled through his face and into the side of a house behind him.
A girl screams as she shoots her boyfriend in the chest three times with a Beretta M9 handgun, before it clicks, signifying that it is empty. The boy still lives however and is choking on his own blood, before his girlfriend finishes him off with several hard blows to the head with the butt of the handgun.
These violent scenes play on and on for an extended period of time, before the screen finally fades to black, while the footage still plays.