Chapter 2

The first thought Jack McTelford (male student #12) had when he slowly began to wake up was that his head was resting on something solid. It was cold but a warm slither of drool had dripped down the side of his face and onto the desk on which he was sprawled over. It was an uncomfortable feeling and before opening his eyes, he tried to guess how on earth he had managed to fall asleep in such an awkward position.

He then realized that he surely could not be on the bus anymore. He opened his eyes, and surveyed the dark room in from of him.

He was in a classroom, very similar to the one at there school in Autumn Coast. A large white board stood out at the front of the room, reflecting the little amount of moonlight, which came in through the windows. There were two televisions, one either side of the teachers desk, mounted upon wooden units roughly six feet off the ground, obviously so the students at the back would also have a clear view.

It was then that he realized that he was sat in the seat he usually sat in form class, which was always in boy-girl alphabetical order, placing him in the second to last seat of the 4th column. As he slowly lifted his head up he saw the short dark bob of Lily Miller (female student #12) sat on the chair in front of him. She was also asleep but was leaning back against the chair as opposed to sprawled over the table like he had been. This made it look like her head was at an unnatural angle and her body looked almost lifeless.

Suddenly Jacks emotions took over. Why the hell was everyone here? Maybe the coach had a crash or something? But Jack knew he was fooling himself, they'd all be at hospital instead of sat at desks in their class order in some unknown school.

Then Jack remembered how Olly (Jack looked over to do the desk directly in front and to the right of his, and saw Oliver Lloyd (male student #10) was sprawled over his desk asleep just as he had been) had fallen asleep on the coach before he had. He remembered that the whole coach suddenly went quiet and then he blacked out. What on earth could have happened? Something felt really strange. The situation itself would have been construed that way but something else was wrong and as he looked at Olly he noticed what it was.

On Olivers left wrist, which was dangling over the side of the desk, there was a metal band wrapped around tightly, only perhaps an inch thick but defiantly noticeable. Jack would normally have presumed it was a watch, but Olly hated any type of metal jewellery and never wore one. Jack tried to get a better look at it, and he realized that it wasn't a watch as there was no face on it. Then he suddenly remembered and looked at his own wrist. There, on his own, was the same metallic band. Along the center was written J McTelford B12, which stood for his name and class number. Aside from that he could only derive that it had no other purpose, which only achieved to unsettle him further.

Jack sat up straight in his chair. It appeared he was the only one awake. He'd never really been much of a sleeper, managing only a few hours a night usually, but he was surprised that he was the first one awake as his body felt physically drained, and under any normal circumstances he may have put his head back onto the desk and drifted back to sleep.

He looked to the left, through the large, square windows the room had periodically along the outer wall. He could make out that it was night, and he saw some trees swaying in the breeze. They couldn't possibly back in ACH, as he didn't recognize it at all. He turned around to the desk behind him. Joanna Lowe (female student #11) was also hunched over the desk, though her head was resting on her arms, which were folded on the table in front of her. He could not see if she was wearing a bracelet like he and Olly were, but he presumed she was. Cory Matthews (male student #11) was sat next to her on the back row, though he was sat the same way Lucy was in front of him. He also had a metallic band around his wrist.

As he looked back towards the front of the class, something caught his eye. Someone was sat behind the desk at the front of the class, but Jack couldn't make out who it was at that time. It was too dark. The thought of someone watching him made him feel uneasy.

He looked towards the right hand side of the classroom, where the frosted glass windows hid the view towards the corridor outside and something else caught his eye. Rachelle Ellinger (female student #5) had also woken up and was now looking towards Jack, fear in her eyes. Jack didn't really like Rachelle. She was a troublemaker and her reputation when it came to the subject of sex had well preceded her, but right now it was as if they were the only people in the world, and he shared her fear. He looked her and smiled awkwardly as if to reassure her that everything would be okay. She smiled back in a similar fashion and turned to face the person at the front of the classroom. Clearly she was as confused about the whole situation as he was.

Jack and Rachelle kept quiet as the rest of the students woke up, and the classroom was filled with hushed whispered as the perplexed teenagers tried to figure out what had happened.

Where the hell are we?
Were you asleep as well?
Who is that?
I dont remember a thing
What is going on?

Oliver Lloyd had woken up with the rest of the class and was turned, facing Jack with a puzzled look on his face. His usual animated personality was gone and had been replaced by what looked like anxiousness.

It was a difficult situation, everybody seemed to know that something was wrong, but the circumstances of the situation made everyone, even the jocks, too scared to even get out of their seats. Only scared whispers and hushed words filled the room.

It was only when Terri Chaney (female student #3) stood up from her seat in the first column (next to the frosted glass windows) and began to make her way towards her boyfriend in the back row that something happened. The room was filled with lights, which seemed to come from nowhere, and Jack and the rest of the students shielded their faces from the blinding glare. Even Terri Chaney stopped in her tracks in front of Rachel Day (female student #4) to cover her eyes. It was odd. Jack kept his eyes covered, half from the intense light and half from the fear of not wanting to know what he would see.

'Sit down Miss Chaney', was said from the front of the class. It was a female voice that was gentle but assertive. Jack recognized it but could not picture where he had heard it before. He slowly lifted his head and, sat at the front of the classroom, he saw the face of Miss Sawyer, with a blank emotionless expression on her face.

'I said sit down', she barked at the class, obviously losing her temper as Terri Chaney was still stood in the place she had stopped. She slowly walked towards her desk in the second the last row and sat down, almost pouting at the fact that she was unable to see her beloved. The rest of the students looked at each other confused, and obviously unsure about where they are.

Lucy Purbeck (female student #16) stood up,
'Whats going on Miss? What happened to the bus?' Miss Sawyer looked angry and cut her off before she had time to ask another question.

'You will only speak when spoken to Lucy'. Lucy sat back down, and looked annoyed that her question had gone unanswered. Lucy was the class spokesperson and was used to knowing everything before anyone else.

Jack liked her; she was loud spoken, but sort of funny in her own way.

'Is that understood?' Miss Sawyer asked. Lucy just looked back at her, intentionally not answering as a result of her question going unanswered. Jack felt the tension in the room grow, and Sawyer repeated her question, this time calmer but with the slight tone of what seemed like a threat. Lucy looked over to her right, where Olly Lloyd gave her a look (Jack couldn't really make out what kind of look it was) but it seemed to bring Lucy back to reality,

'Yes', she answered back weakly. It was widely known that there was some kind of relationship between Oliver and Lucy. When Jack asked him about it, Olly replied that it was nothing more than friendship, but Jack got the feeling that maybe Lucy wanted more whereas Olly didn't. It was a tricky subject. Sawyer looked at the whole class,

'That goes for all of you'.

Jack looked around the classroom and surveyed the expressions on his classmates faces. Katy Larson (female student #10), who was sat on his right, looked towards him and raised her eyebrows, as if to say she hadn't the slightest idea what the hell was going on. Kate was a nice girl really. She could be a little bitchy sometimes, but she kept it to a minimum, and usually she was considerate and polite.

Courtney Robinson (female student #17) who sat on his left just stared at Miss Sawyer with a drained look on her face. She probably hadn't forgiven her for knocking the pen out of her hand on the bus.

Mark Vale (male student #19) sat on the other side of Courtney and he also just stared towards the front of the class. Mark was one of the jocky guys, but Jack didn't really like him that much. He was quite reserved and always wore an almost listless expression on his face, as if he was bored with life. His hair was slicked back which Jack thought gave him a villainous appearance, but he knew that sometimes he read a bit too much into things and Mark Vale was probably just shy.

'Welcome to Freedman Island Miss Sawyer said to the whole class'. Jack just looked back at her thinking what the hell?

'Welcome to your activity weekend', Sawyer said this with a half smile on her face that would only be noticeable if you knew how her regular expression was. 'The object of the weekend is to become the winner, to eliminate all the competition'.

Eliminate? Thought Jack, that was a strange word to use. Suddenly someone piped up from the back,

'What the #$ is going on?', It was Sean Talbot (male student #18) . Miss Sawyer immediately stood up and shouted,

'If you talk once more without being asked, then I swear to god you will get whats coming to you!' Jack looked around to his left and saw Sean Talbot look around the class before sitting back in his seat. He looked as though he was about to cry, which was more than a little unusual for one of Troy Redlow's gang.

'Now, Im going to explain the rules for you all', everyone looked around, the room was filled with the feeling of apprehension. 'The idea of the game is to kill each other off, until there is only one person left. That person is the winner'. The class filled with a mixture of horror and humor. It seemed that not all of the students believed Miss Sawyer.

'You think Im joking?' asked Sawyer looking smug, 'Bring him in!' she shouted.

Jack had no idea what was going on but he knew that he wasn't going to like it. A gurney was wheeled into the classroom, and a large black sheet covered whatever was underneath.

'Mr. Jones served this country well and I thought it was a pity to do what I had to, but this is life'. She pulled the sheet off the gurney, and there laid Mr. Jones, his plaid suit covered in red, blood obviously, and a small hole in his forehead.

The class screamed but nobody moved out of their seats. It seemed that everyone decided that it was not worth the risk.

'Calm down everyone', Sawyer shouted. 'Mr. Jones had a full life. I was wishing that maybe some other teacher would be accompanying me here, like one of those idiotic PE teachers you all seem to like so much, but Mr. Jones paid the price. He was too soft on you all; he was not a good role model'.
'I'll explain shall I? You are part of a secretly funded government project to see how students react in war like situations. Each of you has a psychological profile, which was put together by an elite team. The object of this game is to see who will become the best warriors, and who will be eliminated first. Each of you has different odds, and well be keeping track of you throughout the game'. Jack looked down at his bracelet, Congratulations, you are all going to be very helpful for you country.

Jack looked back at Katy Larson, who looked over and gave a classic you've got to be kidding look. Oliver turned around and pulled a face at Jack that conveyed a feeling of fear and annoyance. He always said that the American government were power hungry, corrupt lunatics; I was beginning to believe him.

'Now, this video will explain everything'. Sawyer walked over to the video, at the same time 3 soldiers with machine guns entered the room and stood to attention by the desk.
The video began playing.

The American National Anthem glided out of the speakers and an image of a flag blowing in the wind was shown. The words The US Program flashed up onto the screen.
Suddenly a man in a military uniform was shown and he began to address the students,
'Good Morning Class A, Junior Year, Autumn Coast High School and he saluted at the screen'. This was more than weird, Jack thought to himself, 'you have all been selected to aid the American government in its War Strategies program. Congratulations'. Oh yeah, thanks, Im so honoured

'You are on Freedman Island, just 5 miles off the coast of North Carolina. In case any of you didnt know, this is what the island looks like'. A digital image of the island, including contours was shown in three-dimensional imagery. The island was roughly square shaped but looked like it had been chopped in half and the right side had been lowered down slightly. The Military guy appeared in the bottom right hand corner of the screen and continued talking,

'Its roughly 3 and a miles along, east to west and 2 and a miles north to south, so there is plenty of room for you all to play. The island has been divided up into zones the map now had a grid over it, which will determine your movements on the island. Every six hours your teacher, the lovely Miss Sawyer' huh? 'Will broadcast updates to you all about which zones will be becoming danger zones'. A square on the television flashed red and then stopped; the words danger appeared on the bottom of the screen. 'If you are in one of these zones when it is called, you should evacuate immediately as the danger is… yourselves'.

The classroom was deadly silent. The arrival of Mr. Jones corpse had shocked everyone into knowing that this was for real, but now the introduction that we were a danger to ourselves had everyone on the edge of his or her seat.

'The bracelets that you are all wearing, yes take a good look if you have not yet noticed, are all fitted with an electronic device'. Some of the students in the class were still in shock and hadn't even noticed that they were wearing one. Jack guessed most of them just thought it was their watches. 'If you are caught in a danger zone, or start causing trouble, or pretty much just pissing us off', he showed a dangerous smile, and carried on. 'We will identify you…which will trigger an alarm' and he mimed the action of someone slashing their throat 'and your eliminated! Inside the bracelet is a tiny needle, which if triggered, will inject a small but lethal, and extremely painful poison into your veins. Try not to go out that way huh? Its not very honourable'.

The class still sat in silence, now from shock. Miss Sawyer stood up from the desk in front of her, 'All right then, Any Questions?'

Stephen Delaney stood up from his chair in the left hand corner of the classroom, 'Why are you doing this Miss'?

Miss Sawyer looked at him, 'I work for the government, I was placed in your school to gain a perspective on what you are all like, and to write your odds and monitor your personalities'. It seemed they had been tricked from the start. Suddenly her military like running of the classroom seemed to make sense.

Lucy Purbeck stood up.

'Yes Lucy, now you can ask a question', Sawyer said with a subtle twinkle in her eye.

'You just expect us to kill each other'? Lucy looked completely stunned.

'Well', she said, walking to the front of her desk, 'you don't have to kill anyone, but I'll bet a few of your classmates will be after you Lucy'. Sawyer stared right into her, and Lucy looked as though she was going to burst into tears. Jacks attention was drawn to the right; Oliver had just stood up,

'That's out of order Miss Sawyer', he said,

'Ah Mr. Lloyd, I was wondering if you'd jump to the defence of your girlfriend, and just like a good respectable English boy you did!'

'She's not my girlfriend…' he began to say when Sawyer cut him off,

'I know, I know', said Sawyer exhaling as though she was bored, 'I know who you really like Oliver…Shall we tell Lucy who it is? See if we can get some anger to kick-start this game off. Something tells me Lucy could take the other girl, the shy demure type is no match for her kind…or are you…' Sawyer was just about to say the girls name when Olly cut her off,

'OK! I'm sorry', he said, 'there's no need for this'

'Just so you know Master Lloyd', she said condescendingly 'I can do whatever I like', she was playing with them; a complete psycho thought Jack, 'However, I'll keep quiet for now, see if Lucy can figure out who she is'.

The classroom was quiet and Lucy and Olly were now the only students stood up. Lucy was looking directly at Olly with tears in her eyes. Sawyer's revelation had hurt her more than anything could. Olly looked back at her and mouthed that he was sorry. Lucy just nodded and sat down.

'Anyone else'? She asked. Suddenly there was a burst of laughter, which rose up from the classroom. Jack pinpointed it straight away, Natalie Foster (female student # 6). She was laughing loudly and stood up,

'Are we on television?'' she asked 'this seems like a trick TV programme.'

'No, you are not Miss Foster, now sit down'

'Whatever, Mr. Jones looked so fake' she continued to laugh, 'where are the cameras hidden, can I keep my wristband? It looks well cool'

'Foster if you don't sit down then I will have to eliminate you for disturbing the class'. Sawyer was as calm as could be,

'Yeah alright then', Natalie said sarcastically, 'Shoot me!'

Miss Sawyer then took a shotgun from one of the soldiers present and aimed it at Natalie. The class was in anticipation. Were they on reality television? Had Natalie just called the bluff? Jack lowered in his seat, something was wrong; this was not a television programme.

'Last chance Natalie!'

'Whatever', she was still laughing, 'Jo, Amber come on, you know this is fake…'

That was the last thing she ever said. Sawyer pulled the trigger and a large hole blasted through Natalie's stomach, throwing blood all over James Hunter (male student # 6) and Amber Atkinson (female student # 2) who were sat behind and to the left of her. Natalie Foster's body collapsed backwards, falling onto James desk, and then onto the floor. A pile of red blood flowed out from under her. The class was silent, everyone was stunned, suddenly someone screamed and all hell broke loose.

Chairs went flying as all the students began to scramble to the front of the class where the door was located, the only exit from the classroom. The tables were scattered towards the edges of the classroom and the students were screaming and shouting. Jack also found himself in a mad dash to escape. Suddenly there was gunfire, though as Jack looked around he was relived to see that the soldiers were firing at the ceiling. The class then ran in what seemed like complete unison to the back of the room, and huddled together, cowering away from their captors.

The main area of the classroom was deserted except for the bloody corpse of Natalie Foster, the class clown, and her two best friends Amber Atkinson and Joanna Lowe, who were kneeling over her body, crying. They hadn't even tried to escape, so overcome with grief for their friend. The class suddenly became silent and all that could be heard was the faint tears of the two girls. Jack felt like he was going to be sick.

'Get away from her', Sawyer shouted to them, but they didn't even move. They just continued to sit on the floor and call her name out. 'If you don't move away from her then we will be forced to remove you', she continued to say.

Jack looked at them, and decided that something needed to be done. Sawyer was now pointing the shotgun at Joanna. Jack stepped forward and before Sawyer knew what was going on had lifted Joanna up by her arms and cradled her to the back of the classroom. Oliver, seeing Jacks lead, rushed over and collected Amber the same way. She burst into tears and hugged him tightly.

'Very admirable gentlemen', Sawyer shouted out. She then looked over at Lucy, who was looking towards Oliver and Amber. 'I know what your thinking Lucy, Is it her?' and began to laugh. Lucy looked shocked and turned to face Heather King. Oliver then let go of Amber, embarrassed, who rushed over to Joanna and Jack, and the two girls continued to hug and cry.

'Play the video!' she shouted, returning to her desk. The students still hovered at the back of the classroom, but were leaning forward in anticipation now. Nobody thought that this was a game. It was real life, and they needed to know the rules.

The military dressed man on the screen returned and was stood in front of a table.

'Now', he said, 'you will all be issued with a survival pack for the game. Each pack contains some food and water'. He lifted up a loaf of bread and a bottle of water from the table. 'It also contains a map and a pen, so mark off the danger zones when you hear them. There is also a compass', he began to smile, 'so all you scouts out there should have no trouble with that'. The students were all listening intently, afraid to miss even a single detail.

'You will be leaving by class number, in boy girl alternating order, and each of you will receive a weapon at random, which will be supplied in your bags. These range from machine guns to spoons, so whatever you get will be down to luck. This eliminates natural advantages'. Jack continued to listen to the television, but strangely found himself agreeing that this was the fairest way. What's wrong with me, he thought, this is sick.

'Good Luck Class A' he now smiled into the camera, 'were counting on you!'

The camera then panned out to a body shot of the soldier, and he began to read out names.

Natalie Foster
Female Student number 06 ELIMINATED
39 Students remaining