Riley's sleep was completely dreamless, so he felt as if he were waking up immediately. He kept his eyes closed, not ready for today.
Man, I have to get up…get ready for this weekend. What time is it? It's still dark…did I oversleep and miss the bus? Or is it just really early? … …Wait a minute.
When he opened his eyes, he noticed (to his great discomfort) that he was indeed still submerged in darkness. He was sitting in a chair, his torso resting on a desk. He sat up to take in what surroundings he could. He wasn't alone; it looked like he was with at least forty other people. Perhaps they were his classmates. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he recognized several sleeping faces. These were indeed his fellow students…actually; these were all of the students who were riding Riley's bus. That's right, the bus. What the hell had happened?
Riley's thoughts were cut short by a sudden dizziness, followed by a small fire in his stomach. He immediately leaned to his left and freed a small puddle of vomit from his gut. He groaned and held his stomach with his hands. At first, he assumed the alcohol had done this to him. He looked at his watch. 11:00pm, it had been a little more than three hours since he drank the liquor, and even then it was only a swig. However, a much more ominous vibe ran through Riley's body.
The slowly building whispers alerted him that his classmates were beginning to wake up. He kept his gaze towards the ground, still feeling ill. He couldn't make out what everyone was talking about, but he wasn't really trying to listen, either. He wanted to feel curious, even worried; but his head wouldn't stop spinning. The dark room suddenly flooded with light. Riley immediately closed his eyes, the light being far too bright for him. He kept his eyes tightly shut and returned to the resting position on his desk.
He couldn't help but wonder if he was dreaming all of this.
"Hello, hello…" An unfamiliar female voice graced his ears. She had a pretty voice, though she was speaking as if she wasn't quite paying attention to them yet. In the dead silence he could hear this woman sorting through papers, then straightening them by hitting them on a desk.
"Sorry about the sleeping gas. It was probably a bit of a shock to those of you who didn't succumb to it as quickly as others, wasn't it? Not to worry, though. It is a very clean chemical; there shouldn't be any lingering side effects, except maybe a slight wave of euphoria."
This woman was speaking very quickly, yet Riley could grasp onto every word she was saying.
"You there, are you sleeping? Excuse me? Mister…Cooper, is it? SIR?"
Oh, is she talking…to me? Shit, I've never fallen asleep in class.
Riley opened his eyes and sat up. His vision took a few seconds to focus, but he felt a little less dizzy than he did a minute ago. That's right, he wasn't in class. In front of the classroom, there was a rather tall woman standing behind an office desk. She was very pretty and had to wear little make up. Her blond hair was wrapped neatly in a bun, and she was wearing a navy-blue government uniform. The UNAE emblem was embroidered on the blazer. Riley immediately recognized this as the woman who was talking to him.
"No, I'm awake. I just don't feel well…" Riley managed to mumble. He was tempted to ask if he could go see the nurse. He had a feeling there wasn't a nurse here, though.
"Oh," the woman said in a sharp tone, as if Riley had just contradicted her. "Well, do try to keep up, will you? We have lots to discuss. I do suggest all of you pay very close attention, as the details are a matter of life and death." She smiled at them. The class sat silent and confused, not doing anything but exchanging puzzled looks with one another.
"I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Kyra Vanderholst, Miss Vanderholst will do. I'll be watching over you for the next several days from the room upstairs." Kyra sorted through her papers once more, and glanced down at one for several seconds.
"Okay, I have half an hour to get through this. So let's cut to the chase, you seem like a pretty quiet bunch. Normally everyone's much more talkative. You're off to a great start," she continued with growing enthusiasm. "I'm sure you've guessed that you're in a classroom by now. So, yes, we are in a school."
Riley didn't like the way the she was addressing them. She sounded as if she were talking to a class of dim-witted first-graders. The frustration he felt caused his temples to throb uncomfortably.
"We're up in the mountains," Kyra continued. "This school is located near the southeast edge of the map. You're bound in by electrical fence, so escape is impossible."
…Escape? Riley shook his head. What the hell is going on here…?
"Not that the fences are all that necessary, anyway. If you will note the collars around your necks–yes, those–we will use those to keep track of your movements. It also monitors your pulse, so it will let us know if you are alive or dead. The playable area is divided into zones. Over time, certain zones will be marked as "Forbidden Areas". If you wander into these areas, your collar is armed with a bomb that will detonate immediately, no warning. The maps provided to you are digital. You'll know exactly where you are, so that shouldn't be a big problem."
A searing anticipation grew in the classroom like an over-inflated balloon. A balloon Riley was sure would pop at any moment. To him, whatever was going on here felt too eerie to be a joke. What was this about exploding collars and forbidden areas? Were they playing some kind of game? If it was, the rules seemed twisted. Several of the students leaned forward in their seats, some held their breath, and a few were even sweating.
At that moment, several members of the armed forces entered the classroom. A couple of them were pushing a cart that was covered in camouflage-patterned backpacks. They stood at the front of the classroom next to Kyra, who pointed at the bags.
"There's one of these for each of you. As soon as you get out of here, I would take a look at what's inside. Each pack contains your map, a flashlight, bread, water, and a weapon. This weapon can be anything from a pocket knife to a submachine gun; even I don't know what's in this year's mix. You're going to partake in a little experiment." Kyra took a deep breath.
"You will kill each other," she stated in a nonchalant fashion. "Until one of you remains as the lone victor. When it comes to killing one another, there are no rules on how to get it done, just make it happen."
Riley was right, the balloon of anticipation had popped, and the mood in the classroom changed instantaneously. One of the girls began crying very loudly, and several of the students were already exchanging suspicious glances. Riley shook his head. This couldn't be right…yeah, this was definitely a mistake. Or maybe it was a prank…right? The burning feeling returned to his stomach. He really wished he could go back to sleep.
Kyra ignored the response of the class and continued speaking at a quick pace. "Friends are good tools for survival for the first day or two, but as the number of competitors depletes they quickly become a deadly inconvenience…so do choose your adversaries wisely. At the hours of 6:00 and 12:00 there will be an update, please pay attention to these closely. I will list of the names of the fallen, and I will announce the new "Forbidden Areas" that will be added during that time frame." She picked up a marker and began drawing a grid on the white board.
No one was saying anything. All of the students were extremely tense, it seemed at this point almost everyone was sweating. The subtle, but pungent, aroma was enough to make Riley want to vomit again. Nobody was sure how to respond, the gravity of their situation hadn't quite hit them yet. Luke Gruenwald, who was sitting directly to the left of Riley, stood up from his seat. A look of confidence was painted onto his face.
"What if we don't buy into it?" He asked. "What if we decide not to do this? We're not your fucking lab rats."
"This is a prank, hippie boy." Jayson Baxter scoffed. He was sitting in the front row, two seats ahead of Luke. "Ain't nobody killin' nobody. No way, no how."
This immediately set off a chain reaction, the entire classroom flooded with voices.
"Why do you think they're doing this?"
"In any second, someone's bound to jump out and yell surprise, right?"
"Have you seen my bag?"
"No, mine's gone, too."
Riley buried his face in his hands. He now felt too ill to really care about what was going on. In his mind, this probably was some kind of prank. It was a bit elaborate for his liking, and not even very good. The idea of high school students killing each other was absolutely ludicrous. Riley sighed in exhaustion. He knew any second now they'd be taken to the hotel, and –
BLAM!
A loud, dry crack tore through Riley's eardrums. The classroom once again fell silent. Miss Vanderholst pointed a silver, bulky handgun (it looked like a Colt .45 Government Special) towards the ceiling.
"There will be no interruptions…" She stated coolly. "I can see that you're not taking me seriously. Let me assure you, that this is no prank."
As the conductor lowered her pistol, the orchestra came to a very tense grand pause. Riley now understood how silence could be deafening.
"Okay, let's move on. Over time, if you fight well or show excellent resourcefulness, you'll be eligible for what we like to call a "Care Package". These Care Packages contain very special gifts. They usually appear around mid-game, so when half of you are dead. If you've received a Care Package, a message will appear on your GPS instructing where it can be picked up. Please be sure to respond as quickly as possible, because if it hasn't been picked up by the next update, it will be announced as "up for grabs" and the location of the package will be made public."
Riley rubbed his temples, still in slight disbelief as to what was happening. He tried to push the sick feeling to the back of his mind and quickly surveyed the classroom. The windows seemed to be covered by some sort of sheet metal. There was no way to view the outside hell which awaited him and the rest of his peers. This made Riley extremely anxious, causing him to rock back and forth gently in his seat. He caught a glance at where the Xanthapolous twins were sitting. Wesley appeared to be pale and sickly like Riley was, Wade seemed much more focused on the situation at hand. On the other side of the room in the first row, Chloe was sitting with her arms folded and her head down. Riley couldn't tell if she was crying or not.
"I know this is a lot to take in at once, but I've basically explained everything to you. We have a few minutes before I have to release you guys, so are there any questions at all?" Kyra asked the class, glancing at each of them to make sure everyone was paying attention. Kyle Beverly (Male Student No. 5) raised his hand immediately.
"Yes, Mr. Beverly."
"Why are you doing this?" He asked very quietly.
Kyra nodded, "The youth in this country is going to hell. To put it simply, you can't be trusted. Terrorist threats are at a record high, and your demographic is the main culprit. So, the government got together and adapted this idea from the Republic of Greater East Asia. They're keeping it private for now, but it is eventually going to be used as a method of intimidation. Remember kids, a cooperative citizen is a happy citizen. In this case, I recommend you do as you're told."
Only stares were offered in response. The reality of the situation was finally sinking into everybody. With the exception of one, they were all going to die. Not only were they going to die, they were going to kill each other. Riley still couldn't focus. His mind felt incredibly foggy, and his body felt as if though bricks were weighing it down. Would he even survive the first night? Or, were his fellow classmates not going to give in to this? He inspected the room again. Four members of the water polo team were present. Riley remembered the incident with Carl Baker (Male Student No. 2) before the bus ride. Bullying was one thing, but would the jocks really go as far as to murder their classmates? Riley's suspicions were drowned out by Miss Vanderholst's voice.
"I know you might think I'm asking you to do something horrible, but there is a deep message here. That is, if you can process it right now. Each of you is about to find out what kind of person you really are, even if it's only for a little while. People live their whole lives pretending to be something they're not. Now you have the opportunity to express yourselves in the darkest, but most honest way possible. Are you a coward? Are you a hero? Are you a psychopath, a sadist, a masochist? Or are you just trying to fight to stay alive? Over the next few days, you will discover the answer. That, young ones, is one of the best gifts you can receive.
Now, it's about that time. You will each be dismissed alphabetically, alternating between females and males. There will be two minutes in between each of your departures. I strongly advise that you use this time to put together whatever strategy you can."
They were being released alphabetically. Riley felt his heart sink into his stomach. Chloe will be the first one to leave. On the plus side, she would have ample time to put a good amount of distance between her and everyone else. This meant Riley might not be able to see her, though. Will I get to say good-bye? Are both of us going to die out there…? Riley shook his head as a small sense of clarity rang through his mind. He couldn't let that happen. He sighed, his body was shaking. He felt hungry and nauseous all at once.
Kyra clasped her hands together and smiled. "Okay, children, let's do it to it, shall we?" Her tone became quite a bit more cheerful, possibly from relief of finishing her speech with a minute to spare. She looked down at her clipboard. "Miss Chloe Andrews, to the front of the classroom, please."
Chloe stood up slowly. Riley could only see her back, but she appeared to be shaking. She gave Riley a quick glance and a nodded once. Riley held his breath. To him the nod signaled, "You know I'm strong, and you know I'll be fine." It could have meant something entirely different, but Riley decided to go with his gut. Chloe picked a backpack from the very center of the cart. She threw it over her shoulders and proceeded towards the exit. One of the Force members opened the door for Chloe, then shut it behind her as she went through it.
It then sounded like Chloe was walking down a hallway. As the sound of her footsteps grew faint, Riley could feel his girlfriend slipping away from him. He did his best to take deep, slow breaths. He was certain he was going to cry.
Part I: The Game Begins12:00am – Saturday, May 26th
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BATTLE EXPERIMENT SEQUENCE INITIATED
42 STUDENTS REMAINING
Time was moving entirely too quickly. One by one, Riley's classmates disappeared to an unknown fate. One thing Riley knew for certain, all the students had gone down the hallway in the same direction. Riley wondered where they were at. They were most likely in California still, but where exactly? For a moment, Riley wondered if they were even on the same planet. A ridiculous urge to chuckle came over him at the thought. This was quickly dismissed by Kyra's voice.
"Male student number eight, Riley Cooper."
Well, here goes nothing. Standing up augmented the discomfort in his stomach. He did his best to ignore it as he made his way towards the pile of backpacks. Some of them were oddly shaped and bulky, while others appeared to be virtually empty. Riley closed his eyes and blindly chose the bag his hand first made contact with. Ladies and gentlemen, this week's winning lottery numbers are…yeah, right. Some lottery. The guards opened the exit for Riley – gee, service with a smile – who took off at a bit of a run. This classroom was at the end of the hallway, so he had no choice but to turn left like everyone else. This hall was lined with doors, probably leading into other classrooms, but guards were standing in front of each one. Riley caught sight of the exit, two large doors at the end of the hall. The one on the right was slightly ajar.
Riley unzipped his backpack. He gripped a hard, thin object and pulled it out. It was about 7 centimeters wide and 15 centimeters long. It appeared to be some sort of old-school smartphone, were those called iPhones? It responded to Riley's touch and dimly lit up. The screen read "WELCOME TO YOUR BATTLE EXPERIMENT GUIDE MAP...initializing..." Perfect. Nothing was more important to Riley right now than getting his bearings.
To Riley's relief, this map was incredibly detailed. You could switch between terrain, satellite and street views, just like on a GPS! The individual "zones" were clearly marked, and Riley could see his exact location (a purple circle in the center of the screen). The exit was facing north east, the school was directly on the main highway (marked CA-342). Although the forest in the area appeared to be very dense, there were several homes scattered along winding side-streets. On the south end of the school, away from the exit, there was an athletic field. After crossing the athletic field, the mountain sloped down slightly into another blanket of forest and residences. The main town appeared to be about 800 meters northwest of Riley's current location. He didn't take time to observe the details, his time was running out.
Riley took off towards the doors. As he opened them, the smell of pine immediately overtook all of his other senses. It was incredibly pleasant, and Riley couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Ah…" The fresh mountain air helped alleviate some of his nausea. He caught sight of a home across the highway. He couldn't see the details in the dark, and it was settled snugly in between a cluster of trees. Riley checked his watch. He had five minutes. He quickly surveyed the area (there probably wasn't anybody here, anyway). Alright, the coast is clear. He noticed his thoughts still felt pretty foggy.
Riley dashed across the two-lane highway. He stopped and the yard and stared at the cabin for a moment. It had a very sharp roof, the touched all the way to the ground. The wood was painted a chocolate-brown. There was an old, slightly-beat up, light-blue pickup truck in the driveway. None of the windows on the house had been broken. Perhaps…Riley snuck over to the door and turned the handle. …! It was open! (Riley didn't know this, but this was the kind of town where most people didn't bother to lock their doors – so to him it felt like a miracle.) The inside of the house was dark, and Riley could make out the shapes of furniture. This was definitely the living room. He used his GPS as a dim flashlight to guide his way to the kitchen. It was a very quaint kitchen. Nicely decorated, it looked like it probably belonged to an older couple; or possibly an older woman, who spent her mornings feeding the squirrels and greeting the school children across the way, and her evenings knitting by the fire in the living room. That was irrelevant, though. What mattered was…
The cupboards. Riley opened a long, narrow door that appeared to be the pantry. At this moment it was obvious someone had probably been here. In contrast to the clean and orderly kitchen, the inside of this pantry was a mess. Several packages had been torn open, and there were several crumbs scattered about. Wrappers had been left behind, and a few packages were untouched. Riley frowned. Most of the items left behind were expired. He did, however, manage to rummage up a jar of apple butter, and a box of graham crackers. It was at least a start.
Okay…now the fridge, then it's time to scram. Even though Riley felt far from hungry, he figured it was best to plan ahead. He saw the refrigerator (it seemed to have quite the collection of magnets and photographs on it) and crept over to it. As he remembered the electricity had probably been off for quite some time, he felt something at his feet. It felt like a bag of garbage, or maybe a cushion from one of the couches. Perhaps his mind had made him hope it was that.
At his feet, a human body was blending into a pool of crimson-red liquid. It was Evelyn Bordeaux (Female Student No. 3). She was lying face down, but Riley could tell it was her. She was a bit on the heavy side, and always wore the same neon-green ribbon in her dirty blond hair. Her back had three large, gaping tears in it. This was the source of the red-substance that was now staining Riley's sneakers.
"Um…" He held back the urge to vomit. Without bothering to take caution, he ran out of the house. He tripped over something, but quickly bothered to get out without checking what – or who – it was. Someone had killed the kind girl who played the clarinet in the school band. She had never harmed anyone…but someone had harmed her! Riley shook his head. He began sprinting up the highway going north. His heart was pounding, his mind was spinning. As he disappeared into the woods along the edge of the CA-342, he felt cold tears running down the side of his face.
41 Students Remaining