Mr Edwards awoke to a splitting head ache. Strangely he couldn't quite remember falling asleep, or much else from the bus trip, but for some reason thinking about it gave him a feeling of dread.
He shifted slightly in his seat, which probably meant he was at least still on the bus, and opened his eyes slowly before looking around him; rather than being surrounded by students and the interior of the coach, he appeared to be in a cafeteria of some sort, though it was currently too dark to tell anything for sure. Sfeveral large round tables and attached benches, at which the students were sat, took up the majority of the room and stretching across almost one entire wall was the usual open window to the kitchens where people lined up to get their food, though now it looked empty. He himself seemed to be seated by himself in a high-backed chair at the front of the room, almost as if on display. It was now that the sounds of several panicked voices reached his ears.
Where the hell are we?
What going on?
I'm scared
Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Mr Edwards turned quickly to face it, looking straight ahead to the back of the room behind the students. He thought he could see a few figures standing there in the dark but almost as soon as he looked their way the lights overhead were turned on and they all seemed to be shining in his face.
He tried to raise his arm to shield his eyes but found he couldn't; looking down he saw that his arms were both tied down to the arms of the chair. He tried again, struggling to pull him arms free and finding that his legs were bound too.
"Ah, ah, ah, Mr Edwards" A voice from the back shouted out, most likely one of the men he'd seen. "Try not to struggle too much; it would be quite a nuisance if you forced me to kill you before I was planning to"
Mr Edwards froze in place, trying to look past the blinding light to the people beyonfd hoping to identify the speaker.
Was this guy serious? Would he really kill him?
He heard footsteps approaching him. As the person walked forward they blocked out the light partially to allow him to see them. The man, he assumed it was a man, was tall, over six feet, and broad shouldered;f though the rest of his appearance was hidden by the long hooded coat he wore, Mr Edwards knew enough to be afraid. The man stopped and stood before him, his arms held behind his back. Hfe seemed to examine him for second before swinging his arm around and before Mr Edwards could see what was held in the mans hand, a deafening bang sounded out and pain erupted in his stomach as he was shot. He shouted out in pain before gritting he his teeth and stifled the rest of his cries;f the students screamed out in fear, some shouting abuse at the man, but all were quickly silenced when the man turned to face them and pointed the pistol in their direction. He held his arms wide in greeting, the pistol still in his hand, and spoke loudly and with great enthusiasm, a sadistic smile across his face.
"Welcome, boys and girls, welcome, to the first ever Battle Royale competition" The last few words were spoken quieter than the rest, though most of the room still heard them.
"You lucky few have been chosen to take part in an event like no other, an event that will forever go down in history; hell, a few of you might even become famous. But, I'm getting ahead of myself; I suppose I'd better explain the rules to you before anything else"
"The rules of this Battle Royale are simple; there is only one way to win, you must-" Mr Edwards tried to turn his body to see past the man and at his students, they hadn't made any noise in a while and he was worried. Unfortunately this caused him pain due to the hole in his stomach and he could help but cry out, interrupting the man's speech. The man paused in his speech for a second before turning around quickly and, in a blur, struck him in the side of the head with the grip of his pistol. "Don't interrupt me"
Stars erupted in Mr Edwards vision and pain exploded in his head; at least his stomach didn't hurt as much anymore. The man gave him an intense look for a second, waiting to see if he would interrupt again, before turning back to the room, speaking just as loudly but the smile noticeably gone from his voice.
"Where was I? Ah yes. There is only one way to win, you must kill. You must kill your classmates. Yfou must kill every last person you see in this room with you now, kill until you are the last person left. Then, and only then, will you be declared the winner, and then, and only then, will you be allowed to leave"
****
For a moment there was nothing but silence from the students; the revelation that they were being asked to fight to the death silencing all questions for the moment. The cloaked figure paced back and forth in front of Mr Edwards, apparently thinking to himself while the students did the same. Of course that was what he wanted; there was nothing he hated more than being interrupted and the last thing he wanted was for someone to ruin his opening speech by talking over him.
That was the motivation behind shooting the teacher, silence; there was no real reason for doing so, aside for personal amusement, though it did also work quite well as a way of shocking the students into not asking questions, as well as setting the tone for things to come. Not surprisingly this didn't keep them quiet for long, and soon every student was talking at once and the room was filled with indecipherable noise. He raised the pistol once more and fired one shot into the centre of the nearest table and immediately the room fell silent once more.
"Now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce myself; my name is Barret, don't believe me if you want but that's the name I'm going with.f I'll be your announcer for the duration of this event. But before we move on, in the interest of preventing any more unfortunate interruptions" The man paused to glance back at Mr Edwards quickly before continuing. "I'll answer any questions you have now". There was a moment's pause and some uncomfortable shuffling before one of the students stood up.
"Why do this? I mean, I just don't get why anyone would want to kidnap a group of students just to make them kill each other?" The cloaked man lowered his pistol back to his side and looked over the boy who had spoken. Daniel Lancaster, or B9 as the game knew him, an interesting addition to the game. His record at school was rather uninspiring; average grades in most subjects, no extracurriculars to speak of and physically he was hardly a threat. However, both of his parents were doctors and would, as a result, likely have at least some knowledge of medicine, something which could undoubtedly be put to good use in a game like this. The way he saw it Daniel could go one of two ways; either he would snap and become the Doctor Frankenstein of the island, so to speak, in which case he should by able to put that knowledge of the human body to use to provide some interesting and hopefully gruesome kills. Or, he would be a complete pacifist due to some self assigned Hippocratic oath and not try hurt anyone, in which case his death would be an example to the rest of the peace lovers on the island.
"Why? An interesting question. What would you think if I told you the government hired us to take you? Don't believe me? It would certainly explain a lot, like how we managed to kidnap forty plus students on a field trip and bring them here without getting caught. Of course that just brings us around to the question of 'why?' again. Well, I can't say anything about the discussions that lead up to the decision or even if what I've been told is even the real motive, I am just the front man after all, but it seems that the people in charge have decided to take a more proactive solution to the problems of crime, over population, and pretty much anything else that the citizens are complaining about these days; you can think of yourselves as the trial run of a new initiative"
The man who called himself Barret paced back and forth across the front of the room in front of the students as he spoke; it was easy to tell from their reactions that the thought that the government could be responsible for all of this was a shock to them, but he could also see the acceptance from some of them as if it wasn't too hard for them to believe.
"Or maybe it's an act of terrorism against America? You have to admit it's a pretty effective one; there are very few things that will demoralise the American population more than knowing the government can't even protect their own children from people like us"
Barret continued to pace back and forth, noting as the looks of shock and disbelieve were replaced with confusion. Of course he wasn't just going to tell them his motivations for doing this, they didn't need to know. However he wasn't just going to pass up an opportunity to mess with their heads when it presented itself so neatly.
"Or maybe it's something else entirely, because really? I can give whatever reason I want and you'll believe me; for all you know I'm just doing this because it's fun. You don't need to know why we're doing this, you just need to know that it's happening and you have no choice but to go along with it"
Barret stopped pacing and turned to face the class assembled before him as confusion turned to annoyance at the fact that Barret had essentially dodged the question. He couldn't help the grin that passed over his face as he noticed this, checking the time on his watch before speaking again. "We're still a little ahead of time so why don't I answer a few more questions. Any takers?" Another student near the back of the room stood up and glared at Barret before speaking.
"Assuming that the first reason you gave wasn't bullshit and you are working for the government, do you really think people are going to stand for it? Once people find out about this it's only a matter of time before they take action; protests, riots, maybe even a full blown revolt.
"And if you aren't working for the government, if this is just terrorism or for your own amusement, how long before they find you? How long before the army shows up to shut you down? You might get a few of us to kill each other but this game of yours will be stopped long before it comes to an end"
Barret considered the possibility of shooting the speaker briefly before deciding against it and instead walked over to him and placed his empty hand on his shoulder, pushing down as to force him back into his seat.
"Sit down Mr Holmes, this game would be a lot less interesting without you in it, if you psychological profile is anything to go by; try to keep thing civil so that I'm not forced to silence you" Barret walked back to the front of the room before turning back to the room and addressing them again. The one who had spoken was still glaring back at him, apparently not too pleased with having his questions silenced. Isaac Holmes, B5, a member of the debate team who was well known, and rather disliked, for his outspoken nature and views. Still, he was always going to be a threat; if anyone could rally the students against him it was Isaac.
"You raised some valid points, so I think it's only fair that I explain to you why you're wrong. While you are probably right that most people would be appalled to find out that the government was responsible for this, and that they would likely protest or riot, you are also most likely wrong to think that it will have any effect. Think about it, if the government was willing to send forty four students to a secluded location and force them to kill each other, do you really think they care if people didn't agree with them? And if we are doing this for ourselves or are taking order from someone other than your government, do you really think they'll have any chance of finding us? We were able to hijack a bus full of high school students and take them out of the country without anyone even noticing. So no, the people who set this up won't simply change their mind and let you go home, no, we won't be found and no, no one is coming to rescue you. This game will continue as planned, till it's logical conclusion, and will only end when all but one of you are dead. The sooner to come to realise this, the better off you'll be"
Looking over the group in front of him, Barret could tell that his words had had the desired effect; Isaac still looked defiant, if less so than before, but the majority of the students now wore an expression which showed that they were now accepting the facts of their situation. Smirking, Barret turned and began pacing again.
"Now, I have a lot of information to cover in a short amount of time, and thanks to our little Q&A I'm now behind schedule, so if you'll all just be quiet and listen while I-"
"Why us?" Barret turned back to face the group to see a girl sat near the centre of the room standing and looking directly at him. "Of all the schools you could have chosen, why us? What's so special about our school?"
Barret had only glanced at most of the files he was given and as such didn't remember most of the students' names, but this girl he did. Cassandra Evans, G21; she was a photographer and writer for the schools newspaper and had angered near enough every other student in the game with her writing and talent for finding out the things they didn't want anyone to know. Her time in the game was sure to be eventful, if nothing else.
"In a word, nothing; your school was chosen at random, just luck of the draw, or not, as the case may be. As for why we chose this group of students in particular. We didn't, you just happened to get on the wrong bus, that's all"
Cassandra shook her head, not believing what he had just told her. "But you knew Isaac's name just now, you even said you had his psychological profile?"
"Just because we chose your school at random doesn't mean we didn't do our research, what kind of shoddy operation do you think we're running here? We have profiles for every student who was on that trip, so we'd now what to expect once we found out who exactly we had grabbed"
This answer seemed to satisfy Cassandra as she sat down after a couple seconds of thought and allowed Barret to go back to his pacing. "As I was saying, I have a lot of information to cover, so shut up and listen. You know the basic idea behind the game, kill each other or die, simple, but there are a few other things that I need to explain to you, the first on the list being those collars around your neck.
Barret watched as all at once the group of students before him reached up to their necks and clasped their hands around the metal collars, a smile spreading across his face as they did so. Most of them looked surprised, having not noticed them until now, while a few just looked curious, just now paying attention to the devices that they had noticed but not given much concern till now.
"Their main function is to act as a tracking device so that we can see where you are once you get out on the island, more on that later, but there other function is to - hey don't pull at it, trust me that's a bad idea, you'll see why in a bit – there other function is basically to keep you in line"
Barret turned back to face Mr Edwards, now looking rather pale as a result of the blood lose from the gunshot wound, and walked behind and just to the side of his chair. He grabbed him the hair and pulled his head back, exposing his neck.
"As you can see your teacher here has been fitted with one too, he'll help me to demonstrate just how these little things are supposed to motivate you" Barret paused briefly to pull a small device like a TV remote out of his coat pocket before speaking again. "The inside of these collars are lined with a couple coils of primer cord, that explosives for those of you that don't know, and are set to go off should anyone try to remove them" Barret smile widened as everyone's hands dropped from their necks immediately. "I know a few of you are going to be sceptical about this, which is where Mr Edwards comes in"
Barret took a few steps to the side away from the chair where Mr Edwards was still bound before pointing the remote at him and clicking a button. At first nothing happened and look of visible relief passed over his face. This was quickly replaced with fear however as a slow, high pitched beeping began to sound out from his neck and a red light began flashing on the collar. The beeping quickly began to speed up, getting higher and faster until eventually it was just one long tone. A second later a deafening boom sounded out and Mr Edwards head was consumed in a cloud of dust and red mist. Barret flinched visibly, throwing his arms up to shield himself before lowering them slowly and laughing triumphantly upon seeing the body.
What was left of Mr Edwards still sat in the chair, although now he was missing a head, a neck and a fair portion of his upper torso as well; his shoulders were still there and his arms were still attached but both looked quite badly singed. Barret walked behind the chair and bent down to pick something up before lifting up Mr Edwards head by the hair, still laughing as he turned his hand over and held it upside down in his palm.
"I think we put too much explosive into this one, not that I'm complaining" Barret turned his hand back over, holding the head by its hair as he swung his arm and threw the severed head into the room, watching as it bounced over one of the tables and stopped just in front of one of the students. "That, boys and girls, is what happens when you try and mess with us; if you try and escape, if you try not to fight, basically if you piss me off in anyway, I'll push the button to make your collar explode just like that. Not as fun as watching you kill each other, but still pretty entertaining"
Before Barret could continue, a student that he recognised as Chael Tovaras, now B8, stood up at one of the front tables. "What's wrong with you, you sick fuck? You didn't have to throw his head at us like that. Are you having fun torturing us like this?"
"Of course I am, I think it's important to enjoy your work"
This last comment apparently sent Chael over the edge and, with a roar, he rushed at Barret, pulling his arm back as he closed the distance between them and attempting to land a punch on the older man. Barret simply stepped to the side and, reaching back with the hand holding the pistol, clubbed Chael in the back as he passed him, sending the boy sprawling onto his stomach. Before he could recover Barret walked over to where he lay and kicked him in the side to flip him over onto his back and pointed the pistol in his face, keeping him where he was with the silent threat to shoot him if he moved.
"You've got guts kid, I'll give you that; in fact that's the only reason I'm not going to shoot you for taking a swing at me like that. But, still, can't let you off without some kind of punishment" Barret lifted one leg up and slammed his boot down on Chael's side, causing him to cry out in pain.
Barret turned and walked away from the boy as another student walked over and half carried him back to his seat. Soon after the doors that sat at the back of the cafeteria flew open and two groups of people filed in and lined up on either side of the room, halfway between the students and the walls, boxing them in. Each person wore coats like Barret's and held AK47's across their chests, their faces were covered in the same manner as Barret's as well. A few more people entered the room after them, some rolling large racks filled with duffel bags up to the front of the room and another rolling a table with another duffle bag on top and positioning it in front of Barret before moving into line with the others.
"Now I know you're all eager to get out there and kill each other, but there are still a few things left to cover, I'll try not to take too long" Barret turned around and walked to the back of the room just behind the chair and stood in front of a large blackboard which still had a menu written on it in chalk, though most of it was now obscured by Mr Edwards blood. He picked up the eraser and wiped most of it clean, leaving the word 'Specials' across the top, and drew out a rough outline of something. "After we knocked you out we brought you to an island that looks like this" He pointed to the outline he'd drawn.
"Now this island has an interesting history, but you don't need to know it all so I'll summarise. It's roughly fifteen miles in diameter and most of the island is covered in what's left of a civilian town that once covered the island. About twenty years after it was built, the residents were cleared out and the army moved in and converted the whole island into a military base –don't get any ideas, we've stripped it of weapons and anything else you might be able to use, though there are probably a few working vehicles left around, though they may be a bit old by now.
"So that's it, old civilian buildings with newer military buildings built over them, with dense forest covering the areas in between that haven't been clear to make roads. All of which means that there will be plenty of places for people to hide, so you'll have to go hunting for each other if you want to win. We've covered the whole island with cameras and microphones, as well as place smaller mics in your collars, that way we can keep an eye on you and listen in, so don't bother trying anything" Barret reached down to the table in front of him and opened up the duffle bag.
"To help you survive in this game, at least for a little while, we're going to give each of you a daypack with the following contents" Barret reached into the bag, pulling out each item as he named it. "Rations, Map, Compass, Flashlight, Student list, for keeping track of which of your friends are dead, and a First Aid kit, don't be so surprised, we want you all to die, but we want you to last long enough to suffer a bit first. It's your basic Red Cross issue kit, don't ask how we got them; a few wraps, some gauze and a few band aids, just some stuff to stop you from bleeding out should you get hit by an axe or something like that. We'll also be providing you with a weapon, which may or may not be helpful, it could be anything from a gun or a knife or, well, you'll see when you get out there"
Barret leaned forward onto the table and smiled again, a site that by now, most of the students probably found disturbing. "One last thing. This game has a time limit, we don't want to be waiting around for too long so to motivate you we're only giving you three days to kill each other. If there's more than one person left alive 72 hours from when we send the first of you out onto the island then those collars of yours will explode, all of them, and no one will get to go home, understand? So that's it; try and put on a good show, fight hard, do your best and you might just make it home, if not, well, at least try to provide us with an entertaining death"
Barret stood up from the table and stepped around the table, standing in front of the students with his hands behind his back. "You'll each be called up one at a time in two minute intervals to collect a pack and leave through the doors at the back of the mess hall. The game starts now"
****
Author Note: In hindsight I probably should have put this chapter and the last one together as there is really no reason to separate them. These first few chapters before the island are mostly meant to introduce the story so there is not a lot of information given on the few characters introduced, especially the students. You'll see more of them once the game starts proper.