One hundred years past modern day America, a second civil war will break out in between the country. The country was soon to be in complete ruins, but with the military leadership from Julia Marcus, who then later became the United States' first female president, the country was brought back to control and order under the military.
Several innocent men, women, and children died throughout the years of the war. Cities were destroyed. Economic debt made it nearly impossible to help bring back the United States to what it once was.
Then, Julia Marcus called for the orders for a state-wide annual Battle Royale.
The rules were simple. As punishment to the people and a dramatic way to keep peace within the country, every boy and girl ages 12 to 18 in every fifty states will have their name entered into a name-drawing lottery. One state will randomly select a contender to compete in the Battle Royale, who will enter an arena to fight and kill every other person. The last remaining person will be crowned as the winner of the annual Battle Royale. The competition is televised nationally as mandatory viewing for all United States citizens.
It was a cold spring morning when Sander woke up in his warm bed with the slow flow of a cold breeze found itself above a crack perpendicular to his bed. Sander cuddled together with his blanket and comfortably laid there till he could no longer hold in his morning bladder.
Sander abandoned his warm bed and walked outside his grandmother's trailer towards their outhouse. While relieving himself, he remembered that this is the most dreadful day of the year, reaping day. Sander can remember the first reaping vaguely 11 years ago when he was five. All the people are forced out of their homes to the nearest city, where they stand in the streets surrounded by military guards and watch as the competitor from each state is drawn and chosen. Every year this day is horrid, even if there hasn't been a year when the West Virginia reaping has chosen a competitor from the reaping in Martinsburg, where Sander had to go to watch the reapings, but they always show live footage of where it is. Sander remembers last year when a young girl was chosen up in the northern panhandle in West Virginia. Her mother refused to let go of her, screaming and shrieking at the guards to leave her alone, when one of the struck the butt of their gun to her head and grabbed the girl. She later died early in game.
Sander walked back into the trailer to find his grandmother standing in the kitchen boiling water.
"We have to be in Martinsburg by 12." Sander said quietly as he went to his room to lie back down.
Sander lied back in his now cooled down bed and stared at the ceiling to think about today. The reapings makes him nervous, but knowing that thousands of others are possible selections that his chance of being picked is very, very slim. He thinks of what it's like, being in the Battle Royale arena. He has a common knowledge of what it's like, since it mandatory for all citizens to watch it. Every year the arena differs from the last, changing from forest one year, to arctic the next, to maybe a swamp the year after that. Usually the person who gets one of the better weapons wins, but not always, Sander remembers a girl four years ago from Oregon who originally had a nail file get her hands on a pair of scissors, then a gun and managed to pick everyone else off. Sander's mind runs at 100mph, before his grandmother calls him out for breakfast.
Mimi James was walking to Ft. Lauderdale with her mother and father for her first reaping. It was the first hot day of the spring in Florida, and Mimi could barely make it to the town square.
"Dad, please don't make me go" she whined while pulling on her father's shirt and sobbing.
"It's okay hun, it will only last a short while, we'll be back home soon" Mimi's father replied while rubbing on Mimi's back.
The family made its way to the center of town, where thousands of others looked up as one of multiple television screens filming live from the capital of Florida, Tallahassee. There, they watched the governor give his speech about how proud he is of Florida and their roles in the previous Battle Royale games, even having a winner from the
3rd annual Battle Royale. The governor announced it was time to choose its next champion, as he walked towards the center of his stage where a large globe full of small papers was. The top of the globe slowly opened, and the governor stuck his hand down deep in the bowl of papers. He snatched one, and made his way back to the microphone.
The governor cleared his throat, and looked down at his selected name and gave a warm smile. In the corner of the television screen, Mimi noticed there was now an image of the state of Florida.
"The competitor representing Florida for the eleventh games of Battle Royale, will be, …. Ms. Mimi James!"
Mimi was unaware of what just happened, but then the image of Florida in the corner of the screen started to Maximize itself and slowly pull towards the southern half of Florida to Ft. Lauderdale, when then instantly Mimi came on screen looking shocked and wide-eyed. The crowd of people gasped and all around Mimi stopped and stared at her. Mimi quickly turned her head back towards her father, when a military guard quickly grabbed her up and swiftly dragged her into a car and drove off towards the capital, leaving her parents standing there in shock.
Sander began the drive to Martinsburg with his grandmother in preparation for his own reaping. He drove across the rocky mountain from his home to town. The only good side to reaping day is when he can drive his father's old car that his grandmother kept after him and his mom died in the war that resulted into these 'games'. Sander parked as close as he could so that him and his grandmother wouldn't have to walk far, and got there just in time to watch the governor of West Virginia pull the next victim. Sander and his grandmother look up and watch on the television as the governor picks from the bowl of papers, and walk back to his microphone. He looked down briefly and shouted "Sander Viars!"
"NO!" Sander's grandmother shrieks as she grabs onto Sander's shirt.
"Oh… oh…" Sander couldn't think. He felt like his brain was pulsing and everything around him started to come in slow motion. He could see a guard coming towards Sander with a baton in hand, and Sander grabbed his grandmother and hugged her one last time as she cried in his arms. Others around Sander were quiet or weeping at the sight, then Sander felt a tug at his collar and he was then pulled away and dragged towards a car.
"No… no.." Sander tried to refuse what was just happening, but was then thrown into the back of the car where he sat there alone.
"So, this is what it feels like?" Sander thought as he was driven away towards the capital.
"I'll be dead within the next week. I'm on my way to a frightful blood bath, where the whole nation will see me die…." He quietly said to himself.
"Hello! Mr. Viars!" a window that Sander thought was a window in the car turned on and he saw the governor giving a warm smile.
"Congratulations, I hope you do West Virginia proud!" The governor said, only said before the screen went back to black.
"Do West Virginia proud…?" Sander thought to himself. Then he snapped.
"FUCK West Virginia! FUCK this country!" he screamed as he slammed his fists against the windows and kicked against the walls. Sander was doing a one-man riot in the car, doing all physical damage as he could before a strange, unscented gas leaked through the car's vents he Sander passed out on the floor of the vehicle.