III: Deployment

"Get a good look, folks. This is a specially selected bunch of losers!"
The TV Reporter, "Battle Royale II: Requiem"

"Now, it's time for the rest of you maggots to deploy to the hot zone!" Athena's tone went neutral as she called off each name. "Boy #1. Walter Abilene."

Walter rose to one leg, and began limping forward, trying to ignore the pain. When he neared the classroom's exit, a soldier stationed by the bags threw one of them, hard, at Abilene, who collapsed back down to the ground upon being struck with it. The wounded student groaned in agony, trying not to scream.

Captain Curahee, however, was unsympathetic. He began clapping at Walter loudly in his cruel motivation, trying to hurry him along. "COME ON! NO PAIN, NO FUCKIN' GAIN! LET'S GO!"

Despite a pounding headache, Walter was able to get back up and painfully limp his way through the soldiers towards the door.

"Girl #1. Gloria Angel."

"Here!" Another kiss to her golden crucifix, and Gloria hurried over to catch her pack. Turning to face the class, she traced the shape of the cross in the air in front of her. "God be with all of you."

She then hurried through the stationary soldiers in the school hall towards the exit.

"Boy #2. Trey Coolidge."

Trey's hateful eyes were on Cassandra as he moved towards the soldier with his bag. He kept his eyes on the woman as he grabbed the bag that was tossed to him. As he headed out, he noted that whatever was in his pack was big, and oddly-shaped.

"Girl #2. Valerie Chung."

Heaving a nervous sigh, Val moved towards the front of the room. With a look of pure contempt, she stopped in front of Cassandra to flip the bird right in her face as she spoke. "Here."

A long, hard object within the bag struck her chest as it was thrown to her, and she hurried out of the classroom.

"Boy #3. Patrick Dane."

Rolling his head around to loosen himself up, he slipped off the top of the desk he was sitting on, but his arm was grabbed by Herman Krieger, temporarily stopping him. "I find you. Be careful out there."

"I'll look for you." Pat replied before hurrying over to get his pack. He then made his way through the silent, stationary soldiers flanking the hall.

"Girl #3. Natalie Cross."

With a hateful, spiteful look, Natalie stalked towards the packs to receive hers. She then turned to face the Captain and Cassandra. "You better hope I don't win, you fucking butchers."

The Captain didn't even look at her as he responded. "Die well, freak."

"Yup." Natalie backtracked towards the classroom exit. "You sure will."

She hurried between the soldiers to head for the front entrance.

"Boy #4. Malcolm Derricks."

Malcolm was quiet as he headed over to get his pack, and kept his casual pace as he headed for the front entrance. His expression, however, was not much different from the masks of dread the others had before heading outside.

"Girl #4. Emma Curahee."

Emma finally rose from her chair, although she did so in a rigid, military fashion. This was typical of Emma's personality. Even at her Middle-School age, she was an army brat through and through. She marched straight over to the Captain…her father…who had grabbed one particular bag and formally handed it off to her when she stopped in front of him, standing at attention.

"Don't let me down, honey." Her father quietly remarked.

Emma responded with a salute. The Captain saluted her back, and she hurried out the classroom door, jogging as if she were tasked to run alongside a platoon of soldiers by a Drill Sergeant.

Carl Porter, who was near Adele Nurmi, looked a little confused as he watched this particular exchange. He whispered as quietly as he could to Adele. "What the fuck was that about?"

"You don't know?" Adele whispered back. "That Captain guy is Emma's Dad."

One of the masked soldiers called to them. "Quiet!"

Carl raised his hands in his compliance, stepping away from Adele.

"Boy #5. Peter Ellis."

After grabbing his personal bag, a very tired-looking Peter hurried over to get his pack, which was thrown at him. He staggered back a bit from the impact, but he remained on his feet. He ignored the Captain and Cassandra completely as he headed out of the classroom.

The only thing on his mind was reaching the workshop area, and reaching it alive.

"Girl #5. Annabeth Grant."

Passing Alejandro, she heard him murmur "Ju first on my shit list, perra."

Her thoughts, however, were on Walter as she caught her thrown pack and headed out, ignoring the ominous warning.

As she made her way through the soldiers, however, the name of the next student called hurried her steps noticeably.

"Boy #6. Alejandro Espina."

Sharing a parting kiss with Gina Salazar, Alejandro rose up and drifted over to get his pack. He then turned to the rest of the class.

"You all gonna die." Alejandro declared. "I'm gonna win this thing, meng."

And off he went.

"Girl #6. Moriah Houk."

Moriah securely fastened the red-gemmed feather…the one worn in times of war, according to her grandmother…before scooping up her personal pack and heading over to grab her pack. Her first thoughts were of Walter and Annabeth as she headed out.

She hoped her weapon would be something useful, and not a firearm. Feeling at her pack on the way out, she was able to pick up on a sharp, solid edge, and a handle about the size of her forearm.

A slight smile played on her lips as she hurried towards the open entranceway.

"Boy #7. LaShawn Hughes."

His face looked grim as he stalked forward to get his survival pack. He had already made up his mind to resist the game. It was now time to see how he would lash out. He hoped it would not be a firearm, but even so, he could try and bludgeon Cassandra Emerson to death.

Quickly groping carefully around the pack, he picked up on a sharp edge. Perfect. He thought to himself. He began to slow his advance towards the open school entranceway as he heard the next student's name called out on the video.

"Girl #7. Destiny Lopez."

Attentions were diverted. It was now or never.

LaShawn dropped to a knee and unzippered the pack. Spotting the weapon…a stainless steel meat cleaver…he grabbed it by the handle and raced back towards the classroom before any of the soldiers in the hall could stop him.

"YOU'RE DEAD, BITCH!" LaShawn hollered as the soldiers in the classroom…and those who hurried in from the hallway…surged upon him, grabbing him immediately and securing every limb on his body. Destiny stopped in her tracks in her surprise as the rest of the students in the room began to rise up…

…only to be held where they stood by any soldiers not keeping LaShawn restrained. Their submachine guns were raised. One of them fired a loud, three-shot burst into the ceiling as a warning which sent them all back to their seats, or to the floor.

Cassandra…LaShawn's target…casually dug a hand into a pocket of her dress, pulling out a black remote control. Upon spotting this, Captain Curahee grabbed a handful of LaShawn's hair and pulled it back, exposing his collar.

Cassandra smirked. "I had a feeling you'd try that kind of thing. You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you?"

Cassandra then aimed the remote at the restrained student and pressed a button, causing the red sensor on LaShawn's collar to come to life, emitting a steady beeping noise as it glowed in ominous red pulses.

The soldiers held the squirming LaShawn fast as the collar's beeping noise began its build-up to detonation, the flashing blips gradually increasing in their frequency.

Mike Zimmer watched in horror. "LaShawn, no! Just go on out there!"

"No fuckin' way." LaShawn defiantly growled as he struggled against the soldiers holding him. "I ain't doin' this shit! I ain't killin' my friends, bitch!"

Cassandra just sat and watched…and even yawned…as the beeping went faster, reaching the moment in which it would detonate within seconds. She could see tears streaming down LaShawn's face as he continued to fruitlessly flail and writhe defiantly.

And all she did in response was to maintain her cruel smile as the timer beeped its last couple of seconds.

"Let him go." The Captain commanded, positioning himself in front of LaShawn.

Once the soldiers released him, Curahee fired a front kick, slamming his right boot in the T.D. member's chest, sending him staggering back as the doomed student squeezed his eyes shut.

The explosion was confined to his neck, blowing a big hole open and sending a spray of blood forward as LaShawn staggered towards…and then collapsed on…Michael Zimmer.

The dead athlete's blood poured all over Mike's shirt as he screamed along with everyone else who lamented the passing of the program's first victim.

The room went quiet as Zimmer sobbed, hugging LaShawn's body as it went limp. All those in the class who called LaShawn a friend…and there were many…also wept. Shuya…reminded of how his good friend, Kuninobu, had died…also had a look of sympathy on his face as he gazed at Zimmer holding the dead body of LaShawn Darren Hughes.

Boy #7 Hughes – dead
41 to go

Curahee's eyes went to Destiny Lopez. "You." He commanded, pointing to her. "Get your pack and get out. Now."

Destiny nodded and hurried over to get her pack. She may not have been crying, but she was now scared out of her mind over how serious the situation clearly was. Everyone left in the classroom now knew that this was no elaborate prank or practical joke. The Battle Royale was real.

In three days, everybody in the class…save one, if there would be one…would be dead.

Vladis Jellinek was called forth, followed by Trudi, who made an effort to look brave despite her fears, which she knew was a path to the dark side. Ron Jorgensen was deployed, followed by Yolanda Martinez. One boy, one girl. They all had somber and/or scared faces as the survival packs were shoved at them by one of the masked Black Ops soldiers.

Herman Krieger's pack was carefully handed off rather than tossed, or hurled. Herman's first thought was to link up with Patrick Dane as he headed through the hallway outside the class. A frightened Anaya Mukherjee, who now looked very paranoid, was the next to hurry out of the school.

"Boy #11. Issac Meyer."

Regretfully closing his eyes upon hearing his name, he let out a long sigh as he rose up. The concerned eyes of all of his friends that were still in the room were on him as he went to get his pack with a casual pace.

The silence was interrupted by the loud, impatient clapping of Captain Curahee. "COME ON, LET'S GO, LET'S GO! DOUBLE-TIME IT!"

"Patience is a virtue, Captain." Issac calmly shot back, without so much as a glance to the Captain, after catching his survival pack.

"NOT IN MY BOOK, IT ISN'T!" Curahee hollered back as Issac made his way through the soldiers in the hall.

The disgusted Captain sighed as he resumed the video. "Goddamn hebe."

Violet Noda was next to be called up. When she got hers, she angled a hateful look to Shuya. A murderous glance. The others seemed to think Violet had confirmed her first target.

All Shuya did was to emotionlessly stare back at her.

Shuya noticed that the pack that was given to Kevin Mintner resembled the one that Shogo Kawada insisted on taking in exchange for the pack he initially received.

That particular pack contained a fully-loaded shotgun.

Adele Nurmi was irritable when her name was called, and the look on her face mirrored her complete disgust over the situation she was being forced into. She glared at the army officer as she approached the front.

She went right up to his face as she screamed. "FUCK YOU!"

When the pack was shoved at her, she responded by spitting right in the black-masked face of the soldier. She then raced out. The soldier, clearly pissed over this unexpected response, began to move after her, but a barked-out order from the Captain kept the angered soldier in place.

Manuel Ortiz was next. He angled a glance to Gina Salazar as he received his pack. He was in a lingering daze of disbelief as he approached the school entrance. Molly Pulaski's pack, like Herman's, was handed off carefully before the frightened young student hurried out of the school.

Mickey Palladino managed to goose Krystal Riley as he went to the front after hearing his name. He also slapped the back of Mike Zimmer's head…hard…with a self-satisfied smirk before getting walloped in the face with the survival pack that was thrust at him. Upon recovering, he turned to face Zimmer.

He pointed to the mullet-haired student with an index finger, and then ran the index finger across his throat, before turning away to jog towards the school entrance.

Once Krystal Riley had gotten her pack, giving Mike Zimmer a glance as she headed out to the hall, Athena spoke the next name in Japanese, the subtitle of which was in english.

"Boy #15. Shuya Nanahara."

All eyes were on the Wild Seven's leader as he let out a loud sigh and slid off the paired desks to get his survival pack. The soldiers in the room had their guns pointed at him as he moved. The students looked at him with expressions seeming to indicate that they either wanted him to be the first to die, that they wanted to keep clear of him until they were forced to face him, or that they were wondering if Violet Noda would be the one to kill him.

Captain Curahee just gave him a spiteful look, while Cassandra smirked. She had Curahee freeze the TV image.

"Remember…that jap killed innocent men, women, and children." Cassandra reminded as Shuya left the room. "They're not calling him the Butcher of Tokyo just to be stylish."

"What makes you think you are any different?" Hamid Ranganathan countered.

Cassandra grinned. "I'm an educator. Not a monster, like him."

She then signaled for Curahee to resume the video.

"Boy #15. Carl Porter."

Carl looked empty and lifeless as he slowly drifted over to the classroom exit, not acknowledging anyone at all as he grabbed the Survival Pack thrown at him, and ignoring the Captain as he hollered at Carl to move faster. Gina was just the opposite when she was called next, although it was more out of an eagerness to hurry out and link up with Alejandro before anything happened to him.

Hamid's exit was eventless, although he looked aghast over being forced to do this. Margaret looked a little scared out of her mind, and hoped to make a good distance from everyone as she went to get her pack.

William Han left disgustedly, dropping one of his customary F-bombs when he heard his name, and was already jogging as fast as he could towards the school entrance once he got his pack.

There was a large yellow wet spot at his crotch as he left, as well.

Deidre Vandervelde didn't immediately move from her seat when she was called, as she was still in disbelief. Captain Curahee had to physically pick her up and push her towards the soldier waiting to toss her Survival Pack towards the goth girl. She left the school hoping to quickly link up with Adele.

Lorenzo Trujillo hurried out looking eager to begin a hunt, while Captain Curahee couldn't resist a slight chuckle as Aduke rose from her seat.

"Talk about an easy target." The Captain mused.

"Yo' mama's an easy target." Aduke shot back as she caught her pack. "Prob'ly a low-class slut, too…or is she back home, doin' yo' dishes, like a good ho?"

Despite his evident anger, and a look that would kill Aduke if it could, the Captain remained where he was.

"Boy #19. Vincent Willits."

Vincent had a smirk on his face as he rose from his seat. "Time to hunt me a hindu."

After receiving his pack, he began a slow jog out of the school.

"Girl #19. Nadia Wolinski."

Nadia's pack hit her right in the chest. The impact from the large item inside…whatever it was…made her wince in pain, but she managed to keep a firm grip on the pack as she hurried out.

"Boy #20. Michael Zimmer."