Genevive slowly walked through the dense forest. She held her machete at the ready in case anyone tried to attack her. Fear still coursed through her system, but Genevive felt its effects less. She didn't have such intense paranoia anymore that she couldn't move, couldn't speak. Genevive was now walking around and very prepared to do what she had to.

At first, Genevive had gone looking for her friends. But after a little while of searching with no success, she began to wonder why she'd look for them so soon. Even if they somehow all managed to find one another, what then? Sooner or later, they'd get attacked or time would run out and they'd all die. It was then that Genevive had decided on her course of action. The immediate threat was the neck collars. If she could remove those, then when she met with her friends, she could remove their collars and they could all escape together. The playing field was their prison, and they would need to escape it if they wanted to survive. And so Genevive's search continued. She found what she was looking for right at that moment.

Three dead bodies. They were cut and sliced open. Dried blood stained the forest floor. Genevive cringed at the new sight and nearly lost what little food she had in her system. However, she soon regained her composure and approached the bodies. She recognized them all, despite the modifications to their appearances. Alex (Boy #7), Jenna (Girl #14), and Daisy (Girl #19) lay dead on the ground. Genevive thought back to the announcement and realized it had never occurred to her that these three would have all died together. They barely knew each other. Genevive would have guessed that they took each other out, but she saw that they all had the same wounds – deep cut marks. She understood that they were all taken out by one person. A chill flew through her body. Someone was playing – playing hard.

Genevive sighed and crouched down next to Alex's corpse. She tried not to look at him too much and immediately went to work on the collars. She would take them apart and analyze them and find out what makes them work. Then, when she understood everything about them, she'd be able to disable them herself, and free herself and her friends from The Program. The neck collars were they key, and she'd find the right lock, even if it took her all three days of The Program. She was so enraptured with beginning her work, she didn't even notice the three bodies sneaking up behind her. She heard them too late.

Genevive grabbed the machete and spun to see her company.

"Freeze!" Eric (Boy #5) commanded aiming his nail gun at her. Ron (Boy #8) stood next to him holding his box cutter looking down at Genevive in wonder. Marty (Boy #25) stood to the other side and his face brightened greatly to see that his group had finally run across a female. Marty fingered the handcuffs in his pocket and let his fantasies carry him away for a moment.

"Hey guys, check it out." Eric smirked, his eyes wandering to Genevive's chest, "Looks like our no-kill streak is just about over."


Debra (Girl #23) sat in front of the fire allowing the warmth to cover her completely. She had made the fire earlier in the morning, making sure to get as far away from other people as she could so that they couldn't see the flames. She was in the top left of block 8 and had gone as far as she could without worry of the playing field boundaries, hoping that no one would venture so far north to look for other contestants. Debra had used the fire for a light source during the night as much to keep herself warm. It wasn't particularly cold out, but for some reason cold chills constantly passed through Debra's body, and the fire helped reduce those instances. Being in the urban portion of the playing field, it had been hard for Debra to find things to burn, but luckily old newspapers and trash burned easily. And since Debra's weapon had been a lighter, the fire practically made itself.

Debra sighed and stared into the flickering embers, trying to lose herself in them so as not to remember where she was and what was happening to her. A footstep broke Debra out of her trance and she instantly stood and ran to hide behind some trash cans in a nearby alley. She peered out behind them as she watched the contestant enter the area.

Vince (Boy #13) wandered to the fire looking around for anyone nearby. In his hand he held his designated weapon, a bottle of liquid. The frightened look on his face made Debra think that perhaps he had no intention of hurting her, but Debra remained in hiding, just to be sure.

Vince crouched down by the fire and held his bottle closer to it. In the dark, it had been impossible to read the label, and Vince's bad eyes didn't help matters. He had glasses, but they were confiscated along with the rest of his items. Wandering around half blind in the dead of night had terrified Vince beyond reason, and his fear still had a major grip on his psyche. But he had found some fire, which gave him some comfort, along with the added light he needed to read the bottle.

"Ether," he read out loud, "Irritant and highly flammable." Vince opened the top and sniffed the contents, retracting his face in disgust. He glanced back at the label to read more, when a hand rested on his shoulder. Vince screeched in fright and flung the bottle of ether at the figure behind him.

Sophie (Girl #2) cried out in agony as the ether doused her completely, dripping into her eyes and making them burn painfully. Immediately, Sophie saw the error in attempting to contact Vince. Sneaking up on someone was not the correct way to gain companionship, nor to win their trust.

"Wait, stop!" Sophie cried out, "I don't want to hurt you! I'm not playing!" But Vince took one look at the designated weapon Sophie was holding, a crossbow, and he took off running in the first direction he saw. Sophie tried to open her eyes, but they burned unmercifully and she cried out again, dropping her crossbow and duffel bag full of arrows. She took a few steps forward and unfortunately stepped into the fire.

The flames immediately erupted all over Sophie, igniting the ether she was covered in. She cried in pain and ran around blindly, trying to put out the flames. From behind the trash cans, Debra saw the horrific sight and smelled Sophie's burning flesh. She vomited up some of the food she had eaten. She couldn't take the sight anymore. She stepped out from behind the barrels of garbage and walked over to the crossbow. Sophie now lay on the ground, her body burned beyond recognition and on the verge of death. Debra didn't know Sophie very well, but no one deserved to suffer the way she was. Debra loaded an arrow and stood over Sophie, ready to end her suffering, when a hammer bore itself down into the back of Debra's head.

Debra fell on top of Sophie completely unconscious. Paul (Boy #21) stood over her placing the hammer into his back pocket. He picked up the crossbow, aimed down, and pulled the trigger, sending the arrow through the back of Debra's head and out her forehead. Blood poured from the wound.

"Help me," Sophie whimpered on the ground, her body singed and shivering with shock. Her eyes attempted to water over, but the ether had dried them out. Sophie couldn't even cry as her life was being burned out of her body. She wished she had said something to Vince when she had first spotted him by the fire. But she was worried that he'd run if he saw her, and Sophie didn't want to be alone anymore. So she had decided to come into close range with Vince, to show him that she wouldn't attack him. She hadn't even guessed he'd attack her. Sophie cried tearlessly as her body convulsed in pain, "Help me."

"Don't worry, honey," Paul whispered into her burned ears, "It'll all be over soon." He stood and loaded another arrow. He stood over the horrifically burned girl aiming the crossbow at her temple. He flashed a smile as he pulled the trigger.


Vince (Boy #13) gasped for breath as he stopped running. He grabbed his backpack and pulled out his compass and map to determine his position. Fear still gripped his thoughts and he needed to get away from the other people close by him. He squinted at the map, finding it difficult to read. He wished he had some sort of glasses handy. He looked around him for any sight of landmark that he could relate to the map, but found none. He guessed he was still in block 8, which meant that heading west and south were his best bets. He squinted down into his compass, trying to read the small letters.

This was a lot easier when there weren't danger zones I could accidentally walk into. I shouldn't have come so close to the perimeter, looking for a place to hide so far away was a bad idea. I should have just stayed where I was.

Vince sighed with frustration and put his map and compass back into his bag. He was angry that he had gotten so turned around when he had ran away, and decided to find a nearby building as his hiding place for the time being. Ahead of him, Vince saw a particularly big office complex and decided that it would be the best place to hide.

He took three steps and walked out of the playing field. With two quick beeps his neck collar activated and exploded. And before Vince had even known what had happened, he was dead.


"Why not hand over that nice machete you got there?" Eric (Boy #5) smirked, "And while your at it, take off your top too."

"What?" Genevive (Girl # 21) gasped.

"No arguments or you die right now." Eric aimed the nail gun at her head.

"Look, I'm trying to figure these neck collars out." Genevive told them, "I want to see if I can somehow remove them without making them explode. That way, we can all escape, without having to take part in The Program."

"Escape?" Ron asked surprised, "You really mean it?"

"I hope so. These collars are what keep us here, without them the government has no power over us. We can leave. We can all live."

"I don't care if you can remove these things now." Eric replied with anger, "I'm not taking the pussy way out of this! We play the way we're supposed to. Now, if you don't take off your top-"

Eric stopped, no longer able to say any words he wished. Ron's box cutter had somehow found its way to Eric's throat, and some way managed to slit it. Eric's hands went to his throat as blood gushed down his body. He looked over at Ron who held the bloody weapon and he raised the nail gun to Ron's forehead. Ron looked surprised, as if he hadn't known Eric would be able to retaliate after the deathblow. However, a quick swing from Genevive and her machete finished the job Ron's box cutter started - severing Eric's head.

Genevive looked down at the corpse and then over to its two former companions, Ron and Marty (Boy #25). Ron bent down and picked up the nail gun, tossing Genevive his box cutter.

"That'll be a lot easier to use than your machete." Ron said, "I have no intention of staying here if I don't have to. Get to work on those neck collars, and Marty and I will give you the protection you need to analyze them."

Genevive seemed a little hesitant, but she picked up the box cutter and softly murmured, "Thank you." before getting down to business. Marty looked down at Eric's headless body and then over to Ron who watched Genevive as she began her work and then he glanced down at Genevive, his eyes narrowing in on her small behind. His hands moved into his pockets, gently caressing the handcuffs he still had there. He wasn't upset that Eric was dead, no Marty was angry that Genevive hadn't taken her shirt off. He had been so happy that the three of them had finally run across a female, and now Eric was dead and they were letting her stay fully clothed?

Marty craved her. He needed to feel her body against his. He needed to taste and smell her blood all around him. He needed to hear her cry out. Marty nearly got an erection sitting there imaging all the things he wanted to do to Genevive. But there was still the problem of Ron. Ron, who now held the nail gun. Ron wouldn't let any harm come to Genevive so long as she could work for his salvation. But Ron would have to leave to go to the bathroom at some point. And if his cravings became too strong, Marty could take Ron out, so long as it meant that he got to partake of Genevive. But he could wait for now. Marty didn't need her right away. Who knows, if she actually found a way to remove the collars, he could always wait for her to release him of it, and then take her afterwards.

In any case, Marty could wait. He could wait…

Current danger zones: 15, 28, 41

Pending danger zones: 2, 21, 24, 64

(39) Contestants remaining