January 16th 08:01

Violet MacDonald (Girl #9) emerged from the thicket in which she'd spent the night, brushing her long, black fringe out of her eyes in order to check around. She wasn't cut out for this. All through the night she'd been a nervous wreck, trembling constantly. Whenever she tried to take a sip of water, the bottle had shaken so violently that only about 20% of what spilled out went into her mouth. It wasn't just the cold conditions; in fact, hiding in a series of bushes had proved to be fairly effective, plus she wore a fur-lined leather jacket.

And I've got the bulletproof vest. Yes, I'll be alright…

Most students would have been heartily dismayed without a proper weapon, and all of them probably wished for a gun from the moment the Instructor had read out the rules but Violet knew she would never have been able to attack someone. With the jacket and her bulletproof vest (which had been a nightmare to put on during the middle of the night) her upper body was fairly well protected.

Now, she had to move out of the area altogether. She wasn't certain that she was in D-09, but, looking at her map, the birdwatching hide which she could see a few hundred meters away definitely was. She was on a mountain; the land sloped therefore she had to remind herself that the zones that covered the mountain technically covered more land. As the fifth person to leave the school, Violet could quite easily have found an unoccupied building, but chose not to, since without a weapon she couldn't defend herself if anyone followed her in. Anyway, after the announcement of the four deaths at six, Violet had been too shaken to remember whether it was D-09 which activated before K-11 or vice-versa and there was no need to take chances. In fact, by a stroke of incredible luck (bad or good), depending on how one looks at it), D-09 was the first to go active, and Violet was now bordering the zone by about twenty metres. She'd clearly been too affected by her classmates' murder to pay enough attention to the danger zones.

She decided to head north, towards the mountain's peak. Why, she didn't know exactly, but she had the feeling that any would-be killers should be creeping around to the south, looking for victims.

It was turning out to be a beautiful day and Violet even smiled once or twice. She liked being out early in the mornings, but apart from school days, she was too lazy to get out of bed.

It's true what they say; everything does look better in the morning.

This thought made her recall something that happened a couple of years earlier. She had spent the entire night vomiting and feeling faint, and she had just wanted it to be over, to die if necessary. The clock in her bathroom, with the dolphins, just seemed to read the same time whenever she'd looked at it. Yet when morning finally did come, she immediately felt better, at least psychologically. That was what she felt now, though of course she was scared.

Would I have been better off in a group?

She felt bitterly angry, towards her best friend Lauren Lucas (Girl #8), whose departure from the hall had been almost immediately before her own. She was still alive; at least she was at six o'clock. Why hadn't she waited for her? Harry Hayes (Boy #9) may have been a threat, but Lauren could easily have hidden- couldn't she?

Yes, that's what I would have done. Hang on, I didn't wait for Francesca, does that make me a hypocrite? No, she came out a long time after me.

Came out? She didn't notice that unfortunate turn of phrase, and even if she had, she wouldn't have known why it applied to Francesca. Francesca Simons (Girl #16) she could trust, no question about that.

On the other hand, Lauren Lucas could be a handful. For one thing, she could never keep her mouth shut. Being with her may have been a problem. She was cleverer than Violet, which meant that she might fell as though she deserved to win-

No! What am I thinking?! She could have killed Kimberley. Or Ewan or Callum or Jonathan. Even I could take him on…

Then she felt bad about thinking of Jonathan in this way. He was alright, really. The other three were a bit…well, Violet was surprised they had died so quickly since they had all seemed tough to her. Maybe that was why they were killed. She didn't dwell on it.

Well, she'd covered some ground. She had been walking through the trees, but following the main footpath, holding a thick oak branch in her right hand. She'd had to snap off the thin, twiggy end which would have had leaves growing on it during the summer, but it still didn't look like something she could pass of as having been given to her in her daypack.

That reminded her that she hadn't eaten for many hours now (earlier on, she'd been too weak to stomach any bread). She took out one of the small rolls and demolished it in seconds.

God, that's good.

It was only bread. What's more it was stale, the kind of bread that went to the ducks when you were a child. However, something about it gave Violet the feeling that she was stronger, somehow. She realised that she was probably going to die; after all, the vest was all well and good but no, she couldn't attack anyone with it.

Now what?

She found herself descending. She was almost at the mountain's peak, and on the opposite side of the trail (she was on the outer side) she noticed that there was a split in the path, which continued to slope upwards. It was steep, hence the rail and fence that had been put in place to support climbers. It made no sense to go there, particularly.

Hey, wait, can I hear someone?

Alarmed, she checked all around her, and moved closer to the nearest tree, but nobody seemed to be there. She must be going mad.

'Wait!'

It was a female voice, clear as a bell. Violet definitely heard it, but whoever it was (she couldn't quite tell, but it sounded a bit like Kimberley Jones- though obviously that was impossible), she wasn't calling to Violet.

It's coming from the peak.

It was. As Violet moved closer to the track to have a better look upwards she could make out a hysterical, unintelligible wailing.

Who-who was that?

Her instincts told her to leave well alone, and…she did at first. She turned round, preparing to head east and then south, before finding another hiding place. Then she would…she would…

What?

Waiting for death seemed to be her only option. Yet she knew she couldn't do that. Many people would have expected 'Shrinking Violet' to have killed herself already. She began to feel the familiar knot of hopelessness. Two days was all she had. Actually it was less than that. Checking her watch she found it to be 9:12. She had less than thirty-nine hours of life left in her. She looked back at the mountain she was climbing down.

She might as well take the initiative, for the first time in her life.


09:12

Stop this! Don't be so stupid, you-'

'N-no! It's all over, Janine! Not just for me, for you too.' Lucy Edmonton (Girl #4) stood sobbing her heart out, at the very top of the northern mountain. She had been in a similar emotional state since the game began. Her weapon that she had found in her daypack was a golf club, which she probably would have tried to beat herself with had Janine Carter (Girl #3) not taken it away from her.

Janine was stung by Lucy's comment but she repeated:

'Don't be so stupid! You'll find the others and…' Janine didn't know what.

'We're all going to DIE!!' Lucy looked really terrified now, her mouth hung open and her limbs flailed about. 'I will-I'm going to do it!' Lucy moved further out of the clearing and into the open, silhouetted by the rising sun.

'Wait!' Janine shouted. 'Think about this.' she grabbed Lucy by the arm.

'I-I-I-I'm gonna jump off, yeah, it's just like going to sleep! I heard…'

Jumping off the mountain was a ridiculous idea; it wasn't as if there was a sudden chasm three hundred feet deep. Even if she jumped, Lucy would land three metres away, and continue skidding until she hit a tree. A broken arm was the last thing she'd need right now.

'Stay right here! And shut up, people'll hear you!' Janine felt sympathy for Lucy, but they were both in this horrible game together, and Janine…well, wasn't high up on the class popularity list. Some classmates would kill her, given a chance.

Lucy looked at Janine with an odd look of shock in her face. 'You think people ARE going to kill us! Why did you deny it?'

'What the hell are you talking about!?'

'You said that we would find people. Yeah, that's right. But they're out to get us! You don't realise how dangerous this is!'

Janine ignored the fact that Lucy was contradicting herself, with a mad fear of death, yet threatening to commit suicide. Instead she slapped Lucy right across the face. That stunned her into silence. Janine looked thunderous.

'Don't try to tell me that I don't know what's going on! My boyfriend and one of my best friends are dead! Have you forgotten that?! I'm the one who should be crying, not you!' Janine sank to the ground, in tears now. 'Why are you with me anyway?' she added, more calmly.

This wasn't the first time Janine had questioned Lucy's motives. When she had left the school, Lucy had taken off at a mad dash, eventually catching up with Janine who moved a lot more carefully and slowly. At the time, Janine had thought Lucy looked insane, and had tried to ditch her more than once (Janine's own weapon was an Enfield revolver, so she had no need for Lucy's 'help'), but Lucy had just kept turning to her with utter desperation in her eyes.

So Janine had stuck with her, and tried to calm her down, without a great deal of success. It was a wonder that the butter-wouldn't-melt Lucy had approached Janine in the first place. Janine Carter had a reputation for general jadedness. Many a time Janine had skipped school in favour of smoking in the park with Nicole Nicholson (Girl #10) and Kimberley Jones (Girl #7, though she never smoked; her growth was, ahem, stunted enough). Other times she never bothered going to school because she was too hung over. Her parents never cared, primarily because they saw no need for an education, since all jobs tended to pay the same (not that either of them could hold one down, or had even tried- though the local authorities were at the end of their tether). Despite all this, Janine's behaviour had improved slightly in recent months. She remained cynical and lazy, but she started going to school more often. She even got on better with her father, who she'd always preferred over her mother anyway. Her friendships with Nicole and Kimberley had gone sour recently, and she'd become mates with Michelle Ashanti (Girl #1) of the sports club. Michelle hadn't waited for her; maybe she didn't really care about Janine after all.

Lucy, on the other hand, was a different story entirely. Her parents, Janine believed, worked as doctors. Lucy herself was a star pupil, the kind who could be bubbly, pretty (and she was, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Janine was reminded of Katherine Jenkins, or some other annoying person off T.V) and gifted in all subjects. The kind of girl who had everything to live for. The kind of girl who Callum Harrison (Boy #8) should be taking out on dates.

So why did she come over to me?

She'd asked Lucy almost immediately after they had joined up. Lucy's answer had been somewhat surprising.

'I've…never thought you were all that bad. That's all. And I need someone with me. You'll won't leave me will you?'

Janine was temporarily touched, but their conversations had gone downhill since then. When Janine asked why Lucy's friends (Lucy was part of a gaggle of girls) hadn't waited for her, she responded:

'You came in between our departures. They might have been scared of you'. Lucy had, apparently, been able to tell that Janine was hurt by this and so added hastily: 'But it's not just you- Aidan (White, Boy #20)'s probably playing the game.' At this point, Lucy had dissolved into another mass of tears.

Now, the two girls were both on their knees, equally distraught.

You know, more tears are going to be spilled than blood!

Janine looked up; about to apologise to Lucy, but instead found that she was smiling at her, through her drenched face.

'Thanks…I needed that.'

Janine laughed slightly. 'Fuck yeah, you did!'

Lucy's mouth started quivering, as though she was about to start blubbing again, but then her face assumed a horrified expression. She looked past Janine.

'Janine, behind you!!' she shrieked.

Janine had dropped Lucy's club when she had reached out to grab her, but her Enfield was still clutched in her right hand. Janine whirled round, cocking the hammer as she did so. She then grabbed the revolver with her left hand and fired at the shadowy figure in the trees. She was a better shot than she'd thought, and the bullet punctured 'their' enemy in the chest.

She hadn't had time to think, and now Lucy and Janine stood up instinctively, gazing at the emo girl who Janine had shot. From this angle they could see the body of Violet MacDonald (Girl #9), lying on the ground. From what the two could see, she was unarmed.

'You killed her!' Lucy cried. 'Get away from me!' She dipped down to the ground and reclaimed her club.

'It was your fault, you stupid bitch! What was I supposed to think? I thought someone was had a knife at my throat!'

Lucy's eyes took on that state of madness once again. 'I-you're going to kill me too!'

'No! I could have done that ages ago! Calm down!'

Lucy then did something Janine had suspected she would do, but sincerely hoped she wouldn't. It was why she had taken the club off her in the first place.

Lucy held the club in the defending position, but then she moved it upwards, preparing to strike. If there had been any rational thought going on behind Lucy's glacial eyes then she might have realised it was a senseless move while Janine held the gun.

This time, Janine really did have no choice. She wished more than anything now that Lucy Edmonton hadn't seen the good in her; that she had just run off to find the likes of Zoe Wakefield (Girl #19) or Elizabeth Pullman (Girl #13). But she hadn't.

Janine fired the revolver again, and her aim was just as good as it had been seconds previously (she was firing at point blank range). She hit Lucy's left breast, just below her collar bone. As Lucy fell, the club came down with her, striking Janine's shoulder. However there wasn't enough force to make any impact.

Lucy dropped to her knees before her head fell at Janine's feet. A pool of blood began to form underneath her expensive sheepskin coat. She remained face down.

Now it was Janine's turn to drop to her knees. She was angry, and confused. She didn't even know this perfect girl, and had killed her in self-defence, unquestionably. Perhaps it was the death of Callum, who she had truly loved so, so much (thanks to Lucy, she had been unable to go looking for him- I should hate her for that!). Maybe it was the fact that Kimberley, who had warned Janine not to go out with Callum, was no longer here either. Something was causing her to start screaming in anguish, saliva running out of her mouth, and not care that anyone could here her. She couldn't bear to turn Lucy over and see her face, so she instead wandered over in a daze to where she had shot Violet MacDonald (whom she'd never liked- emos were, in her opinion, so weird). However…

What?! No! I'm going mad! Shit, Lucy, I'm becoming like you!


09:39: Surviving Contestants: 34