This is horrid.
Cheren put his hands on his knees, taking in deep breaths. Even though he was several feet away from Hugh's body at that point, the smell of blood seemed to remain in the air. He had done an awful thing, and he knew that no matter how far he ran, that fact would remain with him.
It felt even worse that out of all the people he did it to, it was to a student of his. He wasn't a full-fledged teacher yet, but as their own teacher was old and ill, he often took over her classes, to the point where he could easily be considered their main teacher. Hugh, Rakutsu and Faitsu. All three of them must have been terrified, and out of everyone they could trust, Cheren believed that they would rank him near the top of their lists.
And he murdered one of those students.
Ever since he had left the school, he had been on edge. He had moved constantly throughout the night, occasionally spotting another participant, but refusing to call out to them. By the 6AM announcement, he was near the west of the island, and perhaps his big mistake was remaining out in the open.
The 6AM announcement had upset him greatly. Bianca had been by his side, along with Black, since they were children. He had been concerned that, due to both their natures, they would end up in the 6AM announcement, but a part of him remained hopeful that they would live. Despite his beliefs, Bianca still ended up dead.
Her ditzy, yet kind personality, and her wishes to help everyone in any way she could. Memories of her remained strong to Cheren. The fact that somebody had taken her life had replaced his sorrow with anger. He wanted to know who did it, and while he contemplated what to do, he had remained in the same sector for much longer than he planned to.
While he was contemplating whether or not he had the ability to kill, he heard footsteps rapidly approach him. Before even registering who it was, he had swung the hatchet without a second thought. It only registered in his mind seconds later that the person knew him, as they called out his name.
Due to the fact he had acted without thinking for once, it ended up with Hugh dying. He couldn't tell what the younger boy had been feeling, but Cheren guessed that the last thing he wanted was to be alone. Cheren had betrayed his trust, and he had no idea how to make things right.
It was difficult to believe he actually killed. The process was far too easy, and Hugh had died so quickly. Despite how simple the process felt, it had sent him reeling, and despite the amount of remorse he was feeling, it felt like he wasn't reacting in the right way at all. He had no idea what course of action he should take next. It didn't feel right to simply do anything after taking someone's life.
For once, Cheren was at a complete loss about what to do.
He stood up properly once more, his arms swaying at his sides. He didn't feel any desire to think for much longer. Between hearing about Bianca's death, and taking Hugh's life, the morning had drained too much from him. He looked up at the sky, which was becoming a bright blue. He stood there, simply staring upwards for a moment, until something caught his attention.
"Hello."
He turned around, not bothering to lift his gun. However, Cheren's eyes widened upon seeing who it was, snapping him out of his blank state. The person who had spoken calmly to him was Lance, one of the two men chosen to kill the others in this game. His eyes then rested upon Lance's own gun.
"I saw a few bodies on my way here. Did you kill?" he said, his tone still far too calm.
"I have no idea what you're talking about", Cheren hissed, finally beginning to realize he was in a dangerous situation.
"I see. If you don't then why is there blood on your clothes?" Lance asked, raising an eyebrow.
Cheren looked down. For the first time, he finally saw that after killing Hugh, some of his blood splattered on him. He felt exposed, and even guiltier than he did before.
Lance could have taken the opportunity to kill him while he was distracted by his bloody clothes, but decided to taunt him more. The morning had just begun, and there was plenty of time to kill before the next announcement.
"I saw a girl. Shot through the head. Rather ruthlessly, by the looks of things. And, you have a gun! Was she the person you killed?" he asked, maintaining a curious tone.
He thinks I killed Bianca. Someone shot her through the head, and he thinks it was me?!, Cheren thought, looking at Lance with wide eyes. Then, he saw the smirk on the older man's face. He's trying to make me angry, or to distract me. He's going to try and kill me! I've already killed, and this man seems to be out for blood, so what does it matter?
Lance's smirk quickly disappeared when Cheren raised his gun. He squeezed down on the trigger, and a bullet flew out. Letting out an annoyed grunt, Lance dropped down onto his knees. The bullet whizzed past his head, taking a few strands of his hairs as it did.
Cheren looked at the gun, as if it failed to do its job. All he wanted was to be safe from this man, and to stop his taunting over Bianca's death. He was able to kill Hugh easily enough, but for some reason, he was completely unable to kill Lance. If I can kill anyone, I can only kill people who are weaker than me. How cowardly.
Before he could fire another bullet, Lance sprung back up. Furious at Cheren for trying to kill him, he wasted no time in shooting out four bullets, making sure he wouldn't miss. It was difficult to do so with the gun, but he knew it would be worth it.
Dropping Hugh's gun, Cheren moved his head to the left. A bullet whizzed past his ear. However, the second bullet flew right through his chest, causing him to stagger backwards. The third bullet hit him in the shoulder. The fourth never got to him, as Cheren was sprawled out on the floor by that point.
Lance walked over to him, keeping the gun aimed. Cheren grasped his own shirt, taking in short, painful breaths. They became slower and more gradual over the coarse of a few minutes, and the grip on his shirt became loser. After those minutes passed, Cheren's hand simply laid over the wound in his chest, which had stopped rising.
After watching this entire scene play out, Lance reached down and took the second gun. Placing it in his own daypack as a backup, he continued onwards. His only regret was that he didn't get to taunt Cheren more before his death.
Pearl froze. Somewhere nearby, the sound of shooting resonated. This was followed by several more shots, causing the blond-haired boy to wince. He wished he could fool himself, but the most realistic thing he could assume was that somebody else had died.
This was a nightmare. People were dying all around him, and Pearl couldn't even feel sorry for them. During the first announcement, all he could think of was the fact he was relieved Dia and Platinum weren't on the list. It was an awful thing to do, but he couldn't imagine those two dying, while some random stranger lived.
It was a horrible frame of mind. Pearl didn't want to think like that at all. He wanted to look out for the others, but he knew that his two best friends always took first priority. Ever since it had been announced they would be taking part in the program, he had already decided that he would give up his life for either of them to live.
He ran further south, hoping to get as far away as possible from the people who had fired their guns. As he ran, he could see the housing estate, which spread over H-8 and H-9. Pearl remembered that H-8 was going to become a danger zone at 11AM, but H-9 would remain safe.
At that moment, he remembered how Platinum always preferred to stay indoors. He doubted she would ever remain in an area that was due to become a danger zone for too long. It might be a slim chance, but it was definitely worth checking to see if she had gone into H-9.
Running off, Pearl hoped that Platinum would be there. Being out on this island on his own was becoming too much for him. It was frustrating not knowing where his two best friends were, but it was relieving to finally have somewhere to start. As he ran, all he could do was hope that the gunshots that had rung out a while ago didn't involve Dia or Platinum.
Emerald could be heard softly breathing from behind the door. Kris was alone in the waiting room of the clinic. Three doors were behind her. One contained a room with twelve beds, one of which Emerald was currently occupying. The second one led up to a balcony-like area, possibly for doctors or patients to get fresh air. The third room was an examination office.
It was a rather run-down clinic, which led Kris to believe that the island didn't have many inhabitants. The clinic was located in G-9, towards the east. Kris and Emerald arrived at the clinic shortly after two in the morning, where they immediately began to brainstorm.
They both mutually decided that their top choices for recruiting were Ruby, Sapphire, Gold, Silver and their seniors from Kanto. They also decided later that they would look out for any possible recruits, mainly argued by Kris.
She believed that, as one of the older participants, she had to look out for those who were far too young to participate in this death game. As well as that, she figured that they would be relieved to see that they weren't alone in such a terrifying situation. With that decided, Emerald decided to get some sleep, while Kris stared out the window of the waiting room. She decided that if she spotted anybody running this way, with a few exceptions, she would call out to them.
Sighing, Kris laid her cheek on her palm. So far, she failed to see anyone, and could only hope the day would be better. It'll be even better if Gold happens to pass by outside, she thought, and quickly stopped herself. No, don't show bias all because you... You know.
Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of gunshots. Kris jumped up from her seat, and the door to the first room quickly opened. Emerald ran out, looking around.
"What's going on?!" he asked, panicking.
"I don't know-" Kris began to say, when more gunshots resonated.
The two teenagers stood there in silence for a moment. Neither spoke for a while, wanting to make sure that was the last of them. During those silent moments, Kris found herself observing Emerald. His gelled up hair was slowly drooping, and he had abandoned his platforms. She found that he couldn't look more childlike.
The only non-childish quality about him then was the fact that he was holding his assigned weapon. It was a sawed-off Remington M31 Pump-Action Shotgun, which looked far too large in his hands.
"I'm pretty sure that was the last of them. You don't think it was anyone we want to meet, right?" Emerald said.
"I can't tell... I hope so. They might all be okay. Please don't worry! And I'm sorry that woke you up. Do you want to go back to sleep?" Kris offered. He shook his head.
"Nope. I've been awake for a while now. Sorry I didn't come out. Do you need to sleep?" he asked.
"I... I think I'll try to. Thank you, Emerald. Do you want my weapon too, or are you okay with the shotgun?"
"I can try and manage with this."
With that, Kris nodded and walked towards the room. The bed closest to the door was unmade, and it looked like Emerald practically scrambled out of the bed upon hearing gunshots.
Kris climbed into another bed, pulling the green, wool blanket up to her chin. Even though several minutes had passed since hearing those gunshots, their echoes still resonated in her mind. Squeezing the blanket tighter, she was anxious to know whether or not the number of people on the island had gone down.
She didn't want anyone to fight. That was why she was keen on gathering as many people as possible, as Kris wanted nobody else to get hurt. She tried to remain impartial to everyone, but as she kept on thinking, she realized that her wishes for Gold and Silver's wellbeing triumphed all her other thoughts.
21 Remaining.