Seventh Hour – 41 Students Remaining

He wanted to be a doctor. That was probably what he would have become if this game hadn't come along, or perhaps a vet. Bottom line is he wanted to help people, to heal people, and he certainly didn't want to hurt people. He was fairly certain what this game wanted him to do would go against the Hippocratic Oath.

For Daniel Lancaster, a.k.a. B9, the game was not simply asking him to kill his classmates, it was asking him to go completely against what he believed in and what he wanted to do in life.

At least they had seen their way to giving them first aid kits, that was a welcome sign, and one that meant he might still be able to help people. Every piece of equipment in there was something he recognised, either from seeing them in use when visiting his parents at the hospital or from the various medical books he'd grown up reading. It was stuff he knew and could use if he had to. Of course, that would just delay the inevitable; he could only try to help for so long; he could only try to help for so long. Sooner or later it was going to come down to kill or be killed and he wasn't sure he was ready for either.

Almost as soon as he thought this, however, he heard the sound of leaves rustling followed by faint footsteps behind him. He quickly stepped off of the path he was walking and took cover behind the widest tree he could find. The trail he had been traversing was man-made and the ground on either side was slightly lower, meaning that when the person walked past his hiding place the first thing he saw was the gun in their jean pocket.

Looking up at the person properly he saw the familiar face of Tim Scotts, a.k.a. B12. The gun had startled Daniel but he knew that he didn't have anything to worry about as long as it was Tim in charge of pulling the trigger. For as long as Daniel had known him, Tim had never made a violent action against anyone. Daniel stepped out from behind the tree slightly and called out to the boy.

"Hey, Tim. Over here."

It was risky, he didn't know the guy that well and there was a chance that the game had gotten to him, but he figured he could use at least one ally in all this insanity. Tim drew his gun and began looking around uncertainly for whoever had just called him. Daniel called out again and Tim found him amoung the trees and pointed the gun straight at him.

For a second Daniel thought that he had miscalculated, that Tim was just going to shoot him and that would be it. But, after a moment, Tim lowered the gun and Daniel let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Tim held the gun by his side but Daniel noticed that he hadn't put it away yet. Tim then stepped over to the edge of the trail and crouched down before extending a hand towards Daniel.

"Hey Dan, need a hand?"

Tim lowered the gun slowly, still waiting for the inevitable attack to come, but it never did. He relaxed slightly as Daniel took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled up back onto the path. He guessed that meant Daniel could be trusted, or that he wasn't playing the game, at least. If He really wanted to kill him, he probably would have simply jumped him from his hiding place. Catching his attention like this was not the best murdering strategy.

"Thanks man, for a second there I thought you were going to shoot me" Daniel admitted with a nervous smile.

"For a second, so did I" At this Daniel's expression changed to one with less of a smile and more nervousness, before he shook his head and snapped himself out of it.

"Damn it, this is just crazy man. I was going to be a doctor, a surgeon. I don't want to hurt people, and I know you don't either. What do you say we team up instead? We have a better chance of surviving this if we work together, and that way I can patch up you or anyone else we find that's hurt.

"Besides, I don't think I could hurt anyone with this if I tried" Daniel reached down and removed a plastic tube from his waist that Tim didn't notice earlier. He held it up and flicked a switch on the side which cause the blade of the plastic, toy lightsaber to glow bright blue. Tim couldn't help but let out a little laugh at the sight of the 'weapon' that Daniel had been given.

Daniel switched it off and clipped it back onto his waistband. "So what do you say?"

"Hey man, have you ever seen me hurt anything? I don't want to play this game any more than you do, you're on" With this Tim put his gun back in his pocket and extended his hand to Daniel again, who shook it without hesitation. "So where do we go from here?"

"I don't know. The barracks are the closest place to here, but there's probably somebody in there already. Though, to be fair I don't any place on this island can be called 'safe' anymore"

"Sounds good, though you better let me go in first and check the place out" Tim stepped past Daniel on the path in the direction of the barracks, pulling his revolver out again. "I don't think the force is going to be much use here"

Daniel shook his head and followed after Tim. "How many more of those kinds of jokes am I going to have to put up with before this thing is over?"

"Probably quite a few"

Jacob's hand hovered over the handle of the front door of the barracks. He needed to get inside, but he didn't want to alert anyone in there to the fact he was coming, especially not if they had a gun and could pick him off as soon as he stuck his head inside. Instead he lowered his hand and began walking around the side of the building, searching for any potential back doors or windows he could use before he risked the direct approach.

He found his way in in the form of a window which lead into one of the private rooms at the back of the building, the glass having long been broken and the lock rusted enough to be easily removed. He lifted his chainsaw through the frame first and dropped it onto the bed below the window to make things easier before carrying himself through as well. Picking it up again, he cautiously opened the door and stepped out into the main room of the building.

For Jacob Vayle, a.k.a. B19, this was a second chance. He had already let the first person he had found elude him; he lost track of the girl, whoever she had been, in the forest and had been unable to find her again. However, this time would be different; there would be no running. His target was trapped in the building with him, sealed in by his own barricades. He approached the bunk at the far end of the room which held the sleeping body of Adrian Starr, a.k.a. B21, and stood over him. This one wouldn't even get a chance to run; he'd be dead before he even knew what had happened.

Jacob pulled the start cord and the chainsaw roared to life as he brought the blade down on the prone form of Adrian Starr, hoping to get a quick kill before he could react. Sadly, Adrian was faster, waking up as soon as he heard the engine start and instinctively throwing himself off the bed to the floor just as the chain began chewing through the mattress.

Adrian rolled to the side and stood up before pulling his combat knife from his pocket just as Jacob was beginning to recover and managed to free his saw of the now ruined bunk. Adrian sized up his opponent; tall and gangly, Jacob didn't look anywhere near as solidly built as the athletic Adrian, and in a fair fight the jock would probably win. But as it was, Adrian only had one small knife compared to Jacob's deadly engine-driven chainsaw.

The two students faced each other, neither one moving, the only sound the constant chugging of the chainsaw's petrol engine. Jacob moved first, stepping around the bunk and making a big swipe at Adrian with his weapon, trying to drive him back against the wall or into the corner, but Adrian just dodged to the side and stepped back into the centre of the room. Adrian lunged for Jacob side as he tried to recover from his attack but he managed to bring the chainsaw up between them quickly and halt Adrian's advance.

The two continued to trade blows for some time. Jacob making small, slow slashes and stabbing forward with the saw, rather than just swinging widely as most people would, while Adrian tried to manoeuvre his knife around the saw but was always forced to retreat as Jacob cut him off. Adrian was having a harder time of it however, as each time he deflected a blow with his weapon, the force of the spinning chain threatened to rip the knife from his hands.

The fight carried on until Jacob made one particularly forceful stab, which allowed Adrian to dodge and run around him, making sure to slash at the other students arm as he went past. Jacob grimaced as he felt the knife cut into his bicep and the blood begin to run from the wound. He was vaguely aware of Adrian running past him and swung his other arm holding the chainsaw round in the other direction, barely catching the athlete in the leg and sending him tumbling as the chain tore into his flesh. He stood up and slowly walked towards the fallen student.

Adrian lifted himself on both arms and pulled his uninjured leg under him and stood unsteadily. He had been aiming for the door, but now it looked farther away than ever. He examined at his leg and winced as he saw the damage; it wasn't particularly deep, the chain only having made the briefest contact, but it still looked pretty bad.

He pushed himself off the ground and stood as best he could on one leg, moving as quickly as possible towards the door, just remembering to grab his pack as he went. He could here Jacob slowly getting closer behind him as he reached the door and realised that it was still closed and the bunk he'd pushed in front of it was still in place. How had Jacob gotten in? Was there a window, or even a back door? Was he really so dumb as to not check for either?

A quick glance over his shoulder told him Jacob was far too close for comfort. He grabbed the corner of the bunk and lifted it, throwing it away from the door and between the two of them. He grasped the handle and pulled as hard as he could, the door scraping open just enough for him to squeeze through as Jacob was disentangling himself from the bunk. He hobbled away from the barracks, his leg stinging with every step but not enough to make him want to stop just yet.

Inside, Jacob had managed to get clear of the bunk and was now standing at the opening in the door, watching as yet another potential victim escaped him. His current method of seeking people out didn't seem to be working, so perhaps a new strategy was in order. He would leave the door slightly open as it was, and set himself up in one of the back rooms rather than out here, and wait for the next person to come to him. Whoever next came into the barracks would not be leaving alive.

Steven Ambrose, a.k.a. B3, looked out from his hiding place at the clearing, or more specifically the object the sat in the centre and dominated all attention in the area. It wasn't much to look at, just the husk of an old airplane in the middle of a grassy field, most likely one that had been flying to or from the airfield further north of here. What made it interesting, however, was the fact that anybody who hid in that plane would have a perfect view of anybody trying to sneak up on them.

Steven reached behind him to check that the knife was still in the back of his belt and hidden from sight and tightened his grip on the baseball bat in his hands. He stepped out from his hiding place and into the field. Taking the fact that he wasn't shot immediately as a good sign, he pressed forward, crouching low as he neared the plane. As he crept along the side of the wrecked fuselage, he made note of how large it seemed to be; most likely it was a transport plane in its former life, albeit a small one, and would probably have plenty of room inside. He reached a part of the wreck where a large enough hole had been torn in the side that someone could climb through easily and paused briefly before taking a deep breath and stepping through.

As soon as he was clear of the hole and had stood up, however, he felt something cold and metal being pressed against the side of his head that he assumed was the barrel of a loaded gun. He held his breath as he waited for the person to pull the trigger and was taken off-guard as a deep voice spoke to him.

"Don't move. Put you hands where I can see them"