Brendan

Alright!

Now that Takeshi was with him, there were only two more girls to find. After they picked up Victoria and Joey, the Cool Crowd would be complete again - or at least, as complete as it would be. Vivek's death had shocked the brains out of him, but, funnily enough, he had forgotten right about it when he found himself trekking through the forest with twenty-five other classmates lusting for his blood.

But he had lucked out. He didn't know exactly what his weapon was called, but he immediately knew what it was from the action movies - a pump-action shotgun. And to build further onto his streak of luck, the first person he had ran into was Takeshi.

Takeshi had always been his wingman, always appearing at the foot of the court whenever Brendan needed a clear shot. Sure, Joey played too, but she was only a girl. Brendan and Takeshi were the real heroes of basketball. Once they were paired together, they were unstoppable. And now that they were together once again, there was nothing to worry about. They would look out for each other, watch each other's backs, and always get the ball. Just like old times.

The two of them hadn't said much when they had first met - simply wrapped each other in an embrace, then started walking, trying to find a way out of this fucking maze of trees. But now, Takeshi spoke.

'What're we going to do now?' he said, looking down at his feet.

'Should be obvious, man. We find Vic and Joey.'

'You think they'll trust us?'

'Are you fucking me? Of course they will.'

'You sure?'

'Come on, we're fucking friends. It'll be fine, don't worry. They won't start shooting at us or anything.'

'You're right,' Takeshi said, and lapsed into silence once more. He was never one for talking.

'Hey, what do you think about the extra rule?'

'What extra rule?'

'You know, the rule that you have to kill by midnight or else your collar will explode or something.'

'Oh, that.'

'Yeah, well, are we going to kill?'

Takeshi shrugged.

'We have to, you know,' Brendan said, although, rather curiously, he felt somewhat removed from the conversation. It was like it was all a dream, and he could simply wake up any minute just in time for school.

Takeshi didn't reply, just looked down at his feet.

'Well, I don't think I'm going to kill,' Brendan said. 'We've got to, like, think of something. We could escape. Hey, you know Jack? Maybe he's figured out a way by now. That bastard always figures things out, you know what I'm saying?'

Takeshi raised his head and pointed. 'River.'

Indeed, there was a furious mass of rushing water blocking their path. They both stood at the bank uncertainly, wondering how to cross without losing their footing.

But Brendan was always one for making up good plans. He handed his pack and his shotgun to Takeshi. 'Alright, here's how it goes. You stay here with all the stuff. I cross over. You toss me the stuff, one after another. Then you cross over. That way we won't fall over and drown with all the heavy stuff.'

Takeshi nodded his assent, and slung the pack over his shoulder. Brendan lifted his cuffs to his ankles and began to wade in. For some reason, the vigorous water battering at his knees reminded of Joey. Damn, she was one good kid. When he had mimed the handshake to her back in the classroom, under full risk of getting shot by that psycho Mr Tan, he had well and truly meant it. He wanted her to survive. Not that he was in love with her or anything - she was just a really, really, good friend. One of the best. With luck, they would find her before anything happened, and together he and Takeshi could protect her.

He finally reached the end of the riverbank, and was about to signal to Takeshi, when he spotted something long and dark blue snaking out from underneath a bush. His back stiffening, he crept closer for a look.

It was Harold. Two holes lay across his forehead, blood and bone sticking out. Brendan cartwheeled backwards in terror, nearly tripping over himself.

'Holy shit!' he shouted. 'Holy shit, Takeshi, did you see that - '

Takeshi, standing statue-like on the opposite bank, still had the shotgun. He was pointing it at Brendan.

'I'm sorry,' he said, and pulled the trigger.

'What the fu - '