A/N: I haven't updated this story in over six years. I never thought I'd come back to it, but on a whim I decided to look at it again. Reading it now, I cringe slightly at the sloppy writing (at times) but clearly I worked hard on it, and it's the only story I've written where I've had any kind of conclusion in mind.

In hindsight, I would have planned it a lot better, and perhaps wouldn't have had so many characters. It's actually really hard keeping track of all these students as well as giving them all a voice in the story.

Given that I invested so much time in it, I thought I might as well work towards finishing it off. Hopefully there'll be by now a whole new group of fanfic writers who might be kind enough to read and review it ;).

January 16th 21:00

"First of all," Miss Rothman cleared her throat, "may I say, sincerest congratulations are in order. You've all done extremely well to have survived this long…and under so much pressure!" A nasty titter sounded across the island over the speakerphones. "Anyway, as I was saying, you should all drop whatever you're doing right now! Anyone dies during this broadcast and we will know about it. Anyone uses a weapon and we'll activate their collar. Understand?"

She paused for a moment, before resuming her speech. Her voice was a little more defensive this time, as though someone back at HQ had reminded her that the class weren't about to actually answer her back.

"You are all to return to the headquarters immediately. You are all forbidden from using any kind of violence; consider the game completely suspended for the moment, under penalty of head-exploding death. All danger zones are temporarily cancelled. Anyone not here by…let's see…half ten? Yes, that should be more than enough time. Anyone not here by half ten will have their collars activated. So I suggest you get a move on. Oh, and if you like, you can bring your weapons back with you."

Anne-Marie had dropped her weapon, as she'd been commanded. She picked it up again, and looked in turn from Sebastian, to Leo, to Aidan. The first two looked as utterly dumbstruck as she felt, while Aidan grimaced even more painfully. For a moment none of them spoke. Anne-Marie broke the silence.

"How did she know that I was aiming the gun at Aidan? There aren't cameras are there?"

"I don't think so," Leo said blankly, "Maybe they've just got different people listening in through in-built microphones on our collars. I…I don't know. Maybe they've got different men listening in on certain parts of the island."

"Hmm."

Anne-Marie felt a cold wave of relief wash over her, the like of which she'd never felt. Tears sprang into her eyes. They were safe; nobody was going to attack them because nobody was allowed. That's what that woman had said, wasn't it? All the zones de-activated…at least for now….what else? She opened her mouth to speculate out loud, but found that she didn't dare. It was as though if she mentioned anything else Rothman had said, it would break a kind of spell. Perhaps Sebastian would contradict her, telling her that she'd only been hearing things. She was soon disproved of that.

"I'm going to see Mia and Steve again!" shrieked Sebastian, grabbing Anne-Marie rather forcefully in the shoulders and pulling her face opposite his, which was rather flushed. He began panting heavily, saliva dribbling down his chin. A few constrained croaks came from the back of his throat as he struggled to get his words out. "I- I- I don't know what to say!" He burst into tears and pulled Anne-Marie up against himself, enveloping her in a tight hug. She found herself shaking as her tear-streaked cheek met with his, and she knew it wasn't entirely from the emotional impact of Rothman's announcement.

"Sebastian, I-"

He drew back and looked her squarely in the eye. It was dark, but the moonlight illuminated his face. For the slightest second he hesitated, then pulled her back in and kissed her.

In that instant, Anne-Marie forgot about the game. She forgot about the collar around her neck, and the gun that she'd involuntarily dropped on the floor again. The mangled bodies and bloody injuries vanished from her mind. She didn't care that Leo Davidson and Aidan White were standing right next to her or that she stank of shit or that the moment would probably be ruined by Sebastian pretending it hadn't happened the moment it was over. He hadn't cleaned his teeth in a while and tasted like warm, stale bread, but she didn't even notice.

She just felt like a girl. A normal teenage girl who could forget all the terrible things in the world. A girl who a boy wanted to kiss.

They broke apart, and were met by a nervous laugh by Aidan, who seemed to have calmed down quite a bit.

"Er…I don't want to ruin things, but I think we should go. She s-s-sounded quite s-s-scary."

The moment had gone. Anne-Marie turned away from Sebastian in embarrassment, but also because she found that she didn't want to look at the expression on his face when he fully appreciated that this 'class meeting' was likely something quite horrific. She was overwhelmed by the dark reality of the game, and by the dizzying realisation that she cared so much about someone other than herself in it.

"Exactly!" barked Leo, "Honestly; you'd think they were letting us go, the way you're carrying on! They've probably got even worse things planned for us; what are they going to say?!" He scrabbled around on the ground for his bag, then remembered he'd slung it over his shoulder. Anne-Marie was unnerved and, not for the first time, wished very deeply that Leo was not with them.

"Keep your voice down, will you? Aidan's right," she nodded to Aidan, who looked astonished at what had to be the first compliment he had received in a very long time. She turned back to Sebastian and forced a smile. "Whatever happens, we're going to see your friends." This thought dispirited her all the more; in fact, it wasn't just Leo she didn't want anywhere near herself and Sebastian. And there was nobody she was particularly keen on seeing again. What would they all have turned into? They were going to be meeting with a pack of murderers.

"They could be dead," snapped Leo, completely unnecessarily.

The four of them began trudging back east, in the direction of the church hall where they had all woken up, a lifetime ago. It would only be about half an hours' walk if they went very quickly. Anne-Marie suddenly felt very tired and in no mood to put up with Leo. "They weren't dead at the last announcement," she said defiantly. She tried to put a reassuring hand on Sebastian's arm, but he was too far ahead of her, and he remained silent. Leo, unfortunately, would not take the hint and shut up.

"Yes, but that was ages ago; that woman said that there were only half of us left now! How can we even be sure that the rest of them will even be sane. I mean, they might try and shoot us anyway, even though-"

"Then they'll blow their heads off," said Sebastian in a quietly forceful tone that Anne-Marie had never heard him use. "But yeah, if they shoot you first, then I guess it can't be helped."

Leo was silent.

"I hope Peter is dead," said Aidan, in a voice that was almost a whisper, and which made the other three start. Nobody responded; any further questions Anne-Marie might have had of Aidan weren't needed now. She suspected, too, that Leo was also keeping secrets from them, but that that was irrelevant now. She didn't care about either of them; she cared about Sebastian.

They found the beaten track that ran through the forest in just a few minutes. If they could follow that, Anne-Marie knew, they would be back at to HQ soon. She allowed her thoughts to dissolve into the realm of fantasy.

Perhaps they are going to let us go. Maybe all this announcement business was just to get us all back there safely and Miss Rothman is a double agent or something like that. We'll get back there and some group or other will have reached the island and have a ship ready to take us all back home. Sebastian and I will kiss again and Leo will be thrown in prison for the crime of being an annoying prick.

She laughed out loud, and felt all the boys looking at her. Her thoughts suddenly entered a darker, less pleasant, but slightly more realistic space.

Maybe they'll put us in pairs, and Sebastian and I can both win the game.

21.04

Cassandra Carpenter (Girl #2) pointed her torch at her map for what must have been the tenth time within the last minute. She was on the verge of the danger zone in which lay the church hall; parked behind the garden fence of the pretty whitewashed cottage in which she had spent the entire game so far.

In truth, she'd been extremely lucky. Right at the beginning, Cassandra had forgotten all about the nature of the danger zones and careered only a short distance through the woods, finding this house. A few hours later, crouched under the kitchen table, she'd had a mad moment of hysteria when she remembered that the zone with the church hall was due to go active as soon as the last student left it. At the point she remembered though, it was almost five in the morning, and Cassandra realised that, looking at the map, she must narrowly have made it to the next zone east. Nobody would dare come back this far on purpose, she'd reasoned (correctly) and thus decided to stay here. She felt like a somewhat twisted Snow White.

She wasn't sure what she was doing, or indeed was going to do. Perhaps if she sat tight and did nothing then, eventually, the game would be called off and she'd be able to go home as if nothing had happened. She'd been able to fashion herself her own little world under the kitchen table, one in which she was safe; in her own little protective bubble where nothing and nobody could get to her and hurt her.

Except that, a few minutes ago the bubble had burst. The readiness with which Cassandra had got herself out of the house and into the fresh air told her that in a way, she'd wanted it to.

I can't do it. Just a few more steps forward and my head could blow off.

She felt on the edge of an abyss. If she jumped over the gate, ran down the drive over the field and back through the cluster of trees she might fall victim to what could be a cruel prank. The bomb in her collar could detonate and she'd be dead, an example of what a gullible teenager does for the amusement of a few sadists. On the other hand, if she stayed put, then she almost certainly would have her head blown off within the next few days anyway – even if this strange new task set by Miss Rothman was all just a big joke. Having not actually seen any other students – dead or alive – Cassandra could have been insulated from reality longer than the others, still in denial, and she knew it.

She decided to take the risk. She rolled up her map, and slid it back into her bag, which she swung over her right shoulder. Her designated "weapon" had been a stainless steel spatula, which she thought worse than useless; if anything, it would just be illuminated in whatever light there was and give her away (she'd checked for any knives and other such utensils in the kitchen, but found absolutely nothing). Under other circumstances, Cassandra – one of a Roma family new to the North East, and only recently started at St. Mary's – could have relied on her fists, as she'd been brought up, but that would be of little use here.

Without a backwards glance at her new home, she leapt over the garden fence and strode purposefully down the track, heading into the woods. Her head began to swim in panic again; what if she'd just dreamed the announcement? What if…?

There's no time for "what if".

The stillness of the night unnerved her, and the cold air made her teeth chatter. She felt as though everyone else on the island would be listening in as she approached the first trees on either side of the track which lead into the wood. In her mind- although she knew this was nonsense – there was an invisible barrier which stretched between the trees ahead of her, like the finishing line of a race. She decided that, if she passed this line and survived, the immediate danger would have passed and that it would be proof that the danger zones had indeed been deactivated. She gathered her nerve as the doubts grew louder. She ignored them and pressed forward, as though she were just an ordinary girl on her way to get told off by the headmaster.

The line approached, and she tried to stop but her feet didn't seem to want to let her. Cassandra closed her eyes as she pressed on as though in a dream. She clenched her fists.

Ten steps to go…eight…five….four…three…two…I'm there.

She opened her eyes wide, and released a breath she didn't know that she'd been holding. She was alive, for now. Her relief, naturally, was quite short-lived. She continued down the main track; although she had just under an hour and a half to travel less than half a mile, she thought that traipsing through the hedges and edging to and from behind the trees would be rather pointless. For all she knew, someone could have set a hidden trap in the darkness. There were rustlings in the bushes, and an owl hooted overhead, causing her to jump a little, but she saw nobody.

She reached a clearing, which branched off onto a road which ran from her left and the right. It was only here that her courage began to fail her, as she looked to her right and upwards, beyond a small car park, which she hadn't seen in the early hours of the morning.

She hadn't had a real chance to look at the hall after she'd left it, but even had she not looked at her map, instinct would have told her she was in the right place. It was a fairly ordinary red-brick building, with small windows on the second floor that were all blacked out (though Cassandra couldn't precisely see this, in the dark), and although small, was clearly big enough to have seated them all (un)comfortably. Even looking at the place gave Cassandra horrible chill that had nothing to do with the climate, and all the hysteria that she'd felt began to creep in again. They were all in there…those evil people…probably spying on her right now.

She ducked behind a tree, holding her head in her hands as she felt hot tears roll down her face and through her fingers. She hadn't actually cried yet, but a wave of exhaustion overwhelmed her and she let herself go, sliding down the trunk and collapsing in a heap. She sat there for another five minutes, sobbing loudly. Her heart racing, she went to check her watch but was suddenly alerted by a flash of artificial light which had crossed the upper branches of the trees just feet away from her. She inadvertently clasped her hand over her mouth and spun round to identify the source, being confronted with four vague silhouettes striding aside down the road to her right. Cassandra barely had time to utter out a cry when the beam of light fell on her face, totally blinding her.

"Hey!" cried out a rather strident male voice she did not immediately recognise, "Who are you?"

21.16

Steven Wilkinson (Boy #21) and Mia Selwyn (Girl #15) had been the first to arrive at the church hall. Seated on one of the several logs that had been positioned at the forecourt of the building (from which no movement sounded), the pair were completely silent. Mia was rubbing her hands together methodically, concentrating keenly on weaving her way through each finger in turn and back again, with Steven clasping her wrist in a vain attempt to stop her. Neither of them acknowledged the sniper rifles that were positioned in their direction from the upstairs windows, although – what with the programmed-to-detonate collars – these guns would hardly have been necessary anyway. Mia, usually a confident tomboy, had lost all her cockiness and bravado the moment the game began, which saddened Steven, in spite of everything else. His thoughts had been focused entirely on her and not his "girlfriend" Nicole Nicholson, whom he'd increasingly begun to suspect of a number of the deaths that had so far occurred on the island.

He'd run into Mia only a few hours ago, immediately after poor Violet McDonald had ran to her death. He'd been lucky; she'd been wandering aimlessly in the exact same spot. He'd been delighted to see her as the darkness crept in, although she seemed to have changed beyond all recognition.

The moment of the announcement, they'd been moving towards the south end of the island, for no particular reason other than the opportunity of running into people they felt they could trust. In reality, they knew that they could only rely on each other – apart from maybe Sebastian, who tended to be a bit unpredictable. Neither Steven nor Mia had any kind of plan in the game, other than to stay together, under an unspoken rule that they would never give in to the pressure and start killing…unless they had to. Luckily, this opportunity had not yet arisen. But now, they had a chance, whatever it was, to do something different. Steven wasn't naïve enough to believe that they had been summoned to the "beginning" of the game for anything good, but reasoned it couldn't possibly be worse than the hell they'd already had to endure.

We're still going to die, but might as well have something to hope for.

He didn't have to wait long. A few seconds later, the sound of voices came from around the corner of the building, along with the beam of a torch. Mia clutched Steve's arm as one of the guards posted on the upper floor let out a cough and trained his weapon on the newcomers who were yet to come into view.

The area was only dimly lit by two small lampposts either side of the doorway, and a further two on the opposite side of the forecourt, behind Steven and Mia. It was more than enough, though, to see a party of five wander in trepidation around the corner and as their features became more visible, Steven had to laugh at the absurdity in spite of the situation. He didn't think he's ever seen a less likely quintet.

First off, a dark-skinned bottle-blond girl appeared just ahead of the rest. Steven didn't really know her, but he knew she was a new, gypsy student who went by the name Cassie. He had almost forgotten she existed, save for a brief glance at her name which he'd yet to cross off his student list.

Secondly, another girl, Anne-Marie Hunt. Nothing special about her either, as far as Steven was concerned.

Then came Leo Davison, that strange, awkward kid looking more odd than usual, his eyes widening bizarrely as he spotted Steve and Mia.

Aidan White was next to catch Steve's attention, and he looked absolutely dreadful, his face deathly pale and snot running down his chin. Aidan was the kind of guy best avoided, which made it all the more surprising when the fifth person came into view.

"Seb!"

Mia sprung up immediately, and Steve felt a sudden rush of astonishing relief he hadn't even released he could feel. For once, he was lost for words as Sebastian Hall, pale and desperate, barged past his group and bounded straight into Mia's arms, bursting into tears in the process. Once he'd finished hugging Mia, he moved straight over to Steve, but grabbed Mia's arm again as though frightened she would fly away if he lost her. He was freezing, filthy and shaking, but somehow Sebastian's presence made Steve feel stronger. He was bursting with questions, but couldn't quite seem able to ask them.

"Sebastian…how are you?"

The three of them – Steve, Mia and Sebastian – looked dazedly at each other, then burst out laughing at such an absurd question. It was just like being back at school and Steve, for only a few seconds, actually forgot why they were standing there at all.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," simpered Sebastian. "I'm just so glad you're…here." He slumped down onto a log to catch his breath after all the emotion. "I can't believe this happened."

"I know," said Steve, "I can't believe it either." He wiped his face, inadvertently covering his sleeve with snot. "We've been looking for you, too," he added quickly, looking to Mia for reassurance. She nodded slowly.

"Yeah…but, well, we were just so fucking scared. I wish I could say that I can't believe that there are actual fucking murderers in our own class, but I can believe it," she shot a rather accusing look at Steve, who knew exactly to whom she was referring. "Lots of psychos on this island. But the thing is, we haven't actually seen anyone else, Seb. Dead or alive. We don't know who the killers are. Have you?"

"Yeah," whispered Sebastian, "Loads. Just now we found Kimberley and Ewan dead in a garden."

"Shit. Well, I suppose I knew they were already dead."

"It was horrible. I've never seen a dead body before."

"Do you know who killed them…or anyone else?"

Sebastian shook his head. "No, but – Oh!" A light bulb seems to flash on in his head, and he spun around to the people he'd just arrived with. He'd clearly forgotten they were there. "Anne-Marie!" He turned back to Steve and repeated morosely, "Anne-Marie!"

Steve looked over at the rather plain, frumpy-looking girl who had been standing in total silence with 'her' crew, all of whom were looking as though they weren't sure whether they were invited to join in the conversation. Anne-Marie Hunt was a very ordinary girl, and Steve had never paid any attention to her before, but Sebastian seemed oddly elated just by saying her name. She glanced at Steve awkwardly.

"I've been with him the whole time," she said, practically reading Steve's mind. Her voice became more earnest. "But you're right," she nodded at Mia, "there are lots of psychos out there. Violet was…" she paused, "she was mad," she added defensively.

"She wasn't mad," said Sebastian charitably, "but this game does things to you. But Anne-Marie's been like a rock of strength. I don't think I'd still be here if it wasn't for her. You can trust her completely." He turned back to her, and smiled kindly. Anne-Marie returned an odd expression, as though she were hoping him to say something more.

"She's dead now," said Steve.

Anne-Marie looked startled. "But how? Her name wasn't-"

"It was just recently," sighed Steve, feeling sick at the memory. "I ran into her; like you say she was raving mad. She ran away but I tried to stop her. She ran into a danger zone and her collar blew up. Just a few hours ago."

Anne-Marie and Sebastian both looked shocked, but said nothing.

"And what about the rest of you?" demanded Mia rather suddenly, referring to Aidan, Leo and Cassandra. "What have you all been up to?" There was a note of hysteria in her voice that Steve had never noticed before.

Nobody answered immediately. Aidan White looked to be on the verge of nervous and physical collapse; Cassandra Carpenter merely looked at someone else to answer first and Leo Davison appeared rather haughty. "Well you've got a nerve," the latter replied, brushing his hair out of his face, "You haven't given any explanations yourself yet."

"Explanations?" retorted Steve, suddenly irritated and remembering why Leo was not well-liked. "Mia and I have done nothing wrong. If you don't like it you'll have to just take our word for it. We aren't allowed to use weapons."

"What are your weapons, anyway?"

"Never you mind!" He looked from Leo to Anne-Marie "Has this guy been with you the whole time?"

"No…we only just ran into him when we – Sebastian and I – found Francesca and Luciano's bodies. They'd been dead ages though," she pre-empted Steve's question for a second time. "Anyway, then we found Aidan and then we only saw just saw Cassandra round the corner here."

Both Aidan and Cassandra nodded fervently, as though confirming their own innocence. Steve didn't really know and wouldn't have trusted either of them, and it seemed that Anne-Marie and Sebastian didn't have much clue of what had happened with either of them anyway. Leo had a defiant look, but Steven wasn't buying it. He may not have killed Francesca and Luciano – Steve did not inquire what their injuries had been – but he could tell that he was up to something. Not that that particularly mattered right now, as they awaited more 'instructions'. Perhaps they were going to have to finish each other off right here and now, just to give that vile bitch Rothman a laugh.

"So nobody knows who's playing the game, anyway?"

Everyone shook their heads, except Aidan White. "Well…I think Peter probably is. L-long story, but I saw him shoot a calf dead for no reason."

For some reason, this odd bit of information came as no surprise to Steven. But, as Aidan shivered and quivered and avoided making eye contact, there was clearly more to this story. Steve wanted to ask more, but there was now a little voice in the back of his head that seemed to be dissuading him from prying for more information.

But it doesn't matter. We're not playing the game at the moment. There's been an announcement; that's why we're all here. Everything is going to change soon.

"Wait a minute!"

Everyone started as Sebastian bolted upright and turned accusingly on Leo, quite unexpectedly, "You just said earlier that you saw Mia in a house!" He pointed at Mia, as if there could be any doubt who he was talking about. "You did! When we met you, the whole point was that you were going to take us to where you said you'd seen her!"

Leo looked confused, then his expression changed to that of someone who had just been caught out, worried. He laughed nervously and shrugged his shoulders in an unconvincing impersonation of innocence. "Well, I think I said that I might have seen her," he turned to Anne-Marie, who had rounded on him with the same suspicious accusatory stance as Sebastian. "Did I say that? Well, anyway, it might have been you…right?" He turned to Mia, clearly hoping that she'd say something along the lines of 'why, yes, I've been sitting in the window of a house in exactly the place you said, right until just now.' But she didn't.

Mia's pale race reddened in fury, "I haven't been in a house the entire game, you liar. Why would you say that to Seb?

Leo's eyes darted around nervously, as though desperately looking for an answer. But in fact he was spared answering. He raised a finger in an 'I've got an idea' sort-of way, but before he could speak, a creaking sound to Steven's left stopped him in his tracks.

The church door was beginning to open, and the company of seven fell into an immediately terrified silence. The noise was quiet, but seemed in the dark gloom to be deafening as the door continued to open, little by little. Light poured into the clearing, and Steve had to shield his eyes for a moment. His heart began to race, and, forgetting all else, he felt with his left hand for Mia's right and the two clung onto each other for dear life.

The guards appeared, marching outside the building in a rehearsed formation. They were just as terrifying as the previous night; even more so as they were wearing highly protective combat gear, complete with helmets, so that their faces weren't visible. Even in his fear, Steven couldn't help but feel a creeping sense of anger at the sheer cowardice; how dare they not even have the guts to show us who they are? After all they've done to us…

There weren't that many of them; the ones in the upper windows retained their positions, and the ones who came outside lined up, three at either side of the main door. The moment they did, they drew their machine guns and pointed them right at the students. For one horrible moment, Steve thought they were going to be fired on and on instinct he and the others shot their hands up in the air in surrender. But he needn't have worried; he wasn't going to die just yet.

"Sit down!" came a muzzled voice from one of the guards. Steve couldn't quite tell which one had spoken, but he didn't need telling twice. He found his way to the nearest log, keeping his hands in the air all the time. Slowly he sat, remaining close to Mia at all times. Sebastian and the others were sitting on the other side and Steve pondered dully for a moment how well laid out the logs actually were. He then vaguely recalled that Miss Rothman had mentioned that there were only 'half of' them left. This meant that at least a few other people had died within the last few hours…Steve wasn't thinking hard enough to consider who these people might have been.

Two more figures quickly emerged from the building both in a similar uniform to the guards but in a lighter shade, giving them the appearance of Stormtroopers. The smaller of the two put its hands on its hips and Steve had a sneaking suspicion that it was Miss Rothman. The pair of them stood side by side in front of the door, which had been closed behind them. The figure that was probably Rothman gave a little wave and Steve felt a horrible shudder down the back of his neck.

None of them made a sound, seemingly under unspoken orders. As time passed, the remaining students began to arrive.

First was Olivia Thompson, a serious, clever girl who always got top marks. She was pale, frightened and scruffy but otherwise looked unharmed. She appeared at the side of the building, letting out a small scream of surprise when she saw the guards lined up. She had obviously been crying, but pulled herself together when motioned to sit down. Steve gave her a weak smile which she did not return. He couldn't have imagined her killing anyone, but at the same time was not surprised that she had survived this long.

A few minutes later, Steve heard a loud rustling behind him along with a few voices, though he didn't dare actually turn round.

"Look, the light's on and every-"

A shot fired into the air, and the voices immediately stopped. After a few seconds, Steve heard the steps of the students proceeding forward from behind him. Three boys came and sat on the log in front of him. Two – it was those geeks Bryan Smith and Samuel Rothschild – were shaking nervously as they dropped their bags in front of them, holding their hands in the air. He recalled Bryan and Samuel sometimes hanging out with Leo at school, although neither of them attempted even to look in his direction now. The third boy – the rather icily handsome Tyson Baxter – seemed considerably calmer. None of them looked injured in any way, but Sebastian wondered what Tyson had been doing tagging along with them. He remembered that Steve's friends Ewan Stone and Callum Harrison had both died before the first round of announcements, and wondered briefly whether Tyson had actually killed them.

And so on it went. Zachary Black – another new kid, like Cassandra – arrived, looking exhausted. Tiny and thin, he didn't look like much of a threat, and was also unscathed, as far as Steven could see. He slumped into a seat, visibly almost relieved of the chance not to have to stay alert.

Michelle Ashanti was a very different story. There was a sharp intake of breath as the tall, athletic girl came around the corner. Wild-eyed and looking quite unhinged, Michelle seemed to have attempted to clean herself up, but she could have done nothing about the bruises all over her face and neck. It was the face of a killer, that was certain. But then Steven had always found her quite scary, to be honest. Now, she scanned the faces of the assembled students looking for someone she couldn't find, and then sat down.

And so it went on over the next hour. Lauren Lucas – a big girl with short blonde hair, and an attitude problem - arrived, closely followed by a group of five; Joshua Johnson, Michael Hill, Carl Mitchell, Stacey Phillips and Nina Fox. Nobody in this group attempted to speak – the gunshot had put paid to any notion of a friendly reunion- , and all sat down without needing to be told, Joshua taking a seat right next to Steven.

That made nineteen, and it was just past ten o'clock. There was a distinct sense of baited breath as everyone wondered who the last two survivors would be. Who had died within the last few hours? Of the group, some naturally had a better idea than others.

To the left came the sound of running footsteps, and – to Steve's complete unsurprise – a blonde girl came into view. Fierce-eyed and sharp-featured, Nicole Nicholson stopped dead in her tracks as she suddenly found herself in the clearing. Her eyes darted from the armoured guards, to the faces of her classmates, all of whom winced and averted their eyes. Quite in character, she didn't seem remotely concerned by the presence of the soldiers, one of whom pointed sharply at a remaining space. She didn't sit down though. Ludicrously, Steve was hoping she wouldn't see him.

"Steve!"

Another shot fired, only this one wasn't aimed at the sky, rather directly above Nicole's head. She shrieked – as did several other people – and fell to the ground. Humiliated and unnerved, she nonetheless got up and shakily found her sense and her seat. Steve didn't dare look in her direction; if he had, he would have known that she was glaring at him ferociously, trying to make contact. She took her place and dropped her bag, which left a suspiciously heavy thud.

More minutes passed as they all waited for the final contestant to reveal themselves. When she did arrive, Steve was a little surprised to see that it was Megan Young, panting heavily as she came into view, clearly having been panic-stricken about arriving before the deadline. A meek and mild girl, Steve would have pegged her as one of the first to have been killed in the game. Like most of the others though, she looked relatively unharmed.

That's all of us. Only half the class. Here we all are.

For a moment, nobody seemed sure what to do. Were they all supposed to just sit there? What were they waiting for?

The Stormtrooper-lookalike that Steve had suspected of being Miss Rothman suddenly removed her helmet. Sure enough, it was her. Shaking out her hair, she grinned nastily at her group of victims. Steve felt yet another shudder of revulsion.

"Now then," she began. "It's nice to see you all again. Well...not all of you, but you know what I mean." She giggled a little bit, then moved on, aiming for professionalism. "As I said before, you should be proud to have made it this far, but we've decided to shake things up a bit. Let me cut straight to the chase…you will now be playing" - she paused for melodrama – "in teams of three! Doesn't that sound fun?"

There was a collective murmur throughout the assembled students. Did that mean that -?

"Of course," Miss Rothman smirked, "We've already picked the teams. Sorry about that. Now, here are your instructions…" She dipped into her pocket and retrieved a few crumpled pieces of paper, which she unfolded and started to read.

"The game will continue in much the same fashion. You will all, however be divided up into teams and given new bags after handing your own in. Seven teams, three contestants in each. More than one member of the same team can win the game." At this point she looked over the paper to gauge the reaction. Steve's own heart was hammering fast.

If I get put in a team with Mia and Sebastian, then…

Miss Rothman continued. "The teams will be chosen by the gamemakers, and there are to be no exceptions. Once you have all been given your new bags – and don't worry, they'll all have maps in, with the current danger zones all crossed off, along with a randomly assigned weapon – the game will continue, with the announcements being made every six hours, the next one being scheduled for midnight. All the old danger zones will be reactivated, with more being added at each announcement.

"You do not have to stay with your allocated team and there are no restrictions on killing members of your own team, but bear in mind that the three of you in your allocated team can all survive the game if there are no members of the other teams left standing. The duration of the game will not change; if at the end of the three days – almost a single day has already passed – there players from more than one team standing, all the collars will be activated."

"So basically…" Miss Rothman folded up the paper, "You'll have to work with each other. How very interesting." She grinned a Cheshire cat's grin as the guards moved forward to clear away their bags.

Please, Mia and Sebastian, Mia and Sebastian, Mia and Sebastian….

22:15: Surviving Contestants: 21