A cold chill drifted through the warm night. It raced over corpses and through trees. It blew open a few windows that had been left ajar and slowly made its way to an opening among the houses where a number of contestants stood frozen in time. Gloria (Girl #22) gripped her machete and stared over at the corpse a few feet away. Near her stood the giant Sid (Boy #14) who clutched his bullet-ridden shield and his dagger rather loosely. His eyes also settled on the dead boy on the ground. Minh's (Boy #6) Asian eyes were wide and his mouth was open in shock. Nathan was next to the small boy, but he had dropped to one of his knees in surprise. He grabbed hold of Minh's arm and pulled himself back to his feet, watching the female holding the gun. She clutched the shotgun with only one hand and her other arm hung loosely by her side. Droplets of dark red blood slowly dripped from her fingers, staining the ground. The only sound that could be heard was the movement of Connor (Boy #4) as he struggled painfully to stand, his eyes fixated on her. Her long hair hung loosely around her head, concealing her face as she loomed over Paul (Boy #21) and the giant hole she had just placed into his chest. But the cold wind blew the hair away from her face, and everyone around Leslie (Girl #25) could see the sneer that remained there.
Gloria was the first to break free of the frozen time and she charged forward only two steps, her eyes focused solely on the shotgun. Leslie reacted instinctively, reloading the shotgun and aiming over at the rampaging girl. Gloria gasped and fell to the ground as the spray rushed just above her head. She heard the shotgun clack back into place yet again and jumped back as the ground exploded where her head had been from the many pellets impacting the earth. That was all Gloria needed to understand; she could notwin this battle. She was on her feet and sprinting off into the darkness before anyone even knew she had left.
Sid was the next one to take off. He took a step backwards, making sure to ready his shield in case a shogun shell was hurled his way. He took another step, making note of Leslie watching him intently. The moment she lowered the shotgun, Sid sprinted as fast as his large legs could carry him, vanishing behind a cluster of houses. However, Minh and Nathan remained motionless, unsure of what to do next. They winced as Leslie focused on the both of them, her sneer both chilling and intimidating.
"Leslie!" Connor called out from the side. She swung her body around and quickly took aim with the shotgun, spotting his vital points as he struggled to come closer to her. Her finger rested on the trigger and the beast roared within her as she prepared to blast Connor's head far from his body. He cringed on the ground and cried out, "Stop!"
She hissed with pure rage and began to squeeze her finger. Suddenly, the smell of blood entered her nostrils, and she swayed slightly. Leslie's finger edged away from the trigger as she stared down at Paul's grinning corpse almost as if she was seeing it for the first time. The stench slowly overpowered her as images began to flash inside her mind. No, not images, memories.
Her head spun as a new odor drifted through her body with the blood. The smell of alcohol. There was no alcohol here in the forest, why would she be smelling that? She gazed down at her hands and watched the blood drip from her fingers. She cringed, but could not peel her eyes away. She nearly cried out as she chucked the shotgun away from her and tried desperately to wipe the blood from her hands. Tears streamed down her face as her ears picked up the faint cry of sirens, slowly growing louder and louder. She glanced down at the body, the body that was no longer Paul, but instead an older man's body. He lied in several pools of blood and even in his drunken stupor, the pain was too much for him to register. Leslie heard voices as she spun around and saw several police officers enter the room. She watched them shake in shock and one vomited on her floor. And suddenly, the beast had gone back to sleep, her memories had gone, and Leslie was returned to reality.
She screamed only once in the utter horror surrounding her mind and body and collapsed to the ground, convulsing. On the ground a few feet away from her, Connor called her name out again, but now with more worry than before. His leg still gushed blood from the minor wounds from the shotgun blast, so instead of trying to stand he dragged his body over the ground until he finally reached Leslie. He reached out and grabbed hold of her, pulling her body to him and cradling the shaking figure. Connor hugged her tight, in an effort to get her to stop shivering and her tears slowly soaked the front of his shirt.
From the distance, Minh quickly ventured away from Nathan. Nathan silently reached out for him, scared what might happen if Leslie suddenly regained her composure. He whispered for Minh to return, but the Asian turned his head slightly and then continued forward. A few more steps and Nathan finally understood where his boyfriend was heading. Minh carefully bent down, uncomfortably close to the boy and girl on the ground, and grabbed hold of the shotgun, racing back to Nathan. The two boys left Connor and Leslie and sprinted off into the concealing darkness.
Connor stared up at the moon brightly hanging overhead, and clutched Leslie close to him. The two pellet wounds to his legs weren't healing very quickly, but he couldn't feel the pain from them anymore. All the mattered was Leslie, the tough girl who had broken down without warning. The girl who had ripped the flesh off another contestant. She continued to shiver and sob in his arms and Connor could only wonder one thing.
What happened to you Leslie?
Sid breathed heavily as he finally stopped running. He leaned his large frame against the side of an empty house and hugged his dented shield to his chest. The battle that had just occurred played over and over inside his head. He was lucky to be alive, and Sid recognized that fact with all his brain. That tiny Asian had put up a good fight and nearly blasted a hole through Sid's stomach, had his shield not been there. And then Paul had claimed the powerful weapon, and Sid knew he was in trouble then. He could see it in the boy's eyes that he was prepared to take down every other contestant there. But nothing could compare to that girl who had killed Paul. She was clearly the major contender in the battle, and she had the skills to back up that claim. Sid was lucky he left before she had claimed his life as well.
Sid was now down an ally, but he saw no problem with that. There was just one less dangerous person in the battlefield. He had no loyalty to Paul, and the reverse was true as well. That situation had been extremely risky, and Sid was glad that he didn't have to worry about it anymore. He could now focus on getting his revenge, and then winning The Program. Paul was now dead, but there plenty of other dangerous contestants still alive. And he was about to meet two of the most deadly.
Jeff (Boy #22) turned the corner of one of the houses and stared at the large boy who now stood in his view. He had heard plenty of commotion coming from somewhere nearby, but finding someone alone was better than attacking a group. Sid jerked his head to the side and spied the killer staring at him. He exhaled deeply, trying to ready his tired body for yet another battle. Jeff stared at the shield and dagger the gladiator held, along with the size of his new prey. He knelt down quickly and reached into his sock, producing the switchblade which he fluidly flipped open. He stood at the ready, the scythe in one hand and the blade in the other, while Sid extended his bullet-ridden shield and gripped his dagger with resolve.
Big and slow. I'm going to need speed to bring him down.
In an instant Jeff was rushing toward him, then stopping and leaping into the air. Sid extended his dagger toward the airborne figure, but Jeff spun in the air, knocking away the dagger and spinning further to slice the scythe down at Sid. The warrior quickly brought up his shield and shoved it into Jeff, tossing his body like a rag doll. Jeff landed hard on the ground and rolled, springing quickly back to his feet. His eyes bulged as the dagger was quickly lunged between his eyes.
He's fast!
Jeff ducked and stabbed upwards with his switchblade, effectively slicing deep into Sid's forearm. The large boy cried out in pain and stumbled back, shoving his shield forward for protection. Jeff easily dodged around the hunk of metal and Sid's eyes widened when he saw that he had exposed the side of his body. The warrior tried to swing the shield around in enough time, but it was too late to stop Jeff from driving his scythe deep into Sid's side. Sid roared and shoved the shield at Jeff, knocking the boy away from him.
The giant felt the blood run freely from the wound and he sneered over at his enemy. He pulled the shield close to his body and held out his dagger, pointed straight at Jeff's throat. With a war cry, the gladiator rushed forward. Jeff quickly racked his brain on how to counter, but the only way to save himself from a stampede was to escape it. Jeff raced away from the charging Sid, making his way to the side of a nearby house. He could feel Sid's breath right behind him as he reached the wall and placed a foot up against it. Using his speed, Jeff lifted up, and pushed off the wall, jumping up and over Sid. The warrior gasped in shock and realized that he had exposed his back to the attacker. Jeff sailed down, directly behind Sid, extending the scythe and cutting deep into the giant's back as he landed. He immediately jumped back, expecting the counterattack from Sid - the shield being thrown into his face. Jeff put some distance between him and his opponent, letting the pain from his wounds take its full effect.
Jeff smirked with satisfaction, but knew that the battle wasn't over yet. Sid was a big kid, and that meant it was going to take more force than normal to kill him. But Jeff had also been lucky, from the look of it, Sid had been tired when he had attacked. It would take more time, but this battle was over.
Sid rushed him again, and Jeff stood his ground, ready to pounce. An explosion ripped through the open air. The ground rose slightly between Jeff and Sid and both boys glanced to their side at the new figure standing in their midst. She smiled only slightly, holding the semi-automatic directly out in front of her. Without warning, Ariana (Girl #18) fired again, this bullet sailing wide of both boys. Sid immediately spun his shield to protect himself from her gunfire, and Jeff saw his chance to wound the boy. He raced toward the large boy and before Sid could even react, Jeff was standing behind him, using the large boy's body as his own personal shield. Sid didn't dare turn to face Jeff and risk getting shot, so he weakly stabbed behind him with his dagger. Jeff easily dodged and squatted, swiping quickly with his switchblade and cutting the tendon at both of Sid's ankles. The large boy screamed in pain, and his legs gave out.
"Even Achilles had a weakness." Jeff hissed as he reached forward and grabbed hold of the shield. Sid's hands easily let go of the metal barrier and reached back to his feet, tears blurring his vision. Meanwhile, Jeff rushed toward Ariana, who fired directly at the shield he carried. When he was finally in close range, Jeff threw the heavy hunk of metal at the deadly temptress. She cried out as it knocked her back. Swiftly, Jeff placed the switchblade into his pocket and pulled out the eye mace. She aimed the gun at his head, but he quickly landed a punch to her gut that stunned Ariana for enough time. He fired the eye mace directly into her eyes and the girl shrieked in pain. She blindly fired the gun twice as she toppled to her knees. She pulled the trigger more, the bullets zooming all around her, but missing Jeff every time. From the ground, Sid still clutched his bleeding ankles only to feel a large force hit him in the arm. The randomly fired bullet entered his bicep and stopped amid his large muscle mass. Now in even more pain, Sid cried out again.
Ariana continued to pull the trigger until all that could be heard were clicks from the empty gun. In the meantime, Jeff carefully made his way to Ariana's duffel bag, spotting the bullets and quickly placing them into his own bag. He glanced over at Ariana who was blindly staring in his direction, no doubt after hearing the sound of her duffel bag. Silently, he drifted to her side and stared down at her. She had no idea how close he was to her. Instantly he reached out and grabbed hold of the gun.
"Guns are useless to the blind." He hissed with a smile. He almost didn't notice Ariana reach behind her beneath her skirt. With a cry, she lashed out with the ice pick she had concealed inside her panties. The ice pick was a little off mark, but Jeff was not expecting an attack and the point grazed the side of his stomach. He cried out in pain and raised a foot, connecting with Ariana's chin. She tumbled to the ground with a cry and Jeff reached into his bag, pulling out and few bullets and quickly loading them into the gun. Ariana struggled on the ground trying her best to stand. Jeff kicked her again in the side and then quickly walked over to her, placing the barrel of the gun against her forehead. Instantly she stopped moving, trying to stare up at the boy before her, but her eyes continued to sting.
"Please," she pleaded, hey eyes welling with tears, "Don't kill me."
Jeff forced the barrel of the gun harder against her head as his answer.
"Please, I can…I can help you. Together, we can beat The Program! Please don't kill me!"
The tears streamed down her face, both from the eye mace and the act she was putting on. She couldn't see if it was working, but the boy hadn't pulled the trigger yet, and that was a good sign.
"Crying." He said, and Ariana froze as she strained to listen to what he said next. "You cry and yet you still haven't felt nearly enough pain."
"What?" she gasped.
"You don't know what real pain is!" Jeff roared, "You have no right to cry!"
A gun shot ripped through the silence of the residential area.
Carlos (Boy #3) gazed around him into the darkness. He considered flipping on the flashlight, but he knew that would only draw attention to him. He'd only use the flashlight for identifying people around him, or to blind potential attackers. It was a useful object to have, and it worked very well with his other weapons – the contestant files and the revolver. Thanks to his contestant files, Carlos could easily recognize the dangerous people. With the flashlight, he could find them easily, even in the dark. And with his revolver, he could easily eliminate them.
The sounds of gunshots made him uneasy, though. He knew that hardcore players would follow the sounds in the hope of claiming some victims. And even though Carlos felt the urge to do just that, he found himself moving as far away from the sounds as he could. He felt the same as he had in the very beginning of the game – looking to avoid all the other contestants at all costs. And yet, the major difference between the two moments in time was that Carlos now had some means to protect himself. Sometimes the revolver felt very light in his hand, and sometimes he felt like it weighed him down. But nevertheless, it fired bullets, and that made things easier for him.
From the sounds of things, there was plenty of action coming from the east side of the playing field, most likely from the suburban area. But there was another residential area on the west side of the playing field. There were plenty of danger zones nearby, but it appeared that no one was in that general area. And with empty houses, there were still plenty of places to hide.
If I can avoid everyone else, then eventually I'll be the only one left. I've just got to keep running.
And he did just that. Carlos continued running.
"Do you think she's dead?" April (Girl #13) asked. She gazed over at Naomi's (Girl #11) silhouette in the darkness, but couldn't see if her friend reacted to the question. Together both girls stood in a small alleyway in one of the few areas that were not danger zones in the urban area. April wondered if Naomi was too lost in thought to realize that April had spoken to her. She was about to ask again, when her friend finally responded.
"No." she said, "Kim's (Girl #15) too stubborn to die so soon."
April smirked and nodded in agreement. She gazed off at one end of the alley, looking for any sign of company, but quickly getting lost in thought. Even if Kim was still alive out there somewhere, chances were that she'd never make it back to April and Naomi alive. As far as April was concerned, it was just her and Naomi left. The rest of her friends were either dead, or as good as dead.
"Are we going to just keep running?" April broke the silence.
"Looks that way."
Silence.
"What's wrong, Naomi?"
Silence.
"You've been so quiet since Kim left us. I know that anyone looks quiet compared to me, but this isn't like you. What's going on inside that head of yours?" April stopped. Even in the darkness, she could see the reflection of the tears that were quickly forming in Naomi's eyes. April's mouth opened in surprise, confirming that she had rarely ever seen Naomi cry. She'd barely shed any tears when she learned that Cassie (Girl #4) was dead. And here she was, the tears flowing like waterfalls.
"Naomi?"
"It's my fault." She whispered.
"What?"
"Genevive (Girl #21) was working on the collars. She was so close, and she needed my designated weapon. She may have been the only one who could have saved us, and I abandoned her in the early hours. I was so caught up in only finding my friends, I ignored her and it may have cost us all our lives! If I had joined with her, we may all have escaped by now!"
"Naomi, you couldn't have known-"
"And you were right! I left her alone because I was scared of what she'd do. And I wanted to find you and Kim and Cassie and Taryn (Girl #3). But a part of me was still angry she beat me in that stupid election! That goddamn election! I've killed us all! I'm sorry, April. I'm so sorry."
April approached her friend and wrapped her in hug as Naomi broke down completely, sobbing into April's shoulder. She tried to cry softly to not attract any attention, but she was failing miserably at it. April sighed and kept Naomi close to her. So much was running through her mind – all the possibilities of what could have happened if things were done differently, her friends who were now dead, and Kim who was still alive.
"It's all right, Naomi." April whispered to her, "We've just got to keep running."
Jeff glanced over at a portion of a nearby house that now had a large hole in its wall. Before him, Ariana cried out in a panic and dropped to the ground, clearly thinking that the gunshot had come from directly in front of her. Instantly, Jeff glanced over to his side and saw two boys staring back at him. The smaller one held up a large shotgun and took aim. Jeff raced to the side, quickly firing the gun in his hand. The bullets splashed all around the two boys, but none hit their mark. Jeff cursed as the gun quickly ran out of bullets and he clutched his duffel bag before racing off into oblivion.
Minh fired off another shell, but this one sailed wide just like the last one had. He glanced back to Nathan and quickly asked, "You weren't hit, right?"
Nathan shook his head and then both boys ventured forward to the girl before them. Ariana's eyes continued tearing on the ground, but she didn't need her sight to know that she was still alive. That meant that the gunshot she'd heard came form somewhere else. And that meant that there was someone else nearby. Her hand tightened on the ice pick and soon her ears picked up the sounds of footsteps.
"Who's there?" she cried out, trying to stand.
"Freeze!" Minh cried out reloading his shotgun and taking careful aim. He was close to her and would not miss if she tried anything suspicious.
A boy…
Immediately, Ariana dropped the ice pick and fell to her knees. She forced herself to cry and the tears helped to wash away the remaining eye mace. "Please, don't kill me! I don't want to die!"
The two boys stared down at the girl before them. She had many blood stains all over her body and then there were the handcuffs that hung from her wrists. Neither of them knew what to make of her - she'd certainly been through plenty. But that didn't identify whether or not she was a threat.
"I'm so scared! Please don't hurt me!"
"We won't hurt you." Nathan spoke up. Ariana recognized that it was a new voice who spoke and realized that there was more than one person with the boy who carried the shotgun. She gazed up through stinging eyes and finally made out two figures. She forced a smile.
"You won't?"
Minh sighed and slowly lowered the shotgun. He had seen Ariana around school sometimes, and this girl in front of him certainly didn't seem to fit the persona she had made for herself. He supposed that The Program changed people, but something didn't feel right.
"You are both nice boys. Not like the other ones who did this to me." Ariana motioned to her blood stained clothing and the wound to her left arm, "They captured me and wanted to rape me. But they ended up killing each other. I was lucky they didn't kill me too."
Neither boy knew how to respond to that, so instead, Nathan walked over and helped Ariana to her feet.
"You're lucky we heard those gunshots too." Nathan told her, "A few more minutes and we would have shown up to late."
Nathan gazed over at Minh who refused to make eye contact. The two had heard gunshots in plenty of advance. The only reason they showed up so late was the fact that Minh didn't want to get involved. He wanted to find a new hiding spot and avoid all the other contestants, while Nathan wanted to increase the ranks. The two of them with only a shotgun were not nearly as safe as they were with three or more people they could trust. Nathan had won out in the end, obviously, and they now had a pretty girl to join them, if she wanted to.
"You're welcome to join us." Nathan smiled warmly as Minh gazed away coldly.
"Really?" Ariana gasped and feigned excitement.
This is almost too easy. First they invite me to join them. Hell, if they suggest sex and then hand me the weapons, I won't have to do a damn thing. Yes, a satisfying threesome is the only thing in the way of me blowing their heads clear off their shoulders with that shotgun.
The three people gazed over at the moaning giant not far form them. With cut tendons and a bullet in one arm, Sid was all but helpless. He weakly lifted his head and stared back at the three contestants staring at him.
"That bitch attacked me!" he yelled out and then cried out in pain, "She'll kill you both too!"
Minh hissed with hate and reloaded his shotgun as he took a few steps towards the warrior.
"Minh!" Nathan called him, "Leave him."
"Why should I?" Minh yelled back as he seethed with hate, "He was with that other bastard! He deserves to die!"
Ariana put on a shocked face and took a step back, slightly whimpering. Minh took notice, but refused to back down. Sid had nearly claimed his life numerous times. And now he was defenseless. Minh needed to take him down now before he could do any more damage.
"He's no threat to us now." Nathan stated matter-of-factly, "Just leave him alone."
He turned around and began to walk away from the group. Minh turned his back too, and stood directly in front of Sid, the barrel of the shotgun aimed directly at his forehead. Sid glanced to the side and saw that his dagger and shield lay too far away for him to reach them in time, with or without his injuries. But instead of firing, Minh swung his shotgun, slamming hard into Sid's face. He sneered at the boy and then walked off, picking up the dagger as he went.
"You can keep your shield." Minh replied coldly.
"I'll see you in hell." Sid spat from the ground, "And she's going to put you there!"
"We already are in hell." Minh murmured as he passed Ariana.
Yes, I agree with you. But I wonder which level you'd say we're in?
She glanced back at giant lying nearly defeated on the ground. He struggled to sit up, but then collapsed back down on the ground in a slump. Ariana knew that he wouldn't last too much longer on his own. Someone would be along shortly to finish him off. A wicked smile crossed her face and then it disappear she caught up with her two new "allies." She wondered how long she'd need to wait before she could entice them into some sexual acts. He eyes settled between them, and for a minute she was confused. Both boys looked around them for potential threats or allies, and yet their hands were conjoined.
Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me.
"You two are…"
They gazed back at her and then simultaneously they stared down at their clasped hands. They both blushed slightly, but their hands remained together and held strong.
"What can I say?" Nathan smirked, "I fell for his boyish good looks."
Minh rolled his almond eyes but was clearly a little embarrassed and flattered at the same time.
"That's so great that you two found each other!" Even Ariana had to admit that she sounded fake. But the boys nodded and they continued along, Ariana trotting slightly behind them.
Damn you statistics. My kingdom for a straight man.
Current danger zones: 2, 4, 6, 10, 11, 15, 17, 21, 24, 25, 28, 31, 41, 48, 50, 56, 61, 64
Pending danger zones: 32
(21) Contestants remaining