Matt (Boy #20) clutched his arms to his body and hugged his Kevlar vest closer to him. He glanced around the wooded area where he had remained for a very long time. But as every minute passed, he was slowly becoming more and more uneasy. He was fine when things were quiet, but that massive explosion had unsettled him. He'd hear a scream every once in a while too, which worried him since that meant that there people nearby. But no one had stumbled upon the boy since he had stopped to rest over five hours ago. And that was fine with him, since he knew that if they found him, they'd try to shoot him. Matt smirked to himself when recognized this fact again, knowing that they could shoot at him all they wanted, since it wouldn't do any good as long as he had that bulletproof vest. He'd been shot several times already, but none of them had damaged him at all. Still, Matt recognized the fact that his vest could only do so much. He'd need to find other ways to protect himself against everyone else.

They all want to shoot me! I need more protection. I need to shoot them first!

Matt cautiously stood, and glanced around, making sure no one was waiting for him to fall into their trap. He knew all about traps, and he knew all about the rules of combat. He'd played enough videogames to recognize how fighting out here was like. Enough first person shooters to fire a gun efficiently. Enough role playing games to recognize that sooner or later, rivals would battle to the death. And enough fighting games to succeed in hand to hand combat. His ability to drive superbly from those racing games wouldn't be applied here, but that was fine. He'd taken enough knowledge from those videogames to win in The Program. Hell, they were more like battle simulations anyways.

He raised his fists and began lightly jumping from one foot to the other like some kind of boxer.

Okay, Y button is punch, useful for fast attacks and knocking the enemy off guard.

Matt threw a few punches in the air, two quick jabs with his left followed by a sloppy uppercut. But to the boy who was slowly losing his mind, this small combo seemed exactly like he had seen on the screen in front of him many times before. He then raised his foot in the air at a feeble attempt at a kick and then jumped up, sticking out his other leg in a jump kick that would barely reach another contestant's chest.

B button is kick, and used for stronger attacks. X button is for guard and can protect any attacks as long as you're either standing or crouching.

He then threw his hands out and wrapped up an imaginary person, pretending to run up their body and then kick their head before jumping off to the side.

And finally, A button is for powerful throws when the enemy is blocking. Heh, I could be a ninja with these awesome skills.

He started jumping around the area, throwing punches and kicks at imaginary enemies, defeating them all with minimal effort. He proudly smiled over their nonexistent bodies, impressed with his own fighting ability. A ninja of his caliber surely deserved true ninja garb. Without thinking, Matt pulled down his pants and removed his boxers, wrapping them around his head, covering his nose and mouth and only revealing his eyes, just like ninjas he had seen in movies. He pulled his pants back on, making sure to be careful with the zipper.

Ninjas are deadly masters of camouflage.

He slowly began slinking off, peering around trees and from behind bushes. As a ninja, trained in the arts of dark assassinations, Matt would have no problem in fighting hand to hand and avoiding traps, just like in his videogames. But he still needed to practice his shooting skills. He held out an imaginary gun and jumped from behind a tree, firing out into the open air with his fingers and yelling, "BANG! BANG!"

He smiled with satisfaction, knowing that his aim and accuracy were completely unmatched. His Kevlar vest chaffed up against his body, and he adjusted it slightly, scratching an area on his stomach. The vest was the only piece of clothing he wore on his upper body (except for his boxers now), since he had long since tossed his shirt after it continued to bleed on him. The vest had kept him safe.

Okay, I've successfully passed this test. Level One was avoiding death with only vest, and I was able to do that with little difficulty. After all, I never die on Level One. That's for losers who don't know how to play. And I just passed Level Two – honing my ninja skills along with my sharp shooting skills. It's time to move on to Level Three – my first Boss fight!

The boy's reality waned as he continued on, lugging his duffel bag behind him. He jumped from place to place, thinking he was acting very stealthy, but making much more noise than he realized. Every once in a while, he'd toss out a punch at someone who wasn't there and he'd laugh about how easy the upcoming Boss fight was going to be with all the experience points he was gaining. And maybe if he was lucky, he'd find some Materia to help him out.


Molly (Girl #9) was the first one to emerge from the forest, stepping out into the late morning sun. She checked her map and decided she was probably on the western side of the large suburban area. It was already an hour past the most recent danger zone, so she didn't need to worry about one popping up where she was. And there were plenty of houses in this area. It was the perfect spot for her and her companion to take a rest, eat some lunch, and prepare for the next set of announcements, which were coming up very soon.

She glanced back and motioned for her friend to join her. Slowly, Kara (Girl #24) emerged from the foliage, dragging her heavy duffel bag on the ground behind her. She was again tired of carrying the bag that contained her designated weapon – a bowling ball – and was looking for some rest. Not the most athletic girl in the world, Kara had been tempted to leave her weapon behind several times, but each time she decided that it was better to have the heavy object than nothing at all. Meanwhile, Molly's weapon was constantly in her hand and she played with it absentmindedly when there was nothing else better to do.

Molly tossed her map back into her duffel bag and then swung her yo-yo out and spun it around before snapping her wrist and sending the orb directly back into her waiting palm. Kara glanced from left to right, but didn't see anyone, and so the two girls marched forward into the open area. They heard no gunshots or footsteps, and so they determined that they were safe, for the moment.

"What kind of house are we looking for?" Kara asked quietly, worried that even the softest whisper would attract deadly attention.

"I'm not sure." Molly replied, glancing around. She wasn't as worried about noise as she was about running into another contestant. They carefully made their way through the collection of houses on the lookout for a safe place to rest. Molly wanted some place away from the forest since she believed, for one reason or another, that the majority of contestants were there. And the further away from them they could get, the better. Kara was trying her best to understand the game around her, but she couldn't seem to draw any concrete conclusions. She had no idea where contestants would be headed, no idea which places would be the best hiding spots, and what kinds of things to watch out for. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to recognize a trap if she stumbled across one. Despite the removal of all objects for The Program, she felt she should be able to do something with what is left behind rather than simply running and hiding. And even though she could stand up for herself when the need arose, she was no fighter.

Ugh, why do I suck so much at this game?

Molly released her yo-yo and it spun down to the ground before she jerked the string and the spinning orb quickly jumped back to her hand. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area, but her mind wandered elsewhere.


It was warm out, but the air between them was cold. Molly wrapped her arms around her body as a breeze drifted by, tossing her hair about. She brushed some out of her eyes, but kept her focus on the ground below her. The night sky was dark above them, the glow of the stars overshadowed by the large amount of light on the ground. Or maybe there were no stars out that night, Molly couldn't tell. He cleared his throat so that she could tell he was still there, but she didn't need any reminders. She knew what was coming, and the anticipation was killing her.

"You're breaking up with me, aren't you?" Her words cut through the dead air between them, and slowly she lifted her head and stared at him directly in the face.

Derek (Boy #2) stared back at her and then sighed, glancing off to the side. That confirmed it for her. He couldn't look at her now - he was instead building his strength, preparing to let it all out at once. And then he would look at her again.

"It's not that I don't care about you. You know that, right?" he spoke carefully. He glanced up from the ground and took a step toward her. She wanted to edge away, but Molly kept her feet planted into the ground. She slowly felt the urge to cry well up inside her, but she refused. She felt no shame in crying in front of Derek, but there were plenty of other people exiting the movie theater at that moment. Molly could last throughout this exchange, and then bawl her eyes out once she was alone in her room later that night. She could hold out that long.

Realizing that Molly had no responded, Derek continued, "I do care about you Molly."

She simply nodded, clutching herself a little tighter.

"But…" Derek trailed off. His gaze had wandered from her again. She inhaled deeply and then let it out. A group of kids younger than the pair drifted by, laughing loudly about the movie they had just seen. Molly and Derek did not notice them. Both were focused solely on each other, and the rest of the world was easily drowned out.

"I know what you want." Derek said suddenly. He was gazing at Molly again, and slowly her brow furrowed. "You want a strong relationship. You want a guy to be as crazy about you as you are about him. You want someone to wake up thinking of you, and to picture you before he falls asleep. And Molly, I want those things for you too."

He took a few steps forward, and stood directly in front of her, staring slightly down into her face.

"But I can't give you those things." Molly turned away from the words she did not want to hear. She hugged herself tightly, and the first tear slid down her face without her even being aware of it. "You deserve a guy who can give you everything you want and more. And it's not fair for me to pretend I can be him."

Her tears fell like waterfalls. She hated crying like this, but she couldn't help herself. Deep down, she knew that Derek was speaking the truth, but she didn't want to hear it. Molly wanted Derek to be able to be the right one for her, even if they both understood that he wasn't.

"I'm sorry." He said and wrapped Molly in a hug, making it unnecessary for her to hug herself any longer. She cried into his shirt, allowing herself to fully let go of everything she felt for him. Even if this was the right decision, it didn't stop the hurt from existing. She clutched him close to her, feeling his presence around her, because at that moment, that was all she needed and that was something Derek could give her.


"What about that house?" Kara asked, and Molly was jerked back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Which one?" Molly glanced at Kara and followed her gaze. The house in question looked just any other, and Molly could see nothing wrong with it. She supposed that this house was as good as any other. In an effort to pick the best place to hide out, she did a quick scan around the area, and suddenly her eyes settled on something she'd missed before.

"What's that over there?" Molly asked and pointed. Kara turned her head and squinted, not seeing anything worth noticing.

"I don't see anything."

"I mean on the ground."

Kara lowered her eyes, as she had only been looking at houses, and not objects on the grass. At first she couldn't tell what she was observing. It seemed like pinkish pipes, or long slender pieces of tan licorice. The two girls moved toward the objects, and suddenly they came into view. Two bodies laid sprawled out on the ground. Kara held back the urge to vomit, especially as she focused on Luna's (Girl #5) dark blue puffy face. Molly found herself unable to turn away from the horrific scene. The girl by her feet was clearly dead, but the monstrous body near her had its face covered by a large metal shield. However, with the blatant wounds to his ankles and the eerie unmoving quality he possessed, Molly was positive the boy before her was dead as well. Her eyes traveled down his only visible arm and settled on the taser he held in his hand.

Kara turned away from the horrific scene, unable to stare into the dead face any longer. She hadn't known Luna personally, but she'd seen the girl around school and now she was dead right at Kara's feet. The energy was quickly drained from Kara's body and she fell to her knees, no longer able to stand. Not sensing Molly anywhere near her, she forced herself to turn back. She watched as Molly slowly reached down toward the taser gripped in the giant's hand.

She was about to turn back when her eyes settled on Luna's dead face one last time. The poor girl had been strangled, or at least that's what Kara imagined had happened, since she seemed to have no other wounds. She looked beyond the horrific face and stared at the girl's neck, noticing the dark marks still implanted there. Kara squinted a little, and then crawled a little closer, without getting too close to the dead body. She turned her head and stared at Luna's bruised neck, noticing the marks of fingers on the side. The marks of massive fingers.

Who has hands that big?

Kara glanced to the side as time seemed to slow down. She watched as Molly's hand was two inches away from the taser clasped in the large boy's hand. His massive hands. Kara glanced down at Luna's dead face, and then back up at the gladiator's body, his face hidden by the shield. The mask that concealed the very much alive boy beneath.

"MOLLY!" Kara screamed just as the shield flew up off of Sid (Boy #14) and the lifeless hand holding the taser gripped it tighter and pressed the button, surging the weapon to life. It was thrust directly into Molly's chest and the girl screamed as the voltage raced through her body. Her knees gave out as the taser was removed and suddenly she was tackled by the giant, pinning her back to the ground.

Molly pulled her arm back and thrust forward her hand still gripping the yo-yo directly into Sid's cheek. Her attack went unnoticed as the large boy sent another jolt through her body with the taser. With his free hand, he easily flipped the girl over and placed all his weight on her back. He carefully placed the taser into his pocket and reached down with both hands, cutting off all air from Molly's lungs. He grinned maliciously in this very familiar situation. His eyes wandered over to his first victim, and then over to the girl frozen in time right near her. He was worried she might pull something, but from the looks of things, she was too immobilized by fear to do much of anything. She'd make an easy third victim.

Kara watched in horror as Molly struggled to free herself from the large boy pinning her to the ground. She tried to lift herself up but failed miserably. Kara watched as Molly became more frantic, desperately trying to yank the fingers free from her neck. When that failed, Molly turned her eyes on Kara, pleading with her to fight her fear, to help her.

Kara tried to inhale, but found herself unable to breathe. It was as if Sid was choking both girls at the same time. She tried to move, tried to breathe, but nothing worked. She was frozen there, watching her friend slowly die.


"I'll get it." Bruce (Boy #23) smiled and made his way over to the water hazard. Kara slowly followed him over, the mini golf club in hand, watching as he lay down on his stomach and extended his arm out, trying to grab her pink ball that had fallen into the water.

"Here, use my club." Kara offered.

"It's okay. I almost got it." Bruce replied and continued to reach for it.

"You know, you don't have to do this. I can just go to the people who work here. They probably have a net or something." Kara said, glancing around her for some help. Bruce didn't respond, and so Kara didn't bother going anywhere. Bruce had set his mind to helping her, and he'd stay in that spot until he grabbed the ball drifting just out of his reach, even with his club.

"Why do always do things like this?" Kara asked after a minute of Bruce's continued unsuccessful attempts.

"Do what?" Bruce replied, the pink ball drifting a little further away.

"You're always doing things for me. Do you think that you have to do these things for me?"

"No, I just like doing things for my friends."

"But why? It's nice sometimes, but other times it makes me feel incompetent. Like you don't think I can do something myself, so you have to do it for me."

Bruce paused and glanced up at Kara from the ground. "It really makes you feel that way?" Kara sensed a little hurt in his voice, and she suddenly felt bad for being inconsiderate.

"Not all the time." She replied truthfully.

"I didn't know." Bruce said and resumed his attempts to grasp the golf ball bobbing in the water. There was an uncomfortable pause. "I only do it because I like to protect you."

"Protect me?" Kara replied lightly, "From getting wet?"

"No," Bruce said and grunted as the ball slipped through his fingers, "What I mean is that I have to protect those things that I care about most, and that includes you and the rest of my friends."

"I still don't understand-" Kara was cut off.

"Protecting is more than just helping out when someone could get hurt. It means that I give my all to them. I do everything in my power for them, because their life is now my life too."

Kara watched as Bruce finally grabbed the ball and held it up triumphantly. He smiled as he stood and walked over to her, placing the pink golf ball covered in beads of murky water into her hand.

"Here you go." He said and turned away from her, his words still running through her mind.

"Where did you learn all this stuff about protection, Bruce?" Kara asked. She watched Bruce freeze for a moment, as if he was suddenly lost, searching for the right path out of the woods. Slowly he came to his senses, and he turned to face her. He smiled warmly.

"It's your turn, Kara, and don't worry, I won't give you that one stroke penalty for the water." And that was the only answer he gave.


It means that I give my all to them.

Kara watched as Molly slowly began to struggle less and less, the energy being stolen from her body along with her air. Kara's grip on her duffel bag tightened in her hand.

I do everything in my power for them, because their life is now my life too.

With a cry, Kara leapt to her feet, swinging the duffel bag that contained her designated weapon, a bowling ball, and smashed it into Sid's head. She heard him grunt in pain as his body rolled off of Molly's. Molly coughed as air finally reached her lungs, and she clutched her throbbing throat, stumbling to her feet and away from Sid's body. Kara screeched again, swinging the duffel bag down and slamming it into Sid's stomach. The boy gasped as all the air rushed from his body, and his eyes welled with tears. Kara pulled her bag back, and prepared to swing it up and smash in Sid's skull.

"Kara!" Molly rasped. Kara stopped mid-swing and glanced over. "I'm okay now! Let's get out of here!"

Kara stared down at Sid by her feet and then quickly moved away before he pulled that taser out of his pocket. Kara ran to Molly, who still grasped her aching neck with her free hand and together the two girls escaped from the giant.


Bruce moved carefully through the urban area. It was littered with danger zones, and there weren't too many places to find cover if the need arose. He could always run into a building if he needed to, but then he'd be in a bad position if he needed to get out of there quickly. And with the upcoming announcement, it was best to stay outside where he could sprint off in case his area went danger zone immediately following the update.

He sighed, holding the katana loosely in his hand. He dragged it along the ground once, and then decided that the less sound he could make, the better. He placed the dull side of the katana on top of the flesh between his shoulder and the base of his neck, resting there as he casually walked down the deserted street. Bruce looked up and down the street, doing his best to see in windows for movement. He knew that his friends would not move from their hiding places unless they knew he was there. He was tempted to call out their names, but he recalled that the less sound he made, etc.

As Bruce continued walking, however, an odor slowly drifted into his nostrils. It smelled harsh, and seemed to settle inside his nose. He coughed once, but it did not go away. The coppery smell only seemed to get stronger. He saw the body coming forty feet away. He saw glass reflecting sunlight up into his eyes and slowly the image of a body came into view. His breathe caught in his throat as horrific images passed through his mind.

Please, no. Don't let it be one of them. I can't lose any more of them.

He raced forward and stared down at the corpse lying at his feet. The face was mutilated beyond recognition, but he saw strands of hair still attached to the skull. For a moment, he thought it could have been Molly, but slowly he dismissed the thought. Molly's hair was darker than this girl's, and Kara's was shorter. No it wasn't either of them. Relief washed over him as he stared down at the body. He hated to admit that he was relieved that someone else had died instead of his friends, but that was one of the awful truths of The Program. The Program somehow got into every contestant's mind – whether they decided to play, or whether they allowed satisfaction to enter their minds that other people had died and those they cared about continued to live.

But Bruce could not help himself from feeling this way. The lives of his friends were his own, and he'd already lost half of them. Half of his family, half of his life, was gone. And of those who remained, Jeff (Boy #22) seemed to be on the verge of losing his. Bruce wanted to do everything he could to preserve what life he had left, but he knew that this would be extremely difficult. Molly and Kara would need to be protected, but Jeff was a different story. Jeff needed to be stopped, and while Bruce had made up his mind a while ago, he still questioned whether he could kill Jeff. Whether he could kill a part of himself.

I can't let it come to that. I have to do everything I can to save him.

Bruce hated these thoughts that kept jumping back and forth. He'd feel like it was his duty to kill Jeff, and then he'd feel absolutely horrible even considering doing something like that, and then he'd wonder how else he'd be able to protect the rest of his friends from Jeff. Things were far too confusing, and there would be no way to gauge what would happen. Bruce would have to wait until the confrontation occurred before he knew what the right thing to do was.

"I'm sorry." Bruce whispered to the corpse at his feet and stepped over her onto some broken glass. He noticed that there was blood on the ground nearby as well, but the trail seemed to lead in another direction, toward the most recent danger zone – area 5. He ignored it and continued on his way alone.

He'd gone a few hundred yards when he suddenly heard some noise to his left. He gripped the katana tightly and faced the sound of footsteps slowly approaching him. He watched as a girl suddenly appeared from a shadow filled alley, some kind of tool pointed directly at his chest. He recognized her from earlier in The Program.

"I didn't expect to see you again." Kim (Girl #17) said suspiciously as she eyed the large sword in his hand.

"Nice nail gun." Bruce replied quickly, "Where'd you get it? I don't remember you having that the last time I saw you."

"Still looking for your friends, huh?" Kim asked completely ignoring his question.

"Speaking of friends, where are yours? I remember a few of them with you the last time." Bruce retorted.

Both contestants stared at one another, neither of them moving for a solid five minutes and neither knew how to weigh the situation. There were far too many unanswered questions, too many possibilities between the two of them. The only thing the two of them could agree on was that they didn't trust the other.

However, it appeared that neither of them was particularly interested in the other and it also appeared that neither of them wanted to fight. That suited the both of them just fine. Bruce was the first to move, the grip on his katana still tight as he continued a hard stare at Kim. He took a few steps to the side, wanting to continue his search in the city area. Kim remained frozen, the nail gun pointed directly at the boy before her. She didn't want to fire any nails, since her ammo was very limited, but she also had more pressing matters on her mind. She had her friends to locate as well. Bruce saw his chance for escape and suddenly took off in a sprint. Kim suppressed the urge to pull the trigger and watched him go.

"Watch out for the dead body over there." Bruce called over his back and he was gone. The nail gun tightened in her grasp, but she did not reply. Instead, she continued on her way, deciding not to tell him that she had come across at least one of his friends in the forest. However, Kim was about to learn that Bruce had come across one of her friends also, and he'd just warned her about it.

Current danger zones: 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 15, 17, 21, 24, 25, 28, 31, 32, 34, 41, 48, 50, 56, 61, 63, 64

Pending danger zones: none

(15) Contestants remaining