This chapter is actually just normal Hunger Games-level violent.
Elara Angelo- District Twelve female
If I hadn't already known Titian had long ago lost it, I would have suspected the same based on our next location. The remaining Tributes sat around me at desks in what seemed to be a normal classroom. The damning evidence that it was not normal was that Titian was the teacher and Titian didn't know much about anything aside from mayhem.
"Good morning, class!" he began from the front of the room, dressed in a neat black suit. His demeanor was even more exuberant than usual, giving me some idea of how terrible the round would be. "I suppose you're excited to find out what your next assignment is. It's one of my personal favorites and something I suspect inspired the original creators of the Hunger Games. I call it... Battle Royale!"
His eyes swept over the class as he took in our awed reaction, which was less than he'd been hoping for. "One at a time, via random selection, you will exit that door-" he pointed at the door- "after picking up the bag with your name on it. Inside you will find a random weapon. Some are quite devastating, while others are more unconventional. Once outside the schoolhouse, anything goes! Quite like the Hunger Games, just kill each other until three of you are dead. It would have been more but everyone performed spectacularly on the final Fear Factor challenge and some of you have to be left for the final round. If you don't kill someone every hour a random head will explode but I don't think that will be a problem. Any questions?"
Peach raised her hand. "Why can't we just fight right now?"
"Because that's... not the rules," Titian said, folding his arms in annoyance.
Gabriel Farad- District Five male
Lucky number one, that was me. I pushed the chair back from my desk and walked over to the pile of bags, awkwardly aware of everyone staring at me. I nudged them aside until I found the one with my name written on it. My first life-or-death decision already confronted me. Should I open the bag in front of everyone so they wouldn't be wondering how dangerous I might be or should I keep my cards hidden? Paranoia won out and I kept the bag closed until I was through the door.
On the other side of the door lay a muggy forest. The air was hot and full of wetness that weighed down on me. There was a clearing directly outside the door and then it was nothing but thick trees. I trotted to the cover of the trees and set my bag down to take a look.
My weapon was a baseball bat. I could think of a few Tributes I might be able to kill with it and a lot more that I couldn't. Not to mention that there were plenty of perfectly equal sticks lying around in the actual forest all around me. I went with plan B. Titian had mentioned each student would be spaced out a minute between release. I could get some good distance in a minute, especially in an environment as open as this one. If I just plain got farther away than the other Tributes, the Careers would focus on them. I set down the bag and started running.
Eleanor Cotton- District Eight female
I was the third Tribute out and my weapon was a revolver. Gabriel and Katrina were ahead of me. Titian was probably going to be mad, since most of us were probably just going to try to get out of range before a Career got released. Then as soon as the Careers got released they would kill the first three Tributes they came across and that would be the end of the round. Pretty anticlimactic. I could guess that was the case because it was exactly what I was doing. If one of the Careers came after me I would shoot them but otherwise I was just going to keep jogging away from the schoolhouse and hope someone else was closer.
Emmeline Blythe- District Three female
"Next up is Fable Anders," Titian called. Fable took her bag and slipped outside without revealing what was in it. I waited in silence for the next minute, knowing life or death for most of us would have nothing to do with strategy and everything to do with the luck of the draw.
"Next up, Emmeline Blythe," Titian said. And that was it. Like a prisoner walking down that final corridor I stood and found my bag. I unzipped it and found I'd been assigned a crowbar. In another timeline that might have been useful.
Sometimes there isn't any plan or any way to outsmart an enemy. Sometimes you're just a mouse in an open field looking up to see a hawk. I walked through the door and Fable stabbed me in the heart.
Jay Dallas- District Eleven male
Titian looked at the array of cameras on his desk, one of which no doubt showed Fable waiting right outside the doorway. He picked up an intercom off the desk.
"New rule: Tributes must be fifty feet away from the schoolhouse before they kill other Tributes. You bunch of spawn campers," he announced.
After another minute went by, Ferrari got sent out. Then Jessie went out, no doubt to join up with Fable. Then Titian called another name.
"Jay Dallas." My chair squeaked on the wooden floor as I stood. I found my bag and noted how heavy it was when I lifted it. I stood to the side of the door and pushed it open, swinging my bag outside as bait. Just because Tributes had to be fifty feet away didn't mean some smartass with a gun wouldn't pick them off. When nothing happened I took the plunge and jumped over Emmeline's corpse to sprint to the tree cover. I heard the telltale rustle of Fable and Jessie coming after me and kept running until I'd lost them in the trees. Only then did I stop to look at my bag.
I unzipped the duffel bag and pulled out a rifle with a telescopic sight. What do you know, I thought. I'm the smartass with a gun.
Chantal Ivingin- District One female
Peach made it to the trees and darted off without any sounds of gunfire. That was a good sign that no one was out there sniping. When my name was called I picked up my bag and took a peek inside with my body covering the bag so the others couldn't see. I was pleased to a taser in my bag. It wasn't as big as it could have been but it would surely help me catch up to someone trying to run away. I stepped outside the schoolhouse. Only as I lay dying from three bullet holes did I realize that the sniper had been waiting for a bigger target.
Katrina Moonshadow- District Seven female
Before my name was called I'd taken Ferrari's hand as she sat at the desk next to mine. Titian had thought we were just supporting each other. He'd never suspected I was writing south in her palm with my finger. Once I got my bag and reluctantly went outside I oriented myself with the sun and headed south, hoping Ferrari would be able to do the same.
A cannon sounded. Another one came a few minutes later after a burst of gunfire. Someone had high-caliber weapons. All I had was a switchblade. And I didn't even know if one of those cannons was Ferrari.
Vegetation rustled as someone came running through the woods. From my hiding hole squished into the stump of a tree I saw it was Ferrari. I crawled out and stood up. Her head whipped toward me and she barely stopped herself when she started to scream. She saw it was me and sprinted behind me as I ran farther out into the woods.
When we both couldn't run any farther we stopped to look at Ferrari's bag.
"I got a switchblade," I said as she opened her bag. She laughed as she pulled out a hand grenade.
"Mine's bigger than yours."
Jessie Cabello- District One female
Fable and I had been intending to pick off bigger targets but that all stopped when Chantel died. We'd been lurking in the greenery at the edge of the clearing waiting for her to get fifty feet away when three bullets cut her down like grass. Someone had a long-range rifle. Not only that, but it was accurate enough to shoot a single target from a great distance and whoever was firing it was clearly looking for high-value targets. That would be me and Fable.
"It came from that way," Fable said, pointing in the direction of the shot. I took another look at the way Chantal had fallen to give myself another indicator of the precise direction. Fable and I started off in that direction, darting between trees and staying low when there was tall grass.
There was something primal about stalking a sniper I knew was stalking me back. Higher thought dampened down into the primordial concerns of keeping my steps quiet and straining my senses for anything out of the ordinary. Communication was kept to universal hand signs all Careers knew.
A step ahead of me Fable made a fist, indicating the sign for a halt. I stopped and followed her eyes to a pile of sticks and vegetation. I wasn't sure what she was looking at and had to strain for a moment before the unnaturally straight line stood out to me. It was cleverly hidden under clumps of leaves and moss but once I saw it I couldn't unsee it. A line that straight and perfect wasn't natural. It wasn't a stick. It was the barrel of a rifle.
Fable Anders- District One female
In silent messages we formed our plan. Jessie's hand on her chest and her fingers forming a gun. Pointing at me and sliding a finger across her throat. Then we split up to make the pincer that would close upon the sniper. We'd actually gone past whoever it was before we saw them, meaning we were behind him and in optimal position. I crept through the low vegetation and elbows and knees, catlike as I closed in.
I sensed rather than saw when Jessie was in position. She leapt out an instant before I did, so close to the sniper that they didn't have time to move the rifle, which was propped between two logs for stability. She landed on its barrel and pinned it to the ground to cover me while I went straight for the sniper.
It was Jay's face I saw when I sprang on him, aiming for his eyes on the way down. He put up an arm to wave me away and I only scored his forearm before I landed on him. It was all the same, though. I landed on his chest, knocking him to his back, and Jessie pinned him the rest of the way while I stabbed him to death. Together we made the last kill of Battle Royale.
Jay Dallas- District Eleven male
I never promised I'd win. All I could promise was that I'd fight to the end. And that I did.
13th place: Emmeline Blythe- Stabbed by Fable
Emmeline never gets a break. She 100% deserves to win in my opinion and I have high hopes for future Resurrection Games but so far something out of her control has always killed her. She wasn't the chosen Victor so she had to go and this time she saw the writing on the wall and faced death with dignity. Someday she'll get a fair shake. I look forward to it.
12th place: Chantal Ivingin- Shot by Jay
Some of the Tributes used conflicting terminology, so just for a fun fact Jay was using an M16, which has a burst mode of three bullets and can come with an RCO scope. He's not trained in marksmanship but the RCO makes it stupidly easy to aim. Anyway Chantal was definitely a high-value target and Jay made the most of his one shot. Chantal is always a joy to feature and while she was only a side character this time she was still a treasure.
11th place: Jay Dallas- Killed by Fable and Jessie
Jay wasn't the chosen Victor and I had to kill him here because the next round has a lot of endurance and he's super good at that. A lot of people were rooting for Jay and that's nice to see. He's a great guy and like most of the picks in this story will do well in future stories. He might never win but he will always be great.
So, Battle Royale! Super disappointing in-universe since Titian was hoping for a lot more pizzazz and length but that's what you get when you have trained killers and not normal high school kids.