Chapter 3 - Briefing

The few students who had already regained consciousness were waking up their friends, scattered all over the floor. There was something eerie about the setting. They were now in a dim classroom filled with empty desks. At the front of the room, a blackboard with the letters 'BR' stood.

A few were checking their watches - it was close to 11:30 PM. Whispers began filling the room. The kids seemed to be alone but no one dared to speak aloud for a few moments. How had they gotten here? Their minds were clear enough to remember the interminable trip on the bus, Marilyn embarrassing Christopher by dragging him to the front of the bus and finally, the fresh but unnaturally odorous current of air from the ventilation... Was that what had put them to sleep?

Finally, a louder voice was heard:
"Beltz?! What's going on?"

Evelyn was facing a barely visible figure at the back of the room. Only those close to the man would have recognized him. Evelyn was looking at him, puzzled, as she remembered he hadn't taken the bus with them. Instead of replying, Beltz simply looked back at her with an amused smile as if he knew something she didn't - which of course, was the case. He immediately went back to writing in a small scrapbook while using a small ray of light coming from the windows to illuminate the paper.

At the opposite side of the room, another man was staring at the wall facing him. No one knew him and it was apparent he wasn't a student. He looked to be in his early twenties and was very well built. His hair seemed to have been completely shaved off a week ago at most.

Evelyn noticed a shiny metallic collar he was wearing. Immediately, she felt like she was choking and reached for her own neck. The other students saw her and imitated her. They all noticed the steel necklace that had been locked around their neck while they slept, as if they were dogs.

Before anyone could question the stranger, the only door in the room burst open and a group of military men barged in. Five armed soldiers had made their way in when the last one stopped to turn on the light. He then faced the doorframe and politely invited someone in.

A lady made her way into the classroom and a commotion ensued immediately. The students recognized the 'BR' spokesperson. The petite Japanese lady looked highly cheerful as she walked to the teacher's desk and sat on its edge. She stared at various students momentarily, bowing her head and smiling even more when someone's eyes crossed hers. She looked like she could have been a summer-camp instructor. She would have also made a typical kindergarten teacher. But for the students watching her entering the dark room, she was the grim reaper.

"Holy shit!!"

Jeremiah Griffin looked quickly at the girl and ran towards the exit. Other students tried to follow him but before they could get away, soldiers fired a few shots in the air, getting everyone's attention back. Jeremiah halted his escape.

He turned around and stood there, petrified - the closest soldier was now pointing his automatic rifle (an M-16) at his forehead while another pointed his weapon at his chest. The others aimed at the remaining students but Jeremiah was much closer to the door. Jeremiah's eyes and mouth widened and he seemed like he was trying to talk... but the only sounds he could utter were random vowels with a few gasps in between.

"Hold on..."

'Oneesan' - every students knew her name from TV - motioned at the soldiers to lower their weapons and they complied immediately. She obviously was the authority figure around here. She walked slowly towards Jeremiah who was now looking down, like a kid about to get scolded. No students were close enough to see it, but a single tear was now running down his face.

Oneesan gently offered her hand, with her palm facing upwards, as to express her wish to save him. The teenager still looked confused but he was relieved that he could at least get to play the game and test his luck. Odds were against him - against every individual in the game in fact - but it was better than getting shot right away.

He grabbed her warm hand and she led him slowly to walk towards the other students. Once he had passed her, every single student could now see his face. He looked a bit shameful, but also confident. This slightly cheered up a few classmates. Jeremiah told himself he wasn't going to slip up again! Ok, he had a rough and embarrassing start but he was a smart and alert guy who always knew how to react. His attempt to run away as soon as he saw the 'BR' staff confirmed this. Despite a tough start - he'd probably survive pretty long in this game. Especially since this experience set his mind in a warlike mode right away - unlike the other students who'd get into it only after seeing their friends starting to die...

BANG!

Curiously, it took a few seconds for the students to fully grasp what had occurred. But as Jeremiah's severed head tilted forward and blood squirted all over Luisia and April - two good friends who had been holding each other since they awakened - an expression of horror deformed everyone's visage, slowly transforming a mass of somewhat inspirited students into frightened pupils. Jeremiah's limp body eternalized itself and remained perfectly balanced a few moments. No one in the classroom had even murmured yet. Blood kept spurting - intermittently and with intensely at first, matching his final heartbeats - and finally, a continuous but weaker stream evolved as his heart finally succumbed.

He came crashing down, his jaw (the only intact portion of his face) emitting a loud thud as it collided with the floor. To where the whole of his head previously stood, Oneesan was still pointing a dark handgun she had acquired from one of the soldiers' belt. A cunning smile extended from the middle of her face to her left cheek.

It was then that a first person screamed. First Luisia, then April. Almost all the other students followed, including boys - the only people who weren't horrified were the stranger sitting in the back and Beltz. They were looking calmly at the scene while the cacophony of screams became louder.

"OKAY everyone..."

A moment passed and soon not a student yelled anymore but the heavy and nervous breathing of almost 40 people made it difficult to hear the woman.

"Now that we've set the mood for the game, let's get started. Obviously, you all know what you are here for. Your class has been selected to participate in this week's Battle Royale. You will fight each other to the death and only one person may survive. You know the basics but there is something I need to precise... about the necklaces you are wearing."

The nervous breathing grew heavier and synchronously, every student reached for their neck to feel the collar with their hands. It was made of thick steel, weighting about a pound. It was obviously impossible to remove it without knowing it's mechanism. To the front there was a dark, lozenge shaped screen. It was positioned over the thickest part of the device which was possibly filled with electronic components.

"Before you leave this room, we will give each of you a survival kit. The kit includes a map and a compass. Every six hours, we will broadcast updates on the game as well as map coordinates which will become illegal to remain in... And if you linger in one of those "danger zones" or if you try to remove the necklace, its mechanism will be activated and.... BOOM!"

She paused to let everyone absorb that info and pursued:
"I know you are all in a hurry to get started so we will give you your survival kits in an instant but before, I'd like to introduce the 'transfer student' in the back. His name is David. Be nice to him!"

She then pointed at the dead body on the floor and said:
"Oh and also... I don't think your friend will be able to play anymore so to replace him, we'll let your teacher play!"

Two soldiers escorting Marilyn entered and pushed her into the room. Marilyn was crying her eyes out and covering her shirt with both arms. Everyone was terrorized at what they saw. The pretty lady's clothes had been ripped all over. Had soldiers raped her? Even Beltz and David were disturbed at what they saw and their faces betrayed a certain amount of pity. If everyone's eyes hadn't been fixed on her, they would have noticed the one person who wasn't disturbed at all by the scene. In fact, Christopher was quite happy about what happened to her and he was glad she was also stuck in the game.

A new group of soldiers entered the room, this time pulling two large carts filled with green, military bags.

"Okay everyone, I'll call a student's name every 20 seconds. When I call you, take a bag from the cart and leave the school. The exit is at the end of the hallway outside this door. This school will become a danger zone ten minutes after the last student leave so don't stay here! We're on a small deserted island so feel free to hide wherever you want, the place was completely evacuated a few days ago."

She pulled a piece of paper and began calling out names. 40 names were called in total, including Marilyn. She called 'Boy #17 - Jeremiah Griffin' twice before a student pointed at the dead body and she laughed at her mistake.

Soon the room was empty of students and the game officially started.