Battle Royale Futura

Chapter 2A

Time: 00:00

Temp: 15*c

Day: Day 1

Status: Subject release

A deathly darkness engulfed an undisclosed island that stood alone against the raging Mediterranean Sea. There were various villages dotted around and a fairly large town to the south. In the center of the island, a large gray building with no distinguishable features stood defiantly against the surroundings.

As the wind swept over it, a small steel door swung open and a young man stepped out. A large green bag was slung over his right shoulder and a silver teaspoon in his left hand. A long brown trench coat flowed behind his legs. A look of anger spread across his tanned face. He dragged his mud- stained boots across the ground, leaving small gouge marks behind him. The man headed up over the small embankment to his right and across a grassy plain that was inhabited by thinly scattered palm trees, and flanked by a dirt track.

Bio Scan: (Boy #1)

Name: Mario André

Age: 22

Nationality: Undetermined

Mario's head was spinning with anger and disbelief as he hiked up the embankment. Random thoughts began to spin around in his head. He felt betrayed by his government for kidnapping him and forcing him to play this wretched game of survival.a Darwinistic nightmare. The thought of killing complete strangers tied his stomach in knots, making his dinner churn.

Mosquitoes swarmed around his sweaty neck and face, trying to find a nice place to land. He muttered quietly to himself while swatting at the flies, "hmmmm, there are many things out to draw blood tonight, but i won't be one of them. The can forget that..."

Remembering the sight of a twelve-year-old child in the room packed with the other players made his heart ache, knowing that she would probably be one of the first to die. "What psycho government would do this to its own people?" he thought. Though the thought of killing a person made his stomach queasy, the realization that the game would have to end with only one survivor soon turned his thoughts away from rebellion; they focused on his own survival. Mario knew that he had to find a weapons locker before he became someone's target, even if he wasn't going to play.

He settled down beneath a large palm tree and opened his bag. Inside he discovered a bottle of water, a small loaf of bread, a flashlight and an electronic device. He lifted it out and switched it on. "Hmmm, this must be the electronic mapping device that 'Sensei' dude was talking about. Wonder how it works?"

On the screen, the Battle Royale logo spun upwards towards him and disintegrated then reformed into the Windows 2005 logo. It then switched to a virtual representation of the island. Along the side of the map were various touch-screen buttons that would activate different functions.

One of them said 'LOCKERS', which Mario then pressed. Fifty-three blue dots appeared across the map and one red dot appeared. Mario pressed the red dot and it zoomed into the area. A picture of a black haired girl, looking inquisitively at the camera, came onto the screen.

Mario frowned and pressed the backup button. Once it had returned to the map, he pressed the 'Grid Lines' button and the map was split up into different sections. He then located the main building and figured out where he was. Pressing the blue dot nearest to him brought the screen to the same section as him. Mario smiled and switched off the device. "Better get to finding this locker then-- shouldn't be too far from here."

He placed his things inside the bag and slung it over his shoulder. The wind whipped through the trees creating a deafening whistle, which spread across the island. Mario looked up to the sky, which was clouding over now, and sighed. He then turned and headed off along the dirt track.

*00:08 - 8 minutes later *

The metal door swung open and a tall teenager strode out. His footprints overwrote many of the existing ones. He looked around confidently and decided to follow the building's wall. His prominent chin gave his face a very distinctive appearance and induced a very confident appeal to his persona. He was clad in a brown t-shirt that had 'I love my brik' scrawled across it and a pair of worn jeans which were dragging along in the mud.

Bio Scan: (Boy #6)

Name: Mike Davies

Age: 19

Nationality: Welsh

As he meandered along the wall his mouth slowly opened and he began to talk, without realizing he was doing so. "Oooo-Fucking-kay lets get a weapon. I can't fucking believe this." His eyes darted around in search of a recognizable silhouette against the dark mass of trees. "Shit, Shit, Shit what the hell am I gonna do." Mike then shrugged his shoulders and said, in a rather quaky voice. "Well I'm not that worried anyway, half the people in there looked like puffs, I could do them easy." Deep in his subconscious he knew he was lying to himself, but he repressed the feelings to try and stay alive. "C'mon Mike, you ain't gonna die."

A smile came across his face as he reached into his back pocket and drew out a comic book. But in the process, his swipe card dropped to the floor. "Ha ha ha, happy noodle boy!"

Mike opened the comic and began to flick through it while following the wall along. He became so engrossed in his comic that he strolled straight past a glass-fronted metal box attached to the wall. Written upon it was: "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, PLEASE BREAK." Behind the glass was a long, red axe with a rounded blade on one side and a sharp pick blade on the rear. After a few more steps Mike looked up and walked backward until he was level with it. He looked down and read the inscription, then looked around. He smirked and punched through the glass, and drew out the axe.

A piercingly loud fire alarm suddenly rang through the hallway, causing Mike to panic and begin to run. But before he could get very far, he ground to a halt and turned back. His comic was lying in the mud back by the box. "HAPPY NOODLE BOY, NOOOOOOOOOO!" He sped back and picked up his comic, then turned around and strolled off into the forest.

*00:12 - 4 minutes later *

It was now very cloudy in the sky above the island, and in the distance a thunderstorm was approaching. The steel door was shut tightly to hold back the wind. A voice quietly echoed from behind it, "Coming through!" There was a silent pause for a second, and then the door shook as something crashed into it. "OOOOOOW! WHO BOLTED THE DAMN DOOR SHUT!"

There was a click as the door was unbolted from behind, and it slowly swung open. A teenager stepped though, with a pain-filled grimace across his face. His shoes were obscured due to the obscene length of his jeans. He had a white, long sleeved T-shirt on with a black shit placed loosely upon it.. He dropped his skateboard to the floor and clutched his shoulder.

Bio Scan: (Boy #8)

Name: Carl Goodwin

Age: 19

Nationality: Welsh

Carl tended to his shoulder, which he feared would be dislocated. "Ooowwwww. Stupid door, who in the hell locks a door like that anyway?" He looked down at his skateboard and grimaced. Awwwww man, I'm gonna miss my competition because of this. It's not fair." Carl's eyes began to wander and he caught site of a large stack of wooden crates directly infront of him. Different ideas began to cross his mind, such as barricading the door closed, but he dismissed them considering the crates were twice, nearly three times bigger than him. Slowly he rose to his feet. With his good arm he reached down and slung his bag over his shoulder. He then picked up his skateboard and walked over to the stack of wooden crates. He climbed on top of them and found an open one with a good view of the exit. He slid inside and tried to make himself comfortable. He then opened his bag and examined the items it contained.

His bag contained a flashlight, four bottles of water, a large loaf of bread, a stick of butter, a pen, a pencil, paper, a map, batteries and three cans of Carling that he put in there from his personal things. Carl smiled to himself and opened one of the cans. He took a few swigs from it and checked his watch. "It's been about a minute now, somebody should be out soon."

Carl set his can down and moved so he could see out of his crate. He looked over to the door and sure enough, it slowly slid open and a girl stepped out. She quickly scanned the area, turned and ran up the embankment to Carl's left and straight into the forest. A sorrowful look came over his face due to the fact that he did not know her, so he settled back down and resumed drinking his Carling. The wind whipped up again and caused all the trees to shake manically. Just as the wind hit Carl, the realization of what was going on also hit him.

"This can't be real," he thought. "I mean there's no way anybody would allow this to happen. What type of barbaric person would tell people to kill each other? What did I do to deserve this? I don't think I've ever broken the law, not once. They surely don't expect us to kill each other. I just can't do that...and what about Natalie? She's probably scared stupid without me there. What if they've done something to her? Crap, I've got to go and get her."

Carl quickly climbed out of his crate and leapt to the ground. He began to run toward the door but just as he got there it swung open and he crashed into the dark skinned teen that was walking through. They both crashed to the floor, but Carl quickly got up and ran back outside. "Oh *beep*, gotta hide, gotta hide."

However, before he could reach the crates he heard a familiar voice from behind him. "Carl, what the hell are you doing?"

Bio Scan: (Boy #9) Name: Rory Griffiths

Age: 19

Nationality: Welsh

Carl stood up and looked back. He smiled when he saw the deeply tanned face of one of his friend standing there. Rory was wearing a dirty brown t-shirt with Latin writing on the chest and baggy jeans. Rory smiled back and said, "Don't worry dude, Natalie's fine. Nia and Ignacio are still with her and Dominic is still in there as well. Are you ready to go?"

By this time Carl had stood up and was reaching up for his bag. "Shouldn't we wait for the others?" he inquired. Rory shook his head and said, "No, we don't know how long they'll be. They just told us this building becomes a danger zone 30 seconds after the last person leaves". We'll meet up with them later, then cause some real havoc for these stupid bastards." Carl nodded and both of them began to trek off to the south in search of the lockers.

* 00:19 - 5 minutes later *

The steel door heaved open and a man stepped out, dragging his bag behind him. He was dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and jeans. He had big hair and wore a toilet seat around his neck. The man then lifted his arm and caught hold of the metal collar that was lining his neck. He shook it a little, then released it. Just as he stepped onto the ground the heavens opened up and the sky began to heave with rain. The man looked up and thought aloud, "It's gonna be one of those days."

Bio Scan: (Boy #12)

Name: Chris Hawkes

Age: 21

Nationality: English

"Hehe, what morons. They actually let the Hawkster loose on this island. Well, well 'Mr. Sensei', let's see what you can do when I start messing with your plans," Chris thought as he moved slowly through the drizzle. "Seriously though, this just isn't right. There was a twelve-year- old kid in there, how can they let her compete in this. Those immoral arses just don't have a clue do they? I don't care what weapon I get, I'll show 'em. I'll teach them to fear the name of Chris Hawkes!"

The rain began to pour intensely from the sky. It was so ferocious that Chris was barely able to open his eyes. Chris shielded them with his arm and began to run toward the forest in front of him. He kicked up mud as he ran and was struggled with the lack of traction. Just as he reached the trees he slipped and came crashing down to the ground, banging his head. "Owwww... eghhhhhhhh......"

He tried to stand up but his head was spinning and his vision was blurring. He felt a small trickle of blood slide down his face, and he collapsed to the floor yet again. As his eyes came back into focus, he managed to turn himself onto his back and was greeted with the inviting face of a dark skinned girl looking down at him. He smiled and said, "Hey there..." Before Chris could say anything else, he blacked out.

*00:49 - Half an hour Later *

The door slid open, pushing a pile of mud up against the wall. A tall, well built man with tattoos lining his forearms and around his neck. There was an expression of pure hatred across his face and he strode out of the building. He lowered his eyebrows and clenched his fists.

Bio Scan: (Boy #21)

Name: Kevin "Pepper" Smith

Age: 24

Nationality: American

"GRRR! How dare that son of a bitch crack all of those F'in jokes. As soon as I find him, I'm gonna rip his head off. Nobody cracks redneck jokes about me! He's just lucky he came out first or I'd stand by that door and kill him when he comes out. I don't really care about this stupid game, I'm only gonna play if I have to, screw what they say!"

Kevin stormed down along the side of the building, hoping to find a safe place to check his things. The rain was ricocheting off the guttering around the roof of the building and pouring down the walls, soaking Kevin. His bag was bouncing about on his shoulders and he was carrying a duffel bag under his right arm. He was wearing a sleeveless black t-shirt, camouflaged cargo trousers and big black mud covered boots.

After a short walk he reached the end of the building, but not before passing an emergency case with broken glass lying on the floor in front of it. Just as he rounded a corner, somebody brought an object down violently onto his head. Kevin had closed his eyes just before the impact, but after it connected, he directed the closest eye from where the blow had come. He smiled and looked down at the person who was standing next to him, clutching the rolled up newspaper that was placed upon Kevin's head.

Bio Scan: (Boy #11)

Name: Thomas Hardwell

Age: 16

Nationality: English

The startled boy began to spout questions through the tears streaming down his face, "What's going on, why are we here? Why is my sister here? Who are all these people? Why do they want us to kill each other? Somebody help me, I don't want to die. This must be a joke, it can't be real. It just CAN'T!"

The rain soaked teen, shaking from terror and the cold, looked up at the man before him,. Thomas barely managed to open his mouth to say, "P-p-p- p-please don't kill me, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you. I-I-I-I..."

Kevin just smiled down at him and said, "Don't worry kid, you're not the one I'm after. Now get outta here before somebody else arrives who WILL kill you."

Kevin started back on his path when Thomas feebly asked, "Can I come with you mister? I'm scared." Kevin tried to ignore him, but something inside him told him to let the kid come with him.

"Ok kid, follow me. But let me tell you, if it comes down to the two of us in the end-- well, lets not think about it". Thomas feigned a smile and ran over to him. They resumed walking and eventually got onto a muddy trail that wound through the forest.

"Hey, your name's Thomas, right?" asked Kevin cautiously.

Thomas nodded in reply and asked, "What's your name?"

Kevin smiled and said, "Kevin Smith, but you can call me Pepper. Say, is that newspaper your weapon? Kinda sucks don't it?"

Thomas frowned and was about to reply but before he could say a word a loud gunshot emanated from a spot a bit further down the path. Kevin stopped and gritted his teeth. He dropped his bag at the side of the path and said, "Wait here, I'm going to go see who that was."

Thomas reluctantly agreed and stepped into the trees to hide, dragging all of their bags behind him. Kevin clenched his fists and began to sprint along the slippery path towards the source of the gunfire. "I've got to keep these kids from killing each other.especially if it's that prat who thinks he's funny. He's mine."

*00:50 - 4 Minutes earlier *

The rain was intensifying and thunder could now be heard in the distance. Lightning struck along the pitch black horizon every few seconds, lighting up the skyline. The steel door, through which so many had passed, slowly began to open. When it had done so, a stout teenager cautiously stepped out and looked around. His hair was instantly flattened by the onslaught of water that was pummeling him from above.

Bio scan: (Boy #23)

Name: Dominic Torrentino

Age: 19

Nationality: Italian/Welsh

A slight smile grazed his face. "He he he, this has got to be the sickest joke I have ever seen. I mean, 'Battle Royale', come on!" Dominic silently thought. "I could've thought up something better than this. I guarantee that every weapon is fake or crap or something; probably things like pillows or cardboard tubes. And what about these?" He delicately ran his fingers along the silver collar clasped around his neck. "They're just expensive necklaces, I really doubt it'll explode if I try to take it off."

Dominic began to confidently strut out of the compound and walked straight into the forest in front of him. Just before he entered the dense mass of trees he noticed a blood stain on the floor and marks showing that something, or someone, had been dragged into the woods. Dominic smiled and decided to follow the trail. After a minute or so of following it, he entered a large clearing in which a small, ruined village was situated.

The village appeared to have been in a battle, as bullet marks scarred the walls and many of the buildings appeared to have been blown up. There was rubble and charred wood from ruined houses everywhere. Dominic walked slowly through the village, meandering through the narrow passages left by bombshell craters between the buildings.

He continued to deny the brutal reality of it all. "This looks so fake, I mean, look at that building over there." His eyes peered over at a ruined shop with the front entire wall missing. "If it had been bombed or something surely it would have been more damaged than that. The roof is still on it for crying out loud!"

Dominic decided to enter one of the few buildings still structurally intact to shelter himself from the now intense rain. He opened the door of a building close to the trees and went inside. There was a wicker chair nearby, in which he promptly sat down. There was barely enough light to see in the room and the electricity wasn't working. Dominic reached into his bag and drew out his flashlight.

He fiddled with the torch until it flickered to life. Its bright white beam penetrated the darkness. The surprisingly bright light blinded Dominic's eyes, causing him to squint while his eyes adjusted. He began to shine the light around the room so he could examine its surroundings. The torch picked out various pictures on the walls and a large red graffiti 'Game Over' on the wall. As he moved it along the left wall it picked up a metal locker attached to the wall that read: 'TO RECEIVE YOUR WEAPON, PLEASE INSERT YOUR BATTLE ROYALE SWIPE CARD.'

Scratching his chin with curiosity, he thought aloud, "So that's a weapons locker is it? Well, might as well find out if I was right or not."

Dominic stood up from his chair and walked over to the black metallic locker on the wall. He shone the light over it and located the insert point for his card. He reached into his pocket and drew out a plastic card with the words 'Battle Royale Official Weapon card'. Slowly he placed it into the slot and an LCD screen above it spelled out 'Stand Back Please'.
A bewildered expression dawned on his face. Dominic was confused by this, but complied with the screen. For a moment, nothing happened. But suddenly the door blasted open and was permanently contorted by the concussion from the explosion. Dominic leapt back in fright and was froze with shock. He was brought back to his senses when what was left of the door fell off of the locker and crashed to the ground.

"What the bloody hell was that?! Why the hell did that thing explode? I think they've gone a little over the top with this joke."

He cautiously approached the locker and peeked inside. Contained within it was a blue and black bullet proof vest. He pulled it out of the locker and examined it for a moment. Dominic then smiled and pulled it over his t-shirt. After adjusting and tightening it, he strutted towards the door and began to say "Hey everybody, I've got a..." He then shoved the door open and yelled "BULLET PROOF VEST!"

Before he could yell anything else, a gunshot rang out and Dominic felt something slam into his forehead. He slowly reached up and touched his forehead. His hands began to violently shake and he fell backwards, blood streaming from his mouth and the gaping hole in his head. He hit the ground with such a thud, much of the blood coming out of his mouth spewed into the air, spattering his head and neck with a fine red spray.

Standing a few meters in front of the body was shaking teenager clutching a .44 Magnum in his quaking hands. The unexpected jolt from the heavy gun weakened his wrists. He dropped to his knees and let the gun slide out of his hands. In utter disbelief, he uttered, "It can't be real.it just can't be. Did I just kill that guy?"

The boy looked down at his hands for a few moments, then very slowly stood up. He was about to go check if he really had killed Dominic when Kevin Smith sprung out from the trees to his right and rushed over to him. The boy stared at him with a shocked expression, then stammered "I-I-I-I didn't mean to, he just burst out of the door and scared me. I didn't mean to..."

Kevin frowned and walked over to the doorway. He stuck his head around it, quickly withdrawing it in disgust. He turned back around and walked over to the boy. Kevin reached down and picked up the Magnum, then handed it back to the quivering teenage boy. "It's ok, it was an accident kid. Stick with me now."

He put his arm around the frightened boy and they both walked back to Thomas and his things.

Boy #23 Dominic Torrentino - dead