Nakagawa laid low as she navigated through the endless bushes and trees of the small forest. She had heard gun shots nearby, and was able to escape in the opposite direction before the shooter caught sight of her, but not before a bullet caught her in the left calf. When the bullet hit her, she bit her lip to keep from making a noise of pain. The first few meters were almost impossible to walk, the pain unbearable, but now, with her only handkerchief tied tightly right below her knee, the pain numbed enough so she was dragging the left leg.

First Nanahara, and now the leg. She listened to the 12 noon announcement, and Nanahara hadn't been among the dead. She could have sworn he wasn't moving when she checked his pulse. And of all the stupid things she had done in her life, forgetting to take the GPS was one major mistake. She wasn't even sure which direction she was walking in, she could be walking in circles for all she knew.

She grabbed a nearby stick, digging it into the dirt to climb up a small pathway she found earlier. It was a steep walk up, but if she managed to reach the top, the others probably wouldn't think to follow. The stick buried itself midway into the ground, but it slid, causing her to grab a hold of anything near by. The prickly pines of the tree were all she could hold onto, and deep cuts formed throughout her palm. Cursing softly, she tried again, and this time with all her strength, she managed to pull herself up onto the ground higher up. The task left her breathless for a few moments, but she eventually got to her feet again, abandoning the stick in favor of a sturdier one.

The GPS, her leg, and now her hand. How could things get any—she cried out when something sharp slit her cheek, the wound opening to dribble blood down her face and onto her white shirt. She stepped back a few steps and reached out gingerly in front of her. A wire. Grabbing the wire, she followed it to the tree it was tied to. Someone had purposely set up this trap. If she had been running she could have been seriously injured.

Wincing, she touched the wound on her cheek. Her hand returned blood covered, the wound must have been deeper than she originally thought. Unzipping her bag, she took out a shirt she was going to change into during the field trip until this happened, and tilted her water bottle to slightly wet a tip of the fabric. Holding it up against her cheek she proceeded on, ducking under the wire and moving with her hand out in front of her in case there were more wires set up.

Nanahara…she wasn't initially planning on killing him, but she had to survive. She had to be the winner that could go back to society. Even if it meant…

"Nanahara…"

A hand clamped over her mouth roughly, and because it was so unexpected she couldn't move, in shock. She struggled, but the familiar metallic click against her skull convinced her otherwise. A weapon….anything…to fight back. This person was obviously serious, if she didn't do something NOW she would die. There was no doubt in her mind, she had to take action. But with what…

She thrust the walking stick she was carrying with all her strength into the attacker's stomach. When the student's grip on her was released, she jumped onto his back, navigating the stick to across the person's neck. She pulled, trying to crush his neck with the wood, and it was taking its toll on the attacker because he dropped his gun, choosing instead to struggle to get the stick away from his neck.

She fell to the ground with a thud when he kicked her left leg—her injured leg.

"I have to be the winner, I have to win—"

Nakagawa limped towards him, not making any move to run even when he regained his composure and retrieved his gun.

Two gun shots to the heart and she collapsed where she was, her left leg still bleeding with an open wound as well as her hand and cheek.

Girl #09 Nakagawa Dead.

5 more to go.

"Would you stop it already?"

Motobuchi turned to her irritatingly, referring to her crying. She'd been acting like this for the past half hour since they had left Nanahara. The announcement would come in another hour and a half, they'd find out then if Nanahara had survived. He felt just as frustrated, not being able to do anything but leave him there after Nanahara had given his GPS to them. But it was the right choice, no, it was the only choice. Dragging around an injured person and trying to survive without even a decent weapon would be their death call. They might as well go on the interphone and announce that they're willing to die and anyone who wanted to kill them should step forward.

"I can't believe we left Nanahara there…"

"Are you saying we should just get killed along with him for the sole purpose of letting him live a few extra minutes?" He snapped.

"How could you say that. Nanahara—"

He exhaled, letting his senses calm down. He shouldn't have said what he did, Nanahara was the one to give them a weapon that would prove invaluable to them. The least he could do is talk about him as if he were a decent person.

"Look, I'm sorry. But do you realize that it's close to 6pm already…we only have six hours to midnight. Six hours until the end of this game."

Satomi quieted, catching on to the hidden meaning of his words. It was six hours until the end of the game, but it also meant six hours until their possible deaths.

"We have to figure out a way…find a boat somehow, or find a way to steal one of the helicopters we saw those men fly here with. Nanahara would want us to find a way out of here rather than spend time thinking about him." Motobuchi added the last sentence in, knowing Nanahara was thinking along the same lines when he refused Satomi's offer of coming with them.

They'd been running in the opposite direction of the other students mapped out on the GPS, but the danger zones filled almost the entire map, there was little they could do before all except one box on the map were danger zones. Then, there would be nothing they could do. They had to figure out their plan by then.

The island sounded eerily quiet. It had been two hours since they last heard gunshots going off on the island. They took turns carrying his bag, now that Satomi's bag was no longer with her. But it was obvious both were exhausted from the two days without sleep, and the bag wasn't helping the case, it was heavy mostly because of the textbooks he brought with him on the "field trip". When it came to his turn to carry the bag, he dropped it on the ground, unzipping it to take out the books.

"Motobuchi..?"

"It'll be less of a baggage to carry without these around." He slung the bag off his shoulder and lifted the textbooks, with its familiar titles of Calculus, Biology and Physics. He could easily get the books replaced, but giving it up here, in this game, felt as if he would never see them again. Until now he lived each day studying, always studying, to get into a good high school, then university, then a high-rank job. He had never socialized much with the others in his class, he always thought of them as lower beings because they spent their times going to karaoke or just hanging out. He was always living for tomorrow, and to think that tomorrow he worked so hard for might never come.

But he had to believe, that there would be a next day, and days after it. If he didn't, how could he convince Satomi, and how could they survive.

"There's no need to carry around these books. They're worthless here."

"Are you sure you want to do this? …I don't mind carrying them."

He shook his head, dropping the books off behind some bushes. "I can always buy new textbooks when we're out of this place by tomorrow."

She offered a weak smile, "Still planning on going to that elite university?"

"It's only what I've been working towards for my entire life." He returned her smile with a grin of his own.

The familiar classical music playing over the intercom cut their conversation short. Motobuchi walked a few meters in the direction of the nearest intercom to be able to hear clearer their teacher's announcement. Satomi trailed behind. Glancing back at the books lying piled up on the ground, she picked one up, unzipping the bag and burying the book underneath the other items. With the task done, she quickly caught up to him.

Taking out the map, which had all except 5 squares crossed out in danger zones, so they could record the next set, they both listened.

"The dead students will be listed in the order of their deaths: Yoshimi, Souma, and Nakagawa. Only three dead this time."

Satomi looked at Motobuchi with surprised eyes. Nanahara was still alive. He nodded silently, and pointed to the map, indicating her to not forget about recording the danger zones.

"—there is only six hours left in this game so do your best! Only one survivor can be left at the end of this game, or all your collars will detonate. Good luck and I'm looking forward to greeting the winner of this year's game!"

"….Nanahara's still alive." Satomi whispered, more to herself than to Motobuchi. Softly, so he wouldn't be able to hear, she added "He's probably still in the place where we left him, and he's still hurting." She couldn't say that to Motobuchi though, because although she hated to admit it, he was right. Having Nanahara with them could hurt their chances for survival. If only….

Motobuchi kept his eyes on his map, trying to appear busy as he said, "If we find a way to get out of here, and if Nanahara's still alive by then, we'll come back for him."

He glanced up briefly to see her reaction.

She smiled.

To be continued…