Chapter Three

The bus' wheels moved forward, and the excited students babbled nonchalantly about their plans for the big field trip.

The more Dante thought about the field trip, the more he thought it was strange. No one knew where they were being taken, and no one knew what purposes the field trip would serve. Were they to study about science or something?

"Hey," Ike nudged Dante's arm and shook his head toward the front of the bus. It was Mr. Rogers.

Mr. Rogers, normally a strong, well-together man, was a sickly pale, with an upside-down face; he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Wow." Dante gaped, open-mouthed at their teacher, whom for so long was a symbol of terror and oppression.

"Hahaha…" Ike laughed silently as the bus headed over a bump, which caused Mr. Rogers to thrash his head around rapidly, searching for the source of the noise. He was wearing a blue cardigan over top of a suit and tie. His beige Dockers pants went pleasantly with his shiny black dress shoes.

"That's not right. This field trip is weird, man," Dante knitted his brow and smirked cautiously. He knew something… unnatural… was up.

"Don't worry about it. He's probably just sick or something," Ike made a look, which said "How-can-you-be-worried-about-that-asshole?" Dante looked up the isle of the bus and saw the popular girls chatting mindlessly about some random crap. He exhaled casually and closed his eyes for a moment…

….Dante woke up. It was night. It took him a little bit to regain focus, but as soon as he did…

Nothing special had happened. A few students were still awake, mingling with others, while most students were rested against one another or against windows and seats. Ike, beside Dante, had slept up against the window, his eyes in a glare. Dante yawned and checked his watch. It was about 1:25 A.M. He looked around and saw the new girl staring out the window again.

"Hey," he leaned over an asleep Sid Algar and the girl turned around. She was very beautiful. Dante felt his face go warm, but didn't get worried about it because it was too dark for her to see him blushing anyway.

"Where are you from? You're new around here and no one really knows you. I'm just curious, is all," Dante asked the girl.

"Uhmm… I'm from the United States. I… I moved here after my father was killed…"

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that. I… I don't mean to pry, but, what happened?"

"Uhm… The government officials he worked with said he had suddenly died at work… Like a heart attack or something."

"Oh…"

"Yeah…"

Dante stared at the ground, hating himself for being such a jackass. If he weren't in a bad enough position already, he would've done that self-physical-punishment thing he always does.

"Uhm… Sorry, but, what was your name again?" Dante asked.

"Kaleigh Humm." She replied.

"Cool. Talk to you later," Dante leant back down into his seat and rested his knees against the seat in front of him. Almost immediately, Sid Algar awoke and turned around, furiously glaring at Dante.

"Oh. Sorry." Dante said in a voice that was clearly not apologetic.

"Fuck off, idiot." Sid hissed in a violent tone.

"Jesus. Calm down." Dante gave Sid a look which reeked of sarcasm, which caused Sid to make a "As if I'm gonna listen to you look," after which he turned back into his seat and fell back asleep. Dante was bored. There was nothing really left to do.

He stared at Cedric and Justin, who were both asleep. The only other people awake were James Crabbot, who was still immersed in his book, Morrison Pagem, who stared absent-mindedly at the floor, Kim Grawitch, who was eyeing Mr. Rogers with utmost apprehension, and Dante and Kaleigh.

The bus driver then flicked a switch on the bus, which, upon activation, issued a slight hissing noise to the rest of the bus. James and Morrison both looked up, while Kaleigh continued looking at the window. Dante looked around the bus for the source of the hissing, but the more he frantically looked around for the strange sound, the more of his energy was sapped. The bus driver strapped a strange contraption to his face, one that made him look like some sort of alien… It was a … gas mask? Dante gawked open-eyed at the bus driver, turned around one last time to look at Morrison, who met Dante's glance with a horrified look, then, Dante felt himself smack his head upon the steel floor and lose consciousness.

"Ow…"

"What's going on?"

"I think I'm going to be sick…"

"What… what? Where's Mr. Rogers?"

Dante awoke in small classroom full of chairs, rubbing his aching head. A small bump had formed. There were tables in each corner of the room, while the bodies of his classmates lay scattered about the area.

"They're not… No. They're not. I can see them breathing." He thought. A few of his classmates were stirring, some of which were fully awake, staring at the ceiling and walls, whispering rapidly to each other. There was no one else in the room, though there was a window which spanned nearly the entire length of the wall on Dante's left; the wall in front of him played host to a chalkboard which had nothing written on it, though there were chalk and erasers along the shelf of the board. A door was along the right wall further away from Dante, and on the wall behind him was a great Canadian flag along with pictures of past political leaders.

"Dante…" It was Ike.

"Ike? Ike! Are you alright?"

"Yeah… fine." Ike used his arms to push himself up from the ground, then he began to take in his surroundings.

"Where… where are we?" As soon as Ike had gotten himself up, more of the students came awake, while the awake students woke up the others by calling them and touching them.

"I have no fucking clue. This is weird, though, huh?"

"I never would've guessed."

Dante scoffed. He would've laughed if the current situation wasn't so tense. Suddenly, a low whirring aroused the rest of the students who were asleep. The class was now fully awake.

"What the fuck?"

It was Tom Shelton, the cocky football player. His annoying, bird-like voice penetrated Dante's eardrums.

"Where are we? What the fuck! I want out!" He ran to the door, then began to turn the knob. It wouldn't budge. "Come on!" Tom got an angry look upon his face as he began to pull and turn at the knob randomly.

"Tom, sit down!" It was one of the popular girls, Lauren Johnson.

Tom ignored her, still pulling and turning the knob randomly. After deciding the knob wouldn't get him anywhere, he kicked furiously at the door. Dante sighed and stared at the massive window. Suddenly, he figured out what the whirring was. It was a helicopter. Its bright lights then illuminated the classroom, making everyone aware of its presence. The students scrambled over to the windows, pushing their palms at it randomly as though to try to open it. No good though, as it was bulletproof glass.

…Not that the students' hands were bullets, it was just stronger than most other glasses.

Dante watched as the helicopter slowly settled into what seemed to be a heli-pad outside the classroom. What happened next was very unexpected. Out of it came several camouflage-clad soldiers, each of them toting a military machine gun. They formed a line as another man stepped out of the chopper, a man who was quite short, yet he had hair down to his shoulders. He nodded at the troupe of soldiers as he walked by, and disappeared past the classroom into some other entrance to the building. The soldiers then followed, as the chopper then ascended and returned to wherever it had come from.

The students then released their grip upon the windows and randomly scattered throughout the rest of the room. The only student who hadn't seemed to be against the windows was sitting by himself in the corner of the room, laughing silently at the rest of the classroom.

"What's up, Sid? Somethin' funny?" It was the head jock, Jesmund Bosworth.

"Yeah. You idiots randomly pressing up against the window like some sort of bullshit kids gawking at a fucking monkey in the zoo. Either that, or you're the monkeys, throwing your shit randomly for a hopeless cause." He laughed after this, which caused Jesmund to sprint over to him, punching Sid in the face.

"Jesmund! Stop!" His girlfriend, Nicole Zimmel, yelled at him, which obviously accomplished nothing, as Jesmund began to throw more punches into Sid's face and torso. Finally, Jesmund's two jock friends wrapped his arms up and dragged him away. Jesmund's big lips were curved into a hideous frown as he breathed rapidly, his fists flailing.

Jesmund was from Toronto, Ontario. He had grown up on the streets; he was black, and had come from a poverty-struck family. Life in Toronto was hard on him, making him a ruthless fighter, although a talented athlete. His purple and gold jacket flared in the lack of light, making him and his jock-mates easily visible.

Nicole and some other kids then flanked him, encouraging him to keep his cool. Sid remained solitary in the corner, his brown curly hair even more ruffled than usual, sporting a black eye in the making, a cut lip, and a horribly bloody nose. He had one hand gripping his stomach and the other checking for how much blood was coming from the appendages on his face. He sneered at Jesmund, smirked, and spat on the ground in front of him. Jesmund tried desperately to get back at him, but his friends held him back saying, "It's not worth it! It's not worth it!" repeatedly. As soon as Jesmund calmed down, the door to the classroom clicked open, which caused the students to straighten up and gawk at what could be coming out of the door.

"All rise!"

The students looked at each other, and then slowly stood up, one by one. Sid remained sitting in the corner, giggling excitedly to himself.

Four soldiers walked in, each of them decked in camouflage and carrying an assault machine gun. Dante figured they were the same ones who had come out of the helicopter. After them, the man who had exited the chopper by himself walked in with a document, threw it onto the counter at the front of the room, and then he stood behind it, looking at the class.

"Hey," he said casually.

The class looked around at each other, and then Dante heard someone reply "Hey," back.

"Ha. I like that," the man replied. "Who're you, son?" He asked.

Dante searched the class, looking for the boy who had spoken up. He then found Ike, who replied, "Eh- Ike Ferdez, sir."

Dante gawked at Ike, who was perfectly calm. He couldn't believe Ike could remain so calm in such an odd circumstance.

"Ah, yes, boy number 16? Yes, welcome Ike. Sit down, please, in fact, everyone, sit down." Ike nodded, and then sat down. The rest of the class followed Ike's example.

"Well… I suppose you're wondering why you're here, and where you are. Tch!" The teacher laughed and slapped his hand against his forehead. "Yes! Of course you are."

The teacher smiled, nodded his head a couple times, exhaled, then he threw his arms wide and yelled, "You're in the Program!"

"HOLY SHIT!"

Peter Orwell gagged, then vomited all over a corner of the room.

"HAHAHA! YES! I KNEW IT!"

It was Sid. He was ecstatic. He stood now, in the corner of the room, with a wide grin upon his face. His arms were at his side, his body expressing no emotion. Even though his face was bloody and beaten, he had somehow managed to look like the happiest person on Earth.

Dante, on the other hand, felt sick as well. How… How? The Program? Fuck that, it's like, a one in one-hundred thousand chance. No way. It's a joke.

Beside Dante, Ike exhaled nervously, his breath being unsteady, unlike the usual, calm, held-together Ike.

A couple of the girls let out whimpers, and held themselves with one-another. Meanwhile, Dante could hear Sid's feet doing a victory dance.

"Yes, that's right. The Program! Congratulations! What an honor, eh?" The man smiled at the class, his long hair laying flat on his head like a drape. Dante lost all hope, and swallowed back some vomit. The back of his throat got that painful feeling which happens when someone is ganged up on or something.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you guys don't like this sorta thing, aside from you Mr…. Algar? Yes, that's you, I presume. Your file addresses you most disapprovingly. I can see the rest of your class hates you."

"Yeah, that's why this is so great. I'll just kill them."

"What?"

James Crabbot stood up. "Killing? What, what is this? Is this a joke?"

"BAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Sid and the man in front of the class began to laugh together. James wrinkled his chubby face and sat back down, burying his face in his hands. Dante could hear him whimper.

"No, it's not a joke. I suppose some of you don't know why you're here? On the other hand, what you're going to be doing here? Well, here are the basics; the governments got a population problem with you kids. You have disrespected your elders for too long, and this is the government's way of cleaning up the trash that so hideously disgraces our streets. You're gonna kill each other off until there's one of you left. That's all there is to it! No rules!"

The man then took a remote from the shelf of the chalkboard and flicked a switch to turn on a TV that, until now, Dante hadn't noticed was stationed in the top corner of the room, supported by a sort of metal sling.

As the TV turned on, a woman in her 20's was shown in the screen. She was wearing Arctic-camouflage on most parts of her body, though she was wearing nothing on her torso except for an army-camouflage bra.

"Greetings, Class 1 of Cochrane High School! And Congratulations on becoming this year's selected class for The Program!"

Several students in the class gawked at how a woman could act so cheery, while Sid was in heaven. Dante glared at him and received a middle finger in return, and then he diverted his attention back to the television.

"Yes, in this game, you're supposed to kill each other off until there's only one student left standing! How are you gonna do this? Well, I'll explain! One thing to remember about this game is there are no rules; you're allowed to do anything… Except…

"Escape! You're not going anywhere, punks! The government wants you little kids to follow through with this; not act like the cowards that most of you are," Dante became infuriated. How he'd love to punch that woman in the face. Or make love to her… She was hot…. NO! NO NO NO! Dante slapped himself in the face.

"You'll notice that you're not wearing collars like the rumors usually have stated; this is because too many students have died before the game has even started for being such idiots!"

Dante imagine what horrible deaths those students must have gone through. He had some knowledge of the program and the government that ran it.

The Canadian government had joined something that most people recognize as "The Coalition." The Coalition was made after the corrupt United Nations was scrapped. It was scrapped because of it's lack of administration over the rest of the world. The corrupt countries, such as Cuba, Chile and other nations had breached most contracts of the band of nations. They had manipulated most other countries into hosting their weapons operations, which were constructed to use against other, stronger, nations for more land and power.

Three of the five main powers; USA, Russia, and China scrapped the United Nations. The right of veto had been exterminated after nothing had been accomplished because at least one of the major powers disagreeing with the rest, which had caused much more to be accomplished. After the UN was scrapped, those three nations created The Coalition, which was a more restricted version of the UN. The United States had encouraged Canada for years to join, and, finally in the year 2007, Canada had joined. Other nations, such as Britain, Japan, Mexico, Holland, Denmark, and most African and South-American countries soon after joined. The Coalition was now the strongest power on Earth; soon after it's construction and the joining of the other nations, each country had introduced it's own measure of controlling it's rebellious youth; The Program. Although each countries' Program varied in some aspects, they were all based upon the same concept, which was have a Battle Royale with a randomly selected class of any high school in the nation. Since joining schools was made mandatory, no kid could NOT be taken into the Program, even those who had ties into the government somehow.

All in all, the Coalition was a corrupt organization, poisoning its people against them with their own idiocy and ridiculous paranoia.

"Yes, you will all be given collars as soon as this is over. Now that most of you have emptied your rage upon the teacher, you'll have nothing left for when you receive the necklaces."

Dante sighed and watched the teacher, who was going over the class with a clipboard. The soldiers in the room stood in a line against the wall, staring straight ahead, still carrying their guns.

"The role call will start at number one, which will indicate your exit from this building. Upon exiting, the soldiers will supply you with a green bag, like this," She held up a green bag, which looked like it had quite a few things in it.

"The objects inside of this are, bread, water, a flashlight, a map, and a randomly selected weapon," She took out each of the objects as she named them, save the weapon. "Just because it's a weapon doesn't mean it's any good; for all you know, you could pull out something like a digital camera! Wouldn't that be great? All the memories… Anyway, let's see what weapon I got," She reached into her bag and pulled out a hatchet. "This is good! Imagine clocking someone in the head with this! Isn't that fun?" A few girls in the class whimpered, while Peter threw up again in his corner. A boy in front of Dante was shaking, while Ike was staring at the screen with a look of disbelief.

"Alright, and about your maps; each one of your maps will have a grid of zones. Each one of these zones will be titled A-1, B-7, C-12 and so on. Every 6 hours, your instructor will announce new danger zones, which you will, obviously, want to avoid, as well as the deaths of your friends. If you're in the danger zones at the wrong times, you're dead! Haha! Imagine that! One of you idiots getting blasted to pieces cause you were in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

Dante went over the situations in his head; he didn't want to die. Nor did he want anyone else in the class to die, save Sid, who had obviously gone crazy. He was now sporting a toothy grin while staring glassy-eyed at the screen.

"The teacher will announce the time a danger zone is activated along with where it'll be. For example, E-7 at 7:00 AM. Make sense? Probably not, you're all borderline autistic anyway. (Sid laughed hard at this and blurted out, 'Not me!') Okay, and with that, your teacher will now answer questions."

"What she said," the man at the front had announced. Several students hands' jutted up. "Uhmm… Okay. How about you?" He pointed at Lauren Schock, a basketball player.

"Yes… Where is Mr. Rogers?"

The rest of the class looked up at the man with a hopeful expression on their faces. Maybe Mr. Rogers'd help them?

"Oh! Yes! Your teacher, right? Well… we had to deal with him. It was only necessary. He was quite discontent with this class being selected; although he had notoriety for being abusive, he had always wanted you all to be successful. Yes, boys, bring him in."

One of the soldiers opened the door into the hallway, called out "Bring him in," and another soldier wheeled in a trolley with a white blanket covering up what was obviously a…

Human…

The soldier tore off the blanket and the class went berserk.

Mr. Rogers had no face. It was gone.

Dante stared blankly at the corpse, traumatized.

Mr. Rogers head lay facing all of them, though it did not have a face to face them with. His eyes had been gouged out; what were normally his frowning brows were gone, giving way to fresh bone. Dried blood, which had poured from where his eyes were, and the bone lay gleaming in the moonlight. The top of his head was almost missing; gray jelly laid atop a canvas of white, making a contrast of horror. Dante thought, "His brains… Oh my god… His brains… Oh…"

The rest of his face was a mess. The mouth, which had yelled so loudly at Dante, was cut up and bloody, his jaw looking like a spaghetti-and-meatballs gone wrong. His throat was slashed, bringing parts of his esophagus into view. It lay like a worm in his throat, soaked in blood. The rest of his body was coated in blood, which had run down from his face. Dante had never experienced true horror. Never. But now, he had. And it was the worst feeling ever. The rest of the class must have agreed with them, for they all screamed in terror, obviously appalled and horrified.

Dante blinked and squinted his eyes as though to attempt to relieve him from a dream, but it was unsuccessful. The horror was true. Dante and the rest of his class were, in any way possible…

Going to die.