Chapter 6—

7:00 – 8:00 AM, Day One.

Dante and Ike walked along the hill, surveying the contents of the island below them. They were searching for a good hiding spot, but had so far come to no conclusions as to where they could hide.

"Hey, have you even checked your weapon yet?" Dante stroked the tip of his spear as he said this, feeling for how sharp it was.

"Good idea. I probably should, huh?" Ike reached into his supply bag, and pulled out what looked like two blades. It was a pair of scissors. "Eh," Ike said. "I think I could defend myself with this."

"Are you nuts? That's a piece of shit. You won't be able to do anything," Dante scoffed as Ike looked at his scissors. Ike exhaled and pretended to stab. "Hehe," Ike laughed as he did this.

The two continued looking. They had reached low, rocky mountains now, and through this mountain range ran another road. "We're not getting anywhere," Dante said. "Should we just walk down the hill and see if we can find something?" After a few hours of searching to no avail, Dante was up for anything.

"Sure," Ike replied. He shrugged his shoulders and played with his scissors as he said this.

The two of them trotted down the hill, looking at the mountains. They looked majestic in the morning sun.

"Hey!" Dante looked over at where Ike was. Ike was standing behind a rock. Dante ran over to behind the rock and saw what Ike was staring at.

"Wow…" Dante looked in awe at what Ike had seen. It was a small shack, hidden from the top of the hill. It was extremely small, it's roof in shambles, though it had a door and windows. It's roof was slanted, hidden underneath drooping tree branches. It was basically in a small nook in the hill, facing the mountains to the east. Dante walked in through the door. It was very small. It must have been a fort made by some kids who had lived here before the game.

"This is perfect," Ike said as he walked in. "No one will find us. No one."

The interior of the shack was as big as a single bedroom, the musty walls covered with stains, the dirt floor beneath them dusty. There was a poster on the room which read, "Play Fair!" Dante thought this was an odd thing for the room to have. He sat down in a corner, resting his head against the wall. Ike and Dante sat, neither of them knowing what to say. All they knew is this hideout could protect them… for now.


Ruby Fetega (Girl #17) walked along the grass, looking for… anything, really. She hadn't seen anyone along the way, nor had she found a place to stay. Her weapon, a hockey stick, wasn't of much use. It was blunt, but it was fragile. One hit and it'd break. She sighed as she walked along the grass of sector D3. This was just outside the forest where the school was. She walked into the forest, hoping to find people.

Ruby was depressed. She had everything else left in life to look forward to before this game took everything away… Only one student would win. How could she manage to out-live 40 other students? (Stephanie was already dead, making it 40.) Then again… She figured everyone else was thinking the same thing……

It was February, and she was at the school dance. She hadn't gone with any boy, but instead had gone with her two friends, Vanessa and Erin. Like Dante, she was popular, though she chose the people who she liked to be friends, not the people who were popular.

"Hey, Ruby! Talked to Greg lately?" Vanessa leered as she called out to Jade. Greg was in grade 12. He was into Ruby, though the feelings weren't mutual. Ruby thought he was obnoxious and always trying to show off in front of her, so she had tried her best to ignore him and avoid him. She rolled her eyes and walked into the school gymnasium with the two girls.

She saw Greg scanning the doors for her presence; he was surrounded by a group of his friends. Upon seeing her, Greg began to whoop and holler loudly and annoyingly. Instinctively, Ruby turned around to investigate the source of the noise. Greg was pretending to break-dance, though he was getting a good laugh from his friends. Greg sat up and made eye contact with Ruby. He smiled hopefully as he sat in the middle of his crowd. Ruby rolled her eyes and walked away.

She spent most of the dance mingling with her friends, until it was time to leave. Upon leaving the school, she walked into the parking lot with Vanessa and Erin. Greg then came running out of the school.

"Hey! Ruby!" He panted as he ran up to her. "You, uhm, wanna go to the point with me?" The point was the place where generic things from movies happened.

"No! That's gross! I hardly know you!" She glared at Greg, hardly believing Greg would say something so absurd.

"Oh, come on! It's not like that! I just wanna hang out!" Greg's black hair swung as his head did.

"No. No way." Ruby turned her head, tossing her multi-color hair. She walked away with Vanessa and Erin, who giggled at Greg, who was holding his arms out as though he were holding two bowling balls.

"Come on! R-ruby!" He ran up to the three girls, trying some more to get Ruby to come with him.

"Fuck off, man," it was Dante Zolianis, the boy who was in the band that everyone liked. His best friend, Ike Ferdez was alongside him, his arms crossed.

"Hah… What do you know, jackass?" Greg stood up, rolling up his sleeves as he said this.

"What… what're you rolling up your sleeves for? The shower circle jerk isn't until tomorrow." Dante pretended he was masturbating as he said this. Ike laughed, as did Vanessa and Erin. Ruby smiled as she saw Dante.

"Hah… You've got a lot of nerve, jackass," Greg scoffed and scratched his forehead as he said this.

"Come up with a new insult and try again, JACKASS," Dante mockingly imitated Greg, while he danced like a clown on the cement pavement. Greg wasted no time in rushing towards Dante, fists flailing. Dante hadn't been expecting this, and was sent crashing into the pavement with a left hook. Ike attempted to wrestle Greg off, but Greg's 6'4 bulk prevented the scrawny 5'6 Ike from doing so. Greg shoved Ike aside and rolled Dante, who was clutching a bloody nose face down on the pavement over. He then reeled back his right fist, sending it careening into Dante's left eye. Dante yelped and managed to stand up, one hand clutching his eye and the other his nose.

Dante managed to retaliate, relinquishing the grip on his nose to send an uppercut at Greg. This missed, and instead, Greg dodged and elbowed Dante in the ribs. Dante was winded, and he fell to his knees panting. Ike yelled and ran toward Greg, punching him in the stomach and face. Greg reeled back from the two blows, then retaliated, sending Ike to the floor with a blow to the side of the face.

"Hahaha… All talk, huh faggot?" Greg walked up to Dante, who was now on the floor trying to regain his breath. "I figured something from a guy who looks as gay as you," Greg reached into his pockets and pulled out a knife. "I won't spare you. You'll have to pay for this."

"No!" Ike sat up and charged Greg, but Greg punched him in the stomach.

"Greg, stop!" Ruby spoke up after watching Dante get beaten so handily. "Leave him alone!"

Greg stood with the knife in one hand, his other pulling Dante's hair to let him face up. Dante's eye was red, a bruise was blossoming. The blood from his nose ran down the front of his face, staining his shirt. Greg sighed, smashed Dante's face into the ground, spat on his head and walked towards his car. He stepped inside, turned it on and drove out of the parking lot down the road.

Ike crawled over to Dante, who had his hands covering his face. Blood dripped onto the cement pavement, while Ruby and the two girls ran over to the two boys.

"Are you all right?" Ruby leant over to try and meet Dante's face.

"Mmf," Dante hardly moved as he said this.

"Let's get you cleaned up," said Vanessa, as she grabbed Dante's arm.

"No," Dante sat up on his own as he said this. His nose was soaked in blood, his eye puffy, and he had a cut or two on his lip. His forehead was red from the ground smash, and the blood had soaked pretty much all of his clothes. Dante sighed and stared at the ground.

"I'll take him to my place," said Ike, who wrapped his arm around Dante's shoulders and helped him get up. The two of them then walked out of the parking lot to Ike's house.

Ruby never forgot that. Dante had stood up for her against that prick Greg. She was thankful he was so brave. Though… ever since then, he had always acted shy around her.

She stroked her bracelets, which were clinging uncomfortably to her wrists. She decided she wasn't gonna need them anyway, and discarded them. She flexed his fingers with one hand as she stroked her flexing wrist with the other. She walked through the forest, brushing branches and spider-webs out of the way as she did. Suddenly, she came across a small clearing. She squinted at what looked like a pile of rocks lying side by side. She walked up to it apprehensively, eyeing it suspiciously. As she got closer, the object came into focus better. Ruby was looking against the sunlight, so the object was only a silhouette.

She was now right beside it. Golden string ran down the side Ruby could see. She brushed it, and poked the rock bundle hard. It didn't move. Ruby, realizing what this "rock bundle" could've been, walked around to it's opposite side. As she faced the same way as the sunlight, the object was easier to see. It was indeed no rock bundle. It was Stephanie Mitchell.

Ruby shrieked and backed up. Realizing how shrieking could get her noticed, she clapped her hand to her mouth and stared at the dead classmate with a feeling of horror. Stephanie's eyes were closed, but her mouth was open slightly. Her small body laid stiff on the grass, her legs and lower torso soaked in blood. Ruby calmed herself down and walked up to Stephanie. She poked her arm. It was solid, not moving from her body. Rigor mortis must have set in. A hole was in her side, where her stomach was. Ruby assumed it was a knife wound, and also assumed that the knife had pierced one of her internal organs. It must have gone in far in order to be the only thing that killed her. It also bled a lot, so it must have been a deep wound. Ruby closed her eyes and silently mourned for Stephanie. She then walked out of the woods they way she came. She sat down, checking her map. There was nothing worth noting… Though…

There was a clinic on the map that she hadn't seen before. It lay in sector H1, on a peninsula of the island. She figured she could stay there… It was a long walk though. She set off at a brisk pace, without even thinking of the ramifications of staying in a place which will more than likely be inhabited one time or another.


Taylor Grandent, Boy Number Eighteen, woke up from his nap in the middle of a store named Castle of Furniture Depot. He smoothed his slicked-back black hair and straightened his glasses, which had been knocked askew as he slept. He sighed, sitting in the chair he had fallen asleep in.

Taylor had exited the school with a few students left, just after Ruby Fetega. He had decided on the spot where he was gonna go, which was the store part of the town. Upon arrival at the store section of town, he found the name of the town was Fortress Island. He couldn't find out where it was, though. Logic would dictate that the students were taken to the nearest ocean available, which was in this case the Pacific Ocean, which was to the west of Taylor and the rest of the student's hometown of Cochrane. Taylor missed home. He knew he didn't have much of a chance to survive in this game. He was out of shape, though he was smart. It had always been Taylor's dream to become Valedictorian when the class graduated. He thought he had what it took, too. He was smart, polite, sophisticated, and mature.

He just missed his home. Taylor didn't like change; he was a stickler for the oldies. And being put from the environment of a loving family in suburban Cochrane into a game where students are forced to kill each other was quite the example of change.

His weapon was an axe, though he knew he wasn't going to use this. He'd make allies. People who he could rely on, and people who could rely on him. They would work together… Though the problem was, he hadn't seen anyone.

Taylor got up from his chair and rummaged through his personal bag. He found a picture of his family, which featured an older sister, who was at the University of Michigan studying biology. She was in her second year there. He also had a younger sister, who was 3 years younger than him, and a younger brother, who was 6 years younger than him. His father died when he was 8 of a heart attack. He had been in office under the prime minister at his death. He had been elected in the Cochrane constituency during elections four times running at that point.

Taylor missed his father like nothing else, but he had always had his mother. His mother was a woman who had tried her best to get through her husband's death while raising four children at the same time. She was strong-willed, independent, and resourceful. Taylor always relied on his mother for support, and shared her belief about the strength of family.

As Taylor stared at the picture of his family, tears fell down his cheeks. He didn't even notice them. He just stared… thinking of how much he'd like to be home.


Dante sat in the corner of the shack he and Ike had taken up residence in. Ike sat in the opposite corner, playing with his fingernails. Dante stared at him, then pushed himself further up the wall. He was starting to feel light-headed. The bullet wound's pain had officially subsided, though it now felt warm and uncomfortable. Dante hadn't attempted to take the bullet out, nor had he asked Ike to do so. If he was able to see his wound, he would think twice though. Dante brushed sweat off of his forehead as he tried to maintain focus.

Ike suddenly noticed Dante, who was fidgeting almost non-stop. He frowned as Dante wiped sweat off his forehead, pushed himself up on the wall, rolled over, fell on his side, wiped more sweat, and loosened his shirt, anything he could do to change how he was sitting.

"You're not feeling well," Ike said.

"Gee… you… can tell?" Dante panted with the most simple of sentence structures.

"Four syllables and you can barely speak? Wow. You're sick." Ike scoffed as Dante lay back against the wall, closing his eyes. "Wait… Take off your shirt."

"Oh my god, now you're taking advantage of me while I'm physically handicapped. I knew this day would come," Dante laughed as he said this.

Ike grinned, then said, "No, seriously. Just do it."

Dante caught on to what Ike was getting at and took off his ebony-red Mars Volta t-shirt.

"Kay, now gimme a spin." Ike laughed as Dante rolled his eyes and wiped his forehead. "Kidding. Turn around."

Dante did so, and Ike's assumptions proved accurate.

The wounded portion of Dante's back had turned a dark purple. Tinges of green were embedded in the sea of purple, while the bullet wound lay like a crater in Dante's back.

"Yeah… you've got an infection." Ike sighed as he said this. 'What a pain in the ass! That's gonna bring us down.'

"Nooo…" Dante moaned as he said this. He put his shirt back on and leant back against the wall.

"That sucks. There's nothing on this island. Now all we can do is hope it subsides by itself." Ike stared at Dante, who was falling asleep in the corner.

"Man…" Dante breathed heavily and pushed the hair out of his face. The smell from Dante's infection began to infect the room.

"Ugh. It smells. You smell." Ike raised his shirt collar onto his nose and went out through the door. Dante lay by himself in the corner, breathing heavily.

"Wow… I'm totally on fire." Dante walked out of the room after Ike. He began to notice the smell of his rotting flesh too. He gagged as he walked through the open door. Ike was sitting on the hill above the shack, staring out through the mountains at the sea. Dante sat up on the hill beside Ike, lying back on his elbows.

"We have to do something about that," Ike said. "You've got a fever, now, and if we don't do anything, all it can do is get worse. I don't think infections ever subside." Ike sat frowning, looking out towards the sea.

"You like anyone, Ike?" Dante and Ike were at Dante's house.

"You suck," Ike replied.

Dante laughed and lay on his bed. Ike was on the floor playing Earthbound and Dante's old SNES. Dante loved that piece of junk… It was a collector's item. Foreign imports were hard to come by under the Coalition's rule. That's why hardly anyone got to play video games. Ike had actually managed to get in his own SiphonPlayer, the new Japanese video game console. It was amazing…

Though Earthbound was too classic to pass up. As Ike controlled Ness while he fought The New Age Retro Hippie, Dante laughed at the ridiculous enemy and continued reading his book, which was about Two Brothers. It was a sweet book… it was about, uhm, two brothers. Obviously. They basically did their own thing, apart from anyone else. Speaking their mind, doing their own dues. They weren't superheroes or anything; they were just moral preservers of a new age. An age in which equality dominated, though the Coalition's idea of equality was if everyone is the exact same, then nothing's different. This book displayed equality as the same position in the Coalition's economy, though everyone had differing morals and values. It was a book in which, though everyone was equal, peace reigned over government oppression. Dante and Ike sometimes thought of themselves as the Two Brothers. It was cool, to them, anyway.

"Seriously, though," Dante said. "Do you like anyone?" Dante felt childish as he said this. It was immature, sure, but around Ike, it just made things worse.

"No," Ike said as he mashed the SNES' buttons vigorously. "I don't have time for that. I'm a busy man."

"A man who hasn't hit puberty." The two of them laughed as they pursued their respective activities.

Dante laughed as he thought of this past occasion… Though Dante and Ike were best friends, and had been for years, he didn't know much about Ike. He kept to himself. It was one of his unique traits. However, when the goings got tough, Ike was always there for Dante.

Dante knew his brother Kevin would always be there for him when he needed advice, but Kevin was never with Dante when they had accidentally thrown a rock at a cop car. When Dante had gotten in that fight with that Greg asshole who was harassing Ruby. When Dante had needed to copy an assignment. When Dante had to defend himself from Mr. Rogers, Ike was there with him. For those reasons, Dante cared for Ike. And Dante knew Ike cared for him. They relied on each other, they played off on each other, and they copied answers on tests from each other.

Dante thought of the once proud Mr. Rogers, who commanded the class with an iron fist. He thought of how he must have died… So horribly. He must've been helpless. He never exactly assumed Mr. Rogers would fight, though Mr. Rogers was intimidating enough to drive people back.

He then thought of how Tom had killed Stephanie, and he knew it was him. He had a machete… things could've gotten bad. Stephanie hadn't taken out her weapon while Dante had seen her. It could've been a good weapon, but it didn't matter. Stephanie didn't seem the type who'd be able to fight anyway.

All this thinking got Dante tired, and he rested his head against the grassy hill. Ike sat beside him, still staring out towards the ocean. It was nearly 8:00, and nothing special had happened to them. Though Dante preferred this, he would at least like some action… or to see Ruby.