Chapter Eleven

12:00 PM- 1:00.

The sound of a helicopter's blades cycling throughout the afternoon sky roared across the small coastal island as Ryan Dick and Ike Ferdez tried to figure out a way to reach the large wooden box placed by the helicopter on top of the roof of the small clinic. There were no obvious routes such as ladders or stairs, which left the boys to imagine ways of constructing makeshift stepping-stools as a means of reaching the top.

"Uhm… how about… using Dante to get up?" Ike mumbled cautiously so as to not embarrass himself too much.

"Hahaha! Too bad Dante's sick to the max." Ryan laughed and slapped Ike in the face, as Ike blushed and ruffle his hair in embarrassment.

Ryan usually was a nice guy, though he had a knack for taking his playful remarks and attitude over in some instances. He'd often fight and wrestle in the hallways as a joke, though sometimes he'd take things overboard with elbows and knees to the face, which sent many-a-student to the nurse's office with bloody noses and black eyes.

"I don't suppose you have a better idea? There isn't exactly anything around here we could use to get up there." Ike frowned and stared up at the cardboard box.

"No, I don't. Though I bet if I did it'd be better than yours." Ryan laughed and began to amble back inside the clinic.

"Wait!" Ike spoke up finally. "I've got an idea."

Ryan turned around, curious as to what Ike's new idea would be, considering his last idea was quite a joke, in his opinion anyway.

"You're strong enough to give a boost, eh?" Ike smiled as he saw Ryan's obvious discomfort.

"You? You're a fucking fatty! I can't lift all that lard so high! I'll die!" Ryan and Ike shared a laugh, not even mentioning whether or not it was a good idea.

Dante and Ruby stepped outside, to which they noticed the sky was a healthy azure, with a few clouds dotting the sky. The morning wind had died down and had made way to a slow, cool breeze, rippling the tall blades of grass and throwing the longer-haired students' manes about.

"What're you fags up to?" Dante asked with a grin on his face. Ruby stood silently admiring the three boys' ability to demean each other so blatantly and so viciously and still be able to laugh it off. Most girls Ruby knew would usually take playful banter as insulting, and would often sulk in their rooms for hours because of a playful comment. Ruby, too, sometimes fell under this category though in most instances she could usually shrug it off.

"We're just trying to find a way to get that box on top of the building," Ryan said. "We think our plan is to just give Ike a boost up to the top. I don't know if I can do it alone, though. You see, Ike is really fat and even I may not be strong enough to lift him up there by myself."

"Hey, I'm not fat!" Ike laughed and punched Ryan lightly in the jaw. Ryan laughed and retaliated with a kick in the shins.

"It's nice to see you chums are laughing it up so much," Ruby said in a tone of amusement. "I never once thought people could be so carefree in this game."

Ike and Ryan looked at each other with a look that said 'Get a load of this,'.

"Whoa, now you're getting the wrong idea," Ike said as he smirked sarcastically. "We're not carefree, just… playful? Hah." Ike grinned pensively at Ryan, who added,

"Yeah, we just need a way to lighten up. Besides, I think it's better for everyone if we stay loose… Right?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense now…" Ruby laughed as the two started about their plan.

"No!- Hey, shit! Hey, come on! Je- get your foot up! No, the other foot! Wha- come on! Whoa, whoa, whoa, shit!" Ryan, who was trying to lift Ike up to grab onto the roof by his feet, collapsed over backwards as the unbalanced Ike teetered about on the small platform made by Ryan's rough palms. Ike crashed down headfirst on top of Ryan, his legs falling onto the ground. Ryan grunted as Ike's head collided with his stomach, and Ike began to laugh uncontrollably as he saw Ryan panting for breath beneath him.

Dante and Ruby too, joined in on the laughing, all of them thankful for the fact that they can lighten up in the light of the brutality surrounding them.


Morrison Pagem, Boy Number Seventeen, sighed as he traipsed through the trees of G3, which was centered about a small forest, a different one from the one the school was located. Having been traveling alone for the most part of the game, he had grown bored and was desperate to see someone… Dante, Ike, his friends Devin and Cody, anyone. The thought of death was always enlightening to Morrison, seeing as he had lived a rather rough life. His mother had left shortly after he was born, and his father was a raging alcoholic, usually channeling his fury into his fists. These same fists which made Morrison's life a sham, the same fists which made him the way he is…

Morrison sighed again as he thought of his father, the man who had made his life so horrible. If Morrison ever knew fear, his father was always on the other end. He took to beating Morrison when he was angry, which was often, considering alcohol was the only remedy for his rabid personality and social life. Morrison's brother, Vin, moved out of their home when Morrison was still in elementary school, after dropping out of high school and moving in with his girl friend's family. Sick of the abuse he received from his father, he retreated as soon as he figured he could make it on his own. Morrison never found out what happened to Vin, though it didn't bother him considering, like his mother, Vin was never there for him.

Needless to say, Morrison was a troubled boy. He had never had very many friends since he was so shy, and he had struggled for as long as he could remember when it came to academics. Morrison couldn't delude himself into thinking he was adept and any subjects like Mechanics and Art, though there was one thing that Morrison could trust, one thing he could retreat to, rely on, even live on. Music.

It was simple; sure, music was made by humans, but did music beat the living shit out of you when you asked how it's day was? Did it walk out on you without giving you a second chance, or someone else a second chance? Did it yell at you? Well, theoretically, no, but the music Morrison was into was screamo, and he loved it. How could he not? It was the stuff he could relate to, the stuff where people came from shitty homes just like his, but they had made a better name for themselves, they had gotten away from it all. That was what Morrison wanted to do; it was an inspiration to him.

Stepping across a branch, a loud crunch sounded throughout the tranquil afternoon sky. The sound of birds chirping, and the distant recession and outbursts of the ocean's waters filled the air. Leaves rustling with the slight wind and branches crackling against trees and under Morrison's feet provided a rough acoustic melody, as Morrison's own breathing provided a quiet, yet bold, background sound. Morrison smiled as he listened to the serene symphony played by the very own environment he was in.

"Life is a song," he thought. He smiled again and sighed. Though this was different from those earlier sighs; this was a happy sigh. Morrison continued walking; brushing aside his swept black hair to make things easier to see.

Morrison was good looking, though his shyness made it hard for him to ever interact with the opposite sex. He was never actually into any girls… well…. Except for one. Erin Hill… She was nice… and she liked music! What's better? Well, nothing, really.

The thought of Erin absent-mindedly speeded up the repetitive motion of Morrison's bottom half. Another inspiration, hah, he thought.

Finally, Morrison reached a break in the trees, from which he saw a highway, and across that highway, the ocean, reaching endlessly as far as the horizon could let Morrison's eyes see.

"Still no one," he thought. Morrison exhaled deeply, trying to figure out where he could find some friends. "Hah, how can I think of where I could find someone? This island's huge, and I'm small. Too bad. I wish I knew where Erin was…"

"Morrison? That you?"

"Huh?"


Lauren Johnson, girl number Twelve, walked across the shores of G5, alongside a friend of hers, Boy Number Twenty Two, Shane Appleby. The two met up shortly after the game started, still in the forests of D4, very close to the school. On her way out of the forest, she had tripped on a rock, scraping her knee, causing some blood to spill. Waiting about 20 minutes before she moved again, (a decision she had thought would be risky), Shane stumbled up on her. After Shane helped fix up Lauren's wound, the two agreed up on a mutual consensus that they will fight together. Although they were merely acquaintances at school, Lauren had decided that fighting in groups was better than fighting alone, and besides, Shane was reliable enough. After all, he helped clean up her knee and everything.

"Whaddya wanna do next?" Shane asked in a careless, lazy voice. Lauren, taken aback by his apathy, replied

"Whatever floats your boat."

Shane frowned and said, "Well, I'm asking you. You want to find some of your friends? I'm up for finding Zach, only if it's okay with you."

"Oh, yeah. He is your best friend, anyway. Sure, let's go."

Lauren smiled at Shane as he looked at her, with his blank grey eyes, (which were rather cute) and his short blonde hair, (which was also cute).

"Fantastic," Shane said in his apathetic voice once more.

Lauren thought it was very odd that Shane could still act badass in a game as serious as this. Unless that's him, anyway. People are out to kill us in this game, not admire us. Whatever.

The two of them began to head to the forests of G3, until they heard something that made the hairs on their back stand on end (even Shane's).

A gunshot.


"I can't believe we're doing this," Devin Gryznatch, Boy Number Seven said as he stood in the forest of G3.

"He deserves it, the faggot." Cody Ligon, Boy Number Nineteen barked as he kicked the boy in the face.

Morrison Pagem lay on the ground, a gunshot wound in his chest. Blood soaked his collared shirt, as his hair lay over his eyes, the eyes beneath that of fury.

"How could this happen?" Morrison said as he laid there, betrayed by the very two friends of his that he thought he could trust. "They were my friends… why?"

A girl with dark skin stood against a tree, long black hair flowing around her head, her arms crossed holding a gun, a basic CZ95 pistol, with smoke rising from the barrel. It was Erin Hill, who had shot Morrison as he was walking in front of the group. Hey, it was part of the plan.

"Erin, why'd you have to start this?" Devin asked as he flexed his arms, staring hopelessly at Morrison.

"WHAT? Are you fucking kidding me? It was your fucking idea! I don't even know this little shit! You guys put me up to it!"

"No… er. You said so, I remember. 'Let's kill him, guys.'"

"That's such bullshit! Get your fucking dick out of your ass, you piece of shit!"

"Both of you, calm down. Let's just leave him here." Cody snapped as he watched the pitiful Morrison try to claw his way along the ground away from him.

"Why does this hurt so much?" Morrison twitched as he felt the pain in his chest spike viciously as he tried to move his arm. "Why did Erin do this…? I… I love… her." Tears. At a time like this?

"Look… he's crying." Cody smirked as he watched the pitiful human soul plea for escape. "Pansy, get the fuck up. Hahaha, I'm a better musician than he was and I'm a better killer."

"I shot him, not you." Erin frowned as Cody raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

After shooting Dante, Erin retreated to E6, where a vast complex of industrial

buildings were located… One thing about Erin was that she was the only one who knew the name of the town, thanks to a billboard in the district titled "Castle Rock's Industries! Leading in all of Canada in fishing."

Shortly after, she came out of her panic and managed to regain her composure. She began to search for her friends, Vanessa and Ruby, until the first announcement. At this time ,she was notified by the teacher that Dante was not dead. This would mean Dante was most certainly out for revenge, so she had to be on the lookout. She decided teaming up with anyone would help her out, and after exploring most of the island, she came across Devin and Cody. She didn't exactly like them, though at the time she knew she needed companions, so the three of them had gone about the island planning on killing anyone they didn't like. Morrison fell under that category.

"Look at him. Egotistical little cock can't even fight back. Little pussy." Tears streaked down Morrison's face as the pain in his chest throbbed uncontrollably. His face also pulsated with pain from Cody's kick, and Morrison could feel the blood from his open wound leaking onto the rest of his clothes. Cody's weapon, a butterfly knife, was in his back pocket, while Devin's weapon, a coat hook, had been abandoned long ago, due to its obvious uselessness. Cody took the butterfly knife out of his pocket, swinging it around clumsily trying to feel intimidating.

"I'm so much better at that than you." Devin said, laughing as Cody made an idiot out of himself with his ineptness in handling the weapon. "I do that all the time with drums. It's the exact same."

"Here, take it." Cody threw the weapon at Devin, who quickly dodged, aware of the shiny blade. Picking up the weapon by the handle, Devin commented,

"Nah, I'd rather not waste my energy. You know, this game is all about playing at your best level. My best level is best spent not wasting my energy on this knife."

Cody laughed, saying, "That's what I thought, you dick."

Erin got off of the tree and noticed Morrison's tears, and his gaze focused directly upon her. "Stop looking at me, freak." Reeling back her right leg, she sent her foot crashing into Morrison's teeth. A dull crack sounded as several of Morrison's teeth spilled out his mouth, accompanied by a scarlet flow of blood and a loud whimper, followed by a groan. After noticing the vast majority of his teeth were in front of him in the dirt, he groaned again, looking up at Erin.

"My life is horrible." He thought.

"Stop looking at me!" Erin again brought back her leg, sending it crashing into Morrison's face.

Again, more blood spilled out of Morrison's open mouth, though the teeth that could have been knocked out were already scattered amongst the dry foliage of the earth.

"Why is she doing this?" He thought. More tears spilled down Morrison's face… "At least I'll be gone soon… it'll all be over."

Cody stood watching as Erin trembled over Morrison's frail body. "What a dick. Why won't he die?"

Morrison trembled as the verbal assault continued… He coughed, as more blood spilled out of his mouth. Finally, he managed to speak.

"Why…?" The stress placed on Morrison's vocal chords seared through the rest of his body down to his chest. Stabbing pains erupted throughout his entire torso.

"He spoke!" Devin turned around, in awe of Morrison's strong will, even though he had appeared to be such a weak person at school and at band practices.

"Why…?" Again, Morrison's entire body burst with pain, as a small amount of blood spilled out of his mouth once more.

No one spoke as Morrison lay trembling on the ground, soaked with his own blood. Cody stood in awe, his arms at his sides, as Erin stood sobbing over Morrison's body. Devin, meanwhile, stood in shock, still holding the butterfly knife thrown at him by Cody.

"Ans… answer…"

Finally, Devin conjured up the will to speak.

"Well… it was… a mutual agreement… Mostly… Cody… idea." Devin muttered under his breath so as to not provoke Cody.

"You fucking idiot! It was as you said! MUTUAL AGREEMENT! You're so thick. Shut the fuck up. You too, fucker!" Cody screamed into Morrison's ear.

Erin knelt by Morrison's face, slowly. After hesitating for a moment, she grabbed his hair and jerked his head backward so as to meet him eye to eye.

"Why won't you die?" Erin glared into Morrison's blank, sorrowful eyes.

Morrison simply laid on the ground, staring into the eyes of his one true love. Struggling to speak once more, he uttered

"Love…"

Erin gasped, dropping his face to the ground and stepping backward into a tree.

"You… you love me?" Erin's heart dropped into her stomach as her chest tightened uncomfortably. She had just killed the one who loved her?

Morrison tried nodding, though his body was so stiff and painful that all he could do was shake a little.

"Erin… love…"

Erin simply stood as she stared at Morrison.

Suddenly, Cody made a dexterous motion; stealing the knife from Devin in one arm swipe, he strode over to Erin, using his one arm to hold her two arms by her sides, he brought the knife to her throat with his other.

All Morrison could see was his life turning upside down.

One slice, and it was over.

Erin fell clumsily to the ground as blood spilled nauseously from her throat, spraying the ground with crimson. Her eyes stared blankly ahead as she crashed to the ground in front of Cody, and as she reeled back her blood sprayed like a fountain several feet, coating Morrison with her bodily fluids. She fell face to face with Morrison, her eyes staring straight into his.

"Ugnnnghhhh!" Trying to scream, 'No!' Morrison could only muster an elongated, unearthly groan.

Cody, meanwhile, stood over Erin's corpse, with a malicious grin on his face.

"Now, there's just you." Rearing on Morrison with his knife, he laughed wickedly as Devin stood cowering against a large tree.

From being a cocky guitar player, obsessed with women and bent on becoming a famous musician, Cody had become a monster, twisted by the cruel environment he had been placed in. From now on, there was only one person that mattered to him in this game, and that was Cody. Fuck Devin, Morrison. Fuck them all, really.

Cody slowly ambled over to Morrison, his knife held high over his head. Devin continued to tremble with fear as his best friend slowly merged from being a kind-hearted, though egotistical musician into a cold-blooded killer.

Suddenly, the sound of an object rushing through a tunnel of air filled the small clearing. A dull, though loud thud, followed by a cartoon-ish springy noise echoed off of the tree's bark exterior. As Cody turned around to see the source of the noise, he saw a feathered arrow sticking out of the tree just behind him.

As soon as Cody realized the arrow had hit, Lauren Johnson and Shane Appleby emerged from the tree's foliage, with Lauren wielding a crossbow, and Shane carrying a small shield. Cody chuckled at the odd couple and adjusted his knife to a better fighting stance in his right hand. Devin, meanwhile, stood in awe as Lauren loaded another arrow onto her crossbow.

Suddenly, Shane rushed Cody with his round buckler. Holding it from the rear handle, he thrust his arms forward, crashing the shield into Cody's torso. Though Cody had tried getting in a knife swing, Shane was too agile and strong with his shield to get away a good hit. As Shane looked to his right, he saw Devin rush at Lauren with his fists flailing. In her panic, Lauren quickly launched an arrow from her crossbow. The rushed shot flew into the air at an odd angle and landed about 50 feet away amongst the other trees.

Devin, meanwhile, brought his fist into Lauren's jaw, sending her tumbling into the forest. Lauren reeled back, crashing onto her back with an arrow in her right hand and her crossbow in the other. As she got up, she felt dizzy and her vision was a little blurred. Devin stood back several feet with his fists in front of his face in a fighting stance. So long as Lauren doesn't have arrows loaded up in her bow, I'm safe at this distance, he thought. And he was right.

Lauren quickly fumbled with an arrow, trying to jam it into the brace position. However, Devin proved the more agile and sent his foot flying into Lauren's stomach. Again, Lauren tumbled backward, though this time, her crossbow flew into a nearby tree. In her other hand, she still held the arrow. Getting up once more, she tried to breath, though Devin's well-placed kick had knocked the wind out of her. Devin laughed, thinking, two years of karate… hah. Who would've thought they'd come in such use? Er… well… I guess it is self defense.

This time, Lauren managed to launch the offensive. Swinging her arrow like a blade above her head in a vertical motion, she barely missed a back-sliding Devin. The tiny arrowhead on the short wooden shaft made for an awkward melee weapon, though in a sense it was more useful than hand-to-hand combat, especially considering Devin had some experience, judging by his blows. Lauren again tried swinging her arrow at Devin, this time in a horizontal motion as she dashed forward. Again, Devin proved the more able fighter, side stepping quickly and launching out his foot in front of Lauren's stopping the motion of her feet and sending her top half crashing face first into the ground. Lauren yelped as her face collided with the tinder laid amongst the Earth's surface. She couldn't fight like this…

Shane lifted his shield at a 45 degree angle from his face, blocking the swift swipe from Cody's knife, making a sharp noise indicating the collision of two metal objects. Cody then swung out his foot, trying to kick Shane in the side. Shane quickly brought his shield to his waist, letting the foot collide with the metal surface.

"Ow!" Cody cringed a little as his toes collided painfully with the solid bracer. Shane took this opportunity to make a punching motion with his shield, sending a crashing metal into Cody's face. Falling to the ground, Cody raised his butterfly knife against Shane so as to repel a follow-through attack. However, Cody had not braced himself for the fall, and his head crashed against a stray root along the ground. His knife arm falling limply to his side, he saw Shane raising his shield above his head preparing to strike Cody in the forehead, which, at most, would inflict a major cut on his face.

Quickly rolling along the leaves and dirt on the ground, Cody dodged the blow and heard the shield collide with the woody exterior of the branch. Looking back, he saw Shane had overcompensated and had accidentally lodged his shield into the branch. As Shane quickly analyzed the obvious predicament he was in, he searched the ground in front of him for a branch of able fighting length and size. Though, Cody took this opportunity to launch an attack. Extending his arm forward, letting the hinged blade do the work, he managed to inflict a minor cut on Cody's wrist. Juicy scarlet oozed slowly out of his wound as Shane winced and clutched his arm with his other hand.

Shane frowned and realized he had no hope in repelling Cody's attack with merely his hands. Instead, he tried once more to grab his shield and wrench it out of the ground. As he reached forward in his stride to pick up the blade, he felt another slice from Cody's knife sear across his right bicep, the opposite arm of which had previously been sliced. More blood seeped through the two cuts, slowly into the long-sleeve collared white shirt he was wearing.

"Damnit, this is gonna stain!"

As he placed both of his hands on the tip of his shield and his foot at the base of the root, he used his whole upper body strength trying to pull the shield out and the whole lower half of his strength trying to provide leverage for the rest of his body. As he held onto the shield, he noticed he was making his progress, until he felt a branding iron get pressed in-between his ribs.

"AGHHH!" Pain shot throughout Shane's entire torso as the wound struck him. He could feel blood oozing out through the small perforations the space between the knife and his flesh left. Meanwhile, the knife stuck in him still as Cody laughed. Suddenly, Cody realized that, he, too, had lodged his weapon too far into an object. Quickly taking his hands back to the handle of his knife, he yanked repeatedly, trying to lodge the weapon from in-between Shane's ribs. The two quickly engaged each other in a pulling war, each trying to dislodge his weapon from the nooks they were so diligently lodged into.

Meanwhile, Morrison lay on the ground, letting the tears flow and letting the thoughts fly. Morrison could feel himself slipping away, the pain in his chest dissipating and the blood from his mouth slowing it's descent through the rocky ravine that was the remnants of his jaw line to the dry, leafy ground below his mouth. He stared into Erin's eyes, wishing this hadn't happened.

"Erin…" Morrison thought. He tried to speak, though the tension on his vocal chords proved too much a task for the rest of his body, as all it did was swell up his chest.

"Why have things gone so horribly wrong, everywhere?" Morrison cried and sobbed as he looked back on the sham of a life he had. "I've tried to never do any wrong, and what happens? I get fucked over. I've never lived a happy day. Ever. This is how it ends, huh? How fitting. Pitted against the friends I thought I had, and killed by the girl I thought I could truly love. I just hope my father can be happy; good luck brother, fuck you mother." Morrison felt his eyes close by themselves as the rest of his body began to shut down…

Lauren lay on the ground with Devin over top of her, laughing as he slowly placed his foot onto the back of her throat.

"Looks like I won this one," Devin said as he smiled wickedly. Placing more pressure on her throat, he laughed as Lauren struggled feebly to get out of his submission hold. Flailing the arm with the arrow in it around, trying to stab him in the leg, she sputtered helplessly, trying to call for help from Shane.

"Who knows what's happened to him…?" Lauren desperately tried to get out of Devin's hold. Finally, she cranked her arm to her side and brought her elbow in, jabbing the arrow into Devin's calf.

"Ack!" The pain shot through Devin's left leg as the arrow plunged into his leg, and he lost the strength he needed to pin Lauren down. Quickly standing up, Lauren rubbed her arm where she had made the exhausting maneuver. Devin fell to his behind slowly, tears flowing from behind his eyelids as he tried to pull the arrow from out of his leg.

"Why the fuck am I helping Cody? He's going to kill us all!" Lauren walked slowly over to Devin, preparing to end his feeble life. She knelt in front of Devin who had his eyes closed, placed her hands on the shaft of the arrow, and pulled with all her might. The sharp arrowhead slid easily out of the perforation in Devin's leg, as a small geyser of blood followed the metal signet out of its hole. Devin screamed in pain as the morbid ordeal drained his energy.

Devin opened his eyes, to see the last thing he would ever see. Out of his left eye, anyway. The same sharp arrowhead that had been plunged into his leg came searing into his eye, blocking one fifth of his vision. Screaming once more in pain, a strange slimy liquid poured down Devin's face, most likely the juices which his former left eye had played host to. Devin continued screaming, the veins in his throat pulsating with the might of how much stress he was placing on his vocal chords.

"My… eye!" Devin sobbed as he sat, denying the fact that his life may soon be over. Devin never wanted to die... He just wanted to live his life the way he wanted, free from everyone else. That's why he argued with everyone so much. He couldn't stand the way other people lived, different from his point of view. To Devin, anything Devin said was correct. To Devin, anything Devin thought was correct. To Devin, anything Devin believed was to be believed by all. That's why he disagreed with people all the time.

Lauren cringed as she decided to end his life. Once more preparing to take the arrow from Devin's eye socket, she placed her hands on the wooden shaft, and yanked it out quickly so as to make Devin's end of the bargain far more tolerable. However, this was quite an understatement considering Devin's pain was unbearable.

"All this 'cause I wanted to stick up for a friend," he thought. "It was in me all along… no matter what Cody was, I had to protect him. Didn't even have to think about it… Well. There's no other way of thinking about this, Devin. We're done."

Lauren gagged as a white, marble substance formerly known as Devin's eye stuck on the other end of the arrow. Flicking it through the air, getting it off, she decided to ensue the final blow. With Devin's mouth still open, it'd be easy.

"This is gonna be soooooo gross." She thought.

She plunged the arrow diagonally across his face, down through his mouth, into the base of his throat. He immediately stopped screaming, and then he fell to his side, at first still, until the rest of his body began to shake uncontrollably. The mangled face stared horribly ahead, one eye closed, one eye attempting to be closed, though only revealing a fleshy myriad of crimson and mustard yellow. Devin Gryznatch was dead.

Shane pulled hard on the shield stuck in the ground, until finally, it came free from the branch it was embedded in. However, Cody's knife was still stuck in his side, as though it were still spraying sparks of pain throughout the rest of his body. Cody, upon seeing that now Shane had the advantage, released his grip on the knife and walked slowly backward. "I'll have to finish you later," he thought. He quickly darted through the woods, without weapons and without comrades.

Thinking he was as good as dead anyway, Shane let him run. Besides, he was injured enough as it is. Fuck running.

He turned around to see Morrison on the ground, dead. "Poor guy," he thought. "Killed by the girl he loved… as far as I know anyway." Shane quickly assumed the bullet wound in his back was from the gun in Erin's dead hands, seeing as nobody else on the premise was wielding a gun. Reaching over to grab it, he saw Lauren emerge from the opposite end of the clearing, looking hopeful. All Shane did was shake his head. There was nothing left to say. Three deaths. Nothing.


Dante stood inside the clinic, trying not to fall asleep as him and Ruby finished their conversation about local bands. The topic was boring considering Ruby had a much different taste than his, and he was tired enough to begin with. Well, even though he had slept for a few hours prior to this, he was still tired enough to fall back asleep.

Ryan and Ike's unsuccessful attempts at retrieving the wooden box on the roof of clinic proved much less entertaining considering it was becoming more frustrating than amusing, and they had basically made no progress. All that was left, was to wait.

"Say, I haven't seen Morrison yet?"

BOY NUMBER SEVEN, DEVIN GRYZNATCH DEAD

BOY NUMBER SEVENTEEN, MORRISON PAGEM DEAD

GIRL NUMBER NINE, ERIN HILL DEAD

41 STUDENTS REMAINING