30 students remaining

3

Everyone stood gaping at their 'teacher'. A fly twittered in the back of the room, making a sounder louder than what would normally be heard. A broken light flickered and buzzed above the students' heads.
"Kill?" said Zach.
"Do I have to explain it any more than I just did?" smiled Ms. Prok. "How much info do you stupid kids need before you realize that when I say 'you will all kill each other till one is remaining' I mean it?"
"How are we stupid? You march in with a bunch of soldiers and then tell us we have to kill each other till one is left. Isn't it normal that we would ask questions about what the hell is going on?" asked Brandon (Boy No. 2).
"This is a joke, right?" asked Aubrey, not waiting for the answer to Brandon's question. "Some sort of fun thing we're doing while we're all on vacation?" Some other kids nervously agreed.
Dono stared at Ms. Prok with a cold eye. He knew that she was serious; he'd already heard rumors of the government planning to wipe out 'uncouth juveniles'. But he had never thought he would have fallen under that category.
"It's no joke, I hate jokes," said Ms. Prok. "If anything is a joke-"
Brr-rr-Brt!
Ms. Prok turned to look at Chris, who was standing between a crossfire of stares, trying to look serious. Everyone around him immediately pulled their shirts up around their noses.
"Oh my god, that smells like crap Chris!" exclaimed Taylor, among many of the various insults that were sent in his direction.
"Did you seriously just fart?" asked Ms. Prok.
"Um… maybe?" said Chris nervously.
Ms. Prok looked as if she was going to explode before throwing up her arms and screaming.
"That will not be tolerated!" exclaimed Ms. Prok. Her arm moved like a whip to her back pocket. It then shot up within seconds of moving back. Dono watched as a small silver object shot across the room. It stabbed into the wall not a centimeter away from the side of Chris's head.
"Oh my god!" screamed Chris, running away.
A small, silver knife was stuck into the wall. It had just barely missed Chris's head. If he was anything right now then it was lucky. Ms. Prok slowly walked out from behind the glossy oak desk and swiftly moved towards the wall. She grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out of the wall, turning towards Chris. Chris gasped and hunched his shoulders, putting up his hands in a defensive position.
Pointing the knife at Chris with every syllable, Ms. Prok said, "Like I said, immature behavior like that will not be tolerated again. If anything like that happens one more time, this goes through your head and not the wall."
Chris winced as Ms. Prok made her way back to the desk.
"Anyway," she began. "Let's get to business, and quickly too. Just watch this video and you'll understand everything."
Ms. Prok picked up a small remote and pointed at the television in the musty corner of the room. She clicked at once, and the screen flickered to life. There was a woman on the screen who had pigtails. She was quite beautiful, with blonde hair and a skimpy skirt and long sleeved shirt. Dono looked around to notice all the girls in the room were wearing the exact same clothes - a short black skirt, black shoes and a long-sleeved white top. The boys were all wearing white polo shirts and black jeans along with the same black shoes. The same feeling of claustrophobia came over Dono then as it had Angie not minutes ago; he looked at Sara's neck to see a metal collar. It circled the entire circumference of her neck and there was a small black area on the front that looked like an LCD screen, but nothing was displayed. Reaching up, he realized the same collar was around his neck, and just about everybody else's in the room (the only ones not wearing collars were Ms. Prok and the soldiers). Nudging Sara with his elbow, he grabbed his collar. He pointed at it to let her know it was there, and then she reached her hands up to her neck and gave him a look of terror and surprise when she felt her own.
The girl with the blonde pigtails and skimpy outfit was smiling at the students via live broadcast on the television screen.
"Hello, Advanced Language Arts Class Students!" she exclaimed, just a little too happily. "My name is Sammy Dwyer, and I'll be helping you learn the ups and downs of this game, so you can fight with strength and gusto!" She pumped her fist and gave a huge smile when she said this, showing off her bright, sparkling white teeth. The over zealous woman was as irritating as an itch on your back that you're unable to reach. She had a whiney voice and was way too happy. Imagine a kindergarten teacher. Now imagine a hot kindergarten teacher. Sammy Dwyer was like that.
"I'm sure you're all wondering where we are and all, especially since it's the middle of the night!" she gave a big smile and spread her arms. Behind Sammy appeared a satellite view of what seemed to be an island. It was dark, as it was night (as she had just said), but Dono noticed old city streets and a large fortress. 'It's probably one of those ones left over from the American-Indian War or something,' he thought.
Sammy continued, "We're all currently on this island! Don't worry, we evacuated all the people - it's completely deserted. Not to say you won't find the occasional animal, of course, but there will be no people except us here and you out there."
'But where exactly was 'there',' thought Dono.
Sammy wasn't able to continue before Angie interrupted her live broadcast.
"So this is where you decide to put us?" she said with her eyes closed, leaning against the wall with her arms folded "Mackinac Island?"
Ms. Prok was slumped against the desk with her arms crossed, but slowly turned to face Angie as she said this.
"Yes," replied Ms. Prok. "The official name of this island is Mackinac Island. It has a huge historical importance, so please don't try to go road rage and destroy everything you see."
"Well," said Angie, "Don't you think it's unfair for these kids? I've been to Mackinac Island before. I'll know all the nooks and crannies of the island. If this isn't all a joke, then I'll be able to kill everyone easily."
Ms. Prok pulled up his shirt to reveal a Colt .369 pistol, aiming it at Angie.
"Well maybe I should just kill you now to even the odds?" she asked. Angie was staring at the barrel of the gun that wasn't even 10 yards away from her.
She put her hands out and made a backing off motion, "Wow, jeez, I didn't mean it like that or anything, um, just pride, y'know?"
"Of course," said Ms. Prok. "Just pride."
She returned the pistol to its holster and said to the terrified students, "Back to the video."
All heads turned to the television and Sammy continued:
"Like I said," spoke Sammy Dwyer, "You're all on your own on this island, it's completely deserted. You can't escape by water either. We have 12 guard ships all positioned half a kilometer away from each other around the island. They have the order to shoot to kill. The island itself is about 6 kilometers lengthwise and 3 kilometers tall, if you were looking at it from above. But there's another reason why you can't escape by water."
'Another reason?' thought Dono. 'What's next, we all have to wear funny hats?'
"Now, about the collars you're wearing."
As Sammy said this, most students who hadn't yet noticed they were wearing collars reached up to their necks and felt them. There were some gasps in the crowd and one kid moaned - he may have been claustrophobic. Dono and Sara just looked at each other, and the T.V. - which showed a picture of the exact collar they were wearing located behind Sammy. It was spinning slowly as she explained the various uses the collar had:
"These collars can track your positions. We'll know where you are at all times. But they can do some other cool stuff. Let's say you try to escape. We can send a signal to your collar. The electromagnetic waves can't be stopped either, so hiding in a well won't do you any good. The waves then trigger the collar, which starts to beep… and BOOM!"
When she said this, Nick (Boy No. 7) shouted, "No way?!"
"Calm down, kid," said Ms. Prok. "These collars are explosively lethal. The force of the explosion will be just enough to rip your jugular, but usually you'll get your head blown off. You'll die an extremely painful death. There are a few more rules to the collars, which I'll explain."
She continued, "Every day - four times a day - at 12 and 6, AM and PM, I will announce two things. The first is the people who have died since the last announcement. We know this because the collars also track you pulse, indicating whether you're alive… or not. The second are the 'Danger Zones.'"
She paused for some sort of dramatic effect, which didn't go down too well with the scared students.
'Danger zones - I'm sure they're completely harmless,' thought Dono sarcastically. Another voice in his head said, "You idiot! This isn't the time to be making jokes!"
He ignored it as Ms. Prok continued her lecture on danger zones:
"The island has been divided up into grids," at this point Ms. Prok drew a shape that looked vaguely like Mackinac Island on the board. She then put lines through it in a grid like pattern. She labeled the grid by writing A, B, C, D, etc. vertically down the side to the left of the island, and 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. horizontally above it.
"When I announce the Danger Zones, I will say something like 'C-3.'" She knocked the C-3 square on the board. "This becomes a Danger Zone. If you are in a Danger Zone at the time it becomes one, then your collar will explode."
She let his final sentence hang over the room.
"Walking into a Danger Zone after it has become one will also mean instant death," she added with a grin.
'That's right,' thought Dono, 'Treat us like cattle. Forcing us to move around like that, huh? Then we won't stay in groups - or maybe even move right into the trap of someone willing to play this game.'
Then a thought occurred to Dono:
Who was willing to play this game?
He observed his fellow students; his friends. It was obvious he could never really trust any of them as he had hardly hung out with most of them back at home except Sara. But judging by their personalities…
There was Laura, and she definitely had distaste for the class. She might play the game. Then there was Caroline. Dono was almost positive that she wouldn't play. Most of the girls would probably avoid playing too. Angie was one who might play; she had been to this place before. It gave her a slight advantage over some of the other students. Then there were all his fellow smart kids, and that was an entirely different story…
'Stop,' thought Dono, halting the whirlwind of thoughts in his head. 'They want me to think like this. I'm falling into the government's trap. I'm sure if we got enough people together, a big enough group, then we could somehow break in here and destroy this horrible game.'
"By the way," said Ms. Prok, "Once you leave this school, it will immediately become a danger zone."
'Crap,' thought Dono. 'That just stole our last wild card.'
"Seeming as I've told you all you need to know about the collars, lets get back to the video," said Ms. Prok. All heads turned towards Sammy.
"So, um, that is exactly what the collars will do," said Sammy. "Another thing - if you try to rip the collar off, it'll also explode. Anything to try and get these collars off will instead have your head blown off." A few kids took their hands away from their necks.
"Now," she smiled brightly, "What are you going to fight with?" She bent over and lifted up a bag. The camera backed up to reveal a table, which she placed the green burlap bag on. It seemed odd; things were jutting out of it at random places.
"You each get a day pack, which has several items in it. First is food and water (she pulled out bread and three bottles of water), which I'm sure you'll all use sparingly! Second you'll get a map, pen, and compass that will be especially helpful on your travels around the island. Just like Ms. Prok drew, the map is labeled with an A-1, A-2, B-1 style format. There are important objects, such as the Clinic and Mackinac Fort labeled on the map too, so you should know where you are at all times. And lastly is your weapon (she pulled a small knife out of the bag). Each weapon is totally random! That way, the boys won't have an advantage over the girls or vice versa. Looks like I got a knife in this one!"
'So this is it,' thought Dono. 'This is no horrible joke. It's all real; they're really going to have us kill each other. But how… how could I kill someone? I've never shot a gun in my life… but I may have to… to protect Sara.'
"I forgot to mention one slight detail," said Ms. Prok. "If no one dies for 24 hours, then guess what? All of your collars will explode."
Dono could have sworn he heard the word 'dammit' from the back of the classroom, but he was too stunned at Ms Prok's words to even care. This was all real, and they would make sure someone would kill. It's all too obvious. Even if everyone got in a big group, if they weren't able to do anything for 24 hours one person would crack and start killing others. It made it all too impossible to escape.
"And that's not the last collar rule," said Ms. Prok. "There's a 3 day time limit. If one person isn't left after 3 days then everyone's collar will explode."
Dono's eye twitched. Anger boiled from his stomach, rising up to his mouth. He wanted to scream at Ms. Prok, torture her, kill her in the most horrible and unruly ways. This game was happening, and only one could live.
If there was one presiding emotion then it would be terror. They'd dropped the final bomb. Everyone in here knew that they would die sometime in the next 72 hours. Everyone was anxiously looking around, looking to see who would actually play the game.
And that's when someone took a valiant stand.
"I hate you!" screamed Steven( Boy No. 15). He charged at Ms. Prok, his short legs pumping unnaturally fast.. As he jumped up on the desk which Ms. Prok stood behind two soldiers pushed him to the floor. He landed on his back which made a sick crunching sound.
Ms. Prok walked up to him with a small remote. "You know," she said, "You should really learn to take anger management. Stuff like that could get you killed in some places."
And then Ms. Prok gave the most horrible grin Dono had ever seen. Mrs. Prok's teeth were bared, her nostrils were like slits, and her eyes narrowed at Steven.
"This is one of those places."
She hit a button on the remote. Steven's collar gave off a small beep, followed by another small beep.
He immediately got up. "What's happening?!?" he yelled.
Dono observed the collar. With each beeping noise, a small red light flashed on the LCD screen. The beeps were getting faster, building in tempo, and the red light kept up in speed with it.
"Someone help me!" he screamed. He was running around the room frantically, screaming swear words.
"Someone stop this!" he said as he ran into various students, who simply pushed him away from them. Dono looked away as he realized there was nothing they could do. At this point the beeping was so fast he couldn't count it.
Someone shrieked as the beeping momentarily stopped.
Without warning the beep turned into one long continuous ring, and the LCD panel on the collar lit up red. Steven yelled as loud as he could and charged at Ms. Prok. He jumped up on the desk; put his foot back to kick her in the head, and the collar exploded.

29 students remaining

4

Dono had already turned away before the collar erupted, but he heard something large crash to the floor followed by the splattering sound of liquid. He was too afraid to open his eyes, too afraid to sniff the air that had been tainted with the very crimson of someone he had been standing next to just a few seconds ago. Someone gagged in the back of the room, and he heard the sound of vomit splashing against the floor. A girl screamed and several people ran to the back of the room. The shuffling of feet seemed distant - the shock of Steven's death was just too much. Dono heard the sound of liquid steadily pouring onto the hard wood floor.
"Well that's not good," said Ms. Prok. "I'm not supposed to kill before the game has even started yet. Oh well."
With the explosion of Steven's collar, the game had officially begun.
"So," began Ms. Prok, "seeing as a boy has died, it kinda makes it unfair doesn't it? There are more girls than boys…" Several soldiers ran into the room and grabbed the chunk of Steven's head that was leaking blood on the other end of the room. They stuffed it into a black bag and exited the room.
Ms. Prok took the pistol out from its holster and pointed it once again at Angie.
"You wanted to die, didn't you?" she said.
Angie glared at her. Then she charged. Her footsteps echoed loudly in the cramped room as she sprinted towards Ms. Prok's strong figure.
"I'm gonna kill you, you bitch!"
Dono watched as a figure leaped across the room and stopped in front of Angie. It was Caroline, and she put her arms in front of Angie. Angie screeched to a halt before knocking Caroline to the ground.
"She'll kill you too," Caroline said.
Angie replied, "I won't let her get away with this."
"She'll kill you," repeated Caroline. Angie's facial expression changed to dismay and then to understanding as he stared at Caroline.
"She just killed him," she said.
"She may have killed him," began Caroline, "but she hasn't killed you. Don't let her do that, Angie. Don't give her an excuse to kill someone else."
Caroline grabbed Angie's arm and pulled her away. The two walked to the back of the room. Angie turned and glared at Ms. Prok one more time.
"Well," said Ms. Prok, "Unless any boy objects, I won't kill a girl."
No one objected.
"Now please, watch the video," she yawned, as if all the blood and destruction were boring her.
Sammy Dwyer continued, "I'm going to call your names one by one, every two minutes. You'll then grab a daypack off the rack and head outside. We're in a school, which is marked on the grid in the map you will all receive in your bags. Twenty minutes after the last person leaves the school it becomes a danger zone. So no loitering!"
At this point, the small door opened and several soldiers walked in with a wheelie cart. It was loaded with the same daypacks that were in the video. They stopped near the doorway and stood with their arms at their sides on either side of the cart.
"Zach, Boy No. 1," said Sammy. Zach didn't move.
"On the double!" shouted Ms. Prok. Zach slowly made his way to the front of the classroom. Everyone watched him as he grabbed a daypack off the top of the big pile. His last move was to turn back and look at all of them. His face was completely white. He gave a slight smile and then he ran off out the doorway.
"There goes our first loser," smirked Ms. Prok.
Two minutes past, and Olivia was called. She strode up to the front of the classroom, her hair bouncing on her shoulders. The headband she had perched on her head was off balance. She took a daypack and waved at the group before running down the hall.
"Boy No .2, Brandon."
Brandon strode to the front of the classroom and grabbed a daypack. He didn't turn around and look at the group, or do anything of the sort. He just simply strode out the door. Dono could see that he was shaking. You'd have to be crazy to not be shaking.
"Girl No. 2, Sara."
Dono looked at Sara. She was completely terrified, and her eyes began to well up with tears.
"Go," he said.
"Dono… I'm scared," she said in a small voice, knowing that there was nothing she could really do.
Dono put his head on her shoulder and whispered to her, "I'll meet up with you Sara, some how, some way."
She nodded ran towards the front of the classroom. Dono felt her hand slip out of his.
Is this the last time I see you, Sara?
Sara looked back at him once before she left the room. He could have sworn she gave him the faintest smile, but it was probably his imagination playing tricks on him.
"Boy No. 3, Connor H."
Connor H walked to the front of the room, his blonde hair falling over his eyes. He definitely had a good chance; though small, he looked well built and fit. Giving a small wave, he grabbed a green bag and sprinted out the door. Dono heard his footsteps get farther and farther away as he ran out of the school.
"Girl No. 3, Mckenzie."
Mckenzie was definitely a tall girl, one who currently had her light brown hair bundled in a pony tail. She staggered to the front of the room and grabbed a daypack. Small tears were dripping from her eyes, and she did a good job to not let anyone see them.
"Come on girl, don't cry," said Ms. Prok. "You never know - games can be fun." Unfortunately, she didn't do a very good job hiding them from Ms. Prok.
Dono sighed at the horrible comment. He never knew someone could be so cruel.
Mckenzie ran out of the room with her bag on her shoulder. Just like Brandon, her footsteps slowly faded away as she ran away from the cramped classroom. Two minutes dragged past.
"Boy No. 4, Andy."
Andy moved his arms widely as he strode to the front of the classroom. He seemed to be trying to act cool - which was a foolish mistake. Anybody could tell he was scared stiff. Anybody could tell because 'anybody' was in the same boat. 'Anybody' was on an island forced to kill each other till one was left. 'Anybody' was the students.
Andy grabbed the bag and turned to look at the group.
"Let me tell you all one thing," he said. "If you think any of us are going to play, then you've already lost."
When Dono first heard this, he thought that Andy was talking to the soldiers and Ms. Prok- telling them we weren't going to play. But then he realized Andy was talking to his classmates. He was right, if you think others are going to play then you've already fallen into the government's trap. Playing the game would be ridiculous - no one would do it. Andy made the right choice in telling everyone this before he exited the room. Dono only hoped that the other members would catch on to what he was saying.
The ticking clock in the back of the room counted to 120, and the next name was called.
"Girl No.4, Lauren."
"Here!" she shouted, raising her hand. Then she half ran, half stumbled to the front of the room and grabbed a bag. She took off at lightning speed and Dono heard her trip and fall before getting up to carry on with her mad dash.
"Boy No. 5, Nick."
Nick seemed to know exactly what he was doing. He looked as if he had played this game before. Ms. Prok caught on to this and commented "Hey, you would have a chance unless you listen to Andy, because if everyone listens to Andy than no one will play. That just means you'll have to wait for 24 hours before your head gets blown off!"
'Dammit,' thought Dono. 'She knows that under the pressure of the 24 hour limit, someone will end up killing. This is as much a psychological game as it is physical strength!'
"Girl No. 5, Aubrey."
Aubrey walked up to the front, trying to pull her skirt down. She looked extremely uncomfortable. Grabbing a bag she ran from the classroom; just as many before her had also done.
"Boy No. 6, Alejandro."

Alejandro was muttering something under his breath as he crept up to get his back. Something could be heard about "mindless imbeciles", but everyone else was to terrified out of their wits to make any comment.

"Girl No. 6, Laura"
'So Laura is number 6…' thought Dono. Laura, with a skinny build and blonde hair, spat on the floor before walking up and grabbing a bag. She may have looked to be a wimp, but her attitude told you the exact opposite.
She turned to Ms. Prok, "Thanks a lot."
She had a commanding, powerful, absolutely terrifying voice that sent chills down Dono's spine. Then she casually walked out the door. She didn't care if she was falling into the government's trap - Laura looked like she was here to play. Laura was girl number 6, which meant Boy No. 7 was coming out soon. But which number was he?
"Boy No. 7, Dono."
Dono looked up at the sound of his name, and then realized he was being called. His legs felt like jelly as he walked up to grab a bag. The handle was nice and soft, and the green bag was made of burlap. Looking back at his classmates, he shook his head with a straight mouth. Only 3 yards away was the face up body of Steven. The foul stench of blood hit his nostrils like a wall as he looked at the young boy. Wanting to get away from the horrible sight, he turned and left.
The hallway he was in was deserted, and he began to walk towards the door at the far end. There were doors to his left and right, and looking inside them he saw soldiers sitting at desks and chairs. They were all heavily armed. Another room gave him a view of several computers and other assorted high-tech equipment. A radar portrayed various red dots on what looked like a map of the island. The radar stretched the entire section of a wall, and each red dot had a number in it. He could see dots of people numbers one through six moving away from the school, and in the square marked 'school' was his number, seven. In one section of the square were a bunch of numbers and red dots grouped together - presumably the other students who had yet to leave.
Dono turned and continued to walk through the school's hallway. Another room showed him several girls sitting on a bed together. 'Wonder what's going on in there,' he thought.
Not stopping, he reached the door to the outdoors relatively quickly. As soon as he stepped out of the door, the game would begin. Someone could be there with a gun right now. And this wasn't a silly video game. He couldn't collect coins to have more lives. He couldn't level up to the next level and regain all his strength. No… this was a different type of game.
He opened the door and entered the Battle.

Life is a game. So fight for survival, and see if you're worth it.