28 students remaining

6

Caroline walked out of the school to find a street that looked like it belonged in the 1800s. An empty horse wagon lay to her right, and various antique shops were spaced apart down the length of the road. Turning around, she found herself staring out at a dark mass of water. There were lights in the distance - presumably the light of the lower peninsula of Michigan. 'No escaping to there,' she thought as she saw the looming shadow of a guard boat silhouetted across the mainland lights.
"Caroline?" the voice was barely audible as the wind picked up speed and made a loud whistling noise. She looked to see Olivia, her daypack slung over her shoulder, come out of the shadows of a light pink building.
"Olivia!" she said. She ran up to her and hugged her.
"I'm so scared," she moaned. "I feel like I'm going to wake up from a horrible nightmare."
"This is no nightmare," said Caroline. "Let's get out of here."
She sprinted down the street, holding her hand. Going right, she found herself passing a grassy field with a big stone statue of a man in the center of it. A fortress of mammoth proportions was up on the hillside. She kept running, past more homes and what looked to be a 'butterfly museum.' The lack of activity - plus the darkness - made the island even more eerie as the pair rounded a bend.
They passed a mini-golf course and the 'Mission Point' hotel. Across the road from the hotel was a clutter of trees, which Caroline dragged Olivia into.
They both put their daypacks on the dirt floor.
"This can't be real," said Olivia. Her face was an unhealthy shade of white.
"It's real; all of it," said Caroline. "Let's check out our weapons."
Caroline unzipped Olivia's daypack. She pulled out a map, compass and pen - plus a list of all the students. The map was incredibly detailed, with popular tourist locations noted and the like. Next was some bread and water. Caroline nibbled the bread. It was stale and tasted like crap. No surprise.
Olivia's weapon was a sickle. It gleamed in the moonlight as Caroline examined it. The blade was clean - the weapon was brand new.
"This is probably a lucky weapon to get," she claimed.
"I don't want it," said Olivia.
"What?" asked Caroline.
"I don't want it. I don't want to play this game."
"So if you get attacked, you'll simply let yourself die? You won't fight for your own life, even if it's someone who you've had a grudge against for ages?"
"Well, no, but… I would never feel comfortable having that on me."
"You have to take it Olivia; you have to take it so you have some sort of self defense. You can't wander around this island without some sort of weapon." Olivia , hearing Caroline's words of advice, took the weapon and stuck the handle down the back of her skirt.
"Let's see what you got," she said. Caroline picked up his bag and unzipped it. She took out the map and water, the familiar stale hard bread, and finally, her weapon.
"Damn."
Caroline was holding a Smith & Wesson pistol. The handle was made of metal, as well as the chamber. A clip of twelve bullets was inside his bag as well. She immediately put them in the gun.
"Well, I can say for sure that this one's lucky."
The way she said it was almost comical.
"We've only got 12 bullets," said Olivia . "Which obviously means only twelve shots. Hopefully we won't have to kill anyone with them." But as she said this, she had the feeling that they'd be using the gun for killing. It was the way of the game.
"I wonder who else has come out?" asked Caroline to no one in particular. She wondered what their weapons were, shivering at some of the horror of her own thoughts.
There was a rustling behind her.
Caroline's hands went numb as she pulled back on the pistol and pointed it left and right. Olivia had her hand on the handle of the sickle.
"Did you hear that?" asked Caroline.
"Yeah," said Olivia.
The rustling was heard again.
Meow.
A small black cat with wide yellow eyes came out of the bushes, shaking off its fur.
"Oh," said Olivia. "It's just a cute cat. Come here, kitty!"
The small cat hopped into Olivia's arms and she began to pet him. Caroline watched as she touched noses with the kitten and giggled.
They say the speed of a bullet coming out of a gun is faster than the speed of sound. Caroline learned this was true as dirt sprayed up around her and Olivia. Milliseconds later they heard the chilling sound of a typewriter's keys rattling at an intense speed.
"Run!" shouted Caroline. She pushed up Olivia and the two stumbled out of the grove. A shadowy figure burst out of the tree line. She was holding a sub-automatic pistol; the same thing as an uzi. The chilling typewriter-like sound fell over the serene island again as more bullets pelted the road Caroline and Olivia were running down.
Caroline turned and fired her gun once. She saw the shadowy figure duck and then continue running.
'Crap,' she thought. 'Who the hell is that? I don't want to die here!'
She turned a sharp corner and found herself running up a concrete driveway toward the entrance of the Mission Point hotel. Then an idea occurred to her.
"Get ready," she said to Olivia, who had slowed down, pulling her along.
She fired the pistol twice, two bullets into the huge glass windows of the hotel. Glass splintered and went in different directions as the bullets pierced the frame of the window. With Olivia not far behind, Caroline leaped through the broken frame and landed inside the hotel.

The game of life and death


The two found themselves in a giant lobby, made of mostly wood. Furniture was set nicely around the room, and a beautiful fire burned in an oriental fireplace. But the beautiful scene was shattered as fluff flew from the pillows of the chairs and a gas lamp exploded above Caroline's head (sending glass and oil everywhere) as nine millimeter bullets showered the massive lobby. One of the chairs lit on fire, and like dominoes the whole lobby started up in flames. Fire burned the walls of the brilliant room and spread to the carpet.

The game lost by time


'Crap,' thought Caroline. 'If I stay here, I'm going to be killed before the game even starts. This whole place is going up in flames!'
She and Olivia ran down a hallway. She could hear the pounding footsteps of her pursuer not far behind her. More bullets shattered the very air itself. Wood and plaster flew from the walls and doors of various hotel rooms.
'Who is this insane guy?!?'
They found themselves in a white hallway, with doors than said '101, 102, 103' emblazoned in gold. Looking to the left, he saw some stairs that led up to the second floor. She charged up these and found two more branching hallways. They both looked the same - which was no surprise to Caroline. She took the right one.

The safety of trust and alliance


Olivia was glad she had the comfort of Caroline with her. Plus, she had a gun (she really hoped she wouldn't have to use the sickle. She hoped she'd never have to see someone in the game be killed… but it may be inevitable). She looked back but Caroline instantly turned a corner before she was able to see their pursuer. The uzi she was holding came into her sight before she was yanked away. They carried on down a long hallway until they hit another area. There were some carpeted stairs leading down to the blazing first floor and another long hallway to their left.

No longer exist


"Go down there," said Caroline, pointing towards the stairs. "Take the gun, and I'll take the sickle. I should be able to distract him long enough for you to get away." Olivia gave her the sickle and took the gun - she really hoped she didn't have to use it. But to kill this murderous freak that was chasing after them; maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. She quickly dismissed the thought.
"I'll go," she said firmly. With Caroline around, she was starting to gain more confidence. Caroline was her best friend; it was almost like being at home. But not quite.
Running down the stairs, she saw that almost the whole first floor was up in flames. A wooden barrier fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor sending flames billowing over ornaments and furniture. Sparks erupted from the carpet and several tables lit on fire. She ran, covering her eyes from the smoke as she went towards the nearest doors. She burst outside and kept running until she was at least twenty yards away. Turning back, she saw flames licking from the open windows of the first floor. Smoke curled in tendons from the windows and she felt worried for Caroline's safety.

The blood bath of the Battle


Caroline ran down the long hall and turned to see the fearless assailant at the end of the hallway. The machine gun rattled and Caroline felt pain cut through her leg. A small metal object, presumably a bullet, was sticking out from her calf. Blood leaked from the excruciatingly painful wound, and she used the sickle from Olivia's daypack in one clean swipe to knock the bullet out of her calf muscle. A bit of bloody flesh went with it, but it was no matter to her now. Escaping was the main deal. More chilling rattling noise echoed through the hotel and the assailant was upon her once again.

1 killer
29 broken spirits


Caroline took this moment to view her assailant. At the end of the hallway, she saw a skinny figure loading a new magazine into the uzi. Caroline was shocked to see who it was, standing there with bony forearms and light eyebrows.
"No."
It was Laura.
Caroline coughed and she realized black smoke was curling up from under the carpet. 'The fire!' crossed her mind and she knew she had to get out fast, so she turned and ran.

How do you live in a place of instinct?


The white hallway abruptly ended at a balcony overlooking some stairs. Caroline contemplated her options. She could run down the long stairs and take an extra amount of time - possibly letting Laura catch her and plug her brains out with the uzi - or he could take the risk of jumping down the balcony and get a heads up on Laura. She decided to take the latter, and landed with a painful grunt. Pain stabbed through her wounded leg. Her legs crumpled on the ground as she landed, but she paid no mind to the searing pain in her calf muscle as she saw flames enveloping the whole area in front of her. It was an area that led to the lobby, and the intense heat made her instinctively shut her eyes. A corridor to her right was untouched by flame, so she ran down it.

Driven by hatred


Laura saw Caroline go over the railing of the balcony.
'Smart girl,' she thought. 'But I'm not stupid. I can do sweet secret agent moves too.' Laura ran up to the balcony and jumped. Her feet planted against the far wall and she pushed off, firing herself towards the bottom of the stairs. She rolled as she hit the ground and looked to see Caroline rushing down a corridor. Unlike Caroline, she felt no pain as she did this - completely driven by hatred. A wall of flames was in front of her, and she ignored them as she fired over 250 bullets a minute at Caroline. She didn't make contact, but wood chips shredded and flew all over the place as she hit the walls.

Or the will to live on
Living


Caroline realized she was back in the main lobby, which gave off a sweltering and unbearable heat. She had to get outside.
"Hello."
Caroline n turned, sweating dripping from her face in buckets, to see Laura standing with the uzi pointed straight at her.
Caroline was too stunned to speak, but managed to give a small squeak.
"You know," said Laura. "I have the ability to win this game."
Caroline just stared at her. It was true; she was at the beck and call of Laura right now. The amazing gun was pointed straight at her, and Caroline's pistol was limp at his side.
"So now I shall decide… do I play?" smiled Laura.
Caroline watched as Laura pulled the water bottle out of her bag. She squeezed it as hard as she could until it burst open, sending water everywhere. Caroline was stunned at Laura's upper body strength.
"So I flipped a coin. Heads; I play this game. Tails; I fight back against Ms. Prok."
Caroline already knew the answer.
"It was heads."
As Laura was about to pull the trigger, a loud explosion sounded from above her.

Brings only the pain
That you have destroyed


A large wooden beam fell from the ceiling, showering sparks and splinters throughout the lobby. Caroline observed as if she was watching an action movie. It was one of those parts where it goes into slow motion and something crazy happens. In this case, the crazy part was a wooden beam landing right next to Laura. Sparks flew into her eyes, temporarily blinding her. Caroline took the opportunity to run.

The only thing
That is important now


Caroline knew her priorities and her main focus now was to get the hell out of there. She peered around to see two large wooden doors, which she immediately ran to. There was a gold metal push bar on the front, which burnt her hands as she grabbed it. Taking off her white polo shirt that all the girls were wearing,(luckily they had white camisoles under it as well) she wrapped it round her hands and opened the door. There was a small room beyond it, and then more double doors. She burst through these to breath in fresh air; a long sought after feeling.

is Life

Caroline was knocked to the pavement as an explosion shook the ground. Shee turned around to see a horrific sight; a humongous fireball that lit up the sky. The massive explosion engulfed the whole hotel. She cleared her eyes and went onto her hands and knees. In front of her was a massive wall of flame. Scared out of her mind, she turned and charged away from the inferno. Running, he saw Olivia moving toward the exit of the hotel. The two met up and ran off, Caroline pulling on her shirt. The fireball made the island seem as if it was in daylight for only a few moments. But Caroline was too preoccupied with getting out of the hotel's general vicinity.
The hotel was a gleaming ball of light and fire in the sky, and it could be seen from anywhere on the island. Caroline didn't know if Laura was dead or not, but it was obvious that the fireball should have killed her, easily. But he had learned that Laura was a moving powerhouse with all parts working and well-oiled.
Back at the hotel, a figure, covered in soot, rose from the flaming debris. Holding an uzi, her figure was just a silhouette against the bright flames.
Laura spat to the side and cursed. Caroline had got away, and taken a whole hotel with her. Laura only sighed; if she was the only one playing this game, then so be it.
It was time to hunt more members.

28 members remaining