16
Dono,
Sara and McKenzie sat together. It was dark, and Dono's glow watch
read 9: 23 PM. Ms. Prok had been angry in her 6 PM, saying that no
one had died since noon. But this didn't matter to Donovan. Ms.
Prok had even said herself that the 2nd day was almost upon them. If
this was true, then Dono had at the most 50 hours left of his life.
Unless he won the game. But he banished the sickening thought as he
looked at Sara.
McKenzie had come
barreling out of the bushes at a fast pace, bouncing into Sara and
falling to the ground. She looked hysterical, and informed them that
Lauren was out to kill, that she had already gotten her grubby hands
on Brittany. This was soon confirmed when Ms. Prok announced the
death of Brittany, and Donovan grimaced at the thought. She had been
with them ever since, too afraid to go leave their pack (although
Sara insisted that them traveling as one big group was not a good
idea at all).
Dono thought of the
last 24 hours as the day waned. It seemed like it was all only a
surreal dream he'd woken up from but 5 minutes ago. But he knew, as
he pinched himself, that he was here in the flesh. He'd told
himself this multiple times, but sometimes just failed to truly
realize it. The simple thought of what was going on… it was just
too ridiculous. He wondered if the news of this would filter to other
countries. This could be worse than the holocaust, bigger than 9/11,
maybe even worse than genocide.
"Do
you know what genocide is?"
Dono
remembered when Ms. Prok had asked this back in the classroom. What
was going on wasn't genocide, it wasn't mass murder… but it was
murder nonetheless, and Dono sat helpless without even a weapon. 'Why
didn't I remember my sword?' he thought. 'That's a weapon I
think would be helpful. But there's nothing I can do now.'
It
was true; there was absolutely nothing he could do at this point. Not
to get his sword, not to escape the island, not to shout for help. He
was trapped.
"I really think
there's nothing we can do, we can't escape, we can't run and
there's no hiding from them with these collars," he said.
"There
must be some way to get out of here," said Sara.
McKenzie
sat with her legs pressed against her chest, not sating anything as
the moon became visible over the tree tops.
"I
honestly think they've done everything possible to erase any way of
us escaping. They've taken every possible idea and massacred it,"
said Dono.
"I agree," said Sara.
"But maybe for now we should just keep traveling and avoid the
dangers of those willing to play. Maybe another member will come up
with something to do."
"I'm
just so pissed," moaned Dono. "I really thought I'd get to have
some fun y'know? Now some of us are dying, and quickly too."
"Like
Brittany," said McKenzie, from the shadows.
"Tell
us more about it," said Sara. "We really want to know what
happened."
"I'll tell you the
whole story," said McKenzie. Dono and Sara nodded.
"I
was sitting in a house all on my own. There was a noise from outside,
and I turned to see Lauren creeping up on Brittany. Sensing the
danger, I tried to open my window and warn her, but it was too late.
Lauren cut her throat. Then Lauren saw me and entered the house.
Instinct told me to get out of there quick, so I did. She chased me
for ages, saying that if I didn't slow down she'd cut my wrists.
Eventually, I lost her. I was so glad but I kept running. Then I
found you guys."
"That's quite
a story," said Dono.
"We'll
have to keep that in mind if we see Lauren," mentioned Sara, which
Donovan hastily agreed to.
The
game is full of death, destruction and hatred. But the one thing you
must try to achieve is trust.
McKenzie
had betrayed them all.
23 students remaining