Jonas Thurman could see Kate across the street from his position in a western-style restaurant. She was looking at different CD's in the music store while looking around every ten seconds. It was almost time for the third announcement, which would determine whether or not he was going to try and talk to her. If someone she was close to died then he could pretend to be sad too and suggest they team up. Jonas has already grabbed a spatula from the kitchen so he could say it was his weapon. He wished there had been knives or something even remotely more useful, but it appeared that all of the knives had been removed.

He stayed down, hiding underneath a table near the front until the announcement came on. Gosh it was cold.

"Hello my little warriors! I hate to distract you all from your fun, but it's time for some news! Among the dead are Boy #6, Javier Cruz, Boy #7, Nicholas Green, Girl #7, Ivy Hines, Girl #8, Lindsay Hughes, and Girl # 2, Lisa Allen. You're halfway there! Keep up the good work! Now, the restricted zones are A5 at 3am, E3 at 6am, and B6 at 9am."

Jonas marked off the areas on his map and saw Kate doing the same. Luckily Ivy and Lindsay were gone, meaning that she was vulnerable and needed a shoulder to cry on. He picked up his bag, looked both ways down the street, and walked nonchalantly over to the music store, when he pretended to be surprised to see her and walked up to her. Kate wasn't as happy to see him. She had her Taser pointed at his chest.

"Kate… It's me."

"Yeah, and I don't trust you yet. What weapon do you have?"

"Just this." he said, pulling out a spatula.

"Oh, so you just walked out of a restaurant and you coincidentally have a spatula as a weapon? I don't think so. Show me your real weapon."

"This is my real weapon… Kate… are you feeling alright?" he asked this last part slowly. If he could make her think that she wasn't thinking straight, then that Taser was as good as his.

"Just leave while you still can." she almost yelled. A Taser wasn't worth this much effort. He held his hands up and backed up towards the door. He reached for the door and pushed it open, letting the cold night air chill the music store. Then she pulled the trigger. Pain shot through his body and he collapsed onto the floor. Kate didn't trust him to walk around out there. She looked through his bag and found that he had been given a spatula. She took most of his water and food and left him lying halfway out of the door. She looked over at a car that was blackened on one side with it's windows blown out. She hoped that whoever had done that was dead now and walked off.

Kurt Hartman almost didn't notice Collette Russo sleeping on the tiled floor of the diner. She was huddled underneath a table, using her sweater as a sleeping bag. He walked silently in the diner through the back door. Half of the class was dead, and he still didn't have a decent weapon. Still, he readied his ladle as he looked to see what weapon she had in the moonlight. Then he saw her revolver a few inches away from her right hand. Should he slowly grab it, or just rush it and get it before she can react? He opted for rushing it and snatched it, managing to wake her in the process. She grasped for the gun that was no longer there and swung her legs out, tripping him slightly but he managed to stay standing.

"Stay down!" He yelled with his new weapon in hand. She didn't move. Her left hand had fallen into her bag and was shaking slightly. Should he kill her? He had only really wanted the gun for protection, but eventually, he would have to play. Why not now? No, he thought, it's not who you are. He sighed and lowered the gun. He couldn't do it.

Then she pulled out another gun and shot, but the bullet went far to the left of his head. He shot at her but she had already scooted back underneath the table so he couldn't see her. She shot again and hit a leg of a table nearby. He jumped on top of a table and jumped over to the counter. A bullet hit a pepper shaker. He shot twice in her general direction but missed. Where was she?

Out of nowhere a bottle of water hit him in the face and spilled onto the counter. He slipped off and saw Collette for a brief second. He shot but she had jumped onto a table. He tried to push back underneath a table but the floor was wet from the water bottle as well. Another water bottle came and knocked his revolver from his hand, sending it skidding across the floor. She walked onto the table next to him and aimed her gun at him, but he kicked up a chair and she fell off. Collette landed on her side and shot at him, one bullet grazed his calf. Kurt pulled his legs in and threw a tabled down between them. He heard two bullets shoot into it and he pushed off of it towards the revolver. He was a few inches from it and he pulled himself forwards. His fingertips brushed it and suddenly a table flipped onto his fingers. He screamed and three bullets shot into his back.

Boy #8, Kurt Hartman- Eliminated

12 Students Remaining

Donna Yarber was laying in the big bed of the house she had been hiding in since the beginning. She had yet to meet anyone, thanks to her "weapon" which told her whenever someone was coming so she could hide. It was about three in the morning. She had been slept twice so far, in six hour increments. Her sleeping schedule had always been a bit off, but the Program had made it even more so. She yawned and checked her locator thing. The screen showed that no one was near her. Luckily people seemed to be staying away from this area. She sat up and pulled on her sweatshirt before walking across the cold hardwood floor to the kitchen.

She pulled a bag of barbecue chips from the cupboard and snacked on them for an early breakfast. This house had been pretty well stocked, except the electricity had been turned off so it was constantly cold. She made her way to the couch and picked up a flashlight the copy of A Clockwork Orange that she had found here. She was most of the way through it now, and even though the wording was complicated and the subject matter was extremely brutal, she found it a very good story about an oppressive and evil government. She wished that the previous owners of this house had a copy of Les Miserables, but anything that she could escape into was good enough. She had always been a good reader, but she found that it was easier to relate with characters in books than real people. Eventually she just gave up on real people and stuck with her books.

Donna heard a shatter from outside. She dropped the book, walked quickly to the bedroom and picked up the locator. There was a red dot that indicated that there was someone about ten meters outside the house. She walked carefully to the front room and lifted up the corner of the curtains. It looked like Brandon; he was short and dark and he had on his black jacket. He hadn't seen her so she put back the edge of the curtain. Brandon didn't appear to have a weapon, but she couldn't be sure if he was hiding it or not. She let out a breath of air and sat up against the wall. Hopefully he would leave soon. She looked back at the screen and saw that she might have to run soon.

There was a second dot on the other side of Brandon's dot.

Brandon Lowe walked on the light layer of snow on the ground. The night was bone-chillingly cold, but his jacket was thick enough to keep him warmish. He looked at a nearby house. It was a very nice house, with a French-style outside and a three car garage. It should be a nice enough place to stay for a while. He walked up to the front door and pushed it open.

He had been separated from Spencer when they had been shot at at the medical clinic. They had agreed to meet up near one of these fancy houses when they had first started out. He wondered when Spencer would show up.

Then he heard a snap behind him. He turned around, rolling up the doormat to use as a temporary weapon. Brandon looked around to see where it could have come from. There was a car parked on the side of the road not too far away, so he carefully crept up towards it. There was another snap and this time he could tell that it was definitely coming from behind the car. He readied the mat and jumped around to see who was making the sound.

But there was no one there. His gaze turned to a small box, about the size of his palm. A snap came out from a tiny speaker in the box's top. What was it? Brandon never found out the answer to that question because at that moment he felt cold metal against his neck. He turned around and swung his mat as hard as he could as it cut into his throat. Blood filled his airway and he clasped his neck, letting the mat unroll. The attacker ambled back, now semi-recovered from the blow with the mat. They struck again into Brandon's arm. Brandon let out a gurgled scream and he fell down, kicking madly. The third blow hit him in the hand covering his neck. Brandon closed his eyes and succumbed to the darkness.

Boy #9, Brandon Lowe- Eliminated

11 Students Remaining

Donna was running as fast as she could away from the house. She didn't know where, but she was running, which would normally be hard for her, but given what she had just seen the adrenaline made up for her slowness. She tripped over a rock and skidded along the snowy asphalt. Her teeth clenched, her arms burned, she rolled her sleeves up over them, ran to a nearby auto shop, ran inside and slumped against the door. This was too much.

After she had finished catching her breath she looked around, first in the waiting room area, where coffee had been spilt onto the floor and chairs had been overturned. Then she went into the actual shop when she slipped on some oil. She got up and, looking at the oil, realized that it was red. She screamed before hurriedly clasping her hand over her mouth. Whose blood was this?

Spencer Bennett was walking towards the area where the richer houses were through the woods. There was less snow on the ground now that the sun had started to come out. He shivered, wishing that he had brought a coat with him. His frozen hands clutched the handle of the Steyr TMP. Brandon had run out of grenades at the medical center, so hopefully he didn't run into anyone he couldn't handle. Or maybe it would be better if he did, so he wouldn't have to kill him later on. Only one could win afterall. Half of the class was gone now, meaning that most of the weaker people had already been weeded out. The remaining students would be the players and the athletes. Although, a lot of the athletes were already gone, namely Javier, Lisa, and Ryan. He thought pulled the class roster out of his bag and scrutinized the names without marks next to them, making mental notes about them. Only one could win, and that would be him. He made his way through the trees, this thought fresh in his mind.

Mrs. Daphne sat uncomfortably on a couch that had been placed in the monitor room after the students had all left. She could feel one of the soldiers eyeing her from the corridor, but she didn't care. Her eyes were glued to the twenty monitors a few feet away, each of which was focused on a different student. Some of the more active students had two. She prayed that they would all just stop playing. What a horrible term that was: playing. Like children playing a game. But was no game, not at all. This was wrong. All of it. She had been threatened by Mr. Rudolph's men that if she didn't tell them what they had to do that she would be killed. She hated herself for going through with it, but she had to make sure that someone was watching the children. Her children. But what could she even do? She looked at the class roster below her. Mr. Rudolph had taken the liberty to cross off the names of the deceased. She shuddered. There were so many names crossed off.

B1 Ricky Adkins- Very fit. Has a strong chance of winning if given a good weapon.

G1 Brittney Albert- Popular.- Likely to team up with friends but killed halfway through.

B2 John Banks- Good student. Likely to die early on.

G2 Lisa Allen- Fast. Likely to make it until she has to confront someone.

B3 Spencer Bennett- Bully. Likely going to play hard and might win.

G3 Nicole Boyd- Prissy but fast. Likely to get killed off early if she doesn't make an alliance.

B4 Kevin Byrd- Weak. Likely to die early on.

G4 Ruth Campbell- Strong religious morals. Likely to die early on because she won't play.

B5 Martin Coleman- Good hunter. If given a gun he stands a chance of winning.

G5 Naomi Coleman- Strong religious morals. Likely to die early on because she won't play.

B6 Javier Cruz- Athletic. Should do decently.

G6 Kelly Dennis- Class president. Likely to be too trusting and be betrayed.

B7 Nicholas Green- Been on various drugs for depression and anxiety. Likely to commit suicide.

G7 Ivy Hines- Strong. Might win if given a good weapon and avoids confrontation.

B8 Kurt Hartman- Fast. Likely to do pretty well.

G8 Lindsay Hughes- Smart. Likely to panic and do something stupid or commit suicide.

B9 Brandon Lowe- Troublemaker. Likely to backstab Spencer to win.

G9 Kristin Jenkins- Small but feisty. Likely to put up a good fight before she dies.

B10 Owen Miller- Smart. Likely to die early.

G10 Kate Peterson- Calm. Likely to stay cool headed and hidden until the end when she dies.

B11 Jonas Thurman- Class vice-president. Likely to try and make a group.

G11 Maria Rodriguez- Lovergirl. Likely to sacrifice self for Ryan to win.

B12 Jacob Tyler- Fit and popular. Will probably try to make a large group but be killed off later.

G12 Collette Russo- Hates her classmates. Could be a contender if she gets a good weapon.

B13 Ryan Walters- Loverboy. Likely to sacrifice self for Maria to win.

G13 Donna Yarber- Very out of shape. Likely to die early.

"Half dead in one and a half days. Pretty impressive isn't it." Mr. Rudolph said, walking up from behind her. "Nowhere near the record mind you, but impressive none the less." She stayed silent and put the papers down. What kind of sick bastard did this for a living? Her eyes flicked up towards a monitor. Oh God, she thought.

Ricky Adkins ran through the woods with the wooden board he was currently using as his weapon. He had been lucky that he hadn't seen anyone with a gun so far, but it was bound to happen sooner or later and he needed a better weapon. Ricky suddenly stopped. There was a rope stretched between two trees right in front of him. A carefully stepped over it and took another step, resulting in a sharpened branch being flung into his gut. Who the heck had done all this? He grit his teeth and pulled it out. It looked like a shank. He pocketed it before trying to find the meager medical supplies he had been given in his pack.

Martin Coleman had been hard at work, setting up trip wires all around this section of the forest. He had acquired quite a lot of rope from the shed that Lisa had hidden in, and he was putting it to good use. His dad had taught him how to make snares for rabbits and deer, so he only had to make them a bit bigger for use on humans. He was just tying up another one when he heard a loud noise. He held his machete down the length of his forearm and walked towards it. He peeked around a tree and saw his prey. Ricky Adkins. Surely he had been given a decent weapon. Ricky was leaned up against a tree trunk tending to a wound in his side. Time to win, he thought.

Then he charged Ricky. He barely had any time to react and it was all over before he could let out a yell. Martin looked over and saw that Ricky's weapon was a wooden board. Not exactly worth it, but at least it was one more down.

Boy #1, Ricky Adkins- Eliminated

10 Students Remaining

Jonas Thurman was watching as Kelly Dennis came his way. His chest was burning from the taser attack earlier but he ignored it the best he could. He needed to be as friendly as possible to Kelly if he wanted to take her weapon. She was cautiously checking every alleyway and window as she walked down the street. He carefully opened the door and waved to her. She looked both ways before crossing the road to him.

"Oh my gosh, Jonas, I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Yeah, I'm glad you're okay too. This is so crazy!"

"I know right. I can't believe some people are actually doing it. We all need to just band together and find someway out of this."

"Exactly. Have you found anyone else yet?"

"Yeah, I found Naomi and Ruth right before Brittney killed them. I can't believe she's actually playing! I barely got away myself! Oh, and I saw Kurt for a little bit, but he only had a ladle and he didn't attack me so I don't think he's playing. What about you, you see anyone?"

"Yeah, Kate. This game has gotten to her head. She tased me!"

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just a bit sore. Thank God she didn't have a gun or anything."

"No kidding! It's so weird, I never thought of her as the irrational type."

"Me either. I guess it just goes to show you how crazy this Program is."

"Yeah, crazy… I think that an announcement is going to come on soon." She checked her watch. "Yep, almost noon."

"I hope we aren't in a restricted zone."
"Same here. I…" She stopped talking to listen to the announcement that had just come on.

"Hello once again, my little warriors! You are slacking! Only three dead since I last checked in. Boy #1, Richard Adkins, Boy #14, Kurt Hartman, and Boy#15, Brandon Lowe. Just ten of you left: six girls and four boys. Congrats to the girls for outnumbering the guys. Anyhow, maybe this will make things move along more rapidly. Half of you will be receiving a new random weapon! Don't worry, these ones aren't as horrible as what some of you got. The five lucky contestants will be airdropped a weapon in an hour, so look to the skies and stay alive. Also, Sections B2, F3, D5, and C4 will become off limits at 3pm, 6pm, 9pm, and midnight respectively. Good luck!"

"Well that's not entirely promising." Jonas said.

"Yeah… hopefully they all go to someone not playing. What weapon did you get?"

"Just a spatula. What about you?"

"Blow darts." Kelly replied, nodding to the pipe slung around her shoulder. Jonas held his spatula firmly in his hand. Blow darts wouldn't be too great of a weapon against automatics. Hopefully at least one of them would get a decent weapon within the next hour. Then he would leave Kelly and he could start playing this thing. He may not have done anything yet, but he was confident in his ability to catch up with the right weapon.

"Come on, we're in C4. We should get to someplace where we can spend the night." Kelly said, awaking him from his scheming.

"Yeah, let's go." He replied. He could wait until night to take her weapon.