5
Donna Yarber was huddled in the auto shop's lobby area, her eyes on the screen of her locator. She was relieved to find out that she was in a safe zone, but with only ten people left, someone was bound to find her sooner or later, and when they did, she had no way of protecting herself. She had been able to live this long by hiding, but her luck was going to run out sooner or later. Her eyes remained glued to the screen of the device, hardly daring to blink. She was scared. She felt a bead of sweat run down her face. The air became harder to breathe. She could feel her time running out. Her heart was beating like a machine. In fact, it even sounded like one. It got louder and louder until she realized that her heart wasn't the thing making that noise. She checked her locator again before going outside.
Donna looked up at the helicopter just as it flew away. That's weird she thought. Then, she looked at the ground and saw the package now covered in a white parachute. Was that hers? She checked the locator and saw that no one was around. Well it was definitely hers. Finally, some good luck in this thing. She jogged over to it and unwrapped the package, letting several clips of ammunition fall to the concrete. Her weapon was a Scorpion gun. She examined it and picked up an instructions manual that had fallen out with the clips. After some quick reading she loaded it, putting the extra clips into her bag. She didn't want to use it, but she knew she would have to eventually if she wanted to win.
She sat up against the side of the garage, her eyes fervently switched from the locator and the instructions manual. About half an hour later she had memorized the instructions and had practiced aiming at some buildings far away. Donna wished that she could practice actually shooting, but she knew that would give away her position. This is insane, she thought, I should be home, reading Les Miserables and drinking cider, not training to kill. But whether she should be home or not, she was here, and being here meant that she had to do what she needed to do.
Donna looked down at her locator and saw a red dot on the right edge of the screen. She had made it this far, and she wasn't ready to give up now. She grabbed her bag and ran, her new gun in hand.
The air was a bit too cold for Jacob's liking as he searched for Kristin behind the town bank. But then again, it was warmer than it had been the last day. The weather here was insane; it could be snowing one minute and sunny the next. Still, he had been very fortunate that he had worn his jacket on the trip. He knew for a fact that Kristin only had a t-shirt to warm her up. Jacob knew that she could handle herself, but still, what if she ended up cornered against Spencer and Brandon? Well, just Spencer now, but still. But who could have taken out Brandon? Didn't he have grenades? Or his best friend, Ricky for that matter? Ricky had to be the most in shape student in the school. He played football and soccer, and even got mistaken for a senior several times a year. Jacob hoped that he wouldn't run into whoever had killed him.
The sun was slowly making it's descent into the horizon. It had been over 48 hours since this thing had all started, and somehow both he and Kristin were both still alive. He hoped that he would find her soon, safe and sane. Then Jacob could help her win. He would play to make sure that she got out. He didn't want to kill anyone, but for Kristin he would do anything. Just to make sure that she was safe. He sighed and looked down at his map. Maybe Kristin was near the richer houses. It was the only urban area he hadn't checked yet, and he was sure that she wouldn't be in the woods if she could help it. Jacob started running North, sniper rifle slung over his shoulder and GP 35 in his hand, praying that he would find her.
Brittney Albert was walking down the street holding her newly acquired shotgun at the ready. She had been very fortunate that the previous owners had been such wimps and left it in the history classroom.
This whole Program was weird. It felt like a dream that she would wake up from soon. It was also kind of exhilarating. If you had asked her before she got on the bus if she would even consider killing her classmates she would have said no way. But now that she had done it four times, felt the rush, the sensation of being in such control, she wasn't going to stop. Not until she was the last one anyways.
Brittney heard a helicopter flying above her. She pressed herself against the side of a building and watched as it dropped off a long package attached to a parachute. She ran over to it and ripped off the plastic wrapping and saw the long shaft of a pike. She picked up her new weapon and admired the elegant blade atop the long wooden pole. This could be useful. Brittney opened her bag and tossed out the knife and pepper spray, along with some empty bags of food. Her bag was bulging with food that she had taken from her classmates.
Brittney swung her pike around a few times at imaginary classmates, imagining how she would take them out. Just nine more, and she would to go back to her normal life. Then she realized how boring her normal life would seem after all of this. Sure, it would be nice to take a shower and watch tv, but after a while that would get boring. She thought about what her life would be like after this. Probably a few interviews about how she won and what it was like playing for the first few weeks, and then she would just be reduced to watching tv. Her, a winner of The Program! She would be glad to see her family and friends again though. Then, a realization smashed into her like a bus.
Her friends were dead. Maria, Nicole, Ryan, Ricky, Kurt, all dead. But, that's not my fault, she thought. The image of Nicole dying on a bush flashed through her mind. No, I had to! She was going to kill me! It's how you win! Nicole ran from her in her mind. No, I'm your friend! Nicole screamed and looked at Brittney, terror filling her eyes. No, stop, please, don't leave me! Maria was running from her too now. So was Ryan. And Kristin. And then everyone was running from her. Stop! Don't leave me alone! They kept running and she couldn't keep up. Suddenly she was alone. She turned around in the darkness, trying to find someone, anyone.
Then she was in the library. It was seventh grade and she was looking for a book for her next book report. A round girl with glasses came up to her.
"I would recommend this book." she said, holding out a copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy. "It's pretty funny for a book, and not too hard to read."
"Umm, thanks." Brittney said. She went up to check it out.
"I liked your poem today." the girl said.
"My what?"
"Your poem. About your father."
"Oh, umm, thanks."
"My dad's gone too."
"How do you know that my dad's gone?"
"I could just tell. By the way you read it."
"Oh.." Brittney almost said that she was sorry, but her friends came in at that moment.
"What does this nerd want from you Britt?" one of them said.
"She just gave me this book."
"Ha! What a weirdo!" She took the book from Brittney's hands and threw it at the girl. She recoiled and picked it up to re-shelve it.
"Yeah," another friend said, "what a creep!"
Brittney could feel the pressure from her friends to join in, to prove that she didn't feel sorry for this nerd. But she did. She should have said stop. She should have said to leave her alone. She should have ran away, but what she did next was far worse than any amount of books you could throw at a girl.
"Even her own father thinks so! He left her, she told me! He probably couldn't stand to have such a piece of crap for a daughter!" she filled these words with as much spite as she could muster. Not spite to the girl, but to her own father.
But the girl didn't know that. Her glasses filled with tears and her lips trembled. The girls watched impressed at what Brittney had done. The girl ran out of the library and straight into the bathroom.
"C'mon guys, lets leave Donna to cry away her filth." a girl said. They left the library, not noticing that Brittney had slipped the discarded book into her bag. Not noticing the tears forming in her eyes.
Brittney was back in the present suddenly. She was leaning against the wall of a shop. What had just happened? Warm tears ran down her face, dropping off her chin onto the ground. But she didn't feel them. She didn't feel it when her knees hit the sidewalk, or when her head rested upon her bag. She didn't feel scared or guilty or grief or half a dozen other things that she should have felt in that moment. Brittney Alberts felt cold, and nothing else.
Collette Russo could see the outline of the boy in the distance. It had to be him, who else could walk with such arrogance at a time like this. She readied her weapons, one in both hand, and quietly ran up behind him. She was about twenty feet away from him now. He didn't seem to hear her walking. She ran up a few more feet before jumping out from behind a tree and firing. Spencer ducked behind a tree almost immediately and returned fire with an automatic weapon of some sort. She swore and ducked behind a tree until he stopped firing. Then she shot at him several more times, emptying both guns. She reloaded while he returned fire.
She realized that this would go on forever if something didn't happen soon. Collette waited until he had to reload, and then she quietly jumped up behind a new tree, still firing to make him think she was doing the same thing he was. When she stopped, Spencer began firing at the tree that she used to be at. From her new angle, Collette shot several bullets into his back and he fell to the ground behind the tree. It was silent. His legs weren't moving. Collette had won.
She happily ran up to grab his automatic. She turned around the tree and saw Spencer's limp body. Serves him right for being such a pervert, she thought. She was reaching down for his gun when she realized that something didn't feel right. What was it? Was it guilt? No, definately not. It was more like the environment was off. Then he swung his arm up and hit her face with the side of the gun. She swore and tried to move back but it was too late, Spencer was already firing off into her. Then she realized that there wasn't any blood on him. She screamed and he fired until the clip was empty.
Girl # 12, Collette Russo- Eliminated
9 Students Remaining
Spencer was lucky that she hadn't shot at his head. Even luckier though, that he had gotten body armor from a helicopter about half an hour ago. Just what he needed to win. And with only nine or less students remaining, he felt pretty good about his chances of winning.
Mrs. Daphne stared at the monitor focusing on Kelly and Jonas. She could hear them talking about how to end The Program. Mrs. Daphne felt her stomach sink. There was no way out. She of all people should know that. She had tried to blow up the building with her friends when The Program was just starting out. She shuddered and pushed back those memories. She had become a teacher to protect children, to ensure that they wouldn't have to go through what she went through, but now she was powerless. She had realized too late what was going on in the bus, and had failed to protect them.
"I'll give it to them, they have serious guts to try something this late in the game." said Mr. Rudolph, coming up from behind her.
"I think it might work." she said.
"Hahaha, only if they could find gas. We siphoned out the gas from every car we found. There's not even a drop left."
"But there's bound to be some you missed somewhere."
"Doubtful. Besides, blowing up the generator would only disable the danger zones, the collars would still explode if you try to take them off."
"So the collars are battery powered?"
"No, they just are manually powered and activated by a smaller generator and it's officer." And if they manage to somehow drive a truck into him then I'll be extremely impressed."
"Oh." she said as casually as she could. It was about 2pm now. She hoped that she they would stop fighting soon.
"Oh look, three of them are closing in at the same time!" he said excitedly. Mrs. Daphne left the room, pretending to not be able to handle the fighting. She had to find that second generator. Soon.
Donna's luck from earlier seemed to have worn off. Not that she was in trouble or anything, but the locator had just died, leaving her to amble around the map blind. It was starting to get dark as the sun finally hid behind some trees in the distance. Soon she would have to find someplace to spend the night, but for now, she was making sure there was no one around.
"Donna!" said a cheerful voice behind her. She swung around and aimed her gun at the sound.
"Whoa, don't shoot, it's me, Kelly." said Kelly, coming out from behind a tree. Donna warily wondered whether or not Kelly could be trusted. But then again, Kelly could have easily snuck up on Donna in the darkening woods.
"Hey Kelly."
"Hey! Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're okay! I've been trying to get people to not play from the beginning but this game is crazy. C'mon, if you come with me we'll have a real team to beat this thing!"
"How do you plan to beat this thing?"
"Well Jonas and I have been talking it over and we think that if we were to drive a truck right into the radio tower's generator, the collars won't work, and then we could find some way to get them off."
"Jonas and you? How many of you are there?"
"Just us two right now. But three if you come with us! I'm sure once we get the collars off people will stop playing, and we can stop all of this killing. Please say you'll come with us Donna. We're safer in numbers and we don't have anyone to keep watch yet."
"Keep watch?"
"Yeah, while we fix up the truck to run by itself. Neither of us have guns so we can't very well guard. So, what do you say?"
"Ummm, sure." Donna said slowly. This whole plan sounded pretty decent, and if she trusted anyone, it would be Kelly. Kelly who was crazy enough to walk right up to an armed girl so she could ask her to join them.
"Great! Our base is this way." she said, leading the way.
After about ten minutes of walking, they made it to the front door of a trailer. Kelly knocked on the door and Donna could hear it unlocking. Jonas poked his head out and saw Donna almost immediately.
"Jonas, we have a new recruit!"
"Hey Donna." he said quietly, letting them in. The trailer was small but cozy, with two couches piled high with blankets and pillows.
"Make yourself at home Donna." Kelly said. Donna sat herself on a sofa and Jonas brought her some lukewarm broth in a mug.
"Sorry it's kinda cold, we cooked it while it was still light out." he said.
"Thanks."
"Yep. What gun is that?"
"Oh, ummm, it's called a Scorpion. I got it from the helicopter."
"Cool. Can I look at it please?"
"Ummm, sure?"
"Thanks." he said, examining the gun. Donna sipped her broth and eyed him nervously.
"We were going to rig up the truck tonight, so we could save people as soon as possible, but also in the dark so hopefully most people will be indoors."
"Cool."
"Yeah. So in an hour or so we will go get th- whoa, don't point that at anything you don't want to shoot." Kelly said, causing Donna to look up at Jonas, who was now aiming her gun at them with a sickly smirk on his face
"Up! Both of you!"
Donna and Kelly stood in shock. Jonas had a gun. Donna's gun. He aimed it at them for a long time before Kelly decided to speak up.
"Jonas… you don't have to do this, you don't have to play." she said as calmly as she could.
"Yes I do!" he shouted. "I need to win! My father will have to be proud of me if I win! He'll have to!"
"I don't think he wants you to kill people, Jonas."
"Shut up! You think you know everything but you don't, Kelly! You don't know my father so SHUT UP!"
"Jonas, we're your friends. This is crazy! We go to school together!"
"I said shut up!"
"If you really wanted to hurt us you would have pulled the trigger by now. C'mon, just put the gun down and we can talk about this."
"You don't think I can do you? You think I'm too weak to?"
"No, that's not it, just…"
"Is this weak, bitch!?" he screamed, pulling the trigger. Kelly closed her eyes, heard Donna scream and felt Donna fall against her legs.
"DONNA, NO!"
"I told you I would!" he yelled. Kelly was so sure that Jonas would shoot her, not poor Donna. She lay on her side, struggling to breathe, holding her rapidly bleeding chest. Donna was trying to speak but blood flowed out of her mouth. Jonas didn't pay her any attention, now focused on Kelly completely. Kelly kept switching between the two, not sure what to do.
"Now it's your turn!" he yelled, reloading the gun. Donna kept touching Kelly's leg. Kelly bent down to her.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine." she lied. Donna pointed to Kelly's leg. She looked at it and saw that Donna had managed to write the word "RUN" in her blood on Kelly's leg. Before she had time to figure out what that meant, Donna somehow managed to stand up and hobble-charge Jonas, who was completely taken aback by it. He fired but she kept charging, and she stabbed one of Kelly's darts into Jonas's neck. He screamed, she screamed, he shot, she stabbed.
Kelly ran.
Boy #11, Jonas Thurman- Eliminated
Girl #13, Donna Yarber- Eliminated
7 Students Remaining
Jacob ran through the neighborhood. He had heard shooting nearby, so naturally he was going to where he had heard the gunshots. One of them could be Kristin, and he would rather take the chance than to miss finding her by not looking. He hoped above anything else that she was alright. He ran past house after house looking at each one. He knew Kristin, and he knew that she would have done something to tell him where she was. He stopped dead in his tracks when he came to a tall purple house.
It was the only purple house in the whole neighborhood. She loved purple. But was that really enough to warrant him checking it to see if she was there? Why not? he thought. He jumped onto the front porch and knocked on the door. There was no reply. Of course there was no reply, like she would just walk up and open the door. He tried the handle. Locked.
"Kristin? Kristin, it's me Jacob! Open up if you're in there! Kristin!"
"Jacob!?" he heard her say. Oddly she wasn't muffled by the door at all.
"Kristin, open up."
"I'm over here doofus!" she said. He turned around and saw her on the porch of the adjacent house.
"Kristin!" he shouted, running off the porch towards her.
"Jacob!" she said, doing the same. They ran towards each other, preparing for an embrace. She was smiling her big bright smile at him. Her beautiful brown eyes glinted in the moonlight. He was so happy to see her, so happy that she was safe and that he could hold her one last time.
Then one second changed everything. A shot rang out, she looked down at her gut, fell down, he screamed, caught her before she hit the ground, and carried her back to the porch she had just been on.
"KRISTIN!"
"Jacob… I'm sorry, I should have found you earlier…"
"No, it's my fault. But it doesn't matter, I'm here now. We're together and everything's going to be fine."
"Jacob… I'm dying."
"No you're not, don't say that you're just…"
"Jacob… you're a horrible liar…"
"No, Kristin, please…"
"Can you… take care of Zero for me…"
"Yeah, I'd do anything for you Kristin… but you…"
"Jacob… kill that son of a bitch for me… win this…"
"I will! Kristin, please… I love you!"
"I love you…"
"Kristin… c'mon you can still…"
"I can't keep… eyes… open…"
"Kristin…"
"I… I love you… Jacob… I love..."
Girl #9, Kristin Jenkins- Eliminated
6 Students Remain
She stopped moving. Jacob's heart stopped. This couldn't be happening. Not like this. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. He was supposed to save her. She was supposed to win. He closed her eyes and put some dying purple flowers from a vase on her chest. Tears fell rolled down his face. He picked up his sniper rifle and loaded it. That son of a bitch was going to pay.
He opened the door to the house and went to the back door. He took in a breath of stale air and gripped the handle. It was time to win. Jacob flung open the door and ran around, looking on the rooftops around him. A bullet whizzed past his head. He looked at where the bullet had come from and saw someone on the roof of a French-style house. Jacob ducked behind a planter as another bullet whizzed past. Jacob fired. He fired. It went on for what seemed like a lifetime, but in fact it was only about ten minutes. The boy fell off the roof and Jacob went over to see who it was.
Boy #5, Martin Coleman- Eliminated
5 Students Remain
It was Martin. He had a hunting rifle of some sort. Jacob shot into the boy several times before leaving. He had to win this for Kristin.
Kate wasn't exactly sure how to feel about her new weapon. It was a katana, it's blade slightly curved and it's handle jet black. On one hand, it wouldn't be very useful against anyone with a gun, but on the other, it beat a taser and a pipe any day. She had been practicing swinging it for quite a while, and was starting to get pretty good at controlling it. She was walking down the street looking for someplace warm to sleep. The diner looked promising so she went in. She saw the tables all messed up and water covering the floor.
Then she saw Kurt. She ran out of there as quickly as she could. She had never seen a body before, much less of someone that she knew. She tripped over something and let out a small scream. It was Lindsay. Poor Lindsay, one of her best friends. She was so sweet and smart. She didn't deserve to die. Kate ran into the medical station and caught her breath. She needed to get a grip. Running around like a headless chicken wasn't going to do her any good.
She stood up and checked the offices. The first one was empty, mind a few extra chairs. She opened the door to the second one and screamed, followed by her quickly covering her mouth, and then vomiting. Whose blood was that all over the walls? She ran back into the first room and hid in a corner, trying to control her breathing. And to think that she had tasered two people, that she was essentially a part of this sick thing. She knew people were dying but to actually see them, that changed everything. She pulled her ipod out of her pocket and began to blast heavy metal into her ears. She needed to calm down.
Then she saw the door to the room open. She didn't scream. She didn't even unsheath her katana. She just sat there, staring at the silhouette of the person who could clearly see her.
"Kate?" the person said. Kate didn't move. She wanted to run but she couldn't make her legs move.
"Kate? Are you okay?" the person asked again. Kate found herself nodding. The person came closer to her. It was Kelly Dennis. The class president. Most-likely to succeed and eligible to be the valedictorian in two years.
"Kelly?"
"Hey Kate."
"Kelly, there's blood on you…"
"Donna…. She was shot… she killed Jonas so I could escape."
"Jonas is playing?"
"He was. I don't know anymore. I just… I want to trust everyone, but I can't anymore. I know that they wouldn't be doing this if we had any other choice, but they are and I don't know what I can do. My friends are all dying and I can't do anything to stop them. Why can't they all just stop so we can find a way out together?"
"Why do you trust me?"
"To be perfectly honest Katie, I don't. I don't think I trust anyone anymore, which is the really messed up part in all of this. They make us afraid of each other by giving us all different weapons, so you never know if someone has a gun or a yoyo. It's just like what adults do in wars. They get scared of their friends being able to overpower them, so instead of just throwing away their weapons and trusting each other, they kill and get better weapons. If we had all been given yoyos no one would be fighting."
"I have a sword…" Kate said, suddenly realizing that she had the upperhand if necessary.
"If you're going to kill me, then go ahead, Kate. I'm tired of this stupid Program."
"Me too... Too many people have died already, and I don't want to be scared of any of my friends anymore."she said. Kate and Kelly got up in unison, as if they both knew what they were going to do. In reality they both just wanted to get out of the medical center.
"You know, that's an active zone." Kate said, nodding about ten feet to the right of the building. They stared at it for a while before Kelly spoke.
"Yeah. So?"
"You ever think that it would be easier to just end it on your own terms? So you don't have to fight, or make someone a killer?"
"I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"I think you need to try until the very end to make sure your friends are safe." Kelly said. Kate thought about this. About all of the people she'd known who wouldn't graduate. Who wouldn't be fathers or mothers, or ever do things all other people got to do.
"Kelly?"
"Yeah?"
"If we are the last two… would you just wait it out with me?"
"Yeah… yeah, Kate, I'd wait it out with you."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
They stared at the invisible line for a while longer. There was a sound behind them. They both swirled around in unison and saw Jacob aiming a gun at them. There was another sound and Brittney came out from the trees with a shotgun. The girls stood in the middle, not knowing what to do. So was this it? The final four all under one roof? Kelly stared at her armed classmates. She wouldn't die like this. She had to try to get them to listen before anything happened.
"Jacob, Brittney, you don't have to fight."
"Why not?" Jacob asked.
"Because that's what they want. In the end, no matter how many people you kill or how you die, they always win. And they will keep on doing this if they can get kids scared enough to fight each other. Is that really what you want?" There was a silence. Both teens kept their guns raised. Was it working?
"So you just want us to lay down and die?" Jacob asked.
"No, if we work together we can find a way out of this, I'm sure of it."
"You're lying! You want us to give you our guns so you can win!"
"Brittney, I'm not lying. You can keep your guns if you don't use them."
"And how do you think we'll end up getting out?"
"We could shoot the radio tower's generator, or drive a car into it. We have at least half a day left to do it and get out of here." Kelly finished. Her gaze shifted from her two classmates. Kate stood forgotten near her side.
"Okay." Jacob said. "Okay, I'll put my gun down if you do Brittney. Let's do it at the same time. On three. One. Two. Three."
His gun fell to the ground, but Brittney still had her gun raised at him.
"Brittney, we can all make it out of this, but you have to trust us. Please, lower your gun." Kelly said, now focusing on Brittney.
"Why now? Why can we only get out now? Why not in the beginning before everyone died?" Brittney yelled. "Why didn't you want to save Nicole, or Maria. Why can you save me but not them? Why did you choose me?"
"I've tried to get people to stop fighting since the beginning Brittney, but they were scared. We were all scared. But we shouldn't let them scare us. We can all win if we trust each other."
"No, we can't win! None of us can win anymore! They're all dead, all of them!" she screamed. Fresh tears rolled down her face and she started sobbing. "They're all gone and never coming back and it's my fault, it's all my fault!"
"It's not your fault Brittney, it was a mistake, but you can make up for it. Just lower your gun and…"
"NO! I won't let you leave me!"
"We aren't going to leave you, we can make it out together."
"LIAR!" she screamed and she fired. Kelly closed her eyes but once again wasn't hit by bullets. Jacob had jumped in front of them. He must have walked up here while she was trying to reason with Brittney. He fell to his knees but stayed in front of them. Protecting them like he couldn't protect Kristin. Both of his guns were thirty feet back behind him. If he went to get them then the girls would die.
Kelly knew that Brittney had lost it. As much as she wished that she could be saved, she knew that Brittney would kill them. She looked at Kate, who was now clutching her hands. She hadn't even known Kate too well before this, but now she felt inseparable to her. Brittney fired again. Luckily she was a bad shot and only managed to hit Jacob's side again, but he couldn't take another shot. Kelly stared into Brittney's eyes. They looked scared. They looked sad. But most of all, they looked lost. She knew what she had to do. She needed to try until the very end to make sure her friends were safe.
She stood up and charged. She ran like her brother had taught her to when preparing for a tackle. She filled the distance of twelve feet in no time and she lept up, her shoulder meeting Brittney's gut with a thud. They flew in the air for a while. Only a few more feet, she thought. Kelly thought about her mom, and her dad, and her brother, and summers spent in Virginia with her aunt, and of cookies, and stars, and thunder, and all the things that make life worth living. She thought of her friends. And with that she completed her last act as class president. Her last act to help improve the lives of the students within Mrs. Daphne's sophomore class.
And then she flew into the restricted zone, the two collars exploding in unison.
Girl #1, Brittney Alberts- Eliminated
Girl #6, Kelly Dennis- Eliminated
3 Students Remaining
"Oh my God!" Jacob said. He proceeded to fall onto his side and scream in agony. "Kate, what time is it?" he asked. She checked her ipod and started getting out bandages.
"Eleven twenty-one. Why?"
"I need to know if we are the last two."
"What?"
"Kate, If we're the last two I need you to give me my gun so you can win."
"But…"
"There's no way we'll get a truck running up now, and really no point if you can't do it by yourself in the next ten minutes."
"How do I know if we are the last two?"
"Who's died that you know of since noon?"
"Donna, Jonas, Kelly, Brittney. What about you?"
"Martin killed Kristin, I killed him. And I found Collette on the way here." he said between gasps. Kate did the math in her head.
"That means there's still one left besides us." she said. She pulled the class roster out of her bag, barely readable in the moonlight, and began crossing off names. "Oh my God… It's Spencer."
"Shit! Look, he's almost definitely playing. Take my gun and hide. Try to sneak up on him. I doubt you're going to be able to reason with him."
"But what about you?"
"Kate, I've got at least a dozen bullets in my side right now. Just take my guns and your katana and go."
"I don't want to play."
"You don't have a choice if you want to live."
"I… okay, I'll do it… I'm sorry, I can't fix you… I just…"
"It's fine Kate. Now go, I'm sure the shotgun attracted his attention."
Mrs. Daphne sat nervously in the monitor room. She had just seen two more of her students die. She could only hope that Jacob wouldn't bleed out for just a little longer. That was, if she didn't get caught and all went as planned. She sipped some cold coffee as she watched Kate and Spencer run around. They were far enough away that they shouldn't meet for a while, but still…
She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and tried to focus. She left the room to go to the bathroom. One more minute. Half a minute. Ten seconds. Her phone vibrated and she opened it. Mrs. Daphne placed it in the sink cabinet, flushed the toilet and left.
"So, final two eh?" said Mr. Rudolph. "Well, three technically, but if he wins then I'll eat my hat. So, who are you rooting for?"
"I'm rooting for this to just hurry up and be over with."
"I couldn't have said it better myself. Shame that Ms. Dennis died how she did though. She almost had me convinced that they could all get out. Oh look, only half an hour until I get to make another announcement. And hopefully, someone will have won by then."
He left the room and Mrs. Daphne looked back at the screens. She took careful note of where each student was and checked her watch. Any moment now there should be a…
BOOM!
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" shouted a guard. Mrs. Daphne checked the screens to make sure it had worked before sprinting outside. The cell phone signal should have been picked up by now, meaning someone was on their way.
Spencer Bennett was walking through the woods. This was almost over. Suddenly, his collar came off. Had he won? He tossed it into a bramble and sprinted to the radio tower. Had the others killed each other off? Then he saw the helicopters and smoke in the distance. What was going on?
Kate Peterson was out of breath, to put it plainly. She heaved air into her and willed her legs to move. Then she breathed in the smoke. Was Spencer burning something? Her collar gave way and she ran from it. What the heck?
Jacob Tyler swung in and out of consciousness at a sickening rate. One moment he would be seeing visions of Kristin, and the next he would be bleeding out onto the concrete. He was on the concrete, feeling what he thought would be the last of his pain, when Kristin came over. She touched his face and took off his collar. This is it, he thought.
"There! Right down there!" Mrs. Daphne said to the pilot, pointing to the small figure of Spencer. The helicopter let down a rope ladder and her climbed in. He saw Mrs. Daphne sitting in the passenger seat.
"Is it over? Did I win?" he asked her.
"It's over." she said. The helicopter flew near the clothing store and dropped a ladder there as well. A girl began to climb up.
"Who's that?"
"That's Kate."
"Did we both win?"
"No, you're both safe though." she answered. Kate's head popped up into the cabin and she took a seat on the opposite side of Spencer. Neither of them said a thing to the other.
They arrived at the hospital in about half an hour. Mrs. Daphne was the first to see Jacob put on a pained smile before being drugged out. It took them a while, but eventually they got all eleven bullets out of the boy. Spencer also got his hand bandaged up properly, even though he claimed it didn't hurt anymore. After they had all talked to Jacob the three able to walk sat in the waiting area.
"So how did you save us?" Kate began.
"I blew up the secondary generator using some grenades I snuck from the armory."
"But how did you get the helicopters?"
"I found a group of government officials willing to help me stop this and I used my phone to signal them."
"Why didn't you call them sooner?"
"They contacted me about halfway through and told me what to do. I don't think they knew which class was selected and which class actually did die tragically in a bus accident."
"We died in a bus accident?"
"Yes. And that is what the media has been told. After Jacob wakes up though, you and your families are all going to Ireland to keep The Program from finding you."
"The Program? But I thought that you destroyed it?"
"No, sadly not. We merely weakened it, and there will probably be a program next year unless we can stop it."
"We?"
"I've been recruited by the group that helped get you out to try and put an end to it once and for all."
There was a silence. More kids would have to kill and die next year? They digested that thought for a while.
"Do you have any questions Spencer? You've been quiet this whole time." she asked.
"Am… am I a horrible person?" he asked. She sighed.
"No, you aren't a horrible person. What you did in there, that's different. They force you to kill and think that way."
"But she didn't kill anyone!" he said, pointing to Kate.
"I tased people."
"It's not the same! I killed people! My goddamn classmates for crying out loud! I played and I played to win."
"Spencer, you cannot determine how good of a person you are from what you did in there. It's a different world with different rules. When I went in, I tried to stop it at first, but once I realized that I couldn't and my friends were dying, I played. I played hard. And yes I regret that they died but if they hadn't, I would have died, and so would two of you. So yes, feel bad, repent for what you did, but realize that you did what The Program wanted you to do, and not what you wanted to do. The Program makes certain people act differently, and you, well, you're just a fighter and that's the way it is."
"But why did I make it to the final three? Kelly, Owen, John, they all had futures ahead of them. I do fucking pot and fail my classes!"
"You can't ask that question. Just know that if you died, they would still be dead."
"But Collette, and Kevin, and Nicholas, and Ivy, and Lindsay would all be alive if I died."
"Look, Spencer, you can't undo the past no matter how much you try. You just have to find a healthy way to deal with that. It's almost time for you guys to go to Ireland. I suggest you two get some sleep."
The plane ride had been silent. Even the dog Jacob insisted on bringing stayed quiet on his lap. But they had made the journey and were about to step into Ireland and see their families for the first time in three days.
Kate was the first off. Her dad in oil-stained jeans and a Metallica t-shirt rushed forwards and suffocated her in a hug before she even got off the stairs to the plane. His tears ran down her hair and her tears soaked his shirt. No words were spoken, just crying.
Spencer was off next. He nervously looked at his mother, a woman in a crinkled blouse and jeans, whose hair was slipping out of her loose pony-tail. He stood by the plane for a moment, not sure whether to run to his mom or not. But it was just for a moment and after that moment he ran, tears forming in his eyes. They hugged and his mom hugged him like his life depended on it repeating the words, "It's okay sweetie, it's okay."
Jacob had to be carried down then set into a wheelchair by a mechanic. He wheeled his way to his family, where two tiny girls in dresses kissed his cheeks before getting distracted by the dog. He looked exactly like his dad, who wore a suit, except he had his mom's fair skin. They bent over and hugged and proceeded quickly onto the crying part.
Overall, there was just a lot of crying. And each of the students slept soundly for the first time in three days that night in Ireland.
Brittney was in a dark room. No, not really a room, more of just a space. Then it was a library. She looked around and saw a little girl with glasses running out the door. She followed her into the bathroom where she sat crying inside a urinal.
"Hello?" the girl asked, hearing Brittney enter.
"I'm sorry that those girls were mean to you."
"Why? I'm just a nerd, why do you care?"
"You're not a nerd, you're just smart. I think those girls are just jealous of you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Have you read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by chance?"
"Yeah, I love it!"
"Me too! A very smart girl gave it to me a while ago so I read it…. Also, your dad loves you. Even though he's gone he loves you. You should know that."
"My dad always used to call me his beautiful little Donna."
"Very fitting for a girl like you." Brittney said. The girl giggled and the bathroom disappeared and she was back into the dark space. Except this time there were two girls in the space with her. A short one and a tall larger one. Donna. Donna came up to her and smiled. There was something different about her. Her hoodie not as dirty, her hair a bit cleaner, her smile that Brittney seldom saw.
"Thank you, Brittney."
"I… I'm so sorry… I should have…"
"The past is the past. I forgive you. Now we can go."
"Go where?"
"Somewhere better."
"What about Kristin?" she asked, gesturing towards the short girl.
"She's waiting for someone. C'mon."