Bullets, Bomb-blasts, and Battlefields: Facing the U.D.C.

Chapter II: The U.D.C.

Of course, I heard the entire conversation while waiting to be dismissed.  Commandant Hayes can get pretty loud, being a long-standing commanding officer and all. Hi, my name is Jacob Hunter Matthews, and I’m here to tell you about my life. For those of you who don’t know, U.D.C. stands for “Urban Death Challenge.”  In 1997 a dictator rose to power in the U.S.  The dictator was named Anton Van Alder. This man had more evil in his heart than Hitler, and a larger moustache. When Alder came to power he made a law stating that every year all 50 states will have their school districts host a death match at the school, hence the term urban death challenge.

 When the time comes, the kids are supposed to band into teams; the bigger the team, the better chance of survival. Two teams are selected to participate in the U.D.C.  They are chosen by the principal (he or she draws the name from a bowl). Since all my friends, the people I would always trust with my life, all meet in a little corner in the seventh grade bunker we call Hot Mess Land, we formed Team Hot Mess Land. Each team is also required to elect a team captain and because I had the strongest sense of leadership, I was chosen as my team’s captain.

Before the competition begins each player (or victim in some cases) is given a different color duffel bag. The team to choose their bags first is decided by a simple, yet effective, coin toss. The team captain chooses first, and then the rest of the team chooses their bag. The duffel bags contain a week’s supply of food and water, and it also has a random number and combination of weaponry. After everyone has a duffel bag a ceremonial pistol is fired (how ironic) and half of the competitors jump about five feet in the air. Then the games begin.

The U.D.C. Choosing Day was closing in really fast. The teams that are chosen have one month to prepare for the U.D.C, but even then sometimes people are still unprepared and they die quickly.