Battle Royale

Chapter 2

Elapsed time: 00:00:00 ~ Time of Day 11:40 a.m. ~ Zone: 11E

Sapphire woke up with a dull pain in her neck and a throbbing headache. She lifted her head off of her desk and looked around. 'Shit,' she thought. 'Did I fall asleep in class again?'

But....the classroom she was in wasn't familiar. The walls were painted gray and the desks were considerably bigger than their desks back at Norton High. She squinted- the glaring fluorescent lights were only amplifying her headache. There were three unusual things she noticed, the steel plates over where the windows would be, the overnight bags under each desk, and the fact that all of her classmates, except for herself and Tam Alexander, a quiet kid whom she barely knew, were asleep. 

She brushed her dark hair behind her ear and looked across the room at Tam. "What's going on?" she mouthed. 

Tam shrugged. 'Was this a part of the field trip? Did they bring us here while we slept? I can't remember even arriving at the island, just falling asleep on the bus.' 

Then she saw something on his neck. A metal ring. Slowly reaching up to her neck, her mouth fell open. There was a ring just like his on her neck. She traced her fingers along the metal to feel it, it was cold and binding. She felt the number eight carved into the metal at the back of her neck. Her student number.

Rubbing her eyes, she examined her surroundings more closely. On her right was her friend, Xander, who was collapsed forward in his chair with his long arms sprawled across the desk. On her left was Amet Danrus, who seemed to be stirring.

"What the hell..." he muttered as he sat up slowly. Realizing something was off, he snapped up and looked over at Sapphire. "What's going on?!"

"I don't know!" Sapphire retorted in a hushed voice. "Last thing I remember, I was on the bus!"

Kids all around them began to wake. At the front of the class, Aurelia Blacklace turned around and did a headcount. "Everyone's here." Sapphire heard her say.

She turned to Xander. "Can you remember anything?"

"No, it's really weird. I-" He stopped when the door swung open

The class fell silent as five people came into the room. In front was a woman with chestnut brown hair in a tight bun, and rectangular glasses with white frames. She had a look on her face that said, I'd like to get this done so I can get on to other things.  She was followed by three guards in full riot control armor. Two had guns, and the third was leading a blindfolded and gagged man with cuffed hands into the room. It was Mr. Falk.

The woman said something to the guard, who then pulled off the blindfold. Mr. Falk grew wide eyed as he saw the class. He made some vague noises through the gag. The guard kicked him, and he stopped.

"What's going on here?!" Amet yelled, standing up and shoving back his chair.

"Amet...they've got fucking machine guns..." Roth, who was right behind him, warned.

The woman looked at the sheet of paper in her hand. A seating chart. "Amet, is it? Please sit down.

"Why should I?" he responded, fists clenched. "I want to know whats happening."

"I will explain it." She set down the paper and crossed her arms. "Please sit down. I don't want to have to hurt your teacher."

If the class had been quiet before, it became dead silent. Amet sat down. 

"Thank you." she said, smiling.

She motioned for the guard to seat Mr. Falk in the chair behind the teacher's desk. Once he was seated, she spoke again. "You're here to kill each other."