Battle Royale

Chapter 4

Elapsed time: 00:01:40 ~ Time of day: 1:40 pm ~ Zone:11D

Benjamin grimaced. The body laying on the sidewalk startled him. It was Essej Rehceeb, dead on the ground with a single, bloody wound in his chest. His bags were open next to him, both empty. He sighed and looked around.

Before he could begin to move on, Benjamin heard a slight click and the sound of something hitting the ground behind him, pulling him out of his thoughts. His eyes widened as he saw a small gray canister on the ground. He'd seen enough movies to know what it was. A grenade. He ran back, but it was too late. The shock wave shattering nearby windows was the last thing he heard as the explosion overtook him.

Nasrene cringed from the nearby alleyway she stood in. It pained her to use such a loud weapon, but it was all she had, besides the knife she'd been given. She waited a few minutes in the alley, because she knew the noise would attract somebody.

Finally she heard a voice from the intersection.

"Shit..."

Nasrene looked out at the intersection where the boys lay in the cracked and mossy street. Over them stood Sapphire, with a sledgehammer in her hands. Nasrene knew this was the perfect opportunity to rack up another kill, but using the last of Essej's grenades seemed stupid, and in a battle between a knife and a sledgehammer, the sledgehammer was sure to win.

Unless...

Nasrene crept out of the shadows. Sapphire bent over to look through Benjamin's bag, which was still on the back of his face-down body. Moving in the center of the street, Nasrene was now only five feet away from her, and moving silently closer.

She raised the knife, ready to stab her from behind when a girl's voice rang out form somwhere to their left. "Sapphire! Behind you!"

Sapphire leapt forwards and spun around. The knife gashed her shoulder, and she shrieked. She lunged at Nasrene with her hammer.

"Wait!" Nasrene cried, shielding herself with her hands. "You're a killer!"

"No!" Sapphire yelled. She was clearly enraged now. "But you sure as hell are!" She raised her hammer and Nasrene stumbled back.

"No!" Nasrene raised her eyes back towards the intersection. "Sapphire! There's someone...."

Sapphire briefly turned to look. In that moment, Nasrene bound forwards and landed the knife square between the shoulder blades of the other girl.

Sapphire groaned weakly and fell. Nasrene smiled for the first time in what seemed like months. It was so easy. But the smile fell from her face when she saw someone looking out from around the corner of a house. Nasrene turned and dashed away. 

"Wait."

Nasrene turned, just for a second. and looked. It was Daina, standing thirty feet away and holding a shotgun. "Hello." Nasrene said.

It was clear to her that Daina was the one who'd called out to alert Sapphire. "Good job warning Sapphire." She grinned mockingly. "You almost saved her."

Daina scowled and raised the gun as she stepped closer to Nasrene. "Get the fuck out."

Nasrene, looking one more time straight into Daina's harsh, hazel eyes, doubled back and ran.

Daina lowered the shotgun and sprinted in the opposite direction, crying softly to herself. She didn't stop for the three bodies in the intersection. She didn't stop for her own house she'd been taking shelter in. Daina Thorlacius ran and didn't stop.

Elapsed time: 00:02:19 ~ Time of day: 2:19 pm ~ Zone: 4E

Roth and Siggi were walking along the island's north road when Siggi spotted it. A small shack was set in about 100 meters to the south of the road, a thin dirt path led to it. Siggi couldn't make out much from that distance, but he could tell that for some reason, the door was open.

"Say we check it out?" Roth suggested, standing next to him.

As he said it, the door slammed. "D-definitely." replied his friend.

Roth gripped his gun, feeling like a cop on a TV show, but much more scared. Siggi held the crossbow low at his side, attempting to look more relaxed than he felt.

As they reached the end of their tense walk, Roth looked the house up and down, scrutinizing it. The house was dilapidated. Not quite in disrepair, but in need of new paint and gutter repair. Siggi, who reached the house first, attempted to look in the dusty front window. It was small, about two by three feet, and unfortunately, completely covered by a lavender floral print curtain.

Upon being unable to see through the curtains, Siggi stepped over and knocked on the door. "Siggi! You idiot! If someone's inside, they could-"

Roth stopped. The door swung inward slowly. Inside was Lacey Diaz, holding a baseball bat with some nasty looking rusty nails stuck through it over her shoulder. "Get out."

"Have you seen Ragga or Amet?" Roth exclaimed, stepping closer to the doorway.

"I told you to leave. Do you need me to repeat it?" She looked disinterested, and just a little bit frustrated.

"Please Lacey, I need to find my sister." Siggi said, inadvertently adding a touch of desperation to his voice.

"Are you fucking retarted?" It was clear she was irritated now. "Get out of here!"

"Lacey." Roth said, moving his arms slightly, just to draw attention to the gun in his hands. "You're outnumbered and outgunned, so if it's not too much trouble, please tell us if you've seen them and we'll leave."

She sighed. "Fine. Put down your goddamn guns and I'll tell you about it."

Siggi looked at Roth, who nodded confirmation. They stepped into the shack and set their weapons on the floor. Siggi shut the door behind him.The front room had two rickety wooden chairs by low table, a wood stove, and a door leading to the other room. Lacey gestured for the boys to sit. They complied. Siggi had given up on hiding how scared he was, and was rapidly tapping his fingers on the side of the chair.

"I saw Ragga and Sairah." The girl said, pacing, "They were by the stream, talking. I decided not to approach them."

"What zone?" Roth asked in haste.

She looked over at the map, which she'd laid out on the table. "It must've been 8C, or somewhere near there.

"Are you sure?" Siggi asked, managing to compose himself, but only marginally.

"Yes, I'm sure." She snapped.

Siggi sank back in his chair.

"We-" Roth started.

"Shh." Lacey stopped her paces and folded her arms across her chest. "My turn. Have either of you seen Camille or Daina?"

"I saw Camille, but only for a second, around 10F I think. She ran away when she saw me."

Lacey almost laughed. "She was probably nervous when the Roth Cobalt looked her way."

"What?..." Roth was puzzled.

"She likes you, you know..."

"Anyways," Siggi interjected. "We should..."

A quick, close burst of machine gun fire cut him off.

"That sounded nearby." Lacey muttered.

Roth jumped to the door and locked it. "Come on! We need to block the windows!"

Lacey, hesitating at first, went to the back room and grabbed a red tool box. Siggi stood up, unsure of what to do. She opened the tool box and got to work dismantling the chair Roth had been sitting in. The boys got up to help her. In a few minutes, the front window was boarded up with the wood from the chairs, as was the back window. "It's not gonna do much." Roth said. "But it's better than nothing."

"Yeah.." Lacey said, sitting down on one of the two cots in the back room. "You boys can be on your way in an hour or so. Got it?"

It wasn't a question. Siggi spoke. "Yeah. Thanks, by the way, for not just kicking us out..."

She nodded and unwrapped a piece of gum. "'T's nothing."