The 1st Game

3

3

Our school has roughly 2,000 students in it. However, our oval is so large it could fit double that amount. A huge pile of weapons and food are in the middle, and there are metal plates stationed in a perfect circle around it. Me and Sam both stand on metal plates next to each other as we wait for the rest of the school to get here. Some have already arrived.

I look around and see a few people I recognise. They are all terrified.

I hear a scream, and look behind me. A boy around eighteen, three years older then me, starts running towards the supplies. People yell for him to stop but he doesn't. As soon as he passes the circle, a bullet lodges itself in the back of his skull. The soldier who fired retrieves him and leaves the oval. I shut my eyes.

“Attention. The Game will commence in one minute.” I open my eyes and look around. There are more than fifty circles with no one occupying them. Which means fifty more kids are dead. My jaw tightens. “Once the bell is heard, you may begin fighting. Choose to run for supplies, or choose to run away. The Game will end once there is only one remaining. Good luck.” I count down in my head.

59...47...32...17...10...

My heart is in my throat. 5...3...1...

The bell is heard, and then I'm running. I have to get as much as I can from the pile. I don't know where Sam is and I don't check. All I focus on is getting my hands on something.

Some of the school athletes beat me there. They won't hurt each other yet. They're too scared.

A girl from Grade 12 throws an axe. It rips through another girl's head, blood going everywhere. I fall over as some of her blood lands on me. Maybe they're not so scared.

I know that I'm probably going to die if I try to get anything now. Only centimetres away is the bloody axe. I grab it without thinking and get up. Then I'm tackled down again. Frantic, I see my attacker is Dale. He rips the axe from my grasp. No! Too late. He runs off.

I need something. I get up and search desperately around. I watch as Harry from Maths gets a spear through his chest by one of his friends. Then I look at three Grade 8's get sliced up by a sword. I watch the person who attacked them, and see something wrong with their eyes. They are red.

I hear my name being shouted from across the oval, and I see Sam, waving her arms. She has a bag on her back. I run to her, jumping over dead bodies. Once I reach her, we sprint away. “Maths Block,” is all she says. The two story building approaches, and I begin to realise her plan.

The block has recently undergone construction on it's right side, so there is a bunch of scaffolding right next to it. Perfect for climbing. As we swing ourselves from pole to pole, going higher and higher, I tell Sam my suspicion. “I think they're controlling some of us. I don't know how, but they are.” I look over at her. She nods.

“I saw the eyes. They knew we probably wouldn't fight, so they mind controlled us to. They've been planning this for a while.” The pole I grab suddenly gives way, and I slip. Sam grabs me. “Careful.”

Once we reach the top, we push the scaffolding as hard as we can, and the entire thing topples over, collapsing. “That should keep them from coming up here,” I say. I look over at the oval and see hundreds of students dead. I finally let myself vomit. Sam puts her hand on my back.

“Sorry,” I say when I'm finished. I wipe my mouth.

“It's fine.” She walks to the other side of the roof and I follow. “He wasn't lying. There's no one even near the school.” Usually there are cars going up and down the roads, people jogging, signs of life. But now there is not a person in sight.

“How could the police let this happen?” I say, unable to believe they'd let so many people die. I think of the police cars racing by earlier and wonder what they were doing.

“I don't know.” Sam lets out a sob. “I don't know.” I put my arms around her. I want to comfort her. I want to tell her everything will be okay.

But I don't know if it will be.