Battle Royale: Yet to End

Yon

   The room fell into dead silence again. How could they kill each other? They were friends, all in all, despite some not being into the clique of others. But many said the Program changed the personality of almost every single student that participated in it. Those who are the shy types are the ones with the most kills. That was a fact. Those with innocent faces were the ones who would do anything to survive the game. This is almost impossible to bear. The whole class sunk into fear, well, at least for the most of them.

   Imako Tokonoma (Female Student No. 2) was on the verge of crying. Azami Takahasa (Female Student No. 1) sat beside her, trying to keep her spirits up. The boys, who sat together (excluding Daisuke and Jiro), we're all wearing glum and serious faces. They we're all quiet. No one whispered to each other. Even the class clown, Katsushi Tosaku (Male Student No. 3), kept his mouth shut.

   Azami raised her hand.

   "Yes, what is it?" Okamatsu asked.

   "Where is Miss Taka?"

   Okamatsu didn't speak for a few seconds, as if he was hesitating to tell her the answer, but he finally sighed, "Miss Himawari is... eliminated."

  Everyone gasped. Natsumi Nichiya (Female Student No. 13) said, "What do you mean... eliminated? You don't mean you-?"

    Matsui Yano (Female Student No. 12) chided in, "K-killed her?" She knew her answer was purely negative and straight to the point, but she must know what happened to their adviser. And her answer was...

   "Precisely." Okamatsu said. Some of them gasped even louder while some muttered 'What!?'. "Knowing the details on how she died will not be specified for your discretion. But, I would only say that she is now brought to the morgue, ready for her embalming process."

   Matsui said, "B-but... why did you kill her?" She tried holding this back because he might think she is accusing him, but since this is Battle Royale and death is very certain, she got the courage to ask it, even if her voice trembled like crazy.

   "Miss Himawari said she would die rather than see her beloved class kill each other during the Program. We are easy to talk to, so we did as she said. Nothing more. She offered her own life to drive away the impending horror she is feeling."

   The room fell dead quiet again. Nobody spoke. Their kind and caring teacher... was now dead. No one can bail them out of this game anymore. But to be honest, having her around to cancel the game wasn't going to make any difference either.

   Okamatsu then said, "If losing your teacher can all put you into sadness, then how could you see the corpses of your friends if you are all emotionally weak?"

   The nerve of this guy! Jiro thought. He was so insensitive. I'd kill him on the spot if it weren't for the soldiers. But he remembered Okamatsu reaching for his pocket when Daisuke spoke to him. He drove away the thought and his mind became empty of thoughts and stared at Okamatsu.

   "Now, to continue. As I've explained, you have to kill each other off until one survivor comes out. You have a time limit of three days. About those..." He pointed at the metal necklaces around their necks. "Necklaces or collars, whichever you prefer. These monitor your every movement and body activities. Do something worth punishing and I'll blow your necklaces off. There are chances it may nearly cut your head off, so be careful not to play around with it."

    Almost everyone reached for their necklaces with fearful faces. One wrong move and they will die from the explosion. They're like slaves.

   "As said, you have a time limit of three days. If more than one person is still living after the time alloted, all necklaces will explode, killing everyone. No one wins, got it? Also, if no one dies within twenty-four hours, it will also explode. So, show your enthusiasm once you got out of this room." He paused for a few seconds to scan the whole class then continued, "The island is divided into many zones. Every six hours from now, I will announce those who have died and the 'danger zones' you must avoid. Don't even try entering a danger zone or else... your necklaces will explode and kill you. In addition to this, once everyone has left this building, this place will be marked as a danger zone. As heads up, this is sector A = 5."

    The students' faces showed that they are remembering the place.

   "Next, each of you will be given a backpack filled with basic necessities: a few pieces of bread, two water bottles, a compass, map, pen, flashlight and a random weapon. You may be lucky in your weapon, but sadly to those who get the bad ones, you have to fight for a new weapon. With that, I permit you all to take each other's weapons to suit your style."

   Okamatsu raised his hand at the soldiers and at once, they turned towards the door and got out. A few seconds later, they reentered again, this time they are pushing three racks with dark green-colored bags. They lined them up at the leftmost wall near a shattered and dirty window.

   "Now, I will call you each by your class roster number. Step right up and pick your bag. The first rack to the left is for the boys while the next two are for the girls. You girls may need personal items so we added some more things to your bags, especially to those who are having theirs around this time." 

    It is weird for a guy to say that girls have theirs, but you couldn't let a student explain in front. That would be even weirder.

   "Oh, I almost forgot." Okamatsu said. "Once you picked a bag, there's no returning of it. Returning it means having a bullet in your foreheads."

    He cleared his throat and began announcing their names.

   "Boys #1, Daisuke Ameyama."

    Daisuke glanced at Jiro and they exchanged fists. He stood up and went to the rack and got his bag. He ran out of the door and footsteps died down.

   "Girls #1, Azami Takahasa."

   She held Imako's clammy hand for the last time and managed to crack a smile. She whispered, "It will be okay. I'll wait for you." Then she stood up, went to get her bag at the second rack and left.

   "Boys #2, Hideaki Kamakura."

   Hideaki gave Katsushi and the rest of the boys a slight smile. He tapped Katsushi's shoulder and stood up to get his bag. Before leaving, he gave the class a saluting gesture and left.

   "Girls #2, Imako Tokonoma."

   Tears ran down her cheeks as she slowly got up. She hesitantly went for the rack. One of the soldiers shouted at her, "Faster!"

    She whimpered as she got her bag and got out of the room, leaving drops of tears on the floor.

   "Boys #3, Katsushi Tosaku."

   Katsushi stood up and got his bag and went out of the room. 

   "Girls #3, Etsuko Lioka."

    Upon saying Akahana Gisuke's (Female Student No. 4) name, the sound of gunfire can be heard. Some screamed while some backed away some more.

   "It seems it has started." Okamatsu said with a smile and he continued calling the names of the students. Everything else went on. Everyone got their bags. But before that, some hugged each other before the other one left. Some waved at their friends before leaving, while some shouted words of confidence and reassurance to the others.

39 Students Remaining