Battle Royale Fan Fiction ❯ Battle Royale: All American High School ❯ Ashes ( Chapter 5 )

--------> TONIGHT ON A BRAND NEW EPISODE OF “BATTLE ROYALE!”

 

Two people's hearts are gripped by darkness! The pressure of Battle Royale gets to them and the weak individuals fall! Tonight, two inferior contestants are quickly disposed of! Good riddance, as well! The government applauds the contestants that kill the weak. Only the strong can survive! See this important lesson displayed on tonight's thrilling episode of “BATTLE ROYALE 5: DESERTED ISLAND!”

 

At 2000 hours tonight on America Network 7.

 

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT!!! <--------

 

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Chapter 5: Ashes

 

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My name is Tammy Bishop. This is my third time in the junior year. I've failed twice all ready and I don't think I'm gonna' make it through this time as well. I'm a failure and I'll always be one.

 

I'm going to be killed in this game, too. I've failed at everything else in my life, what would make this any different? Nothing that's what. A while back I saw someone off in the distance, I don't know what I did to scare her, but she ran off into the village behind her. I think it was Hannah Williams. I've always liked Hannah. Me and her sit at the same lunch table, we talk. We're friends. Why did she run away from me?

 

She left me. Just like everybody else has. I hate myself.

 

In my bag I found this strange object. It looks like one of those small hand-held computers. On the screen there is grid and in the center is a dot. When I saw Hannah there was a blinking dot in the distance. I think it's a locater or something like that. I don't see how it'll be much help to me though. It's not like I'll survive this anyway.

I walk through the field. I look back and see the school, about eighteen kilometers or so back. Mr. Stephens said that if we came near the school our collars would explode. I think about just running towards the school for a moment, but I don't have the courage to do it. How many times have I thought about killing myself before? I tried hanging myself when I was thirteen. (The time right after my Dad raped me for the first time. He said I was tight. I'm still not sure what that means.) I almost went through with it, but at the last moment I cut the rope. I'm weak and stupid and pathetic and a failure and I hate myself so much that I'm almost happy that this game will give me a chance to finally die.

 

I look down at the computer and see a flashing dot coming towards me. I look behind me and see a male figure coming towards me with what looks like piano wire in his hands. I scream and run.

 

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I was lucky. I look in front of me and see Candice still leading the pack, the large Mag-Lite flashlight in her hands. Behind me, Lauren is talking to Erika about her boyfriend. Lauren is a tall girl, big hips, long blonde hair tied in a pony tail. Erika is shorter, has a light tan (She's a farm girl, I think.) and has short brown hair to match her height. Erika is nervously fondling her handgun, a small .22 Double Dilanger according to the manual. Lauren has her weapon, a meat cleaver, tucked in her skirt strap. Lauren seems strangely cool. Erika is scared shitless, and yet the two are friends. We're all friends. Me and Lauren and Erika and Candice. Who am I, you ask? My name is Heather Gregory. I'm the loud, vocal one of group. A jock by preference, not choice, I'm also the only black girl in the whole school. Yeah, that can be rough sometimes.

 

Anyway, right now we are walking through the forest looking for Chelsea Matheny. Chelsea was part of our group until about five months ago when her boyfriend was killed in a car accident. Rumors have it that Chelsea was pregnant too. None of us believe it until recently when a visible bulge appeared on Chelsea's belly. Shortly after the accident, Chelsea started hanging out by herself. The only person from our little social standing that Chelsea really talks to anymore is Candice. Those two always got along. They where in dance club together and always got along really well. Both of them are beautiful girls. Chelsea with her well-rounded figure and Candice with her slender body and mature face. The two are great friends, but all Chelsea seems to do anymore is sit around and mope. That's when I lost interest. I can't stand whiners. Gets on my nerves. Stop your goddamn crying all ready and get up and do something about. That's one of the main reasons while I was reluctant when Lauren introduced us to Erika. Erika is quiet and actually doesn't associate with us much. She mostly hangs out with Samantha Barrack, Hannah Williams, and Karen Crim. All girls from the creative writing class and all of them are pretty quiet too. Something about that personality puts me off. It's like they are all secretly planning some devious plot. But friendly old Lauren just mingles with anybody that comes along. That bothers me sometimes too.

 

Damn, I keep getting off topic. I meet up with the girls in the forest about an hour back. First I ran into Erika, who was really nervous. (She almost shot me at the time) Trailing behind Erika was Lauren. The two had left together and Erika got scared and ran off when she heard gunshots in the distance. We found Candice later when we saw the bright light from her flashlight. (Which was apparently the only thing resembling a weapon she was given, unless the government plans on her pelting her enemies to death with toilet paper.) We decided to go with Candice and find Chelsea.

 

I'm a strong and loud person, as I said earlier. For a fact my weapon, a small chainsaw if you can friggin' believe it, suits me. This game doesn't scare me. I'll make it, one way or another. I'm not worried for myself like Erika or for my friends like Candice or Lauren are. Survival is my number-one priority. That doesn't mean I'm going to slit my friend's throats while there sleeping, but I'm not going to go back for them if they go running into a maniac wielding a machine gun. I'm a realist I guess you could say.

 

“Chelsea, are you there?” Candice shouts.

 

“Don't be so loud, Candice. Other people can hear you, ya' know. Be careful.” I say.

 

Candice turns to me, tears streaming down her face, “I need to find Chelsea!”

 

“You don't have to be so goddamn loud about it. We'll find her, don't worry, but don't go and blow our cover.” I'm being as soft as I can be.

 

Candice's face pouts up, like she's about to scream at me, but it quickly calms back down. She knows that she can't win a screaming match against me and this really isn't the place for it anyway.

 

“All right.” She says, disheartened. She turns around and continues to walk forward, shining her flashlight around.

 

Lauren walks up to me and says, “Did you have to be so hard on her, Heather?”

 

“I'm just being realistic, Lauren. We can't let our emotion get out of hand, here.”

 

Lauren gives me an angry look before shaking her head and going back to Erika. I'm a realist, like I said. We gotta' keep our shit together if we want to live.

 

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I keep running, the boy trailing behind me. I'm not that fast of a runner but I don't think he is either. My locator machine shows another flashing dot coming towards the central one. It's as if the machine is saying that this isn't another student hunting me, but some monsters come to fulfill my death wishes. The boy, I don't know him. I don't think I know him. Why is he coming after me?

 

I'm running down the left bank of the river, heading toward the forest. Maybe he won't see me in the forest. Maybe I can run from him there.

 

I look down at the machine again. The other dot is still about the same distance from me as it was minutes earlier. I keep looking at the machine because it lets me know were this monster is but I don't have to look at him. I don't have to face it. I don't want to face it…

 

The forest looms closer and closer. I'll be safe there. God, I hope I'll be safe there. I keep my attention on the machine. The map is slowly moving forward and the second dot has disappeared, but I don't stop running. I have to make sure. I don't want to die. Do I?

 

The forest is close now. I can see all the trees out in the front. I can see that the shadows are darker and thicker there. I didn't want to go into the forest earlier because it was darker, but now I'm welcoming it. I want the darkness. I want to be enclosed in that, so I'm safe from this monster that is hunting me.

 

It's not a monster. It's a classmate. I probably know him too. I may even be friends with him. It wouldn't surprise me if one of my friends would try to kill me given the chance. I stand up against a tree. It's about four or five trees away from the field. I can still hear the river running. It's a pristine, clear sound. It feels so… Out of place.

 

Why are you hiding, Tammy? Don't you want to die? After all the shit you've been through, won't you welcome it? Want it be better then this? Every time your Dad rapes you, you wish for death. Every time you don't do a homework assignment because you're too stupid to figure it out, you want to die. Every time somebody picks on you, you wish for death. What's wrong with you? Don't you know what you want?

 

I look down at the locator and see a second dot coming closer. I hear feet pounding on the ground. Somebody runs into area just near the tree I'm hiding behind. I can hear his heavy breathing. I peak behind the tree and see that he is doubled over, gasping. I study his weapon and see that the piano wire has little handles on it. I bend behind my tree just before he stands up straight.

 

I can't move. If I move he'll hear me. I need to stay here. Stay hidden. Please just move on. Just give up and keep going. Leave me alone. You don' want to kill me. You want to kill someone else. You don't know me. You don't want me. Tammy Bishop is a nobody, who would want to kill her? Please…

 

I listen closely. I hear the male student pull the wire tight. I hear him walking. He whispers, “Come on out, you stupid bitch.” under his breath. The sound of the river is just under everything. Maybe I could run for the river and swim away. Swim away out to sea and to the mainland and be free and safe.

 

You can't swim stupid. And even if you could you probably wouldn't be able to get that far anyway. Besides this is Maine, I bet the waters are really horribly cold out here. Even if by some miracle you survive that and make it back to the mainland, were would you go? Back to your home? Where you'll be rape and abused by your Dad? He would probably just turn you in to the Government anyway. You would be safer just…

 

Blowing your brains out.

 

Go ahead Tammy, run towards this guy. Let him wring your neck. Go ahead. End it. End it. END IT! Let him kill you! Let this fucker kill you and fuck you and rape you and tear you apart let it happen like you always do. Do you fight when your dad rapes you? Do you actually try to do your goddamn homework? Do you even bother to defend yourself when someone makes fun of you? No, you never do any of that, because you are a weak person. A loser and that's all you'll ever be. A failure, you where born to fail. Just give in.

 

I break down and start to cry and scream. The guy runs toward me and reaches his wire out in my direction. I scream again and start to run in any direction. I think it's further into the forest but I'm not sure. What difference does it make?

 

“Come back here, you stupid whore!” I hear him shout at me. I keep running. He wants me dead. He wants to kill me and see me burn.

 

I hate you, Tammy Bishop, girl number two. Weak little failure.

 

I scream again and keep running. Suddenly, the river appears. I stop and lock in my tracks. Oh, shit. It's over. Here it comes. I turn around and face him. It's at this point that I recognize the boy but it's too late now. He punches me in the face and I fall to the ground. I drop the locator. Just as I feel the wire tighten around my neck, right above were my collar is, I see the locator screen, loud and clear and bright in the night. I see one dot overcoming the central dot.

 

And that's all I remember.

 

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Die bitch, die, die, and die. Tammy Bishop. You know, I had a real boner for you. You slut. A real hard-on. It took me a week to build up the courage to ask you out and what do you do? What do you fucking say to me? “I don't know you.” What? What the fuck does that mean? I don't know you? I don't know you! Well, I know you, you stupid bitch! You whore! I fucking wanted you, real bad. And you don't know me at all! That's it. You're dead. You're fucking dead.

 

She lets out sick little dying noises as I pull the garrote as tight as I can. Soon I hear her neck snap. Damn. I was hoping you'd straggle to death. A snapped neck is too good for you. You slut. I pick up the dead body and drag it toward the river. I'm about to toss the body into the river, when I remember something. I drop her body down on the ground and pull open her uniform shirt. I look over her white bra and unsnap it. You know, what was I so hot over this for? Her tits aren't that great. B-cups at best. I feel them up anyway, just to know how it feels. How does a breast feel? Like this. Strangely soft. They're still warm too. A chill runs down my spine. This is a little sick, Alistair. I want to do things with this dead body, but… Come on, that's wrong. That's too far.

 

I pick up the body, the tits still exposed, and dangle it over the edge. I fall forward and almost into the river. Shit. I drop the body in the panic. The body falls into the steadily flowing river. I see Tammy's pale skin sink. I focus on those medium-sized but strangely alluring breasts until I can't see them anymore. I shake off this weird feeling I have and turn around.

 

On the ground, not far from where I attacked Tammy, a strange metallic colored object sits. I walk up towards it and pick it up. It appears to be some sort of handheld computer. It seems to represent some sort of grid map of the island. In the middle of the screen, a little dot flashes. It flashes a few more time before the screen goes blank and comes on again. I think this is some sort of locator. It probably shows you where the other students are located. This is too good. Prefect.

 

So, Alistair, is that how you're going to play this? Are you gonna' kill people? Just for fun? No… Not fun. You're doing this to… Survive. And for something else. Tammy was instinct. You killed her out of spite. It was adrenaline that drove you there. What now? Do you kill all your other classmates? Yeah… I don't owe them anything. I don't have any friends in this homeroom. They don't mean anything to me. I have to survive.

 

Yeah, and what about the girls? Brittany Castleman, she's the one with the huge boobs. I would like to… Touch those. Like to do things to her. I have that chance now. And what about Hannah Williams? She's a cutie. Shelly Ganner, Karen Crim, Ashley Nixon. Yeah, Ashley Nixon, Jessica Clayton and Brittany Castleman. They always gave you those dirty looks. They hate you. Return the favor. Send them screaming into hell. Yeah, Alistair Taylor is sick of being pushed around by all these women. It's time I bring it back to them. Show them who is the better of the species.

 

All right. I know what to do now. I give a good hard look at the locator machine. I'm the only dot I see right now. I look down into the river one more time. I don't see Tammy anywhere. Not even the glitter from her collar. She's gone and now it's time to move on. You've got things to do. A whole gender to represent.

 

Yeah, I like that.

 

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Chelsea Matheny is what everybody calls me. I give my name tag one good look and see that I'm girl number thirteen. Whatever that means. I look down and see the roaring ocean below me. We're off the coast of Maine, so I guess this is the… Atlantic Ocean? Whichever, it doesn't matter. I look down at my belly and place my hand against it. Even though it's probably too early for anything like that, I swear I hear a little heartbeat inside of me.

 

Motherhood? What does that mean? You wouldn't think I would be able to go through with this with another life growing inside me. But what other choice do I have? There's no chance I'm gonna' survive this. The baby's screwed anyway. I bet the government doesn't know I'm pregnant. Even if they did, would they care? I don't know. Didn't Mr. Stephens say the whole selection thing was random? Yeah, it's not like the government would have singled me out just because I'm some dumb girl that got knocked up.

 

The ocean is wide and vast beneath me. I close my eyes and tears begin to fall from them. I feel a single tear run down my face and fall toward the ocean. Soon it is lost among the waves. I want to be like that teardrop. I want to be lost in those warm, unforgiving waters.

 

The boy that got me pregnant, Robert. He's gone too. Car crash. According to the rumors he crashed into some river. It was snowy outside. The car spun and Robert lost control. He flipped the bridge and fell into the river. The next day, the cops pulled the car out of the river and Robert's body was found inside. Bloated and sick. Drowned and popped up by the pressure, he's lungs filled with his own blood.

 

The next day I heard it from he's younger sister. I remember that very clearly. “Robert's dead,” I remember her saying. I can't remember how I responded now, oddly enough. I probably collapse there, started crying. I'm not sure though. I planned on calling Robert later that night to tell him I was pregnant. My mother got real angry with me because of that. She didn't even know we were having sex, so the pregnancy was a complete and utter surprise. It's okay though, she came to accept it eventually. I was so broke-up when Robert left that she was willing to over look that.

 

Would I have given the baby up for adoption, if this hadn't happen? Was abortion an option? No, I'm pretty sure it wasn't. Could I have handled raising a baby all on my own? I don't know. It's all pretty moot now though, I guess.

 

What was so great about Robert? He was romantic, I think. But does that matter? I bet if he hadn't die he would have left me when he found out about the pregnancy. That happens all the time. A boyfriend gets his girl preggers and then he runs off because he can't handle the responsibility or maybe because he's just a bastard. He had great eyes, that's what attracted me to him first. He's eyes where light sky-blue. They where so… Deep. I could just loose myself in those eyes. What else turned me on about him? God, why can't I remember?

 

I remember our first date. Movies, dinner. Real typical thing. Second date, fancier restaurant, walk in the park. Basic right? Things continue much in this fashion until I let him take my virginity. What was so special about him that I let him do that to me? Why can't I remember why Robert was so special? Why did I let him do those things to me over and over again until his sperm finally hit home and got me pregnant? How many times had we had sex? Seven times? Ten, maybe? Was it just some date rule I had in my head? First date, kiss. Second through fourth date, make-out sessions. Fifth date, oral. Sixth date, all the way. Where did those damn rules come from anyway? Some stupid magazine, no doubt. And why did I believe them?

 

I wish I could remember why. All I can remember about Robert is that he died. I said I loved him once, in the heat of orgasm. I don't think I even know what that means, “love.” I'm pretty sure, looking at the dates, that it was that little sex session that got me pregnant.

 

Stupid pregnancy. Why didn't you use a condom, you stupid prick? Robert was just using me. I'm sure. He wanted me for the sex and that's it. Nothing more, nothing less. I was just good a piece of ass. This baby means nothing. If it was actually born, it would have been ignore and unloved anyway. It would grow up into an emotionally undeveloped, damaged child. It's better this way.

 

I open my eyes and look down at the ocean once again. I breathe deeply. I'm ready for this. I drop my bag to the side and decide one last time whither or not this is worth it.

 

Yes, it's worth it.

 

I jump. The waters rush up towards me at an amazing pace. Soon I pound into the ocean. I think I feel a bone or two break on impact, but it doesn't matter. I won't be here much longer. Before I pass out under the pressure (Just like Robert did) I think I hear the sound of a baby crying.

 

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“Chelsea!” Candice screams.

 

I look over Candice's shoulder and see Chelsea tittering on the island's edge. In a split second Chelsea is no longer on the cliff and she disappears from sight. This shocks me, but, strangely, I don't think I'm surprised.

 

Candice runs toward the cliff edge and looks down. She collapses to her eyes and starts to ball her eyes out. I run next to Candice and look over the edge just as Chelsea falls under the waters.

 

“Oh, Heather! Chelsea… She killed herself! Why would she do that? Was it.. Was it too much for her? The game? The baby? How could she kill herself?” Sobs and cries interrupt Candice's words.

 

Lauren and Erika walk up to Candice and start to comfort her. Good, I don't have to do it. Sorry, I don't mean to come off as a heartless bitch, but I'm not good at the comforting thing, so it's better this way. I see a bag next to where Candice collapsed. I pick up the bag and sort through it. At the bottom, a strange collection of canisters sits. They look a lot like beer cans, but a little larger. They have small rings attached to them. An instance after pulling them out of the bag I recognize them as grenades. Hmm, nice.

 

“It's all right, Candice. Please, don't cry.” Lauren is comforting Candice with words that make little sense. I look away from the three sad girls toward the north. I see a large structure standing nine or ten kilometers down the coast. It looks like a…

Lighthouse.

 

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End of chapter five.

 

“32 contestants remain!”