Battle Royale Fan Fiction ❯ If... ❯ Dead Weight ( Chapter 8 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 7: Dead Weight

I know I can't hold the hate inside my mind
'Cause what consumes your thoughts controls your life
So I'll just ask a question
What if?
What if your words could be judged like a crime?
-"What If," Creed

ORANGE

Bad little doggies always ruined everything. Kaori wasn't sure which member of her team set the trap off, but if she ever found out, she'd throttle them. Breaking into all those garages in hopes of finding a cooler or some soda and jarred goods seemed like such a good idea at the time. She already drank all her water and the food was starting to get low. They all annoyed each other at one point with their fantasies of Fresca, chipped-off ice that could be melted to keep the water from running out, frozen fish sticks, canned goods that could be chopped open with Tatsumichi's machete, and any other goodies that popped inside their heads.

Then it happened. Maybe if they weren't so fixated on their stomachs and the radio next to a shelf full of homemade preserves blasting opera music they would've paid more attention to all the crates littered across the concrete floor. Just as Satomi was stuffing her face with a bag of frozen baby peas, a buzz emitted from the crates as their mechanical locks opened the front ends, allowing the rabid dogs inside to burst out. If all six of them hadn't surrounded them, the diseased, half-starved creatures would've been pitiful. You just had to hand it to the Program to put their heart into this sick little game.

"Get behind me." Satomi commanded, drawing her sub-machine gun and blasting two of the dogs full of holes.

A lot of good she did otherwise couldn't protect her from the bad doggies. Kaori dragged herself across the grass, her legs now bloody and useless.

"Don't you even think of it." The memory of Tatsumichi seizing and yanking Ryuhei back the second it looked like he was going to bolt played itself in Kaori's head.

"I got a paper fan. Yeah, I'm going to be real fucking useful."

Tatsumichi sighed, "Here." He plopped his machete into Ryuhei's hands, made a mad dash toward the shelves, yanked the radio from its socket and chucked it at one of the dogs. It collided with its head, giving Tatsumichi a few seconds to start launching some of the preserves before it was no longer disoriented.

That's when things took a turn for the worst. Why did she have to be such a lousy shot? At least one of the bullets went though one of the doggie's front leg and another grazed it's shoulder, but it was far from enough to keep it from sinking it's teeth into one of her legs, causing her to lose her balance and hit her head on the ground.

She wasn't sure what a concussion was like, but it probably felt like the moment her head collided with the floor. A damp feeling pooled-up behind her head, heightening her anxiety to the point that she forgot about the gun in her hands. Before she could even think, the doggie had already began biting and tearing into her face and the right side of her neck.

"Stop it! You're going to make the collar explode." Kaori wrapped her hands around its neck in a losing battle to choke the life out of it. The blood pouring from her hands where the doggie was biting her made its neck feel like it was covered in grease. It wasn't fair. She promised herself that she would get to see her beloved Junya during his summer tour and now she was letting him down.

Suddenly, a strange battle cry rang in her ears as the doggie's skull was split open over and over. Turning her head up, she almost believed that Ryuhei was performing his good deed of the year until she saw an utter rage in his eyes that could rival that of any villain in a slasher flick. It was as if that doggie was the source of every angry, frustrated feeling he ever had. He finally stopped when Satomi and Tatsumichi finished off the rest of the doggies and got their heads out of their asses for ignoring her. Kaori wasn't sure if what Ryuhei was wiping eyes was either a tear or sweat, but then again, everything was spinning around her.

At least Tatsumichi was nice enough to pull her out from under her attacker and might've even carried her to the hospital if that bitch Satomi didn't follow the doggies' lead. Nice girl her ass. Just one look-over by their fearless leader was more than enough evidence for Satomi to make her decision.

"I'm sorry." Their leader simply turned away with a tinge of regret hidden under her stoic demeanor. She dug her bag of baby peas out of the freezer, signaling Tatsumichi and Ryuhei to follow her lead.

"So that's it? You're just going to toss me aside just because I got hurt?" Kaori attempted to fight back in a losing battle to keep from getting dizzy from the concussion and the loss of blood.

"You'd only slow us down." Satomi placed three cans of soda into her bag as if the whole situation was nothing more than a shopping trip. It made it hurt a lot less than already did.

"Come on K-Gal," A beautiful, familiar voice rang in Kaori's head. "You're not going to let them treat you like that are you?"

She followed the voice to her pendant. "Junya?"

"That's me." He laughed kindly. "There's no way I'm going to let my biggest fan die."

"You're right." He really did care; her dear, sweet Junya Bestest. With him on her side, there was no way her team would abandon her. Kaori's legs trembled like a new-born calf attempting to walk for the first time. "Oh no you don't." She grabbed the handle of a nearby garbage can for leverage and pulled herself up. "I'm going along with you."

"You tell them K-Gal." They just had to listen to her. As long as she could get the bleeding to stop and someone helped her walk, there'd have no choice but to take her with them. Together they would stand, divided they would fall.

"Nice try." Satomi pointed her sub-machine gun on Kaori; her demeanor was no different than it was before.

"Oh yeah right, Satomi. Kill me and your collar goes off as well."

"I know." She lowered her weapon and pulled the trigger, shooting enough holes into her teammate's legs to render them useless.

"What the Hell?" Tatsumichi gasped in horror. The bloody mess that was once Kaori's legs had branded itself into his mind.

"Come on, let's go."

"What about Kaori?"

Satomi's face grew a little sad for a moment. "Forget about her."

"Y...you bastards!" Tears fell from Kaori's eyes as her teammates turned their backs on her one- by-one. "You can't do this to me."

Ryuhei stopped in his tracks and ran toward her; at least one of them had a heart. Her tears became ones of joy as she extended her hand to him. In his own messed-up kind of way he did save her from that doggie so maybe he wasn't the prick he showed to the world.

"Got it." He picked-up her bag and gun from the ground before rejoining his team.

"Bastards. They're all bastards." Back in the present, Kaori had managed to drag herself out of the garage, thankful that Satomi left the side door open.

"Chin up." She could almost feel Junya give her a reinsuring hug. Intentions aside, it sure wasn't making her feel any better. "They can't stray this far without paying for it."

"Of course." Why didn't she think of it before? Kamon said the collars would explode if someone strayed too far from their team. Just a few more steps and boom, they'd all die in a hopefully painful and gory mess. Kaori gave an ugly laugh at the fear in their eyes as their collars would furiously beep just like hers was doing at this very moment. "See you in Hell, Satomi."

GREEN

Yuko let out an ear-piercing scream the second her eyes fell upon Kaori's collar exploding and nearly blowing her head from her neck. Nothing had changed, people were still dying and no amount of running was going to fix that. The logical parts her brain had shut themselves off, allowing her to keep screaming her head off even as the rest of her team ran to her side.

"Yuko, please," Yoshio clasped one of his hands over her mouth and used to other to grab one of her arms to keep her from running off. "Someone's going to hear us."

Hear them? As if that was going to make a difference. It sure didn't help Kaori, her friends, or even some of the tougher kids from dying. If Kazushi and Mitsuru could be killed-off so quickly then this was truly the Devil's ground. Her angels didn't even stand a chance.

Her mind broke into a frenzy as she sank her teeth into Yoshio's palm, inflicting enough pain for him to scream and loosen his grip for her to escape. "It's no good." Yuko's voiced toned down to a frantic shout. "They'll kill us all. They'll..."

"Yuko. Would you shut up?" Kayoto slapped her across the face after every other word. Everyone around Kayoto was shocked at her sudden rashness until she realized what she just did when Yuko gazed at her with a mix of fear and blank stare. "I'm so sorry." She threw her arms around Yuko and held her tightly. One of her best friends just saw some girl's neck explode and she just had to slap her. Not to mention that the guys probably thought she was a total bitch. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"No, I deserved it." Yuko gently pushed Kayoto's arms aside and turned to Yoshio. "I was the one who was being all rowdy."

"It's ok." As long as he didn't look at the blood and ignored how loose the flesh that she nearly bit-off was, it wasn't so bad. "It's only a flesh wound."

He was lying just like her daddy did when she accidentally smashed his hand with the front door. Yuko dug into her blue bag, took out a pair of clean socks, and wrapped them around his bloody hand. "There we go. Good as new." A slight blush colored his face when she gently kissed the bandage. "I'll try not to scream next time."

"I think we all need to a little more careful." Hiroki added. "We're lucky no one heard us..." The sound of distant footsteps and the pinging of his tracker caught his attention; four red dots were making their way towards them. His face turned bone white seconds after he ducked into some near by bushes to get a better look. "No...not him. It's Kazuo, he found us."

Yuko snuck off to take a peek; it was like staring at the Devil himself. Those cold, emotionless eyes burned with a single-minded determination, not caring who got in his way. His uzi clasped firmly in his hands, begging to pierce the flesh of angels. His minions lagged behind, but even if they were on God's side, they'd have no chance in stopping him.

"Go. I'll hold him off." She tossed her bag to Hiroki and picked-up two large stones from the ground. "I wouldn't let them hurt you."

"But..."

"JUST GO! It's all I'm asking for." Their leader gave her a sad, silent thanks as they ran off. They had all been so kind; too kind if you asked her. But that's just the way God is and this was the only way she could repay him. "Hey, Demon Boy," She launched one of the stones at Kazuo, hitting his bag. "You want me, I'm over here!"

She launched the other rock and ran off. "That's it, Demon Boy. Just follow me." She peered over her shoulder then stopped in her tracks; he was nowhere to be seen. "No. Oh God, where is he?" Just before she could call him out, Kazuo sprang from the bushes, jump kicking her in the stomach.

"Where are they?" His cold, soulless voice twisted Yuko's stomach into knots. Was this what it was like to be greeted in Hell with the Devil's foot on your chest as he held an uzi to your head? "I said where are they?" He dug the end of his heel just bellow the middle of her rib cage.

She gritted her teeth at the pain. "Go back to Hell, you monster."

"Leave her alone, Kazuo." Shuuya silently thanked whatever true God(s) were out there watching over them; no one was going to die this time. He rushed over to Yuko's side, that cheerful, trusting smile hardly eased her fears. "We're not playing, Yuko. We just want them to join us." It hurt that she flinched when he wiped the blood off her mouth with his sleeve. She just had to trust him. "I promise we wouldn't hurt them."

"Shuuya's right." Fumiyo was panting like crazy as her and Toshimori caught up with them. "I am so out of shape." "You got to trust us."

"Liars." Yuko pointed finger at Kazuo as if she was running him through with a sword. "He'll destroy the angels."

"Angels?" Toshimori chuckled cruelly. "I thinks she means those idiot teammates of hers had enough collective brain cells to abandon her."

"They're not idiots! They care about me; God sent them."

He rolled his eyes. "Would someone just put the little psycho out of her misery?" Toshimori couldn't help smiling as Kazuo mindlessly obeyed and pointed his uzi right at her forehead, ready to fire.

"No!" Shuuya seized the stoic teen's arm, yanking it hard enough to force him and his attention off Yuko. "Not this time." She just had to listen now. This would surely be more than enough to convince Toshimori and Kazuo to stop playing and help the rest of the students off this island. With his enthusiasm, Fujiyoshi support and healing skills, Toshimori's cunning, and Kazuo's brilliant mind, the Program wouldn't know what hit them.

"Get behind thee Satan!" Yuko's freed her weapon from her bra and launched right at Kazuo's face. His infernal scream was music to her ears as the cyanide ate at his eyes and face, traveled into the cuts the glass bottle made in his skin, and the pain made him loose his balance and unknowingly fill her stomach with lead. "Carry on, my angels." She muttered as she shut her eyes one last time.

"Shuuya, hold him down. I'll see if I can clean this stuff off." Fujiyoshi pulled her water bottle from her bag; only a third of it left. It was no good. She turned to Toshimori who had just opened his second bottle and began drinking. "Give me you bottle."

"You're a big girl, get your own."

"GIVE ME THE BOTTLE NOW YOU FROG-FACED PRICK!" Shocked by her sudden display of vulgarity, he was unable to stop her from grabbing and pouring it on Kazuo's face. A faint smell of almonds tickled her nostrils as he threw up a sickening mix of blood and bile on her skirt and dropped dead.

"Kazuo..." Shuuya hung his head, great, now they were both gone. Some leader he turned out to be; failed three times in a row.

"He's gone, you happy now?" Toshimori brandished Kazuo's uzi into Shuuya's face just as he was about to make another boring, moralistic rebuttal. "There's going to be some changes around here and I expect you to follow them." And who knows, maybe it would be fun ordering these losers around.

End of Chapter 7. 27 Students Remain.