Battle Royale: Philippines Level II

Part 1: Chapter 14

The explosion of the grenades of Lyka Jane Ganias (Student G30-E1H) echoed throughout the island. All of the remaining students were startled when they first heard the first explosion.

Katya Maniquiz (Student G07-E1H) who was taking watch at the lighthouse heard the explosion from the south. She also heard a rattling sound from the same place where the explosion occurred. After a few minutes after the last explosion, everything went silent again. She hurriedly ran downstairs to the kitchen where her comrades were taking refuge.

"Guys! There's an explosion from the-" she said unfinished.

She saw Paolo Hans Oanes (Student B03-E1H) standing still at the middle of the room, his face was pale. She looked around and saw the others were sitting on the couch staring at blank space.

"Guys?" she said.

All of them jumped in surprise then look at her. Their faces were all pale and they were sweating heavily.

"Is everything alright?" Katya asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah, everything’s fine," Paolo answered.

There was a minute of silence after that. Hans walked into the sink and cleaned the dishes. Katya put down the Uzi, Katheleen Fuentes' (Student G18-E1H) weapon, on the table. She sat down next to Jholina Bhaby Pangilinan (Student G15-E1H) at the couch.

She looked at her comrades and looked up at the ceiling. When this will end, she thought. She never imagined that she would be here in the first place, well, all of them were. She wanted to get out of this game alive with her friends.

"Katya," someone said.

Her train of thought vanished and she faced to the speaker. She saw Joi Katherine Anagao (Student G39-E1H) across the room waving her hand back and forth at her. Katya raised her eyebrow.

"Come over here," Joi said to her.

Katya stood up and walked to Joi. Joi pointed to the empty space on the couch beside her. Katya sat down and looked seriously at Joi. Joi looked at her other comrades who were very silent.

“Don’t take this too seriously, okay?” Joi said. Katya was confused.

“Okay,” Katya replied.

"I asked this question to them before the explosion," Joi said.

"What question?" Katya asked.

"Well, please don't be shocked, okay," Joi said to Katya. Katya nodded.

"Well, just in case you will die, what kind of death would you like?" Joi asked.

Katya froze in her place. She hadn't thought of this question yet. What kind of death do I want it to be, huh? Katya thought. She looked around the room but that didn’t concern Katya’s answer. She locked her eyes to the door.

"Well, I think this'll be a weird answer," Katya said.

"It's okay, tell us," Joi replied.

Katya looked again at the others and she noticed that they were looking at Katya with anticipation. She looked back at Joi, she was smirking.

"I want it to be an explosion," Katya said.

"Why?" Joi asked.

"Well, I don't know, I just want it to be like that," Katya answered.

Joi nodded and looked at the others. She looked at the Uzi lying at the table. She remembered something very important.

"Guys, I forgot, who is the next one to be on the lookout?" Katya asked.

"Me!" Sarah Jae Costales (Female Student No. 40) took the Uzi at the table and she ran up to the top.

The sound of Sarah's footsteps slowly faded away. The room was back in its unusual silent ambiance.

"What a boring night," Katya said.

"Yeah," Joi agreed.

“True,” Laarnie (Student G16-E1H) said.

"Do you think one of us will win?" Katya asked.

"I don't know for sure, but let's just wait for it," Joi answered.

Katya nodded slightly. She imagined what she just answered: an explosion. She imagined that she was walking down the path in the forest then all of a sudden she heard a loud explosion and a very bright light.

She shook away the thought in her head. She remembered her twin sister.

“I guess that they will be having a remembrance after all,” Katya muttered. (The “them” she is pertaining to is her family. Her twin sister really does look like her, except that she is whiter than her.) Joi heard Katya’s sentence.

“What?” Joi asked Katya.

“Oh, nothing,” Katya replied.

She hugged her knees then she closed her eyes. Her body felt tired, she needed some rest. She wanted to think of a plan to win the game.

26 students remaining