The soldiers rushed out of the room and left the students sleeping on the desks inside the classroom. Evan Lee Wagan (Student B17-E1H) woke up in a daze and scanned around. He was totally confused whether he was in a classroom or he's in a field trip with his classmates?
He looked at his left side and saw Ma. Katheleen Fuentes (Student G18-E1H) sleeping heavily. He looked to his right and saw Laarnie Guzman (Student G16-E1H).
“Strange,” he muttered.
He scratched the back of his neck and felt something hard and cold. He looked at Laarnie's neck and saw a metal necklace but it looked like a collar than a necklace.
He started to feel nervous. He looked at the front row and saw the class officers laying their faces on their desks. Wait, desks? He thought. He scanned the room, the walls looked old and the ceiling was falling apart. He looked at the front and there's a white board on the wall.
There were also two large speakers hanging on the wall. "What are these for," he thought.
He scanned the room again and noticed that the sitting arrangement was the same arrangement in their Math class. Evan noticed someone moved at the front row. He looked at the person. Jhonathan Arvijay Fajardo (Student B06-E1H) lifted up his head. He looked around and he caught Evan staring at him.
“What?” Jhonathan asked.
"You okay?" Evan said.
"Think so," Jhonathan replied.
"Touch your neck," Evan pointed to his neck.
Jhonathan raised his left eyebrow then he touched his neck. His eyes suddenly widen with fear. His hands were shaking now. Evan looked at his classmates and they started to wake up. The room was now filled with questions like: Where am I? Is this part of the trip?
The speakers started to screech and all of the students covered their ears.
"Okay, good evening class," said a man with a low-voice through the speakers.
No one responded. All the students looked at each other with a horrified look.
"As you all know that you're in a field trip right?" the man said.
"Yes," the students said in unison.
"Well, right now, you will not be able to join the trip," the man replied.
"What? We paid a big amount for that!" Paulo Abergas (Student B09-E1H) shouted.
"Yeah, and why are we here, anyway!" Lorelie Salva (Student G23-E1H) added.
The students started to make their complaints to the guy.
"Okay, settle down, settle down," the man said.
Evan sees Aaron Tablada (Student B02-E1H) raised his right hand then stood up from his seat.
“I have a question,” Aaron said.
"Yes, what is your question?" the man asked.
"Where the hell are we?" Aaron asked.
"Good question, please sit down now," the man said.
Aaron slowly sat back to his seat. How that guy knew that Aaron is standing? Maybe there are cameras here, Evan thought.
"You are in Taya Island in the Province of Batanes; this island also is the northernmost island in the country. It is just a few kilometers away from Taiwan and you can see its light from here," he answered.
This answer shocked Evan. He raised his right hand then stood up; he felt that he imitated Aaron.
"Mr. Wagan, what is it?" the man said to him.
"How did we end up being dragged here?" he asked. Looks like there are hidden cameras inside the room, he said from his mind.
"Now, that's what I'm going to explain right now," the man answered.
Evan slowly sat his seat. The door opened up and a soldier entered the room. He took out a whiteboard marker from the teacher’s table and wrote something on the board. The soldier walked to the corner, revealing what he wrote.
The soldier wrote 'BR Act' on the board. Evan's body started to tremble. Cold sweat came rushing down his forehead down to his neck. He slowly looked around at his classmates.
"Today's lesson is not about the derivatives of x or y, but to kill each other," the room fell silent. The heavy breathings of the students can be heard.
"AIEEE!" someone shrieked.
All of the students looked at the back and saw Lyka (Student G30-E1H) standing up, her whole body was trembling.
"What is your problem, Ms. Ganias?" the man asked.
"I-I don't understand at all, sir," Lyka said.
"Your section had been selected to participate in the Program or Battle Royale," the man answered.
Lyka slowly went back to her seat. All of them were silent, looking at each other. The doors suddenly sprung open and soldiers walked in with containers containing daypacks. There's something poking out in one of the day packs.
"I'll explain to you the rules and regulations for the game," the man said.
"First, the island, the island is approximately 10 square kilometers wide, but the Philippine Navy evacuated everyone, so it's empty. The island is divided into many zones, every six hours or four times a day; I will give you updates about the list of your dead classmates and forbidden zones.
"Next is the necklace, it monitors your pulse informing us of your movements and locations. So if you linger in one of the forbidden zones, the mother computer will send radio waves and it'll trigger an alarm and it'll explode," the man said.
The students almost jumped out of their seats after the explanation. Others were still holding their necklace.
"Also, if you try to rip it off, it'll explode automatically," he added.
The other students who were touching their necklace immediately put their hand down.
"If you try to escape by sea, there are eight guard ships guarding the eight directions of the island. They will kill you mercilessly.
"The motto in this game is 'To Kill or Be Killed.' You need to kill in order to survive. We also informed your parents about it so you can go for it.
"There's a time limit in this game; 3 days. Within the time, there should be one survivor. If no one is killed within 24 hours, all of the necklace will automatically explode.
"Next, about those daypacks, inside those bags have food and water, map of the island, a compass, a pen, a flashlight and a weapon. Each weapon is given randomly so don't expect too high but don't expect too low, too," the man continued.
Herald Ian Manzano (Student B05-E1H) raised his hand. All of the students looked at him. Please, save us Herald, all of the other students prayed.
"What is it, Mr. Manzano?" asked the guy.
"When wills this game start?" he asked.
All of the students are surprised at his question.
"Right now, we are just going to the roll call so please be patient, Mr. Manzano," the man answered.
"One more thing, after you the last student leaves this building; this'll become a danger zone. Sector G=7," he added.
“Now, any questions so far?” the guy asked.
Patrick Bedaña (Student B38-E1H) raised his hand and then stood up.
“Mr. Bedaña, what is it?” the guy asked.
“Wh-Who are you?” Patrick asked.
“You will only know who I am when your number decreases to ten,” the man answered.
All of the students were stunned at the response of the unknown man. Evan imagined his classmates all bloody and wounded. Holding a bloody axe or knife and looking at him. That thought made him want to cry.
“Okay, is there any more questions?” the man asked.
No one responded from the students. The man laughed through the speakers. His laughter sent chills down through the students’ spines.
“I’m excited,” the man said in a cheerful voice.
“I will now start the roll call, please get ready now,” said the man.
"Okay, the first student who got picked is..." all of us listened carefully.
"Wow! The Class President! Student No. 1, John Emarson Abres!" he said cheerfully.
Emarson stood up and walked slowly to the door and took his daypack. After that, he ran outside, his footsteps was slowly fading away from the room.
"Next, Student No. 2, Aaron Tablada!"
"After him, Student No. 3, Paolo Hans Oanes!"
"Then, the first female to go out, Student No. 4, Zsanika Dingle!"
"Right after her, Student No. 5, Herald Ian Manzano!"
"Next up is, Student No. 6, Jhonathan Arvijay Fajardo!"
"Next, the second female student, Student No. 7, Katya Maniquiz!"
Katya slowly walked to the door and grabbed her daypack. She ran to the hall and after a few seconds, the room was in its silent state again.
Many and many more students got called. His number was slowly approaching; he prepared his feet and legs to stand up.
"Student No. 17, Evan Lee Wagan!"
Evan angrily walked to the door. The soldiers threw him his bag. He looked back at the room and then he ran outside the school building.
"Good luck," the man said to Evan.
Evan didn’t hear what the guy said. The other students nervously looked at each other while the roll call was still ongoing.
"Student No. 27, Renza Brigette Pasamonte!"
Renza slowly walked to the door and she took her kit. She walked calmly out the school and she ran off to the northwest part of the island.
Being the last number in this game sucks, he thought. Robin Villanoza (Student B50-E1H) was sitting at the back, impatiently. He wanted to get out of the school and meet up with Lyka (Student G30-E1H) and her friends.
"Up next, Student No. 49, Joseph Alan Ocampo!"
He looked at the student who got out first before him. He looked angrily at the soldiers. The soldiers just smiled at him.
"Okay, the last one will be you, Mr. Villanoza," the man said.
He walked out of the room and took his day pack. He ran out of the school and looked around. The moon lit down the forest in front of him. He noticed a figure of a body lying on the ground.
"What, no," Robin whispered to himself.
He slowly walked towards the body and he scrambled to his feet. The body was Joseph Alan Ocampo (Student B49-E1H) who just got out before him. His back and head were full of bullet holes and his blood already made a puddle around his body. The rusty smell made him feel dizzy. Who could've done this? He thought.
He slowly looked around and he heard a rattling sound, like an old typewriter, behind him. He felt an incredible pain in his left side. He ran towards the forest and he looked back to see the assailant. It was John Aaron Agno (Student B46-E1H), holding an Uzi in his right hand.
“He has gone insane,” Robin muttered while he fled for his life.
Student B49-E1H: Ocampo
DEAD 49 students remaining