Chapter 4

Chapter 4
“Wake up. Everyone, please wake up!” Ash Nair was almost hysterical as she tried to get her classmates to wake up.


Only a few moments ago, she had stirred from her oblivious slumber, expecting to find herself still in the bus after falling asleep unexpectedly. But to her dismay, she found herself in a dilapidated room, with broken windows and rotting wooden tables and chairs scattered around in the classroom-sized space.


All around her lay her classmates, the students of 5S, SMK The Star. All of them were out cold. What had happened? She didn’t know. The frantic girl only hoped that everyone was alive and okay.


Gradually, the others got up groggily, some rubbing the sleep from their eyes, some still reluctant to wake up but a few others sat straight up, alert to an unknown danger and wary of anything.


It didn’t take very long for the others to realise that they weren’t in a comfortable air-conditioned bus any more. In fact, they were sleeping on a dust-covered floor that might just have other undesirable things on it.


“What’s going on?”


“Where are we?”


“What happened?”


“Am I still asleep?”


The sound of a door squeaking open silenced the anxious chatters that were rising from the teenagers. A bald man strode into the room, followed by a couple of burly-looking guys that looked a little too much like thugs to be comfortable, wearing clothes that were all in black and having shades on.


“Who are you?” hissed Farid, surprising every one of his classmates in the room.
The bald man ignored the usually quiet boy and instead started to address the crowd, most of which had already gotten up from their more prone positions.


“Welcome, one and all,” he started, sounding and behaving as if he was speaking in front of a camera or before a crowd of adoring fans. “And congratulations. Let me introduce myself. My name is Kyle, I am a director. You have all been chosen to star in my special Battle Royale movie. It’s very simple, really. I wish to create a realistic survival movie in which teenagers, to wit, you will kill each other in order to survive and escape.”


At this, a collective gasp came from the 39 people present. What did he say? Kill each other?


“Settle down, settle down. Let me finish. Now there are a few rules you will have to follow for the duration of filming. Are we clear on this?” The question came as a surprise. Was he seriously asking them so that they could have a say or was he just posing a rhetorical question as a mind game?


“What if we refuse to comply?” Celine piped up, her voice steady and confident for some reason.


Kyle shrugged. “You die.” No one else said anything.


“Crystal clear, then. Firstly, to escape, only one can live. A little like the Hunger Games, no?” A raised eyebrow. No one responded. “Every one of you will be given a bracelet to wear, a tracker, obviously. It sends life signals, location and voice recordings to us. You might want to take note that the bracelet can cause an explosion that will kill the wearer and anyone else within three metres of him or her. It can be detonated by remote control” Kyle raised a sleek black rectangle that had a number panel and an ominous-looking red button on it. “Or if someone tampers with it.” He smiled devilishly, causing a number of the girls to shiver.


“Each of you will be given a weapon or a specific item besides a basic survival pack. Inside the pack will be some food, water, a simple map and the said weapon or item. You have approximately 72 hours – or three days, give or take- to complete this ‘game’. If time is up and more than one of you is still alive, boom goes the bracelets.


“There will be all kinds of things on the island – you’re on an uncharted island, by the way, so don’t try escaping unless you find being eaten by sharks entertaining. There is medicine, food, water, ammunition and all kinds of kit that you may find useful. Granted, they are all hidden, but I trust you resourceful kids will be able to find some of them. You are free to use anything and everything that you can find on this island, including this building. Though I don’t see how an abandoned school might help you out.


“Now, killing by any means necessary is highly recommended. After all, if none of you die by the time this is supposed to be over, all of you will. If any of you trying to escape or team up to rebel against us operators, you will be executed on the spot, without question. However, there is something good to this. The winner of this little ‘game’ will be allowed to escape and be granted one wish. I am done.”


Once again, frantic whispers arose from the students of 5S. They were being held captive by a madman and were being forced to play a very lethal game.


For the next half hour, each and every one of the teenagers was forced to put on a thin metal bracelet which could very well kill them if something happened. Once on, there seemed to be no line at all, making it look like a perfect circle around everyone’s wrists. Apparently, no one would be taking it off any time soon.


After that, they were given their weapons or items. There was no picking or bartering though, and it seemed they were given with no particular specifications. Everyone got what they got by their own luck and not by design.


“Good luck to you all and let the games begin.” That was the last thing Kyle said before ducking out the door, closely followed by his two thugs.


“This is ridiculous, it must be a joke,” announced Felix Culas. Not all of the others agreed with his sentiments but only a few spoke out.


“Sounds serious enough,” Natashya said.


“Please, it’s probably just an elaborate prank Ms Ann-Marie is playing on us.” Kelly sounded really confident.


“Can we just get out of here first? It’s kind of creepy.” Kaveeta pleaded, holding her Uzi submachine-gun awkwardly.


Soon enough, they had gotten out of the weather-beaten school building and into a small clearing filled with greenery. Insects chirped all around, but other than that, there was an eerie silence.
“What should we do now?” Amelia Wong asked once everyone was gathered loosely in the clearing.
“Maybe we should split up and go our own ways,” suggested Shixin, looking calm as ever. But what was that glint in her eyes? That almost hopeful sparkle?
“I don’t believe this. How can you guys think this is actually real?” Felix’s reiteration was loud and had a playful air to it.


The boy grabbed Ru Yin’s (who was standing nearby) Browning Hi-Power and aimed it at Ashvin’s head. Without any hesitation, Felix pulled the trigger. An explosive bang rang out and Ashvin fell backwards to the ground, never expecting that Felix would really shoot him.


Everyone was shocked, but not all of them were rendered motionless.


Felix’s hand shook, but not enough to drop the gun in his hands. Looking pale, he turned tail and ran into the dense foliage, leaving Shen and Ru Yin, who was now without a weapon.


The others? Slowly, they fled too. Many of them shocked that Felix had actually killed their class president. Everyone knew that it wasn’t a joke now.

Chapter 3

It feels like a set-up

“I’m sorry, what?” Asked Ivan, whom had been distracted by the loud noises of the Homo sapiens in the bus.

“I said, it feels like a set-up. This whole school trip thing” Sighed Syaza.

“So, what you’re trying to tell me is that the teacher spent hundreds to sponsor us all to this trip, just for a set-up? Yeah, sounds pretty reasonable”

“Not that la Ivan, Miss Ann-Marie is nice enough to set the whole trip for 5S, but WE here as seniors-becoming-chaperone-for-the-trip is definitely not a coincidence. I think Yuki, Darren and our lovely juniors here” – Syaza rolled her eyes – “purposely request for us two to be here. You do know how they love teasing us both, right?”

“Yeah, that might be true but looking at the bright side, we now have more quality time together, with the juniors I mean” Said Ivan with a grin.

“Like why in the world would I spend my precious time with you” Mumbled Syaza, yet still unable to hide her mouth from shaping a cheeky smile. “Wait till I get my hand on Yuki, she is so dead!”

“Right.....” Ivan drifted his eyes to the window.

                At the other side of the bus, Kelly Low was busy convincing Sham Siv to watch YGOTAS, her high-pitched voice can be heard even a mile away. Poor Sham could just nod her head in agreement.  Twin sisters Jesline and Vivien Tang overheard the conversation and joined in; their previous desire to sleep abandoned them as the four girls chat away in the bus.

                Shu Ern and Arreya were weirdly silent in the bus, still regretting their decision to join the bus trip instead of going shopping. In their mind, they could almost imagine the racks of fashionable dresses being crowded by shoppers, sparing not even an inch of the cloth for them.

                “Cheer up girls, you still got me right?” Benjamin said brightly.

                “Oh Benji, how would you know, those fabulous clothes will moan without us!” Weep Shu Ern.

                “No, my personal tailor can make up for all of it, no?” Winked Benjamin, immediately winning both of the girls’ heart.

                “Hmm..... tough proposal, at what cause?” Asked Arreya, her eyes already gleaming back to life.

                “The cost is that we all enjoy this one week of adventure and have fun!”

                “As you wish, master” Giggled both girls simultaneously.

                “Hey Farid, what are you doing?” Asked Ashvin.

No answer.

                “Suit yourself” Ashvin shrugged, trying his best not to be upset, since the situation of the bus was not suitable enough for him to sleep, he decided to find a friend to talk with. Since Farid – who was sitting in front - was now out of the list, he turned to Ru Yin and Chong RuYin who sat behind him.

                “Tham, Chong, what are you guys doing?”

                “Boring ourselves to death, wanna join?” Replied Tham.

                “Sure”

                “Ah shut it Shen, don’t mind him Ashvin, he’s just a little carsick. We were discussing about what interesting thing might happen when we got to the place. I mean seriously, why can’t Miss Ann-Marie just tell us where exactly is the destination? At least we can plan everything earlier” Chong said, a little bit worried about everything.

                “Well that’s the surprise Chong. Just let it go for awhile will you?” Shen snapped.

                “Woa, relax dude, and please hold it in kay? I don’t want to clean the whole bus up because of you” Chong rubbed Shen’s back, trying to calm his friend down.

                “Getting carsick doesn’t means that I’m going to barf, moron. But I’m fighting over a seriously huge headache over here”

                “Ah okay then. By the way, anyone actually talked to Sayyid yet? I mean, he’s as quiet as robo-guy over there, and he’s practically mute!”  Chong pointed to the particular guy who ignored Ashvin’s question earlier, the one who was shutting himself from the world with the help of his iPod.

                “First of all, Farid’s not mute, he can talk.... I think” Ashvin said. “and second, yep. I talked to him when we was waiting for the bus to come. He’s pretty nice, but mind seems to be somewhere else. Like he’s thinking over something important.”

                “Like the regrets he had for moving from his old school to this hell? Possibly.” Shen said, his fingers rubbing his forehead gently to decrease the headache.

                “Hell? I prefer mental prison thank you. For example, Kaveeta there, as you can see, is with her minions trying to make Kay Chloe’s life more miserable. If you look to the left, you can see Tim trying to sneak a frog into Lucas Yeoh’s shirt. Now look at your back, you can see our psychotic vice president, Clarissa Kor nagging Gynie Yeung concerning her way-to-colourful dress and care free life. And don’t even get me started on gigglish Ash Nair and Syasya Aqilah gossiping behind us.”

                “Well looking at the bright side, at least they’re not sleeping” Ashvin tried to justify their actions.

                “Natashya Khoo and Celine Wu is”

                “Ah just shut up will you?” Shen found his limit.

                Among the noisy students, Shixin Chng sat alone, looking through the window. In her hand was a small picture that she held firmly, like it’s the dearest thing for her. Though constantly, her eyes will drift to her classmates and settled on that guy. But then she’ll shook her head and continue on looking through the window, trying hard not to let the same thing from happening again – and yet she still do so.

                Three hours later, the commotions in the bus fade as the students start to feel drowsy. One by one felt asleep. Cheah, who was busy working on his short story, stopped for awhile and looked around him.

                “Umm..... Aifa? Don’t you feel odd? Everyone suddenly felt asleep, even Tim, and I thought he can’t sleep.” No reply, apparently Aifa had also joined her classmates in the land of dreams.

                “Great, even I feel drowsy” Yawned Cheah, but he tried to stand up to stretch, refusing to sleep because he wanted to finish up his work, but his feet failed him and he drifted to sleep, but not before he saw a rather peculiar sigh; the bus driver and Miss Ann-Marie were wearing oxygen masks...