“Don’t you worry about her, Tina,” Helena responded. “She’s in good hands. Just make sure you win this if you want to see her again.”

“You monster!” Bette shouted angrily. “Why are you doing this?”

“Just because I’m filthy rich it doesn’t mean that I don’t get bored sometimes. I thought I’d do something different…”

Shane interrupted her. “So, basically, you just watched Battle Royale and figured it would be fun to try in real life?”

Helena smiled and nodded. “For some reason it really doesn’t surprise me that you know that movie, Shane.”

“Well, here’s a newsflash for you,” Shane said calmly, trying to restrain the anger inside her. “You’re NOT Kitano and we’re not a bunch of Japanese kids. Just…”

“I demand that you take us off this island NOW!” Cherie shouted, interrupting the arguing that was about to start between Shane and Helena.

“I can’t do that,” Helena said. “I can’t spoil the fun now, not when we’ve gone this far. No, you’ll just have to play the game like everyone else.” She turned to the whole group.

”Now you will all leave this room, one by one, but first you will be given a back-pack which contains some water and food, map and compass, a torch, a few other things that might come in handy – and a weapon. All the weapons are different and it’s not just firearm and knives, because I tried to be a little creative when picking them out! When I read your name and number you will take the bag given to you and go out through that door. Good luck everyone!”

She cleared her throat and started reading from her list. “1. Shane McCutcheon.”

Shane looked up and turned to her girlfriend and gently wiped away the tears that were trickling down her cheeks. ”Carmen? I’ll wait for you on the outside. You’ll find me somehow.” She kissed Carmen softly and wrapped her arms tightly around her, smelling her hair, not wanting to let her go.

“I love you too,” Carmen sobbed. “Promise me you…”

“Lets get going, Shane!” Helena shouted and tossed a bag in Shane’s direction. Shane reached out with one arm and caught it in the air, still holding Carmen with the other.

“Meet me outside,” she whispered into Carmen’s ear. “I’ll wait for you.”

She released Carmen and turned her gaze toward Jenny, giving her a reassuring smile before running out through the door and following the hallway, passing the guards who watched her with loaded rifles ready to fire if she would try anything. She kept running until she felt the cool night air blow through her short, dark hair. She looked at her watch in the dim light, barely able to make out the numbers – 01.12 – and then started looking for a place to hide while she waited for Carmen to come out.

“Hey, Shane wait!”

Shane quickly turned around and saw Carmen running towards her.

“They let me go just after you for some reason!” she panted with a pale smile.

“Great,” Shane said and looked around to see if anyone else was coming after her. “But we can’t stay here. Come with me.”

Shane started running through the dark forest closely followed by Carmen, glad that they at least were in this together.

We’re not gonna die tonight. Not without a fight…

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