Neil woke up to the daily same buzz every morning. 7:00. He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth while staring at his reflection. His brown skin and jet black hair contrasted with the spotless pure white of the bathroom. After putting on the usual white tee shirt and black pants, he stepped out of his room. Following the long hallway, he arrived at the breakfast area. 7:30. He grabbed a tray with the usual, bland meal; bread with a side of cucumber, and took his regular seat next to his best friend Derick.
“You ever realised how boring and repetitive life here can be?” Neil asked Derick.
“I can’t really imagine anything else… and how repetitive can it be for you? You’re an architect! Doesn’t that mean you can use your abnormally creative skills to do different things?”
“Yes… but at the end of the day I’m still limited to certain restraints.”
“I still think it’s a creative job. And anyways, you could always just leave, right?”
“You mean through the frontier? Yes, I have. I was thinking about registering for this year’s battle. I just don’t know if I can do it.”
“Again, you’re a 19 year old hyper observant boy. You’re athletic and you have some experience with weapons. Remember the war simulation? You placed first.”
The buzzer went off again. 8:00. It was time to go to their workstations.
“See you later,” Derick called as he set off to his office in the government building. Living in the Community wasn’t as bad for Derick, seeing as his father was Nicholas Petersen, the head and founder of the Community. Neil biked in line with all of the other workers to the main office, where he resumed his usual workstation.
The day passed like every other, with lunch at 12:00, his work resuming at 12:30, and work ending at 16:30. By 17:00, he was back in his room, but there was no sign of Derick anywhere. He’d knocked on his door, to no answer. Eventually, it was dinnertime, where Neil overheard David.
“The idiot Derick got caught tryin’ to steal from his dad!” he screeched, “Moron’s got himself in prison. Only way he’s gettin’ out is through the frontier. His dad’s punishment, actually.”
So… Derick was trying to steal from his dad. He must not have been careful enough. But what was he stealing? That’s that then. If Derick was going to the frontier, then so was he. He’d register the next day, with the battle next week. As he’d heard, the rules were simple. A plane would make one run over the island, and everyone had to parachute off, or they would return to the Community. On the island, weapons and ammunition were laid out, and everyone would fight to the death. The survivor was granted exit from the community. Yes. One survivor. He and Derick were two people. How was that going to work? They’d figure it out then, he guessed. For now, he’d go to his room and get some well earned rest.
He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, to hear the loud sound of a propeller. He sat up with a start, to realise he was in a plane. The small Cessna already had its propeller spinning, so the few competitors could rush on and so the plane could leave in the small span of 10 minutes, in order to be noticed by as few people possible. To much relief, Derick was on the plane, too.
“You’re okay!” Neil exclaimed, “As soon as I heard you were sentenced to the frontier, I signed up.”
“Yeah. I got caught trying to steal you the map layout for this year’s battle. I know exactly where we should go, though, so follow me.”
Out of the window of the plane the island was now visible.
“Alright, you see the area over there with the two houses? Head that way, if we find a sniper rifle we can wait out the battle on top of the hill.”
BEEP. The door opened, and now everyone was free to jump. David leaped first, followed by Martin and Ash. There were four people left on the plane, including Derick and Neil.
“Jump!”
They leapt, and now they were free falling. This was harder than it looked, if Neil lifted his left leg he would start to spin uncontrollably, so he decided it was best to just open his parachute. Immediately, it was a lot easier to steer, and he landed right next to the target, with no sign of Derick. He ran into the house and searched desperately. He found a sniper, a backpack and two magazines of ammunition. Crap. What was he going to do in close quarters? He’d just have to hope Derick had found something else.
He stepped outside the house, to see that a heavy mist had fallen across the island.
“Neil?!” he heard someone call. It sounded like Derick.
“Over here!”
“Goodness gracious, I landed way off target!
“What gear have you got?”
“Just an assault rifle, you?”
“Sniper.”
“Heck yeah.”
They were walking up the hill, when Neil spotted something.
“Hey look, is that a person or a tree?”
“I can’t tell, look through the scope, if it’s a person, kill em.’”
Neil aimed down the sights. Suddenly, he fired. CRACK.
“Did you get him?”
No answer. Derick noticed Neil shiver. He’d take that as a yes.
“Come on, let’s go…”
Derick dragged Neil up as far as he could. Neil couldn’t believe what he’d done. He’d killed someone. Someone who also wanted to be free from the control of the community, so that he wouldn’t need to follow the same routine every day of his life. But that was the risk. He snapped out of it and walked to the top of his hill on his own, went prone and waited.
“I’ll cover the rear in case anyone sneaks up on us, and you take up post on the cliffside,” Derick explained.
Hours passed with nothing happening, with distant gunfire to be heard every now and then. The weather had cleared, and now the visibility gave Neil a clear view over the island. He kept thinking he saw people, but he was just paranoid. CRACK. That wasn’t his shot. He then heard a scream from behind him. He leapt up and sprinted to cover, and he froze. About 15 meters out, he saw a body. Derick. “Hey, you alright?” Neil whispered. No answer. “Derick?”
Thwack. A bullet embedded itself in the wood next to him. “I’m comin’ for ya!” Neil heard. David. Crap. He ran. He didn’t care anymore. He had lost his only friend. He wouldn’t stand a chance on his own. Why did he think this was a good idea? CRACK. And all he saw was darkness.
He opened his eyes to a buzzing sound and a familiar ceiling. He looked to his right to see a familiar clock. 7:00.