"Day Zero: Experiment is primed, subjects are in place, all units are on standby. Five minutes to initiation."

The man clicked off the voice recorder and set it on the table beside him. The room he was in wasn't particularly large; it was about the size of a high school basketball court, though the ceiling was far lower. He wasn't a very tall man, but he could have brushed the ceiling with his fingertips if he desired. He gave the dozens of monitors in the room one final check, ensuring they were feeding. His laptop was sitting open, humming away, next to a large touchscreen table, which displayed an aerial view of the five mile by five mile range of the area, courtesy of the drone circling silently far above. He glanced at the man beside him, who was dressed in the same white lab coat, black dress pants, and black leather shoes. He nodded, and the man entered a prompt into his own laptop. The screens flickered, then stabilized, with a small red circle in each to indicate they were recording. Another prompt loaded several bright green dots in the center of the tabletop map. All subjects were accounted for.

"One minute. Transmitting alert signal" he called, reaching for a heavy breaker switch mounted to the wall and snapping it to the ON position. A new window opened up on his laptop as he plugged a wireless phone into one of the many slots. The screen blinked on and ran a quick diagnostic. Everything was functioning properly. He unlocked the phone and scrolled through the list of contacts. He selected them one at a time and sent each a text message.

Satisfied, he reached for the handheld voice recorder once again, checking his watch.

"Time: 12:00PM. Experiment initiated."

---

A harsh white light filled the small, square room. It was a simple structure, with four concrete walls, four metal roll-up garage doors, and a hard concrete floor. It was lit above by long white shop lights mounted to a tin roof. The only thing that looked out of place was the expensive loudspeaker bolted in one corner of the room. And, of course, a collection of unconscious bodies, laid flat on their backs in a rough circle. The good news was, the thick rubber mats they had been placed on would protect them from any back pain. The bad news was, the small square metal plate on the back of each of their necks, tapped directly into the spinal column, would not treat them as gently. Each individual at once was given a very small electrical shock, snapping them awake and back into reality.

"Hello," the loudspeaker called. "You have been selected to participate in Experiment-200, courtesy of the Institute for the Survival and Ongoing of Humanity. You've been summoned here today to test your ability to make the most important decision in the history of mankind. To kill...or be killed."

There was a pause.

"Each of you has been stripped of your personal belongings. In their place are three things of great significance to you. One is an unmarked card with a black stripe. This card will provide you unlimited credit to the two stores, located in the northwest and southeast corners of the test area. The other is a cellular flip phone. It is how I will communicate with you as the test progresses. Please do not lose either of these items. The third, you are incapable of losing. You may have noticed a lump on the back of your neck. It is my means to monitoring your health and location. Please do not try to remove it. Doing so will cause paralysis and neurological damage.

"The test is simple. Each of you will be asked to terminate one other subject. The subject's name and face will be sent to you via your cellular phone. Terminating that subject will end your part in the experiment and you will be immediately released. If you do not cooperate, or if you attempt to scale the wire fence that defines the borders of the test area, you will be harmed. To give you a false sense of control, each of you is permitted to call me via your cellular phone one time during the experiment. Use it as wisely or unwisely as you want.

"Please proceed to one of the four exits."

Another pause, then a click. Without warning, all four doors buzz to life and rise as one. The experiment has begun.

Julianne Leung was dreaming.

"You promised me you wouldn't tell!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Jonathan, but I couldn't convince anyone what you were saying is true if I didn't have a verifiable source."

"I've lost everything! Oh, my God!"

"That's the risk you take when you become a whistleblower. But the company lost. Punishment is being dolled out. Isn't that enough?"

"No! No! No one will- you ruined me!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Jonathan. I had to-"

"You didn't have to do anything! You could have left it alone!"

"...And let their corrupt practices go unpunished? I'm sorry that I gave out too many details. I had too. Nothing would have happened otherwise."

"You stupid...!"

---

Julianne Leung, a well-respected, calculating, if cutthroat reporter lay unconscious on a rubber mat. Her arms ran parallel to her body and her legs were pressed straight together. She wore a white T-shirt that rested un-tucked over a black pair of skinny jeans wrapped around her waist by a leather belt. The jeans stopped a few inches short of her sneaker shoes, so there was a few inches of her olive skin tone between her jeans and her white socks. Black hair was tied into a loose bun on the top of her head.

There was still make-up on her face, including a thin line mascara and subtle lip-stick. Her sleeping features were asian, particularly Korean. Her lips were parted and her belly slowly rose up and down with breath, rhytmically and slowly. Suddenly, through an electric shock from a plate that had been surgically implanted at the base of her skull, Julianne was awakened. Her lids flashed open to reveal two sharp, intelligent eyes that were hazed in grogginess.

The reporter sat up, glancing around at the now awakening people around her. A message came through on a loudspeaker. Male, authoritative, calm, cool, collected, and what sounded like a concerning indifference to human suffering.

Julianne's countanence went from confused and disoriented to worried, then finally, frightened as the message went on. She felt her heart flutter in her chest. Trying to stave off panic, she reached a trembling hand into her right pocket where she felt an object press against her thighs. She pulled it out, to reveal the mentioned fliphone, and her fingers confirmed the prescense of the black card.

What the Hell was this? What kind of sick person would do something like this? Oh, God.

Still sitting down on the rubber matt, she opened up her assigned flip-phone. A name. A face. A human person. Horror dawned on her as she instictually scanned the room, and saw the person she was supposed to...kill. She quickly looked away as to not give herself away. Then, an even worse terror overcame her. She turned wildly, scrambling to her feet.

Her eyes flicked from face to face, trying to surmise which one of these people were being coerced into ending her life. She had to kill her target. It was the only way. Before someone killed her. The woman needed a weapon. She couldn't kill her target with her bare hands, and she certainly couldn't defend herself without one!

Trying to surpress the rising of her stomach, Julianne Leung sprinted out of the room, heading east. Her sneakers padded against the concrete road.

Using the sun and a bit of common sense Jullian dashed to the southeast to find one of these 'stores'. Maybe she could get a weapon to defend herself. She had to get away. Had to. Had to! She cut through the open field and began running to a large structure in the distance that looked like it could be one of these stores.

Immediately panicked and alert, Eli's eyes snapped open and his muscles convulsed, pushing his body upwards as quickly as they could. From sitting to kneeling to standing in just a few seconds, the hunter quickly found himself in a small, threatening, unfamiliar room, and instinctively he backed into the nearest corner. Crouching down a bit and readying his fists, Eli watched the others wake up and ascend from their rubber mats. He scanned the room quickly, trying to identify the source of danger, but unable to find a clear answer, Eli lowered his guard just a bit as the adrenaline began to subside. A noticeable pain began to emanate from the back of his neck, and bringing one hand up, Eli rubbed the spot where the pain was coming from and found his answer. He brought both his fists up to bear once again, ready to pounce.

Just then, the loudspeaker activated and blared the voice of someone unfamiliar to Eli. It was not a very pleasant voice, cold and inconsiderate, possibly worsened by the loudness of the speaker itself - like it was turned up just a bit too much to distress the occupants of the room they shared. Eli tuned out most of the broadcast, trying to focus on the others - now alert and awake - and whether they posed a threat to him. His breathing had become heavy, and a feeling of claustrophobia swept over yours truly, as the dread of the situation slowly crept into his brain on the currents of adrenaline. A few pieces of information from the disembodied voice slipped through the dizzying fog of panic - they were part of an experiment, had to kill each other, had only a card and phone, and there were stores somewhere in the area.

The broadcast ended, and the doors began to rise, spilling warm light into the cold and mercilessly menacing room. Just as soon as the space was big enough, Eli picked the door on his left, slipped underneath the rising metal door, and emerged on the other side into a shining, small town of trees, grass and quaint buildings, under a cloudless blue sky and a warm sun overhead. Eli was thankful for the peaceful air outside the cramped box he had just emerged from, but these thoughts and the relief that came with them didn't last longer than a brief moment as the adrenaline picked up again, and Eli began to run up the road outside the door he had chosen. He didn't stop to ask questions, didn't stop to figure out which direction he was going (it was North) and hoped to not stop running until he was too exhausted to panic.

Any small trace of her grogginess had quickly dissipated the minute Olivia was shocked into a conscious state. She was immediately alert, her mind scrambling for an answer as she slowly took in her surroundings within the odd room. A few other bodies lay scattered there with her; the majority of them, if not all, were waking up just like she was, and they had the same confused look on their face. But given the current scenario, who could blame them?

Where the hell am I? she thought to herself, propping up on one elbow before an authoritative voice came on through the loudspeaker, its unexpected presence startling Olivia. She listened quietly at first, but the longer the man spoke, the more unsettled she grew. They were supposed to kill each other...kill or be killed. Olivia obviously wasn't the least bit happy with either option, but she knew what she had to do in order to survive. When it was announced that each of them had been microchipped, Olivia felt around the back of her neck to verify, and sure enough, the bump from the alien device in her body was there as announced. A lump formed in her throat, momentarily paralyzing the young woman with fear as instructions on how they were supposed to proceed were explained to them. With a shaky hand, Olivia reached for the phone that had been given to her. She opened it and immediately saw the notification informing her there was an unread message.

Olivia looked at the name, followed by the picture, and finally her actual target.

Card, phone, microchip. Get my items, kill me target...

As soon as the doors slid open, Olivia got to her feet and sprinted out of the room. The others did the same when they scattered as soon as they were able to. Not knowing whether she was being followed or not, Olivia rushed down the path with some trees on her left. She could see something off in the distance, a small speck. Maybe that's where she needed to go—maybe it wasn't—but she couldn't sit around and contemplate a decision.

Wes Tower awoke with an unpleasant jolt that left his fingertips buzzing with electricity. For a moment he found that he couldn’t move from his straight backed position on an uncomfortable mat. After a moment he managed to relax enough that he could sit up. He felt his heart beating painfully in his chest as he took in the unfamiliar room. Other people were looking around, confusion and fear written on their faces. He noticed a metal plate on the neck of another person in the room and reached behind his head rubbing the same area. Sure enough his fingers met the hard metal.

Something was very wrong here. He flinched when he heard the static of the speakers come on. He listened intently his heart speeding up with every sentence. The world around him seemed to dim in comparison with the man’s words.

Kill or be killed.
Kill or be
killed.

Kill
or be
Killed

Should kill myself first.
They are all here to kill you.

He had to shake himself physically to stop the thoughts. He patted his pockets- doing his best to take deep breaths. He could smell his nervous sweat. He pulled out the card and phone promised to be on his person. He glanced at the name and at the photo and located them in the room. They seemed worse off than himself. Maybe you look wose. Can they tell? Don’t let them. They are all after you.

Can you even do it? What did they ever do to you? What did any of those people ever do to you? It hurt to breath. Clearly he was here to do this job. The man... he chose him to do a greater good. Perhaps these people were sick?

Do I need a weapon? Wes didn’t have time to think this through as the doors opened with a harsh buzz. The person he was watching ran out- so did all the others. He sat there for a minute begging his heart to slow down before standing and heading out. He blinked against the beams of light from the sun. He glanced down the road seeing nothing but grass and a corn field. Clearly whatever place they were in was huge.

I might need a weapon. I can go three days without water. Three weeks without food. Will this last three days? Wes struggled with his options. Finding supplies or tracking his target from the get go. He licked his chapped lips and decided to follow the corn.

Eventually, Julianne's sprint slowed to a jog. Breathing heavy, and ragged, she glanced over her shoulder. No one followed her. She wasn't about to get run down and beat to death- if anyone was capable of that yet. Whoever the people were who had captured here...God, they were sick. She began to think if they'd even let her out of here at all. Probably not. But these other people might be willing to crack, and kill for their freedom. Defense was her priority.

Still...maybe she could get out of here. They could just drug her again; it's not like anyone would believe her. Perhaps she could just get it over with. The thought made her sick suddenly. No. No, maybe they could just...escape? As she continued to jog in the open field, she felt her stylish but impractical skinny jeans drag friction against her thighs, legs begginning to become irritated by the fabric. It was hard to bend in these things. Maybe she could find more pratical pair of pants or something.

These were the thoughts that made their way through the haze of her life being in imminent danger.

Eventually, the big building that was one of the shops became larger in her vision. The jog turned into a walk and she placed a hand on her hip as she walked inhaling deeply through her nose, attempting to cool the burn in her lungs. Julianne shielded her eyes from the sun as she approached. It was large, a concrete block of oppressive architecture. She spotted a door and made her way inside the 'store'. Unbeknownst to her, it was the food and water store.

Jagged breathing and light steps broke through the heavy silence as Olivia slowed to a jog before eventually stopping to catch her breath. She hunched forward with hands on her knees, but nonetheless remaining vigilant toward her surroundings. She was someone's target, as was the case for everyone else, yet it killed her that she didn't know who was going to make an attempt against her life...hopefully failing, but nonetheless making the attempt. The thought alone was dreadfully frightening, but contemplating the bizarre position they'd been put in was a huge mistake. Time was of essence, and she couldn't afford to waste any of it.

Off in the distance, Olivia noticed the structure that had caught her attention earlier. Now that she had a closer look, the building appeared to be a store, or maybe a factory. But she wouldn't play any guessing games. Once more, Olivia took off in that direction despite the terrible cramps on her side.

Eventually, Eli tired, and he stopped running.

He was still in the middle of the road. Exposed. Not a position he'd like to be in. He hadn't checked his phone, but he didn't care much. Survival was paramount here, and a little distraction like that could mean life or death. Better to be alert and aware.

Scanning his surroundings, Eli briefly took in what he could see: apartment-like buildings to his right, and a giant concrete building to his left, past some cornfields.

Cornfields.

The hunter made a snap decision, going off-road and making his way into the cornfields. The corn would make for good cover and an excellent hiding place while he recovered for a bit, and calmed himself.

Wading his way further into the fields, Eli came upon a building, set smack-dab into the middle of the cornfield. An old, wooden building, likely a shed.

Making his way through the last of the corn, Eli made his way in front of the building. It was, indeed, an old shed.

Grasping the handle, Eli peeked inside.

As her vitals returned to normal, the reporter entered the large building. What lay in wait was a strange, surreal sight. Aisles and aisles of stock-grey grocery store-esque shelves. Food, water, and other consumables in various forms and shapes sit silently, unwatched. Dimly lit white lights dot the store in a pattern, illuminating the room in an oppressive, unwelcoming way.

"...The hell...?" Julianne whispered to herself, bewildered. How long where they going to be here? She needed food, water? Would she be trapped here for days? Weeks? Her breathing picked up again, though not from physical exertion but from the dread of the unknown.

Jogging down the silent aisles she craned her neck to get a good look at anything she could find. A dark brown package caught her eye and she stopped her movement, and walked over to it. Chocolate. In a moment of wanting something good in her life she quickly unwrapped in and began breaking the chocolate into it's segment pieces and bit into it as she strolled the aisles.

Searching for more pragmatic items was an easy task. She quickly found effeciently spaced food rations of various dried nutrients, as well as some boring water bottles.

Only then did it occur to Julianne that she had no way of storing her foodstuffs. What was she going to do, carry them in her hands? Like an old grandma carrying groceries? That's no good at all! The pockets in her skinny jeans would hold exactly one protein bar. Damn it. Damn it!

She came all this way and has nothing to show for it! Not even a weapon! Oh God, this stupid chocolate bar would do her no good if some desperate guy comes along and shoots her dead! Or beats her to death! In a fit of frustrated helplessness she yelped angrily, throwing the chocolate wrapper as hard as she could. It halted a foot or so in front of her and floated daintily to the ground. Growling, she turned and slammed her foot into the aisles, only for the stainless steel to reverberate, almost growling back. Bolted to the ground.

Sitting down, agrivated, she clutching her knees to her chest and rested her chin between her knees. Julianne's eyes closed and she sat there, calming down. Okay. Okay, you're still alive. You can't stay here for long because it's only a matter of time before someone else shows up.

Food would be useful, though. In the long run. Maybe if someone else comes looking for food they'll have to interact with other people and she'll already have the supplies she needs. But how to carry it? Plucking a few protein and granola bars off the shelves and shoving them into her jean pockets made her feel better, but not much. Water was the priority. Her brain clicked, and her only idea popped into her head. All right. Kind of embarassing...but she could use her t-shirt as a bag.

She doesn't know it's just... she's worked out before; going on her morning jogs wearing a sports bra as a top. She guessed this wasn't that much different, except that she was not feeling confident in herself at all. She removed her t-shirt, uncovering the bland grey sports bra underneath. Tying the waist-end of her t-shirt into a knot was fairly simple. Reaching her arm down inside and pressing hard proved that it would hold enough weight to carry at least a few water bottles.

She also rolled up her jeans to just above her knees to allow more joint movement.

Pockets full of protein and granola bars, a t-shirt bag full of bottles and some Meal's Ready to Eat, Julianne Leung peaked out the automatic sliding door and glanced around and saw no one.

In front of her, just a few minutes walk away, was some kind of military looking complex. Big, domed, steel-grey structures surrounded by a barb-wire fence. Maybe there'd be an assault rifle in there, or something. Maybe a camo outfit- that'd be neat. She began to fast-walk over, her makeshift bag full of bottles hitting against her torso as she did so.