The bus holding Class 3C of Shirowa-Cho Junior High School bumped along the dusty, somewhat potholed roads of northern Nevada towards Grand Canyon National Park. Inside Shuya Nanahara (Boy 15) was chatting to his best friend Shinji Mimura. (Boy 19) "Isn't it great that we have been chosen out of every school in the Republic to be allowed to go to America? I've heard that it's full of rock music of all kinds." Shinji shook his head. "It's possible that our country is slowly liberalizing, but I would not even try to bring any rock music back with you as it would never get past the Customs officials at home."

Behind them Mizhuo Inada (Girl 1) was attempting to interest her friend Megumi Eto (Girl 3) in the intricate details of the latest imaginary map that they were working on. "And here is the highly dangerous Rift of Charlock, inhabited by Dark Elves, Night Orcs, gigantic centipedes and other such foul spawn. Enter it at your peril." Megumi rolled her eyes. "I'll take your advice, Mizhuo." Mizhuo is a good friend and a nice girl, but she's obsessed with her imaginary worlds. Kaori can listen to her Junya tunes on her I-pod, but I have to listen to Mizhuo rabbitting on and on until we get there. Maybe Satomi had the right idea in taking a couple of sleeping pills to sleep until we reach the Canyon. She looked over at the slumbering Satomi Noda (Girl 17) and the smiling Kaori Minami (Girl 20) with her earphones firmly on her head.

"Did you have to eat five hamburgers, Yuka?" Chisato Matsui (Girl 19) asked her friend. "Sometimes I think that you worship your belly."

"Well, if there is one great thing about America, it's the food. I might as well have as much of it as I can," Yuka Nakagawa (Girl 16) replied.

Kazuo Kiriyama (Boy 6) and his gang occupied the next few seats and talked quietly amongst themselves, whilst Toshinori Oda gazed out of the window and thought Why we were ever picked to come to the USA is a mystery. I am the only one good enough to deserve that honour, the rest of the class are a bunch of thugs, thieves, no-hopers, dreamers and idiots. Kazuo, why when you are even richer then me, did you choose to form a violent gang? You have everything you could possibly want, so why be so vulgar?

Behind him the class lovebirds Kazuhiko Yamamoto (Boy 21) and Sakura Ogawei (Girl 4) planted little teasing kisses on each other's lips. Kyochi Motobuchi was reading a book whilst Yucherio Takiguchi (Boy 13) sneaked sideways glances at Fumiyo Fujiyoshi. (Girl 18) I wish so much that I could pluck up courage and tell her what I really think of you, but you would probably just laugh at me.

Yoji Kuramoto (Boy looked at Yoshimi Yahagi, (Girl 21) lying half asleep beside him. She's so sweet and kind and sexy to me, I would do anything for her. The air is smelly in here. Akumatsu must have farted again. I feel sleepy as well…All around the bus people were falling asleep, except for the bus driver who had donned an oxygen mask before he released the sleeping gas into the bus. The United States of America was going to have it's first ever Program.

*****

There were groans and curses as the class woke and struggled to their feet, rubbing their eyes and wondering where they were. Facing them were a number of soldiers carrying machine guns and a short fat man in the uniform of a Park Ranger, a gun at his belt.

"Wakey Wakey, everybody, rise and shine. I'm the Acting Chief Ranger, Mr Brockman, in charge of the Grand Canyon for the next few days. You may be wondering why you all have collars clamped around your necks. Don't pull them, unless you want your heads blown off, as they are packed with explosives. Your own government leant them to us. It's unlikely you have heard what has happened recently, but the United States is in a financial crisis, and the banks were more damaged then we realised. Welcome to the Program."

Shinji Mimura interrupted him.

"The United States would never allow you to run the Program on its soil."

"Be quiet, Mr Mimura. The next one to interrupt me without permission will get his or her collar detonated. The Republic of East Asia, being so isolationist, managed to avoid having it's economy trashed by America's money troubles, unlike Europe and most of the rest of the world. Talks began in secret, and one of the things we agreed to do was to hold a one-off Program on our soil. Your government originally wanted us to use Yellowstone Park as the venue, but we turned that down. Shutting it would cost far too much money, and a lot of rare wildlife and very important thermal features could have been damaged. On the other hand, the Grand Canyon and its miles of empty side canyons could make a great place for the Program to be held on American soil without attracting attention. And your government has agreed to pay fully for any damage to the Canyon. The official reason for shutting it down for a few days is rumours of a terrorist plot." He paused as Shuya Nanahara raised his hand. "What now?"

"How are you going to explain our deaths to the American media? Surely they'll be interested in how a whole class died in the Grand Canyon?"

"Oh, we'll tell them it was a coach crash off the Rim, or perhaps a freak flood. And your bodies will be sent back in urns to your parents. Unlike the normal programs, this one will not be televised or reported except as a tragic accident. It'll mean the winner can stay in Shirowa-cho instead of being relocated to the other side of the country. No more questions, please. Don't make me detonate somebody's collar early. Now, the rules. Normally there would be a lot of them, this being a national park, but most of them have been suspended. Rule number one; you have three days and nights to kill each other. If more then one of you is still alive at the end of this time, then all your collars will explode and there will be no winner."

The class started looking around at each other, wondering who could be trusted and for how long. Those with few or no friends, like Toshinori and Yoshio Akumatsu (Boy 1), were glaring at everyone or in a panic. Kazuhiko squeezed Sakura's hand and saw she was close to tears.

"You are at Lees Ferry, River Mile 0, with hundreds of miles of river ahead of you, most of them within the park. There are various trails leading up and out of here, but they are blocked at the top with barbed wire and machine gun nests. And anyway, if you did somehow get out of the Canyon, your collar would have to be detonated. That brings me onto the danger zones. Three minutes after the last of you leave this building, it and the area around it for a mile, will become a danger zone. If you get caught in it, or in random danger zones that will be added every six hours, your collar will be detonated. You will leave one at a time, first a boy, then a girl, until the last of you has left."

"You'll get a map of the Canyon, a pen and a list of your class, some bread, two small bottles of water, a small torch, a roll of toilet paper, and a random weapon. The Canyon gets very hot at this time of year, so your water will not be enough. You can get more either from the Colorado river, but it's not very clean, or by murdering others and taking their water, which is what I recommend."

"Oh, and one more thing- if you're wondering what happened to your teacher, Mr Hayishida…bring him in."

Two soldiers hauled in a bound and gagged Mr Hayishida and Mr Brockman took what looked like a TV control, pointed it at him and pressed a button. A red light flashed on the collar, which exploded. The explosion snapped Mr Hayishida's carbonised neck and his head fell to the floor and rolled around in front of the horrified class, shocking everyone except Kazuo who stared impassively as everybody else backed away as far as possible from the headless body.

"That's what'll happen to you if you end up in a danger zone. When I call your name you will be given a random bag and will leave one at a time, without loitering in the corridor or opening your bag until you are outside, on penalty of collar detonation."

Girl #1 Mizhuo Inada forced herself to rise when her name was called, grabbed the bag that was thrown to her and hurried outside, gazing up at the star studded sky and the great Canyon walls on either side. I'm in the Rift! Somehow I have been kidnapped and deposited here. May the gods and goddesses be on my side. I must have been placed here for a reason. Yes, I am a Paladin, here to patrol the Outer Rift, slaying evildoers until the Gods see fit to release me from her duty. A part of her, the sane part of her, screamed that it was the Grand Canyon that she was in and not the Rift at all, and that those she was supposed to slay were her classmates, but she buried the thoughts as deeply as she could. Better, in such a situation, to escape into her own world where everything was black and white.

She checked her bag and pulled out a large, sharp Bowie knife. She concentrated hard in her mind and a blue beam a foot long emerged from it in her mind. Kaori will have to try and find me, I can't wait for her, but I can wait for Megumi. She squeezed herself into a crack in the rocks and waited.

Boy #1 Yoshio Akumatsu took his bag and hurried out without turning back. They'll all be trying to kill me, I have no friends in this class and nobody who I care about or who cares about me. Then I'll play the came, and be the one who comes out on top. All I need is a gun. Too his horror, he found that what he had was not a gun, but a bicycle pump, and a rubber boat complete with a plastic paddle that needed some pumping before he could use it. Terrified, he ran as fast as he dared towards the distant Colorado River, set his boat down and began franticly pumping it up. I'll run the river and get myself as far away from everyone else as possible, and let them kill each other.

Girl #2 Yukie Utsumi forced herself not to burst into tears, took a last long look at everybody, and took her bag, then walked out slowly. I can't show anybody my fear, or they'll think of me as an easy target. I have friends, so many friends, Haruka, Yuka, Satomi, Chisato, Yuko, none of them will be playing this horrible murder game. Not at first, anyway, but the longer things go on the more likely it is that people will snap and try to kill each other. What's in my bag? She pulled out a heavy sledgehammer. Well, it's not a gun, but at least I have a chance of defending myself.

Boy #2 Keita Iijima galloped outside, his bag swinging around his neck as he felt in it franticly for his weapon. A gun, I lucked out with a gun…That was when he tripped up and the gun went off in his hand with a flash of flame. Damm it, it could have been worse, I could have shot myself. What sort of gun is it, anyway? Oh no…a flintlock pistol, and I just shot it off. A flash of his torch in his bag revealed several pistol balls and a large pouch of gunpowder, as well as instructions for loading the pistol. Stupid me…I could have waited for Megumi, shot her dead and taken her weapon. Why am I thinking this way? I like Megumi and don't want her dead. But I want to live.

Girl #3 Megumi Eto took out her weapon as soon as she dared to do so. Please let it be a gun, oh, a police baton. Well, it's better then nothing. A small stone landed at her feet and she spun around, raising the baton above her head, then screwed up her eyes as a torch beam shone full in her face. If whoever it is has a gun and is playing, I'm an easy kill.

"Megumi, it's me, Mizhuo. Don't leave me alone, I don't want to be alone…" Mizhuo shone her torch on her own face and smiled, and then shone it on the blade of her Bowie knife.

Two of us are safer then one, but on the other hand, it's Mizhuo. What if she freaks out on me? What if she has decided to play from the start. Don't be stupid, Megumi, she's one of your best friends. Besides, if you leave her alone then she really will go mad with fear and start playing. Better to have her with me where I can keep my eye on her then roaming around who knows where.

"Don't worry, Mizhuo, take my hand, I won't leave you alone." Mizhuo took her hand and they set off together into the dark.

Boy #3 Tatsumichi Oki hurried outside. Let's see, friends…Niida. Knowing Niida, he'll probably start stalking Takkako or some other luckless girl as soon as he gets the chance. And Tadkatsu. I could start playing from the start, but it's best to wait until not so many people are around, and none of them are blameless. Then its just self-defence. He pulled out his weapon, a short Zulu stabbing spear. At least I have a chance of survival.

Girl #4 Sakura Ogawei strode quietly through the night. None of my options are good. Play the game and become a murderess. Refuse to play and most likely get my head blown off or become a murder victim. Suicide seems the only option, but I don't want to die without Kazuhiko, and Kazuhiko would never agree at this stage to just kill himself with me. She took out her weapon, a revolver. So I'll play the game, for Kazuhiko's sake rather then my own. The next one coming out of here is Toshinori Oda, hardly a loss to the world, and somebody who is going to be playing the game from the start.

Boy #4 Toshinori Oda grinned when he found his weapon, an AK 47, and stopped long enough to load and c.o.c.k. it. All I have to do is go back and then I'll open fire on the rest of them at as short a range as I dare. That'll leave seven others, the loony, the fat kid, the popular girl, the sneak, the loony's friend, the jock and lover girl Sakura. At least one or two of them will be playing most likely, which should make my life even easier.

He walked around a corner on the trail and screwed up his eyes when a torch beam shone into them, pulling the trigger as he did so. Sakura was forced to jump aside so her shot missed as well, and the two both hid amongst rocks from where they blasted away at each other. As they continued their firefight, one by one the others made their way outside, giving the area where the gunfight was taking place a very wide berth.