Zone of Death

The Zone of Death was a real-life battle royale held in the eponymous "Zone of Death", a section of the Yellowstone National Park in Idaho, America on the 19th of December, 2019 and concluding two days later. 50 participants in total entered, with four people surviving the event. The rights to publications of the events that occurred there were given to Revelation Heroes Entertainment.
==Participants==
On the 14th of October, 2019, several posters were put up in every state capital in America requesting volunteers to trial a new augmented reality experience titled 'The Zone of Death' for a company called 'Anékdotos'. The posters requested applicants to call a number, where they were then asked for basic information like contact number, their address, and full name. Over 10,000 people reportedly applied for the 'game'. It is unknown how applicants were selected, though it appears that a single applicant from each state was selected.
On the 28th of October, 2019, the phone number on the posters was disconnected. It appears that 'Anekdotos' used the information given to research the applicants, seemingly selecting only those who were physically fit. Profession seemingly had no bearing on selection, though those selected to be the 'hunters' all had experience with firearms.
Most notably, one of the hunters, Elliot Graham, was a police officer. Another hunter was Arkin Daveport, prime suspect in several murders that occured the previous year. One of the players, Jeremy Kusanagi, was a state senator for New Jersey who had previously declared interest in running for President in 2024.
==Setup==
On the 16th of December, Anékdotos contacted the fifty selected participants to inform them that they had won and would be contacted soon with more details about the game. The following day, all fifty of these participants were abducted and held in an unknown location. Forty-five participants were held in a warehouse in an unknown location, while the other five who had been selected to be hunters were held in a bunker. While the warehouse has been discovered in Boise, Idaho, the location of the bunker is still unknown.
The forty-five players were locked in the warehouse with food, but no idea of why they had been taken or what was to become of them. The five hunters were kept in the bunker under armed guard and informed of the rules of the game, as well as where it would be held.
It is unknown exactly when the walls making the border of the game's area were erected, when the guns and other supplies inside the wall's boundaries were stashed, or how this was all done without anyone noticing, though many members of the public have speculated it to be a cover up.
==Events==
On the morning of the 19th of December, the forty five players were forced onto a Boeing CH-47 Chinook and airdropped into the centre of the Zone of Death. They were informed that within the confines of the playfield, due to a legal loophole, all crime was theoretically possible. They were instructed that they had one week to scavenge for weaponry and kill each other, with no more than two survivors being allowed to leave. If more than two of them were alive at the end of the week, or if they attempted to escape, they would all be killed. The helicopter then left, leaving the players to their own devices.
The five hunters were instead driven to the western border of the playfield and each given a Winchester Model 70 and an M1911 pistol. As mentioned previously, they had already been instructed to kill all other players, though they were told there was no need to kill their fellow hunters.
The entire boundary of the game's area was surrounded by eight metre tall pre-cast concrete walls. It was also made clear to players that several armed guards were guarding the walls perimter to prevent escape. Survivors noted that there were several speakers around the area that informed them whenever a hunter or five players had died. Elliot Graham also reported seeing a camera on at least one occasion, causing speculation that events of the Zone of Death were streamed to the dark web, possibly for profit.
While there was some intial confusion about the exact timeline of events, the stories of the four survivors have been corroborated to create a clear picture of what happened. On the first day, only four people died. One was killed by Arkin. Two were killed by fellow players near the start of the events. The last player to die on the first day was killed after scaling the eastern wall in an attempt to escape the Zone of Death. The speakers were used to announce this last death, stating that it was disappointing he was technically killed outside the 'play zone'.
The second day saw considerably more death. Elliot, despite being a hunter, refused to kill anyone, instead offering to aid players in trying to survive. The only person to take his offer was Omar Hundell, owner of a grocery store in Delaware.
Another survivor, Constance Clyne, claims that after finding a Galil rifle, she hid in a crevice for the next two days in at attempt to avoid conflict.
On the same day, seventeen people died, including two hunters. The first hunter to die was seemingly killed by Arkin for unknown reasons. The other was killed by two players who had found weaponry and laid a trap by pretending to be asleep. When the hunter approached, the second player snuck up behind them and shot them in the chest four times.
Of the fifteen remaining players who died that die, it is known that at least three were killed by Arkin, with another two possibly being his victims. Seven were killed by players, two were killed by other players, and a single man tripped and drowned in the Yellowstone Lake.
On the third and final day, twenty five players died. Six died in the first half of the day, while the remainder died during the final confrontation near the Mammoth Hot Springs. Upon approaching the Hot Springs, Elliot and Omar discovered Constance, who had left her hiding place in search of food. Elliot quickly persuaded Constance to join their group, which she hastily accepted. Shortly after, several other players arrived.
Under threat of violence, Elliot's group was forced to kill the other survivors. Shortly after, Omar was shot clean in the head by Arkin. While Elliot and Constance dove for cover, Arkin proceeded to kill all nearby survivors. It is speculated that sixteen people died during the battle at Mammoth Hot Springs alone.
Elliot eventually confronted Arkin, but was shot in the chest, severly wounding him. The speakers declared him dead. As Arkin proceeded to push towards Constance's location, another survivor, Rupert Jones, snuck up behind Arkin and fatally stabbed him. With that, the speakers declared that the game was over and the contestants could leave. Rupert and Constance dragged Elliot out with them, and he was eventually saved by EMT's. They noted that the gates had been left open and the guards had all fled immediately.
Player Chester Davies was found alive two days later, having faked his death by jumping into the river and hiding out in a cave until he was rescued.
==Aftermath==
In the Aftermath of the events that occured in the Zone of Death, a thorough investigation was held in regards to Anékdotos, though no evidence of the companies existence was found. Similarly, investigation into how they pulled off such a large scale operation without raising suspicions resulted in dead ends.
The Zone of Death was searched for the corpses of the players, which were all recovered, as well as the firearms and supplies that were hidden in the park. It is estimated that only 70% of the supplies have currently been found.
Many speculated as to the nature of the 'game' and the forces behind it, with popular theories including that it was secretly a government test or a ploy by the Illuminati to draw public attention. Regardless of this speculation, it is clear that the Zone of Death event was meticulously planned and carried through by and organisation with extreme wealth and influence.
Since the 'game' concluded, the four survivors have gone through rigorous counselling and rehabilitation. Despite returning to their seperate lives, it is reported that the four survivors remain close and communicate frequently.
The loophole that makes crimes within the Zone of Death legal has still not been fixed.
Category:Original Games
Category:Battle Royale