Fear. Paranoia. Anxiety. These emotions are running rampant through PA’s upperclassmen right now. Friends are turning on friends. What could be the reason? College? Impending adulthood? 

Nope. It’s PA Assassins.

The game of Assassins is essentially a water-gun fight that is fought in teams of two. Each team  has a target that they must hit by the end of the week, while also avoiding whoever is targeting them. Failure to hit the designated target eliminates the team. 

And the prize for the final team to survive: $900 cash.

Forty-five teams started the game at PA; however, they’ve been dropping like flies. By the start of school Monday morning, targets were already being eliminated.

Juniors Abby and Lizzie Duchesne eliminated their target team before sunrise.

“At 10 P.M. Sunday night, my dad and I drove to a couple of houses around Pembroke and Epsom,” said Abby Duchesne. “Once we saw [our target’s] car, we were laughing like crazy. We knew they would never expect it.”

In the coming weeks, participants will be sprinting to their cars, looking over their shoulders, jumping out windows—yes, that happened—and, of course, carrying water-guns.

“My brother is trying to sabotage me by letting people into my house,” said senior Alexis Bouchard.

Even family cannot be trusted.

Strategy and subterfuge are vital parts of the game. Sometimes, it is best to make allies in order to trade information, and, sometimes, deceit proves beneficial.

Precautions, however, are set in place for safety and legal reasons. For example, there is no gameplay allowed on school grounds, including sports games and practices, and participants can’t hit anyone in a moving car. 

Players also can’t enter somebody’s residence without permission. In legal terms, this is breaking and entering.

As someone who participated in the game, I can assure you that Assassins’ is more anxiety-inducing than waiting for college letters. We all have the collective knowledge that nowhere is truly safe, and nobody can be trusted. Being eliminated was almost a relief. 

“I’m scared to go to my own house,” said a senior player.