I’m not safe. I can feel them staring. With fear taking over my body, I start running through the parking lot as fast as I can.

I’m a target. I can’t stop running. I have to survive. But I’m getting tired. Sprinting as fast as I can, I feel myself slowing down. They’re getting closer.

I see them now, peeking out from behind a parked car. With the weapon in their hand, my heart starts racing. I have nothing to protect myself.

I felt helpless as I got hit. I was eliminated. Both my dignity and my hopes for the prize pot immediately faded. I lost Senior Assassin.

Mady Flowers and Emily Smith started Senior Assassin to get students involved in a senior class event before the school year ends. Participants paid $5 to enter the game, where their entry fee was put into the prize pot. The competition started March 17 with 66 students, and as of this writing there are fewer than 20 remaining.

“I honestly thought with the way everyone started out, it was going to go by really fast,” Emily said. “I thought maybe three weeks max. I was like ‘This would be perfect.’ It’s right before finals, and everyone’s chill and it’ll be cool, but no, people are dedicated.”

Using an app called Splashin, each participant is given a target they are supposed to eliminate, and they can only be assassinated if they are not wearing either goggles or a floatie. They are also considered safe if they are at school, work or church.

“I always wear my goggles,” Ty Bonnet said. “I keep them with me all the time.”

For the elimination to count, participants must upload a video to the app of them “assassinating” their target. Evianna Quillin was eliminated during one of the purges.

“I was devastated,” Evianna said. “You work so hard to try and get your target out. You have to put a lot of time into the game, so I was pretty upset because it felt like a lot of time and dedication wasted, but I was thankful for the opportunity because it was fun.”

During a purge, participants are still considered safe at church, school or work, but for six hours, wearing either a floatie or goggles does not keep you safe. However, participants gain points by eliminating people, and if you eliminate enough, you can get an immunity power-up that makes you immune during the purge.

“I think especially with the purges, it’s just kind of luck of the draw,” Mady said. “It’s kind of like where you are and who’s there.”

Emery Ford has only “assassinated” one of her targets, but she said her favorite part about it is figuring out who has her as their target.

“I decided to do Senior Assassin because I had seen it on social media and it seemed like a fun thing to do with my class,” she said.

To survive, students said it can be important to have tactics and strategies to get people out and keep themselves safe.

“You have to form alliances so that people can help you,” Evianna said. “You also have to keep your safety gear on at all times. Nobody’s safe, so you really can’t trust anyone. Honestly, you just have to follow them everywhere.”

So wether walking across the parking lot or going to a restaurant with family, seniors need to stay strapped and be cautious; no one knows when they’ll get eliminated.