After the Cannon
22 cannons rise and the faces are all familiar. They have all competed in these games before. They all want to redeem themselves. Glimmer and Marvel from District 1, Clove and Cato from District 2, Mailey and Noah from District 3, Marina and Breck from District 4, Finch and Jordan from District 5, Cheryl and Jason from District 6, Kara and Jim from District 7, Savannah and Harold from District 8, Jane and Rye from District 9, Hannah and Carter from District 10, Rue and Thresh from District 11.
Just before the gong rings out, Carter's crippled foot goes out and he falls to the ground. The mines blow him up. The gong then rings and Tributes are scrambling in every direction. Clove grabs kunais and throwing knives. she throws a knife at Jim and he falls to the ground. Finch runs to the woods area of the arena and she finds a backpack on her way there. She runs as far as she can. Jason throws a spear at Jane and she is dead. Rye is enraged and throws an axe and Jason is decapitated. Glimmer finds a bow and sheath of arrows that she shoots in all directions. Savannah, Rye, and Noah are killed. Clove bumps into Glimmer while she is making a circle around te Cornucopia. "Cato is mine, I hope you know that," says Glimmer. "Let's see what my knives have to say about that!" says Clove. Glimmer shoots an arrow at Clove and she is injured. Then, Clove hits Glimmer in the arm with a knife.
Jordan is avoiding conflict and silently grabing weapons. Breck notices him and hits him with a trident and runs. Jordan is dead. As the battle goes on, more Tributes die. Once the fighting stops, the cannons start.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
After the cannons, the anthem plays and the faces begin appearing in the sky. Marvel, Noah, Jordan, Cheryl, Jason, Kara, Jim, Savannah, Rye, Hannah, and Carter appear in the sky during the anthem. The Capitol seal appears, then the sky goes dark. There are only 11 Tributes remaining.
That night, Cato, Breck, and Marina find Glimmer, and Clove and they decide to carry them over to the Career camp they formed. Rue is in a tree high above them, looking down. She sees a tracker jacker nest, but it is two trees over. She decides to take a chance and jumps over to the next tree. A small rustling sound is heard, but nothing loud enough for the Careers to hear. As it is a risky move, she decides not to jump again just yet.
In a nearby part of the woods, Noah is walking to find somewhere secluded where he can set up camp. He travels as far as he can, and unkowingly finds the edge of the arena. She keeps walking, and hits the barrier that flings him back into a tree. His neck is broken, and he is bleeding terribly.
Boom!
Thresh is also trekking in the arena, but in the lake area, close to the Career camp. He notices not only the Careers, but also Rue. He winks at her, but she cannot see. "I won't let them hurt you this time little Rue," he mutters under his breath. He walks behind the trees, making his way around the trees. He has a few weapons, an axe, a spear, and a sword. He decides to take a chance, and without hesitation he is engaged in full battle with the Careers.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Glimmer, Cato, and Thresh have died. Thresh killed Glimmer and Cato, but before he died, Cato quickly hit Thresh with one of Clove's knives. Clove is weak and depressed. She is crying and hugging Marina. "He just died in front of me! I wanted him to stay with me and he died!" Clove exclaimed between sobs. Marina is disgusted by Clove's emotions. "Just... go to sleep," Marina says.
The next morning, the remaining Careers decide to move to the Cornucopia and gather the remaining supplies. There are bundles of swords, tridents, slingshots, poison darts, blowguns, bows and arrows, spears, and axes. They gather the supplies and put it inside of the Cornucopia, and Clove realizes that she is really hungry. Breck decides he will go fishing for the group. "Be back soon, I'm hungry too," says Marina. Clove sits with a knife still in her leg, scared to take it out. A silver parachute with a case connected to it floats down. Since Clove can't walk, Marina retrieves the gift.
Pull out the knife and apply this creme. It should heal the wound and have her walking in a few days.
-Sponsor
"It's for you. It says to take out the knife and apply the creme. You ready?" Marina states. "I guess it's now or never. Do it quick," Clove replies quickly. Marina opens the creme, and pulls out the knife. Clove screams at the top of her lungs. "Shh!" Marina exclaims. She rubs the creme over Clove's wound. Breck is running back to the camp, trident ready with a few fish in his other hand. "Is everything okay here? I heard a scream by the lake and it sounded like Clove," he said. Marina replied, "It indeed was Clove, we got a gift and I took the knife out of her leg." Breck lets out a sigh of relief and starts to cook the fish over a fire.
Nearby, Rue is looking in the trees for something to eat. She remembers watching Katniss hunt and uses some of those actions to kill a rabbit. She makes a fire and cooks it to perfection. She carelessly forgets to put out the fire and eats the rabbit.
Harold looks up in the sky and notices smoke in the sky. "It's kill or be killed. Might as well bring myself one step closer to life," he says emotionless. He walks in the direction of the smoke to find Rue sitting on a hanging tree branch, eating a rabbit. He takes a knife and throws it in her direction, and she is hit in the abdomen. "Sorry, little girl," says Harold. He takes her rabbit, walks back to his camp area, and sits in peace.
Boom!
Night falls and the routine begins again. The Capitol Anthem plays. Glimmer, Cato, Rue, and Thresh are seen in the sky. Clove gets teary-eyed as she sees Cato and tries to fall asleep to get him off of her mind.
I see these lights, heading towards this beautiful silhouette. I want to see what it is. My body and mind ache to find out what this figure is. As I get closer, the silhouette changes. It is now not only one person, but two people. Possibly hugging, as if they are in love. I get even closer to find that it is Glimmer hugging Cato. "Hahaha! Cato is mine and you are stuck with those people in the real world. We are inseperable now, and there is NOTHING you can do to change that. Bye Clove! Have fun trying not to die!" Glimmer taunts. I grab a knife and throw it in the direction of Glimmer, but it moves in slow-motion, and just before it finds her heart, it disintegrates into thin air. Just like sand blowing away into the wind. "Face it Clove, you are not with him. I have his heart forever!" Glimmer yells.
The next morning, Claudius Templesmith is heard over a loudspeaker of some sort, "Hello remaining Tributes! I have an announcement, so listen carefully. As in past Games, the dead Tributes that are in the 'After-Games' similar to this one, get the chance to stay alive, but are put into a room with the other Tributes who won in their redemptions. This year, however, the Victor of this Game will not only stay alive, but they get to go back to their families, and they can bring one person of their choice back to life who can do the same. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor."
This sparked something inside of Clove. She felt rejuvenated, excited, and vicious. "I need to bring Cato back to life, and there is only one way for that to happen," Clove says. With that, she clutches a knife and throws it, full force, at Breck. The sudden impact shocks him, and he collapses to the ground, dead and bloody.
Boom!
Marina feels scared, but only until she realizes that Clove doesn't have another weapon at arm's reach. Marina grabs a trident and stabs Clove in the heart.
Boom!
As Harold is deciding who he would bring back if he won, the charismatic and reassuring voive of Caesar Flickerman booms over the loudspeaker. "Hello remaining Trubutes! I'm talking to Finch, Mailey, Marina, Harold, and Jane! The final 5! There is a feast that will occur this evening at the Cornucopia. You may not all need medicine, or food, or water, but you all need motivation. At the feast, you will have a banquet, food and water to take with you away from the feast, and your motivation. There's only one way to find out what your motivation is, and that is to head over to the Cornucopia this evening. Good luck Tributes!" he exclaims.
Finch is in the woods, close to the Cornucopia, waiting. There is no one in particular that she would want to save, but she thinks Mailey or Rue would be good choices. They both used stealth, just like she does.
A couple of hours later, the sun starts to set and the feast is ready for the final five Tributes. All five Tributes are hidden in five parts of the woods, fairly close to the Cornucopia, but still hidden. Jane decides to go first, and she runs to her supplies that are waiting for her. She grabs the bag and food, but Harold tackles her and slashes her throat.
Boom!
He takes her stuff and his. As he is sprinting to the woods, he bumps into Finch, and she is frozen. She takes the knife he raised towards her and uses it against him. She repeatedly stabs his heart and runs to grab her bag. On her way back, she grabs the things Harold had with him.
Boom!
Marina quickly grabs her bag and leaves Mailey's bag. She sprints back to her camp and opens it up. Inside is a pack of assorted foods, water that can last her days, and a note that her family had written for her before she went into the 74th Hunger Games.
To Our Beloved Marina:
We hope you come back to us soon, you are the one who can win this. Just make sure you grab weapons, align with the other Careers, and do what needs to be done. Once you win, we will be waiting for you at home, with a feast and anything you can ever want. We looked at the Victor's Village and saw a house that we know you would love. We will make sure to show it to you when you get home. Make sure you win this, and we know you will.
May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor,
Mom
Dad
Tara
Mailey is the next and final Tribute to claim their bag. She can't wait to see what her motivation is. She climbs back up her tree and rips open the pack. There is the same assorted foods and water, but instead of a note, there is a picture. It is a picture of her family. They are in front of Mailey's favorite place, the Victor's Park. It is a place where Victors from District 3 can chat, tell stories from their Game, and have a good time. Mailey knew that if she gets reaped, she would want to gain admission there. There is a banner that her siblings and parents are holding. It says:
Mailey's Park
Tears came to her eyes as she thought about her family. She needed a weapon so she could win this for them. She ate a small portion of her food and climbed down the tree. She dashed towards the Cornucopia to see if there were any weapons she could grab. Sure enough, Marina had left a few weapons at the old Career camp. There was a bow, a sheath with two arrows, a knife, and a sword. Mailey dashed into the woods.
"Oh my God. I killed a person. I am a murderer, and that person doesn't have their own life because of me," Finch said while she panicked. Mailey was nearby and she walked up on Finch. "Please, kill me, I deserve it for killing Harold," Finch pleaded. Mailey hesitantly threw a knife at Finch as it found her abdomen.
Boom!
Marina shot up from the ground as she heard that cannon. Night fell, as if on cue, and the anthem began playing. In the sky, Clove, Breck, Finch, and Harold appeared in the sky. "This means that me and that girl from District 3 are the final 2. Maybe I can work out a deal!" Marina exclaimed.
Mailey heard Marina's voice faintly, and she found her minutes later. Mailey had the bow loaded with an arrow, pointed at Marina. "Wait! Before we fight, can't we work out a deal?" Marina asked.
"What kind of deal?"
"Whoever wins brings the other one of us back to life. Deal?"
"What was your motivation?"
"A note from my parents. I don't care if you kill me, I just want to see then again. What was your motivation?"
"A photo of my family,"
"So is it a deal?"
"Yes,"
Marina and Mailey both shot their weapons, but only one of them were killed.
Boom!
"May I present to you, the victor of the 74th Redemption Games, Marina from District 4!" Claudius Templesmith yelled over the intercom, "And since she won, she gets to bring back a Tribute of her choice. Who will that Tribute be?
"I choose to bring Mailey back to life."
Mailey's body is taken by a hovercraft, but minutes later, she is back unharmed and they are both taken to the Crowning Ceremony.
The first District they arrive at is District 4, and Claudius escorts Mailey and Marina to Marina's home. Marina knocks on the door and her mother opens the door, revealing a sad, tear-stained face. As soon as she sees Marina, she screams! Marina laughs and hugs her mother, and soon her father and sister, Tara, join in. They are over-joyed and Marina is just hugging and laughing.
Mailey is escorted back to the train and taked to District 3, her home. When they arrive at Mailey's house, the door is opened to yet another tear-stained face. Mailey's mother stares at Mailey, shocked, and soon pulls Mailey into a hug, calling for her husband and children to come and see their daughter again. This family reunion was more heartfelt than Marina's. Mailey enters her home and into safety.
THE END