A/N: As you might already suspect, I don't own the Hunger Games. The T rating is for canon-typical violence throughout.
She rubbed her thumb over the simple golden locket, smiling down at the tiny pictures of her brother and sister she had pasted inside. Wonder traced the nine-year-olds' golden hair and perfectly proportioned faced with her finger. All she wanted now was to go back to them, to see their smiling faces again. The house and the money would be nice, but all she was really fighting for were her parents and twin siblings. Not that she would ever say that out loud. For all the hell she'd gone through in this Arena, she deserved every reward a victor was entitled to.
Sixteen days in the Arena and eighteen tributes dead. Not good enough. A cannon sounded, and Wonder amended that thought. Sixteen days in the Arena and nineteen tributes dead. Better. She allowed herself a small, satisfied smirk.
The other remaining Careers stirred at the sound. Cassius, the District Two man, barely glanced up before going back to sleep, but the others sat up and turned to look at Wonder. "One of ours?" asked Breandan sleepily.
Wonder shook her head before she remembered that the three others probably couldn't see her in the dimly lit cavern. "No. It was either the Eight girl or the Eleven boy."
The District Four man grunted and folded his arms over his head to block out the little light in the tunnel, leaving just Wonder and Bridgid.
"I'm not sure what time it is, but do you want to switch?" the District Four woman asked sweetly. Though she had seen Bridgid slice two tributes with the nasty fishing knife she carried, Wonder had long since decided the girl didn't have what it took to win the Hunger Games. She was too gentle, too kind to do what needed to be done to survive, and as far as Wonder was concerned, that was the best kind of competition.
"No thanks. I've only been on watch for an hour or so. I'll wake you up when I need a break."
Bridgid nodded and gave Wonder a smile before she fell back asleep. She wondered for a moment if it would be hard to kill her when that time came, but she pushed that thought from her mind. Bridgid's death might hurt a bit more than the others she had killed already, but it was far, far better than the possibility of the Four girl getting her first. Wonder sat back and thought about her options as she watched Cassius, Bridgid, and Breandan's chests rise and fall in long, steady breaths. All of them slept peacefull, but she knew that this peace would soon be broken. The Career pack could not last much longer; with only one non-Career tribute left, it wouldn't be long before the pack imploded. Her slight build would do her no favors when the fighting started, as even Bridgid must have a good three inches and twenty pounds on her. She would be an easy target, a quick kill to add to the others' tallies. Wonder needed to escape now, before one of her companions snapped.
She waited for half an hour, checking a few times that the other tributes were truly asleep before gathering the supplies she would need for the next few days. Wonder grabbed a small knife, a first aid kit, and enough food and water to last her a couple days. She glanced around for anything else useful, but everything that remained was too heavy or bulky to carry with her. Hopefully, her mentor had enough money left to send her anything else she needed. Wonder hoisted the heavy pack onto her shoulders, checked that she still had her throwing knives and sword, and slipped out of the cavern.
This Arena was unlike any she'd ever seen, and since her trainers had held weekly screenings of past Games, Wonder thought she had seen the extent of the Gamemakers' creativity. This shattered that preconception. Entirely underground, it consisted of a maze of narrow, dark tunnels and large, open caverns. The weak, artificial lights that served as the only light source were only kept on for about twelve hours a day, so any tribute that had not found night vision glasses at the Cornucopia would be blind for hours on end. By the sooty, dark walls, Wonder guessed that the Arena was meant to resemble a coal mine, probably as an advantage for those pitiful District Twelve tributes. Their district had brought home only one victor, and it had been at least forty years since they'd last managed to win. Wonder sneered at the Capitol's obvious attempt to get a halfway competent mentor for that district. It wasn't fair to the non-useless Career tributes, and it hadn't even helped Twelve. Both of them had died at the Cornucopia, worthless to the end.
She walked for about an hour before she heard the first cannon. Almost immediately, a second followed. Wonder ran now, hurrying to get away from the other tributes. One of the Careers had probably killed off the others. As she ran, she tried to determine who could be left. Bridgid was almost certainly gone – she would never stab the others in the back like that. That left the Eleven boy whose name she didn't remember and either Cassius or Breandan. Or maybe the others had found Eleven and he'd managed to take one of them down with him. Either way, there were only three tributes left. The Games couldn't last much longer now.
Wonder found a good spot to rest for the night. It was in the middle of a long stretch of narrow tunnel and had a ladder to another level nearby. If anyone happened upon her during the night, she should be able to escape. She sat down, readying herself for a good night's sleep. She had only slept for a couple hours before her watch the night before, and she would need to be well-rested if she was going to win this thing.
The lights flickered for a moment before shutting off completely. The anthem echoed through the chambers, and Wonder looked up to see the faces of today's fallen tributes: Cassius and Bridgid. So Breandan and Eleven were still out there. Wonder wished that she'd paid more attention to the Eleven boy during training. She knew he was physically strong just by looking at him, but she knew nothing of his strengths and weaknesses. She needed more information to make a plan of attack. Wonder forced those thoughts away. All she needed now was sleep; regretting past decisions would get her nowhere. The cold, stone floor was uncomfortable, but eventually Wonder was able to force herself to sleep.
She dreamed about Bridgid that night. The other woman dangled off the tip of the Cornucopia, brown eyes filled with fear, while hundreds of fist-sized beetle mutts with pointed mandibles waited below. All of them clicked with joy each time Bridgid's hold on the rock loosened. "Wonder, help me! Please, don't let me fall!" she screamed. Wonder stood above the redheaded girl, debating whether or not to help her. "No, please Wonder, they'll eat me!" Bridgid shrieked. She came to her decision. Wonder stepped onto Bridgid's fingers, making the Four girl lose her grip. Before Bridgid fell, she looked up at Wonder and smiled, grabbing her ankle and pulling the other woman down with her.
Wonder snapped awake, panting with terror. Her clothes were damp with sweat, and her heart was still racing. She calmed her breathing, trying to bring herself back to her surroundings. It was a dream, nothing else. She shouldn't let it rattle her, especially this late in the competition.
She heard a long, low hiss, and her blood froze. There was something in here with her. Wonder pushed down her night vision goggles. She shrieked and scrambled to her feet. A two meter-long, acid-green centipede skittered towards her. Each of its legs was as thick and long as her arm. Its jaws clamed open and shut as it rushed towards her, as though it was excited for a fresh meal. The instant she turned to run away, Wonder spotted another of the creatures down the hall. Her heart beat against her ribs, and she wondered for an instant if this was the end. As a hairy leg brushed against her foot, she remembered the ladder. Kicking at something hard and chitonous, she scurried up the first several rungs just before the first centipede could snap its mandibles around her ankle.
Wonder examined the hatch at the top for a long moment. Where did it lead? Who was behind it? She was tempted to just sit here until the centipedes left, but then one of them started to climb up the wall. Wonder let out a yelp pushed open the door and climbed inside, slamming it after her. With any luck, there wouldn't be any mutts up here to contend with. She shined her flashlight onto all of the nearby surfaces, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw they were clear. Her mother had always said to be grateful for even the smallest of miracles.
She needed to find the other tributes. Now that a day had passed without a kill, the Capitolites would be desperate for action. The Gamemakers would almost certainly send more mutts after her or force her into a confrontation with the others. It was best to hunt Breandan and Eleven down – she would at least be able to fight them on her own terms. She listened intently for any sound that would suggest another tribute, and when she heard nothing, chose a direction at random.
It didn't take long for Wonder to find her target. She entered a passage at the same time as Eleven came in through the opposite entrance. Why did he have a shovel? No time to worry about that now. Actually, no time to worry about anything now. Wonder couldn't pause to think and plan. She needed to act now if she wanted to survive the next few minutes. She drew her sword and sprinted towards the man.
Wonder raised her sword, ready to strike, but his blow landed first. A sickening crack echoed through the chamber as the metal end of Eleven's shovel came down on her head. She knew she should be in terrible pain, but right now, she couldn't feel anything. Wonder struck blindly with her sword, hoping that she would hit something essential and make him pay for what he'd done to her. She could feel blood running down her arm, but she wasn't sure whether it was his or hers. A giddy, giggling part of her suggested it could be a mixture of the two. That piece of Wonder thought the possibility was hilarious. The rest of her had to disagree.
He continued to strike her with his shovel. It hurt now. Everywhere was awash with pain, even the places he hadn't hit her. Wonder's legs gave out underneath her. She was going to have a lot of bruises from this. She still refused to believe she was going to die. Still, Eleven's shovel came down again and again. She tried to stab at his ankles with her sword, but she was too weak to do any damage. Blood ran into her eyes, stinging them. Maybe that was what was causing her vision to narrow. Breathing hurt. She wanted to stop and let her lungs rest. Instead, she screamed, but the sound that came out was little more than a squeak. Wonder needed to stop being so pitiful, needed to gather her remaining strength and stop Eleven. But she couldn't. Wonder was weak, and useless, and everything she hated.
She laid there, unmoving, as Eleven dug his shovel into her throat, and she stayed still long afterwards, as her body turned cold and Eleven grabbed her weapon and supplies. She did nothing as a panel retracted and dragged her body inside for transport back to One.
A/N: Thanks for reading! This was originally posted in a different form in August of 2014 and subsequently removed, but after some editing, I decided that I wanted to post this story again. I will have the other two chapters up shortly. This was written for the Caesar's Palace prompt bronze.