The Tenth Annual Hunger Games
Winner: Decimal, District Three
Nine years of games came and went, showing where the strengths and weaknesses of our districts lie. Districts Six and Eight surprised us all with early wins in places truly out of their element. Eight was helped along with the fact that so many died early, coupled with a plethora of siblings at home to feed at home, while Six clearly used his manipulation skills to achieve so much whilst doing so very little. Even a dweeby inventor from Five managed to surprise all of Panem with his brilliant contraptions, while his stronger friend was named the one to beat. Poorer districts fared better than they thought, showing a survival instinct that can only come from years of crushing poverty and starvation, something I knew all about.
Father was laid off not long after the Sixth games, suffering a severe back injury at the factory. This lead to longer hours for my mother and siblings, while I stayed at home to care for Father and resentment grew like weeds in fertilizer. My siblings, older and deprived of parental attention, accused me of having it easy and basking in the attention of our father. What they didn't see was the pain in my eyes from his insults, his bitterness over being forced into early retirement. Mother's stress added to it, as did the surprise pregnancy that came when I turned thirteen. As the only non-working child, I was forced to take out tessera where my older siblings didn't as an attempt for me to earn my keep.
It was "earning my keep" that cost me my soul.
A week after my fourteenth birthday, my name was picked from the girls bowl and my fate was sealed. I cried out, begging my older sister to step in, to sacrifice herself for me, to save my life. Sylvie looked away, silent and sad. Never again would I see her face; she never bothered to see me off and her body was found at the bottom of the small river by our home. Our mother openly sobbed, clutching my brother Nikolai for support as I accepted my fate and began my lonely walk to the stage. After what seemed like a lifetime, a strangely imposing sixteen year old joined me, dwarfing me in comparison, and off we were towards the Capitol.
I was never their choice to win, I was never supposed to make it past a day. My alliance was flimsy at best, tossed together with other little children from poorer districts than my own. Darren hailed from Ten as the oldest of a large farming family, taking out tessera for ten people since the year before. He was scrawny and fidgety, with a head full of curls and three fingers missing on his left hand. Theodora was twelve and plucked from Nine, the only child of shop owners and a bit of a porker. Her stylists ridiculed her for her pudginess, while patting their own large midsections.
The tributes from Two both volunteered for their chance at eternal glory, while the girl from One was beautiful beyond reason. The Captain's son from Four was muscular and tanned, while his partner gave off a vibe of murderous intent, leaving me sandwiched in the middle and forgotten before they could even notice me. The Games were no different than home.
Training was spilt between our skill sets; the electrical device section for myself, snare setting for Darren, and camouflage for Theodora and we mostly slipped under the radar of others. Our only slip up was when Theodora skipped a set in making mini explosive devices and it blew up, sending pieces flying in the direction of Titan, the aptly-named beast of a boy from Two. He threatened the poor girl, who attempted to run, but fell instead, busting her knee and causing trainers to come running. All the while, he laughed hysterically with his district partner and a chorus of piggy noises flooded the training center.
Any chance Theodora had went right out the proverbial window.
I hid my talents during my training session and came up with a 4, while Darren surprised us all with his 6. Theodora came up with a dismal 2 and her interview was even worse, leaving no one willing to sponsor her and bets were placed that she would be the first to die. Gilda Starr, brand new face of the Hunger Games and main interviewer, seemed to adore me, commenting on my waif-like appearance and thick black glasses with glee.
"Even though you won't return, your style will live on here in the Capitol!"
That's what did it for me. My siblings wrote me off, believing I was receiving special treatment because I wasn't breaking my back working in the factories with them and my father pegged me as useless. The Careers wanted my insides to become outsides and Gilda wanted me as a fad. No one ever asked me what I wanted in life or bothered to find out who I really was. My family never noticed that I read up on Panem's history in my grandfather's old books while my father slept, that I played with the wires in our old electronics to see how things worked. The Careers didn't realize how brilliant I truly was and Gilda hadn't the faintest clue that I struggled with anxiety over my looks. Darren was the first person in my life to care, to ask me how I was doing, was eager to learn from me and willing to teach me the ways of survival. He became a friend, my first in a long time.
Just as my lot in life, his friendship came at the worst time.
I had to laugh when we rose up to our starting positions. Dank, gray walls surrounded us, walkways made of black grating, which had little holes allowing you to see the people above you. Six sets of stairs led to the catwalks above us, while one set led below and was hidden in the back of the Cornucopia. A hum filled the air and it was a sound that lulled me to sleep as a child.
Machinery.
We were in a factory!
Never once had the Hunger Games been set in an indoor setting, cut off from edible plants and water source; set with no midnight sky or fresh air. I could almost smell the familiar scent of fog and pollution as the clock began to descend towards mass chaos. Three places to my left stood Darren, grinning as he realized this was my strong suit, ignoring the fact that poor, plump Theodora was across the room from us, positioned right of Titan.
I still believe to this day that it was done that way purposely.
At zero, everyone erupted into a survivalist frenzy; partners turned on each other, while others bolted without trading a single blow in the bloodbath. Theodora never had a chance, as Titan gripped her up by her braided pigtails and slammed her face into her own pedestal, opening her face like a jar of jam, spilling out her bloody inside and bits of teeth. Darren screamed my name, snapping me from the tunnel vision I had over Theodora's death, and together we ran into the fray. The boy from Seven, a hefty lad of sixteen, took a swing at Darren as he lunged for a box of scraps, leaving my partner a bit dazed, but still alive. That boy quickly regretted it, as he was struck down moments later by Keir, the boy that was Reaped along side me. I nodded a thank you, before picking my ally and getting out of dodge. Last thing I needed was to lose another friend this early in.
Theodora was far from the only child to lose her life during the opening moments. While some were smart and fled for the catwalks above, others fought for the modest amount of backpacks the Cornucopia had to offer and died for apples and weapons deep within. Titan's partner, a girl with vicious streak worse than his, drove her dagger into the backs of the pair from Six with little remorse, while Maritime from Four speared the boy that attempted to take down Darren just moments earlier. By the time we reached the top of the stairs at the back of the Cornucopia, eight were dead and gone. With just a backpack filled with apples and jerky and a box of scraps, we descended into the darkness below.
The air was stagnant and stiff, as though they had never planned for any of us to come down there. We were lucky in that respect; Titan gathered up his allies, the girls from Two and Four, and took to the rafters to hunt those that evaded him earlier, leaving us to plan our next step.
And plan we did.
In those dark tunnels, lit on with small lights along the tops of the walls, we made little bombs to stun our enemies using some of those same lights and Darren helped make traps to alert us to the presence of others. That quickly came to our defense when the Fisherman's son, a boy named Tully, found us and thought he could get the drop on us because of our size. We were right by electrical box that fueled the lights in the tunnels, as well as some of the machinery by the golden horn, so it was easy for Darren to throw a flash bomb and blind the big oaf, while I ran wires from the electrical box to the metal divers knife he dropped and...poof! As much as I've tried to block it out, I can still see the pained expression on his face as the electricity coursed through his veins, the smell of his skin as it charred on the bone. Tully the Fisherman was my first kill and the main source of my nightmares.
The ceiling was soon lit up with the dead, ten in all. Tully was the second shown, after the beautiful girl from One, and ended with Theodora and her older District Partner. Darren and I shed tears together, hugging each other as we mourned our lost friend. It was then that we decided that one of us would win, no matter what it took. We made our traps and we used the factory to our advantage and we set out to prove that you should never count out the youngest tributes.
It took two days, but we found the end of the tunnel and made our way into the back end of the factory. There were more catwalks hanging above us, empty and dark, with chutes leading down to large tables filled with boxes. Most were empty or filled with packing peanuts, like the kind that we used when sending our inventions to the Capitol. The last few, however, moved slightly as we grew closer and closer. Squeals hit our ears, but it was too late. The six boxes on the end burst open, revealing mutated rats with glowing, skeletal-like skin.
We had grown stale in the eyes of the Capitol, now it was time to fight.
Our arena outfits were cargo shorts and different colored shirts, which didn't help protect our ankles and arms from their wicked bites. Their cries hurt our ears, as they were altered to pierce the air. The tributes from Twelve, one dark-skinned with gray eyes, the other with blonde curls and pale skin, heard our screams and were overtaken by the rats, who took out the girl with little work and her cannon sounded soon after. After much fiddling around, I was able to work a flash bomb from off of my hip and I threw it in the middle, sending the rats scattering back towards their home once again, we were safe...
...until the dark-skinned boy with the sad eyes saw us younger kids as easy prey.
Darren went on the offense, charging at our enemy, his eyes wild and fierce. The boy bat him off like he was nothing more than a fly and my friend hit the cement floor hard and bounced, his head making an odd thock! sound as he went silent. This left me with the larger boy, scared and feeling woozy from the bites, fighting for my life in a place so much like home. With his weapon drawn, he charged at me with a feral look in his eyes and I closed my own, waiting for the first of many blows.
A cannon sounded and I was shocked to open my eyes and realize it wasn't my own. Instead, the boy was laying at my feet with a divers knife stuck in the back of his neck. Darren stood on wobbly feet, his arms and legs bloodied from the rats, and smiled that trademark smile of his. It's that smile that gets me through my hardest days.
It's a smile I didn't get to see for long.
His face changed suddenly, from one of joy to one of agony and his blood soon splattered onto my chest as a spear went through his neck, killing my only friend instantly. Behind him, I could hear the laughter of the girl from Four, gaining her payback for Tully's murder and soon, I was surrounded.
"The last of the littles, Titan!" his partner sang, her eyes bloodshot and dancing. "What should we do with her?"
She shoved me hard into Maritime, who shoved me back towards her, repeating the process until I was dizzy. "Feed her to those rats we found?"
"Naw, they didn't seem to like her much," Titan sneered, flicking my thick-framed glasses. "Skin her alive and see what those bloodthirsty idiots in the Capitol give us for it?"
"I killed one of you already," I stuttered out, attempting to stand my ground. "Your partner, Four!"
She cackled at the mere thought. "Tully? There was no way that was you. Your own partner, maybe, but you..."
"I fried him up like bacon!" I bellowed, letting my voice bounce off of the walls. "I used the arena-"
Her fist connected with my jaw, knocking me over. "Liar! You lying bitch!"
Surprisingly, Titan turned on her and with one quick swoop, he had her up against the wall. "You said it was you that killed that turncoat! That you followed him down those stairs."
She wiggled and gasped, unable to answer him. "I...she...lie..."
The girl from Two scoffed, joining in with her partner. "You said you would take care of him, that you made him beg for his life before gutting him like a fish!"
With a quick twist of his hand, he snapped her neck like a twig, ending her life and bringing the tribute count down to fourteen. And just as quickly as he ended her life, I bolted out of there, leaving two screaming behemoths behind me. For once, my small stature worked in my favor, as my light frame pounded the ground and took me up the stairs and towards the assembly line. As soon as my feet hit the conveyor belt, they were clicked on and I was flung down onto the hard rolling pins and whisked down the line to the loading docks, which were surprisingly empty. In a dark corner I sat and cried, begging the Capitol to give Darren back to me. Instead, I was given my only sponsor item, a tube of ointment to heal my rat bites.
To this day I can't stand those little bastards and their beady eyes.
With so much action in such a short time, the Gamemakers allowed me to sit in peace for another few days and the numbers dwindled down around me. The pair from Eleven shined down from the ceiling on Day 5, their lives snuffed out by the older boy from One, a tribute I had forgotten about. He was quick with his knife, slitting their throats after the girl fell asleep on guard duty. As the days turned into a week, three more would die, including the elusive boy from One and Titan's partner, who failed in her attempt to literally back stab him. By Day 10, they were calling us for The Feast and luring us back towards the Cornucopia through simple traps and more rats. It was at the Cornucopia that I saw Kier one last time, grabbing the bag marked with our District clearly marked on it, before being caught by the girl from Eight's spear. The blade pierced his calf, tripping him up and sending our bag flying in my direction. As I once again mouthee a thank you to the boy that helped me twice, I bolted upstairs and listened as she drove a knife into his chest, which was quickly followed by his cannon.
Four remained now, signalling the beginning of the end.
Titan soon showed his face, rising from the tunnels to greet Keir's murderer and established his spot as the biggest threat. From a nearby hallway came Darren's partner, her face a mess of bruises as she pushed herself towards the action. No one seemed to remember that I was even there, that I was still a player in these games...and that soon became their biggest mistake. Titan swung his sword at Eight, getting close enough that he caught the fabric of her shirt. Ten used this to her advantage, running up behind the juggernaut, slamming her club into the back of his knee and sending him face first into the cement floor. A cheer escaped my lips, but the girls were still unaware of my presence, instead leaving me to view their actions as though I was watching a movie unfurl.
As the villain slowly rose to his feet, I knew I could be a spectator no longer.
In our bag, I found all I needed to remind them to never count out the little ones. A well thrown flashbomb caused chaos among those that remain, while my last one hit its target head-on: the sprinkler in the center of the room. Water poured from the heavens as I smashed into the electrical panel belonging to the power station that ran the plant, which sat on the edge of the catwalk. As the water climbed and the smoke dissipated, I threw my body into the power station, slowly moving it was Titan's dark eyes widened to his situation.
With one last shove, the power station fell, landing on the girl that ended Keir's life, ending hers in an instant. The others weren't so lucky; once the water hit the exposed wires, the pool that rose up to their shins now, became electrified, turning their organs to soup before sounding their cannons. With a bit of hesitation on their part, they announce me as Victor and pull me out of the arena.
Father never came to visit, even after mother moved in with me. He wasn't there when I fell in love with Lancel, Keir's younger brother, nor was he a part of my wedding. All he could see when he looked in my eyes was the suicide of his oldest child and children I killed and frankly, I couldn't blame him. I saw them too, every time I caught a glimpse of my reflection. It wasn't until the birth of our children, Keir, Darren, and little Sylvie, that I felt like a person again, that I was free of the deaths that surrounded me.
I wasn't supposed to make it a day in that arena. But I showed them and I will keep showing them.