Life, Death and Alligator Mutts

by Saltey

The 39th Hunger Games are here and with them come a new crop of tributes ready for the entertainment of the capitol. Follow the stories of those watching them from the capitol as twenty four children fight to the death. Root for your favourites, watch alliances grow and fall and see if you can you guess who wins?

10. Day seven of the games

District ten mentor Buck Derby's POV:

Orford's not safe, not safe at all. Merona is safe, she's already gone home. She is safe. Keld reaches out to the screen and I slap his hand.

"Go..otttt..a k..eeee..p it to..o...gether" I get out. I will be strong. I will not relapse. Strong. Strong. Strong.

I send Keld out of the room, he trips. Falls. He is not safe. He will harm Orford. Like he tried to harm me. Orford is not safe.

Safe.

Safe.

I am not safe.

The arena. The mutts. The fire.

No I am not in the arena.

Orford is.

I watch as he runs, runs and eats, run, run, run, run.

Maybe he will come home. If Orford stays safe. I don't have to come here anymore. Or Keld. We can take it in turns. Home. I see fields of sheep, ranches. Death. So much death.

Focus.

The big boy is angry with Orford, he yells his name as he strides through the swamp, spear in hand.

"I'm gonna cut out your heart boy" he yells "Like you cut out the heart of that pretty girl"

Pretty girl? Yes.

The one who got naked.

Who kissed Orford.

I saw too much, too much.

He cut her up good.

So many screams.

The big boy is angry. Angry. Orford is running, running.

I can't take it. I take another shot of morphling and black out.

Down down deeper deeper. Orford runs in my dream. Screams. Arenas. Death. So much Death.

I wake up. It is dark. Orford runs, runs, he runs from the big boy.

Big moves closer, closer, Orford trips falls. Safe. No. Not safe, not safe at all.

It is not fast. Blood. So much blood. Screaming. A heart. A cannon. Laughter.

I scream and take another shot.

I wake up on the train.

Home.

Safe.

Not safe.

Never safe.

Leto Stone's POV:

The mentor wouldn't stop screaming, I ordered him out of here on the first train, his fellow mentor with him. The two of them will drug themselves into a stupor for another year.

Orford could have beaten Ryker if he'd stood up to the older boy instead of running, it was the fall that injured him enough to lose those precious seconds as Ryker jumped on him.

It wasn't slow, and it wasn't painless, but it was certainly entertaining. The ratings rose massively second only to the cornucopia. A counter on the screen tells me there are only eight tributes left, It's interview time.

A quick recap, 8 are left, Diamond, Clos, Ryker, Ermin, Aston, Ava, Omri, Spud.

Dead: D2: Nolan, D3: Techa and Cable, D4: Caitlin, D5: Brites and Atom, D6: Ford, D7: Lindell, D8: Lea and Rolag, D9: Gwenith, D10: Merona and Orford, D11: Maizie, D12: Brooke and Cole. (16 dead, 7 to go)