Well here we are again
It's always such a pleasure
Remember when you tried to kill me twice?
*ahem*, moving on. Thanks all for reviewing, and at the time of writing this the poll results are as follows:
11/14 people voted for Owen.
10/14 people voted for Ezekiel and Beth.
8/14 people voted for Lindsay, Tyler, and Sadie.
7/14 people voted for Justin and Harold.
6/14 people voted for DJ and Geoff.
5/14 people voted for Katie.
4/14 people voted for Alejandro.
3/14 people voted for Cody.
2/14 people voted for Courtney, Bridgette, and Gwen.
1/14 people voted for Heather, Eva, Trent, and Sierra.
And the only tributes with zero votes are Noah, Izzy, Duncan, and Leshawna. Curious. The poll will now close, and the Games shall begin.
Head Gamemaker
Chris McLean POV
"Okay, let's move it, people! Everything needs to be absolutely PERFECT! No excuses or alibis will be accepted! Now excuse me, I need to fetch myself some coffee. Avox! Avox! Okay, where is that fucking mute? B? Where the hell are you? Oh, for fuck's sake, just keep going without me, I can't function without my coffee. I'll be back in a minute."
I wave my hand lazily in the air as I walk out. Hatchet starts barking orders, and the door closes shut. I scan my eyes around, and at the other end of the corridor I see one of the escorts talking to B, gesturing emphatically with his hands. Billy, I believe his name was? B, or Beverly, nods silently, not like he could respond anyway. Billy turns to see me, and he nods to B.
"B! Where the hell were you? Ha ha, don't answer that question. Billy, is it?"
"That's my name," he replies dryly. "Aren't you on a schedule? The Games begin soon."
"Aren't you on a schedule? Your tributes enter the Arena soon," I counter.
"What's your point?" he asks in an uninterested tone.
"Why were you talking with my Avox?"
"He's not just your Avox, McLean. You may think you own people, but I'm afraid you'll come to recognize that that's not the case...I remember your predecessor. He was the same as you. Just an obnoxious, self-obsessed little shithead. Good day to you." Billy mimes tipping his hat before walking away. I turn to B, and he shrugs his shoulders.
"Coffee. Now." He scampers off, and I walk back to the rest of the Gamemakers. Billy's behavior is irrelevant to me. A pleasantly warm cup of coffee is placed in my hand, and I nod curtly to B, who smiles coolly before walking away.
I take a sip, and look down at the other Gamemakers, who look right back at me. "We're on in five minutes. Everybody be ready. We're going to make this a spectacle."
District 2
Heather POV
I glance down at my fingers, and clench and open them, set on repeat. Deep breaths, in and out. A growing sense of anticipation fills my veins as I stand inside the tube. It's time. It's finally time. Okay. You've been training for this moment your whole life. Get a grip on yourself and your surroundings. Don't think you're in control, know you're in control, and don't take time to gloat. Obey Alejandro until the time is right to...could I really kill him? Of course I could! What am I saying? Ugh!
My stomach does a little flip. We're moving up. Okay, just...remain calm, Heather. You can do this, no problem. No problem. You're fearless. You're a bitch. Act like it! I curl my fists, and suddenly light flares into my eyes, and I hold up my hand to shield my eyes from the sun. My eyes adjust, and now I can see the Arena itself for the first time.
Birdsong fills the air as sunlight pierces through the trees. We're in a forested area. In front of me, the ground slopes downward in a circle around the Cornucopia, similar to a Colosseum . To my left is Alejandro, and I believe Lindsay is to his left. To my right is Courtney, then Tyler. I don't know if there's any particular order to these positions, but I don't believe there is.
Alejandro meets my eyes and grins, that fucking charming smile still on his face. I turn away, eyes narrowed, glancing around. Thirty seconds remain. Courtney looks at me and we both nod. It seems as though they have kind of placed the Careers near each other.
Suddenly, I hear a scream, and an explosion, both from my left, scaring the shit out of me and almost making ME activate the mines as well. I look to my left and see the back of Alejandro's head, and a bloody, mangled mess where Lindsay had been standing only a few seconds ago. And who is surprised about this? Not me. Alejandro was right to have considered more options. I turn back to Courtney and nod to her.
You're on, Courtney.
Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven.
I sigh, and run a hand through my hair. Am I dead? Was I dead the moment I set foot in this Arena?
Six. Five. Four. Three. Two.
One.
The horns blare, and I immediately burst into a full-on sprint. Alejandro and Courtney do so as well, and chaos reigns. I have my eyes set on a gleaming knife some twenty feet away. To my left, I hear a scream, and Duncan's sword exits the boy from 10. Duncan backhands him, sending the bleeding and dying boy to the ground, and...Ezekiel, I believe, mumbles something under his breath as he fades out.
The knife is mine. I quickly attempt to find a target. Two girls, one skinny, one fat, quickly grab a couple of supplies from the outer rim of the Cornucopia and shout something to each other as they run away. I chase in pursuit, eyes widening as Eva suddenly barrels past me, ax in hand. I hold the knife in my hand and watch as Eva charges at them, a war cry escaping her mouth. She swings down, and the fatter girl cries out in agony as blood pours from her thigh. The skinnier girl lets out a "NO!" and tries to run away.
My knife almost flies out of my hands, so practiced I am with them, and the knife sinks itself into the skinnier girl's knee, sending her crumpling to the ground. Eva glances at the sobbing, pitiful, overweight girl and wrinkles her nose. Eva smashes her foot down into the fat girl's face, and I know that she's done for.
The skinnier girl sobs pitifully as I wrench the bloodied knife away. I quickly pin her down and stab repeatedly, ignoring her screams, until finally her eyes become blank and her mouth is open in a scream, petrified for all of eternity.
Eva nods curtly to me, and I clean off my knife, wrinkling my nose a bit before rejoining the fray. Courtney wrestles down the screaming boy from 6, Owen, I believe, and slits his throat. Strange how I can think about this so rationally...so clinically. A matter for another day.
I turn, and suddenly a fury builds up inside me when I see Alejandro simply sitting down, leaning against the Cornucopia, looking relaxed as hell breaks loose around him. I don't have time to deal with him at the moment, so I join Justin as he beats down the mudwallower from 10, Beth, and I quickly end her misery with a flick of my wrist. Being killed by Justin? Not a dignified way to go.
He turns furiously to me as he sees my throwing knife embedded in his victim. "That was mine!" he whines.
"Shut the hell up," is my response.
He glares at me, but my eyes widen (but do nothing to warn him) as the boy from 8, Geoff, kicks him down from behind and starts running. The Cornucopia is almost deserted, most of the tributes apparently having the common sense to get out of the Cornucopia immediately.
Alejandro walks calmly up to me, and he doesn't even have a scratch. "Heather, if you would," he says with his usual calm as the rest of the Careers, pretty much unscathed except for Lindsay, and I let fly, and cherish the scream the idiot boy makes as he falls to the ground. We take our time walking to him, and I note that Courtney looks rather uncomfortable. Duncan yawns pointedly. The six of us form a circle around Geoff as he tries to crawl away, and Alejandro leans down, hand on knee, smirking.
Geoff coughs up blood. "I know begging won't help," he manages to get out. Alejandro grins and wipes a bloody tear off of Geoff's face.
"How right you are," he almost coos to him, and stands. He motions to Duncan, who promptly lifts his sword and brings it down on Geoff's neck. Courtney is the only one to look away.
"Okay, everyone! Great work here! Seven dead, and I barely had to lift a finger. Now, I know that some of you are angry that I didn't help."
"That's an understatement," Justin sneers, while Eva rolls her eyes.
Alejandro continues smoothly. "But the fact is, you all are incredibly competent, and I wish you all luck in winning the Games. Eva, excellent and brutal. Duncan, it turns out you aren't such a softie, huh? Heather, I'm sure you could kill me with that knife right now. Courtney, nice job killing the butterdonkey."
"He means fatass," I snort, taking his praise with a grain of salt. "And what about you, Al? What reason do we have to keep you around?"
His charming smile doesn't change in the slightest, although I can see the involuntary contraction of his muscles from being called "Al."
"Heather, I know people's strengths and weaknesses. Plus, we put it to a vote, remember?"
"Votes are stupid," Justin mutters.
"You're right. You should be in charge of Panem, Justin. That way, no one would ever have to vote for you ever again. Or, you could just make people vote for you! Doesn't that sound grand?" Alejandro responds, voice heavy with sarcasm, to which Justin clenches his fists and growls.
"Could you all do us a favor and SHUT UP?" Eva bellows, startling us. "We're all alive, we have the Cornucopia, NO FIGHTING! PERIOD! OKAY?"
We all nod, and Alejandro clears his throat. "Yes, what she said. Minus the shouting." He kicks over Geoff's corpse for no apparent reason. "Okay. Let's let the Gamemakers pick up these poor souls, okay?" We all walk away from the bodies, and I grab a water bottle from our stash and take a swig.
So far, so good.
District 5
Noah POV
Okay, Noah, calm down, just calm down. Everything is going to be fine. I have smarts, and a plan, and an ally. But all of that will be for naught if you don't calm the fuck down, right? Okay...heh heh heh...the sarcasm and apathy is drained from me entirely. As much as I try to stay disconnected, the cold, hard reality of the situation stares me right in the face, drawing me into myself. I cannot hide behind indifference anymore. This is the real life.
To my left is Izzy, who looks just as nervous as I am but waves to me upon seeing me. To my right is the girl from 7, Bridgette, I believe. She stands on her platform with her eyes closed and her arms outstretched, blond hair blowing ever-so-slightly in the wind. She looks tranquil, as opposed to my fidgeting behavior.
I take a deep breath, attempting to calm myself. I have presented myself to the Capitol as a sarcastic, indifferent joker. I can't let that image slip in the Arena, I can't allow-
Boom. I let out a yelp, and see the smoke rising from my right. One of the tributes has bit the dust, but I have no idea who. I turn back to face Izzy, who jabs her thumb back behind her, and I nod in understanding. We are both to run as fast as we can behind us once the Games begin, and meet up by heading in the other's direction.
Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven.
Okay, I can do this. Just...concentrate, and try not to think about all the running I have to do.
Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
As the horns sound, I quickly do a 180, and sprint, despite my complete disregard of all things physical. If I stay near the Cornucopia, I'm toast, and I'm banking on Izzy's hunting abilities and having wooed sponsors with my interview. Okay. I can do this. I can run, just keep moving, just keep moving, just keep moving...
Within ten seconds, my breath is taken in short bursts and I stumble, catching my breath and steadying myself by placing a hand on a tree. I quickly begin running again, much to my chagrin. I...really...don't...like...this...
"Need a hand?"
The voice comes from the tree, and I slump to the ground and look up to see Izzy waving cheerfully at me. "If you could just carry me everywhere, that would be the best," I gasp, clutching my chest. "I am the brains of this alliance after all."
"Whatever you say! I'm happy to lend a hand to an alliance partner!" She jumps down, and suddenly her gaze is diverted to the snapping of a twig, and I turn to see Tyler staring at us with wide eyes. He fumbles around, and quickly runs away.
"After him!" Izzy yells, and runs off, and I groan as I start running again.
"Is...this...really...necessary...what...harm...can...that klutz...do...?"
Tyler turns his head to face us, but keeps running, a scared expression on his face, and doesn't see the rock in his path, or the sudden cliff. He lets out a scream as he trips, and tumbles down the rocks, and is cut open by several particularly sharp specimens before crashing into the ground, where he lies, bleeding and coughing weakly.
Izzy looks a little concerned for him. "Welp. That's a shame. Poor dude." She turns back to me. "You have a plan, oh smart one?"
"Water...food...snare...rest...need rest..."
"It's only been like twenty minutes, and you're already tired?" she asks, a grin briefly drawing itself across her face before her serious expression takes over again.
"Look, just because you're athletic doesn't mean everyone is," I monotone, and she motions for me to follow her.
"Noah, be quiet. I know that's hard for you-"
"Hey!"
"-but you're going to have to not make sarcastic remarks every five seconds. People have ears, you know. So yeah, I agree. First things first, water."
I sigh. "Fine. Fine." Izzy walks quickly as opposed to running, and I do the same, allowing myself to catch my breath.
Within half an hour, we find a stream of dirty water, and Izzy grins in triumph. "Yes! We've found it!"
"If we drink this, we'll get all sorts of diseases," I point out.
"Well, you're the idea guy, oh smart one, have some ideas!"
"Stop calling me that," I grumble, but lean down and look at the water. "We have no iodine or chlorine, so unless we want to steal from the Careers, we have a couple of options. One, we boil the water. Two, we dig a hole in the ground and place a leaf cover above it and put a rock in the middle. That way, the water would evaporate onto the cover. It would work better with plastic, but seeing as we have nothing right now, it's our best bet."
"Okay!" she chirps, ever optimistic, and gets to work on that. "Say, I have an idea, Noah."
"Do tell."
"How about we tail the Careers? That way we could pick up supplies off of their dead members."
"I doubt it would be as easy as you make it sound," I note.
"I doubt it would be as hard as you make it sound," she counters, and I contemplate the idea for about thirty seconds as she finishes the job.
"Ok
ay, we can do that tomorrow, and hopefully find some berries along the way," I decide finally. "We should also have some protection, of course."
"Don't worry about that. Let's just worry about this right now. And don't just stand around watching me work. Work."
I glance down at my slender hands, and sigh. "Fine." And I get down and start working.
District 9
Gwen POV
It's all I can do to not step forward and blow myself to smithereens. But the only thing keeping me from doing that is what my family would think. Not even a fight out of Gwen Lark? Just decided to kill herself? It would crush them, but I suppose it would crush them even more if I made it far but was cut off when I was so close...no, I can't think about the future, just the now. A minute from now I will be fighting for my life. That is fact.
To my left is Ezekiel from District 10, who has his scrawny hands clasped together and is muttering a prayer under his breath. To my right is the overweight girl from 8, Sadie, I think, though I could be wrong on that count. Leshawna is my ally, but I have no idea where she is. It looks as though I'll have to stick around to see if I can find her-
An explosion redirects my eyes, and it's almost directly across from my platform, so I can't see who it is. Someone just bit the dust, but I'm not sure whom. I shake my head slightly. Someone just died. I should be feeling more than just mild annoyance. My mind drifts back to Billy's offer. Had Trent accepted? Is he going to have an unfair advantage in the Games?
Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven.
Six. Five. Four. Three.
Two. One.
I sprint, quickly grabbing up a pack and duck as an arrow whizzes past me. Chaos has erupted, and I search around for anything of use, and for Leshawna. Ezekiel dies with a scream at Duncan's hands, and I grab a water bottle and a dagger, both valuable tools. I quickly start running, and don't look back, but I run around the circle the platforms create, looking for Leshawna. Could she be dead already? No. She's smarter than that. She's still alive, definitely.
Finally, I see her, and she smiles warmly. "Glad to see you made it-" We're interrupted by the boy from 7, Tyler, who yelps, obviously terrified and thinking we're going to kill him. We both step out of the way.
"Go ahead. We won't harm you," I reassure him.
"Th-thank you," is his response, and he runs off into the woods.
"Well, what did you get?" she asks, and in response I hold up the dagger and the large water bottle. She grins. "Nice. I didn't think I'd make it, so I decided to get the hell out of there. I'm sorry I couldn't get anything but one sleeping bag."
"It's okay, Leshawna, I understand," I say, making sure she knows. "Let's just keep moving, the Careers aren't going to be held up much longer at the Cornucopia."
"Let's go then!" she replies, and starts running. I follow, and the two of us run into the woods. Crickets fill the air with their noise, but we pay them no mind. Eventually, we come across a tree, and I raise my hand to signal us to stop and catch a breather. "We could climb this tree," I suggest, taking a sip of water. "Could just remain there for the night."
Leshawna nods. "Good idea. I was getting tired of running anyway. Let's just remain up here. I mean, if the Careers come across us..." A dark look passes across her face. "They'll get what's coming to them."
I grin wickedly. "And anyone else comes by, let's not kill them. Okay?"
She gives me the thumbs up in response. I start climbing the tree, having had a lot of practice back in the district. I help Leshawna up and we sit silently on a branch, uncertain as to what happens next.
"So, we're in the Games..." I sigh.
"I noticed," is Leshawna's response. "And I'm really not liking it so far. But we're both still alive, which is a good thing."
"True. I still don't feel like this is happening. I feel like I'm not here. This isn't happening."
She raises an eyebrow. "Well, girl, you are here, and this is happening. Act like it. The best we can do is help each other so that one of us gets out of this Arena alive."
I don't meet her eyes. "Can we...not talk about that right now? Let's just talk about something else. Like...our lives back in the district."
"Well, okay, but they aren't going to focus on us, then. The Capitol don't like people knowing about what life is like back in the districts."
"I don't care," I say, as if that were obvious."
"Well, District 11 is really strict. Beatings every single day, and we have little to no personal freedoms. We're pretty much slaves."
I wince. "That sounds terrible. In District 9 we don't really have that level of control, but we do have a lot of rules and punishments for not following the rules."
We continue talking, and I find it interesting that one of the first few real friends I've ever had was formed in an Arena where only one of us can get out alive.
District 7
Bridgette POV
The peaceful woods seem almost like a deliberate contrast to the horrors that are committed here. I take a deep breath through my nose and spread my arms out, closing my eyes. My hair flutters in the wind. I open my eyes. Noah from District 5 is to my left, who is fidgeting around nervously. To my right is Harold, I believe. He has his arms folded across his chest and looks very determined, despite his lanky stature.
I lower my arms to my sides, but am startled by an explosion from my right a few spaces down. I can't tell who died, but I can see the bloodied remains. Disgusting and despicable, how they can do this, how no one else even cares. Well, I'm not going to stand for it. But not right now. If I go off on a tangent against the Capitol and the Games, they'll redirect the attention somewhere else. No, what I need is the focus. I need to be the focus of the script at that moment.
And it seems as though the only way to do that is to be at the same place as the Careers. But not at the Bloodbath. No time, and no one would care. They'd all be too busy watching the bloodshed of teenagers and children. Sick, sick, sick...but there's nothing I can do about that...only once the Bloodbath is over and things have died down will they pay attention.
Okay. Calm down. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
Begin.
Noah immediately turns around and runs behind him, while Harold quickly scampers off into the woods. About half rush toward the Cornucopia, half try to leave. I know what berries are edible, how to purify water, how to sleep comfortably, but my only problem is that I'm not good at weapons and one of my worst fears is being alone in the woods, but if I'm going to survive long enough to show the Capitol how wrong this is, I'm going to have to overcome that fear.
Okay. Calm down, Bridgette. You can do this. I turn and run into the woods, the same as Noah and Harold, but take care to keep to the shadows and out of sight. About ten minutes of nothing, and I overhear voices from my left. I turn to my right, but recognize one of the voices as belonging to Noah. I'm not going to go anywhere near them. I don't want to kill anyone. Ever.
I hear a scream, but I can't do anything about it. I quickly scan the area and run towards a berry bush, plucking the ones I know are safe. Water. Water is the most important thing right now. I can survive longer without food than water. Water, where is water...I take a bite out of a berry and keep running. Finally, I find a river rushing through the forest.
I turn, and for some reason the Arena seems to have another suddenly steep slope, that seems to travel around the circumference of the Arena. Similar to the steep slope that surrounds the Cornucopia.
Are we in an overgrown Colosseum? Maybe not an actual one, but made in the style. Like, there are rings of land that continue to slope inward, but are flat in between? Okay, I'm not making much sense in my head, but I know what I mean. I scoop some water into my hands. I don't really care if it's unclean. I don't plan to walk out of here alive. I remember DJ, and realize that he reminds me of Dawn in a way, and that he's probably contemplating the same things I am right now, assuming he's still alive.
Eventually, after the Bloodbath is over, the cannons sound. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. I suppose this was one year that people played it smart. Sixteen competitors remain in the Arena, and I'm sure that the Careers are now out hunting for new prey. I don't blame them either. They're just as much victims as we are. And I don't hate them, although I've already iterated that point multiple times for multiple people. Okay, just calm down, everything's going to be fine.
I take several drinks and sigh in relief. Okay. Let's find somewhere to hide, shall we? Okay, no talking like "we," that makes me sound crazy, and I might be the most un-crazy person here. I start climbing a tree, and I try to ignore my fears and just get this over with. Everything is fine. Even if the Careers came my way, they'd still have to try to shoot me, and I don't think they're all that good with a bow and arrow. I won't say I'm safe, since that would be jinxing myself.
Just calm down. Everything will be fine. I'll die, but I'll make a difference. And like Ezekiel said during his interview, I'd prefer to die quickly than to live with the guilt of the Games on my shoulders. I would probably end up addicted to morphine, and end up sad, pitiful. I am not going to die out. I am going to go out with a bang. Just calm down...I'm not here, this isn't happening...all will be revealed given time...I will rise up.
Dawn, I wish you luck.
District 12
Sierra POV
Okay, deep breaths, just calm down, just calm down...everything's going to be fine. Cody will get out of here alive, and that's okay...yeah. A cool breeze shifts against my knee and I cast my eyes around. To my right is Lindsay from District 1, who is fidgeting like she has spiders in her pants and has a hand on her stomach, a queasy expression on her face. Everything is fine, everything is fine...Cody is to my left, and meets my eyes with a nod. I don't know how they determine the order of platforms, but I'm glad Cody's next to me. That way it'll be easier to protect him.
I turn back to Lindsay, who keels over and vomits. I scream as the mines detonate, and I shield my eyes as Lindsay is the first victim of the Games. I take a peek and my stomach does a flip as I see the results. I'd...prefer not to go into detail. I turn back to Cody, and both of our eyes are wide at this. One tribute down already...this is terrible. Sadly, there's nothing we can do about it, so I'm just going to prepare to fight, get Cody and I some supplies before heading into the woods.
Okay, okay, deep breaths, deep breaths...the clock continues to tick down. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Zero.
I leap into action, sprinting for the Cornucopia. "Stay back, Cody!" I yell, and within about ten seconds I am actually the first to grab supplies, namely, a sword. I grab a survival pack and am tackled to the ground by that really hot guy from District 1, Justin, I believe. He has no weapons, and I easily punch him in the face and get back up. Alejandro waves to me, not even bothering to go after me. I start running, and quickly join Cody in the woods.
"Got some supplies, got any ideas, Cody?" I ask as we both jog through the woods.
"Not really," he says nervously. "I'm really just scared about the forest. I have a lot of allergies to a lot of different insect, and I wouldn't want to go down that way...it would be too slow."
"Well, um...hey, look, bug-spray!" I quickly spray him all over, just to be sure.
"Thanks, Sierra," he says with a genuine smile. "Now, a lot of my talents are in knots and snares. Got anything in there?"
I pull out a piece of rope. He grins. "That works. Okay, with this I should be able to create a trap for anyone who walks by."
"Nice," is my genuine response. He quickly gets to work, and I pull out my sword, making sure that no one tries to come our way. Time passes, and eventually a cannon sounds. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Okay, eight people are dead, out of twenty-four. That means there are sixteen left. I suppose we'll find out who they are tonight, when the anthem plays.
"Okay, done!" He wipes his hands off. "We'll camp here for a while. There anything to sleep on in there?"
I check again, just to make sure. "Nope. Looks like we're sleeping on the ground."
"So exposed?" He once again looks nervous. "We need to figure out a better place to sleep, then. Wait..." He snaps his fingers. "Got it! One of us sleeps on the ground, the other guards. Then we switch. Sound good?"
"Sure!" I reply enthusiastically. "But we can worry about that when it's nighttime. For now, let's just hang around here and..." I gulp. "Kill anyone who finds us? If they try to kill us, that is."
He nods. "Okay, that works. Just...don't worry about anything? Heh heh...I wish I could...I wish I could." He sighs.
"I wish I could too, but sadly we're all here, and that's the end of it," I say sadly. "I just hope you get out of here. You deserve to live."
He nods weakly. "Okay. Just...this is like the first time in forever that District 12's tributes haven't died in the Bloodbath. Which means that, you know, the folks back home have more reason to root for us. So I'm hoping for some sponsors, don't know about you."
"I don't want to sound like we're begging for sponsors. We should probably be proactive tomorrow. Not just sitting around."
He shrugs. "It's seemed to have worked so far. But yeah. Lazy tributes get killed and don't get sponsors. We need to prove that we're a threat."
"How, exactly? That's the question," I muse. "Well, we have a lot of time to mull that over. Let's just keep on our guard and hope for the best."
"Hoping isn't enough," he says seriously, and the rest of the time is spent without another word between the two of us.
Hoping isn't enough, huh? Well, we'll see. We'll just have to see.
Well, here we are, the first chapter into the Games. I do hope that it was decent enough a fight. Lots of stuff has gone down, obviously, so here's some AN explaining my choices. If you want to start from the first killed, start at the bottom. After I've explained it in one chapter, the next chapter will only feature who got what place. If that makes sense. If not, you'll understand next chapter.
17. Geoff
Last Words: "I know begging won't help."
Reasoning:
This spot was the hardest to fill. Leshawna was originally supposed to go. And I'd just like to say that just because I originally planned on killing Leshawna, that does not mean she's going next or even soon. I changed it to Geoff because I felt as though I'd killed her out of bias, and I had created the alliance between her and Gwen already. So, sadly, Geoff got the boot.
18. Tyler
Last Words: "Just relax, just relax, just relax..."
Reasoning:
I love Tyler. He's in my top ten. But amusing injuries are a lot less amusing when your life is actually on the line...I'm so sorry, Tyler. *sobs*
19. Beth
Last Words: "I don't even care anymore."
Reasoning:
This one was harder. I feel like Beth might have been able to escape the Bloodbath, but in the end I decided that she wasn't smart enough to make it out. Sorry, Beth.
20. Owen
Last Words: "I KNEW IT! I'M DEAD! I AM SO DEAD!"
Reasoning:
I like Owen when he's not farting. But come on, he'd be terrible in the Games. Overweight, innocent, and dumb, it wasn't too hard to include him in the eight deaths.
21. Katie
Last Words: "NO!"
Reasoning:
See "Sadie."
22. Sadie
Last Words: "Go! Get out of here!"
Reasoning:
I intentionally wrote in her and Katie as a potential subplot as a red herring. Overweight, not that smart, and not very fun to write, this is the reasoning for Sadie's demise.
23. Ezekiel
Last Words: "Our Father, who art in Heaven..."
Reasoning:
Ezekiel is a decent character skewered by canon. Sadly, in this he lacks the physical strength of DJ or Eva, and lacks the intelligence of Noah or Harold, so he was an obvious choice to go. I was originally going to have him die first as a reference to how he's always voted out first in canon.
24. Lindsay
Last Words (Not Counting a Scream): "I don't feel too well..."
Reasoning:
I love Lindsay. She's in my top ten favorite characters, and has underwent a lot of positive development in the series. But let's face it. In the Games, she'd be terrible. Absolutely ABYSMAL. Do I really need to explain why?
As a side note, Chris now owes Chef ten bucks.
Ciao.