Here it is! The feast. Warning: There will be at least one death in this chapter.
Chapter 25
Jaymes Current (18) from District 4's POV
I wake up in a good mood for the first time in a long time. I am one hundred percent satisfied with my decision to skip the feast. I have weapons, food, water, and supplies with me and I don't need anything at the feast. I can sit back and relax without worrying about being killed. I'm really excited about this.
I have a feeling that by tonight, we'll be down to the final four. It's already down to six of us, and usually most everyone shows at the feast. And I know that Dallas and Alicia are not afraid to kill.
If it's the final four tonight, tomorrow will probably be the last day. Wow.
In less than two days, I could be out of the arena. I could be on my way home.
I could be a Victor.
The thought makes me smile, not because I want to win the stupid Hunger Games, but because I want to go home and go back to living my life with my family. I want to fish all day and swim in the ocean. I want to live in a house in the Victors' Village and always have food for my family and protect them forever.
That's why I'm so set on winning the Games, on becoming a Victor.
I try to think about everyone that would be at the feast, and who would have a chance at being killed. Someone died last night - I'm not sure who it was yet. Let's see – Dallas and Alicia will definitely be at the feast. The guy from District Eleven will probably go. I'm not going. I don't think the other three – the girl from District Eight, the girl from District Eleven, and the girl from District Twelve – would go to the feast for a fight, but there might be supplies or something that they needed.
Every time I think of the girl from District Twelve, I get an ache in my chest. She killed Jamal. I don't blame her for it; Jamal did kill her ex-boyfriend/lover, so she kind of had to. And Jamal did betray our beliefs and basically the whole reason we left the Career pack in the first place. So in a way, he kind of deserved it.
But no matter what Jamal did, he was still my friend. And I miss him a lot.
I shake Jamal out of my head. He's in a better place now – away from his mom and away from the Capitol and the Hunger Games.
I am about to fall asleep when I notice something. Usually, by this time, the rain is done. I've been awake for a while, so I know I didn't miss it.
It all clicks in my brain.
They're stopping the rain because that's our source of water! I have enough to last me today, but by tomorrow, I'll be thirsty. This is the Gamemakers' way of dragging us into the finale.
Yep, tomorrow will definitely be the last day.
This thought scares me a bit, but I try to get it out of my head.
I doze off again, comforted by the thought that I will survive for a while. The feast will start soon.
Stella Canary (15) from District 12's POV
I stand at the edge of the forest, waiting. I am behind a tree, not daring to move because I know that there are tributes all around me, doing the same thing. The feast is about to start. I know this because I can just see the sun rising over the Cornucopia in the distance.
They stopped the raining this morning. That just made me more confident about my decision of going to the feast. The Games will be over soon, I can tell.
I decided to come to the feast because I didn't have any supplies other than a knife. I brought that knife with me, the same knife that killed the boy from District One. I plan to use it if I need to.
I don't really have any supplies because Leo didn't have anything, not even weapons or water or anything. The boy from District One just kind of appeared out of nowhere, and he didn't have any supplies with him other than the spear he used to kill Leo.
I didn't take the spear because I don't think I could bear using it or washing Leo's blood off of it. I'm useless with a spear anyway.
My plan is to just run when the feast starts. I'm fast, and I know I need to be the first one there. That way, I can escape all of the action and just grab what I need so I can leave and be safe.
I am just thinking this when the table shoots out of the ground right in front of the Cornucopia.
There are five backpacks there; a big red backpack labeled with a number 2, a small-ish orange backpack with a number 4 on it, a medium-sized yellow backpack with a number 8, a medium-sized green backpack with a number 11 label on it, and a small blue backpack labeled with the number 12.
That backpack is mine.
And I start sprinting.
I reach the table before anyone else. Without hesitating, I grab the blue backpack, turn around, and run back to the forest. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the boy from District Eleven running out from the ruined city, and the girl from District Eight coming out of the other side of the forest. I keep running until I can run no more, until I find a tree that I can climb up and be hidden from any tributes that come for me.
I am safe.
Denver Roots (18) from District 11's POV
The girl from District Twelve got to the table first. I'm mad it wasn't me. At least she didn't take anyone else's pack. I can still get mine.
The girl (I think her name is Stella) is gone, and her appearance scared me a bit. I know I can't wait any longer. I start to run, my eyes set on nothing but the green backpack with the black number eleven running across it. I know I can get it.
I can see the girl from District Eight, the redhead, running to the table at the same time as me. I reach it first, grabbing the green backpack and slinging it over my shoulder. I grab a sword and whip around, preparing to fight the District Eight girl.
She has just grabbed her backpack and is turning around. I'm about to slash my sword when she drops to the ground. That's when I see the arrow in her back, and I see both tributes from District Two running to the Cornucopia from the edge of the jungle.
The girl from District Two, the one with the bow and arrows, is looking at the District Eight girl in a weird way. Being a Career and all, you'd think she'd be grinning, but she's not.
She almost looks regretful.
This shocks me a bit, so I am barely turning around to run when I feel the awful pain in my leg.
Then I see the knife sticking out. Without thinking, I yank it out and I know that the boy from District Two must have thrown it.
The pain is awful. I know that I can't get up and run away again.
The girl from District Two walks over to us, grabs the green pack out of my hands, and grabs the yellow pack from the girl from District Eight (who, for some reason, isn't dead yet).
The boy from District Two grabs the red backpack with a 2 on it and the orange backpack with a 4 on it and tosses them into the Cornucopia. The girl does the same with the yellow and green packs. They run off into the forest with their weapons, maybe to try to catch the girl from District Twelve who went there.
I guess they figure that I'm as good as dead, and the same with the District Eight girl.
They're wrong. I can crawl back to the city.
Raven Silk (16) from District 8's POV
This is the end.
I always had some crazy hope that maybe I would survive, and maybe I would win. I didn't actually think so, but the hope was always there.
Now it's gone.
I know I will die, and I knew that I probably would die in the arena, but I wanted to die a noble death. I wanted to die trying.
And after all, I am Raven Silk. And Raven Silk doesn't give up.
Somewhere in my pain-numbed mind, I form a plan.
Hands shaking, I grab a spear from where I attached it to my belt.
With all the strength I have (which is not much, considering the physical state I'm currently in), I push myself up.
It brings me excruciating pain, and I almost fall right back down again. But I force myself to stay up, because I know I can do this.
The boy from District Eleven is slowly starting to crawl back to the direction that he came from. He isn't dead. He probably won't die.
Which is where my plan comes in.
Each step is a battle, a battle that brings much pain. But somehow I win each one, and before I know it, I have reached my destination.
I take my spear.
I raise my right arm, the one that's holding the spear.
And I bring it down.
The spear goes through the boy's back and out through is stomach.
He makes a sound, something in between a groan and a scream.
I fall to the ground, in shock and disgust. I just did that. I can't believe it.
Boom. That's the boy's cannon. He is dead. I actually killed him.
Spots begin to appear in my line of vision, and I know I'm done.
I never gave up.
And wasn't that my goal from the beginning?
Somewhere in my state of dying and pain and craziness, I smile.
And then…
The
World
Goes
Black.
Boom.
Dallas Woods (18) from District 2's POV
Two cannons just went off. I know that it's the girl from District Eight and the boy from District Eleven. I killed the boy and Alicia killed the girl.
I hold my hand up for Alicia to high-five, and she slaps it half-heartedly.
Why isn't she excited? After all, we're in the final four.
What?
The thought hits me like a brick.
We're in the final four.
I am in the final four of the 127th Hunger Games. I did it. I did it.
"Alicia!" I exclaim.
"What?" she says, annoyed.
"We're in the final four!" I say excitedly.
She gives me a small smile. "Yeah, I knew that."
Somehow, I can't seem to get the grin off my face. I'm picturing myself with the Victor's crown on my head at the post-Games interview with Evan, and the Capitol loves me. I will live the life I always dreamed of, a life of luxury and victory.
I am torn out of my vision when Alicia speaks.
"We should probably head back to the Cornucopia," she says.
"Why?" I say.
"So we can get ready. The finale will be tomorrow and one of us is going to be the Victor."
"Okay," I say. I don't have to get any more kills today. I'll get them tomorrow.
We start walking back, out of the forest and to where our camp is set up.
By the time we get there, the hovercraft has come and taken the two bodies. All that remains are some spots of blood on the ground.
We get our weapons ready.
The faces are shown in the sky. There's the girl from District Eight, the one that Alicia killed. There's the boy from District Eleven, the one that I killed. And, finally, the girl from District Eleven is shown. She's the twelve-year-old, who must have died last night.
It all ends tomorrow.
Raven Silk (16) from District 8 - shot by Alicia's arrowRaven was always one of my personal favorites. Her mindset and outlook on life was amazing. I loved her interview. I never had her as my Victor, but I always knew she had to die like this - without giving up. Raven (and her red hair) will definitely be missed.
Denver Roots (18) from District 11 - speared by Raven I was very excited to write this death. I never liked Denver. I don't know why. I tried to make myself like him (readers liked him for some reason) by giving him allies and a little sister... but I knew that he had to die. I mean, he killed his district partner. And after you do that, well... good riddance.
Placings
24th: Celeste Rodriguez
23rd: McKayla Carr
22nd: Hayden Fields
21st: Arielle Scales
20th: Phoenix Thread
19th: Aidan Sprint
18th: Austin Stocker
17th: Jade Scorpion
16th: Hunter Albert
15th: Willow Farmer
14th: Poppy Light
13th: Amethyst Diamond
12th: Hazel Almond
11th: Graham Axel
10th: Bennett Switch
9th: Jamal Gold
8th: Leo Green
7th: Lilac Rosen
6th: Denver Roots
Remaining Tributes/Alliances/Locations
Alicia/Dallas: By the Cornucopia
Jaymes: Forest
Stella: Forest
Kill List
Dallas: McKayla, Aidan, Willow, Amethyst, Graham
Alicia: Jade, Hunter, Hazel, Raven
Jamal: Arielle, Leo
Denver: Austin, Lilac
Celeste: Herself
Amethyst: Hayden
Jaymes: Phoenix
Stella: Jamal
Raven: Denver
Okay! The next chapter isn't the finale, unfortunately, because I'm splitting the last day into two parts. But there will be two deaths the next chapter. Wow! I can't believe we're at the final four.
Remember to read, review, follow, favorite, and vote in the poll as to who you think will be the final two.
One last thing - earlier, I talked about maybe doing an SYOT for my next story. I've decided to go for it. When I post the next chapter, I'll be posting the preview of the story and the form to submit. Please tell your friends so we can get the story started as soon as possible!
Thanks!
XOXO
-Ashley