Churning out chapters like a machine, expect mistakes. I have deadline to make before the new year.
Lief Nisbet, D7M, 16
The boy from Two's face showed up last night. It's pretty unusual for Careers to fall on the fourth day. They usually last longer and are normally around till the final eight at least. There's a few thoughts that flood my head.
Does this mean that the Careers are splitting up already? Do I have a chance to win now?
It's still very much in the grey but I know I can survive till the end. My allies are all dead now, both Asus and Rory never making it out of the blood bath and then Wyatt dying the next day. I'm all alone now.
I take a bite of the chocolate bar I found within the cupboards of this classroom. After seeing both Marie and Proxxi downstairs yesterday I made my way up the stairs to what I assume is the top floor of this building.
I get up from behind the table, which is set relatively high than what a normal table would be. There are sockets at every table and even the counters at the side and yellow gas taps too. I realise they are gas tops after smelling gas when I turned them on yesterday.
I spent the entire day here yesterday, I'm not surprised if the Gamemakers are planning my death already. I need to move on but I don't think I'm prepared to fight the girls and any other ones here.
What if that Four girl is still looking for me? After escaping her from the Bloodbath, she wasn't too terribly happy with me escaping her clutches. If that's the case I need to escape this building and hide out in the forest. That place is the safest bet for me coming from the lumber district.
I try to pick up what's left of the chocolate bar and also the axe I managed to grab at the Cornucopia. Looking around the class room as I begin to stand up, I walk towards the front door looking back just in case there's a trap or if I forgot anything.
The door handle is still as cold as it was yesterday. Not sure on how the temperature is right now outside but inside it's been rather warm and comfortable, which is what makes me nervous. There's bound to be something, some sort of event that's going to happen here.
Turning the handle and pulling the door inwards I walk out silently, trying as hard as I can to not make a noise with the shoes. I close the door in the same fashion, the corridor feels cooler than it was inside the room that I almost regret leaving in the first place.
I face forward and then freeze the moment I see her. I tighten my grip on the weapon I am holding as I face the girl in front of me. Her face a mixture of both amusement and anger as I see her left eye twitch slightly. I can see the light green in her eyes darken as she unsheathes her knives.
"You know…" She begins as I grip my weapon tighter. "…that I haven't killed anyone else since the bloodbath?"
The question chills me to the bone.
"The last person I killed…why it was your ally and my district partner."
My eyes widen as the Twelve girl charges towards me in breakneck speed, two blades in hand, one on either hand as she tries to slash my torso. I manage to inch back slightly, avoiding a stab. I hear her growl before doing it again.
Her slashes are useless but I can't just keep dodging her attacks and before I know it my back is against a wall. She smiles at me once more and aimed a knife straight for my stomach. I react quickly, blocking with the handle of my axe.
She recoils from the impact and I push her to the side, running down the corridor we met. I dare not look back as the girl stays silent, she could be in pursuit or she could still be recovering but I need to get out of here.
I turn the corner onto another side of the corridor and enter the first door I see. I close the door as fast as I can, trying to look for a lock but to no avail. I turn my back against it and look around the new room.
The room, piled high with random knickknacks and wires and various scientific objects I've never seen before. The shelves are arranged in rows and I try to find the farthest corner, away from the door. Staying standing, axe at the ready. Ready to strike anyone and anything that comes my way.
I need to get out of this alive, I need to see my family. I have so much more to live for.
Terra Hilts, D12F, 17
I think I was lucky to have found another tribute in this wretched place. To think this place is as boring as it looked. A school in the arena? What are they thinking, it's like we're not already suffering.
I laugh at my joke before picking myself up from the ground, despite not looking it; that boy from Seven is stronger than he looks. That just makes it more fun in that case. I take the knives that were dropped from our little skirmish and then I follow the direction he headed towards.
Nothing good has happened to me so far since killing Rory, he needed to be killed. That boy did nothing but space out during everything. Technically, I was doing him a favour. Ever since he did die though, I have received nothing. No sponsors, no traps, no tributes.
Nothing.
All I've done is explore this school. I've spent the last couple of days in the art rooms, the door in front of me now in the corner of the science rooms. I did find various carving knives within the classrooms though and that added to my arsenal of weapons.
Now that Lief has been located, my kill count is about to increase to two. Hopefully there's more inside this building, with the departure of the Two boy last night Careers are bound to end up here. Then the real Games can begin.
Rounding the corner I saw the dark blond haired boy turn, I see that all the doors to the classroom are closed. There's a possibility that he's hiding in one of these rooms or that he's gone downstairs. Both are possible but I don't mind the chase.
In fact, it makes it better. The Capitol is surely going to like me know if I find him.
Beginning with the first door to my right. Opening the door is easy and immediately I am met with towering shelves of wires and various science paraphernalia. I decide to move quietly, trying to see if anything reacts from my presence; surely they would've heard me by now.
I round the first row of shelves and my face lit up like a light bulb; Lief is staring straight at me. How lucky of me to find him there and then. My knives manage to find themselves on my hands again as he begins to scuttle away from me.
"It's useless!" I shout as he rounds another row of shelves.
He's managed to stay quiet and I know that he's heading for the door but then I stop as I hear the sound of the school bell. That's new. I can hear him knock on the door lightly, did it magically lock itself?
I round the corner once more and to my surprise, it did! This is almost too perfect and too easy as I stalk closer to him. My face must look nightmarish right now but I don't care. My bloodlust needs to be satisfied.
"There's no running away now."
"Why are you doing this?" He asks suddenly, axe at the ready.
"I want to win, simple as that."
I also want to cause as much pain to other as I can but he doesn't need to hear that. Cackling seems to instil fear in the boy's brown eyes as I inch ever closer to him. I playfully jab the air around him, his arms tensing up every time it comes closer.
My smile turned to a frown for a second. I didn't know what happened but my left arm suddenly feels numb, the knife I was holding in that hand clatters on the ground with a resonating call. I look at the murky grey, marbled floor as blood drips down it slowly.
I look at my arm to see the equally as grey axe, lodged on my arm. There's a sort of smile, that creeps on my face for a minute and at that moment I know I've lost it. I pull the axe out from the arm with relative ease. The pain I'm supposed to be feeling is dulled by the excitement I know is bound to happen.
Lief looks extremely worried now, and he should be as I raise the axe over my head. It's like he's not moving anymore. His eyes lock onto mines, the scared look disgust me and I quickly swing down with great force.
BOOM
I don't know what I hear first, the sound of the axe's impact on his skull or the loud echo of the cannon. I look down at the now dead tribute. His eyes are still open but lifeless. His face still has the fear intact. I rip a bit of his tie out from his outfit. He's not going to need it now and begin to tie it around the wound.
It's quite a deep wound and now that the adrenaline has disappeared, I can feel just how painful it feels. I wince as wrap the necktie around it, trying to stop the bleeding. The door in front of me is still locked and it seems I'm going to be stuck here until it decides to unlock itself.
Two kills. I'm bound to have sponsors now; that Colina better do her job and get me sponsors already.
Just as I was thinking of it, I hear a chime from behind me, turning around to see a silver, long rectangular box, a blackish grey 'Twelve' written on top of it. The chiming stops once I've touched it and opened it up; the first thing I see is a small roll of bandage. Which will come in handy later on.
What really caught my eye though is something that I never think can ever be in the Games: a pickaxe. The wooden handle shines from the varnish, brand new too, and the blades on either side looks sharp enough to split people's heads.
Now my cackle can't be contained anymore. This is too perfect. I can now be the ultimate killed I've always wanted to be.
Shepherd Baker, D10M, 18
"Is it me or has the weather changed to you?"
I look at my ally with a cocked eyebrow. He looks at me with his questioning blue eyes and a small grin but all I could do is shrug. To tell the truth, I've been wearing this same blazer for a while now and whilst Troy has kindly given his to Jenny's lying figure, I've never felt a change with the weather. Maybe it has but I couldn't tell.
A light breeze passes us rustling the leaves and our hair. Troy nods at my quiet response and continues to go through the vegetation looking for some sort of food. We left Quinoa to tend to Brandon and to tell the truth, he's not too keen on us right now.
Although I haven't done anything to annoy him, I did agree a lot with Troy and him losing the power of the group must be infuriating. Still, us going into the forest isn't all that bad. We were never going to find enough food to survive in an urban landscape.
Early yesterday, we heard explosions from one of the buildings and saw the smoke, meaning that it was also riddled with traps. Naturally all of the tributes would flee the area, if they were smart that is.
"Shepherd, look!" Troy excitedly points at a group of rabbits, all white as if they were talking in a group. "We might be having some sort of rabbit tonight."
The excited boy quickly poised his weapon, the throwing knife glints from the sunlight that manages to break through the forest roof. With one quick swipe it impales a rabbit, making the other scatter in quick succession.
Not to be outdone by my ally I throw one or two as well missing once only. We look at the now deceased rabbits, there's something in me that feels sorry for bringing about their deaths but in a life or death situation there's no time for moral decisions.
"We should have enough between the four of us. Right?"
I merely nod at him. I haven't been talking a lot either, it must make me look suspicious but I just can't seem to find the words to talk now. It was always Jenny that leads the conversation between the two of us. It was originally her that decided to talk to both Brandon and Quinoa, with me tagging along as a muscle head.
I miss her. She is the glue that held everyone in our group together, the one that always makes us smile despite our situation. Now she's gone, ripped away by someone that would rather see people die than care for them.
"Hey, Shep, you alright?"
"What? Oh yeah, just thinking about her again."
"Jenny?"
"Yeah, it's just not fair you know?"
He can only nod at what I had said, no doubt he thought of her everyday as much as I did. I didn't really see it but the two has managed to become best of friends over the course of the training days. I didn't like Jenny in that way, more like how a bigger brother loves a little sister and to see her happy with Troy really did make me happy.
"We should go back." I offer and he nods going near the two dead rabbits and tying their feet up with the rope we managed to get from the bloodbath.
After tying them up real neat and carrying the both of them like a bag we set off, back to our little camp in hopes that Quinoa has somewhat calmed her district partner down. I can tell that Brandon is going to snap any day now and it worries me. There shouldn't be any fighting between us.
What would Jenny do in this situation? How would she calm the team down and make us all friends again? I doubt whatever it is she does would work if I did them. Could it?
Let's face it, his only argument is the fact that Careers might be in here and that we'll be in danger but no matter where we go we'll always be in danger. At least here we have resources before the Gamemakers make it extremely difficult to find them. That doesn't usually happen till the end of the Games.
I'm then pulled down by Troy as we hide behind bushes. Opening my mouth to ask him what he was doing I quickly shut it at the sound of voices. He puts a finger on top of his lips to tell me to be quiet as we listen in on the voices.
"Do you think she killed him?" I hear the girl from district One ask whomever she's with.
Are they talking about the Two boy? His face lit the sky last night as we set up camp. We then pondered what it meant. If that symbolises the end of the Career pack or not. I take a quick peek through the bushes and see the One girl, her district partner and the Two girl.
"They did go out together and have not returned for a day or so now." Midas replies. "I really doubt he'll get killed by some outlier district."
"That's true." Alana says turning around at the One tributes. "He's very competent so it must be Isla."
"All the more reason to eliminate her." Midas suggests.
At this point I duck out of the way again as I hear the Two girl laugh maniacally. I don't want to be facing her. I look at Troy, who's still listening intently at the conversation. I stopped listening now, just waiting for them to leave so we can get back.
"Should we keep moving?" Glisten says holding her bow.
"Yeah." Alana says.
I hear the footsteps fade away slowly. Troy spends a couple more minutes in the same position to make sure they're really gone. When it seems like the coast is clear he stands up with the rabbits and helps me up.
"Sorry for pulling you down all of a sudden." He says dusting his trousers.
"I'm just glad that we don't have to face them so soon." I say doing the same as what he's doing. "Should we head back then?"
As we follow the trail back to our camp, my mind wonders back to the Careers. Yes the Two boy has died but why were they discussing Isla? Did she break up from the Careers already? Who knows, she is definitely powerful.
"Do you think-"
"That the Careers are breaking up?" Troy finishes my question. "To be honest, I don't really know, Isla has always been a loose cannon."
"So it's just her then?" I ask and I see a hesitant nod.
"Even if they did separate they are still incredibly competent killers individually."
I knew that from training and their scores. To get such high scores for the Games, I'm surprised they're not parading around with sponsors. They're mentors are being clever with the sponsors. Speaking of, it makes me wonder if Roscoe plans on giving our group something.
I'm not that confident that I got any sponsors, my interview wasn't really all too good. It was a disaster to say the least. We see the houses as we exit the more forest-like path and into a more suburban one, even though it's still part of the forest.
Outside one of the houses is Brandon, as he puts down firewood. Troy walks ahead of me as I stop to admire the large tree that sprouts out of the house, we decided to vacate. It's interesting in that every one of the houses in this row all had some form of large tree coming out of it.
"Did you get anything?" Brandon asks looking at the both of us.
"Rabbits. Two of them actually." Troy says smugly.
I pass the two and enter the house to see Quinoa arranging some plants and berries. I kneel down beside her and she offers me a smile handing me a berry, a blue tint in colour. I look at her suspiciously; she rolls her eyes popping some of the same ones in her mouth and chewing them.
"I won't end your life with poison." She says jokingly.
"Oh yeah?" I say chewing the berry noting the sweet initial taste and then the sour after tones. "This is good."
"Yeah? Brandon and I found them growing in the backyard."
"How handy." I smile.
We both take them outside where Troy and Brandon seemed to be in a heated discussion. Quinoa sighs, clearly wanting to avoid the situation once more.
"All I'm saying is that we need to get out of this forest." Brandon says standing up and stumbling a little.
"And then go where?" Troy asks. "Did you not hear the Cannon earlier?"
I almost forgot about the Cannon this morning. We were all still together at this point and were about to leave to hunt for food when we all heard it.
"What about it?" The boy says.
"It means that wherever we go we won't be safe."
"I don't care! I don't like being here, it puts me on edge." Brandon manages to say before looking at me and Quinoa. "What do you guys think?"
"I think staying in the forest is better than being stuck out in the open." Quinoa says.
"I'd have to agree, Brandon, we have plenty of resources here and we can hid a lot better. The Careers aren't as experienced here than some of us are."
"You guys are crazy." Brandon says limping back into the house.
When he's out of earshot, Troy sighs.
"We should listen to him. It might make him happier."
"And then what? Risk our lives as we tell him 'I told you so?'" Quinoa says folding her arms as she grabs the rabbits from Troy's hands. "Make yourself useful and grab more firewood."
"Yes, miss." Troy says as he walks away rather dejectedly despite his sarcastic remark.
"You know he's only trying his best to appease everyone."
"I know but one of these days, one of these boys would be the death of me, and that might be quite literally."
Eva Lind, D7F, 16
Night is fast approaching again in the forest. Nothing eventful happened, I'm beginning to get bored and no doubt so are the Capitol. So far all I've done is hide, after killing the Ten girl at the bloodbath all I've done is hide.
There's nothing wrong with hiding, but when nothing is happening and you're hiding; that only spells trouble in my head. A slight breeze brushes past my hair and the leaves atop the trees that I'm staying on for the night.
A typical tactic for the lowly Seven tributes, climbing up trees are always almost expected by everyone at this point. There is one other reason as to why I'm doing this though, speaking off I see her now.
Isla stumbles upon a slight clearing, looking up the sky as the Capitol anthem play. I had forgotten about the Cannon earlier, another tribute down. I look up collectively with her from my branch and see the face of my district partner.
Two thoughts come into my mind at this point. The first: I knew that Lief was never going to win, he was too kind and he could never kill, that's the reason why I hated him. He could never be a Victor and I think he knew this but him volunteering just wormed it's way inside me and hated him ever since. The second thought, however, is filled with anger. I wanted to kill him, I wanted to tell him that he was wrong for volunteering, I wanted to show both Scarlet and Viola that Lief was nothing special.
As I sit here seeing his face, looing confident, shine the clear night sky I start to think. Sponsors should be coming to place now right? Would both Viola and Scarlet restrict my sponsors? That wouldn't be very kid of them. They need me, I'm tough, cold and ruthless. I'll whip up more tributes that the Career district.
Speaking of the Careers, Isla scoffs at the face; a clear annoyance on her face. Did she want to get my prey too? It doesn't matter now, I want to see where this girl is going, she's been wandering the forest non-stop mumbling to herself.
She is definitely looking for someone but I don't know who but it looks like she's going to stop and camp for the night, finally. Yesterday as eventful for her and she didn't stop after killing the Two boy. Could she be looking for the Eleven boy too?
If she is, she's missing him completely, he went the other way. I should know, I've been with them since early yesterday morning. I saw Willow fall on a tree root and Tiberius nursing her leg. I saw the weary looking Cane confront the both of them and then I saw the fight.
With Tiberius dead and Cane on the run, Isla must feel like she's losing control. I'm hoping that she injures herself, that's when I swoop down and end her life. Although that sounds good in my head, I don't think I'll be capable of fighting her.
Fighting her could be my death. But should she injure herself, however, I might be just stand a chance. That way there's no way my bitch of a mentor can resist giving me sponsors. I clutch the small bag closer to me and see the contents inside. Just one more bottle of water and two pieces of bread left. There's nothing else in here.
The low breeze and the rising temperature gives me the idea that our climate is about to change. The thick woollen blazer I wear will no longer be useful and for some reason I can't abandon it in fear that they change it again.
One last thought approach my head; is the Four girl on her own now? Did she leave her group? I don't know if she has but that might lower her chances of winning. Whatever it is I'm going to keep my eye on her.
Alana Rockford, D2M, 17
We approach one of the houses overrun with trees and plants, with both Midas and Glisten voicing their opinion of rest. I'm against it, if they can't keep up I should kill them there and then but the voice in my head begins to say that I still need them.
"We'll find her tomorrow." Glisten offers me a small piece of bread with a smile.
I take the bread without so much as a thanks and quietly munch on it. She doesn't say anything and goes back inside the house. I took up first watch looking at the vast forest in front of me with a keen eye, even though the streetlights try their best to illuminate the surrounding area, it's still not enough to see beyond them.
I sit on the little ledge before the front door, my knives by my side as I drink a little bit of water. My feet and hands are getting fidgety over the lack of kills. This forest is too big, if only the Gamemakers burn it down to make it easier.
That wouldn't be too good for them I would imagine. The completely urban area with a forest on the side is questionable at best. This is to give everyone an even chance I would imagine. It's never fair on us Careers that we have to endure these survival.
The door behind me opens and Midas takes a seat beside me. My eyes stay looking at the forest scene as I hear him give a big sigh. The blonde and I stay in comfortable silence before he begins to speak.
"Why don't you rest and I'll take first watch?"
"And let you get all the kills?"
"You know as well as I do that everyone else is sleeping."
I scoff at his reply glaring at him. I stand up along with my knives and walk back in. I have to admit that he's probably telling the truth but there's something off about him ever since he suggested we ditch Isla. Although I still like the idea, the sudden suggestion from him makes me question it. What could this boy be planning?
But since he offered to take my place, I'll go back inside but I'm not going to sleep, I'm going to stay awake and be there when a tribute comes. No doubt tomorrow we'll be on Isla's trail and if we're not then I'll do it myself.
With the Seven boy lighting up the sky earlier, there's sixteen tributes left. Only four more to the final twelve, where I assume things are going to be a lot more intense that what we're feeling now. I'm hoping that we see Isla either today or tomorrow. Ending her before the final twelve would not only please me but humiliate her at the same time.
Sitting down beside a sleeping Glisten I stare out the window at the same forest I was staring at earlier before Midas took my place. I don't want to miss a single thing from now on. I will only sleep when it's necessary and right now…
It's not necessary.
Placings:
16th - Lief Nisbet, District Seven Male, 16 - Axe to the head by Terra Hilts