Wren Roxen(District 10 Mentor)
"Remind me why we're doing this again?"
"Because he's the mentor of our only remaining tributes ally Wren. Honestly, we've put this off for too long as it is and since we're going to have to do it eventually we might as well strike while the iron is hot."
"Ok, but why can't you do it? Zapp can't stand me and you know it so why even include me?"
"Zapp doesn't like anyone, he's old and bitter and he's never brought home a tribute in forty years as a mentor. Would you like anybody if you were in his shoes?"
"Probably not, but it still doesn't change the fact that he hates me more than anyone else."
"He doesn't hate you Wren."
This argument isn't going to get me anywhere so there's no use in continuing it. After all, I highly doubt Paige would believe me if I told her some of the things Zapp said to me before. I mean I was just doing my job as a mentor when I asked him how he wanted to coordinate sponsor gifts and supplies between our tributes alliance and he was way out of line for how he bit my head off.
"He might not hate me but he sure as hell doesn't like me either. If he did you wouldn't have insisted on coming with me."
"I insisted on coming with you because if I hadn't you wouldn't have talked to him. You've never been one top play nice with the other mentors and for the most part, that's never affected any of our tributes, but Dargo is in a completely different situation than we're used to seeing."
I can't believe she's playing that card again, I mean sure I'm not the most outgoing or friendly mentor around but I'm far from the reclusive shut-in Zapp is. I may not have Paige's natural grace or social skills and I'll never be as good as she is at pulling in sponsors and keeping them committed but I'm far from a liability. I'm the one that handles the lion share of the actual training every year and while I'd be lost if I had to navigate the intricate inner workings of the sponsor system without her she'd be just as lost in training without me.
However, there's no need to wander back down this well-worn path because neither of us is willing to admit just how much we need the other to do our job. I know how much I rely on Paige's connections with other mentors and the Capitol citizens but I'm sure as hell not going to tell her that to her face, not in public anyway. Instead, we keep gently trying to nudge our way through the crowded foyer of the sponsor gift control center while keeping an eye out for Zapp. Finally after what seems like an eternity of being pushed and shoved by every other person while also fending off the unwanted touches of the others we manage to find Zapp in a small booth in the corner of the room where he's poring over the gift list.
"There he is, now even though you forced me to do this I'm begging you to please do the talking. Knowing me I'll probably say something stupid at exactly the wrong time and this will blow up in our faces."
"Fine I'll do the talking, but you'll own me one."
"Wouldn't this make us even for the one you owe me?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Why the hell not"
"Because the idea of talking to him makes you uncomfortable enough that I can leverage this for a whole lot more than just one."
"That's low Paige, even for you."
"Well if you'd rather do the talking hen I'd be more than happy to let you."
I hate it when she gets like this, she's so smug and cocky it's almost infuriating. Then again I do have to admire her ability to play the game and her attitude is what helped her walk out of her games without a scratch despite her impressive kill count. She may get on my nerves but she's damn good at what she does so I might as well stop fighting it and just agree, it's the only way to get the incredibly uncomfortable conversation we're about to have with Zapp started.
I offer her a defeated nod and she offers me another incredibly cocky smile before spinning around and quickly slipping through and around the gaggle of people all trying to get Zapp's attention. It takes me a little longer to get through everyone and by the time I finally break through and get to the little table the two of them are already getting down to business.
"Why should I help your tribute? The last time I let you talk me into something like this I had to watch your girl slaughter my boy like cattle."
"You can't keep holding that against me, Zapp. Neither of us could have predicted when our tributes would pick that moment to turn on each other."
"You're right, but it doesn't help me 'get over it' when you being the little bitch that did it around either."
This is exactly why I didn't want to come; he's never going to stop hating me for that kill. Hell in the twelve years since it happened he's gotten more and more bitter every year. I understand that Dorian was his first tribute to break the top eight in a long time but I can't believe he honestly holds my desire to survive the games against me.
I'm about to respond to his unnecessary attack when Paige places a calming hand on my arm and flashes me a quick glare that I'm pretty sure means don't even think about it so I force myself to swallow my anger as she turns her attention back to the task at hand.
"Wren is here because she's Dargo's mentor too, and you know that. Now we can sit here and bicker about old grudges and past pains or we can come together and try to help the tributes we can still save survive. Now eventually Quanta and Dargo are going to find themselves on opposite sides but only if we help them survive today. So what's it going to be Zapp, do we work together to make sure that it's one of us who brings home a victor or do we let it ride and see what happens?"
For a moment, I'm not sure he's going to agree but after a little hesitation, he simply nods his head and motions for us to sit down. We quickly slip into the empty seats across from him as he passes the gift list and a pad of paper he'd been writing on to Paige.
"I've gotten a major influx from sponsors after what happened this morning, the problem is I can't find a way to spend it all on the gifts I want to get."
Paige nods her head before passing me the paper and turning her attention to the list. It only takes me a couple of seconds to scan the list and to my surprise outside of a decent amount of water, the list is almost entirely made up of electronics and various odds and ends that I can't for the life of me see being any use in the arena.
"Hey sorry to interrupt, but why are you sending her so much junk?"
"I wasn't sure what to send honestly. I know she's a genius with turning little odds and ends into something useful so I thought maybe it would be a good idea to send her something to tinker with. Do you not think it's a good idea?"
"In a different arena maybe but I'm not sure what good most of it will be in an arena completely devoid of technology."
"You might be right, but I'm not sure what to send her then. The two of them could obviously use water but outside of that I'm not sure what else to send."
"Well, Paige and I were planning on sending Dargo a pitchfork. He used it a lot back home to clean out the stables and was pretty impressive with it during training. Maybe you could send Quanta a weapon too and then we can split the water between the two gifts."
"That's not a bad idea, she did enjoy using the crossbow during training and sending her one would probably be more practical than sending her odds and ends….Ok, that's what I'll do, but how much water can you afford to send with your gift?"
I turn my head towards Paige who's currently staring down at the little screen of the device that tracks individual donor contributions for tributes and after pressing a few buttons and consulting the list she sets the little thing down and answers the question.
"We can send in about six full liters, what can you send?"
"After getting her the crossbow and a dozen bolts I should have enough to send about the same amount, plus two bags to carry it in and a little something extra."
Dargo Avene-12(D10M)
I'm not sure why Quanta's blaming herself for what happened to Luell, we all knew the risks associated with the plan and we all decided to go ahead with it anyway. Hell, it's not like Luell wasn't going to have to face death at some point anyway so at least he got to go out in a truly heroic and memorable way. I mean if I'm not meant to win the games, if I'm not meant to lay eyes on my home and my family again I hope at the very least I can go out fighting instead of begging for mercy and I really hope my end is as quick and sudden as Luell's.
It took me the better part of an hour to pry Luell's lifeless, blood-soaked body out of her arms and get her to start moving back down the wadi towards the rest of the arena and even then it was slow going. The only time she moved any faster than a sullen shuffle was when the hovercraft flew in to collect the bodies and even that was more of a quick sprint followed by a prolonged bout of motionless crying and shaking.
Considering how hard it was to get her to move I guess I should be content with making it as far as the fork in the road between our little wadi and another. If I remember our trip up correctly this is the main road that'll lead us back to the cornucopia but I'm pretty sure this is as far as we're going to go today. We'd only been here a couple of minutes before Quanta wandered off and found another little cave room like the one we'd been staying in before only this one is significantly smaller and ends with a beautifully decorated stone slab instead of a large chamber.
"I think we should stop here for the night Dargo. I'm….I'm pretty drained and I don't think I can go much farther."
"Well I guess this is as good a place as any to stop for the night; It looks like it's been used relatively recently so there shouldn't be any traps or surprises to worry about."
"This is where Luell and I saw the careers camping yesterday. That's how I knew it was here in the first place, and considering the careers probably never considered they wouldn't be the ones coming back this way I didn't figure they'd leave any surprises behind."
"Well, I guess we lucked out if they hadn't been so overconfident who knows what might have been lurking down here."
"I'm not sure I'd call it overconfidence and not all of us got lucky Dargo."
"I didn't mean it like that Quanta. I was just saying that all things considered it could have been a whole lot worse."
"It could have been worse? Luell is dead Dargo, how in the world could things have gone any worse than they did?"
"We could be dead too….Look I know you're upset about Luell and for the record so am I, but we can't let that sadness eat away at us. Right now we're in the top eight and with the careers out of the picture both of us has a real chance of being the last tribute standing. Now I want to keep working with you Quanta and I know for a fact that I could never hurt you, but I need to know you're willing to put this behind you for now and focus on winning. Can you do that for me Quanta?"
"I….Yes, yes I can. But what happens if it comes down to just me and you? What do we do if we end up being the last two tributes standing?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure but I do know that speculating will only drive us crazy. For now, let's agree to focus on the task at hand and worry about the future when we have to, deal?"
"Deal."
She extends her hand towards me and I take it without hesitation and shake it as confidently as I can and while I'm fairly certain that at least a little bit of my unease and worry seeps through I manage to keep a smile on my face the entire time. After that though things start to get a little awkward, Luell had always been the one to talk and fill the silence and without him to do so the little cave is quickly enveloped in an uncomfortable awkward and strangely eerie silence.
Fortunately, the silence only lasts for a couple of minutes as no sooner have I turned my back and started to unroll my sleeping bag in a nearly futile attempt to fill the silence a series of soft pings catch my attention. At first, I'm not sure what the sound is or where it's coming from but I could swear that I've heard it before. After listing and trying to figure out what the sound is I finally give up and decide to throw caution to the wind and head outside, at this point the once soft pinging has grown to be so loud I can't think straight which means the source of the sound has to be near the mouth of the cave so I might as well check it out.
"Dargo wait."
"What, why?"
"We don't know what it is and we're not exactly armed and ready to fight off an attack. If that's a mutt or another tribute trying to draw us out we're as good as dead."
"We're as good as dead if we stay here too, if it's a mutt the Gamemakers sent it and they know for a fact we're down here and if it's another tribute us not going out would only lead them to assume this place is empty and that might lead them to search the inside too. We have a better chance of one of us escaping a trap if we go see what it is but if we stay down here and it's a trap we're as good as dead."
I can tell my reasoning isn't exactly resonating with her but after a couple of seconds of hesitation, she finally concedes and throws up her arms in defeat before motioning for me to lead the way. Taking things slow I carefully make my way back up the small flight of stairs and down the entrance corridor where to my immense shock we find two large boxes hanging carelessly in front of the entrance. I quickly make my way towards them and when nothing jumps out and attacks me I quickly grab ahold of the first box and yank it free of its strings and the parachutes it floated in on. I quickly pass the box back to Quanta before pulling the second one down and repeating the process, then just to be on the safe side I head back outside and scamper up the rock face and collect the dozen or so small white cloth parachutes that had been tangled in the rocks.
By the time I get back inside Quanta has already torn into one of the boxes and is lining up bottle after bottle of water on the ground beside her.
"Hey, how do you know that's yours?"
"Because my name was on it, yours is over there."
She points in the direction of the second box and sure enough, my name is engraved on the top of the box is rich gold letters. I try my hardest not to let my curiosity overpower me but I can't help it and within a few seconds, I've pried the lid off and tossed it aside to rummage through the treasures within. The first thing I notice is an overabundance of water as I'm pretty sure I have just as many bottles as Quanta if not more, however, it's what's hidden underneath that really catches my eye.
Tucked away in the bottom of the box is a solid steel pitchfork covered with gold inlays. The handle is wrapped in a rich red velvet like material that almost seems to cradle my hands when I touch it. Setting the water aside I pull it out and take a second to admire the glint of the gold in the light when I see Quanta staring at it with a puzzled look on her face.
"It's a pitchfork; it's just like the one you saw me use in the training center just much more ornate."
"Hmm well, I guess that explains why Zapp sent me the crossbow then. Our mentors must want us to be decently armed for the home stretch."
I nod absent-mindedly for a few seconds until the fact that she just told me she got a weapon too finally sinks in but once it does it only takes me a couple of seconds to find myself staring down at her weapon is awe. It's not as shiny as mine but with mine being made out of metal and hers something else it probably shouldn't be, however, what it lacks in glitz it makes up for in beauty and craftsmanship as every single piece flows beautifully into the next.
It looks like the entire thing is made of some kind of rosewood but after studying it for a few seconds it's clear that it's not wood at all but some kind of fiberglass polished and shined to look like wood. Nestled next to it in a small sleeve is a dozen or so bolts made out of the same highly glossed material as the weapon.
"Wow, that's a hell of a nice looking weapon. You get anything else with it besides the water?"
"Yeah I got a couple of sacks to carry the water in so I'm assuming one of them is for you."
"Great, I was a little worried I'd end up having to lug all these little bottles around in my pockets."
"Yeah, that sounds like it would seriously sick, oh I also got this awesome pineapple…."
Topaz Kayden-12(D1M)
I don't think I've ever felt this bad in my entire life and I'm not sure what I can do to make the pain go away. At first, it was just the hot skin and the sweat and after a while the sweat went away and I thought I was in the clear but no sooner had I finally stopped sweating then I was assaulted by some of the most painful and unbearable cramps I've experienced in my entire life. Granted the only other time I've ever experienced cramps was after the bloodbath when we were running but even those weren't as unbearably miserable as these ones. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to keep going if they don't go away soon.
"Archie can we….Can we take a little break please?"
"I was just about to ask you if you wanted to stop, are you feeling ok?"
"Wh….Why do you ask?"
"Well for starters you look like death. Maybe we should head back to camp in the morning, I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to be out here in the heat again tomorrow."
"That's not….We don't need to go back. I'm just a little tired from before is all, once I have a good night sleep and a little water I'll be good as new."
"You sure Topaz, because it's not a big deal if you're still sick and we have to go back. I'd rather sit around the camp and have you around then have you die trying to push yourself out here for my sake."
"It's not just for you though it's for me too. I can't stay cooped up and coddled like a baby for the entire games if I want a chance to win. Besides if we go back now there's no way the Gamemakers leave us alone like they had been, we're too deep into the games to get away with not moving anymore."
"Ok if you're sure you're up to this we'll camp here tonight and start-up the search again at dawn, sound ok to you?"
I offer up an affirmative nod as he quickly scans the area for a semi-decent spot to camp for the night and after coming up empty the first time he decides to settle for something relatively hidden and easy to defend that's not completely covered in rocks. After deciding on the best of the worst camping spots he plops himself down in the sand and digs my sleeping bag and space blanket out of his pack and tosses the rolled up bag at my head with a playful grin. I manage to catch it before quickly sticking my tongue out at him before turning my attention to finding a relatively rock free place to sleep.
By the time, I finally clear all the little rocks out and get my bed set up he's already devoured half a roll and is currently in the middle of draining the last few drops of water out of his small canteen. Once I'm finally situated he tosses the other half of the role my way before digging one of our last open gallon of water out and filling his canteen back up before passing the gallon to me.
"Ok, I'll take the watch tonight so you can get some sleep. I'll wake you up a couple of hours before sunrise so I can catch a few z's before we head out, as long as that's ok with you anyway."
"That's fine but I'm more than willing to split the watch evenly. It's not fair for you to have to do the majority of it just because I'm a little under the weather."
"It's no big deal, it's better for you to get as much rest as possible so we can find the girls tomorrow. Besides, I've never been one to get as much sleep as I should so why should I start now?"
This doesn't feel right but I can tell there's no use in arguing with him on this so I simply nod in agreement as he offers me a sideways grin. A few minutes later, after he's watched me eat and drink a full canteen of water, he scoops up his canteen and the stupid sword he lugged with us from our original camp and heads towards a large rock that I guess marks the outer edge of our new camp.
I try to keep my eyes open for a couple of minutes because maybe thirty or so seconds after I lay down the last vestiges of light finally fade away and the arena is filled with the ear-splitting thunder of the Anthem as the sky is lit up by the seal. However even with all these annoyances, I can't fight off fatigue any longer and before I even get the chance to see the first fallen face in the sky I'm slipping off into a deep and dreamless slumber.
Audrie Christison-13(D1F)
"Well, today was a complete and total waste of time. We trekked all the way out here to gather supplies and hunt the careers and now we're not getting either."
"Calm down Aud, sure we might have missed our chance at the careers but the trip wasn't a total bust."
"How the hell is this not a total and complete bust? The careers made off with the majority of the supplies and then someone else took them out. Not to mention the fact that we spent the entire day rummaging through the central valley and came away with absolutely nothing to show for it."
"Looking through the valley wasn't a total loss, we did manage to find a half a dozen of the cave house things."
"Half a dozen places with nothing of value in them, the majority of the crap we found is gold. Gold has absolutely no value in the arena. It's too soft to be remade into anything useful and we sure as hell can't buy anything with it."
"The jars of fruity drinks were a pretty good find."
"Once again it's called wine and you really need to stop drinking so much."
"You're the one who said it was ok to drink if the….whatcha call it content was low enough."
"It doesn't matter how low the alcohol content is if you drink two full jugs, Connor!"
"They were two different flavors, though."
For the love of god I can't deal with this right now, it's hard enough to get things she doesn't want to hear through her thick skull when she's sober but with her being drunk it's impossible. I mean I understand the idea behind doing it and if we were back at camp with the boys I might have partaken a little more than I did but drinking out here in the open is just a terrible idea. Then again I can understand the urge to do it especially after the first couple of swigs start to blur your senses and make you forget you're stuck in the middle of hell fighting for someone else's amusement.
"Ok Connor you've had enough you're restricted to water for the rest of the night and if I catch you drinking any more of the wine I'll pour the rest of it out."
"Look I'm not stupid ok, I'm just trying to relax a little bit and this is the easiest way to do it. Is it so wrong that I want to enjoy a little downtime in the midst of all the chaos and death?"
"No it's not and believe me I understand the desire to just try to forget about everything that's happened or will be happening over the next couple of days, but we can't let our guard down. We've come so far and now we're all so close to the end, there's a fifty-fifty chance that Topaz or Archie or you or I are going to be the one that walks out of this mess alive. We can't afford to slip up now Connor, we just can't."
"It's not about slipping up, it's about being able to do what has to be done."
"What do you mean do what has to be done?"
"I mean the two of us are in the top eight, both of us and the boys stand just seven people away from getting out of this hell hole and going home. However in order to do that each of us will have to outlast the other three in addition to the other four tributes still alive. Now you've made it abundantly clear that you don't want to become the kind of monster that personifies your district's normal tributes and honestly I understand and admire that. Frankly I'm not sure I can kill anyone either at least not it when I'm in my right mind, but with the wine I won't have to be in my right mind."
"Now I know you've had too much to drink, you're not even making sense anymore Connor."
"That's where you're wrong, I haven't drunk too much. I've drunk just enough to help me get through this."
"Help you get through what?"
She turns towards me and for the first time I see the tears rolling down her face and I instinctively want to see what's wrong, unfortunately, that's the one thing I shouldn't have done. Almost as soon as I place my hand on her shoulder and pull her into a hug I feel the cold bite of her knife as she plunges the blade into my gut.
"I'm sorry Audrie, but I don't want to die and that means you have to."
The last sight I see is her tear soaked face as she pulls her knife out of me and leaves me to crumble onto the cold ground below.
~BOOM~
A/N: Well this takes us to the end of Day 3 and into the final 7 and I hope everyone is as excited as I am for the explosive grand finally that's rapidly approaching. Once again I don't really have any major questions but I'm curious to see who everyone thinks is going to come out on top in the end?
Other than that and my mild curiosity I hope everyone is enjoying the story and is ready to submit to my next one which will be going up as soon as we have a winner in this one, that is if anyone is interested in submitting to another story?
As always please review and let me know what you think and I'll hope to see all of your smiling faces in a few days at the next update :D
Death Order/Cause/Place
24-D10F- Fern Shelton-13- Killed by stepping off her plate
23-D7F-Sequoia Sable-12-Killed by D4M- Lachlan Melbourne
22-D9M- Jamie Dexton-12-Killed by D4M- Lachlan Melbourne
21-D11F- Iliana Alder-13-Killed by D2F- Antonia Bismarck
20-D5F- Emiliana "Emi" Jameson-13-Killed by D4F- Iona Harrowell
19-D11M- Moriah Trace-12-Killed by D6M- Aldrin Derino
18-D2M- Alex Trake-13-Mercy killing by D2F- Antonia Bismarck
17-D12M- Brenton Aldair-13-Cobra Mutt
16-D6F- Kaelia Blitzen-12-Mummy Mutt
15-D9F- Alden Devaire-13-Jackel Mutt
14-D4M- Lachlan Melbourne-13-Sphinx Mutt
13-D3M- Bryn Snowdon-13-Killed by D12F- Brooke Kolstad
12-D6M- Aldrin Derino-13-Killed by the trap set by D3F- Quanta Bomm
11-D5M- Luell Berring-13-Killed by the trap set by D3F- Quanta Bomm
10-D4F- Iona Harrowell-13-Killed by the trap set by D3F- Quanta Bomm
09-D2F- Antonia Bismarck-13-Killed by the trap set by D3F- Quanta Bomm
08-D1F- Audrie Christison-13-Killed by D8F- Connor McCormick
Kill Total
4- Mutt
4- Quanta
1- Brooke
1- Connor
2- Lachlan
2- Antonia
1- Iona
1- Aldrin
1- Fern(Suicide)