More deaths are following, basically a death a chapter. The length may also drastically change from now on as I try my best to rush these things.
Glisten Hale, D1F, 18
The damp atmosphere, leaves a moist but unsteady air around the group as yesterday a tribute has died again. Nothing as eventful happened to us yesterday other than rabid dog mutts attacking us as we exit the nearby house.
Alana, being herself, managed to eliminate most of them, the others being taken care of either myself or Midas. No one sustained any damages. I can tell that Alana is becoming restless. She didn't sleep last night and I can see the bags under her eyes forming. Surely she knows how bad it is to not get rest.
She is desperate and that is what scares me. I see all the time that desperate people can take drastic measures when in the Games. I can see her eyes shift side to side as we approach a clearing, not seeing anything she continues to move forward, without a thought.
She doesn't seem to acknowledge that both I nor Midas exist for the entire time, she just assumes that we'll follow her until we find Isla. She stops though when she makes it to the center of the clearing, I stop briefly after wondering what she's got planned left.
"We need to change our strategy." She says.
She looks at the both of us through the light rain. It's been raining non-stop since early yesterday morning, combine that with a light breeze it becomes real cold for a moment. Although it's not as cold as the way Alana is speaking right now.
"What do you suggest?" Midas asks folding his arms.
"That we look for actual tributes."
"So we're just ditching Isla all together?" He questions once more, arms still folded.
"No. What I'm saying is that we need to actively look for other tributes as well as Isla." She says followed by a glare at Midas who manages to just roll his eyes. "We are Careers for god's sake!"
I try to voice my opinion but she continues to move forward again, turning her back on myself and my district partner once more and going into the forest. I step forward, the running shoes soaking through the insides, squelching inside.
Although I'm not much for glamour and all that I find this really disgusting. I try to ignore it as I follow Midas and Alana. This isn't going anywhere, we haven't found a single tribute in days now and I'm beginning to worry that the Gamemakers will launch another set up mutts towards us.
As if my thoughts were being listened to, I hear the howling of dogs again as another pack of mutt dogs attack us once more. I ready my bow and arrow as Midas takes out his sword. Alana was already charging towards a couple of the dogs, taking out her serrated knives and swiping left and right.
Hearing the yelps and growls of the dogs motivates me to attack as I let loose a flurry of arrows at the dogs. Despite my initial shellshock with this weapon and the district Six girl, I have quickly gotten over it.
I'm a lot quieter now than I was at training though and that seemed to attract the attention of my allies as they all eye my suspiciously not knowing what to do with me. In truth, I didn't know that the Games were going to be this brutal, I wanted to do good for my family and friends. I want my father to look at me with pride in his eyes.
Although I'm not so sure about it now. Of course I'm going to try and win but as I see Alana take care of the last of the dogs with a look so contorted with rage and anger, my chances of winning against her seem thin the more I look at her.
Midas too is very competent. I see him pull his sword out from one of the larger dog mutts. Despite being a year younger than me, his strength parallels that of Tiberius and he died. We don't know who managed to kill him but Isla is my guess.
"Is that all?" Alana says, not even out of breath despite moving so fast.
"Yeah."
"Then let's keep moving."
I move along with Midas, his hair matted with both sweat and rain, his hair a darker coloured version of it. His blazer, shed and stuffed into his bag yesterday. The white shirt he's wearing became transparent from all the rain water giving me insight at how defined his muscles are. He looks at me and grins before looking back at our leader.
Alana is much the same as Midas, her blazer has been taken off long ago and left somewhere stating that she doesn't need it anymore. Her white button up shirt showing her own muscles. They seem contracted as she moves through the forest avoiding branches and leaves.
Speaking of the leaves, I've noticed that some are beginning to change colour. What was once a vibrant sea of green seems to slowly change into more yellow, orange and red. Some aren't like that just now but I'm willing to bet that they're beginning to turn that way.
"Wait." Alana says as we approach another clearing.
We wait with her, peering up from the bushes. We all stare at the Nine boy on his own as he limps on his way to the other side of the clearing. I can tell that Alana wants this. I can feel that she wants this as I see her eyes darken from her normally brown eyes to almost black.
It was all silent for a moment, the pitter-patter of rain on leaves is the only thing that can be heard. The birds no longer live in the forest it seems as I hear a few each day. I look to my side as my ally ready her weapons.
She stands up, rustling the bushes startling the boy, Brandon I believe. She looks at the both of us silently telling us not to interfere. I get the message and just nod, Midas doing the same. She smirks before walking up to the boy, who dared not move.
"Well, well." Alana begins. "Look who it is."
"What do you want?"
"Your blood on my hands."
With that she leaps towards the boy with glee, her laughs filling the air around us. I couldn't bear looking anymore but I will myself to do it. This is another human being, nothing like the dog mutts we encountered earlier and yesterday.
Midas looks on with a straight face, completely passive. I can never tell what he's thinking and as I hear the grunt and yell, Midas' face stays the same regardless of it. I look back to Alana and from there I can see that she's using her serrated knives.
Slicing the boy's face and then cackling at it. She then moves one of her knives closer to his neck. She looked really happy ending another's life, someone like that disgust me but at the same time she's my ticket home. She's the person that can catapult us into the final five.
With only fourteen tributes, about to be thirteen I reckon, left we're edging closer to the final twelve where I would imagine the conditions will get worse, the traps frequent and the mutts harder to kill. I try to tear my eye away from what Alana was about to do next but was stuck watching.
BOOM
The cannon resonates within my head and at that point I knew it was over. Midas begins to move into the clearing, holding her bag. Alana grabs it from his hands and wipes her bloody knives on the now deceased boy's shirt.
"Let's go." Alana begins and walks the direction where the boy came from.
Taking a look at Brandon one last time, I decide to cover him with the blazer that lie beside him. He may be dead by he still needs to be honoured, he didn't deserve to die like this. None of them do.
Willow Ryllis, D11F, 13
It's been days since I last saw a tribute. I've at what I thought was the edge of the forest, seeing the road to the modern part of the arena. Tiberius sacrificed himself for me, a lowly district tribute. My sprained ankle is better now but I've ran out of food.
I ran out of water too but as it continued to rain all throughout yesterday I managed to fill a bottle full of it. Food, however, is sparse; I couldn't even find some berries or edible plants, there's nothing here now. There were a few rabbits but since I only have my dagger I couldn't catch one.
Hungry and afraid I begin to walk along the forest edge, trying to find the big castle looking building. There will definitely be food there, I'm just hoping I get there before something terrible happens to me.
Last night was hard for me, Proxxi, my ally lit the sky that night. I've never felt such sadness in my life, except for getting reaped. There was something inside me though that felt relieved that I didn't see her die. I could never watch someone that I consider my friend die.
My friend, that's a funny thought when you talk about other tributes. Never in my life would I think that other tributes could be my friends. Marie and Proxxi, even Cane have become my good friends. We shared brief memories and laughed together.
And now one of them is gone, and that makes me both relieved and sad. Conflicting feelings inside me as I find an exit to the forest. As I step out on the main road I see the back of the castle-like building, I keep moving down in a slow manner admiring the view from here. It looks so grand and majestic.
The houses and urban areas conflict so beautifully to the forest scene. I noticed as well that the forest has now become tainted with yellows. The leaves are dying it seems, could that mean that the arena is based around seasons? I don't know but I press forward until the park comes into view on my left. There's a small house near the exit and entrance of the park but to my right I see an entrance to the school.
Getting excited all of a sudden I jog towards it at the prospect of being dry. With any chance I'm hoping Marie might be in there. I need to be with her, I want to feel safe again. I haven't been sleeping well the past couple of days. My head is haunted with nightmares. The scary girl from Four and the psychopath from Twelve.
I gulp just at the thought of them as I stop walk up some steps up to the school grounds. I look in awe at the lawn covered in statues too far away for my eyes to make out and then gasp at the way the building looks.
I couldn't see what was inside but I did see the large wooden doors, I didn't want to draw attention to myself so I move on to what looks like a carpark. Seeing another set of wooden doors I pass by it hoping that there's another near the end of the school.
I stop to admire the stone work. I was about to touch the stone when I saw red blots drop on my dark skin. Curious at what it was I take it in closer to my eyes before widening them. It's blood. I look up at the sky, feeling several drops of blood rain on my face.
I start breathing faster, I can feel a panic attack happening and I quickly try to calm myself. I move towards the far end of the building, thanking whatever that there's another door there. I slip in and begin to wipe the blood away with my blazer. My white shirt is stained a reddish colour now, making it look horrifying.
I move up the small set off stairs to see if there's anything else to see but I stop at my tracks as there, in front of me, is a the psychopath Twelve girl. I can see her grin a wide grin at me and I turn around quickly seeing another set of stairs. I try to move up it but suddenly a sharp pain begins at my right leg and I stumble to the ground.
"My third kill!" Terra laughs.
I turn around to see her pickaxe raised above her head. She laughs once more and all I can do is close my eyes expecting what is going to happen to me. At first it's not so bad. I made it farther than I ever thought I would but considering all I did was cry throughout the Capitol period I feel at rest somehow.
My initial fear is no longer there and I can finally accept the fact that I'm going to die here. With that in thought I hold in a breath, knowing that it's going to be my last.
Taylor Twaron, D8M, 18
BOOM
The loud cannon stops me from sorting out my bag for a second turning around me. That's the second cannon today. My chances are increasing, my supplies are still good. I'm all set up for winning the Games.
I stop at my tracks as I hear laughter coming from behind me. The ground floor has been thoroughly explored by myself, there's nothing much down here. I was about to go into the cafeteria to scavenge for more food but that laughter has me all curious.
Walking towards the sound turning the corner and then another past the coloured lockers. I see the Twelve girl continually drop her pickaxe at another tribute. How she got a pickaxe I do not know but she's going crazy with it.
I decide for a second to try and stop her. I was about to open my mouth to stop her but she turns around as if right on cue. She scrambles with her bag as she ascends the stairs again, she takes both the supplies of herself and the Eleven girl.
Before she's completely out of my view I send a knife flying up to her, with it connecting to her thigh. She stumbles slowly but continues to go up the stairs just to avoid me, she must be scared of my strength. I don't blame her but what she did to this girl is inexcusable. I walk towards her, picking up her body and laying her on the bottom of the stairs.
I close her soulless eyes as I rest her hands over the hole that the pickaxe managed to carve out. I stand back up, the throwing knife that must've caused her to fall down in my hand. At least she looks real peaceful now. No more horrors for her.
Choosing not to pursue Terra I walk back to where I came from. Going past the lockers again and into the area with a ton of lockers. Walking across the marble flooring into the cafeteria. My initial thought was that the place was bland. There were no tables or chairs, it's as if it was completely empty.
I walk towards the kitchen thinking of the results of today. I have been keeping count of the number of tributes left, and with Willow gone that makes twelve. This is it, half the tributes have died. This is when the Games really begin now.
The Gamemakers are going to go all out now.
Quinoa Rye, D9F, 16
Night has fallen again, we haven't moved from our camping spot. The group has been a lot quieter than usual, without both Brandon and Jenny. Both were the real talkative ones within our group and Troy would only speak up whenever it was relevant and Shepherd was never much of a talker anyway.
Still I don't know why Brandon did that. Why he left us all alone. I'm no longer angry at him for what he's done but I am frustrated at his attitude. We're his allies, of course we're going to challenge his views.
I'm glad we didn't get caught in that freak rain. The blood rain, as it were, must've been some sort of signal, it has to be. With that being said, there were two cannons: one in the morning and the other late in the afternoon.
Both symbolised yet another death in the Games. Every time the cannon shot was heard it made me nervous, thinking of the worse. Brandon is out there, on his own and injured. I look at Troy who seems to be staring into space, he's been doing this since this morning.
Shepherd is sitting by the window, just watching as it rain and leaves fall in succession. The streetlights begin to flicker on once more and the Capitol anthem suddenly begins to boom across the arena.
"The rain stopped." Shepherd manages to say as I move my way beside him.
The first image broke my heart. I felt the tears from my eyes begin to fall as the image of Brandon's face light the night sky. It was him, he died. One of the cannons were his. I begin to sob uncontrollably as Troy moves to sit beside me, Shepherd to my other side.
They both give me a hug as I begin to sob on Troy's shoulder.
"Why?" I managed to say. "Why did I just let him leave?"
"Did we ever have a choice?" Troy manages to ask.
"There's always a choice." I say back not angry. "I just chose the wrong one."
After a while of trying to control my emotions and Shepherd going outside for first watch, I move to stand and Troy does the same, clearly concerned for me. I thank him for lending a shoulder. He gives me a reassuring smile as he takes a blanket and hands me it.
"You should rest," He tells me. "Tomorrow, we'll make our way to that big building."
I manage to nod but not before the thoughts of the final twelve surface on my mind. "Wait."
"What is it?"
"We're in the final twelve? Right?"
Troy ponders for a moment, trying to think and count how many people are left. Within minutes he gives me a nod of the head confirming my suspicion. That initial fear of what the Gamemakers have in store for us chills me to the bone.
"The Gamemakers are going to go all out from now on as they try to end the Games."
"Yeah." I say. "That's what worries me."
Or at least one death a chapter!
Placings:
14th - Brandon Millet, District Nine Male, 16 - Cut to bits by Alana Rockford's serrated knives
13th - Willow Ryllis, District Eleven Female - 13 - Pickaxe to the stomach and heart by Terra Hilts
