A/N: We're at 150 reviews, so special thanks go to mangesboy01, District4-divergent-nephilim, Jemmie, PrincessLyoka and Fillius Flickerman for reviewing! As ever, the support is appreciated :)
This is a first chapter for this story by Kiliflower. Hopefully you'll all enjoy their first offering to this growing list of oneshots :)
"I collect my moments into a correspondence
With a mightier power who just lacks my perspectives
And who lacks my organics and who covets my defects
And I'm downloaded daily, I am part of a composite."
Regina Spektor, 2009.
The 104th Annual Hunger Games
Sigrid Everett (15), District 9 Female
Regina Spektor – Machine (2009)
"She's crawling around down here, I know it," hisses the boy from Two. The venom in his voice is palpable and the heavy footsteps of his fellow Careers resound across the boiler room. I lie crouched and hidden behind an old, rusting locker, my hunting knife grasped tightly in my right hand and my small backpack in the other. I'm focusing on not breathing too loud but every inhale and exhale sounds like thunder in my ears. I'm certain that they can hear me over the whizzing fans, crackling sparks and searing hot steam that erupts from the floor and walls.
I wipe the sweat that's running down my forehead. This is entirely my fault. I got myself into this mess. There was a struggle for supplies at the cornucopia on the first day and amidst the chaos I took off with the boy from District 2's pack. I also happened to gouge out one of his eyes before I scarpered. I kept such a low profile during the lead-up to the Games that I don't think any of the others expected me to be so nimble or efficient. I can't help but grin when I think of the look on his face as I got away with his backpack.
The cornucopia this year required speed, which is where I got lucky – we had to climb down ladders and jump across open pits to get to the goods and that took a lot of time. My district partner Rye was too slow and got there late. I think the boy from Seven finished him but I can't be sure. I was preoccupied with a Career. When I saw Rye's face in the sky that night, I felt a small tinge of sadness but I got over it. It's the fourth day of the Games and now there's just eleven of us left. Since the reaping, I've just been desensitizing myself to the other tributes – they are robots to me, unfeeling and immaterial. I must simply cut them down. At least, that's what I tell myself.
I've only killed twice so far – the girl from Six and the boy from Fourteen. I did it craftily, sneaking up on them in their sleep and slitting their throats. No alarm, very concise and practical. But I need to do more if I want sponsor support, because this year's Careers are particularly bloodthirsty and sadistic. That's when the idea comes to me.
I spring up from behind the locker and make a beeline for the room exit, which lies just around the corner and to the left. It's guarded by the girl from District 4, but she's small and doesn't expect me. All she can do is lift her spear threateningly before I plunge my knife into her stomach. She drops to her knees and I hop over her, sprinting as fast as my legs will carry me. I can hear the other Careers following.
I'm running for several minutes through the insufferably hot, metallic wasteland of the arena when we reach a narrow, brittle-looking bridge that sways above a deep pit in the centre of a gargantuan hall. I learned of this place on the second day whilst wandering about. I'm almost out of breath but I jog on, the taunts of my enemies carrying across the room. I have time to look around to see who has taken chase – it's both tributes from Two and the girl from One. I guess the boys from Four and One stayed behind to look after their peer.
"Where are you going, Nine?" jeers the boy from Two.
Red-faced, panting, and light as a feather, I run across the bridge and collapse on all fours on the other side. I whimper to myself as I watch it tremble and hear it groan somewhat, but I've already scurried along before they can catch up. I hear the Careers discussing frantically whether or not to pursue me any further. It's too dangerous, there's still plenty of others left in the arena to hunt down – the reasons to avoid this bridge trek are endless.
That's when I hear the cannon sound.
Believing it must be for his ally killed at the hands of an outer district tribute, the boy from Two bolts for me and storms across the bridge. His two team-mates stumble blindly after him to warn him, screeching words of warning. But it's pointless. There's no time to truly, fully comprehend the situation before the entire railing snaps and sends them all hurling into the abyss.
The Games lasted for three more days. Sigrid's outsmarting and eliminating almost the entire Career pack at once led to a surge of popularity for her in the Capitol and she never wanted for anything during the rest of her time in the arena. She was kept well supplied with water and food. Hunger Games historians would go on to describe it as 'akin to the lunacy that stirred over our very own Finnick Odair'.
The remaining two Careers stuck together for one more day, hunting down and killing the boy from Eleven before turning on one another in a battle that led to the death of the boy from Four. The boy from One, seriously weakened from his injuries, wandered around the arena before stumbling upon a far more nourished and well-supplied Sigrid, who killed him with ease.
With just four tributes remaining, the Gamemakers drove the boys from Six and Seven, the girl from Fourteen and Sigrid to the cornucopia via their trump card: a wall of fire. The boy from Seven dominated the field at first, easily cutting through his competition with brutal strength. After killing the tributes from Six and Fourteen, he turned to finish Sigrid. However, he wasn't expecting a fight out of the previously unassuming, docile District 9 girl and the element of surprise worked in her favour. After a long, bloody fight between the final two tributes, District 9's Sigrid Everett earned her victor's title as the winner of the 104th Annual Hunger Games.
A/N: A review for Kiliflower for their first chapter, anyone? I'm sure that constructive criticism, or any feedback at all, will be kindly welcomed :)
