Author's Note
I do not own the Hunger Games.
District Eight Female, Tyla Calico (17)
They had stopped for the night a little way from the edge. Tupelo and Willow pitched the tent.
Tyla kept remembering the fear and pain on the boy's face as they looked down on him.
She kept remembering the fear and pain as Silas told her to kill him.
She kept remembering the fear and pain as she drove her spear through his chest.
She killed a boy.
She had blood on her hands.
She killed a boy.
All that time she spent preparing, teaching herself, running, boxing, training in sub-standard conditions, all of it meant nothing now.
Because she had killed someone.
And she hated herself for it.
How was she supposed to know she would feel this way? It looked so easy when watching someone else do it, but now Tyla just wanted to throw up.
She didn't, because that would be murder on her ribs.
Damn Colby.
Damn Silas as well, for making her kill the boy and feel like this.
Allying with him seemed like a good idea back in the training centre, when she wanted the strongest allies possible. They weren't her friends: they were just people she could use for their physical abilities. Now though, Silas seemed to be getting more and more unstable.
And they'd only been in the arena two days!
Tyla thought of Velvet, thought of her dying, thought of how much she must have wanted to go home.
A dinging came from above them and a parachute floated down. Silas caught it. A large '8' was printed on the lid. He shoved it at her. "Yours."
She had no intentions of sharing it with any of them. That was something they hadn't done, pooled their supplies. Tupelo and Willow were sharing, but they would. Tyla crouched down, ignoring the pain in her chest, and cracked the box open.
Inside lay two rolls of bandages, a bottle of blue liquid, and a syringe, along with a folded note. She grinned. "Jackpot. Thanks Lacey." She stuffed the note into her bag as Willow walked over.
"You want a hand?"
"Sure. Thanks."
Willow helped bandage up her chest and then studied the bottle carefully before filling the syringe. "You can have a shot every twenty four hours, and a quarter extra eight hours after the first shot if you need it."
Tyla held her arm out. "Just dose me."
She packed the medical supplies carefully in her bag and pulled out the note.
Don't start doubting yourself now. You've got it in you. Show the world. Lacey.
Tyla thought of the boy from Five.
She didn't even know his name.
District Three Male, Gadge Bishop (12)
Isaac was dead.
Just like that.
Isaac was dead.
They shouldn't have left him.
He should have got on the bridge first, he was the one to spot it after all. But then either Maizie or Gadge would be dead.
It was strange, to think of one's impending death. When would it come, Gadge wondered, and at the hands of who? The Careers? Maizie's District partner and his alliance, who killed Isaac? The boy from Ten, who killed Calico? Or, even worse, one of his own allies? Maizie even?
He looked at her. She was huddled up against a tree, crying softly. It wasn't sadness or grief at Isaac's death, Gadge knew that.
It was because of who killed him.
Who attacked them.
Her District partner.
"He's home," she whispered earlier. "He's meant to be home!"
Gadge thought about Data. Where was she right now? She was his home, her, and Little One, and the little gear he was wearing on a string around his neck. She probably hadn't even thought of him since they entered this forsaken arena, but he thought of her all the time. He wondered whether any of the other tributes did as well. Could any of them, he wondered, kill a nine month pregnant woman?
Gadge was selfish, he didn't want to die, but he was certain he couldn't do it.
Part of him was hoping to find her and help protect her and Little One.
The other part was hoping one of the other tributes would hurry up and solve the problem for him.
District One Female, Diamond Blush (17)
She knew from the tribute centre she couldn't outrun Maximus, especially over a long distance. He was faster than her. In this condition, she couldn't beat him in a fight either. So she zig-zagged through the trees, hoping to find somewhere that favoured her.
It took her a little while to realise he wasn't even following.
She'd lost track of him, counting on him keeping up with her, and was nervy about the situation at first, but when he still didn't show she felt it must be for real.
Diamond stopped in a small thicket and leant against a tree. Her shoulder burnt. Carefully, she peeled the fabric of her onesie away from it, cursing and swearing. The Eleven girl's spear had pierced her shoulder, leaving a deep and bloody wound.
This certainly wasn't meant to happen.
Diamond was pretty sure it would never have happened to perfect Tiara.
It had been a long time since she wanted to lay down and cry, but right now she just wanted to lie down and cry.
The worst thing was she couldn't, because every second of this was being broadcast live to the nation and she would scupper any chances of getting a sponsor.
Diamond swore again.
That girl from Eleven was officially on her list.
She'd kill her, maybe even before she killed Maximus and Valkyrie. She ought to be easier to take out than them.
A beeping sounded and a parachute floated down to land in front of her. A large '1' was printed on the lid of the box. She opened it. Inside was a wad of gauze, a roll of medical tape, a bottle of antiseptic, another bottle of painkiller, a syringe, and a note. Blaise had been busy. She ripped the note open.
Keep going. Don't give up. Be strong. You're a Career, use your head girl! Stop rushing into things! The twins from Four want to go it alone and Lucian's injured, but there are still others you could ally with. Blaise.
Read: he'd used up a ton of sponsorship on this and she had to make herself interesting or there would be no more.
"My thanks to the sponsors," she said.
She cleaned her shoulder up and packed it with gauze. Even with the painkiller it hurt to use. She'd have to push through it.
She was Diamond Blush.
She was better than Tiara.
She was doing this without the usual Career pack to prove it.
She could do this.
District Eleven Male, Oliver Farmer (14)
The anthem made him flinch. One day soon enough it was going to be sounding for him and his face up there. Oliver laid his arms on his knees and waited.
Isaac's face appeared in the sky.
Truth be told, Oliver hadn't thought about Isaac since long before the bloodbath. He and Calico joined the alliance late, and Oliver didn't really speak to them. He vanished during the bloodbath, and Oliver never gave him another thought.
And now he was dead.
His face faded away. Oliver let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.
Isaac was dead.
A boy who knew, a boy he ate lunch with only a few days ago.
Dead now.
Dead.
"He was one of your allies wasn't he?" asked the District Two boy. Zinnia grunted.
"What happened? Diamond kill him? I didn't see a body."
"None of your business!" Zinnia snapped. The Two boy fell silent. After he told them he didn't want to fight, he suggested allying. They were hesitant at first, unwilling to trust him, but having another strong ally sounded good. Data had retreated back into herself, humming and stroking her stomach. Sierra had fallen asleep propped up against a tree, hugging her teddy to her chest. She reminded Oliver of Sage, which felt crazy considering she was twice Sage's age.
He edged over to Zinnia. "You alright?"
"He was supposed to be with us. It just… feels weird. Would he have lived if he was with us?"
Oliver took her hand. "Maybe. But that's not the point, is it? The rest of us have got to die for you to win."
District Two Female, Valkyrie Slate (12)
V was pretty sure she hadn't stopped shaking since the bloodbath.
When Diamond pushed her she thought she was a goner for sure.
She remembered falling, falling, falling, and then thinking she wanted to live.
She wanted to live.
She grabbed onto what she assumed was one of the tubes the tributes rose up through, holding onto it tight as she slid down down down, digging her elbows into the sides, and at last she stopped falling falling falling.
The cornucopia was a long way above her.
The land was a long way below, but it was easier to go down than to go up.
She half-climbed, half slid down the tube. When the cornucopia came crashing down she assumed she was a goner, that her tube would collapse along with it. V judged the distance between her and the ground, closed her eyes, and jumped.
She remembered once hearing advice to go floppy when one fell a long distance, and went with that plan, cushioning her head with her arms. She fell through trees, and that was almost certainly what saved her by slowing her down. Branches whipped her body and face, and she managed to grab a large one, stopping her fall.
She was bruised, she was shaken, she was hurting, but most importantly of all, she was alive.
She was alive.
She was alive.
She was alive!
And all the other tributes were far, far, far above her.
So far only five of them were dead.
Slow going.
That section of the arena was all woodland. Yesterday V found one edge, which had a set of stepping stones leading over to a landscape covered in piles of fabric. V pulled a brown square of it free and took it with her as a blanket. She followed the edge around and found another bridge leading to an island full of wheat just before sundown. As the sun set, a parachute floated down to her. It only held a small Capitol meal and a sports drink, but it was the note that was important.
What you want
Is up above
Stay brave
Be fierce
Stay safe
No tears.
No doves.
Hope will find its way home.
G+J
V slept amongst the fabric for the night.
In the morning, from where she was she could see a large metal structure sticking up in the centre of the wheat. She spent the morning walking there. It turned out to be a large staircase. V climbed up, hoping to return to the other tributes.
And Max.
She found at the top of the sixth flight a large metal wall with a door in the middle stopped her going any further. She tried rattling it, kicking it, banging on it, but it stayed shut. From the bottom she could see the stairs went up further, but she couldn't get up there.
She decided to stay close. If they were part of the arena, they were there for something.
District Five
Isaac Watt had been a public figure due to his mother, and all of District Five felt like they knew him. They mourned his death and lamented another year with both their tributes dead.
His mother, who lost her husband many years ago, cried for the loss of her only child, but gradually that grief bittered and hardened into stone. Along with Isaac's best friend and once-crush, Anna, she set out to find others with thoughts like hers and change the world. In the name of her son.
Author's Note
Big thank you to Dreamer for the review.
As a reminder, the poll for who you would like to see as Victor is still running.
Eulogies
District Five Male, Isaac Watt (14) killed by Tyla Calico of District Eight. Placed Twentieth.
Isaac. What can I say? As a character, I liked Isaac, although he wasn't one of the standouts. His stereotype was of course the Mayor's child, which we see too many of to be statistically correct. There were really only ever two options for him: win, or die early. I'd have been happy to see him win, but the truth is, he wasn't connected to any of the big storylines, or planned to be included in any of the upcoming big scenes. That's why he died and both of District Five's tributes are now out of the running for this year.
List of Alliances:
Here's the list of alliances and surviving tribute as of the end of Day Two.
Alliance One: Astoria, Orion.
Alliance Two: Tupelo, Willow, Tyla, Silas.
Alliance Three: Oliver, Data, Sierra, Zinnia, Maximus.
Alliance Four: Maizie, Gadge.
Loners: Lucian, Kara, Ash, Colby, Diamond, Valkyrie.
