Another chapter. So, it's been over a week in the arena and I thought it would be fun to wreck some havoc.

Also, I've opened up submissions for Our Last Summer's sequel, Too much Heaven! The link to the form is on my profile.

Topaz Blitzen, 21
Gamemaker

Eight days.

Eight days. Eight days since the Games began and I sat here and watched as 24 children were forced to go up against each other and kill for their own survival. Some were alive, some were dead. Some had blood on their hands. Some were starting to break. Did I expect the tributes to start acting a certain way after over a week in the arena? Did I expect more to go insane? More to fall apart? I didn't know.

The other Gamemakers seemed over the moon. Tributes killing other tributes, tributes breaking down and letting their emotions get the best of them...this was kind of stuff that brought in viewership. Supposedly. One guy even cracked open a bottle of champagne after the Anthem ended and the faces were no longer projected into the sky. Sickening. Children were losing their lives in this tropical summer hell we built to encase them in, and now we were celebrating every single time one killed another!?

Ugh. Why did I agree to this job?

"Okay everybody!" Taurus Blackman clapped his hands together for attention. "Enough partying! We had a good day yesterday and viewership went up by 12%! Today, we need to work on..."
Someone's cell phone interrupting him and started ringing. Taurus pulled his from his pocket. He looked embarrassed as he answered it. "Excuse me for a sec...good morning, sir...what is it? No, you can't be serious...ah, shit!"

What? What's happening? Who is that? Is that the President? What is the problem? Did they find me out? They know I'm a rebel!? How!? What am I gonna do!? Will they kill me!?

Taurus was silent, listening to the voice on the other end. Finally, he ended the call. "Alright, I have urgent business to take care of with the President! I also want a flooding of the arena at 10 o'clock our time, sharp! Follow typical protocols when firing cannons for a death count. And please don't disappoint me."

Am I safe? Do they know who I am?
"Ugh," another Gamemaker muttered. "It must be a really bad riot if the President needs to get involved and consult things with the Head Gamemaker."
"There's a riot happening?"

"You didn't hear? Last night, after Everleigh McArvin died, there was some unrest with the trans communities in the Capitol. Apparently, quite a few of them are unhappy with the way things were handled and they're trying to create a new policy for the Reaping. From what I know, the President refused to answer them and the situation escalated from there."
"People are upset with the President!?"

She just shrugged. "Sure. I guess you can say that. I mean, if it's a riot. I don't think anyone's gotten hurt so far."
With that the conversation was over. Avoxes milled around, taking back champagne bottles and empty glasses. Some picked up trash. One of them held a cloth and pretended to be cleaning my workstation. I just leaned over. "You heard all of that, right?"

The Avox pressed a finger to his lips, then gestured to his pockets. I could see a tape recorder poking out of one of them.

Wow, you're one smart guy. You know who to give it to." The Avox nodded. Bowing his head, he got up and moved off, pretending to be doing his other chores. For a while, all we did was work until the clock struck 10. Taurus chose that moment to appear in the doorway.
"Flooding should be occurring now!"
"We've got it, sir!" somebody yelled. One the giant screen above our heads, a huge tidal wave rose from the water. It was at least twice the size of the island it was headed towards.
What the hell!? How could the tributes expect to survive that!? They'd all drown!

Taurus chuckled and I wanted to strangle him. "Thar she blows."

Leonidas Argyris
District 1 Male Tribute

"Did you hear that?"

Victoria rolled her eyes. Along with Challis, we had just starting another day of hunting for tributes. So far, we had been rather unsuccessful. Plus, it was raining hard.
"I heard something. Sounded like water."
"Leonidas, we are surrounded by water. It's raining."

Challis nodded. "We're fine, we have water bottles."
"No, it's not like that. Just...both of you, shut up and listen."

Victoria sighed. Challis cocked his head to one side. "Okay, either we're really close to a waterfall, or those are some loud waves."
"Do you see a waterfall anywhere?" Victoria asked. Her face began to pale as the realization dawned on her. "Wait...oh my god."
"What do we do now?"

"Run. We run."
"Back to the Cornucopia!" Challis yelled, turning on his heel. I followed after him. Victoria was behind us both. "What are you guys doing!? Turn around! We need to get to higher ground!"
"But all our supplies are this way!"

"Forget the supplies!" Victoria screeched. She passed me and nudged her elbow in my face. "Come on, Leonidas, he's gonna get himself killed!"
"Well, what should we do? Let him drown?"
"I don't know, but I wouldn't be standing here if I were you!"

Every single drop of rain felt like a tiny needle stabbing through my skin. The sand was all clumpy and stuck to everything. I didn't even think about stomping for a break until the Cornucopia was within sight. Challis and Thames scooped up as much material as they could. Behind them was the vast ocean, but it would be hard to miss the rising wave in the distance.

"Move!" I grabbed several bags from Challis. "Forget the supplies! We need to get out of here!"
"We still have time!"
"No we don't, Challis!" Water was already washing up onto the shores. "That wave will be on top of us in no time!"

Challis nodded and didn't take his eyes off me. For a moment we looked into each other's eyes. For a moment I saw fear.
We were the biggest threats in the entire Games and even we were terrified.

"Let's go!" Victoria shrieked. "We can't bring anything else!"
The wet sand stuck to me and I felt weighed down. But Challis gave me a quick nod and it was time to run.

The wave struck and it washed over everything.

For a moment, it felt surreal. To look up and see the water standing high above me, as if I was trapped in a dramatic photograph. Then, it all came crashing down and I was flung about. I heard people screaming, I was pretty sure I was screaming too, and I fought my way up to the surface because I needed to breathe so bad and I barely remembered what I knew about swimming and I just didn't want to die. A single breath, and then I was sucked back down to the bottom of this watery hell. I felt sand underneath my feet, but it was pulled away as soon as I touched it.

To the surface. Don't worry about anything. Get to the surface. Swim your way up to the surface. Breath.

There was nothing more relieving than the feeling of the rain pouring onto my face. Huge amounts of the arena were completely were firing and the Cornucopia was long gone.
"Leonidas!? Over here!"

Challis was standing on top of several rocks, lucky enough to rise above the water. I stretched out an arm and he pulled me up. He looked like a drowned rat and smelled like one too. I could imagine I wasn't any better.
"Where's..." Challis sighed and shook his head. "Who died?"
"I don't know." All I had the energy to do was shiver. "I just..."

"Want to find somewhere slightly drier?"
"Yeah. That sounds great."

Christopher "Kit" Belmont, 12
District 8 Male Tribute

The rain reflected my mood for today. It was cold and dark and all I wanted to do was hide.

The cave I had been hiding in for the past two days was dam, but it was shelter and nobody could find me here. I tried to squeeze into a ball, appear as tiny as possible, and watched the waves. It was so temping to run out there where I had all this water and drink up as much as possible.

Wait. It's raining. Rain isn't salty. Rain is fresh! Why was I wasting so much time!?
Jumping to my feet, I grabbed my water bottle and soon, I was straight up dancing in the rain, catching as many raindrops in my mouth as possible. I unscrewed the lid to my bottle and held it over my head. Soon, it was starting to fill up and my arms ached.

But I had water.

Water!

I carefully lowered my arms. Carefully, because this stuff was precious and I didn't want to spill. The bottle was about half full and I screwed the lid back on, to avoid any water leaking out. The ground around me was just as soaked and there was sand in my shoes. I pulled one off and dumped the sand, plus a few rocks and a piece of a shell out. Only then did I notice something was wrong.

Even I did try and escape, it wouldn't have been enough time.

There was the urge to swim somewhere. Try and push my way out of the waves, fight against the pressure, earn a second chance at life. The water bottle slipped from my hands and I never saw it again. The water rose and fell, and I rose and fell along with it. The cave was filled with water and I could feel myself getting dragged alongside the rocks.

Wave after wave came tumbling over me and I felt as if the pressure was pushing me down in this cruel taunt. The surface was above me. But I couldn't reach it. I saw an escape, but the water was forcing me further and further away, to the depths. I couldn't reach the bottom. I kicked my legs down as far as they could and it was scary not to have anything beneath my feet.

Dying seemed a lot easier than I thought.

Think positive things...if this is how I am going to die...at least it won't be painful. At least nobody gets the satisfaction of stabbing me over and over or snapping my neck...I won't die like Brady, with bones broken and blood spilled and a scream permanently etched on his face. I'll die here, floating in the water, until I say my last goodbyes.

I didn't even know I could hold my breath so long. Part of me knew to keep going, not to breathe, because then I'd probably take in water and that could make things worse. But I wanted to breathe. I needed to breathe. I wanted to breathe so bad...

A sharp breath was all it took and my insides began to burn. I coughed and spluttered and I was taking in more water. Sinking too. The world went dark, then the light came back, then I slipped back into darkness.

This wasn't how I wanted to die. I didn't want to go out suffering. I wanted to be happy. At peace.

I felt like my entire body was on fire, inside and out, and everything seemed waves tossed me about, as if they'd tear me apart at any moment. Darkness overwhelmed me yet again and this time, it refused to go away.

Virgil Gallo, 17
District 9 Male Tribute

The stupid rain made it hard to get anywhere. My hair got all soaked and fell in my face. I couldn't find any animals; none of them were dumb enough to come out in this weather. I wrapped my goat hide around me. Soon, it too was wet and it smelled and I was freezing all over again.

Dumb hide. I yanked it off my shoulders, then almost dropped it when I tripped over something. Next thing I knew, I was siding through mud down the edge of a hill, then I was lying bruised, beaten, and dizzy on the ground.
"Ugh...dumb landslides..."

Could this day get any worse?

I had barely dusted myself off when I heard the sounds of the water surrounding the arena crashing down. The rain took it as a sign to start pouring down even faster and harder. Mud was flowing down my legs as I picked up the pace. I broke through the trees to find myself on the edge of a rocky cliff. Half of it was already submerged and I almost slipped off and into the water. The waves were choppy and huge. One of them splashed onto the rocks and I was completely covered.

As if I wasn't drenched enough...

That didn't matter right. What mattered was the fact that the waves were getting bigger, with more and more water swamping the land around me. I grabbed my axe and swung it at the rocks, chipping a small piece off. I kept swinging and swinging, hoping to make a big enough dent. The waves were coming faster each time. I kept losing track of my progress and almost fell over several times.

Then the big one hit.

I dug the blade of the axe into the dent, hooking it on a smaller rock jutting out. Suddenly, I was pulled from my feet and I was clinging onto that axe as tightly as I could. Water was submerging me and I had to lift my head above it to breathe. Every time I did, another wave would strike and I'd be back under.

I was not losing my life to Mother Nature. I was not dying as a victim to some thunderstorm. I had been through worse. I had killed to survive. If I could handle blood on my hands, then I could handle just a little bit of water. The storm had to be over soon. The rain would have stop eventually.

Cannons boomed overhead and they sounded like thunder to me. I lost count. One? Two? Five? How many tributes had already succumbed to this washed-out arena? How many of us were still left? Us. Because I had no intentions on dying today.

It's over...it's gonna be over soon...it can't go on forever...

My axe was shifting about; it was having a hard time supporting all my weight. To far to the right and it broke free, with me still clinging onto it for dear life. Somebody started screaming bloody murder. Then I realized with horror that the person screaming was me as I was thrown off the cliff and into the depths of the ocean below.

I said I wasn't posting any new chapters until February and here we are! I hope you've all survived through exams. I did. Now, I only have to worry about the inevitable dread of a new semester!

One fun thing about choosing a tropical island for the arena was the use of deadly storms. And this one was certainly deadly alright! I'm not gonna reveal how many tributes died (and who they were) until next chapter, where we'll focus on the aftermath of the storm. I also didn't include the alliance/kill lists because those would've contained spoilers.

So, have fun speculating about who lives and who dies! :)