Mercy Breen (17), District 1 Female-POV
My body jolts as another cannon fires, and I start to curl into a protective ball. Why does that keep happening? I mean, it's only a cannon, just a tiny signal telling me that I'm a bit closer to winning this. Really, what's so bad about that?
Maybe it's what happened recently, with Micah, that's caused me to put up my guard. Even though she was so strong and experienced in fighting she was still murdered… or maybe the fact that the one who murdered her was me, her ally, probably one of the only people she trusted here.
But it's not like I haven't killed anyone before, there was Brock after all. Although the way I've been acting, you would think there would be more on the list. I'll admit, not letting any of this phase me was probably one of my smart decisions, but it was also one of my worst.
The amount of fear, anxiety and even regret I have had to push deep, deep down so that I can keep doing what I do is uncountable. Everyone watching must think, look at this girl, she has no feelings what so ever… they probably think I'm some sort of robot. I'm not, I'm far from it.
I never wanted to come here, I never volunteered like some of the other careers, I didn't want to die. I have my whole life ahead of me, why would I want to throw that all away?
When my brother, Griffin died, I wanted to make my life worthwhile. He died so young, so when I went into the games it was like I had to do my best to win this.
Making the careers was probably my best option of survival. I had a lot of potential in fighting, but some were much more experienced, so it was best to have them on my side.
I'll admit I might not seem the nicest, the kindest tribute, but we're all the same, we all just want to get home, my way of winning is just different to the others.
Looking up, I see a hover craft appear above to collect the dead tribute. It's quite close actually; the death seemed to happen nearby. Standing up I begin to walk towards the body being lifted into the air, wondering who it actually is. There have been three cannons today, so there are only three of us left. I can't even predict who the other two could be.
I hope it isn't Aria, she was supposed to be the one that died, not Micah. She ditched us at the beginning of the games, betrayed us, I don't want to see her again, so it would be helpful if she was already dead. She would be hard to fight, but she also seemed quite broken when I saw her last, like a scared animal, maybe she isn't as strong as she was before.
It could be the couple, Reina and Kyran, I'm sure alone they'd be easy to take down, but together? That could be a problem.
Or it might be Savannah… there's just something about that girl that angers me. The way she took Loki from us just like that. Look how that turned out for him…
The only one left is Luka who is probably still as crazy as always. Not sure I'd want to run into him, it's not that I wouldn't be able to fight him, but who knows what he has up that absurd sleeve of his.
Pushing some greenery out of the way with one hand, the other occupied by my whip, I make my way towards what I now realise is where this all began, the cornucopia.
Does this mean the games are coming to an end? Do the gamemakers want me to end up here, so we can get all of this over and done with? It makes sense, the sooner we fight, the sooner there is a victor, and the Capitol is probably dying to find out whom that is.
Walking across the distance of land, I have yet to see any sign of movement, but I know there has been, because there was a death here only a few minutes ago.
Suddenly, I see a figure fall through the trees, looking like some kind of wild creature. It's only when they look up, I realise it's a tribute.
At first they start to back away, but then they must realise they have to do this at one point, so they start to come towards me. I begin to walk towards them as well, meeting them half way.
"Aria," I say as we become some meters apart.
"Mercy," she replies, her teeth gritted.
Great, it had to be her didn't it?
"You look… a mess," I mutter.
She runs her hands consciously through her matted hair, "You don't look exactly great yourself."
I feel my own hands fall to my burnt hair, it's once glossy shine disappeared a while ago.
"I suppose we should just get this over and done with," I say, my hand gripping my whip tighter.
Instantly her face drops, and I can tell she doesn't want to fight, or in fact try and kill someone. However she doesn't seem to have any weapons on her, so this could be easy for me.
Leaning back, I flick my wrist forward and the end of the whip strikes her face. Yelping, she holds her cheek with her hand. As if something clicks inside of her, the expression on her face changes from hurt to anger.
She moves her hand away from her face smearing red all over her cheek. She then jumps at me, her foot slamming into my stomach. I lean over gasping but when I look up I see she is about to hit again.
Quickly I roll to the side and she hits the empty space. I flick my wrist again, but she dodges out of the way.
This time I aim for her legs, but she somehow jumps high in the air, flipping in the process. She lands further back doing a few handsprings as well, but I feel like she is showing off just a tiny bit.
Her eyebrows arched, she gives me some sort of smirk before starting towards me.
What happened to the timid, 'wouldn't hurt a fly' Aria I saw five minutes ago? She's almost turned into… how she was before…
Well if that's true, it can't be good for me, because the Aria at the start of the games was skilled, fast, and didn't care who she killed.
As she nears me in her run, I quickly pull off the handle on my whip, revealing the sharp blade. Aria doesn't notice, and as she jumps at me again I fall to the side on my knees, slicing it across her leg. She falls onto the floor her face screwed up in pain, but she just jumps back up again like nothing happened.
In a fast move she does a handspring towards me, kicking me in the chest. Then spinning on one foot, she kicks me with her other leg in the shin. I fall to the floor but quickly strike her with my whip, slicing her stomach across the middle. As I start to stand up, I hit her again and again so she can't fight back. Red marks cover her skin, and it takes a few hits before she falls to the floor in pain.
Curling into a ball, her body starts to shake like she is crying, and I begin to wonder if I hurt her so bad that she might not get back up again.
"Well…I suppose showing off won't help you now…"I mutter sarcastically, but so she can hear it.
Looking hurt, she sits up holding her hip, "No, I suppose not."
In a quick motion, before I can even see what she is doing, her hand moves away from her hip and something is flying through the air.
Feeling like I've been punched in the chest, I fall to the floor gasping and coughing. Looking down, I see a black handle sticking out just above my heart and I use all my strength to pull it out. Blood starts to cover my shirt, dripping down to the floor.
Everything around me feels like it's spinning, and I have to lie down. Maybe if I lie down it'll stop everything from hurting so much.
My chest feels heavy, and I start to gulp for air. I hold my hand against where the wound is, but it only makes my hand soaked with blood.
Maybe if I try and stand up, I can still beat Aria, I can fight this, I'll be fine.
Pushing my hands against the floor, I try and stand up, but my arms give way and I fall back to the ground my head hitting the floor. Am I dying? I don't want to die, I need to win this, I want to live.
Black starts to fill my eyes, and I struggle to keep my eyes open.
Maybe closing them wouldn't be too bad, it might help the pain.
Aria appears above me, her face no longer angry, she seems upset. Something falls onto my face, it's cold and it falls down my cheek.
Sniffling, she wipes her eyes with her hands and looks down at me, "I'm sorry Mercy, I really am, I know you never really liked me, but I hope you understand I didn't want to do this."
Her eyes look sad and dark, and she grips my hand. Why is she doing that? Why is she being nice to me?
"It's okay…" I squeeze her hand back; I guess it doesn't hurt to be nice in return.
Nothing really hurts anymore, it's like I'm falling asleep, I have been tired lately, sleep would be nice.
She smiles, "Sleep tight Mercy, say hi to the others for me."
I feel myself smile, the others, I never really made any real friends here, but I will get to see someone I care about. Griffin. I look forward to seeing my big brother again soon.
I think of Aria, the regret on her face. She's caused the death of so many people; will it all be worth it in the end? Having to live with the fact you're a murderer for all of your life…
I'm not sure I would like that.
Maybe winning isn't so great after all…
Fallen Tributes
Caleb York, District 9- Killed by Micah Flay.
Lin Jacobs, District 3- Killed by Poseidon Hensworth.
Oliver Istas, District 12- Killed by Aria Oreota.
Jackal West, District 5- Killed by Kyran Flint.
Tess Hardy, District 6- Killed by Loki Braveheart.
Brock Stern, District 11- Killed by Mercy Breen.
Araluen Osman, District 2- Killed by Luka Kingston Jeredi.
Itzel Minx, District 7- Killed by Ashley Blake.
Kadence Smith, District 3- Killed by Luka Kingston Jeredi.
Poseidon Hensworth, District 4- Killed by Aria Oreota.
Flair Rhodes, District 5 - Killed by Micah Flay.
Jazzy Kaede, District 8- Killed by Aria Oreota.
Ashley Blake, District 11-Killed by Iliad Quarmen.
Loki Braveheart, District 1- Killed by Luka Kingston Jeredi.
Annalisa Soleil, District 12- Killed by Micah Flay.
Micah Flay, District 2- Killed by Mercy Breen.
Chase Sedesky, District 8- Killed by Luka Kingston Jeredi.
Iliad 'Lili' Quarmen, District 7- Killed by Luka Kingston Jeredi.
Kyran Flint, District 6- Self Inflicted.
Reina Luckmere, District 9- Self Inflicted.
Luka Kingston Jeredi, District 10- Savannah King.
Mercy Breen, District 1- Aria Oreota.
So that's it, we have our final two. Aria Oreota and Savannah King. I hope you are all happy with the two, it took a lot of thought but I finally decided they were the best choice.
Remember that the next to chapters are the 'What If?' chapters, so they do not actually tell you the real winner. The winner will be announced on the final chapter, when you see who's POV it is.
Please review what you thought, and feel free to inbox me any questions about the story.
Thanks, -DeepInTheMeadowIWriteStories
