Day Five

Mercy Sollozo, District Six Reaped (14)

Nona walked up to me. I knew that couldn't be, but I couldn't think of why. I ran to her and hugged her.

"We're leaving. We're going somewhere better," she said.

I looked up into her face. Before I could ask where we were going, her face changed. The lines disappeared, and her features melted into themselves. The face reformed, and it was Lilith's. I backed away. Nona was there again, by my side. She pushed me behind her as Lilith took out a knife. She stabbed Nona over and over. My grandmother made little high-pitched surprised noises as the knife went in and out. She started to fall. Lilith shoved her sideways and stepped toward me.

I woke up already crying. I reached out with my arms, trying to feel where Nona was. There wasn't anything, nothing but air.

"It's okay. It was just a dream," Xander said, coming up next to me.

"No it wasn't," I said.

"No, it wasn't," he agreed. He took my hand and I curled against him as I cried.

"She killed her," I said.

"She won't get away," Xander said. "Someone will give her what she deserves."

And it wouldn't bring Nona back. I was happy to think Lilith wouldn't win, even though I knew it was wrong, but not happy like I was before Nona died. Hans stood a few steps away from us, looking like he wanted to help but was afraid someone like him could only make things worse.

"She saved me," I said so quietly only I could hear it. It was hard to understand. Someone so frail gave everything she had for someone else, and someone so strong used it to hurt someone else. I hoped someday I would be as great as Nona.

Hans sat next to us nervously and I slid closer to hug him. He went all stiff and sat up straight. He picked up an arm like a robot and didn't pat me so much as placed his hand on my back and removed it a few times.

"I found something out by the beach," Xander said. "It looks like a port."

Something that can get us far away from here, I thought.

"Let's go," I said.

Jadee Appleseed, District Eleven Reaped (13)

Jadee was happy for now.

How else could she be? It was pretty they were ok. The cannons that have sounded recently weren´t of any of them, they had food, water and a small amount of weapons. The necessary to survive.

They had everything they needed here. What could possibly go wrong?

"I have to go to the bathroom. Or whatever I can call it here." Tucker said. Jadee just laughed and told him to do what he wanted to do.

"Piss all over the other tributes you find!"

Cap looked at her weirdly. It seemed like he was awkward at the mere presence of her. Why would it be that way?

"Emmm, Jadee?"

"Yes Cap?"

"I guess you and Tucker are a couple?"

Jadee could do just one thing to that

"Hahahahahaha, don´t be ridiculous. Why would you say that?"

"Because I saw you two kiss the other day while I was picking berries"

"Oh, that thing. Well, Cap, that isn´t-

A scream appeared out of nowhere. The voice of the screamer was familiar, and it was nearby.

It was Tucker.

Jadee and Caprium instantly went on their feet and ran at the source of the scream.

What they didn´t expect to find was Tucker, with a knife in the chest.

And Paris, fucking Paris Drapper, smiling as he presses it onto Tucker´s body.

"NO!" Jadee runs to Paris, with a murdering intent. She doesn´t see anything but red on her eyes. And Paris isn´t red yet, so she must turn into it.

She takes matters into her head, and the matters are knives. Knives which she rapidly throws into Paris´ throat, and she keeps stabbing, and stabbing, and it doesn´t matter that Paris is already coughing and drowning in his blood, or that his cannon has already sounded, or that Tucker is slowly dying next to her.

She just keeps stabbing, and stabbing and stabbing. She plunges into his dead body and continues trying to kill something that is already dead, someone who isn´t a danger to anyone anymore.

"Ja-Ja-De-Dee" says a voice, a coughing voice. A trembling, weak voice is the one who speaks, and it calls Jadee for a last goodbye.

"Tucker!" She says as she goes next to him, the poor Caprium already there, holding his head like you do with elderly people or babies. So soft, so calm

"Tucker, please don´t leave us! I need you. I-I fucking need you. You can´t leave us. No!" Tears fall from her eyes, leaving her eyes like it were the eye of a storm.

"Ja-Ja-Dee, Ca-Cap, please-"

"Please what Tucky? Tells us. Please, tell us"

"Ja-Ja-De-Dee, wi-"

And then he falls onto the ground and eyes closes, and Jadee screams. She screams for him to wake up, to live, to not abandon her like Jacob did, to not let hope that for a better future.

But then, the second cannon of the day sounds, and hope is lost.

Hope is gone. Hope is dead. Hope doesn´t exist.

Caprium Fael, District Seven Reaped (13)

There was no way I was going to stay alive. Tucker was so much stronger than me. He was braver, and faster, and just more alive than I was. He was still now. He wasn't moving. He looked like a sad little statue. He was pale and cold and there was a ring of brown grass around him from where he kept bleeding and bleeding. The only thing worse was when he stopped.

"Let's go." Jadee was kneeling by Tucker. I pulled on her arm and jerked back when she didn't move. I pulled again, and she didn't move again.

"We can't leave him!" she said. She whipped her head around so I could see her face. It was scared and tear-streaked and panicked. She looked pale, even though she was dark.

"We have to stay with him," she said, though I hadn't said anything else. She draped an arm over him like she was protecting him from me.

"They'll come back and get us," I said. I didn't even know who I meant. I was afraid the other Tributes were like dogs and would smell the smell of death coming from Tucker. They'd follow it to get to him and anyone near him.

"No! I won't leave him!" Jadee bent down farther and clung to Tucker like there was something we could still keep him safe from.

I stood up and went a bit out into the trees to give her space. Maybe if she could be alone with Tucker for a while she could make peace and move on.

The forest was lovely. It looked like a paradise where nothing ever went wrong. As soon as Tucker's body was out of sight, it was like it didn't exist. I would have liked to live there if I didn't know what was in it.

The greenery shifted as something moved. It was down by my knees, but I still jumped back, my heart thumping at the thought of a Career crawling toward me. But then an animal walked out. It was the size of a pig, but furry like a rat and with the head of a guinea pig. I would have wanted to pet it if it wasn't for the spikes and the teeth.

"Jadee I really think-" I didn't get the we should go part out. The mutt ran at me and hit me in the chest. It pinned me under its legs and tried to bite my face. I pushed its head up with my arms, screaming and thrashing.

It fell off me sideways with a shudder of force. Its lay on its side, kicking weakly. Its mouth drooled clear liquid and its eyes went red. I looked up at Jadee, who stood over me with a heavy branch.

"I killed it," she said. Just like Tucker, I read in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She crouched down by me and prodded at me. I leaned up and grabbed her into a hug. With no idea why I did it, I kissed her.

"Cap," she said after, half a question and half just surprised. "Just because I don't want you to die doesn't mean we're in love. We're just friends, right? We're too young for that."

"Yeah, I guess we are," I said. It just seemed right in the moment, but she was right. Friends could still snuggle though, apparently, because we stayed like that. I looked at the dead mutt and started to cry, and Jadee cried with me, and we didn't have to say what we were really crying about.

Hans Miner, District Twelve Reaped (18)

Hans was determined to do things right.

He had been hugged by Mercy. And he hadn´t felt the urge to hurt her or anything. It had been just a hug, just a simple hug, reminiscent of what Shouna used to give her as she cried due to being bullied by the other kids at school.

Mercy had been crying, and he just went there and accepted the hug. Nothing wrong had happened due to it.

For a moment, Hans felt as he could relax, as he felt the wind on his face, and water so near him, yet so dangerous at the same time.

"Look, dolphins!" Mercy said, on the edge of platform of the port, looking into the warm manmade sea.

As Hans went onto see it, he could only but be marveled at the beauty of those majestic animals. The elegance, the intelligence, the fantastic moves and dances of those animals was enticing to the naïve mind of the poor Hans Miner.

"What is going on-

And then Hans turned to see Xander going at them, to see the beautiful mutts with them, something happened.

Xander was there a moment, and the next one he was gone from the surface.

What?

"No! Xander don´t drown" Mercy´s voice came as clear as the sea and gave him the answer he needed.

The wood had broken down, and now Xander was in the water.

"Xander!" He saw him getting carried away by the sea, getting carried to a long time to the deep of the ocean.

"Look, he is with the dolphins!"

"That´s good" Hans said in a way that didn´t sound like it was good at all. "Dolphins are nice. Dolphins are always nice. Dolphins are like humane, they are good and intelligent and-

But his words were cut off by a horrible sight.

The dolphins had started to attack Xander.

Apparently, these dolphins had sharp teeth, and were gonna use on the poor tributes near them.

Xander just happened to be one of them.

"NO!" Hans jumped into the water and tried to swam, but forgot he couldn´t do it. He never knew how to. As he was suffocating on the water while Mercy tried to pull him down, the dolphins had finished their lunch and were going for dessert.

Luckily for Hans, Mercy just happened to do know how to swim a little bit, and brought back the poor guy to surface again.

As they were too shocked to cry, the gamemakers weren´t certainly happy with it.

And so, the remains of the poor Xander Bluelite of District Twelve ended up right next to them.

"What were the odds?" Could someone say.

Hans at the time was not worried anymore about Xander, or even himself. He was worried about his sister, with a baby at home on her belly, probably having a premature birth due to the stress.

And he was also worried about Mercy. Would he hurt her now that they were alone?

Would he be what Xander wanted him to be, or just another puppet on the Hunger Games?

Ten Tributes left guys! Things are going down fast. Gonna see you soon

-Santiago