The grand finale we've all been waiting for… hope you enjoy.
Cassie Gammon
District Five Female
15 Years Old
I'm not sure if One can raise the glass barrier from her side, but she doesn't try anyway. While I attempt to recover my lone arrow, she grabs her things and begins to walk away. I can tell by the way she moves that she's injured to some extent.
I need to hurry, as she could follow the circular corridor all the way around to where I am. Still, I have a feeling that she'll want to take a break after her much more strenuous encounter.
While trying to dislodge the arrow from Six's body, the shaft suddenly snaps. Shit. There goes the crossbow then. I doubt I'll find another arrow at this point.
I keep the bow with me just in case while I grab the girl's spear. Just like fencing huh, except not really. As I'm walking away, I see some boxy machine on wheels, which seemingly came out of nowhere, heading the other way towards Six's body. So that's how they collect them down here.
Deciding to go down one of the branching hallways, I end up in a rather narrow room with several beds lining the sides, each with only a bare mattress on top and a pine-green footlocker underneath. The label by the door suggests that this is where the facility's guards slept.
As I fumble around in my backpack, I notice my supplies are almost out. All that remains is a half-sleeve of saltine crackers, largely crushed from all the movement, and a plastic water bottle that's only one-third full. But I suppose it's fine – this whole will be over soon enough, one way or another. It's known that the Capitol likes dramatic final battles and that you're not supposed to hide away when only two people are left. If One and I don't meet each other on our own soon, the Gamemakers will probably see to it.
Sitting on one of the beds, I finish up the little food and drink I have, while thinking about my situation: one tribute away from winning the Hunger Games. Winning. Becoming a victor. I can't let it get to my head though, because there's nothing worse than finishing second, to be so close yet so far. Whether you die moments after the gong sounds or moments before the Games end, dead is dead.
My brooding is interrupted by a robotic-sounding voice over the intercom. "Attention. Oxygen supply to the BEOWULF facility will be discontinued in five minutes. All personnel are advised to evacuate at this time."
The message then repeats, with blasts of a siren sounding in between.
And… there it is. The beginning of the end.
I toss the empty bottle aside and get ready to leave. I remember the way to get back up to the lighthouse, and five minutes is plenty of time.
The nervous energy in me goes up as the elevator does. I look around for something, anything to look at, and find myself staring at the round seal about the buttons which I didn't notice on my way down. It features a dark green variant of the Capitol logo in the center, surrounded by the words: "Bio-Engineered Organic Weapons Utilizing Land-based Fauna."
Miracle Emerson
District One Female
18 Years Old
As I make my way out of the facility, the cut in my side keeps sending jolts of pain up my spine. I had some gauze bandages left, and it's not too bad of a wound, but it'll definitely make things harder for me soon. And yeah, that was my first kill since the Bloodbath. Not just that, it was my first actual fight. Maybe they were right back home – I'm underqualified, far from being the best in our class. But on the other hand, who the fuck uses a scythe? We sure didn't have any of those back at the academy. Come to think of it, that fight could've gone much worse for me. I realize now that I was overextending like crazy, and it wouldn't have gone unpunished if I was facing anyone from the academy, even against someone who never planned on volunteering, like Isabel.
Isabel… one of the only few people I genuinely miss. I wonder how she's been holding up. I can picture her following the Games back home, sipping on a glass of wine and making snide remarks about the tributes.
But I can't let myself be distracted now. The Gamemakers are sending us back to the surface for a reason.
I'm now at a door that sits at the end of a long, straight stairway up. I can hear the wind coming from the other side. What about those bear mutts? It's too risky for them I'm sure – they need a victor after all.
Only one way to tell.
I step out into a forest, breathing in fresh air for the first time in days. I scan my surroundings immediately, looking for any sign of the mutts that drove us underground in the first place.
There's one not too far from me, lying still on the ground. Maybe it's asleep? Do these things even need to sleep?
I creep closer to get a better view, and it seems like the bear is lying completely still. Perhaps the Gamemakers killed them off so we could come back onto the surface safely.
Nonetheless, I try to minimize the noise I make as I turn around and walk away. At the top of a small hill, I can see the lighthouse not too far away. That's how I first got down to the facility, and I'm betting it's where I'm supposed to go now.
Making my way towards it, my heart begins to beat faster and faster, reminding me of why I volunteered in the first place: the sheer excitement. How naïve, honestly. I had to endure a lot of waiting for this.
The woods gradually fade away as the lighthouse comes into full view, along with the picturesque stretch of beach beside it. The whole scene is like the ending of a movie, with a blue-pink sky and the sun fading over the horizon.
I see the girl there – standing right next to the bottom of the lighthouse with her back towards me, looking out at the sea, and I wonder what's going through her head knowing she's about to face off with a Career at the end of the Games. I remind myself that she made it this far too, and it couldn't have been by chance.
It's clear that this is what the Gamemakers and the audience want, so I begin to walk over to her.
At some point, she turns around to check her surroundings and notices me. I can see that she has a spear, Dom's spear, while a crossbow sits uselessly on the sand nearby.
Getting closer, I'm caught by surprise when she decides to charge at me with the spear, but I stand my ground and manage to parry it. Our weapons clash several times as I realize that she's fairly competent with the spear for someone who's not trained. I also realize that the sand is causing me issues with my footwork. This is not a terrain that I have experience with.
My right foot steps on something hard, like a seashell, and I lose my concentration. Five deflects my sword and suddenly, the tip of her spear is an inch from my stomach. I back up a step or two until my back hits the wall of the lighthouse. I'm holding onto my sword, but I can't reach her with it given where the spear is.
She pauses and a smile begins to creep across her face. It gives me the second I need to act – not to think, because there's no time for that, but to act.
I rush forward, throwing myself onto the spear while swinging the sword at her. The end of the sword makes just enough contact, slashing her neck open and producing a spray of bright red.
Five lets go of her spear as she desperately clutches her neck. The two of us drop to the ground, with the spear still lodged in my torso.
A cannon sounds in the distance and there's a voice speaking from the sky, but I can barely hear any of it over my screams, screams not just for the excruciating pain I'm in, but for my now-dead brother, our broken home, a district that turned its back on us, and the Games' false allure that I fell for.
Still, somewhere in my anguish, hidden within the shadows of my mind, resides one more thought:
I'm the victor of the 87th Hunger Games.
AN:
I forgot this again last time, but here are the final few placements:
4th: Alexei Tepes (D7M), killed by Miracle
3rd: Lynn Stackker (D6F), killed by Cassie
2nd: Cassie Gammon (D5F), killed by Miracle
And we have our winner! I originally wanted to add an extra epilogue chapter, but it felt right to end the story here. I planned a while ago for Miracle to win, but it also seems like many of you were rooting for her too. She's a character whom I felt more attached to as the journey went on, for reasons that I can't articulate all that well.
Over two years ago, I started this story after reading through several SYOTs written by others. Suffice to say, finishing it has taken longer than I wanted it to, but I told you I was committed to this project and I'm proud we made it to the end. Most of my original submitters have long gone quiet, but for those of you that stuck around – I cannot thank you enough. In terms of the writing quality, I honestly think I could do better. The early chapters had a lot of interior monologuing and the later chapters might seem a bit rushed. I also felt very stifled by the first-person perspective I chose.
A lot has happened since I began this story, and I certainly feel that I've grown as a person. So if you're wondering whether there will be a sequel – yes, there will be. I'm in the process of setting it up, so be on the lookout for it over the next few days. Many of the characters from Renaissance Island will be back, including our new victor.
To my original submitters, thank you for taking a chance on a new author back in January 2018. I know it tends to be a leap of faith given how many SYOTs are abandoned right out of the gate. Hopefully, I'll see some of you again for the sequel.
To everyone else, thank you for reading and reviewing. I know it's not easy to get into an SYOT if you don't have any tributes in it, so your support really means a lot to me. And likewise, I hope you'll consider submitting for the next adventure.
See you around!
