SUTTON GREY, DISTRICT FOUR
6:00 AM, DAY TWO OF THE GAMES, THE CAREER LODGE
The first night in the lodge had gone well. Sutton had been able to get adequate sleep, though she had been woken up at some ungodly hour to take on a watch shift. It had come and gone without incident, thankfully, and she had gotten to go back to sleep until the Pack had begun to stir. Everyone seemed to be wired to rise pretty early. However, there was no indicator of how early they had risen.
When Sutton got up and moved down to the lobby of the lodge, she looked out the window and was met with complete and utter darkness. There was no sun to be seen in the sky and the only stars were few and far between. Sutton hoped that this was only a day long occurrence. Playing the Games in the dark wouldn't really help the Career Pack maintain their advantage. That had been the reason she'd aligned herself with them in the first place—To cling to that advantage over the other competitors.
They had already lost one big contender, which Sutton considered more of a blessing than a curse. Vitus had been irritating, but his prowess with the mace was a considerable loss on the Career Pack's part. Sutton knew it couldn't be helped, though. He would have died somewhere along the way regardless. In her mind, the only threats that remained were those who were allied with her at the moment. It would be simple to pick them off one at a time with the plan she had in mind.
Tonight would be the first night she would enact it.
For the time being, she was going to play it cool and fall in line with the rest of the Pack. The other Careers made their way into the conversation pit and Sutton followed suit. After settling onto one of the cushions, she watched Isaac light the fire that sat in the middle of them.
"Anything to report from the watch shifts last night?" Erebor wanted to know.
Leona spoke up first, "I did not see any other Tributes, but I did see what I could have sworn were muttations."
"Muttations? This early in the Games?" Sutton pondered aloud.
"There isn't any one timeframe where muttations come into play," Isaac informed her, "Everything that happens in here happens at the whim of the Gamemakers. We'd be smart to remember that."
Sutton resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Isaac's know-it-all attitude was grating. In some ways, he was even worse than Aenea when he started running his mouth. However, there was something undeniably off about Aenea, as well. Sutton couldn't put her finger directly on it, but she knew that the District One girl had a shady way about her. It was present in the way she conducted herself with others. She would talk to people as if she was being nice to them, but there were insults and derogatory statements neatly laced into her words in such a way that the people she was talking to didn't even know they were being berated.
That sort of behavior was always alarming to Sutton. She, herself, had a tendency to behave how she was expected to in order to earn the favor of others. Earning the approval of other people brought about a wealth of possibilities. In the case of the Hunger Games, it brought about the chance for survival and sponsors. Aenea, though, seemed less concerned with getting people to like her and more with getting what she wanted. There was this sort of unparalleled drive that lived within the District One girl—One that made her a threat. It seemed that Aenea was going to have to be the first name that she crossed off of her list.
Instead of letting her frustration with select members of the Pack show, she simply nodded and redirected her attention to the conversation that continued after Isaac's interruption.
"What did they look like?" Aenea asked.
"They walked on four legs. It looked like they were glowing… I had a difficult time making out much else about them. They were lingering a safe distance away, which is why I did not feel the need to alarm anyone during the night." Leona answered.
"Interesting. We'll have to keep an eye out, then. Tribute or muttation, nothing is permitted in here other than us." Aenea said, "Today we should try to go on a hunt for some Tributes. I could've sworn I saw at least two groups of them head to this side of the Arena."
"I think we should use most of today to take stock of everything we've got... Maybe even send a few people down to the Cornucopia to gather up everything that's left." Erebor suggested.
"Having those extra supplies could be really beneficial to us. Plus, it would mean that they wouldn't have access to the supplies anymore." Isaac added.
Leona cleared her throat, "I believe it may be too dark to do anything efficiently today. We should do as Erebor said and take stock of the supplies we already have. If the sun comes out, then perhaps we can get some work done, but I don't think it would be wise for us to go blindly looking for trouble."
"I agree," Sutton said.
Aenea nodded, "Alright. Fine. We'll organize the supplies and keep track of what we've got. We can wait until tomorrow to go looking for Tributes."
The Careers dispersed after their brief gathering, going their separate ways to begin carrying out their duties. Sutton returned to the room where she had slept, sorting through her things until she found the kit of various poisons that she had been able to get ahold of during the bloodbath. The District Four girl smiled to herself as she popped open the small box and brushed her fingers over the contents on the inside; Ten vials of poison, more than enough to put the entire Pack down.
It was time to get to work.
NAMI MIZUKANA, DISTRICT FIVE
10:52 AM, DAY TWO OF THE GAMES, NORTHERN CABIN
After the events of the day prior, Nami and the entire alliance found themselves glad to have a shelter of their own. They had all settled in nicely enough and Nami quite liked having a place to rest her head that wasn't exposed to the elements. It was comforting in a way, as it felt a little more like camping with some friends rather than being put into an Arena to fight for her life. The thought still made Nami's stomach churn, but she needed to be strong.
In the hours since Henry's death, Nami had taken on the responsibility of "leading" the alliance, so to speak. They functioned as a unit, but she did her best to keep things coordinated and make sure that they were covering all of the necessities to survive. Nami had quickly come to feel like the responsibility fell on her shoulders to maintain the alliance. It felt like it was her duty to make sure that everyone was in good spirits and that their mental wellbeing was as decent as it could possibly be given the circumstances.
Nami felt like she needed to be a hero for her friends.
For now, it was the small things. It was telling a joke or a fun fact about fish every now and again just to get a chuckle or a smile. It was taking a longer watch so that her allies could get a little more sleep than they would've gotten otherwise. It was sharing stories from her home District and the people she'd met before. It was the small things she could do to keep their heads above the melancholy-filled water.
If it came down to it, it would eventually be the big things. It would be throwing herself in front of them to ensure they lived to see another day. It would be defending them to the bitter end if the Careers happened upon their camp. It would be letting Clio win the Games in her place if and only if it ended up being the two of them left.
Clio.
Thinking about her name alone was enough to produce goosebumps on her arms. Nami felt her heart skip a beat as her fingers instinctively rose to meet her lips, as if attempting to recall exactly how it felt when Clio first kissed her. The District Five girl felt a familiar warmth in her cheeks as she replayed the events of the evening in her mind time and time again. Those thoughts had been the only thing that had helped her to fall asleep during her first night in the Arena.
Thoughts of Clio's hand in her own, thoughts of Clio's lips against hers, thoughts of being whisked away from the banquet hall to return to the District Three apartment with the girl who had swept her up into a not-so-fairy-tale romance. Nami had never concerned herself much with romance back home. She'd always known that she liked girls, but dating hadn't really been at the front of her mind until she'd met Clio.
It was so much easier to dive headfirst into something when death was potentially looming around the corner. Nami couldn't believe how quickly she'd been melted down to nothingness in Clio's hand. There was just something about her that was so exciting and new, yet so comfortable and familiar. She hated the idea that Clio was somewhere in the Arena with the Careers. Clio had explained why they couldn't ally with each other for the start of the Games, but that didn't mean Nami had to be happy about it. She missed her. She wanted to know she was safe.
Nami tried to remain focused on her allies, though. She knew it was important to ensure their safety as well. On the brighter side of things, they seemed to be faring better today, too. Everyone had gotten up and around at roughly the same time. Admittedly, Nami didn't know exactly what time it was, since the sun had not come up. No one knew how many hours had passed since the bloodbath, but they were quite confident it was the second day of the Games.
Aside from the pitch black outside, it was also freezing cold in the way that everyone had anticipated it would be the day prior. Sometime during the middle of the night, the temperature had dropped drastically. Nami had gone from sleeping with her jacket off and no blanket over her body to bundling up from head to toe. Ever since that shift in temperature, it had been impossibly cold. Everyone had gotten back into their parkas in an attempt to stay warm.
Fortunately, they also had a fire to keep them from getting too cold. Elesa had set up their fire in such a way that it would produce as little smoke as possible. Of course, they hadn't exactly expected the darkness to engulf the Arena and help to prevent other Tributes in the area from seeing the smoke produced by their fire. The group had gathered around it, warming their hands and eating some rations for breakfast.
"How long do you think it'll be dark for?" Nicholas asked between bites of his ration bar.
Elesa shrugged, "However long the Gamemakers want it to be… I think we should try to stay indoors as much as we can today."
"Yeah, except we should still keep watch. As long as we have, like… One person outside, it should be fine. I don't want any Careers sneaking up on us." Atticus said.
"If the Careers are smart, they won't go out looking for a fight when it's this dark. If we can't see, neither can they. It wouldn't be a good idea on their part," Elesa said.
Atticus nodded as he got to his feet, "We should still have someone on watch. I'll go first."
He left the room and headed outside, leaving the remaining three in the alliance around the fire. Nami let out a small sigh as Nicholas' brow furrowed. He took a final bite of his ration bar and chewed it quickly, swallowing hard before he also got up and headed for the door.
"I'll keep an eye on him." He murmured, exiting the cabin and joining Atticus outside.
It was quiet for a moment as Nami and Elesa both listened for the sounds of their ally's voices. When no such sound came, they returned their attention to the fire before them. Elesa added some more fuel to it before stoking it so that it would burn hotter and produce less smoke. She had stressed the importance of making sure that they were careful about their fires, which Nami appreciated. Elesa was remarkably intelligent and had proven it time and time again with the knowledge she had retained from training, as well as the knowledge she'd come equipped with prior to the Games.
"Henry really was the glue that held the entire group together." The District Six girl remarked, "He brought us all into the alliance and helped us all get to know each other. He was a great person."
"He really was… But I think we'll be okay! I mean, we have to be! For Henry." Nami said.
"We will be. I've been thinking about ways to make this place safer for us."
"You have? That's great! What have you thought up?"
Elesa scooted a bit away from the fire, propping her back up against the nearby wall and pulling her legs in toward her chest, "Setting up traps. Traps for animals and for Tributes. I think we need to make sure that we don't leave any possibility for an attack."
The idea of setting up traps to kill other Tributes didn't exactly sit well with Nami, but she knew it was an unfortunate necessity. It troubled her that she could only think of Clio accidentally stumbling into one of the traps and winding up injured or worse. It would be okay, though. Clio was smarter than that, Nami reassured herself. It was all being done to keep herself and her alliance safe, which was important.
"I think so too!" Nami agreed, "What kind of traps are you thinking of setting up?"
"Small game traps, tree snares, things like that. If I had the right materials, I might be able to figure out something on a larger scale… But for now, we'll have to start small and work our way up." Elesa told her.
"Starting small is fine! I'm sure we can get our hands on better materials at some point, but for now, you just show me what to do!" Nami replied.
"Sure," Elesa smiled, "Let's get started, then."
CLARUS FARLEY, DISTRICT TEN
4:29 PM, DAY TWO OF THE GAMES, EASTERN WOODS
The day had started with Clarus waking up and carving a line into the wall beside his sleeping space. He had decided to keep track of the days that passed in the Arena when he had realized that the day and night cycle had been disturbed. This perpetual darkness that had lingered over the Arena for the entirety of the day so far was unsettling at the very least. Clarus was glad that he and Nyle had gotten their hunting done yesterday.
Their hunt had led them back to the Cornucopia, where they'd been able to procure a few more supplies, as well as weapons. Clarus had gotten his hands on a sword, which was nice, seeing as he had been able to practice using the weapon during training. With the sword, he definitely felt safer. Nyle had already gotten knives to keep himself armed, but now that Clarus had a weapon, they were both looking pretty good in terms of survival odds.
The only catch was that their dinner from last night hadn't really been enough to hold them over. Nyle had already decided that they would ration their food, which Clarus agreed with, but he hoped to acquire enough food so that they could feed themselves consistently for a few days. The ample snow surrounding them could potentially help preserve the meat they ended up with and they could ration it more effectively that way. Most of the issue was just finding a creature big enough to kill and hold onto for that long.
Yesterday's meal had been some kind of fowl. It was alright, but the meat just was not enough to sate the appetites of both himself and Nyle. Clarus had woken up hungry and had taken it upon himself to go out on another hunt. At first, Nyle had advised against it due to the darkness, but Clarus had easily fashioned a lantern out of one of their drinking bottles, a small vial of kerosene, and a handmade wick.
Now, they ventured through the forest, only able to see some dozen or so feet ahead of themselves. Nyle and Clarus stayed close to one another as they weaved through the trees. Their eyes were peeled as they did their best to navigate the dense brush and thick snow. The only sound that could be heard was the soft crunches of their footsteps on the frosty ground.
"Hunting in the dark seems pretty counterintuitive, yanno?" Nyle murmured.
Clarus shook his head, "My dad always said the best hunters catch their prey in the dark… Apex predators and all that. That's what we are."
"Apex predators, huh? I always did fancy myself a bit of a land shark." Nyle's response caused Clarus to snort.
"Keep it down. You'll scare off the game," Clarus warned.
They moved deeper and deeper into the forest, their heads on a swivel. Clarus was beginning to wonder if maybe they needed to turn back when he caught a glimpse of something in the distance. It was a light, similar to that of his makeshift lantern. The District Ten boy lifted it and peered out into the darkness, coming to a gradual stop.
"Do you see something?" Nyle whispered over his shoulder.
"Think so…" Clarus replied quietly, "Not sure what, though."
His ally moved out from behind him, taking a few steps forward and crouching down. He looked out into the seemingly never-ending expanse of blackness that sprawled before them. There was a long pause as the boys tried to focus in on what they were looking at. And then, it moved. The light danced between the trees, momentarily disappearing behind the trunks of the foliage only to reappear again in a different location. Nyle got to his feet and turned to Clarus.
"I think we should go." He said.
"What if it's someone who needs help?" Clarus asked.
"What if it's someone who wants to kill us?" Nyle countered.
Clarus knew that he was right, but it pained him to know that they could potentially be leaving behind someone who needed their aid. If he would have been in that position, he wouldn't have wanted to see his only chance at help walking away. It was him and Nyle against the rest of the Arena, though, and Clarus knew that he needed to be conscious of that. Gripping his sword, he nodded.
"Right." He exhaled, "We should go."
"Put a spring in your step. We don't want to get turned into Career chow, yanno?" Nyle joked as he began to trudge through the snow in the direction they had come from.
Clarus turned to follow, but heard a hissing sound from somewhere in the distance. He turned around, holding up the lantern again. His eyes widened as the dancing lights in the darkness had turned to full blown figures that were sprinting toward him and Nyle. The familiar glow of fire radiated off of the creatures, each of which had four legs and an almost canine-like shape. As they ran, what Clarus could only assume to be lava dribbled from their bodies and onto the snow, producing the hissing sound that he had first heard. It only grew louder as they approached.
"Run! Run, Nyle! Run like hell!" Clarus shouted, shoving the other boy forward as they both broke into a sprint.
As they near-blindly traversed the forest as fast as they could, Clarus could hear the mutts drawing closer. They snarled and snapped their teeth as they closed in on him and Nyle. Clarus could feel his heart pounding furiously inside of his chest as he pushed his body harder than he ever had before. In baseball, he had run as fast as he could many times, but never beyond that. This was an entirely different experience. Clarus felt like his legs might completely detach from his body as he forced them to carry him quicker than ever.
It still wasn't enough. As Clarus followed Nyle through the labyrinth of trees, he nearly lost his footing. He didn't fall, but the stumble provided just enough time for one of the mutts to lunge at him. The creature's jaws closed around his calf and Clarus felt a searing pain tear through his muscle and flesh. The heat produced from the muttation's mouth was tremendous, like immersing a limb into a pot of boiling water. Clarus could feel blisters forming around the area as the muttation's grip on his leg tightened.
"Gah!" He cried out, swinging the sword at the mutt and managing to slash it across the eyes.
The muttation released its hold on Clarus and recoiled. As the other muttations sized him up, Clarus stood his ground, brandishing his weapon and making noise at them. From behind him, Nyle returned to his side and snatched the lantern from his free hand. He threw the bottle directly at one of the muttations in the pack and it burst into flames instantly. The inferno that followed suit provided Nyle and Clarus with the opportunity to escape, both boys moving as quickly as they could despite their lack of vision and the injury that Clarus had sustained.
When they returned to the cabin, Nyle helped Clarus up to his bed and immediately moved to get the first aid kit from his pack. Clarus steeled himself as Nyle inspected the burn, which the District Four boy tried to assure him wasn't that bad. He clenched his fists as Nyle cleaned up the wound as best he could before dressing it with some of the gauze they had on hand. When all was said and done, Nyle looked to Clarus.
"We'll eat what we've got in our packs tonight. Tomorrow I'll go out and find us something. Hopefully it'll be light by then." He said.
Clarus felt the corners of his lips twitching, "I'm sorry I made us go out there. You were right about headin' out in the dark. It was a stupid idea."
Nyle placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, don't talk like that. There wasn't any way either of us could've known those things were out there, yanno? You didn't do anything wrong. Besides, you'll be healed up soon. I'll make sure of it, swear up and down."
A weak smile crossed Clarus' lips as he looked back at his friend, "Thank you."
PEPSI "HONEY" FINCH, DISTRICT TWELVE
7:57 PM, DAY TWO OF THE GAMES, THE MESAS
The first full day of the Games had been a lot to process. Pepsi had thought that things couldn't get too much worse after the bloodbath. She had certainly been wrong.
On the one hand, they still hadn't lost anyone in their alliance. On the other hand, no shortage of other unfortunate circumstances had befallen them. During the night, they had heard two booms of the cannon. When morning had come around, there had been a significant earthquake that had left just about everyone in the group reeling. Then, when that had ended, they had heard the screams of what sounded like another person. They hadn't seen anything, but Pepsi wasn't about to let her guard down.
Everyone seemed to be pretty on edge after the things they'd experienced in the past however many hours it had been since the beginning of the Games. Pepsi hadn't liked a single minute of it, but being in the presence of good company certainly helped. After last night's dinner, they'd gotten to have a little bit of fun. Pepsi had sung them a song and everyone had eventually joined in. Even if it had to be sung in hushed voices, it was still nice.
They'd stayed up sharing stories of home and the people they'd left there. Pepsi had found the most common ground with Emmanuel, who had also been brought into the Games as a result of volunteering. Hearing his story about how he had felt obligated to step in and prevent the possible death of his first love's younger brother was endearing. It made Pepsi feel better about her own scenario, though she had never really doubted that she had done the right thing.
Cherry and Sonora seemed to get along pretty well with one another, too. Pepsi liked everyone in the group, but she couldn't deny that she felt she had the most in common with Emmanuel. He was a sweet boy who just wanted to do the right thing. Where Cherry and Sonora had ended up in the Arena through a stroke of bad luck, she and Emmanuel had placed themselves here. This was what they had signed themselves up for and now they were paying the price.
Yet, Pepsi wasn't feeling regret. She felt no shortage of fear and uncertainty, but she didn't feel a shred of regret. Knowing that she had prevented Rilee from having to experience the horrors that Pepsi had had to witness was rewarding enough in itself. Pepsi was glad that she had been the one to go in Rilee's place, just as Emmanuel was glad that he had been the one to go in Savion's place.
As the first full day in the Arena began to draw to a close, Pepsi and her allies enjoyed another meal together. It had been a rough day, sure, but she was excited for the opportunity to unwind with her friends and have another moment of serenity with them. Every single second that wasn't filled with pain and suffering inside the confines of the Arena was a victory for each of them.
"If I were home right now, I'd be bakin' something… Probably something real sweet, like a huckleberry pie. I love huckleberry pie. I swear I could eat it every day of my life and never get sick of it," Sonora said as she took a bite of cactus fruit.
"I've never had huckleberry pie, but it sounds amazing," Cherry replied.
Emmanuel propped himself up on his elbows, looking up at the sky, "A slice of pie with a single scoop of vanilla ice cream… I'd do anything for that right about now."
"If you wish hard enough, maybe a sponsor'll be kind enough to drop us all a slice," The District Nine girl joked.
Pepsi giggled and Emmanuel chuckled, "Maybe I should've taken that sponsor question at the interviews after all."
"I think you did the right thing," Pepsi told him, "Those sponsor questions were so strange… I remember standing backstage and worrying for everyone who took Pertinax up on his deal."
"The people who said yes are braver than I could ever be. How would you even know that he was being truthful? What if the sponsor gifts never come?" Cherry added.
Sonora shrugged her shoulders, "I answered the question."
"You did?" Pepsi gawked.
Naturally, she couldn't remember the specifics of every single interview. By the time they'd gotten to the afterparty, the focus had shifted from the interrogations by the Master of Ceremonies and onto spending their last night in the Capitol like royalty. Pepsi had had fun, but she hadn't recalled anything about Sonora's interview other than how pretty she'd looked up on stage.
"Sure did," Sonora replied, "And I don't regret it, either."
"What was the question?" Emmanuel asked.
"Pertinax asked me if I'd kill my District Partner." Sonora answered rather plainly.
Pepsi's eyes widened slightly. That was a question that Pertinax seemed to gravitate toward, even if he wasn't doing it for sponsor purposes. Pepsi could recall a handful of times where he had put some of the most anxious Tributes on edge by asking them if they would be willing to kill their own District Partner. The man seemed to have a knack for getting into the heads of the Tributes that he interviewed, forcing them to think and behave in a certain way. It made Pepsi feel a little bit sick just to think about.
When Sonora didn't elaborate, Cherry probed further, "What did you tell him?"
"I was honest. I told him I wouldn't do it," Sonora told them, "Henry was a good friend, even if I didn't know him long. Had a lot of heart. I thought he'd go far, but…"
Sonora trailed off and a quiet settled over the group. It only remained for a few seconds before the anthem blared out over the Arena. The alliance of four looked up to the images of the fallen Tributes that had been projected into the sky. Since the two booms of the cannon had gone off after the day's deaths had been broadcast to the Tributes the night prior, they were a bit delayed. The District Seven boy flashed on screen and Pepsi looked to Cherry, whose expression fell. The next face was the girl from District Ten. The anthem drew to a close and the images faded from the sky, leaving the Arena devoid of light.
"I'm sorry about your District Partner," Pepsi said softly.
"He seemed really nice… I'd never met him before the Games, but I knew he was the mayor's son back in Seven." Cherry responded.
"It's weird to think that a lot of us could've been really great friends under any other circumstances," Emmanuel thought aloud.
"All we can do is make the best of the hand we've been dealt," Sonora told them, "C'mon, y'all. No more brooding. Let's enjoy the evening. Honey, you got another song for us?"
Pepsi perked up, "Absolutely!"
If singing kept the smiles on her ally's faces, then Pepsi was content to sing every single night until the Games drew to a close, no matter who was left to listen.
KILL COUNT - END OF DAY TWO
Sett Epicus, District Eleven: III.
Erebor Pierce, District One: I.
Aenea Regina Singh, District One: I.
Leona Solari, District Two: I.
Clio St. Francis, District Three: I.
Isaac Oppenheimer, District Five: I.
[DECEASED] Kolton Falco, District Eight: I.