Panem: a History

by Lord Zagreus

Panem's history is long and bloody, but you aren't here for a lesson in your textbook, are you? You wanna hear about the Games. Thousands dead, yet one is lucky enough each year to survive. We love their grit, their determination, their strength. Each has their own story, their own place in our archives. Let's meet some of them, shall we?

12. 162- Azuna Xerces

162

10

To my left, Hera stands poised on her plate. I stare for only a moment before turning back to the Cornucopia.

9

Some sniveling brat from one of the outer Districts vomits to my right, but I ignore it.

8

Carry on the legacy, Azuna. Cashmere's words. She insisted that it's my duty, as a Xerces, to win the Games. So I will.

7

The javelin is inside the throat of the Cornucopia, waiting for me. My best chance is to get in and out fast before the rebel pack surrounds us.

6

My fingers itch. So close, then I can start the slaughter.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Let the Games begin.

My vision tunnels on that javelin, and while I'm not the first one to the Cornucopia, I still get the weapon and jab it into a tribute before anyone challenges me. The boy screams as he falls, but I don't wait to finish him off; he isn't going anywhere.

As expected, the rival Alliance is already packing up and grouping together, my own Allies trying to get around them. I run to join, leaping over Hera's corpse a few feet from them. My spear finds the throat of one of the girls, and I dance away before they get the chance to react. I ward them off as my Allies find their way to me, our backs to the Cornucopia. Then the fun starts.

We charge all at once, five on five, each taking on their own duel. The brutish man from Five is my target, and I parry his thrown hatchet as he hefts a much much larger battleaxe. My spear darts in, but he falls back, taking on the defensive. I'm much quicker than he, and all I have to do is dance away from his strikes, lashing out with every opening. Before long, his corpse joins the pile.

The remaining 'ABCs' disappear into the Arena, the soles of their shoes slapping loudly on the concrete floors. Frigg takes aim at one's back, her arrow meeting him square between the shoulders.

As we look through the supplies, it becomes obvious the toll. While the rival pack lost five, we only lost three; the fours and Mason from Two. Nine cannons tear through the air, symbolizing the end of the Bloodbath.

Jeremi and Frigg are quick to claim the only two sleeping pads in the Cornucopia, leaving me to sleep on the solid stone with a couple blankets and a sleeping bag. My blood boils at the idea, but there will be time in the future to get my own pad. Maybe I could convince them to share one.

We split up the next morning, scouring the small shops lining the Arena. In One, we call an area like this an outdoor mall, though the Arena version is a lot more labyrinthine than I'm used to. Rather than start in the shops nearer the Cornucopia, I wander the maze a bit before choosing one at random. I search thoroughly, spear poised to strike, but nothing seems touched.

I find my first tribute at the fourth shop I check into, a shriveled boy from some District I didn't care enough to memorize. He chucks a leather boot at me before I see him, but it only strikes me in the shoulder. After only a minute of being in the shoe shop, I exit again with new sneakers and some blood on my pants.

The remainder of my search proves fruitless, though three other cannons sound by the time I make it back to camp. Jeremi, my Partner, is excited and proudly displaying his bloody rapier while Frigg seems dejected. Jer vividly describes a fight he had with the pair from Eleven, and I bite my lip. Frigg says she has nothing to report, though she seems on edge.

Thirteen faces appear in the sky that first night; Mason from Two, the boy from Three, Hera and Tristan from Four, both the fives, the girl from Six, both Sevens, the girl from Nine, the boy from Ten and the Elevens.

I got Three and the Fives in the Bloodbath, and I recognize Ten as the boy in the shoestore. I tell my Allies this, and Jeremi pouts when he realizes I've got a kill on him. Frigg watches on with that inscrutable expression of hers, and I don't know what to make of it.

I follow Frigg the next day. It's difficult to conceal myself in this Arena, but I somewhat manage. I quietly run after her as she turns a corner and-

An arrow embeds itself in my arm. My throwing arm. I duck back around the corner, listening as Frigg speaks, her voice cold. Somewhere in the Arena, someone dies, their demise signaled by a cannon. "Is there a reason you're following me, One?"

I don't answer, my mind racing as I try to staunch the bleeding. I throw myself into the nearest shop, a chocolate stand, and push my way into a back room. I crouch behind some crates, wincing as the shaft of the arrow brushes against a wall. From outside, Frigg calls "come on out, Azuna! We want to play!" We?

I imagine Cashmere, long dead but brought back to be my mentor, chiding me. Sloppy, Azuna.

I listen as several bodies search the store, and I realize that Frigg must have made some deal with outliers. The idea makes me sick, but I have to get away; I'm cornered here.

In the corner, a ladder leads up into darkness. I get up as quickly as I dare, careful to not let my spear nor the arrow touch anything as I climb. A boy appears below me, and he calls out to Frigg. She appears in the doorway, already preparing to fire her bow.

"Well? Go after her." She gestures to my new hiding place, unwilling to take a literal shot into the dark. The boy shrugs and climbs up after me.

My spear reaches his head before he gets the chance, and the cannon sounds.

An arrow snaps against one of the top rungs, and Frigg screeches. "Thirteen! Get in here, now!" I hear the other girl come in, and imagine her face as she catches sight of her Partner's corpse. "Go get her."

"Are you kidding me? After what she did to Ajax?" She lets out a little sob, running over.

"I said-"

"Why should I listen to you! You know he isn't right in the head! Why would you ask him to do something like that?" Frigg doesn't get to answer. As she lowers her bow slightly, I drop down to the hard floor, rolling over my spear toward the woman from Two. Careful of the arrow, but still feeling it shred through my bicep, I shoot up into a crouch, thrusting the spear into Frigg's chest.

I bolt, not daring to look back.

I rest at the Cornucopia for a few days as the numbers dwindle. Between Jeremi and the boy from Five, we quickly reach the Final Four, then the Final Three, until finally Jeremi returns from his last hunt, covered in sweat and blood, clearly exhausted.

My arm pains me enough for my throw to be off by a little, but overall it doesn't matter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Victor of the One-Hundred-Sixty-Second Annual Hunger Games, Azuna Xerces of District One!"