Day 11: Things start to get a bit sad
Evangelo Goku Katsaros 15 District 6
The ground beneath me startles me awake. It is shaking and contorting violently! Leaping out of bed, I rush to Moira's room and rapidly shake her awake.
"Wake up!"
She is jolted up, quickly becoming aware of ever changing arena.
"What's happening?" She asks in a panicked tonne.
The walls begin shifting around and I feel the ground beneath us begin to slowly start rising!
"We're going up!" I cry.
Moira tugs at my shoulder.
"Evangelo, the chest!" She reminds me.
Exasperated with nerves I rush back into my room with Moira close behind, struggling to maintain my balance with the moving floor below and being thrown between the walls. I hold the chest in my arms, clutching it close to my chest. The floor has now almost risen above the level of the door! If I don't act fast, I'll be squashed in this room!
I slide the surprisingly light weight chest through the hole in the wall that used to be the door, then follow with a quick dive through, just before it closes off. Moira helps me to my feet as I rub my scraped up hands. Without a moment's hesitation, I scan my surroundings, we are slowly ascending up, the ceiling has opened up and we're being taken somewhere!
Ryker and Jia join us in the corridor, panting heavily with sweat dripping from their foreheads.
"That was not what I had hoped to wake up to," Ryker comments, sounding aggravated.
Jia's eyes move to the chest which is still lying on the floor.
"Listen to me! You need to hold on to that no matter the cost, we cannot let any of the others get it especially Kirin and Emmy!" She tells me, sounding more like an order than anything else.
Her eyes don't lie though, she looks extremely fearful yet determined that no one else will get the chest.
I pick it up and hold it close to me again after examining it slightly.
"What's so important about it anyway?" I ask.
Jia shakes her head frantically.
"Whoever opens it will pretty much guarantee their victory and I'm pretty sure one of them has the key!" She exclaims.
I'm not gonna argue with the woman, she seems very serious about this chest.
"I'm sorry, it's just a few of our friends have died so we could get to this point…" Her voice sinks in sadness as her eyes drift downwards.
I remember that they had that little girl from 10 with them before and she was one of the dead last night…
"I understand," I say with a forceful smile.
Finally, the arena has brought us into a new much larger space, we are high above any ground and we seem to be standing on a kind of maze wall only when I look down there is no sign of any ground…only ever extending darkness. All around us are large silver platforms above this chasm however they are all shifting and moving and soon our own platform begins doing the same.
"Hold on to something!" Ryker yells.
Moira clearly realises there is nothing much to hold on to so she suddenly seizes me instead, gripping my body tightly. There is an awkward silence where neither of us know what to do next.
"We're a long way from science class now," She laughs.
That feels like a long time ago now, I was the awkward new kid and for some reason only now I remember Moira was the first one to even so much as smile at me. Now here we are, both of us alive with only 7 tributes remaining. It can't have all meant nothing right? We must have survived this long for a reason.
As I stare into her eyes, her silky hair is blowing with the movement. I realise that although this may be looking like the end, at least I'm going to be spending it with her…
"Look!" Ryker points at something in the distance.
There are two people standing on a platform ahead of us. A boy and a girl, the boy being slightly taller with clear bright blond hair. That must be this Kirin and Emmy that they've been talking about. Our two platforms are on a collision course with each other through the darkness!
Jia turns to Ryker, her eyes poised with determination and anger.
"Ryker!"
He turns to her.
"Time to do this our own way," She says confidently.
Ryker nods back to her assuredly.
Out two platforms crash into each other before I can even ask what they are thinking, using the momentum Jia leaps into Emmy, crashing into her and knocking her down. Clearly she has a vendetta with the girl from 5 that I'm not getting involved in. At the same time other platforms collide around us.
"Evan, give me the chest!" Ryker orders as the district 1 boy leaps onto our platform, carrying a sword and shield! He is staring directly at me, so he is clearly after this thing!
I toss it to Ryker, who proceeds to quickly leap onto the platform to our left and dashing from one platform to another. Kirin smashes his shield into me, knocking me down however he then quickly turns his attention to Ryker who is making off with the chest, across the platforms. The chase begins!
"Come on!" Moira tells me, her eyes pointing in the direction of Ryker and Kirin
What is she thinking? We could make a getaway now in the chaos on that platform to the right while the others are distracted.
"You heard Jia…we cannot let him get that chest!"
I reach into my bag and slip out a small hatchet…
"You're right."
Jia Yang 15 District 8
Emmy begins to recover from my initial attack, shaking her head in pain. As she pushes herself back up I take her by her hair. She begins groaning angrily and thrashing about. I land a knee in her face, knocking her back down. The contempt and hate in her eyes are clear, it's going to be either her or me I'm sure but unfortunately for her she killed someone close to me. Emmy draws a knife from her pocket, the same knife she used to kill Wrenna!
"Jia!" I hear Moira yell, she is standing on the rapidly drifting platform.
Before she gets too far away she tosses her crowbar, I catch it and ready myself to fight Emmy! Staring her dead in the eyes and never breaking eye contact.
As I struggle to maintain my balance on the moving platform, she circles me like a crow looking for a dead animal. Her knife is gripped tightly in her hand making her a viper ready to strike.
"Get out of my way Jia… or I'll kill you," she hisses.
Even with what she did, she still sees me as a friend I think and genuinely doesn't want to kill me.
"Not if I kill you first," I retort.
With a cry of anger, I strike down at her head, she side steps out the way and the momentum almost causes me to fall off the edge! She responds my slashing me across the cheek, leaving my face dripping with blood! My hand goes up to the stinging pain on my cheek in surprise, the warm feeling of blood flowing into it. She smirks at me, sending shivers down my spine. She has a sly confidence that I don't have, I'm starting to feel helpless!
Flashback
Me and Emmy are sat together on the floor of the training room in the final day of trainin. I agreed to help her fix one of her traps even though I basically know nothing about traps. The boys are opposite us training in weapons while she is guiding my hand, she seems to take note of me glancing up at Pat and then back down.
"That's so funny," she laughs.
"What?" I ask, trying to sound confused.
"You like him don't you? Your district partner…"
Emmy's playful eyes are scanning me all over… there's no point lying to this girl, she's already figured me out.
"Alright you got me…" I chuckle, trying to fiddle with the snare to distract myself from this topic.
"It's alright… your secrets safe with me. I'll do my best to make sure you two can go as far as possible together," she smiles.
Even in this dark situation I'm so glad to know I can have a friend like her by my side…
End of flashback
I feel madder than ever, with my former ally standing in front of me, her knife looks more ready than it ever has… I can't believe I once saw this person as my ally… no…friend.
"I always knew you were a dumbass Jia from the moment I met you," she admits.
"Staring off into space or at Pat like some idiot… it's about time you met your long deserved demise," she chuckles manically.
The words still manage to hurt me but not as much as they would have down pre hunger games. I straighten up and face my enemy.
"The dumbest thing I did was trust you," I reply sternly.
Suddenly I charge into her again with my crowbar raised, she takes the impact with her forearm. Glancing down I see her knife as it inches towards my body!
Then we are both thrown across the platform by the impact of another one smashing into ours! This caused her knife to slip away from her hand! Without a moment to lose I kick it off the platform before she can crawl to it!
She stares up at me in anger and desperation as I start beating her with the crowbar. First I strike her leg, then head, then her torso twice…
She groans in a kind of hateful, resentful pain.
Then I hesitate, I can't believe I'm doing this… this violence to another human being. Despite everything she's done. Would she kill me right now if she had the chance? Probably, but I'm not like her am I?
She groans, slowly making her way back to her feet. My teeth grit as I'm stood facing her, panting heavily.
"You don't have what it takes," she says, her eyes observing me like a snake.
My grip loses slightly on my weapon, maybe she's right, I can't kill her can I? Suddenly I feel my mind cast back to Wrenna, the night before she died. It was the last time I saw her smile at me, knowing I was there to protect her. She flashes before my eyes one last time returning my anger again at her killer. I can only blame myself for failing to protect her but there is one other person that's responsible.
With her killer standing in front of me, I feel my grip tighten around my crowbar again.
"You're right… I'm just dumb Jia after all…" I reply.
With all my effort hit her across the face, she cries out, shocked and terrified as the blow sends her falling off the platform and down the chasm…
The sound of her body crashing against something below echoes up, followed closely by a cannon.
I collapse down to my knees at what I just did! Clutching my hands over my mouth. Not only did I just kill someone but someone I knew closely, someone I used to call my friend…
Ryker Shenal 19 District 11
The chest is huddled tightly against my ribs as I speed through the ever shifting platforms. I take a long leap across a three-meter gap, barely making it from the platform I was on! I quickly glance behind me, noticing Kirin fast on my trail, leaping between the moving platforms. However, his sword and shield seem to be weighing him down otherwise he would have surely caught up to me by now.
Shifting around, I choose my next platform to jump onto to my right, it is a lot lower than the previous one and as I jump between them they seem to be leading down like steps inches apart from each other. I look behind me again, Kirin has jumped onto the platform just behind. My heart beats rapidly as I notice there are no more platforms to jump onto at this present moment! I turn back to Kirin, keeping the chest tucked in close.
Calmly, Kirin removes a key from his pocket. I cannot let him open this chest or he will be unstoppable!
"I've already won," he announces.
"Just give me the chest and I promise to kill you and your friends quickly."
I observe the object in my arms, it's a tempting offer but I will never do it! I survived that massacre for a reason and just giving up and allowing someone to kill all my friends again was not it!
"Never!" I reply confidently, standing up straight.
I glance to my right, Evangelo and Moira are standing on a platform about 5 meters away. Evangelo lowers his hatchet and beckons me to throw him the chest.
"Catch!" I shout, tossing it across to him.
Kirin's eyes divert to the right in surprise like a tiger. Evangelo narrowly manages to catch it in his hands and so Kirin turns his attention to them instead, chasing after them.
A platform quickly approaches in front of me so I bounce onto it, following Evangelo and Moira in parallel.
As the platforms get lower and lower we finally reach the bottom, Evangelo trips down and the chest bounces off the ground however he quickly scrambles to recover it.
"We need to hurry," I say, helping him to his feet
The platforms we were standing on are now the walls around us. We scan around briefly to find no sign of Kirin but knowing him, he could be hiding anywhere.
"Come on," I say.
We begin strolling in between the walls again, my eyes and ears are pierced for any sign of Kirin. Then I remember, a cannon went off earlier. It must have been either Jia or emmy… no it was Emmy for sure, I trust in Jia's strength.
"Hold on!" I brace Evangelo and Moira with my arm.
"What?" Moira whispers.
"I here footsteps."
The footsteps get louder and louder, they sound more like the sound of smaller person. I turn to my left.
"Jia!"
She appears out of the darkness from behind a wall, almost giving me a heart attack!
Moira is clutching her heart as well.
"You scared me," she laughs.
Jia is breathing heavily, she has a nasty cut on her cheek and tears running down her face, mixing with the blood. She looks devastated.
"Did you do it?" I gulp.
She nods miserably. Before I can even think about the loss of my former friend to another one I hear a loud thud behind us. We spin around in unison! Kirin is standing there! His shield raised, his sword gripped in his hand. He looks more determined than ever, his blue eyes are littered with emotion.
"Last chance," he warns us sternly.
I push the other three behind me to protect them. He edges slowly towards us and we all shuffle back until we are met with a dead end! We have to fight, fight or die!
I unzip my bag and toss it aside, producing my mace from it. I turn to Jia beside me and then to the sixes behind.
"Don't let him get that chest," I affirm!
Kirin Ignatius 16 District 1
My enemies stand in front of me, these outliers are exhausted, tired and afraid. It is over. I ready my shield in front of my body, my katana is by my side. The big boy from 11 is the first to attack, he lunges at me with his mace raised above his shoulder, I raise my shield to block his strike causing a sound to echo across the arena like a deep bell.
After blocking his blow, I quickly slice at his head, he steps back out the way however the distance allows me to plant a kick in his gut sending him back further. My blade is fast to follow up but when it meets his mace mid-air both crash to the ground!
It is a miner irritation however I quickly launch my shield like a frisbee at him! He growls in pain as it collides with his forehead and falls down in pain clutching his bleeding head!
The girl from 8, Jia. She was one of Emmy's best friends, she cries in anger and charges at me, swinging her crowbar wildly. I can see where all the blows are going to land miles before however I just decide to take them to see how strong she is. The first two blows land on my body which barely even registers although the third blow impacts my head. I feel my skull shake, she's not strong but she has heart and guts which drives her that's for sure. I can't help but feel respect for her, she's standing up to a career and protecting her allies.
I easily catch her third swing to my head, then I twist the crowbar around and trip her to the floor.
"If you're going to attack someone then don't look at where you're going to strike… it kind of gives it away," I tell her calmly.
Then I hit her hard with a right cross to the cheek, defeating her.
I toss the crowbar down and move on to my final two enemies in the way… the sixes.
Moira Alice Halloran 14 District 6
We watch helplessly as Kirin knocks out Jia, now nothing is standing in the way of him and us…
I find my blowdart in my hands and hastily blow a shot at him just as he picks up his shield again. The dart sticks harmlessly into the shield, I fire a second one but he blocks that as well!
My chest tightens with anxiety, my heart is racing… he's getting closer and we can't stop him! He's going to win!
Evangelo's hand tugs at my shoulder and he embraces me with both hands on my shoulders.
"Moira… I just want to say thank you…" he stutters, a single tear falling down his face.
"For what?" I cry.
He runs his hands across my cheek.
"When I spoke to you back on the train, I hoped for your face to be the last thing I saw."
He plants a kiss on my lips and lifts up his hatchet!
"You made me feel good enough finally, something I've never felt before."
"He's gonna kill me for what I'm about to do!" He says.
He lifts up the axe above his head and with an almighty swing, he cuts deep into the chest! He brings his weapon down twice more on it, crushing it in half! Sparks begin flying out as it shifts form into more of a simple piece of machinery until all of a sudden it lets out a flash followed by a shockwave pushing us all back!
When my vision returns I am coughing, I see Kirin above me, his eyes on fire with anger and frustration! Then he snaps, he marches forward, taking Evangelo by his collar! I try to stop him by grabbing onto his shirt but he easily elbows me out the way! His bone crunches against my face, knocking back down to the ground! Now all I can do is helpless watch as he lifts Evangelo into the air, my district partner groans helplessly. Kirin then begins smashing his head against the wall violently, Evangelo's frail body doesn't stand a chance against the career! Once, twice, three times he bashes his head and then there is a crack, followed by a cannon…blood is stained all over the wall…
Kirin's breathing slows down, the red mist appears to leave his eyes as he realises what he has just done.
He regretfully drops Evangelo's broken body in front of me, I crawl onto his body, hugging it and sobbing.
Kirin is still just standing there, almost dumbfounded. My eyes move up to him, what is he doing? What is he waiting for?
"I'm…I'm so sorry… I…didn't mean to go so far…I," he stutters, beginning to sound almost psychotic.
He seems like he is apologising for a miner inconvenience, what is wrong with this guy? What is wrong with these careers?
"If it's any help I know how you feel… I lost someone close to me only a few days ago," he murmurs.
I glare at him with shock and anger. What is he doing? He killed my man and now he is trying to comfort me or something?
"If you're going to kill me just do it," I hiss.
Suddenly, I feel somebody tug at my shoulder! As Ryker is dragging me away, my tunnel vision shows me Kirin standing blankly over Evangelo's body… the two of them fade into the darkness. Evangelo is gone… and he's never coming back. Why didn't he just kill me too? Why?
Lenita Young 18 District 2
Two cannons went off, I am down to the last 5! As I sharpen my sword I think about the fates of my enemy's tomorrow. Kirin, the girl from 6, the boy from 11… they all die. Then I take the victors crown, I can pay tribute to Salacia and her family although I remember she didn't like them much. At least they made her the woman she became, the woman I knew… I will see my dad again and I'll be able to hug him and tell him how much I've missed and valued him… Achilles family will hate me for sure but there's nothing I can do about that. I'll just try to avoid them as best I can. Tomorrow this ends!
Thanks for reading what did you make of this chapter? We lost two of my favourite characters so sorry about that. Day 12 will be the finale and I might split it into two parts I'm not sure.
Deaths
Day 1
24th: Jameson Wright (District 10 male) Killed by Olana Peronia – Neck Snapped.
23rd: Ryland Fields (District 9 male) Killed by Dante Orchard – Stabbed in the eyes.
22nd: Alistair Birch (District 7 male) Killed by Kirin Ignatius – Stabbed through the heart.
21st: Tomlin Beckett (District 3 male) Killed by Achilles Castille – Spine snapped.
20th: Kaia Telm (District 3 female) Killed by Salacia Myer – Impaled by trident.
19th: Cherry Ennedes (District 11 female) Killed by Lenita Young – Shot by arrow.
Day 2
18th: Clara Labeau (District 9 female) Killed by Achilles Castille – Stabbed through the torso.
Day 3
17th: Dante Orchard (District 12 male) Killed by Moira Halloran – Hung by the neck.
Day 4
16th: Maverick "Rick" Colver (District 4 male) Killed by Achilles Castille – Throat slashed.
15th: Emerson Ingles (District 7 female) Killed by Salacia Myer – Impaled by trident.
Day 5
14th: Aleksandar 'Alek' Boltzmann (District 5 male) Killed by statue mutts – Stabbed.
Day 6
Emmy, Pat, Jia, Ryker, Wrenna, Lenita, Achilles, Kirin (multiple times and all reversed)
Day 7
13th: Alma Kaur (District 12 female) Killed by Emmanuela Chai – Throat slashed.
Day 8
12th: Achilles Castille (District 2 male) Killed by Salacia Myer – Impaled by trident.
11th: Olana Peronia (District 1 female) Killed by Kirin Ignatius – Impaled by katana.
10th: Pattern Fredericks (District 8 male) Killed by mutt – Slashed by pincers.
Day 9
No deaths
Day 10
9th: Salacia Myer (District 4 female) Killed by Kirin Ignatius – Stabbed in the torso.
8th: Wrenna Chimes (District 10 female) Killed by Emmanuela Chai – Stabbed.
Day 11
7th: Emmanuela Ruby Chai (District 5 female) Killed by Jia Yang – Knocked down chasm. Where do I even start with Emmy? She was such a fun and unique tribute to write. Ngl when I first got her form I didn't really know what to do with her but when it said she was morally grey I knew she could have one of the best arcs in the story. Honestly I wanted her to make it to the finale but storywise her dying here made the most sense. I had such a blast writing her thanks for the submission contemporarydancer2.
6th: Evangelo Goku Kasatros (District 6 male) Killed by Kirin Ignatius – Blunt force trauma. Poor Evangelo. I feel like he was such a likeable everyman character. I know him and Moira kind of faded into the background a bit for large part of this story that's why I teamed them up with the other outliers, to change it up a bit. Despite Moira wanting to die before him, he ended up going first which was cruel. Hope you all enjoyed him and his character journey. Thanks for the submission curiousclove.
Remaining tributes
District 1
Kirin Ignatius (4 kills)
District 2
Lenita Young (1 kill)
District 6
Moira Alice Halloran (1 kill)
District 8
Jia Yang (1 kill)
District 11
Ryker Shenal