Day 12: No time to die
Moira Alice Halloran 14 District 6
The memories of what happened yesterday have faded into almost oblivion. My mind just wants to pretend it didn't happen I guess. One image does remain that there's no way I can shake, Evangelo's lifeless, cold body, his eyes empty, the soul had been completely stolen from him. After everything I sacrificed in this arena, this is how I was rewarded? After surviving every encounter, after taking care of each other, after losing my morality and killing a 13-year-old for him and then for Kirin to just come in and butcher Evangelo like he was nothing…
The conversation we had the night before we entered the games suddenly returns to my thoughts.
"Do you think that when we die, we will be forgotten by our loved ones," he rightfully asked me.
My answer was "Of course not! Why would you think that?" but I could not have been more wrong and naïve, thinking back on it.
There is no justice in this world, no hope, no fairness, everything is random and pointless and as soon as you accept that the better.
Now I am huddled against the maze wall, cold and alone. There was nothing I could have done, at least I keep telling myself that.
Suddenly I feel a soothing presence near me, Jia slides down the maze wall opposite me. Her eyes are inquisitive and empathetic of me.
"Can I help you?" I mutter, trying to imply that I want to be left alone at this time, placing my head in my arms.
"Well I just thought I'd tell you...I think I know what you're going through… I lost someone close to me in this arena as well," she says.
I remove my head from my arms and stare up at her.
"Funny, you're the second person to say that to me," I reply, thinking back to Kirin yesterday.
"It was my district partner… we were pretty close," she stutters.
My eyes divert down to the ground, feeling kind of bad now. If memory serves me correct from the training days, the eights seemed to stick together like me and Evangelo.
"I'm sorry," I murmur.
Maybe she really does know what I'm going through.
"Does…does the regret ever go away?" I ask.
She stares away, seemingly looking deep in her thoughts for the answer until finally she just shakes her head.
The sound of a bell rings through the arena. Then the ground beneath begins shifting again and shaking violently! Me and Moira stand up in surprise, glancing around the maze. The entire arena flips to the side and we are thrown against the wall which has now become the new floor!
I hear the screams of Ryker as he was standing in a corridor to the right, meaning he fell a little further! He thuds against the floor next to me, rubbing his arm in pain!
"Are you alright?" Jia asks, as she stands up with me.
"Could be better," he responds.
We help him to his feet but then the arena shifts again, however this time we were able to land almost on our feet, it seems to be rotating in a circular motion. I look around and notice that we are now standing on what was once the ceiling!
"What do we do?" I ask.
The sounds of various footsteps begin echoing through the maze, they sound very animalistic. Then they appear from around the corner. The most hideous, ugly mutts I have ever scene! Their skin is a leathery grey and they have giant pincers protruding from their face.
Jia seems to leap out of her skin at the sight of them!
"Them again!" She screams, her voice tremors deeply. She must have some sort of trauma related to those mutts that I'm not aware of.
We are quick to dash in the opposite direction from the ugly killer monster's monsters.
Lenita Young 18 District 2
Phew! I think I managed to lose those mutts, thanks to the maze constantly shifting me around, smashing me into one wall after the other, again and again. The gamemakers must have sent the mutts to bring us closer together! This has to be the finale! Good, it's about time I finished this once and for all! My body shudders with pain every single time it flips!
Finally, the maze seems to level for a while, leaving me running along the floor. However, as I slide around a corner along another corridor, the maze shifts downwards out of nowhere! I am almost thrown headfirst down a long narrow pit that used to be the corridor I was running through but of course I am quick to act and grab onto the side of a doorframe, leaving me hanging.
Letting go briefly of one of my hands, I glance below to assess my options. It is roughly a 10-meter drop to the bottom but there is another doorframe a couple of meters down that can act as a ledge.
I breath in large bubble of oxygen to prepare myself for the slow decent, I have to fight my instincts and take it slowly this time. My feet slide down until they hit the next doorframe, I then begin working to exchange where my feet were with my hands. As I pass by the room it's funny to see everything entirely sideways.
I continue this process descending down the wall of the corridor until when I am roughly half way I hear muffled voices below me!
It can only be what remains of the outliers which is only 3 tributes if I recall correctly. The only challenge for me will be the male from 11. It's their faults Salacia died after all, they are the ones who distracted me and rendered me unconscious leaving her alone and they are going to pay, followed by Kirin!
I slip one of my swords into my right hand, leaving myself hanging loosely by my left. I can feel my fingers slowly slipping away but it doesn't matter because the three of them quickly appear in the narrow gap at the bottom.
They start passing by below me, my breath thins, my vision narrows like a hawk at the girl at the back with the straight brown hair from 6. As I let myself freefall towards her, all the anger and regret for Salacia's death is unleashed and today this girl is the one who will be on the receiving end!
The fall only lasts a split second until my blade lands home, impaling the girl!
Ryker Shenal 19 District 11
There is a sound of a cannon ringing deep throughout the maze, behind me Moira is dead… just like that, and kneeling over her is Lenita, with her sword impaled into the poor, frail girls body. The career's teal eyes quickly find me, they are as fierce and angry as they have ever been and have found their next victim to lock onto… me.
I manage to act quickly and close the distance between us just as she raises her sword. I crash into her, nullifying her slash and trapping her arm with mine against my body. As we struggle about I land two hard punches on her face! She groans in anger, swinging me into the wall!
Jia attempts to charge her however Lenita is faster and strikes her hard with a side kick to the gut, knocking her across the corridor with a thud on the ground. She turns her attention back to me, gritting her teeth with frustration as she struggles to overpower me! She lands a knee into my stomach, briefly winding me and making me loosen my grip on her sword arm! This gives her enough space to bring her blade across my body! I feel the sword slash through my skin with blood now oozing out!
I cry in pain, clutching my bleeding body. Lenita then spins round with her leg, landing a spinning kick to my face! Her heel crunches off of my cheek finally knocking me to the ground.
Jia is still lying on the floor behind Lenita, holding her body in pain. I must get away, that's my last option… to crawl like a helpless child. The maze shifts again! I am rolled to the left along with everything else, I look back to see Lenita struggling to stay up right but still progressing ever closer to me with her sword!
The corridor she dropped in from is now back to a horizontal corridor to my left, the only difference is the doors are upside down. Hold on… maybe I'm not dead… maybe there is a chance. Just a small one if I'm really clever and time it right. Judging by the rotation of the arena, on the next turn the corridor on my left will become an extremely long, deep pit…
Mustering my strength, I stand up to my feet, groaning in agony, squinting my eyes in pain at my attacker. Lenita takes one last lunge at me, the look of victory on her face tells me she knows it will be the last.
She is only inches from me when the maze begins rotating again. Suddenly I throw myself onto my back! Her sword narrowly misses and her face turns to shock and anger as I throw her over me headfirst into the newly existing pit behind me!
She lets out a cry, it is a primal cry of fear as she plummets towards her death, towards the unknown…
I watch her crash through an upwards facing door and land in a room below. Whatever life that remained of her is taken by one of those mutts hiding in the room when it quickly devours her. A cannon fires…
Breathing heavily and bleeding from my body I begin to push myself up.
Jia stumbles to me, still holding her gut after that nasty kick from Lenita.
"You're hurt," She groans, inspecting my slash wound.
I shake my head.
"It's nothing…" I lie.
However, I am already feeling faint and dizzy from the loss of blood I think. I have to keep going…
"Where is he?" I ask, scanning around the maze.
"Hiding in the shadows, like he always does, " she replies sharply.
She puts my arm around her shoulder and we begin struggling through maze again, one person short from before now. Eventually the pain in my side gets too much and I request that she sits me down… just for a bit.
"Come one Ryker!" She begs, tears and desperation flooding her eyes.
"You can win this! You have to otherwise they all died for nothing!" She cries!
I wince in pain… my head is feeling light.
"I know… I've been here for two years… it's about time it all ends…" I murmur softly.
She shakes her head bitterly.
"I can't beat him alone…"
"Maybe not physically… but you have a good brain Jia when you use it right," I gulp.
My words seem to move her, maybe it wasn't the best prep talk in world but it seems to have ignited some kind of lightbulb in her.
The next thing I know Footsteps approach to my right, they are quiet but threatening all the same. It can only be Kirin.
He approaches the two of us with his katana in hand by his side. He looks like he is already preparing for the victor ceremony.
"But like hell am I giving up now!" I exclaim.
Jia's eyes light up with delight, with the last energy that remains within me I begin pushing myself up, Jia takes me by the hand and heaves me to my feet. I slip my mace into my hand on the ready.
"Listen to me," I whisper, keeping my eye on Kirin as he edges ever closer.
"Run to the end of the corridor, you need to use your surroundings…"
I say this to her hoping that she will begin to use some forward planning.
"What about you?" She questions.
"I'll hold him off," I mutter.
She leaves my side and runs to the end of the corridor. I stand up sternly and stare down Kirin, in an attempt to look as confident as I can.
Kirin Ignatius 16 District 1
I approach Ryker calmly as his ally seems to abandon him. With one hand he is holding a mace while with the other is clutched at his side in pain as blood drips down from it. He must have been already hurt in the previous fight with Lenita I'm guessing which is what I had hoped. Although I had expected Lenita to be standing here wounded not him. Oh well, it is a pleasant surprise actually, they did well to defeat her. Although I had hoped the girl from 6 had been here, I still wanted to apologise for killing her friend so brutally like that…
"So it's just you two… for the record I don't think any of you deserve this… I'm… I'm sorry to have to do this to you," I say.
His smirk tells me that he does not care for my apology.
"Funny, I'm not sorry for what's gonna happen to you," he rebuts confidently.
I raise my katana above my head and strike down fast at his. He manages to block it narrowly with his mace, but after punching him in his wound I am able to overpower him, forcing him to the ground. He desperately strains to hold me back with both his hands on his mace but the last of his strength is spent. I twirl my blade around so it is vertically facing his body and begin pushing down to finish him off!
As the sword enters his chest he gargles in pain, sweating and choking!
Suddenly a rucksack bounces off my head, thrown from across the corridor.
"Hey!"
I look up slowly, Jia is standing there with a strange amount of confidence on her face.
"What are you waiting for? Let's finish this!" She says with her hands held out.
Rising up calmly I step over the dying boy from 11 to face her. What is she playing at?
She quickly turns tale and disappears around a corner to the left. I gradually begin following her through the maze, just one more and this is over!
Jia Yang 15 District 8
Oh Shit! It's happening! He's on his way! You need to stay calm Jia if you're going to be able to win this!
Down the corridor he comes, his sword by his side casually. I move into the next room which leads to a circular staircase, at the top is one big door. My breath increases rapidly, doors have generally not been a good thing in this arena but behind me lies certain death in the form of a career so it doesn't look like I have too much choice in the matter!
As I reach the top of the staircase I freeze in front of the arch shaped door! Wherever it takes me could mean so many things! Kirin appear at the bottom of the staircase, his eyes pierced with concentration and intrigue.
"Whatever you're doing it will never work… I've sacrificed too much in these games to lose to you or this arena," he tells me calmly.
"So have I," I reply sternly.
He smirks with a kind of admirational malice. I think he hates me but kind of respects me at the same time in his own weird way.
I hastily turn to the door… here we go!
As I pass through a flash of light instantly strikes me! This is different, different from any of the other doors before!
Before I know it I am thrown to the ground face first but my palms protect me from the fall. I am now in a completely different place in the maze! And probably a different time knowing this arena.
Beginning to search my surroundings, I see no sign of Kirin. Only corridors. I hope to God that I haven't been brought far into the future like what happened with Ryker and Alek.
As I turn another corner I begin to hear multiple raised voices echoing throughout! I move hesitatingly backwards again to avoid them but they do sound awfully familiar.
They are close now so I dart behind a corner, my curiosity causing me to peak round…
There they are! Alek, Ryker and … Emmy! I feel so many emotions right now! Sadness, fear, anger, regret but then my heart melts…
There he is, with his curly hair, innocent face and awkward fidgeting stance… Pat. It seems I have been taken back to day 1… I remember this day clearly! There's so much I could do right now, so much I could change. Save Pat… save all of them and warn them about Emmy.
But right now unfortunately I am just caught in a trance at the sight of my District partner, to think I would even get the chance to see him one more time…
However, my trance is abruptly ended by an aggressive tug on my shoulder, slamming me to the ground backwards… Kirin!
"No more games!" He exclaims, raising his sword above me!
There is another flash of white light and we are transported again! No I needed more time! For Pat!
This time when we land he tumbles over me! Before I even get a chance to try to figure out which day we are in now he Seizes me by my sweater and tosses me across the corridor into a wall! I let out a yelp of shock as the concrete collides with my shoulder.
"Why do you keep fighting?!" He growls in frustration.
He takes a big swing at my head with his sword, I am only able to escape it by a few inches with a duck! I even feel the metal slide over my hair. His next attack goes downwards which I am able to avoid with a roll across the floor.
A female voice suddenly vibrates through the corridor.
"What the hell!"
It is Lenita or at least a past version of her. Her face is accompanied by a confused expression at the sight of the two of us. Without hesitation she takes aim with her bow and fires a shot at me, I throw myself backwards while at the same time a flash of light takes us away again!
This time I know exactly where it has taken us, there are moving, darting platforms in every space around us! It's day 11! We land with a thud on one of them and narrowly avoid sliding off the edge! Interestingly enough past Lenita's arrows flies through as well and disappears into the darkness.
I attempt to push myself back to my feet but Kirin slams me back down with a stomp to my chest.
As he looms above me, his face shrouded in victory, a platform rapidly is approaching from behind him. Although I make sure to maintain eye contact with him, never showing him a second of fear or doubt. He seems disturbed by this, it's like he wants me to be cowering in fear and begging for my life.
"As much as I admire your bravery, you must realise now… it is over…" he says solemnly.
"You may want to wait until we return to kill me…" I warn him.
I count down in my head how much longer we have left here judging by the past transitions. A few seconds maybe, my eyes dart back to the approaching platform behind Kirin. If this is gonna work, then I'm gonna have to time it right.
What happens next seems to pass in a strange slow motion. The flash of light takes us again, back to another corridor. I see Ryker's body slumped against the wall where Kirin left him. It's day 12!
Exhausted and in pain, I force myself to my feet. Kirin arrives slightly after me, if I judged rightly then the platform should be next and arrive exactly where I'm standing now!
Kirin doesn't waste a second to talk to me this time. In a fraction of a second his eyes go to the left of my neck, that is where he is going to attack! His strike is the most precise, quick and efficient one yet but this time I am already one step ahead of him! I manage to side step to the right out the way. The momentum of his swing carries him forward to where I was standing and I in turn take his place.
He is now frozen in surprise that I actually managed to avoid that attack… he is dumbfounded.
"If you're gonna attack someone then don't look at where you're going to strike… it kind of gives it away," I repeat the words he said to me yesterday.
"Thanks for the tip," I smile.
His eyes turn to fury! He growls in anger but as quickly as ever he is crushed against the wall by the suddenly appearing platform from day 11. All that's left of him is his bloody remains splattered against the wall… a cannon fires. The last cannon…
I know what this means but I don't know quite how to comprehend it… I was so lost in the moment I…
I collapse onto my knees, my face finally buried in my hands from mental and physical exhaustion. All I can think about is them… Ryker, Alek, Tomlin, Wrenna and Pat. Their deaths were not in vein… were they?
Woah here we are at the end. I don't really have too much to say except thank you to everyone that has submitted and especially those that have stuck with this story so far and been a part of it. I can't believe it's close to a year ago that I uploaded this story and that I actually finished it after so many doubts. Of course I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this finale and the winner. Also the epilogue to this story is important so it's important that you stick around to read both endings. Yes there will be two endings and I want to see which one you prefer! Once again thank you - Jay
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.
6th: Evangelo Goku Kasatros (District 6 male) Killed by Kirin Ignatius – Blunt force trauma.
Day 12
5th: Moira Alice Halloran (District 6 female) Killed by Lenita Young – Impaled by sword. Funnily enough Moira had a similar personality to Jia and kind of similar experience in the arena but whereas Jia managed to stay hopeful and optimistic throughout. Losing Evangelo caused Moira to spiral into hopelessness. Similar to Evangelo she was an extremely nice and likeable character and didn't deserve to die rip. Thanks for the submission curiousclove.
4th: Lenita Young (District 2 female) Killed by Ryker Shenal and mutt – Thrown from large height and eaten by mutt. Lenita was a very interesting and layered character, she was extremely skilled and physically probably the most powerful. Sometimes I think I could have given her more justice and screen time to show all her angles. Her split from Achilles and relationship with Salacia were the highlights in this story leading to some great moments. Thanks for the submission david12341.
3rd Ryker Shenal (District 11 male) Killed by Lenita Young and Kirin Ignatius – Slashed in the side and stabbed in the chest. Ryker had an interesting a different journey throughout this story. Traveling to the future and living there for 2 years was probably the biggest one. This was one of the reasons he didn't win along with the fact that he had previous survivor's guilt and wanted to atone. He was a lovely and complex character to write! Thank you for the submission . .
2nd (Runner up): Kirin Ignatius (District 1 male) Crushed by large platform – In this story Kirin started off as I kind of quiet underdog career that flew under the radar for a lot of people. He was without a doubt the smartest character in this story and as a villain he was very entertaining to write with his cunning and back handed tactics and then there was the plot twist with his brother. They say every story is as good as its villain so thanks for the submission RakTurtle.
1st (Winner): Jia Yang (District 8 female) – Survived. JIA! What a lovely tribute and well deserved winner! For me her journey in this story was learning not to trust anyone and with the enemies she faced she became cleverer and brave. Sorry r-b for traumatising your tribute in this arena so much, she watched Pat die twice, she watched Wrenna die, she killed her former friend Emmy but her optimism and resilience saw her through to the end! Thanks for the submission r-b.
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