Toddward Howard- District Nine male (16)
I shoved my fist against my mouth as I leaned against the wall of the tool shed Christobal and I were hiding in. I slammed my other fist against the wood, desperate to vent out the rage that made me want to scream. I knew I shouldn't attract the Careers but I just had to get it out. We'd lost Denton. He was a helpless little kid and we hadn't kept him safe. I saw the life fly out of him as his body rocked with the bullet's impact. Denton was spilled out like a shattered glass.
Christobal was curled up on the floor with his arms crossed in front of his face, quietly crying. I had the ghoulish thought that this must have been what it was like for boys in war so long ago. They were boys back then- teens or even preteens who were told to be men and fight the good fight. Kids Denton's age went out to war and never came home. You'd think we'd be past that by now. Hundreds of years had gone by and still kids were crying in foxholes.
But we have to keep fighting.
It was Christobal who sparked the idea in my mind. I couldn't protect Denton but I could still help Christobal. Everything I was feeling he was feeling way worse, since he was far more tender-hearted than I was. I couldn't afford to break down. I wanted to be there for my ally. Also, I wanted to stay alive. Mourning was a luxury I couldn't afford.
I was still putting the mask in place when the parachute blew through the shed door in a sudden breeze. I forced on a smile as I snagged the thin fabric.
"Someone back home cares about us," I said, trying to make it sound hopeful. Christobal looked up, his face red and blotchy, as I opened the box. My smile faltered and I forced it back on. As useful as it was, the last thing I wanted to see at that moment was a very large pistol.
"Now we're talking," I said as I took out the matching holster and clipped it around my hips. I fiddled with the pistol until I revealed the six bullets already nestled inside.
Christobal fished out a little slip of paper from the bottom of the box. "It says 'her name is Maria'," he read.
I looked down at the lethal weapon. "And a beautiful lady she is."
Malcolm Royden- District One male (18)
"These guns suck. We have an entire Cornucopia full of guns and they suck."
"People fought war with these," Talise said as she awkwardly tried to put a rifle up to her shoulder. "No wonder wars took so long."
"Let's go check the general store," Juniper said. We all followed after him, all of us needing weapons and none of us wanting our numbers to be thinned by an ambitious Tribute who might have already looted the store.
It felt weirdly like walking into a museum exhibit to push the wooden door open and step into the old-timey store. I felt like a curator was going to yell at me for touching the artifacts. The store had everything from old stick candies to blankets to cowboy boots. There was no weapons section but we quickly started picking out the hunting knives and small hatchets.
"Still wish we could use these, though," Brock said as he looked wistfully at his very large and very cumbersome rifle.
"We can," Alice said. "We just have to be creative."
Petra Ridley- District Seven female (15)
The Careers were coming. The cannons from the Bloodbath had already sounded so as Veda and I huddled behind a wood furnace in a hardware store we knew they were already hunting for us. We clung to each other like children afraid of the dark and tried to breathe quietly.
We both jumped at the crack of a gunshot not far from the front door of the hardware store. We'd chosen our stove to hide behind because the space behind it was hidden from someone positioned in either door and there was a clear path to the back door in case we had to flee. I felt Veda tensing to run but she stayed still. We didn't know if running would get us found and killed. Either staying our running would get us killed and we had no idea which one.
A thin scream told us that the gunshot hadn't been fatal. "No!" a female voice screamed. "No, please!"
Another gunshot and another scream. I stifled a sob. I expected the screams to stop but they kept coming, long and reedy and agonized.
"They're torturing someone," Veda whispered, her eyes shining with terror. She looked past me out the front door like she could see Death coming for us.
Laughter came from outside the store as whoever was shooting the girl enjoyed their handiwork. "Go check those buildings over there!"
Veda got to her knees and started toward the rear door, bent low so she was hidden behind all the wares. I stumbled after her. If the Careers were coming from the direction of the Cornucopia and had already been through the first row of stores, "over there" could only mean us.
Veda and I reached the back door and ran toward the next row of houses, hoping we could get behind them and out of sight and then choose a longer-term base. I heard dirt crunching behind us and looked back to see Talise at the end of the row of buildings the hardware store was in. I screamed and whacked Veda's arm. She looked back and we both doubled our pace, tilting forward and almost falling in our panic.
The girl's not screaming anymore. It was bizarre how I thought of that as I ran. Only then did I put it together. It had been Alice's voice. Alice's voice, but she wasn't hurt. All the noise, the screams and the gunshots, had been to give away the Careers' positions and terrorize the Tributes in the nearest row of buildings to try to run farther away. But the Tributes didn't know that Talise was stationed at the end of the building to see who would come out. Flushed out like birds...
Talise had years of training. Running wasn't her priority but she hadn't slacked on it. She closed the distance between us quickly and in moments she'd be on us. She punched me before she reached me and I was on the ground looking up when I realized it had been a gunshot and not a punch. It seemed to take my entire lower body off- I could barely move as Talise ran the last few feet to me. She stood over me and squinted as she took aim at Veda as she continued to flee. The thundering gunshot reverberated through her and into the ground around me. Talise scowled and I knew she'd missed her target. She pointed the gun down at me and I knew Veda had gotten safely out of sight. Her finger tightened on the trigger and I knew it was the end.
19th place: Petra Ridley, District Seven female- shot by Talise
Voting Games are always unpredictable. Petra, for example, had six death votes and no life votes (her submitter never voted which probably means they either weren't following that closely or just submitted her to fill out the slots, which is fine). Of the reasons given (reasons aren't required but some people post them and it's fun to see why people vote how they do) were more or less along the lines of "I dunno I had to vote for SOMEONE" or "kinda boring I guess?" No one actively disliked Petra. It was just no one actively liked her, so she died here. Petra was "average" but, like... everyone is average. We all think we're not but we all are in most ways. Thanks AlexFalton for probably the most realistic Tribute here.
This chapter had an awkward length because there is someone else with enough votes to die but doing another death scene would have been awkwardly long so I did a kinda short chapter instead.
Timeline: It's still like right after the Bloodbath. Next chapter will still be the first day.
Voting notes: You can resubmit votes every chapter or more often if they change. If no one dies in a chapter your votes will likely be the same and it's fine if you don't re-send them, I'll assume they're the same. I will generally be updating every other day. If votes are super tight I might wait a while to let any stragglers in who might be tie-breakers. Also IMPORTANT NOTE remember that if your Tribute is dead you can still vote. You don't HAVE to or anything but you can.