Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men or The Hunger Games.
Note: I owe a huge shout-out and thank-you to my brother, Howler33, for answering my many, many tornado questions. Any remaining inaccuracies are entirely my responsibility and will be chalked up to the fact that there were mutants involved.
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Vincent Reid, 28
March 25, 15:23 MST
I think you've bitten off a bit more than you can chew this time.
Vincent leaned forward, watching as the tornado barrelled south, whipping up everything in its path. Most of the contestants were north of the tornado, but if it kept heading in the same direction, it would pass awfully close to Liv, Lee, and Elena. Would Liv be able to stop it? Would she try, or would they just run?
Two weather manipulators. He'd told Alvin back when they'd been selecting the contestants that that was a bad idea, that the MAAB had finally bitten off more than they could chew. He was no expert, but with the amount of energy the two of them had put into that last storm, feeding off each other's strength, building everything up, anything could happen.
And now, thanks to a little bad luck from Vi, anything had.
Vincent glanced at the other three, who were equally riveted to the screens. The four of them were about as safe as they could be here. They were underground – exactly how far underground, Vincent wasn't sure, but they were certainly much safer than anyone on the surface. Much safer than any of the contestants.
That had been especially cruel of the MAAB. They'd known this was a possibility, and they'd deliberately chosen an area with practically no shelter. The tunnels were probably the safest place to be, but most of the contestants were still a good distance away from them. The house Seb had made didn't have a basement of any sort. There wasn't really anyone close to the caves, and even that probably wouldn't be the best place to be in a storm.
But probably better than out in the open, which was where most of the contestants were.
Suddenly, one of the screens flickered, and then went dark. Vincent raised an eyebrow. That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?
Yeah, we were expecting that. The thought came from over by the doorway. Vincent didn't have to turn to recognize Alvin. Surprised we made it through the hailstorm without losing any, really. Any cameras in that tornado's path are toast – maybe even more, depending on the wind.
"I bet Mack's getting some great footage from the others, though," Vincent muttered bitterly.
Absolutely. And it'll be easy enough to replace the cameras once the system has passed. That could be a while, though.
He pressed a button, and the screen that had gone dark switched to a radar image. Red and yellow pixels covered the map, forming a shape that looked like a blob with a tail. To the north was another red and yellow blob, larger than the first, with a splattering of other yellow blobs farther back. Vincent shook his head. "Alvin, I'm a music teacher. What am I looking at here?"
For a moment, all he caught were terms like 'hook' and 'rotation' and 'supercell.' After a moment, though, Alvin pointed at the blob's tail. That's the tornado. He waved a hand at the mess to the north. That's the rest of the system.
Vincent nodded. "So just because this particular tornado is headed south…"
Doesn't mean they're out of the woods yet, Alvin agreed. And neither are we.
But we're safe here. That was Penelope. We knew this could happen. That's why we're underground. There's a backup power supply. Plenty of food and water in case things go really wrong. Extra cameras to replace whatever gets destroyed. You thought of everything.
Vincent could tell Alvin was laughing before he turned around. Oh, yes, we thought of everything. He shook his head.
Except whatever we missed.
Frederick Bouvy, 17
At least the tornado had missed them.
Frederick pulled his jacket tighter and wiped the rain from his face as he and Henry stared at the tornado, still visible off to the south. "Whoa," he breathed, his voice barely audible above the wind and the rain. "That's … amazing."
And it was. It was amazing. It was terrifying. But it was almost beautiful. And since it was headed the other way, they could take a moment to enjoy the sight.
It was only a moment, though, because several of the smaller golems that Henry had sent out came scurrying back, looking almost … frantic, if that was possible for little creatures made of rocks and dirt. Henry knelt down in the dirt beside them. "I think something's out there."
Frederick raised an eyebrow and gestured towards the tornado. "No shit, Sherlock."
"Besides the tornado. Something over—" They stood up and took a step back. "Over there."
Frederick looked. Someone was making their way towards the two of them, slowly, shielding their face from the rain. Frederick braced himself, reaching to take off one of his gloves. Beside him, Henry waved their hand a little, and the smaller golems coalesced into one larger one that took up a position slightly ahead of them.
The figure in the distance slowed, but didn't stop. It took a few more steps forward, curious. "Frederick?"
Frederick took a step back at the sound of the voice. "Seb?"
Frederick glanced over at Henry, who was putting the pieces together. "He's the one who writes things, right?"
"Yeah."
"Anything?"
"As far as I know, yeah."
Henry squinted. "So why doesn't he have any clothes?"
Frederick opened his mouth to say something. Something like, 'Don't be silly. Of course he has clothes.' But as Seb came closer, he could see that Henry was right. "What happened?" Frederick called, taking a step forward in the rain.
Seb shook his head. "No time. We have to get out of here. We have to find somewhere safer."
Frederick pointed. "But the tornado's heading that way. We're safe here, right?"
"What if there's more than one?" Seb asked.
Oh.
"We should head for the tunnels," Henry suggested, pulling an extra set of clothes from one of the backpacks.
Frederick shook his head. "That's the direction the tornado was. You want to head towards there?" That couldn't be a good idea, could it? Where there was one tornado, there might be more, right? Or was it sort of like lightning, never hitting the same place twice? Maybe Henry was right.
Henry shrugged. "You got a better idea?"
Frederick hesitated. Maybe he did. He turned to Seb. "The house you made. Is it still there?"
"As far as I know, but…"
"But?"
"There are two other contestants there. Or at least, there were. I'm not sure if they're still there or not. They killed Alphonso, and…" He shook his head. "And they shot me."
"But you're still alive."
"I … I wrote my name on the ground before I … before I died. That sort of … brought me back, but…"
"But without your clothes?"
"And without my powers."
And without your collar, Frederick noticed, but said nothing. "Okay, so we don't want to go there," he agreed. "I think I have another idea, though. We've got a flashlight, right, Henry?" When there was no answer, he turned. But Henry was gone, along with one of the bags of supplies. Frederick peered into the distance, and thought for a moment that he could see a shape heading away from them in the direction of the tunnels.
Frederick hesitated. Maybe Henry had been right. Maybe the tunnels were the safest place. But he couldn't shake the feeling that his other idea was better. "We should head this way." He pointed in the opposite direction, off to the northwest.
"What about your friend?"
Friend. Was that what he and Henry were? Maybe. But Henry hadn't thought twice about leaving without him. Maybe they figured Frederick would follow. Maybe they were hoping he wouldn't. After all, only two of them could survive. Maybe they saw Seb as a threat.
But not enough of a threat to attack.
Frederick picked up the other bag of supplies. Given the choice between Seb and Henry, he wasn't really sure who he would pick. But maybe he woundn't have to choose. After all, if Seb didn't have a collar anymore, did that mean he wasn't part of the Games? And had Seb realized that?
"We'll catch up with Henry later after the storm clears," Frederick answered, hoping he sounded more certain than he felt. "For now, we need to get somewhere safe."
Seb raised an eyebrow. "And there's somewhere safe that way?"
"I hope so. Do you trust me?"
Seb blinked, and Frederick realized what he had just said. Realized that Seb really didn't have much of a reason to trust him. After all, Frederick had done exactly what Henry had just done. He'd left Seb and Alphonso the first night, figuring he was better off on his own. From the sound of it, he'd been right, but that didn't mean that Seb would trust him now.
After a moment, however, Seb nodded. "All right. Let's go that way."
That wasn't an answer to the question. Not really. But for now, it would have to be good enough.
Because he probably wasn't going to get more than that.
Liv Holle, 18
She was going to have to do more than that.
Liv's brow furrowed in concentration as she, Lee, and Elena huddled close to the ground. That was what you were supposed to do in a tornado, wasn't it? If you couldn't get to shelter, you found a ditch and got as low as possible. Except there weren't any ditches out here. Everything was so open. And the tornado was getting closer by the second.
Maybe they had made a mistake coming back north after all. If that was where the other weather manipulator was, maybe being closer together had caused the weather to become more unstable again. The other person wouldn't really be creating tornadoes on purpose, would they? Not when they had just as much of a chance of being swept up by one as anyone else.
Liv clenched her fists and tried to concentrate. The funnel was still a good distance away, but the rain was making it difficult to tell exactly how far, or whether she was having any success in either making it smaller or nudging it in the other direction. It didn't seem to be headed exactly for them, but that didn't mean that it was safe. Whatever it was picking up in its path could still come flying at them from pretty far away.
Which was why Elena had already changed to her metal form, ready to shield them from the debris if Liv couldn't protect them. Liv shook her head. She could do this. She had to do this. She could see the tornado a little better now. It was getting closer. Closer. Too close for comfort.
But it did seem to be getting weaker. What had started as an almost perfect cone shape was growing thinner and thinner, so that it now looked almost like a rope stretching out from the cloud above it. Liv wiped the rain out of her eyes. Just a little more. The end of the tornado lifted off the ground, waving in the air like a tail.
Just a little more.
Liv finally let out a breath and leaned back, exhausted, as the last of the tornado dissipated. It was still raining, but they could deal with rain. At least now they were out of danger.
"Uh, Liv." Elena's voice cut through her brief moment of relief. "That doesn't look good."
Liv looked where Elena was pointing. Almost exactly where the tornado had disappeared, the clouds were beginning to swirl again. Liv stared as a new funnel began to form, descending from the clouds to replace the other one. Liv stood up, fists clenched, watching in horror as the new tornado took shape, now a dark V-shape in the sky. It wasn't fair! It wasn't—
"Liv, get down!" Lee shouted. After a moment, she was vaguely aware of him grabbing her and tugging her to the ground as the tornado swept closer and closer. That way. She just had to nudge it a little bit that way.
But she was already so tired.
She could feel Elena on top of her. Something made a clanking sound – the sound of rock hitting metal. Then another. And another. Liv squeezed her eyes shut. She could hear the wind roaring past, but she couldn't tell how far away it was. Not far, from the sound, but maybe far enough. Maybe she had been strong enough.
Maybe.
Liv couldn't help a scream as something struck her leg – one of the few parts Elena hadn't managed to cover. There was only one of her, after all, and two of them. Two of them who needed to be kept safe because she couldn't control the weather enough to keep them from getting hit by a damn tornado.
Liv realized she was holding her breath. The roaring and the clanking were beginning to die down. Maybe the tornado was moving farther away. Maybe it had missed them.
But she didn't dare look yet.
Quieter. Quieter. Finally, she opened her eyes. Elena stood up slowly, examining a few dents in her metal. Liv rubbed her leg, which was bleeding where a jagged rock had struck it. It hurt like hell, but at least it didn't seem to be broken. All in all, it could have been much worse.
Liv stood up, watching as the tornado kept chugging south, a mountain directly in its path. Would that make a difference?
Liv shook her head. Probably not. But that wasn't her problem. Right now, her problem was finding something to bandage her leg with. That was it.
Anything more than that could wait.
Elio Haines, 16
She couldn't keep going any more.
Elio gave Lea's shoulder a squeeze as she stopped, panting, by the edge of the lake. The tornado was still thundering over the mountain behind them, picking up rocks and trees and anything else that happened to be in its path. And soon that would be them. "Put me down," Elio said quietly.
Lea shook her head. "Not until we're safe." But she sank to the ground, anyway, panting, and he slid gently off her back.
"We'll be safe here." It was a lie. Well, it was half a lie. Well, maybe more than half. He wouldn't be safe here. And Lea would be safe – but not here.
Lea's eyes were fixed on the tornado. "How?" she asked, struggling to her feet. "How are we going to be safe if—"
Before she could finish, Elio raised his hands, creating a barrier between them. "Give me strength," he whispered, "just one last time."
Lea's eyes were frantic. "Elio, what are you doing?"
He pushed.
The barrier moved.
Slowly at first, and then faster, Lea was pushed away by the barrier – away from Elio, away from the tornado, at enough of an angle to put her out of its path. She was screaming something at him, pounding against the barrier, but he knew it wouldn't break. It couldn't. This was why he had been allowed to survive the lightning bolt. He couldn't save himself, but he could protect Lea.
Elio took a deep breath, concentrating. The barrier was moving faster now. Faster. But the tornado seemed to be growing faster, as well. Or maybe it just seemed that way because it was closer now. Closer. Rain washed down over him. Something struck him from behind. He didn't turn to see what. He had to focus. He had to keep her safe as long as he could.
That was the only thing that mattered now.
But the wind was so strong.
Even the wind and the waves obey me.
Elio smiled as the wind whipped through his hair. Everything around him was growing dark, but the light … He could still see the light, as bright and beautiful as ever, ready to greet him when his job was done. Ready to welcome him home.
Just a little longer.
He felt his body leave the ground. Something slammed into his side. Something else struck the back of his head. For a moment, he was flying – flying uncontrolled through the air, knowing the best he could hope for now was a soft landing – and also knowing in the back of his mind that he wasn't going to get it.
Pain. For a moment as he struck the ground, there was only pain. Pain in his chest, his head, his limbs. But almost as quickly as it had come, it began to fade. It faded along with the rest of the world. Elio let out a breath – a breath he knew would be his last. As he closed his eyes, he could still see the light. He could still feel the warmth. And he knew – knew with the same certainty he had come to rely on – that he had done the right thing.
He couldn't ask for more than that.
Savannah Kingston, 19
She couldn't ask for a better view.
Savannah stared in awe as a second tornado began to take shape – farther north this time, but still quite a bit west of her, just like the one that had disappeared over the mountains to the south a while ago. She'd watched as it had disappeared into the distance, but even though it had been a while – maybe half an hour or so – she hadn't been able to take her eyes off the sky. Waiting for something else to happen. And now it had.
She wasn't safe, of course; there was no safe place to be in a storm this strong. Not when there wasn't really any sort of shelter around. Maybe the tunnels, but that would mean going farther west. Back in the direction of the tornadoes. That didn't sound like a very good idea.
Besides, some of the other contestants had probably had the same idea. Unless the other groups had managed to find some other place to take shelter, returning to the tunnels was probably a pretty tempting prospect for anyone who happened to be closer to them than she was. If enough people ended up back there – back in the same place – there was no telling what might happen.
Maybe that was a good thing. After all, the more the others ended up killing each other off, the fewer she would have to fight. Maybe this would all be over sooner if everyone headed back towards the only safe place around.
Except … would the tunnels even be safe? Sure, they were underground, but how stable were they? What if they collapsed? Being buried alive under a pile of tornado debris didn't exactly sound like a good plan either. No, it was probably better to stay put here. Just stay put and watch the show.
And it did almost feel like a show. As she watched, a third tornado formed alongside the second one, a bit closer to her. She watched as it reached down towards the ground, closer and closer, finally touching down in a cloud of dust.
Savannah smiled. As long as the tornadoes stayed a good distance away, they were almost beautiful. No, not just almost. They were beautiful – maybe even more beautiful because they were so dangerous. Savannah wiped a few tears from her face. The first night of the Games, Lilith had said that the lightning she had shot into the sky was beautiful. This was beautiful in the same way.
Maybe that wasn't all that was the same.
There had been storms of one kind or another on and off since the start of the Games, after all. It didn't take a genius to figure out that someone was causing them. The rain. The snow. The hail. And now … now this. But this was different, somehow. Not just stronger, but sharper. Whatever was causing the storms, there was more of it now. More anger. More frustration. More pain.
Maybe even pain like hers.
Savannah blinked away the rain and the tears. Last night, after Coburn had died, she had lost control. Everything she had been bottling up since the start of the games – the fear, the anger, the grief, the rage and pain – it had all come out at once. This had the same feeling to it – the same chaos, the same raw, destructive energy. Maybe that meant there was someone else out there – someone who had gone through the same thing. Someone who would understand.
Someone like her.
Savannah shook her head. She knew it was a stretch. She knew she was probably projecting. Reaching for anything that might help her feel less … less alone now that both Lilith and Coburn were gone. Even if there was someone like her out there, after all, that didn't mean anything. Well, other than the fact that she might have to kill someone like her.
Or maybe not. Two of them could survive, after all. And the sort of person who could create a storm like this … well, that didn't sound like someone she wanted to fight. It was probably better to stay here. Better to stay away.
But…
Savannah clenched her fists. But nothing. She didn't want to risk getting any closer – not yet. Not when there was still a chance that another tornado might appear. But that was true regardless of where she was, wasn't it? Just because she wasn't in immediate danger here didn't mean she was safe. Chances were, none of the contestants were safe.
But that was a good thing, wasn't it? Savannah shivered as she watched the tornadoes, now a pair of dark, twisted hourglass shapes against the green-tinted sky. It felt wrong, hoping that some of the others were in their path, hoping that the tornadoes would kill them so that she wouldn't have to. But maybe it was time to get used to things feeling wrong. It had been days since anything had felt right. Maybe this was just the way things had to be now.
And maybe it was time she got used to it.
Fae Tomasini, 13
Maybe it was time to head for the tunnels after all.
Fae had to fight to keep from screaming as she saw the tornado in the distance – this one headed in their direction. The last one had been south of them, and heading south. None of them had wanted to head towards the tunnels, because that would mean heading more or less towards the tornado. Now it was starting to look like they'd made the wrong choice.
But there was no way they could have known. How were they supposed to know that a second tornado would be heading right towards them? It wasn't as if there were tornado sirens out here or anything. They were lucky they could even see the tornado through the rain, so at least they had a little warning. But would it be enough?
Fae and Kiara helped Iola to her feet, and Kiara took the earplugs out of her pocket and put them in. Fae nodded. She didn't want to make Kiara deaf, of course, but if the tornado got too close … well, she couldn't promise she wouldn't scream. As quickly as they could, the three of them headed in the direction of the tunnels. But Fae couldn't help a sinking feeling that they weren't going to be quick enough. Not with the two of them having to support Iola…
Iola gave Fae's shoulder a squeeze, then pointed in the direction of the tunnels. "Go!" she shouted over the roar of the storm.
Fae shook her head. "We're not just going to leave you," she insisted, even though she knew Iola couldn't hear her. She turned to Kiara, who shook her head. At this rate, they weren't going to make it to the tunnels anyway – with or without Iola. Kiara pointed to a patch of ground off to their right, a little lower than the surrounding area. That was supposed to be the safest place in a tornado, wasn't it? A ditch or some other bit of lower ground?
No. No, the safest place in a tornado was underground. A basement. A ditch was only 'safer' compared to being completely out in the open, but right now, those were the only options. The three of them made their way to the lower ground and lay down. Iola pulled Fae over on top of Kiara, then piled on top herself.
Fae swallowed hard. What Iola was trying to do was clear. If either she or Fae got hurt, then Kiara could heal them. But if Kiara got hurt, they were in trouble. Fae was shaking as the wind grew stronger. Iola pushed her head down, motioning for her to put her hands over her head and neck. Right. She should have known that. They had tornado drills at school. But she'd always assumed if there was a tornado, she'd be in some sort of building. Everything was so open here, so exposed.
Fae felt something shift on top of her, and realized that Iola had grown. Fae couldn't tell exactly who she was mimicking, but whoever it was, they were bigger than Iola was. She was trying to cover as much of the other two as possible. Fae curled up as small as she could as the roaring grew louder. Closer. Closer.
Something slammed into her side, and pain spread through her chest. She could feel blood. A lot of blood. Fae squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to think about what might have hit her. What might be hitting the others.
How much more of this could they take?
Iola Boman, 19
They wouldn't be able to take much more of this.
Iola held on tightly to Fae and Kiara, trying to focus on maintaining Ekon's shape. He was bigger than the other two – big enough to shield them from some of the debris. Some, but not all. She could feel Fae squirming beneath her, trying to remove a chunk of wood that had lodged itself in her side. Damn. Once the storm was over, Kiara would be able to heal her, but would Fae last that long?
Something struck the back of Iola's head. She could feel herself losing focus, shifting back to her own shape. Fae curled up even tighter, eyes squeezed shut tight, arms shielding her head and neck. She looked so small, and Kiara…
Iola breathed a sigh of relief as she realized Kiara was reaching a hand towards Fae. Halfway there, though, she stopped, glancing up at Iola. Wondering who to help first. Iola's stomach churned at her expression. Whatever had hit her must have been harder than she'd thought. Iola shook her head, forced a smile, and shifted back to Ekon's shape. Focus. She just had to focus long enough for Kiara to heal Fae, and then she could help her, too.
For a moment, she almost believed it.
Kiara Moore, 15
She had almost missed her chance.
Kiara closed a hand tightly around Fae's arm as the debris continued to rain down. The tornado was apparently too far away to pick them up, but that didn't stop it from flinging rocks and wood and whatever else it had picked up in their direction. Something had already embedded itself in Fae's stomach, and something else had struck Iola's head. She couldn't tell exactly what, but she did know they were both bleeding – and bleeding heavily.
And she wouldn't have time to save them both.
She hated that – the certainty. She could tell exactly how badly someone was hurt, and this … this wasn't fair. She shouldn't have to make that sort of choice.
But the worst part was, there wasn't really a choice. Kiara closed her eyes, trying not to imagine Iola's face, trying to concentrate on healing the gaping hole in Fae's stomach. Trying to ignore the fact that something had just punctured Iola's lung. She could feel Iola shrinking again. Blood covered the three of them – both Iola's and Fae's. Slowly, so slowly, the wound in Fae's side was closing. But Iola…
She wasn't going to be quick enough. It was too hard to focus, too hard to move quickly, too hard even to think straight. She was lucky she was having any success at all healing Fae with all these distractions. There was no way she was going to be able to help Iola, too.
And Iola had known that.
Kiara wasn't sure whether that made it better or worse.
Iola was completely still on top of her now. It hadn't even been close. Fae was still bleeding, the wound still slowly closing. There was no way she would have been able to save them both. No way she could have done enough.
She just wished she could have done more.
Kylena Albright, 16
She wasn't sure the bubble could take much more.
Kylena squeezed Jaime's hand tightly as the pair of them crouched close to the ground, the bubble shielding them from the debris as the tornadoes rumbled by in the distance – one on each side, neither of them close enough to reach them, but both close enough to fling debris in their direction. Most of it was small – rocks, small branches, and other things that bounced off the bubble. But every so often, there was a larger piece of—
"Look out!" Jaime shouted as something came flying towards them – something large. Kylena braced herself as it landed on top of the bubble and, to her relief, stopped there. Jaime stared at the chunk of wood that had landed on top of the bubble. "What the hell is that?"
Kylena peered closer. The wood was smooth and rectangular, and, sticking out of the front, there was a doorknob. Kylena's stomach churned. The two of them had been heading for the house, hoping that it would provide at least a little shelter. Now it looked like it was a good thing they hadn't made it there in time.
Kylena relaxed a little as the pounding on the bubble subsided, some of it striking the door now rather than the bubble. There seemed to be less of it now, too. Maybe that meant the tornadoes were moving away. Finally, she could see a little better – well enough to see the pair of tornadoes disappearing into the distance, taking their cloud of debris with them. She let out a deep breath as the bubble popped, and the cracked door dropped to the ground beside them. "Well, we're alive."
"Don't jinx it," Jaime muttered as they looked around. There didn't seem to be any sign of more tornadoes, but there hadn't been much sign of these ones until they'd appeared. There had been some rain, sure, but after six days of weird weather, neither of them had thought that was particularly unusual. How the hell were they supposed to know what was usual weather and what wasn't?
Jaime kicked a piece of wood that had bounced off the bubble. "Thanks."
Kylena blinked. "What, for the bubble? You're welcome. I'm just glad I could make one big enough for both of us."
Jaime nodded. "That's what I meant. You could've made one just for you. That would've been easier, I'm sure. You couldn't be certain a bigger one would last as long."
Kylena shook her head. She hadn't even thought of that. Jaime was her partner. Her teammate. Her friend. Had they really expected her to leave them to fend for themself in a tornado? "I'm just glad it wasn't any closer than that," Kylena pointed out, changing the subject. "It was strong enough to deflect the debris, but if the tornado had actually hit us, I don't know what would have happened."
Jaime chuckled. "Let's try not to find out."
Kylena nodded. But there was only so much they could do. It wasn't as if either of them could control the weather. If there were going to be tornadoes, there were going to be tornadoes, and there probably wasn't anywhere safe to be – especially now that the house was gone. And it turned out that even that wouldn't really have been safe. In fact, there was probably only one place that would be safe.
"I bet some of them headed for the tunnels," Kylena muttered.
"Hmm?"
"When the others saw the tornadoes. Maybe they headed for the tunnels, figured that would be a safe place. We didn't even consider that because we figured the house was closer, but if some of them went there…"
"Then they might still be there."
"Exactly."
Jaime raised an eyebrow. "So you want to head that way?"
Kylena hesitated. That was what she'd meant. If there was someone hiding in the tunnels, that meant that they wouldn't be able to use their powers. Attacking them like that seemed unfair, but…
"We should probably wait a bit," Jaime reasoned. "Until we're sure the tornadoes are done. Otherwise we might just end up in the same position – hiding from the tornadoes in the tunnels, waiting for someone to find us."
Kylena nodded. "How do we tell?"
"What?"
"How do we tell when the tornadoes are done? I mean, we thought we were safe after the first one. And it's still raining, but is it raining because there's another one coming or just because it's … raining?"
Jaime shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
Wait and see. That didn't sound like much of a plan, but she had to admit that she didn't really have a better one. Kylena nodded and opened one of their bags. If they were going to be waiting here a while, they might as well eat.
There wasn't much more they could do.
Seb
There wasn't much more they could do.
Seb gasped for breath as he followed Frederick across the rocks. The boots were a little big for him, but he was grateful Frederick had even had an extra pair of boots, along with an extra shirt, a pair of pants, some socks, and even an extra rain poncho and a hat. After wandering around barefoot and naked, he was grateful to have anything to protect him from the storm.
And it was quite a storm. As far as he could tell, the pair of them were out of the path of the tornadoes, but the rain was still pounding down around them. Still, Frederick kept going, not seeming to care about the rain, or about anything except getting to wherever they were going. Seb glanced back at the pair of tornadoes behind them, plowing their way south as he and Seb headed northwest. "I hope your friend made it to the tunnels."
Frederick nodded. "I hope so, too. But right now, we need to worry about us."
"The tornadoes are back there," Seb pointed out.
"Those ones are, yeah. That's what we said about the last one. Who knows where one might show up next? We need to get somewhere safe."
"So where are we going?"
"There's a cave this way."
"A cave?"
"I found it while I was following a vampire."
"A vampire?"
Frederick shook his head. "Look, are you just going to repeat everything I say? Not all of us have been sitting around in a nice, warm house for the whole Games. Some of us have had to fend for ourselves, and I was looking for food. I saw a bat, figured it was the vampire from the talent show, and followed it hoping to steal some supplies. Which I did, because the vampire and her friends were busy exploring a cave and had left their bags outside. I sealed up the cave entrance, but they got out. And if they got out, we can get in."
Seb blinked. "We're heading for a cave where there might be a vampire?"
Frederick rolled his eyes. "Why do you think I didn't tell you earlier? Look, they're probably not there anymore. They were chasing me before, so there's no reason they'd still be there."
"Unless they had the same thought as you – that it might be a pretty good place to hide during a storm."
Frederick nodded. "Maybe."
"And?"
"And what?"
"And what if they are there?"
"Then we turn and run the other way. Worked last time."
Seb slowed down a little. "Why don't we just stay here?"
Frederick rounded on him. "Because I said so, that's why!" he snapped. But there was something else in his expression – something he wasn't saying. He wasn't angry; he was desperate. Desperate for Seb to stop asking questions. "Please, you have to trust me."
Seb blinked. He'd said that before – asked if Seb trusted him. But the truth was, he didn't have much of a reason to. "You left us," Seb said quietly. "The first night, you left us. Why?"
Frederick shook his head. "Because you were both drunk and acting like idiots, and I thought you were going to get yourselves killed. Didn't see any sense in getting myself killed along with you. Same reason I didn't chase after Henry when they decided to run for the tunnels. If they get themself killed, at least they didn't take me down with them." He sighed. "Look, no one would blame you if you did the same thing now – let me rush off to the caves by myself, and if I die, I die. I didn't ask you to come with me the first night, and maybe I should have. It was Alphonso's idea to get drunk; you were just going along. I didn't ask you then, but I'm asking you now. I'm asking you to follow me. But I won't force you. If you want to stay, stay. But I'm going." He turned around and kept going.
Seb hesitated. But only for a moment. There was no choice – not really. He could either follow Frederick, or he could be left alone again. He couldn't just let Frederick leave him alone – not again – and Frederick clearly knew it. Seb shook his head, pulled his poncho a little tighter, and followed Frederick towards the caves.
He just hoped he hadn't made a mistake.
Henry Helstrom, 14
They'd made a terrible mistake.
Henry staggered forward in the blinding rain, trying their best to stay upright despite the wind. When they'd suggested heading back towards the tunnels, they'd been assuming they would be able to find the tunnels again. But it was too hard to even tell which direction they were going. And in the rain, the tunnels could be a few feet from them, and they wouldn't know the difference. Hell, at this point, they'd probably be lucky if they didn't accidentally fall into one.
Or maybe they would be luckier if they did. At least then they would be out of this wind. The golem they'd created in front of them was blocking some of it, but only some. The wind whipped around the golem, tugging at their jacket, blowing this way and that. And it was growing louder, too – a deep, persistent rumbling, almost like a train.
Oh shit.
Henry peered around the golem, shielding their eyes from the wind, hoping not to see what was almost certainly there. It was there. And in fact, there were two of them. A pair of tornadoes, headed straight towards them.
Henry clenched their fists. They should have stayed with Frederick. But Frederick had seemed so relieved to see Seb again, it had seemed like only a matter of time before the two of them decided they didn't need Henry anymore. So Henry had taken the initiative and left before they could make the decision. Just like they had left Iola and Kiara and Fae. Just like they had left their home the night Alvin had come, sneaking off in the middle of the night without anyone even noticing. They had left, just like they always had – and just like everyone had ever left them. Maybe leaving the ground to get swept up by a tornado was just the icing on the cake.
But they still didn't want to die.
Henry dropped to the ground, getting as low as they could, their hands covering their head and neck. They waved a hand, and in an instant, the golem was on top of them, shielding them from the wind – and whatever else was coming. They would just have to hope it would be enough.
The rumbling grew closer, shaking the ground beneath them. Above them, the golem was trembling in the wind. It was only a matter of time before it was blown off, leaving them completely exposed to the storm. Henry closed their eyes, the golem pressing harder against their body. Closer. Closer. The rocky shape of the golem bent around them, wrapping around their arms and legs, trying to hold onto the ground beneath them.
It wasn't enough.
Henry couldn't help a scream as they were lifted into the air, but the scream was muffled by the rocky surface of the golem, suddenly in front of their face, the rock encircling them like a crude suit of armor. Henry gasped for air, and a small slit opened somewhere in the rock. Air came rushing in, but they still felt lightheaded. Dizzy. They weren't sure how high up they were, and they didn't really want to know. They were in the air – that was all that mattered.
But not for long. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a few seconds, they struck the ground – hard. Something cracked. Several things from the sound of it – and from the pain. Henry could feel the golem bouncing, rolling, then finally, coming to a stop, face-up on the ground. Their head ached. Everything hurt. But they were alive.
They had time to enjoy the feeling for a moment before they blacked out.
Elena Burleigh, 21
It seemed like they'd barely had time to rest.
Elena gasped for breath, trying to focus on maintaining her metal form as the three of them made their way west as quickly as possible – up into the mountains. The tornadoes seemed to be moving so slowly, crawling their way across the landscape. Maybe that was Liv. Or maybe they'd just gotten lucky this time – lucky that they'd started moving again. Hell, they were lucky they'd made it through the first tornado alive.
Alive, but not completely unharmed. A piece of flying rock had left a gash in Liv's leg, and Elena was covered with dents from the debris. The dents from the hail the other day had become bruises when she'd shifted back to human form – a bit tender, but not really a big deal. But these dents were deeper, and she wasn't entirely sure what would happen when she shifted back.
So she'd been putting it off. Besides, there was no reason to shift back to human form yet – not when there were still two more tornadoes out there, at least. Still more debris that could be flying their way, no matter how high they made it into the mountains. Besides, it wasn't as if the mountains would stop a tornado. They certainly hadn't stopped the last one.
"I'm going to kill whoever's doing this," Liv muttered as the three of them climbed higher.
"Liv—" Lee started.
"I'm serious. I mean, killing people in a fight to the death is one thing. But killing them like this – sending a damn tornado after them, so they won't even have a chance to fight back – that's just…" She trailed off for a moment. "Unfair," she finished at last, but more quietly, probably realizing just how childish that sounded.
Lee chuckled. "Are you angry or jealous?"
"Jealous?"
"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you wouldn't like to do the same thing – just send a tornado barreling towards whoever's causing all this, take them out without having to lift a finger."
"The whole point of this—"
"—is for us to kill each other," Lee finished. "That's it. That's the only rule. There is no 'fair.' There is no sportsmanship. Whoever's doing this, maybe they've got the right idea – taking the initiative like this."
"That's exactly what we were doing," Liv pointed out. "We were heading north so that we could find them."
Lee nodded. "I know. I know. It's just … frustrating?"
"What, that I can't just summon a tornado and send it back at them?"
"No, that we seem to be spending all our time running and hiding from the weather, and I just feel so … useless."
Liv blinked. "You?"
Lee snorted. "Yeah, me. The person who can't deflect the storms and can't turn into a human shield to keep us all safe."
Liv said nothing. Clearly, that wasn't the response she'd been expecting. Elena nodded. "And you think if we were in a fight…"
"Then at least I could be doing something," Lee agreed. "Then at least I'd feel like I was carrying my own weight."
Liv chuckled. "You want to carry your own weight? Here. How about you carry this for a while." She held out her pack.
Lee quickly slung it over his back on top of his own. "Not exactly what I meant."
Liv nodded. "I know, but my leg's killing me, so if you could take it for a while…"
"Do you want to stop and rest?"
Liv glanced back at the tornadoes in the distance. "Not a good idea. I think they're going to miss us, but I want to be as far away from that debris as possible."
Elena shuddered. She couldn't argue with that. She didn't like the thought of having to shield the other two from debris again. Not because she didn't want to protect them, but because she wasn't sure how long she could keep this up.
Elena clenched her fists, the metal creaking a little. She could keep this up as long as she needed to. Liv and Lee were relying on her. They needed her. If she hadn't been there to protect them…
They would be dead. Or at least badly injured. And out here, nowhere near a hospital and God knew how long from the end of the Games, 'badly injured' was probably just as good as dead. As it was, they were just lucky Liv's injury hadn't been worse. There was no telling what might happen next time.
So they would just have to make sure there wasn't a next time.
Lea Cervantes, 18
She might not be as lucky next time.
Lea rubbed the back of her head as she tried again to stand up. In the distance, the closer tornado was growing longer and thinner, the end slowly snaking its way off the ground. But that didn't mean she was safe. She'd thought she was safe when Elio had pushed her safely out of the path of the first tornado, but he'd been so focused on pushing her away from the tornado that he clearly hadn't given a second thought to what he might be pushing her into.
What he had pushed her into was, in fact, a tree. She wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but when she'd regained consciousness, the tornado was gone. Or at least, that tornado was gone. Now there were two more, but the closer one, at least, seemed to be dying off. That was a good thing.
Now if only she could manage to stand up.
Lea closed her eyes as she slumped back to the ground. Everything was spinning – spinning completely out of control. Less than twenty-four hours ago, she and Elio had been just fine, resting on the mountain, planning to head back down when daylight came. But then the lightning. And now this. And now Elio…
Elio was dead. She was sure of that. He'd known what he was doing. He'd saved her life, but there had never been any chance of saving his. Lea leaned back against the tree trunk and wiped the tears from her eyes. It wasn't fair. He'd only wanted to help her – to help all of them. He'd never wanted to fight, never wanted to kill, but he was just as dead as any of the others who had gone down fighting. It wasn't fair.
It wasn't right.
It wasn't right that God had let it happen.
Lea clenched her fists. Elio had trusted God to guide them, and this was his reward – his punishment for one moment of doubt. For all she knew, the same thing might happen to her if she made a mistake. Elio had seemed so certain that they would be safe, if only they did the right thing, and now…
Now he was dead. And she was stuck here, her head throbbing, with no supplies except the clothes on her back and the knife and compass in her pockets. She'd put her pack down when she'd set Elio down by the lake. It was probably gone now.
And so was he.
Elio was gone.
Elio was dead.
Lea shivered. She could be next. And she didn't want to be next. Now that it came down to it, she didn't want to die – and she certainly didn't want to die alone out here, freezing or starving to death or dying of thirst. Well, probably not dying of thirst, if she could make her way back to the lake. But Elio was the one who had been catching all the fish. Unless she could find a way to catch them on her own – with no supplies at all – then she would have a hard time finding food.
Unless…
There was another option. Another place there was certain to be food. She could head back to the circle and hope that there were still supplies. But that … that felt like giving up. She should at least try to find her own food out here.
But by the time it was clear she couldn't, it would be too late to head back. If she was going to go back, it had to be now. It had taken them six days to get where they were. Sure, they hadn't spent the whole time moving, but she couldn't, either. And there was no telling what weather she might run into along the way. If she went back now, she might make it there before she starved. If she waited…
Lea leaned back against the tree and watched the tornado – just the one now – disappear into the distance. She wasn't going anywhere until she could stand without the whole world spinning. She had a little time, at least.
But she couldn't wait forever.
Kenji Rose, 12
He shouldn't have waited.
Kenji brushed the tears from his eyes as he finally reached the cave, looking around long enough to take in the damage. Trees had been knocked over, rocks overturned, and the mouth of the cave lay open and gaping – almost welcoming. Had another tornado gone through here? Or just a lot of wind? Kenji shook his head. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered.
Nothing except the fact that he had failed.
Emery was dead. Florence was dead. Emery was dead because he hadn't been fast enough to save her, and Florence … Florence was dead because he had been too scared to kill. He hadn't wanted to kill. He'd figured that if he held the other boy off long enough, Florence would finish with the first one and come take care of the second one, too. He'd thought he could get out of the fight without actually having to kill.
If he had just killed the other boy when he'd had the chance…
Kenji sank to the ground, staring at the mouth of the cave. It had seemed like a good idea – heading for shelter. Shelter that wouldn't activate his collar like the tunnels would. Because there was still something he could do…
But he'd promised not to.
But they were both dead.
And it was his fault.
Kenji pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. He probably wouldn't be able to sleep now even if he wanted to. The rain was still pounding down, every drop of the storm reminding him of just how badly he had failed.
Kenji closed his eyes. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't go back in time because the last time he had, he had only made things worse. But how much worse could they get? Both of his friends were dead, and he…
He was still alive.
That was even worse.
Maybe he should have stayed and gotten sucked up by the tornado alongside Florence. At least then he wouldn't have to live with this. He wouldn't have to deal with feeling so sick, so disgusted by what he'd done. By what he hadn't done. Maybe he could just go back and run straight into the tornado. At least that wouldn't hurt anyone else.
But it wouldn't save them either.
He wanted to do more.
He could do more.
Rick Clifton, 19
He couldn't have done anything more.
Rick closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall of the tunnel. Rain was still coming in, but it didn't seem to be pouring as hard as it had been a while ago. He was sitting in a pool of mud now, but that didn't seem to matter right now. Nothing seemed to matter. Vi was dead. Vi was dead, and he hadn't been able to do a thing about it. He'd been as good as dead the moment the vampire had landed on him, and Rick … he'd been useless. There was nothing he could have done.
Is there anything you can do about it? Every time Vi had asked the question, it had been to make him feel better, to try to take his mind off something he'd had no control over. Now … now the question hovered like an accusation. There was nothing he could do. Nothing he could have done. He just felt so … so helpless. So alone.
Maybe he could just stay here. Wait for someone to figure out that at least some of the contestants might have tried to take shelter in the tunnels. Wait for someone to find him – to kill him. There would be a sort of poetic justice to that, at least – to dying in this tunnel when it might be the very one the boy had crawled out of at the start of the Games, only for Rick to beat the life out of him.
Maybe he deserved it.
Maybe it didn't matter what he deserved – what any of them deserved. None of them had deserved to be chosen for the Games, but here they were. None of them deserved to die – not really, not at the start. Maybe he deserved it now, after what he'd done, but he wouldn't have done any of that if it hadn't been for the Games. He hadn't wanted to kill. He just hadn't wanted to die.
And he hadn't wanted Vi to die.
But he hadn't been able to stop it.
Representative Mack Urban, 37
"We have to stop him."
Mack pointed at the cameras as Nicholas gave him a quizzical look. "Kenji," he explained. "The cameras around the cave are down, but we can tell from his collar that he's stopped. We have to stop him from going back and changing things."
Nicholas raised an eyebrow. "You think he'll try?"
"I don't think he has much to lose right now. And I think we have a lot to lose."
"You're talking about the footage you got?"
"I'm talking about the fact that Rick just handed us our best argument for why mutants need to be controlled since … well, since what Penelope did to the island last year. And at least she meant to do that. Rick's a textbook example of how dangerous mutants can be without even meaning to. If Kenji goes back and kills him—"
"Then maybe there's no storm at all?"
Mack shook his head. "Not exactly. Alvin was spouting some technobabble earlier about how conditions were ripe for this even before Rick got involved. Something about the storm hatching."
"Hatched," Alvin corrected from the other side of the room, where he was still fiddling with one of the screens. "A hatched risk is when—"
Mack waved a hand. "But he definitely helped it along – both him and Vi. If that doesn't happen…"
Nicholas nodded. "What do you want?"
"We play it safe. Turn Kenji's collar on until we can get some cameras back up and running in that area. That way, we'll be able to tell when he's sleeping."
"And know when he's awake?"
"What?"
"Never mind. Do it"
Mack pressed a button, activating Kenji's collar. "Thank you. According to Alvin, the system has passed them, so it shouldn't be too long before we can get cameras running again."
"Passed them," Nicholas repeated. "But it's still going."
"Yeah, that's how weather works," Alvin muttered. "Did you think it was going to bounce off the shock collar border or what?"
Nicholas shook his head. "Of course not. That's why we're underground, after all. Where are the tornadoes now?"
Alvin muttered something under his breath but made his way over to the pair of them. "The tornadoes that were on the ground have lifted, but we're still tracking the cells and keeping an eye on radar to see if anything else forms. The system's still moving south. The storm chasers are probably having a field day."
Nicholas turned to Mack. "Storm chasers? Who gave them permission to—"
Mack shrugged. "They don't need it. Oh, we can keep them out of the area we've designated for the Games, but that's really too mountainous to chase in safely anyway."
Alvin raised an eyebrow. "With this kind of an opportunity? The chance to study the effects a mutant had on the storm? There are probably still some who would risk it. The bigger problem is the lack of roads, but even then…"
Mack shrugged. "Still, we'll know if anyone gets too close."
"As long as we don't lose any more cameras along the border," Alvin muttered.
Mack nodded. "Point taken. So the border cameras should probably be one of our priorities. But in any case, once the storm makes it past the boundary of the Games, they have as much right to be there as anyone."
Alvin nodded. "Which isn't really a problem now that the front of the system is past the boundary. With the broad rotation it still has, I'd best most of them will be following it rather than hanging back to see if anything else happens. Like I said, they're probably eating it up. Given today's setup, they've probably been out there all day, just hoping for something like this."
Nicholas cocked his head. "You don't have a problem with this? You're the one who kept telling me we needed to keep the Games as far away from people as possible so they wouldn't get hurt if something happened."
"People who didn't make the choice to be there, yes. Anyone who's out there now knew something like this was a possibility. There's no guarantee either of those cells will produce another tornado, but if they do, no one's going to be caught off-guard – not for a while, at least."
Nicholas raised an eyebrow. "Not for a while?"
Alvin nodded. "We chose somewhere as far out of the way as we could, but weather moves. If the system keeps moving south, there are still towns in its path."
Nicholas pinched the bridge of his nose. "Is there anything we can do about that?"
Alvin shook his head. "Nothing that the National Weather Service isn't already doing. They've already issued a tornado watch for the counties in its path."
Nicholas sighed, then straightened up and nodded crisply. "Then it's not our problem anymore. They can do their job, and we'll do ours. As for those storm chasers, as long as they stay away from the boundary of the Games, I don't see the problem. Mack?"
Mack shook his head. If anything, they would be providing more footage of the storm – footage that would soon be all over the internet. No, a few people out chasing tornadoes weren't going to be a problem.
They had more important things to worry about.
"You know more than you're letting on."