Day 8:

Elise Starbright, 16
District 1 Female

Living on your own was surprisingly easy.

Granted, it helped to have a Cornucopia full of supplies. Elise rose with the Sun, and ate a pack of dried fruit for breakfast. She cleaned up the area a little, just to make things more organized. Then she grabbed a weapon and stood at the edge of the island.

Part of her wanted to see another tribute come by. She had spent an entire day alone, and the paranoia was starting to creep in. If she saw someone coming, she'd just prove herself right. But at the same time, she secretly hoped everyone else would self-destruct and take each other out before she had to confront them.

Not like Elise was going to be the weakest tribute in the arena. Well, she was certain she wasn't the strongest, but she had already proved she could act just as bloodthirsty as anyone else. She had clearly shown that she was capable of a lot.

She'd bluff too. Cry, beg, anything to take that target off her back. A strategy Elise herself was surprised she managed to pull off.

As she held up each dried cranberry to her lips and slowly chewed on it, her mind raced. She remembered something from past years. Sometimes, when the number of tributes dwindled down far enough, someone would go out and interview the family members of those who were left. Elise's heart ached at the thought of seeing her father again.

She missed him.

She missed home.

She missed her old life.

Elise felt like a little girl again. A terrified little girl. Curled up against Daddy's chest as he gently rubbed her back and they watched the TV. That was when the Hunger Games was first announced. It was scary to her, but her father assured her that it wasn't going to happen to her. At the time, she was too young. And later, she never needed to collect tessarae nor had any desire to volunteer.

She was a Loyalist. She blindly thought that would save her. But she still ended up in here, right? Torn up and thrown away as a meaningless sacrifice once the Capitol was done with her. A sheep in the slaughterhouse, because the Capitol didn't give a shit who wound up in the arena, as long as there was blood to spill and hell to be raised.

Death didn't not discriminate between the rebels and the Loyalists.

Bellona was no Loyalist and not someone Elise would've likely gotten along with in any other situation, yet tin the arena they were like old school friends. When she saw Bellona's face in the sky for the last time, she had actually cried. Genuine tears. Elise cried for a rebel she had only known for a little over a week.

What was up with that?

For better or for worse, these Games were changing her. It was like being onstage, acting as a character that hit a little too close to home. What made Elise Starbright the Tribute any different from Elise Starbright the District 1 Citizen? Was there even a difference?

There had to be. Elise Starbright the District 1 Citizen would never take someone's life.

What would her father say?

No! No...he wasn't that kind of person. He'd understand. He'd accept it. He'd wish for her to do anything that could save her own life. He was probably being interviewed right now, begging his little girl to stay safe and win, because then they'd be together again. She just couldn't do that to him. Leave him alone in this cruel, cruel, cruel world. Their little family had already lost so much...

The dried cranberries stuck to her teeth. She pushed them out of the way with her tongue. Some of the remnants still remained so she took a bottle of water and drank some of it. It was a bit nice to have that be her current worry. And to push every other fear to the back of her mind.

Bang!

"Shit!" Elise jumped to her feet. She picked up a knife that she left lying beside her and brandished it. "What was that? What was that!?"

There was no response.

"I'm not joking around here. Seriously, I'm armed!"

The gunshot had long since finished, but it still rang hauntingly in her ears. Her rapid heartbeat had yet to slow down. Nobody owned up to making the sound, and nobody stepped forward either. She was still alone.

But Elise had never been alone in the first place, right? She wouldn't be alone unless she was the last one alive.

BOOM!

Elise dropped the knife. "Oh my God...oh goodness, oh..."

Her hands instinctively went to her face, covering her shocked mouth. Her eyes widened. Because even if she didn't see the events unfolding, she could be sure of at least two things.

One, she was one of only seven tributes remaining.

Two, someone had a gun.

Three, everyone left was going to do whatever it took to get out alive. Everyone was willing to kill.

Clair Ivory, 17
District 12 Female

Twill was a very nice boy.

Clair would just hate for their absolutely shitty luck to get him killed.

They spent their morning just talking with him, learning more about his life. Twill had taken the death of his ally really hard and Clair sympathized with him. Losing someone close was not easy. But it made them wonder if their own parents ever noticed they were gone, and spent nights begging for their baby to come home.

And if anybody asked them, Clair would be surprised they had managed to make it as far as they had. They never expected to be able to wake up today. If anything, they should've been dead a few days ago. Twill was there to help them. They felt like they kind of owed him for that.

They couldn't remember the last time someone had been so kind to them.

"Want something to eat?" Twill asked them.
"Sure." Their stomach growled, as if right on cue.

After a quick breakfast, it was time to get moving. Even if there were only a few others left, Clair wasn't sure the risk of running into somebody was worth it. They weren't sure how well they'd be able to defend themself. Also, they still couldn't believe Twill had a gun. How did he get his hands on that?

"Am I holding this right?" Twill asked them.
"I don't know. I've never held a gun before."
"Me neither."

That was reassuring.

After crossing bridge after bridge and walking over stone island after stone island, they finally stopped to get some rest. Clair's shoes were starting to get a little worn out. They could actually feel the stone beneath the fabric in some cases. How much longer before their shoes actually broke and became worthless?

Then there was also the unfortunately obvious fact that they hadn't showered in over a week, leaving them covered in accumulated dirt and sweat. But at least the same went for Twill. And the few times that it did rain kind of helped wash some of the mess away, but not by much.

They stopped in the mid afternoon to eat, then started moving again.

Clair was a bit distracted by these thoughts as they walked ahead of Twill. That way, should anything happen, he had a better chance of running away. It was a strange new feeling to look over their shoulder and see someone there, but that someone was not going to hurt them. Clair got used to it fast, and it helped to settle their paranoia a bit.

So when they spotted a third person in the distance, they immediately realized what was going on.

"Twill. Twill! We got company."
Twill quickly spun around, pointing out the gun. "Where?"
"Right there. Do you see them?"

The tribute in question was definitely on the younger side. Clair racked their brain, trying to think of who might be left. Who was left? Who was this?

Immediately, Amelia broke into a run and came barrelling at them. Clair quickly threw their arms up over their head before they were suddenly shoved to the ground by Twill. He stepped in front to them, blocking them from Amelia. "Clair, stay back!"
He pointed the gun at Amelia. The girl hesitated, but didn't slow down. Instead, she just let out a nervous laugh. "A gun? You wouldn't!"

Bang!

Amelia collapsed, a gaping wound in her chest. It slowly leaked a steady stream of blood that ran down her stomach. Twill fired again.

Clair didn't hear the second gunshot. Or the third. Couldn't focus. Couldn't hear anything over the screams.

They were screaming. Twill was screaming. Amelia was screaming. The poor girl curled up as tightly as she could, clutching at the bullet holes in her chest and stomach. She coughed weakly, then spit out a dark sticky wad of blood onto the ground next to her.

Still lying on the ground, too shocked to move, Clair squeezed their eyes shut. They wanted this to be over.

"Clair!" Then Twill grabbed their shoulders and helped them sit up. "Are you alright?"
"Did you just...just...is she dead!?"

"I think so," Twill said in a grave but shaky voice. The words had barely left his lips when the cannon went off. "Yeah..."
"Oh my goodness..."
"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Clair wasn't sure if that was a lie or not. Twill gently put them empty gun down, now out of bullets. They both lay there for a while, too exhausted to say anything. Hopefully the Gamemakers would let them rest.

It had been one hell of an afternoon.

8th place: Amelia Williams, District 5. Shot by Twill.

Twill had a gun and I'd be damned if I didn't give him an opportunity to use it. And honestly, I felt that this was Amelia's time to go. It's great having a younger tribute that isn't a complete innocent little bean and with plenty of opportunities to be a villain. You rarely see that nowadays and I think Amelia played her role amazingly. TheLostTimeLady, if you are reading this, thank you so much for Amelia!

Current Alliances:

The Strong Alliance: Darra, Weller

The Wholesome Alliance: Zilla, Red

Shit They Have A Gun: Twill, Clair

Lone Career: Elise

Kills:

Stravos: 4 (Bellona, Haruhi, Claodis, Lily)

Elise: 1 (Stravos)

Toren: 2 (Charles, Argen)

Bellona: 2 (Corbyn, Acacia)

Amelia: 1 (Stryker)

Veles: 1 (Cleveland)

Darra: 1 (Gear)

Twill: 1 (Amelia)

Weller: 3 (Toren, Adella, Veles))

Stryker: 1 (Astrid)

Bit by bit, we inch closer and closer towards the end. I've decided that chapters will be a little shorter from here, just because we're at the point where there's of few tributes and many of them are paired up, that I've decided to write 2 POVs per chapter rather than 1.

NOTE TO ALL SUBMITTERS OF THE FINAL 7: Please send me a PM on Fanfiction or a DM on Discord to confirm that you are still reading. Please include the fact that you have seen this message on Chapter 37. This may influence who I choose as my Victor, because I don't want to give the Victor to someone whose never shown any participation in the story.

Thanks for reading this and I'll see you all with the next chapter,

-Vr