TW: Violence and Death.
We'll never get free
Lamb to the slaughter
What you gon' do
When there's blood in the water
Darius Shan
District 6, Male, 18
(Bloodbath)
...
We all, for the most part, eat breakfast in silence. I don't feel hungry at all, in fact, I feel like throwing up but food may be scarce in the arena and I have to savour it while I can. Raven eats beside me and looks just as ill, she's pale and only eating small bites of her food. Our mentor, Harriet, sits opposite us and she seems to have a look of sympathy in her eyes - thirteen years ago she was in this same position. She won, I still have a shot.
"Hello, hello!" Omar cries as the elevator doors open, he has a bright pink afro and is wearing a leopard-patterned jumpsuit. He looks ridiculous but I'm too tired to say anything so I grunt in response. "How are my tributes? All ready for the bloodbath?"
"They're alright, thank you, Omar. We have discussed their strategy but right now, they need some time to themselves."
"Very well then!" Omar sits down next to Harriet and keeps his silence but I can tell he's itching to say something. "We have around ten minutes to get to the ."
"I know, Omar, leave it to me, please." Harriet rolls her eyes and carries on with her breakfast." I take deep and steady breaths, in a few minutes I'm going to be going up to the arena and my life will change forever. It may even end. I didn't sleep much last night. I know I should've but I couldn't bring myself to shut my eyes in fear of what's to come. "Okay you two, we really must get going." Harriet gets up and starts walking over to the elevator, I follow suit and Raven is right behind me.
Omar squeezes in with us and Harriet presses the button to go down to the basement. We enter the training centre and are taken to a room at the far left, it's a large room and very tall. Inside there are 4 aircrafts and people scrambling around them, one of them spots us and rushes over.
"Harriet, you're very late! Oh, come on, come on." She screeches and starts pushing myself and Raven into the aircraft on the far right. We're seated next to each other and seatbelts go over our bodies. The Pairs from 4 and 5 are also in here.
The woman who pushed us in starts to give all of us individual jabs in our left arm.
"Wha's this for?" The boy from 5 asks and the woman explains it's a tracker so the Gamemakers can see where we are and check our pulse. I'm nervous to have it put in, it'll finally solidify what's about to happen to me, to all of us. I'm last and I feel a sharp pain as the needle goes in but I keep my cool, the last thing I want to do is seem weak when I'm under the eyes of the other tributes.
The journey takes around an hour and we finally land in a similar sort of building to where we left. However, when we get out, we are shown to a long corridor and each has a sign engraved with D[Number][Gender], Raven and I walk along the corridor until she finds her room. Mine is a little further along and I enter it. It's a small room with three Peacekeepers and a tube at the very end.
"Please walk into the tube." One of the Peacekeepers states bluntly and I do as he says, walking into the tube. He shuts the door and locks it. There's no egtting out now, I'm going into The Hunger Games and I might die today. My breathing become short and fast as I begin to panic, the numbers in front of me are counting down from 10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
I start to bang on the tube, I don't want to do this. I don't want to die.
4.
3.
2.
1.
I scream as the test tube shoots up but I stop myself as I stop on the pedestal. There are hills surrounding me from every direction, some are capped with snow, others look almost like cliffs. In front of me is the cornucopia in a clearing, it's surrounded by weapons and backpacks. I see Raven a few pedestals to the left of me and nod to her. She nods back.
I'm ready.
Catalyst Beaumont
President of Panem, Female
(Bloodbath)
...
"Hello Tributes. In 60 seconds you will be able to move from your pedestal and The Games will commence. May the odds be ever in your favour." I state into the microphone and hear my voice repeating back to me in one of the many monitors. Normally The Master of Ceremonies would be doing this but I need to make a statement to Panem. "Are the mines ready?"
"Yes ma'am, they're position all around his pedestal." A Gamemaker shouts back at me as the countdown starts.
"60...59...58...57...56"
"Good. Panem must know the wrath of The Capitol."
"48...47...46...45...44"
The tributes stand on their pedestals, looking nervously around at each other. Most are in position, ready to run.
"32...31...30...29...28"
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I turn and see Red, he presses his lips to my cheek.
"22...21...20...19...18"
"Panem must know what happens when you defy The Capitol."
"12...11...10...9...8"
"It may start uproars, his group will be extremely angry."
"4...3...2...1!"
"So let them be angry." As soon as I say it, there's a sudden explosion and the body of Thauk Hailarean is a messy pile of guts on the ground.
The tributes stand in shock for a second, only a second though. The Careers jump into action, prompting the other tributes to follow suit. Most go in for supplies but I notice Tenzin and Gena running toward a hill and they crouch there, watching the bloodbath take place. The camera shoots to Silver Rafferty who is running toward Nick, he bangs him against the cornucopia and knocks all life out of him. Despite this, Silver continues to bang his body against the metal with rage. I hear Lira scream something at him and he runs off with Kathryn tailing him.
Darla is cornered by Daniel and Andromeda, Daniel uses an axe to stab her in the side and she calls out in pain. Andromeda slits her throat calmly and swiftly, ending her life. "That's 3." A Gamemaker shouts. "Here comes another." Devon lies helplessly on the ground with Eric standing over him, a trident in his hand. Eric brings the trident down right through Devon's chest.
Nestor and Emerald sprint away to a hill but a flying knife stabs Nestor right in the side, blood pours from him and he screams at Emerald to run. Kathryn runs toward Nestor and takes the knife from his side, she also takes his backpack and runs off back to Silver who is waiting for her at the foot of a snow-capped mountain.
The cameras flick to Ashanti, I pray that she's killed in this bloodbath, and just as I do she is stabbed through the stomach by Lira's sword. Lira looks shocked at what she's done and stands over her body, tears grow in her eyes and she drops to her knees. Again, the camera flicks to Emerald who now lays on the floor with Malcom over her, he holds a knife to her throat and giggles uncontrollably. Just as he's about to slit her throat, a rock slams into his head and he falls unconscious. Charity stands over his unconscious body and slams the rock into his face multiple times until the life is slammed out of him, she takes Emerald's hand and they run.
The final people at the cornucopia, Carina, Vinicio, Ryan and Andromeda all stand facing each other. They all have weapons with them and are waiting for each other to make the first move. Finally, Ryan acts and charges at Carina, Andromeda does the same at Vinicio. Vinicio dodges Andromeda's attack and throws her to the side. Carina cowers with Ryan's spear to her neck but Vinicio is quick and Ryan's now detached head falls upon Carina, Vinicio takes her hand and they run toward Emerald and Charity.
"How many deaths?"
"8 overall, Ma'am."
A decent bloodbath.
A/N: I'm not extremely happy with this chapter but these Games should be easier to write as we get less and less tributes. I'm sorry if your tribute died, I enjoyed writing every single one of them but, inevitably, all but one has to die. Check the blog for your sponsor points, you can now sponsor tributes by PMing me.
Alliances
Lira, Andromeda, Eric and Daniel
Tenzin, Gena and Cyra
Vinicio, Carina, Emerald and Charity
Raven and Darius
Silver and Kathryn
THE FALLEN:
24th Place - Thauk Hailarean (D8M). Killed by mines, rigged in by the Gamemakers. Submitted by Luthien's Light.
You were such an in depth character with so many layers to you, you were a murderer before the Games even began and had a whole District under your control using fear to manipulate them. Sadly, not all politicians agreed with what you were doing and you were rigged into The Reaping in The Hunger Games. The Interviews was the last straw for you and Catalyst decided to murder you to discourage rebellion. You have helped make an interesting little subplot, though! RIP.
23rd Place - Nick Rain (D4M). Slammed against the Cornucopia by Silver Rafferty (D1M). Submitted by wiifan2002
Ah, one of my favourite careers and it sucks but I truly felt you were a bloodbath death. I debated this one for a while but your character is already so developed and you were clearly one of the weakest of The Careers. I wanted a few Career deaths and, unfortunately, you ticked Silver off during training and that led to your murder through revenge. You were a fun character and I'm going to miss writing you. RIP.
22nd Place - Darla Waioro (D10F). Throat slit by Andromeda Knox (D10F). Submitted by FizznBoo.
Darla was just a normal girl from District 10 who loved books. She lived a fair and simple life with her family and she had hoped to go back to that life and provide them with the riches of her Victory. Unfortunately, Darla was smart but not as fit as some of the other tributes which eventually led to her death in the bloodbath. The Careers saw her as an easy kill and they took their chance. RIP.
21st Place - Devon Galloway (D10M). Trident through the chest by Eric Ridley (D4'F'). Submitted by abookoftears.
Devon knew he was going to die and he was right. He had little hope for his survival as he had so many complications with his health that would make it impossible for him to survive very long in the arena. He was at peace with death, though, and was a very mature boy for his age. I love writing him a lot but he was an easy kill and an obvious choice for the bloodbath. RIP.
20th Place - Nestor Andreas (D5M). Bled out after a knife to the side by Kathryn Mallerd (D3F). Submitted by Very New To This.
Nestor was a comedian who loved to make people laugh, he didn't mind dark humour and was just a happy kid who was making the most out of his life. He was selfless and always put others before himself, his age mixed with him not having an arm simply led him to be an easy kill for Kathryn who took a shot when he was running a long. He'll be missed by his District and I'll miss writing him. RIP.
19th Place - Ashanti Nia Jelani (D7F). Stabbed in the stomach by Lira Wesley (D1F). Submitted by TacoPhoenix88.
She was a character, that's for sure, I loved the way she stood up to The Capitol and her no filter mixed with her sad backstory made me love her even more. She died in The Games just like her brother and hopefully they're together now, looking down on their family and despising them. She was brave to stand up to The Capitol but The Capitol inevitably wouldn't allow someone like that to win. RIP.
18th Place - Malcom Graham (D12M). Slammed with a rock by Charity Wicop (D12F). Submitted by kenzieq15.
Malcom was great, he was a psychopath and he was absolutely crazy. He loved watching people fearful and was a lot of fun to write, if Charity hadn't been there to stop him then Emerald most definitely would have had a very gruesome death. You were a fun little villain but you had no real reason to live, you had nobody back home and it looked like you never would find anybody who'd actually love you for you. RIP.
17th Place - Ryan Lise (D2M). Behead by Vinicio Santiago Huerta (D11M). Submitted by Revenant12.
I really was debating this one for a while but Ryan simply wasn't as layered as the other Careers. He was a boy pressured into The Hunger Games by his parents and someone who love providing justice and aspired to be a Peacekeeper. I felt like your story was complete and there was not much more of an arc that I could provide. I loved writing you, though. RIP.
KILL COUNT:
Silver - 1
Andromeda - 1
Eric - 1
Kathryn - 1
Lira - 1
Charity - 1
Vinicio - 1