Darrah Arinori, 12, District 7
After we were both rested, we headed south to the closest treasure on El's map. It took us nearly half a day to get to the dead forest, and by the time we do, we're both exhausted again. I don't hesitate to take a seat against a tree stump, which causes El to turn around and stare at me.
"What are you doing?" She asks in between huffs.
"Just, give me a minute." I tell her, taking a long sip of water. El takes a seat next to me, and I pass her my bottle. After a few sips, she hands it back.
"What if this treasure is as heavily guarded as the one in the fortress? Or as hard to get to as the one in the mountains?" El asks me.
"I expect it to be." I tell her. Does she really think the Gamemakers would make this easy for us?
"It might not be worth it then…" Her voice wanders off.
"No, don't do this. Don't back out now, when we're so close." I say, looking straight into her eyes. She's quiet for some time.
"We're no match against these mutts. I don't know if we should risk our lives so soon. I don't want to die."
"I don't want to die either, El, but that's the situation we're in. It's killed or be killed, whether it be other tributes, mutts, nature, dehydration, or even each other. We knew what we were getting into when our damn names were called at that damn reaping. We can't escape it then, we can't escape it now. But, if we succeed, we could have another two days of safety, of no worries. No one else could say the same." I say, feeling the weight of my words falling down on us both. "We don't know how the other tribute's are fairing. They could be slowly killing each other off. Imagine our final battle isn't against a group of Careers like we expect…maybe it'll be against your district partner." El shoots me a look.
"He's just a kid…" She starts.
"Yeah? So am I. So are you." I remind her.
"I don't want to lose you, Darrah. God, wasn't losing Adelina enough? Watching her ripped to shreds in front of us? I can't." She wipes a tear away. I take her hand.
"Well…you could be the one to be killed next. Then you won't have to watch me die." She pulls away from me, her face first filled with horror. There's a moment of silence, the beginnings of me wondering if I took it too far. Then she falls apart laughing.
"You're messed up." She gently punches my arm.
"I know." I fall into laughter with her. I stand up, brush the dirt off my pants, then help her up.
We continue through the dead forest, El constantly checking in on her map to ensure we're not lost, until she comes to a stop. I look around, confused.
"We…aren't anywhere?" I ask her. She ignores me, continuing to stare down at the map, and circling a small area.
"It should be here." She says.
"El, there's nothing-" I take a step towards her when the ground underneath me gives out. I fall into the ground, sliding deeper and deeper as dirt encloses the entire area around me. Deeper into the darkness, as El screams for me back on the surface.
Wait, that isn't El. As I slide deeper and deeper and the screams stay the same level, I realize the screams belong to me.
Eventually my body hits the ground and everything goes quiet. I fumble through my pockets and my bag until I find a lighter. My hands shake as I try to ignite it…
"Come on, come on…" I mutter to myself, my chest tightening as the darkness swells around me.
Finally, the light sparks and I can see a little. As I control my breathing, I realize, there's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a claustrophobic, underground tunnel.
"Okay…" I look up the hole I feel through and I shout, "I'm okay! If you can hear me." After a few seconds, I hear El's voice, but it's so faint, I can't make out what she's saying. I must be really far down.
I just have enough room to get on my feet, and I start pushing forward. As I walk a few feet, I hear a rumbling behind me. I pull my knife out and hold it in front of me. The rumbling gets louder and louder and specks of dirt fall down the hole, until something lands in front of me with a large THUMP.
"Are you insane?" I say to El, as she brushes dirt off her own outfit.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay." She says as she stands up. I notice a slight stumble in her leg as she tries to get her bearings, but I don't point it out.
"Alright. What's step two?" I ask, turning back around. She pulls out a flashlight of her own.
Even though we have more light illuminating the cave, we still don't see anything promising. The tunnel leads into a large cave of sorts, with weird green goo splattered on some of the walls.
"Do you think we can climb up the way we fell?" El asks as we enter the opening. I shake my head.
"I think the dirt is too unstable." I say quietly. This entire place creeps me out. Not because I'm claustrophobic, or afraid of the dark, but because this is clearly Gamemaker designed. Just like the mountain, that collapsed on us, and just like the fortress, with murderous mutts. I can't imagine this doesn't have the same thing going for it.
As we take in the cave, I see El pull her map out.
"This is where the treasure must be." She says. "Look around."
So we spent the next half an hour searching this cave. We check the corners, under the dirt, back in the tunnel that brought us here. Nothing.
"Are you sure?" I ask her multiple times.
"It has to be." She would always tell me.
The only reason I keep at it is because I'm hoping an exit will reveal itself to us.
As I walk across the cave, my foot trips on something hidden within the dirt and I stumble. El rushes over, light in hand, as I kneel down to place my hand on the ground.
The dirt is harder than the rest of the cave, and I start brushing away the loose parts of the earth. With El's help, It doesn't take long before the thing I tripped on is revealed. A chest.
"I told you." El smiles at me and I laugh. We pull it out and open it up.
Inside the chest are two high quality supply bags, which contain an abundance of water, food, medical supplies, and weapons (a handful of sharp throwing knives for me and a large, compact serrated knife for El).
Although not as plentiful as the treasure in the fortress, it will certainly last us a while if we're careful, and it wasn't nearly as lethal to acquire.
El pulls out her map after she consolidates everything into her new bag. She stares for a while, silent. I glance over her shoulder.
"What's wrong?" I ask, realizing the answer to my own question as soon as it leaves my mouth. Where the map had crossed out the treasures after we acquired them, this one has yet to do so. Which means…
"There's still treasure here." She says, putting the map away. She e does another sweep of the cave, and I do too.
"There's nothing here-" I begin to say, but that's when I see it. Something flickering in one of the far corners. I immediately walk that direction, knife in hand.
I get to the flickering spot in the cave, and realize it's a small, circular, mechanical device. There's a note affixed to the front.
'Darrah Arinori, you have been granted the role of medium. This device will allow you to speak with one deceased tribute once per night.' It takes me two full read throughs to understand what it's saying. I can talk to dead tributes.
"What is it?" El takes the note and reads it before I can register what's happening. She looks at me, as shocked as I feel.
"Wow." She says, looking down at the device. I slip it into my bag as she pulls the map back out. An X has crossed out the circle we're in.
"I guess that was everything." I say, desperate to get out of there. But…how?
That's when I noticed something I missed by where the device was. A breeze.
"This way." I tell El, walking back towards the corner. It's easy to miss in the dark, but at the very edge of the corner, there's a small passage. Narrow enough to where we have to walk sideways through it, but big enough for us to fit.
It takes some navigating, but we eventually reach the surface, and I've never felt more relief to breath in fresh air.
Seia Loom, 14, District 11
Since Nadia and I allied up, there's been plenty of moments of silence. Once we started to get to know each other more, those moments slowly faded. Even when she was given the potion master role, and got lost in her work, I constantly heard her talking to herself, or talking to, or rather at, me. Regardless, there hasn't been silence since I was alone.
Now, with the three of us standing around awkwardly, there's been more silence than I thought I'd ever want in the arena.
After we escaped from the attack and heard the howl of the werewolf, we ran and ran and ran, and didn't stop running until well after the cannon fired. Once we couldn't catch our breaths, we stopped for a moment. Nadia gave me the cure potion, and we went on the move again.
This is what we've been up to since the attack. Silence, and on the run. The exact thing we haven't had to do since we settled down in our house.
I haven't said anything, mostly because I haven't had the chance, but we would still be there if it weren't for Heather and Charon ruining everything. They're the reason we were attacked. They're the reason Nadia's district partner is dead. And they're the reason we're on the run. So I don't know why we've allowed her to stay with us this long.
Night has fallen and the anthem has confirmed Charon's death, along with the Career from One. At least he took one of them down with him.
"Let's rest." Nadia suggests, leaning against a tree. Through the dark, I can just make out how stressed she appears. I sit near her.
"What's wrong?" I whisper. Heather wanders far enough away from us that I can no longer see her.
"I'm just thinking about everything we left behind. The ingredients. They'd be really useful right now." Nadia sighs.
"It's not like we can't go back." I state. Nadia shakes her head.
"Did you see the sky? Only one of those Careers was killed. Which means the rest wouldn't have made it far from there. And they'll expect us to return. So, no, it is like we can't go back." Nadia explains.
There's rationality in her tone, but there's also something else. Is it sorrow?
"Okay. Then what's the plan, Nadia?" I snap back. I realize how much I took the safety of our shelter for granted. Safety, something I never had at home. Yet when I did have it, I seemed to forget what I had before.
"I don't know." Nadia pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her head on them.
The worst part? I don't know what to do either. We're in the middle of the arena - actually I have no real indication of where we are - we're with someone who would have happily seen us dead earlier this morning, who may very well still be planning to take us out as we sit here, wallowing in self pity.
"I can't believe he died for us." Nadia whispers so quietly I'm not sure if she's even talking to me.
"Yeah. He did. He died so we can live. So what are we doing? Because this looks like a damn good way to get ourselves killed." Heather materializes from the shadows, saying the most I think I've heard her say the entire time she's been with us.
"If you don't like it, just leave." I stand up and face Heather. Even though she's two years older than me, we stand at the same height. Though those extra years gives her the appearance that she could snap me in half without breaking a sweat. But I'm not scared of her. I haven't made it this long in the Games by staying afraid of those older or bigger than me.
"Guys, come on." Nadia pulls me back down next to her and Heather takes a step back. She finally sits down, still poised to bolt at any time, weapon in hand. Nadia looks towards Heather.
"I didn't know Charon that well, not as well as you did certainly, but he was from home, and he's the reason we're still alive. For that, I'm eternally grateful." She says to Heather. Heather slowly nods, showing no emotion, or voicing her opinion.
"I've lost people before. People I was close to. Family. I know how it feels." Nadia's voice drops off and she returns to the position she was in earlier, with her head on her knees.
"I have too." The words come out of my mouth before I register thinking about them. Both their eyes fall on me. Shit.
"I worked with a boy, Jacaranda. He was shot dead in front of my face. He wasn't even ten years old." I recall the moment like it was yesterday, the laughter of the boy's face, replaced by a lifeless body.
There's a long bout of silence. No one knows what to do with the information I've just brought out. I'm surprised when Nadia begins to speak up.
"I lost my mother. My little sister. It was a disease." She says. I take her hand in my own. No one says anything. There's not much else we can say. And if Heather has something to contribute, she doesn't speak up.
Even though we're out in the open, vulnerable to attacks on all ends, I haven't felt this secure with a single person in a long time. I know it's temporary. I know she wouldn't lay her life down for me, nor would I for her, but I let myself enjoy the moment, knowing it may be the last time I'll ever have this feeling before I die.
Franz Kubo, 18, District 2
I patrol the area around our base again, finding nothing strange or indicative of anyone near us. Ignoring Marissa's suggestion that it's unnecessary, I find it calming. I'm prepared, and I know what threats (if any) are around. Not knowing is too dangerous, and I'm too far into the games to make little mistakes.
It's this meticulous searching that allowed me to catch Tatiana sneaking away from our base. Despite her being obscured by the darkness, I notice her glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone saw her before continuing on. Part of me wants to get Marissa's attention, but the other part of me realizes that whatever Tatiana is doing, it's supposed to be kept secretive. Plus, if I yell for Marissa, Tatiana might flee or just return to the base like nothing happened. And if I try to get Marissa inconspicuously, Tati will be gone before we can follow.
So I follow closely behind Tati, staying low to the ground and ducking behind and around buildings to make sure she can't spot me. I follow her through the town for quite some time until we're almost near the edge. Finally, she comes to a stop and turns around.
"Come out, Franz." She says. I jerk back at the sound of my name. How did she know?
There's no point in hiding anymore, so I reveal myself and stick my hands in my pockets.
"How did you know?" I ask. She crosses her arms.
"I saw you. What are you doing?" She snaps at me.
"I'm following you. What are you doing?" I take a step towards her, but she doesn't flinch.
"Nothing that concerns you. Which is why I didn't inform you two of where I was going." She glances to both sides, for reasons I can't explain.
"Well. I'm here now." I say. She squints her eyes, then lets out a deep sigh. She turns towards one of the run down houses and examines the back and sides.
"Tatiana. We should go back." A bird caw alerts me to the dangerous situation we've put ourselves in. Maybe I shouldn't have followed her. Maybe I should've just let her do whatever it is she's trying to do. She's clearly stalling right now, because I'm here.
And if I let her go and her cannon fired? I don't think I would enjoy staying with Marissa and Marissa alone. At least Tati's from home. Plus we've been building some kind of connection, i'm not sure what it is. I don't even know if I could call it friendship but then i've never had anyone that I could be friends with now that I think about it. Maybe she could be my first friend?
An animal screech in the distance makes me jump. My mind flashes through the various mutts I've seen thus far, and none of those would make the sound I just heard. And the odds of it being just a normal animal are slim to none.
"Tati, it's not safe here. Whatever you were doing, or not doing, we need to head back." I look back and forth, but can't see more than 5 feet in front of me in the darkness. There's another screech, then silence.
I reach my hand out and try to pull Tati towards me, but she yanks her arm away.
"Wait…" Tatiana brushes the dirt away from behind the run down house. At first, I don't see anything but dirt. But soon enough, I see a peek of metal from underneath the brown.
I kneel down and help her lift this trap door thing. I still can't figure out what we're doing here, or what Tatiana's plan was before I intruded, or what she's even planning, if it includes killing me or not, I have no idea. All I know is I want to get away from any and all mutts that are out at night.
There's an old wooden ladder attached to the top of the hatch, so Tatiana climbs down first, and I quickly follow. I shut the door behind me before I climb down to the bottom, which is further down than I thought it would be.
We land in a poorly lit basement, with nothing in it but broken boxes and broken furniture, like someone's old house storage.
"Tatiana, what are we doing?" I repeat the same question I've been asking her for the last half an hour. She finally snaps.
"Franz, I didn't ask you to follow me, okay?" She pushes past me to go to the farthest corner in the room. I rub my temple, the beginnings of a headache making their appearance. How did I get here?
"Holy shit." I hear her mutter to herself in the corner. Even though I'm sure she doesn't want me to, I walk over to join her. She stands at a small table and she has a crumpled up note in one hand, and a lighter in another. There's a large bottle of some kind of clear liquid sitting on the table.
'Tatiana Emery, you have been given the role of arsonist. You have been granted a lighter and an extremely flammable, colorless, odorless liquid you may use to dose people with. When the time is right, you can ignite anything, or anyone, you dose.' I read the note over her shoulder. Once we both finish reading, we just stare at each other.
"Is this what you were searching for?" I ask, taking a step back as she picks up the flammable liquid. She shakes her head.
"No, I didn't know this was here…" She says, staring at the objects in her hand, clearly baffled. I almost believe her.
"No? I'll ask again. What were you doing out here?" I reach for the lighter, but she pulls her hand back.
"Surviving." She says in a strange tone. I step back to the other end of the basement, and take a seat on a wobbly, mostly broken chair.
"We should stay here for a while. Let whatever was up there pass." I suggest. For the first time this outing, Tatiana doesn't argue. She does take a seat as far away from me as possible, bottle of liquid in one hand, lighter in the other.
I'm way too on edge to rest, and clearly so is she, so this is how we sit for at least an hour. I'm not sure how roles are assigned, or how they're found, but I don't get the sense Tatiana knew this was here before she took off in the night. And if she did, she wouldn't come here alone at night to get it without our knowledge. No, whatever her real reason was for sneaking out, it wasn't this.
"How did you know?" I ask. She crosses her arms.
"I saw you. What are you doing?" She snaps at me.
She must've seen me early on. Which means she probably lead me astray. Maybe she was trying to lose me. Or maybe she just took me as far away from her actual pitstop as possible.
Which still begs the question - what the hell is Tatiana doing?
Roles
Serenity: Vigilante
Taliesin: Disguiser
Harrison: Vampire Hunter
Conrad: Guardian Angel
Nadia: Potion Master
Charon: Werewolf
Marissa: Ambusher
El: Pirate
Tatiana: Arsonist
Eulogies
Day 1
24th: Ricky James (D9M) Killed by Serenity Jasper - decapitated.
23rd: Tristan Card (D8M) Killed by Jade Hastings – Slashed through the chest.
22nd: Jonathan Priel (D10M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Knife thrown through neck.
21st: Elijah Axenfros (D7M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Blunt force trauma.
20th: Emily Lynch (D6F) Killed by Heather Monroe – Knife thrown into torso.
19th: Kalen Demner (D5M) Killed by Marissa Grey - Sliced with a sword.
18th: Aeliana Decima (D8F) Killed by vampire mutts – bitten in the neck.
Day 2
17th: Henry Haines (D1M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Throat crushed and neck snapped.
Day 3
16th: Adelina Claire (D10F) Killed by Gargoyle mutts.
Day 4
0 deaths.
Day 5
0 deaths.
Day 6
15th: Jade Hastings (D1F) Killed by Charon Aytigin – Throat ripped out.
14th: Charon Aytigin (D12M) Killed by Serenity Jasper – Shot in the chest.
Jade: 1
Taliesin: 3
Marissa: 1
Heather: 1
Serenity: 2
Charon: 1
Mutts/arena: 2