RJ MacReady, District Six male (16)
If I looked as bad as Oberon then we were in bad shape. Oberon was still sharp and capable but I could see the weight dropping off of him. He looked more like a raptor every day, all sharp-eyed and standoffish and even animalistic. And surely I looked the same way. We were starving. It would take probably more than a month for it to be irreversible but each day brought us closer to that. We had to start making hard decisions.
"We might have to go back inside," I said.
Oberon's head jerked at the noise. "We might," he admitted, not saying what we were both thinking. The Careers were inside. Almost every day we heard the cannon that told us they'd found someone else. But risk was part of the Games. No one ever won without rolling the dice at least once.
I peeked over the riverbed toward the other gardens. Through the glass wall I could see the lush trees that must have been loaded with food, at least some of them. I knew I could see at least one banana tree with clusters of little green fruits. My mouth watered just looking at them. I kept swallowing the spit and pretending it would fill my stomach.
"You think we'll be okay?" I asked, knowing how naive it sounded.
"I think we're in trouble either way," Oberon said.
Nailah Nebit, District Two female (18)
We were both trying to not speak of it. For the moment Anthony and I were still allies and we both just wanted to not make trouble and not trigger a fight. It seemed futile, since we both knew a fight would happen eventually, but sometimes people just try to do the best they can with what they have.
It was nice being outside. We'd been sort of outside the whole time, since the whole Arena was a greenhouse, but now we were out in the open gardens. I could see all of the sun again, not just little pieces between the trees. It kind of felt like being on vacation.
"Hey, a river," Anthony said, pointing at a small creek running through the rocks. He craned his neck at how the rocks hid the stream bed. "Dunno about you but I think if I was out here I'd hide in there."
We flanked along the river so the angle would hide us from view until we were closer.
"Not many alliances left," Anthony said as we got closer. "Unless someone made more after the Games started." It happened, but not too often. With any luck it was just one person down by the stream, if there was anyone there at all. The biggest danger was that it was Dionysus. If that was the case, maybe we could get him out of the competition. Of course, that would mean Anthony and I would almost certainly turn on each other right after. It was on both of our minds as we neared the stream.
Anthony Morgan, District Four male (18)
I saw the back of a head just as we reached the edge of the stream. Nailah tensed beside me as we both snuck closer. She pulled out a throwing star and I stepped to the side. If we could get this done before the Tribute even knew we were here, all the better. I wasn't one of those Careers who got bent out of shape about getting a high body count.
"Oberon, look out!" Nailah grunted and I turned my head to see her collapse, a baseball-sized rock clattering off the stone beside her. RJ barreled into me and we both tumbled to the ground.
RJ MacReady, District Six male (16)
I picked up the rock and threw it desperately just as Nailah was pulling back to throw her star at Oberon. I'd stepped out to take care of necessities and when I got back somehow the Careers had snuck right on top of us. I watched in relief as my wild throw glanced off the back of Nailah's head and charged into Anthony before he could properly react.
"We can get him!" I yelled to Oberon, just before Anthony punched me in the stomach and I huffed for air. If we could overwhelm Anthony and get to Nailah before she recovered we could take out both the Careers and maybe have a chance.
Oberon clambered up out of the crack in the riverbed and stood up on the level stone. Anthony flipped me over and bent his arm across my neck as I punched him in both sides. Together we outweighed him by a lot. He might even think twice and run off, leaving Nailah for us.
He ran away. Oberon ran away.
Oberon Murdoch, District Nine male (17)
I reached the top of the riverbank and saw RJ on the ground wrestling Anthony as Nailah lay a few feet away. I hadn't even known they were anywhere near us. If RJ hadn't warned me they would have killed me before I knew what had happened.
"We can get him!" RJ yelled before Anthony punched him and he lost his breath. I looked back and forth between the two of them and imagined how it would go. Anthony would be able to seriously wound at least one of us, if not kill us. We might not even be able to get him down before he killed both of us.
Nailah stirred on the ground and started to get her hands under her. I saw the numbers and they didn't add up. I turned around and ran.
Nailah Nebit, District Two female (18)
Owwwww…
When did I get on the ground? I slid my hands across the stone and started to push myself up, my head swimming. The world started to focus around me as I got to my knees and saw RJ and Anthony grappling as Oberon ran off toward the interior gardens. I stood up, waiting a second for my balance to recover, and ran over to help.
Anthony Morgan, District Four male (18)
RJ craned his neck to bite my arm. Even though I'd learned about it in training, I didn't know until it happened just how hard a person could bite. I pulled back, a little thread of skin tugging free into RJ's mouth. Even as I did I was punching him with my other hand. But while I may have had the advantage, RJ was giving his best back. He grabbed my hair with one hand and punched me in the nose with the other, holding me in place so the full force went into my nose and I heard it crunch a little. All the while I was trying to get a good angle with my trident. We were so close together it was hard to get any momentum.
RJ gasped when a hand appeared on his midsection. I saw the glitter of metal before I put together that Nailah had gotten up and stabbed him. I pushed up off RJ, since if Nailah stabbed him that mildly the blade must have been poisoned and he was dying anyway.
RJ MacReady, District Six male (16)
We could have done it. Oberon and I could have been free of both Anthony and Nailah. But he left me to die and now I was going to. I should have known he would do this. As much as Oberon was willing to joke around with me, it was never unclear that he got this far in life by doing what he had to do. I knew he would do anything to get back to his sister and it was presumptuous of me to think a barely-met friend could be her equal. I guess it made me happy that I died believing in someone, even if they didn't live up to it. If there were still people in the world who believed in other people, someday someone would live up to that.
Anthony leaned back to get up off of me as Nailah's poison started creeping through my body. As he stood I cocked back a leg and kicked him donkey-style right in the crotch. He crumpled to his knees, whimpering a little.
"Hope you didn't want any kids," I said before I died.
11th place: RJ Macready- stabbed by Nailah
Really it was a joint effort- Nailah stabbed him but Anthony would have gotten him anyways. Either way he's dead so RIP. RJ's form called for him to be betrayed by someone and while I didn't plan this, it worked out perfectly that Oberon would totally abandon someone in a fight. RJ was probably one of the most complicated of the OC characters and I bet a lot of the other authors felt the same. He was more realistic in that he had contradictory sides- he was both idealistic but cynical. In real life people don't always act "in character" so it was more realistic but harder to write. If Oberon had just come through for him then maybe he could have stayed idealistic. But anyway thanks CarlpoppaLOL for our resident grumpy dreamer
TIMELINE: 9th day
