Woohoo I'm back from Sierra Leone!
Nailah Nebit, District Two female (18)
The last two days had been really boring, honestly. With so few Tributes left in the Arena, the best thing Anthony and I could come up with was to mark out a rough grid system and start sweeping the Arena inch-by-inch, just hoping they weren't circling around and going back into areas we'd already checked. This is going to take forever, I complained to myself. Couldn't they send some more mutts or a disaster to get us closer together?
"Psst," Anthony whispered. I froze, not wanting to spook off a long-hunted quarry, and followed his gaze. Porsche was leaned up against a tree, shaking it as Martin tried to catch the falling fruits. Both of their backs were to us- a great stroke of luck, since we were too far away for me to be able to throw a knife accurately. Arrows went farther, but Porsche was turned almost enough to see me in her peripherals and taking off the bow strapped to my back was a big movement. Anthony and I crouched as we crept closer. As I brought up my knife, some little creature ran across a branch over my head, weighing down the branch and shifting it so light came through to glitter off the metal.
"Look out!" Porsche screamed.
Martin whipped his head around and saw us as Anthony sprinted toward the two of them. "I'll hold them off!" he yelled, running forward to meet him.
"No, you idiot!" Porsche yelled. I followed her movement with my knife, throwing it right as she ducked behind the tree. Her scream told me it hit but the lack of cannon meant something fishy was going on.
Martin Jackman, District Seven male (15)
I tucked my head down as I charged into Anthony, aiming to bowl him over. He knocked me over instead, so hard it was like hitting a football player. I gasped for breath when my back hit the ground and realized my mistake when I instinctively rolled to the side and Anthony's trident kicked up dirt inches from my face. I heard Nailah yelp, then Porsche screaming "Get out of here!"
Too late, it came to me. When I first saw Anthony and Nailah I'd felt Porsche tensing up beside me. I'd thought she was getting ready to run and charged the Careers so she'd have time to get away. I saw now that wasn't Porsche's endgame at all. She'd been tensing up to charge the Careers herself so I could get away. Me- the only one between us who could run. But I hadn't even thought about it. I'd only thought about all the books I'd read where heroes bravely attacked monsters so their friends could get away, and then somehow won and saved everyone.
This isn't a storybook. Anthony's foot slammed into my ribs and I thought about those stories never said how much fighting hurt. How everyone goes in with a plan but you forget it when an elbow breaks your nose.
I'm the underdog. They win, right? I could win. I could fight smarter and beat Anthony I saw a glitter of metal and blindly struck out, grabbing Anthony's trident between both hands. I felt something fleshy and bit it. Something slashed my gum before I heard a yell and then Anthony's fist hit the side of my head. I flopped sideways and gagged on the metallic taste as I spat out the tip of Anthony's finger.
The books got something right. I thought Anthony had punched me in the stomach. I didn't know I'd been stabbed I noticed how warm my entire chest was. I couldn't even see the wound, not with the blood flowing into my eyes from where Anthony had missed a fatal strike but had still gashed all across my face.
"Porsche!" I screamed. Just let her be okay. Let this mean something. I could only tell I was crying by the heaving movement of my chest. I was going to die in seconds and I wouldn't see if coming before I died. Porsche I'm scared just let me hear your voice-
"I'm okay!"
Nailah Nebit- District Four female (18)
I wasn't stupid. If Porsche's cannon hadn't gone off, then my knife hadn't hit her. She'd screamed anyway, hoping I'd come to finish her off and she could try some surprise attack. So I swept wide as I circled around the tree, not getting close enough for her to ambush me.
Porsche was surprisingly nimble for a gimp. I saw the knife coming but not before it was already launching at my face.
"Ha, you missed!" Porsche screamed as I ducked a fraction of a second too late. Exhaustion or the earlier head injury slowed my reaction time by a sliver and the knife hit me full-on. The handle bloodied my lip before smashing me in the mouth. Something pricked the back of my mouth and the sudden pain told me it was a chip from my front tooth. Embarrassed as I was, I had to admit I'd gotten lucky. It was hard to throw a knife with any accuracy. Most of the time you end up hitting the target with the side or handle, which was exactly what Porsche had done to me. Of course I hadn't spread poison on the part I'd be touching, so I got a broken tooth instead of the most humiliating death in Games history.
"Well I won't this time," I spat as I picked the knife back up, though unfortunately it came out garbled past my split lip and didn't sound nearly as cool as I'd hoped. Porsche made an obscene gesture at me with one hand as she fumbled for a rock with the other. I threw before she could find one. She tried to dodge- more a hopeless but spirited defiance than anything else- but the blade landed near the edge of her hip. She yanked it out and brandished it at me. I stood back and waited.
Porsche Romeo, District Six female (17)
Why'd you have to do it?
I should have known Martin would try to fight. I'd been hoping just once he'd do the smart thing and not be an idealistic hero wannabe, but would he really still be with me if he wasn't? As soon as he charged Anthony I knew we were both going to die. I never had a chance and Martin threw away his on some naive belief that he could give me one. I guess on some level this is the way he would have wanted it. What better end to a hopeless journey than a heroic last stand?
"Porsche!" Martin screamed. I scooted around the edge of the tree I'd hidden behind, already stiff from the poison setting in, and peeked out. Martin was lying underneath Anthony, blood spraying out onto the grass around him. Anthony was picking up his trident and standing up for a finishing blow. Martin couldn't see him, not past all the blood on his face. He couldn't see anything.
"I'm okay!" I yelled, watching Anthony's trident start on its way down. Martin relaxed a little. Then the blades stuck down into his face. He flopped once.
That's right, Martin. I'm okay. You did it. I leaned on one weak arm and waited. When the cannon sounded an instant later, I smiled and laid down.
7th place: Martin Jackman- stabbed by Anthony
Martin had a lot of detractors at first and that's totally understandable. We all know a Martin, amirite? Those people are super harmful to people with actual conditions and like most people here, I've lived that firsthand. But as obnoxious as those people are and as much trouble as they cause me, I try to remember there IS a reason they do what they do, even if that doesn't justify it. Some of them want to be special, like all humans want. Some do it "for attention" but more deeply it's because they felt neglected or unloved for whatever reason. Many of them DO have a condition, just not the one they want to have (Munchausen's is real and it's not fun for them either). In any case, Martin was a dumb kid. A dumb kid. We all have our blunder years and while they were often less harmful than this, I for one am glad I grew up before internet and there's no evidence of my own cringe years. Thanks Clatniss for a dumb kid who still had his own good side. PS it was Anthony's fingernail on his severed middle fingertip that gashed Martin's gum.
6th place: Porsche Romeo- poisoned by Nailah
Porsche came here for a good time, not a long time. Since she was already exasperated with everyone all the time, she didn't see Martin as much worse than everyone else and made her funky lil friendship with him. She knew she was going out and only cared that she went out swinging, which she did, and she also made time to give Martin a happy death. Thanks Silver for basically another Ferrari, not that I mind.
Timeline: I keep forgetting to add the timeline so I'll catch up and say it's day 15.
