Nugua blinked the water out of her eyes as she ducked beneath the leaves of a giant plant right on the edge of the Arena. It was still raining- in fact, it'd only intensified since they'd left their little camp earlier that morning. The jacket they'd been given seemed to be waterproof, but their pants and shoes weren't, a fact of which she was becoming more aware as the puddles beneath their feet grew until the ground was one giant swamp.

She heard a faint rustling noise from behind her. Nugua looked over her shoulder at Carter, who crept into the bush on the other side. "Nice weather we're havin'," Carter remarked as he crouched down.

"That's one word for it," Nugua replied.

She brushed her hair back into her hood again as they peeked through the bush. Between them and the Cornucopia was the fence that wrapped around the Arena, and further down the path were the gates that led out to the Cornucopia. While they didn't have the clearest view, they could at least watch people go in and out.

This was the closest they'd get though, considering Carter's reluctance.

Nugua didn't want to push Carter to do things- after all, if he attacked her, she doubted the chances of winning would be in her favor. The only reason she'd allied with him was so he could serve a purpose. She almost felt bad about her plan- he had people too. His siblings and his parents, who she'd heard all about. But that was inconsequential- she couldn't linger on that, couldn't pity anyone. She pushed down the voice in the back of her head telling her how wrong it was to use an innocent boy like this. Everyone left alive was just an obstacle in her way.

Nugua Meng had no choice but to make it home, and one way or another, her victory would result in Carter's death. She had people to take care of- people relying on her.

Just like Alfie had.

"Look," Carter called softly, pointing through the leaves. "Careers."

Nugua squinted, spotting two figures coming up the path. She shrank into herself as they passed directly in front of their hiding place. The blonde girl had a sword over her shoulder, walking with purpose as she moved forward along the path. The boy followed along behind her, sword at his hip. "Fuck. I thought we'd be the only ones to get here this early."

Carter grabbed her hand and squeezed tightly as the Careers pushed onwards, their footsteps quieting as they moved out of view. Nugua let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as soon as they passed. "That was terrifying," Carter sighed, sitting back as Nugua shook herself out.

"You're right," Nugua nodded. "We should get further off the path, towards the fence."

Carter muttered something under his breath as they moved, obscuring themselves in the tall grass behind the fence. They sat in silence as they watched the Cornucopia, waiting for the right opportunity to arise. But as determined as Nugua was to get the results she wanted, she quickly found herself running out of patience.

And she didn't particularly want to find out what happened when she ran out of patience.


Jasper pulled his arms closer to himself, the rain pattering loudly on the metal car he sat against. He was thankful to be out of the rain, even if it wasn't an ideal place to be sitting; he couldn't see other tributes approaching, and the car didn't provide much cover, but some was better than none.

"It's bound to be soon," Jasper said, squinting up at the sky. The sun had all but disappeared in the grey gloom, leaving them to guess when the feast would begin. Jasper wasn't the biggest fan of that method, as the last thing he wanted was to time their arrival wrong. But it seemed like things were okay thus far- they'd been early enough to avoid most others.

He glanced over to Mor, huddled in her jacket next to him. Mor's plan was that she'd run into the Cornucopia, get supplies, and get out as fast as possible, all while Jasper watched from the backlines. He was sure she was capable of pulling it off, but it still made him nervous.

Their chances were looking good, yet Jasper didn't believe things would be so easy.

They never were.

"Ya see anyone out there?" Mor asked, tightening her hood around her face.

Jasper poked his head around the edge of the car, towards the Cornucopia. From his vantage point, he could see the shining edge of the structure. There didn't appear to be anybody around, but curiously there were several piles of dirt, scattered around.

"Nobody. Just… dirt?" Jasper whispered.

"Yeah, same here," Mor agreed. "What's up with the dirt?"

"Dunno, somebody might've been digging holes?"

"Yeah, but what for?"

"Hmm," Jasper paused, thinking to himself. Perhaps the Careers had buried supplies, so they wouldn't have to protect all of them. But, if the Careers buried supplies there, that probably meant they'd be camping at the Cornucopia, and there was very obviously nobody there, so that couldn't be the case. In fact, there wasn't much around the Cornucopia, except for the pedestals they'd started on, so it wasn't likely whoever had done it was digging around for treasure.

Unless treasure wasn't what they were looking for.

"Mor!" Jasper hissed. "I think somebody dug the mines up."

"The what?"

"The mines, around the pedestals," Jasper continued. "I think somebody might've dug them up."

"But who?" Mor asked. "And what for?"

"Dunno," Jasper shrugged. "I think we should leave though."

"We can't leave yet."

"It's dangerous. What if they get set off? That's not a risk we anticipated in our plan," Jasper continued, waving his hands around as he spoke. "We can make do with what we have."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Mor replied, adjusting the wrappings on her hands. "We're not gonna get anywhere if we fuckin' sit around and do nothing."

"I'm not saying we should sit around and do nothing."

"Well, that's what it sounds like!" Mor growled. "We can't afford to be cowards."

Jasper blinked at his ally for a moment. It was true, they couldn't afford to be cowards, but Jasper wasn't so sure about how to proceed considering the factor of potential bombs. Jasper could feel himself floundering to come up with something, anything to keep them out of danger, but he could only think of a single, mediocre idea.

"How about this," Jasper sighed. "How about we try and figure out where the mines are if that's what's going on."

"Wouldn't that put us closer to a potential explosion?" Mor asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Well, yes," Jasper nodded. "But it's possible I'm wrong about what got dug up."

"Possibly, but what else could be out there?"

"I don't know," Jasper shrugged. "I really don't know."

"Well, let's get moving then," Mor said. "We don't have time to waste."

Mor took off, darting behind the next car, and Jasper followed. He certainly wasn't as coordinated as her, but he managed. Their boots splashed in the collecting puddles, the rain still falling around them as they weaved through the cars in the direction of the Cornucopia. Surprisingly, there wasn't a single soul around; Jasper would've expected to at least see some of the Careers, but he couldn't see anyone, even out in the distance.

"This is weird," Jasper panted as Mor came to a stop on the edge of cars. There were several holes around each pedestal, many of them filled with water from the rain.

"It is," Mor nodded, pointing towards the mouth of the Cornucopia. The edges of the entrance were charred, the inside filled not with supplies but black rubble. Jasper inhaled, nearly coughing at the strong smell of melted plastic.

"We should keep moving," Mor commented, as she pushed onwards. "This doesn't seem good."

Jasper nodded, following on her heels. As he did, he noticed a cloud of fog beginning to roll in, thick and low to the ground. It seemed to only get thicker and thicker the further they went, which alarmed Jasper. Whatever it was, it wasn't natural fog, it was getting too thick far quicker then any fog he'd seen before. And Jasper was rapidly losing sight of Mor because of it, until she disappeared entirely.

"Mor?" Jasper called, pausing where he stood. He spun around on his heel, searching for his ally.

"Jasper?" Mor called out from… somewhere Jasper couldn't see. "Where'd you go?"

"I- I don't know," Jasper sputtered. He stumbled, nearly tripping over his own feet, but managed to stay upright.

"Stay where you are, I'll find you," Mor called again. Jasper reached out in front of him, his hands finding cool, slick metal. A car, probably, but he couldn't see it much more than a dim outline. At least he had some kind of anchor in the fog. He sucked in deep breaths, searching desperately for any sign of his ally. He had to be strong, but with every moment passing, he could feel his resolve waning.

He would get them out of this. He had to. It was his fault for endangering them both in the first place.

Jasper wouldn't let any harm come to Mor because of his mistakes.


Cecil twirled his batons, his footsteps splashing in the puddles as he and his allies threaded between the trees and decrepit structures. A thick fog that had fallen over the arena in the past twenty minutes or so that seemed to get thicker the closer they got to their destination. Occasionally Cecil would catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, movement in the fog, but it was nothing more than dark shadows.

"This is freaky," Cecil commented.

"What, the fog?" Dean replied. "It's not… really ideal."

"How are we supposed to collect supplies we can't find?" Chiffon asked nobody in particular. "Or fight people we can't even see."

"Perhaps we'll get ambushed," Dean responded. "Then you'll get the fight you're itching for."

"Well-" Chiffon sputtered. "Yeah, what of it?"

Dean sighed deeply. "It's fine. I'm sorry, we have our plan."

"Don't be idiots," Cecil exclaimed, turning around to push between them. "There's no need to argue." Dean and Chiffon both stared down at him, but Cecil held firm. "Get your shit together. Like Dean said, we have our plan, so let's just stick to it."

Dean shook his head slowly, and Chiffon made a displeased face as they continued to follow Cecil along. Cecil knew they weren't the strongest of alliances - they'd certainly gone through rough patches - but he'd always considered himself to be the weak link. Now, though, the other two seemed to be arguing more and cooperating less, and Cecil wasn't sure what to do about it.

Perhaps this alliance was failing, and maybe Cecil didn't want to admit it. He doubted they cared about him as much as he once thought. At one time, he'd thought Dean just wanted to help, but Cecil couldn't even be sure of that anymore. On top of that, his allies were still dangerous, far more then Cecil had ever considered. They were both trained Careers; even if he didn't need to worry about Dean, Cecil still worried about what Chiffon could do.

Maybe Cecil had made a mistake coming back, and perhaps he was better off on his own, but he couldn't dwell on what could've been. All he had was the here and the now. And Cecil would have to work with that, no matter what the outcome would be.

"Hey, look," Dean said, breaking the silence as he pointed toward a shape materializing in the fog in front of them. It took the form of the gates they'd all had to exit through at the very start, meaning they'd made it back to the Cornucopia.

Standing off to one side of the gate was a singular figure, struggling to open his bag as they only had one arm. Cecil couldn't make much more out before Chiffon and Dean had pulled their weapons out. Noticing them now, the figure turned and fled through the gate. "C'mon!" Chiffon called, taking off at a run, quickly disappearing into the fog.

"Wait!" Dean grunted, but Chiffon was already off.

The Four boy sighed, taking off after their ally. Cecil trailed behind Dean, running deeper into the fog; Chiffon was completely gone save for his footsteps somewhere ahead of them. Cecil tried to keep up with Dean, but before he knew it, Dean was nothing more then an outline vaguely in front of him.

As he ran, Cecil realized something: if he couldn't see Dean, then Dean couldn't see him. If he wanted, Cecil could just slip away unnoticed. But could he so easily leave Dean like that? And was he ready to take that risk?

Cecil sucked in a deep breath. Chiffon could be dangerous, and Cecil didn't want to be killed by his ally. It was his life on the line now, and if this was his chance to get away then he'd have to take it. He could make do on his own, he could take care of himself. Cecil didn't doubt Dean could do the same.

As he let the breath out, he turned, ducking behind a car.

He'd made his decision, and if Cecil died for it then so be it.


Verity sank to the ground, her entire body exhausted as she attempted to dig the caked dirt and mud out from beneath her fingernails She held her hands out to the open air, letting the rain wash the dirt away.

"Um… you okay?" Diesel asked, appearing over her shoulder. He hovered nervously, reminiscent of a hummingbird.

"Yeah," Verity nodded. "Just tired."

"Sorry, I should've done more of the digging myself," Diesel apologized.

Verity shook her head. "No, don't say that. This is your plan. I just wanted to help."

Diesel nodded, mumbling something to himself, as he disappeared into the fog again. It was thick, thicker than it had been just a few hours ago, and it'd mostly obscured whatever Diesel was doing. He never went particularly far, though, always lingering close enough that if she called out to him he'd appear in an instant. His constant, steady presence was comforting, and she knew that, no matter what happened, she trusted Diesel to take care of her.

At the very least, they'd be together to face whatever would come next.

Sighing, Verity attempted to clear her mind. She had every piece of this puzzle; Verity knew she could figure it out, even without Diesel's help. She hadn't spent an entire day digging up mines for nothing - even though he wouldn't tell her what, Diesel clearly wanted to use them for something. But what could he possibly want to do with something so dangerous? She doubted he would ever want to bring harm to another person, and especially not her. The solution felt so close, and yet Verity was still left grasping for answers. All she needed to finish this puzzle was one last clue.

Perhaps there was still something she could try.

"Diesel?" Verity asked, turning to look at the boy who sat next to her, their shoulders pressed together.

"Yeah?"

"We're gonna have to go soon since the feast is starting," Verity replied.

"That's true… Um, I think I have a place we could hide until it blows over. I think it'd be too, uh, risky to leave now since there's a lot of people around. I kinda lost track of time, I'm sorry about that," Diesel apologized again, scratching at the side of his face. "Come with me?"

Verity nodded, dragging herself to her feet. She followed Diesel away from the Cornucopia, the pair weaving between several of the holes scattered around the pedestals. They moved between the cars, further and further into the fog until they reached… nothing. There were no rusted cars, no structures, no anything. Diesel paused before what seemed to be nothing but a wall of fog, turning to face her.

"What is it?" Verity asked, reaching out a hand to poke it, but as she did Diesel knocked it away.

"No don't- sorry, don't touch it," Diesel apologized softly. "It's the forcefield around the Arena."

"I see… but why? Why are we here, what does it have to do with anything?" Verity continued, squinting at the forcefield. Diesel didn't reply, only pointing towards the ground. All of the mines she'd so carefully dug up were lined up along the invisible wall. Each of the devices was connected to various wires, stringing them all together. She paused for a moment and, looking back at Diesel, who held a single finger to his lips-

Oh.

Even though deep down she already kenw the answer - and maybe she always had - she wanted to hear it from him,

"What are you doing? Verity whispered.

"Well…" Diesel trailed. "I can't really… um, explain that yet. I'd like to enact it after the feast, ideally, once everyone else leaves."

"And then?"

"And then this," Diesel gestured towards all of the connecting wires and explosives.

"Diesel that's… what is it? What's it for?" Verity trailed off, unable to even find the words. Was this what he was planning, all along? To blow the entire Arena to high hell? Verity very suddenly found herself with about a hundred more questions than she started with.

For everything Verity understood, none of this made any sense to her.

Diesel Malstrom was a far smarter man than Verity had ever given him credit for. Smarter, and willing to do anything, it seemed. And for what? For her? Was all of this for her, or for himself? Verity didn't know; she didn't even know where to start.

For the first time since entering this Arena, Verity felt afraid. Not of the other tributes, or of death or what may come for her next.

But for Diesel.

"Diesel," Verity said, seizing his face in her hands. "This is dangerous."

"I know," Diesel murmured softly. "I'm willing to take the risk."

"I can't let you do that. I can't let you put your life on the line like this," Verity insisted.

Diesel sighed, wearily leaning down into her touch. "It's the only way."

"No, we have time. We have options, we can figure something out together," Verity continued. "Just let me help. Please let me help."

"Ver… It's the only way," Diesel repeated. "You… I have to do this. I have to get us out of here."

Verity grabbed him by the hand, trying desperately to drag him away. "We need to go- come on, we can figure something else out, once we get somewhere safer."

But Diesel didn't budge as she tugged on his hand. He was staring down at the explosives, still as a statue.

"Come on. I'm going to get our supplies," Verity declared, dropping his hand. She began making her way back towards the Cornucopia.

And as she did, it was almost like the fog around her lifted.

Verity turned back, spotting Diesel standing out starkly against the white of the fog, still rooted in place The only difference was that he was now turned, staring at her, an expression of pure and utter despair crossing his face as he opened his mouth.

"I'm sorry. I love you."

The entire world around her erupted in searing white light, an explosion loud enough to shake her to her very core.

And then there was nothing but darkness.