Virgil Amatore, District 1, 18
After seeing the calm face and bloody axe of the boy from Seven, I headed back to the Cornucopia. I wasn't, like, afraid of him or anything, but dealing with that seemed like a hassle. The clearing had largely emptied out at this point, with only my alliance and the dead tributes still hanging around. The other Careers began to return to the Cornucopia-except for Sadie, who was already there- eager to see our loot.
Muir jogged up just as I returned. "Hey, buddy," I said, slapping him on the back. "How'd it go?"
"I got one," he said grimly. "You?"
I shook my head. "He got away. He was too scared to face me."
Muir gave me a look before shrugging. "Whatever."
Isla chose that moment to stomp inside. She was shrieking about something, her hands covered in blood, when Glowy walked up.
"You!" said Isla, pointing at Glowy. "You tried to kill me!"
"I told you to get out of the way," Glowy replied. She almost seemed amused by Isla's hysterics.
"That was deliberate," Isla seethed. "Look at this! I'm literally bleeding!"
I walked over and looked at her arm. "Doesn't seem too deep," I said. "Bandage it up and you'll be fine."
She grumbled something too low for me to hear- probably a curse- and stomped over to one of the piles of bags. She zipped it open, searching for medical supplies.
Caligula walked in, seemingly dazed.
"You don't look too good," said Glowy.
His eyes refocused, and he looked over in her direction. "I'm fine," he said.
Glowy gave him a weird look, but didn't say anything.
"So," said Sadie, leaning up against a picnic table, "what's the plan?"
"Plan?" Caligula asked.
"Yes, dingus, the plan," she said. "Are we just going to let them all leave? Are we going to go out and search? What are we doing?"
"I…" Caligula scratched his head, looking lost. "I don't know."
"Are you sure you're good?" asked Glowy. "No concussion or anything?"
"No way," said Isla, scoffing. "He was fighting a little girl. She didn't even get a hit in."
"Maybe you should sit down," I suggested. For once, Glowy was right- Caligula really wasn't looking too good. He was super pale, and the hand that wasn't holding his bloodstained sword wouldn't stop tapping the side of his leg. His confident, strong air that he always had about him had vanished. Maybe he had been hit on the head after all. Caligula obliged us, sitting on one of the picnic table benches.
"Well, in that case…" said Sadie.
Isla whirled around, backpack still in her hands. "Since Caligula is clearly in no state to give directions, it looks like it falls to me," she said, noticeably less grumpy than she had been two seconds ago.
"I don't recall anyone saying that," said Sadie, who crossed her arms.
"Well, just until Caligula feels like himself again," she said. "Right, boys?"
Muir glanced at me. I shrugged. "Whatever. I don't really care."
"That settles it," Isla declared.
"Wait wait wait," said Sadie. "What? No. Absolutely not."
"I have to agree," said Glowy. "You can barely dodge a knife."
"Well, suggest an alternative, then," replied Isla, clearly exasperated. "If you're going to shoot me down, at least have other ideas. And by the way, you can barely throw a knife. I can dodge just fine."
Glowy rolled her eyes. "For the last time-"
"Maybe we should just make the decisions together, instead of anyone being in charge," interrupted Muir.
Everyone glanced at him, borderline surprised to hear him give an opinion.
"Works for me," I said. Muir was my buddy, after all.
"So we'll vote?" asked Sadie.
Muir nodded.
"I can get behind that," said Sadie.
Glowy nodded. "Fine."
Everyone turned to look at Isla.
"What?" she asked.
"Do you agree?" asked Glowy.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Whatever. We'll vote."
"I, for one, would like to see what's in all these bags," said Sadie.
"You don't want to go look for tributes?" asked Glowy. She still hadn't put down her knife, which she was currently flipping around her hand.
"Of course I do," she said. "But they won't be hard to find."
"Why not?" asked Isla. "Since when are you the master tracker?"
Sadie sighed. "I guess I've had more of a chance to look around this place, but come on. There's literally a map over there."
She gestured off to her left. Our eyes followed her. I walked over to the flat pedestal thing in the corner, interested in getting a good look. She was right- it was a map. It was mostly green, with brown lines and blue areas and small house symbols scattered around it.
"It's a map," I announced. "It's like… a big park. We're in a big park with houses."
"Oh, like for camping?" Isla asked. "There were some small parks in Four, but nothing this big. Some of my friends used to go for hikes and stuff."
"Yeah," I replied.
"You said there's houses? And trails?" asked Glowy.
I nodded. "Yeah."
"So you're saying we know where they're going to go, and we know how they're going to get there," she said, a small smile spreading across her face.
"Exactly," said Sadie. "There's no rush to track them down. We already know where they are."
The rest of us began to smile too, realizing what an advantage this was. This thing was going to make our lives so much easier.
"Some might still go straight into the woods, though," said Glowy.
"Of course," said Isla. "So the map is pointless."
"The map isn't pointless," I said. "It gives us a starting place. I'm fine with doing inventory or whatever, I'm in no rush."
"I agree," said Glowy, her smile broad by now.
Muir shook his head. "We still need protection," he said. "I want to set traps around the clearing so no one can get close."
"You're pretty good at that," I noted. "As long as we know where they are, that sounds great to me."
"So that's the plan," said Sadie. "We take inventory for the rest of the day. Muir, and any helpers if he needs them, will create traps around the perimeter of the clearing. We can decide watch shifts once the sun starts to set. And don't think I forgot about our cooking bet. Sound good?"
"I thought we said there wouldn't be a leader?" Isla mumbled. Sadie ignored her.
"Sounds good," said Glowy.
Muir and I nodded. Isla huffed again. We all looked at Caligula, who was busy staring off into the distance and brooding silently. He didn't seem to notice us.
"Let's get to it, then," said Sadie.
Ianto Baines, District 8, 16
Our two pairs of two tore down the path. I led the way, along with Sienna, who was slung over my shoulder. Based on the footsteps, Levi and Jess weren't far behind. We ran for a solid ten minutes before we stopped, our adrenaline beginning to die down.
"Could you put me down?" asked Sienna, her voice quiet.
"Sure," I said. I set her feet on the ground, and she dusted herself off. For the first time since the Bloodbath, I got a good look at her face. When we were running, I could tell she was crying, but… damn. She looked terrible. Tear tracks stained her cheeks, and her eyes and nose were bright red. She caught me looking at her and looked away.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," I said quietly. I meant it, too. Salome might have been annoying, but her death was difficult to watch, even for me.
She wiped at her eyes, glancing up at me for a moment. She didn't say anything, just looked away again.
Levi and Jess walked up, evidently having broken their stride once they saw us stop running. "I don't think anyone's following us," said Levi, breathless.
"I hope you're right," I said. Then I noticed that Levi's arm was under Jess's, and she was supporting her pretty heavily. "What happened?"
"Don't know," said Jess. "A knife came out of nowhere."
I peered around to her other side to see a knife buried in Jess's calf, tearing a hole in the long black socks we'd been issued. Blood was all over her leg and her sock and her brown boots. It had to hurt like hell.
"Maybe we got some medical supplies in our bags," Levi suggested.
"I hope so," Jess mumbled.
"Let's find a spot to settle down and take care of it," I said. "Maybe this path leads somewhere."
Levi spotted Sienna's face. "You okay?" she asked gently.
I glanced back at Sienna. Her eyes were full of tears again. She nodded, swallowing with difficulty. "I'll be fine," she said.
Levi glanced at me, clearly concerned. I shrugged, unsure of what to do. As close as Owain and I were, he was a boy. I had no experience with handling girls Sienna's age.
"Let's keep moving," I said.
After a long while, during which we traveled in silence, we arrived in front of a lake. It was pretty large, based on what I knew. Definitely the largest body of water I'd ever seen by far. Honestly, it was beautiful here. The sun was shining on the water, and you could hear the birds and the bugs singing. The path split in front of us, circling the lake. And in the distance…
"Are those houses?" Levi asked, squinting in the sunlight.
"I think so," said Jess.
Levi, Jess and I exchanged a glance. "Worth checking out," I said.
"What if someone beat us there?" asked Levi.
"Well, I'm armed," I said. "And after the Careers, we're still the biggest alliance here. We can take them."
Jess's eyes shifted to the spear in my hand. "I guess…"
"We'll still be careful, though," Levi insisted.
I nodded. "Of course."
We rounded the lake, taking our time in order not to make too much noise. With Jess's injury, it was difficult, but we somehow managed. After a few minutes, we arrived in front of the first of the houses.
It was apparently made out of wooden logs, with a little porch and an overhang. Next to the door, which was firmly shut, was a small sign that read "CABIN D." We stopped and listened to see if anyone was inside.
"Hear anything?" Levi whispered.
"No," I whispered back. "I'll go in first."
The girls nodded. I crept up onto the porch, wincing as the floorboards creaked under my boots. I tried the doorknob- the cabin was unlocked. I pushed the door open, cringing as the hinges squeaked, and listened.
Nothing.
"I think it's clear," I whispered. I walked in.
Inside, it honestly wasn't bad. Off to my right was a chimney. There was a small table with chairs, and a kitchenette with a sink and a small countertop. There was also a couch by the fireplace. Off to my left were two doors, which I cautiously opened. They were both bedrooms, containing beds with quilts, a tiny bookcase, and a writing desk each.
"All good," I announced, raising my voice. There was clearly no one there.
The girls followed me inside. Levi helped Jess over to a chair. Each of us had managed to get a bag of varying size, Sienna's being the smallest (how she held on to it, I had no idea). Levi's was the largest, and she immediately opened it, rifling through it for bandages. Luckily, Sienna had some bandages in hers, and wordlessly passed them to Levi before sitting on the couch.
"I think… I think we have to take it out," said Levi.
"Well yes, of course," snapped Jess. "I'm not going to leave it in there."
"Hey, she's trying to help you," I said.
"She's in pain, it's fine," said Levi, waving me off.
"Whatever," I said. "If anyone has some of those water purification pouches, I'll go fill them up."
Jess tossed me one. I set my bag on the floor and headed out to the lake. I was glad we'd found a water source. As I crouched at the water's edge, I even noticed some little fish in there. Food! Thank God. I had no idea how we'd get food otherwise. Maybe Sienna could weave us a net or something, and I could go fishing.
I waited by the lake, taking in the scenery, until I heard Jess stop screeching. I figured Levi had her patched up after another few minutes. I took a sip of water- it was cold, too, which was nice- and headed back into the cabin.
As I stepped up onto the porch, though, I noticed something interesting.
"Hey, guys?" I called.
Sienna appeared at the door. "They're busy," she said, her voice still quiet. Her eyes and nose were still red, but had calmed down a little.
"Well, look at this," I said, pointing at the display off to the right of the porch.
Sienna came around to look at what I was seeing. "Is that… a map?" she asked.
"I think so," I said. "And that white X is where we are. At Cabin D."
"If there's a Cabin D, then there has to be A, B, and C too," she realized. "That's what these letters over the houses are."
"So then the black lines…" I trailed.
She nodded grimly. "Paths. How to get to each location." She looked back at me. "If we have access to this map, then other people probably do, too. Are we safe here?"
"I don't know," I said, a horrible feeling sinking into the pit of my stomach.
Chaney Hallows, District 7, 15
I tore through the trees and underbrush, a strange feeling of deja vu settling over me. Sweat dripped from my forehead, and my grip around my backpack was so tight that my knuckles had gone white. I'd never been so full of adrenaline in my life, which was saying something.
I ran as long and as hard as I could, zigging and zagging to throw any pursuers or trackers off my tail. I ran until my lungs burned and my muscles ached. When I finally stopped, I wasn't sure how long it had been, but I was pretty sure no one had followed me.
I sat against a tree, my heart thumping, as I took some deep breaths to relieve my lungs. That was a nightmare. That was truly a nightmare. There were a few moments where I'd thought I was a goner, but somehow, I'd managed to escape fully intact. I examined myself for a moment just to make sure. I had a few scratches from running, but nothing too bad. I sighed with relief.
Now, what was in this backpack?
I zipped open my bag, which was made of a sturdy black fabric. I started to pull out items, examining them as I went.
First, a bag of crackers. That would be helpful. I had half a mind to eat one now, but I forced myself to save them for later. A bag of dried fruit followed it, and I put it next to the crackers.
A small water bottle, empty of course. A small bottle of chemicals to purify water. Just looking at the bottle, I became aware of how parched my mouth was. Unfortunately, there was no water in sight. I would need to find some as soon as possible.
The next thing out of the bag was a knife. I forced myself to stay calm as I gripped the handle. I wouldn't need to stab anyone with it. I could just use it to cut things, and maybe self-defense at the worst. I forced the echoes of Alyvia's voice out of my head and returned to rummaging through my bag.
The next thing, and definitely the biggest thing, was a camouflage sleeping bag. That would come in handy during the nights, I knew. It was hard to imagine being cold, though- I was currently very sweaty from running and the heat. Just looking at the arena, you wouldn't expect it to be so hot, but oh well.
Maybe if I find some water, I can go swimming, I thought. Then I laughed to myself. Swimming! How are you thinking about swimming at a time like this?
That was all that was inside the biggest pouch of the bag. There was a small one in front, which I zipped open. I pulled out a folded piece of paper and began to pull it apart.
As soon as it was fully opened, it was clear to me that it was a map. The key told me that the black lines were trails, and the blue was water. It seemed that there was actually a decent amount of water in this arena, which was a relief. This map could lead me right to it.
The only problem, though, was that I had no idea where I was. Between the adrenaline and the zigzagging, I'd long since lost my sense of direction. I looked around, trying to find any kind of marker or landmark. Nothing. Just pine trees everywhere.
I packed everything back into my bag except for the map. If I couldn't see anything, maybe it was because I was too low. Luckily, I had a lot of tree-climbing experience from living in Seven. I picked a tree and began to hoist myself up, careful not to get any splinters.
After about ten minutes of climbing, I looked around again. I was as high as I could go without seriously risking my life, but not at the top of the tree. I could still only see trees.
I sighed and began to lower myself back down. When I reached the bottom, I winced at the sticky sap covering my hands, wiping them on the ground.
Guess I'll just have to pick a direction, I thought to myself. I looked to the left, shrugged, and began walking in search of water.
Alula Callahan, District 11, 15
I ran straight into the woods, ducking to avoid more knives. Thankfully, I was out of the way before any more knives could reach me.
I ran for a while before collapsing to the ground, the pain just too much for me to bear anymore.
Don't be weak, Cataleya commanded.
I nodded, barely holding back the tears. My left arm hurt every time I moved it, so I reached around with my right hand, touching the protruding end of the blade with my fingers. I winced as they made contact, sending a new wave of pain through my shoulder.
It isn't even that deep, Cataleya scoffed. Pull it out and move on.
I nodded again, my hand shaking. Gritting my teeth tightly to avoid making any noise, I wrapped my hand around the blade and yanked it out, barely stifling the scream that came with it. Blood began to spill down my back, thick and warm. My vision went spotty for a moment. Against my will, tears fell down my cheeks. It just hurt so badly.
If you were perfect like me, it wouldn't hurt at all, Cataleya snapped. Walk it off.
I nodded for a third time, trying not to whimper. I examined the knife now in my right hand. It was silver, with a curved handle that rested comfortably in my palm. The other half of the weapon was its blade, which glinted dimly in the sunlight. I wiped off the blood on the ground.
At least you got something. I can't believe you didn't get any supplies at all.
She was right. It was shameful that I hadn't even been able to dodge a blade or rescue some supplies. If I had a backpack on, maybe the blade wouldn't have touched me, and I wouldn't be dealing with this at all.
Exactly.
I sighed. I could still feel the blood dripping down my back. Grimacing, I took off my jacket. I balled it up and leaned against a nearby tree, inserting the jacket in between my back and the tree in order to apply pressure. While I was there, I had a conversation with Cataleya.
You need water first, she said. It's a forest. There has to be water somewhere.
Maybe I could kill some tributes and take their supplies. Then they'd have food and water.
Possibly.
Either way. If I found water or other tributes first, everything would be resolved. I'd either have water, or get a bag of supplies and some kills under my belt. If I could get the drop on them, I could use my knife to slit their throats.
True, said Cataleya. Or you could build some traps.
With what? I don't have any materials.
Look around. There's plenty.
I looked around dutifully, finally examining my environment. It was somewhat like the orchards of home, except much less organized and without any fruit. Trees were everywhere, and the forest floor was covered with grass and moss and twigs and small, needle-like leaves. I guess I was supposed to use the twigs.
Yes.
Well, I wasn't going to get anything done just sitting there. I decided to wait until my shoulder seemed to have clotted, and then get moving. Staying in one place for too long seemed like a bad idea.
After a long while, the blood on my back seemed to have dried. I got to my feet, wincing at the stiffness of my legs and the pain in my shoulder.
Your own fault for not being as perfect as me, whispered Cataleya.
I ignored the jab as I dusted pine needles and dirt off of me. I picked a direction and began to walk, hoping that my luck would start to turn.
After about twenty minutes of walking, during which Cataleya thankfully remained silent- not that I didn't appreciate her help and wisdom, but she was frankly being hostile today- I arrived at a river.
"Oh, thank God," I whispered, picking up the pace as I hustled toward the sound of rushing water. I broke through the trees to see the river in its entirety, flowing from my right to my left. I was remarkably clear, and I immediately plunged my bloody jacket into it. I practically sighed as the water relieved some of the heat of the day. It was nice and cool, not too cold, but not warm either.
I removed my jacket from the river and squeezed out the excess water. I then began to tenderly try and clean my wound, rinsing off the dried blood. It was definitely freshwater, because it didn't sting my wound when it touched it. After a decently long time- I had to move slowly, because it was both hard to reach and painful to the touch- I got it as clean as it would ever be.
Careful. It could be dangerous.
Looks fine to me.
It could have bacteria. Were you even listening during your training?
I pushed my hurt at her words aside before I responded. It was a risk I was willing to take.
Cataleya scolded me, but I drank the river water anyway. It was cool and refreshing, if perhaps a little gritty. I didn't really mind, though. I drank until I was satisfied, eventually standing and looking around.
The sun was starting to set. I decided to climb a tree for the night and hide up there. I could stay there for the night, and watch the deaths, before plotting my next move tomorrow.
Dale Orion-Poplar, District 12, 17
Travis and I ran side by side, eager to leave the Bloodbath behind. We ran until I lost track of time, weaving through the trees as fast as we could.
After at least half an hour, Travis began to slow, transitioning into a jog. I matched his speed.
"Don't think anyone's following us," I said.
"I don't either," he replied.
We slowed to a walk, catching our breath for the first time since the timer hit zero.
"You hurt at all?" asked Travis.
"No," I said.
"Saw you fighting the guy from One," he said.
"Yeah," I said. "Wasn't too bad, though. I'm not sure that he knew what he was doing."
"Really?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "Maybe he was just trying to catch me off guard, who knows."
"Interesting," he mused.
"Are you injured?" I asked. "I, uh… I saw your axe."
Travis looked down at his weapon. The blade was still coated with a layer of red, although some of it had dried by now. "I'm fine," he said. "Got in a little tussle, but I'm all good."
"Who with?"
"That Five dude," he said, shaking his head. "The one who talks about demons all the time."
"Ah," I said. It wasn't hard to conjure his face- I remembered his Reapings pretty well, as well as remembered seeing him get dragged backstage after his interview. "Is he…"
"Yes," said Travis. "He's dead."
"Cool," I said, nodding. Still, it was weird to look at him and know that he was a killer now. I guess you had to do what you had to do…
"Did you see anyone else go down?" I asked. "I was busy with the One guy."
Travis shook his head. "I wasn't really paying attention," he said. "There was a lot going on. Either way, though, we'll find out tonight."
"True," I said. "I definitely heard more than one cannon." I wondered if one of them was Sienna. Part of me hoped not.
"Me too," he said. "Wait. Do you see that?"
Travis gestured in front of us. I squinted, trying to make out whatever he'd noticed. "See what?"
"There's something up there," he said. "I think it's a clearing."
We both broke into a jog, heading towards the clearing. After a minute or two, we broke through the trees.
In front of us was, indeed, a clearing. It was divided in half by a wide dirt path. On the other side of the paths were… tents?
"Those are tents," I realized. "Someone's already here."
We both backed into the trees and dropped into a crouch, concealing ourselves from anyone who might have noticed us.
"No way," Travis muttered. "There's no way there's anyone there."
"There has to be," I argued. "Who else would have put them there? I wouldn't just leave a tent lying around."
"Maybe," he conceded. "But also… who would be dumb enough to put a bunch of tents up in the middle of a clearing? Right next to a path?"
"True," I said. We both peeked out from behind our trees, watching the tents carefully.
"Either way, it doesn't look like there's anyone there," he said. "Maybe there's supplies."
"We could just keep walking," I said. "Follow the path, see if it leads somewhere."
"We should check this out first, though, right?" he said.
"Fine."
We both stood back up and stepped back into the clearing, treading cautiously as we made our way over to the tents. Travis was right: there was no one around. He approached the nearest tent and unzipped it, looking around inside, while I wandered over to something interesting off to the side.
"Hey, Travis," I said, examining the board in front of me.
His head popped out of the tent. "Yeah?"
"I think I found a map," I said. "Look at this."
Travis left the tent and walked over. "It's a map," he confirmed. "And that means we're… here."
He pointed to the white X off to the right.
"Does that mean that there's water here?" I asked, pointing towards the top of the board.
"I think so," he said.
"Find anything in the tents?" I asked.
"No," he said. "And staying here seems stupid. We'd be sitting ducks. We should head towards the water."
"Agreed," I said.
We left the clearing, heading left down the path.
Levi Viscose, District 8, 18
As our first afternoon in the arena began to wane, so did everyone's patience.
"We need to leave the cabins," argued Ianto. "Anyone can just walk in and kill us if we stay here."
"Everything's perfect here!" Jess argued back. "We practically have a fort. If anyone attacks, we lock the door and defend through the windows. And besides, we have food and water literally right there."
"You just don't want to move because your leg hurts."
"Of course my leg hurts! I was stabbed!"
The arguing went on and on. I tried to intercede a few times, but neither of them was willing to hear the other out. I gave up after a while and started tuning it out. Honestly, it was pretty easy.
I took inventory of everything in the bags while Ianto and Jess bickered. We had a decent amount of food, a knife for everyone, water pouches Ianto had filled and purified at the lake, a sleeping bag, some gauze and bandages, Ianto's spear, a small bottle of insect repellent, and two flashlights. It was a lot of stuff, but it helped that we'd managed to get so many backpacks during the Bloodbath. Looked like our strategy had worked, for the most part.
I finished my inventory and looked up. "Hey, where's Sienna?" I asked.
Ianto and Jess stopped arguing for long enough to glance at me. "I don't know," said Jess.
"You don't know?" I asked. "Come on, guys…"
Both of them had the decency to look sheepish as I checked both of the bedrooms. Empty. Her jacket was in one, but no Sienna. I then went outside, forcing myself to not call her name. I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention.
I went down by the lakefront, relieved to see Sienna sitting by it. She was cross-legged, with one hand in the water, making patterns of ripples as she swirled it around. Her back was to me.
"Hey," I said.
"Hi," she replied, still not turning around.
"Can I sit with you?"
"Sure."
I walked over and sat down beside her. She still didn't look up, her eyes focused on the ripples in the water.
"You okay?" I asked softly.
She finally looked at me, her shallow blue eyes betraying her answer.
"It's been a hard day," I said. "It's okay to be upset."
She shook her head. "It's my own fault for being friends with her. We both knew we'd die eventually, and we got close anyway. It's my own fault."
"Hey," I said, my voice firm. "It's not your fault, or Salome's, for wanting a friend. You were both scared. Of course you found a connection."
She sighed, looking back at the water. "Still."
"Don't beat yourself up too much," I said. "I know Salome doesn't regret being your friend."
A tear slid down her cheek. "I can't get her face out of my mind. I see it every time I close my eyes."
I felt a small lump grow in my throat. I'd been doing a decent job of blocking that picture from my mind- it had been a whirlwind of a day, and after all, I'd had practice- but it was more difficult in the quiet moments. And it was a truly horrible picture. So much blood, and so much fear. The sound of her screaming my name rang in my ears. I had to imagine it was ringing in Sienna's as well.
"She's not in pain anymore," I consoled her. "She's not scared anymore. She's at peace."
"Well, I'm not," said Sienna.
My heart sank a little at that. Sienna was one of the most optimistic people I'd ever met. She always had something positive to say. It was heartbreaking to see her like this.
"When my mom died," I began, "people would say all these stupid things. They were like, 'I'm sorry.' Sorry for what? And no one would say her name. All they would talk about was how tragic it was, and how sad, and they'd go on and on like that. None of it helped."
Sienna turned to look at me again, silent tears still on her face.
"What helped me the most," I continued, "was not focusing on how she died. These people, my father even, were defining my mom by the last few months of her life. But I wanted to hold on to the happy memories. I chose to remember her when she was healthy and happy."
"Did it work?" she whispered.
"Not always," I said. "But doing that, and giving myself time… eventually, I was okay again."
She thought this over for a moment. "Thank you."
"Of course," I said. "Glad one of my info dumps was helpful for once."
"Info dumps?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah," I said. "You should have seen me once we got on the train. When I met Ianto, he was talking about his whole bad-boy music thing, and then I told him everything."
"Everything? Everything about what?"
"My life story, basically," I said, cracking a smile. "You should have seen his face."
"What did it look like?" she asked.
I did my best attempt at recreating it. To my relief, she gave a small laugh.
"Do you mind if I sit out here with you for a while?" I asked. "Those two bickering gets old pretty fast."
She nodded. "Okay."
Sadie Wilson, District 2, 18
As the sun began to set, we finally finished taking inventory. Muir had taken Virgil and Isla to help him with setting traps around the perimeter of the clearing, so just Cal, Glowla and I were under the Cornucopia's roof.
Glowla sighed, sitting back. "That's a lot."
"At least it's organized now," I replied.
We'd done a lot of rearranging. The tables had been pushed into a circle, with the supplies in the center. We'd decided to use the tables as beds and the backpacks as pillows. The supplies were in a few piles to keep them organized: food, water, weapons, medical supplies, and other random stuff.
"True," she admitted. "I wonder how the others are doing."
"Maybe you should go check," I suggested. Cal, who was sitting on one of the picnic tables towards the edge, was brooding silently. I gave him a meaningful look, and Glowla understood immediately.
"Might as well," she said. "Don't want to leave Muir alone with those two for too long."
I nodded, smiling in spite of myself. Glowla flashed a smile back at me before leaving the Cornucopia and walking over to Muir, who was busy mediating an argument between Isla and Virgil. Well, it didn't look like he was saying much, but he at least seemed to be trying.
I went over to Cal. "Hey."
His eyes shifted up to me, then back at the ground. "Hey."
"What's going on here?" I asked.
"I'm fine," he said.
"Nice try, but that's not going to get past me, dingus," I replied. "What's up?"
He sighed. "I keep thinking about Salome. And Claudia."
"Salome?" I asked.
"The girl I killed," he explained.
"Oh, don't dwell on it," I said, waving my hand dismissively. "It's not worth thinking about."
"Isn't it, though?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I took someone's life today," he said, his voice softening. Weakening. "She begged me not to. She was crying."
"Don't take this the wrong way," I said, "but that's what we came here to do, isn't it? We've both been training for this for years."
"I took her life, Sadie," he repeated. "What gave me the right to do that?"
"The Capitol gave you that right," I said. "You Volunteered, and in return, they gave you that right. Honestly, it was her or you. If she'd had the opportunity, she would've killed you."
He shook his head vehemently. "Then the Capitol is wrong."
The breath left my lungs. I stared at him, shocked. "Stop it."
"This thing is sick, Sadie," he said. "I… I always thought it was honorable. But it's not honorable to kill other kids. The Capitol is wrong."
"Shut it," I hissed. "You can't say that. Listen to me, Cal. Look at me."
He sighed and turned his head to the side, looking at me.
"Put your personal beliefs aside," I said. "You can't talk about the Capitol like that. You just can't. Trust me. They won't let it slide. They never have, and they never will. You need to drop this. Forget her name and her face. If you truly value your future, you better pray they didn't hear what you said just now, and you need to stop thinking about all of this. Do you understand?"
He sighed again and looked away. "Sadie…"
"Cal," I said, my voice firm. "We're the final two, remember?"
"Final two," he echoed, his voice hollow.
"Do you understand what I'm saying here?" I asked.
He exhaled. "Fine," he finally said.
"Good," I replied. I looked over my shoulder, where the other four Careers were bickering about the best way to tie a knot or something. Well, not all four- Muir was off to the side, working deftly as he created his traps, ignoring the issue entirely. I didn't blame him.
"I'm going to go deal with that," I said. "I'll be over there if you need me."
He nodded, but didn't say anything. I stood and began to stride over to my other allies, my thoughts clouded.
Hopefully, my dingus of a district partner would heed my advice and forget about this. It struck me that our conversation was somewhat reminiscent of my countless arguments with my parents. A chill went down my spine at the thought, despite the heat. But my parents had never listened. As soon as they'd made up their minds about the Capitol's evil nature, they were too far gone to save.
But Cal was still here. Cal was willing to listen. Cal could still be saved.
Parker Dillio, District 11, 16
Our trio ran through down the path, hoping desperately that no one had decided to chase us. I had a pretty good feeling that if anyone did, we'd be done for, especially with Halley. I was carrying her as gently as I possibly could while also running as fast as possible, but she wouldn't stop groaning and whimpering.
"Stop," she mumbled, her eyes half closed.
"We can't," said Ethan, who was panting heavily.
She groaned, but didn't say anything else. I took that as a bad sign. Based on what I'd learned the few days I'd known her, Halley loved to argue. She had to be in a lot of pain right now.
We ran for a while longer. Eventually, Ethan stopped in his tracks, panting heavily. "We need to stop."
"Mmhmm," Halley mumbled.
I nodded, hoping Ethan would understand what I meant. I couldn't get my notepad out of my pocket with Halley in my arms. Honestly, it was probably covered in Halley's blood by now. It was everywhere.
Ethan nodded back. "Let's go this way," he said, taking a sharp left into the woods. We walked into the trees far enough that we couldn't be seen before stopping in a small clearing. I lowered Halley to the ground, propping her head up on a tree.
"It hurts," she whined.
Ethan took something from his pocket- Halley's purple glasses. One of the glass pieces was broken. He slid them onto her face, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Is she still bleeding?" Ethan asked me.
I nodded. She hadn't stopped bleeding this entire time. I showed him my clothes. The bottom of my shirt and jacket were soaked with it, and a few drops were on my shins.
"Yikes," he said quietly. "Here, we can take off her jacket and use it as bandages."
I nodded. Ethan carefully began slipping her arms free of her sleeves, Halley quiet all the while. Once it was off, he lifted up her shirt enough to reveal the gaping hole in her abdomen. He pressed the fabric on the wound, but almost as soon as he did, it was soaked through. He tried another piece, and it happened again. He lifted them up to show me, his face grim.
I pulled out my notebook. It had some blood on it, but somehow, it was still okay enough that I could write on it. We need 2 make her comfortable. If bleeding won't stop, I don't know what we can do.
He read my message slowly. "There's nothing we can do?" he whispered.
I scribbled on it again. We can try 2 stop bleeding, but don't get hopes up.
He sighed and returned to his work, applying pressure to her side.
"Don't touch me," said Halley, her words slurring a little.
"We have to stop the bleeding," Ethan told her.
A tear started to leak from one of her eyes. "Don't touch," she pleaded. "I don't like it."
"Don't cry," Ethan said gently. "Save your strength. Let us help you."
Halley didn't stop crying. "I want Alina," she said. Another tear leaked pitifully from her other eye.
Keep her talking, I wrote. I showed Ethan my note, and he nodded.
"Who's Alina?" he asked softly.
"My girlfriend," she said, her eyes fully open now.
Ethan and I exchanged a look. "You have a girlfriend?" asked Ethan.
"Don't be so surprised," said Halley.
"How did you meet?" asked Ethan.
"She was my parent's assistant," she said, her voice growing a little quieter. She blinked slowly, looking from me to Ethan. "I want her."
"Stay with us, and maybe you'll see her soon," said Ethan, desperate.
"Liar," Halley whispered. "I'm not stupid. I'm going to die here."
"No, you're not," said Ethan. "Tell me more about your girlfriend. What's she like?"
Halley sighed. "Will you just leave me alone already?"
"Not until you promise you won't die," said Ethan.
"Fine. I won't die," she said. "I want to see Damion in the sky first anyway."
Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, and we exchanged a look. She would fight a little longer.
Towards the middle of the afternoon, while Halley took a nap, I decided to teach Ethan some signing. I wasn't confident that I'd be able to hold on to my notepad. And in fast-paced situations, writing down what I wanted to say was too slow.
I taught him a few basics first. "Please," "thank you," "water," question words, that stuff. He caught on quickly, eager to have something to think about other than the Games or Halley's condition. Honestly, it was nice for me too. I didn't love writing everything down all the time.
After the basics, we moved on to the words I had a feeling we'd need soon. "Run," "hide," "go," "danger." We practiced these until he had them memorized. There wasn't much else to do with our time anyway, besides check on Halley.
As night began to fall, Halley stayed true to her word. She had stopped talking, and would sleep for an hour or so at a time. Ethan and I were tense, listening for her cannon, but it didn't come. Only sheer willpower and luck were keeping her alive at this point.
Suddenly, the sound of music waltzed through the trees. All three of us recognized it immediately- the Capitol's anthem. We peered up through the trees, searching for the faces in the sky. Luckily, we were in a small clearing, so we could make out the faces.
The first one was the boy from Three.
"Damion is dead," Ethan told her.
Halley cracked a smile for the first time all day, but didn't say anything.
Next was the boy from Five. Then both from Six. Then, it was over.
"Not as many as I was expecting," said Ethan, looking over at me.
I shook my head. Me neither.
We both looked at Halley, who was still quiet. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. We exchanged a glance, unsure if this was it.
About five minutes later, our suspicions were confirmed.
Boom.
Kellin Williams, District 3 Mentor, 23
I shook my head. My early predictions had been confirmed- they hadn't lasted long. I hadn't expected them to be each other's downfall, though.
Albert walked over. "I'm sorry to see that."
I sighed. "It's all right," I said. "My hopes weren't high anyway."
Albert nodded, understanding. He was one of the older Mentors in the room. I wondered if he ever got his hopes up at this point.
"How's your tribute doing?" I asked.
"Ainsley? They're okay," he said. "Not wounded, got some supplies, wasn't chased. Haven't made any bad choices so far. Everything I was hoping for. I was a little nervous, because I wasn't around last night to give advice, but Palmyra passed on most of what I wanted to say."
"That's great," I said. "What do you think about their chances?"
"Honestly?" he asked. I nodded. "Ainsley's one of the stronger tributes I've had recently. If they play this thing right, I don't see why they shouldn't make it far. The only problem is that there's several tributes like that."
"That's true," I agreed. "At least the Careers are, well… not at their best."
I looked over at my deskmates. Braun and Godric were deep in discussion about something. Claudia's desk was still empty. She usually sat next to me, but I hadn't seen her all day. She was a little unnerving at times, though, so I didn't mind too much. Finnick and Annie were also talking about something on my other side.
"That helps," he said. "Still. Sometimes it's about luck. Hopefully, they've got a decent amount."
"I hope so," I said. "Best of luck. I'll be keeping an eye on them."
*Eulogies:
20th: Halley Todd, D3F (knifed by Damion): Ah, Halley. You were the youngest tribute in this story, but also one of the most confrontational. Ultimately, you let your hatred overwhelm you, and that ended up being your downfall, as well as Damion's. I enjoyed writing Halley because there was always something interesting going on around her, usually of her own creation. She was always very clear about how she felt, which was a nice change of pace from all of the secrecy that often accompanies the Games. Thank you to evilpencilbox for submitting Halley.
Kills:
Caligula- 1 (Salome)
Sadie- 1 (Deltro)
Damion- 1 (Halley)
Muir- 1 (Damion)
Travis- 1 (Samuel)
Alliances:
The Careers: Virgil, Glowla, Caligula, Sadie, Muir, Isla
(Salome's) Dream Team: Ianto, Levi, Jess, Sienna
District Nine: Journie, Reese
The Two Musketeers: Ethan, Parker
Quiet Bros: Travis, Dale
Loners: Ainsley, Chaney, Alula
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I absolutely loved reading your reviews for the Bloodbath- you guys always have some really interesting points and analysis, and the Bloodbath reviews were no exception. The blog will be updated shortly. Many of the locations mentioned in this chapter are on the map, so if you're wondering where your tributes are, that should give you a good idea of their general location. The maps the tributes have been seeing aren't exactly the same as the one on the blog (theirs weren't made in Google Drawings, lol), but they're fairly similar. I'm aiming to get the next chapter up around the middle of this week. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!
r-b*