The Sixtieth Annual Hunger Games


Introduction

Things seemed to be going great for Creon Baxter after the Fifty Ninth Hunger Games; he had completed another successful Games with a stunning arena, and he seemed set up to continue his stay as Head Gamemaker due to his popularity and ingenuity. However, Creon suddenly fell ill and died a couple of months after the Games at a private dinner party. A jealous ex-lover was sentenced with poisoning him, but records show President Coriolanus Snow in fact had Creon poisoned, as he was worried by the man's meteoric rise to influence in the Capitol and viewed him as a potential political rival. Having to replace Creon, President Snow promoted the senior Gamemaker he had passed over in favor of Creon several years prior: Rufana Halispell. Having been a Gamemaker since the Eighteenth Games, Rufana had a wealth of experience, and she was extremely loyal to President Snow. She also had a unique aesthetic for dystopian, ruined arenas which would stand starkly against the lush, imaginative arenas of Creon Baxter. President Snow was pleased to still rule over the country, viewing his removal of Creon as a necessary move to reaffirm his control of Panem. Many in the Capitol were suspicious about his death, while in the Districts tensions were rising again, especially after Cecelia's motherly message of the year prior, but these conflicts would not bubble over for some time. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith remained the announcers of the Games, having plenty to discuss with Rufana's ascendancy to the position of Head Gamemaker and what possible arenas she would cook up. Soon, the new batch of tributes was revealed. The Careers were a sorely disappointing batch compared to many previous years, with only one of them scoring above a 9. However, they were still by far the strongest group. The girl from 1, Stelline, was short and slim, moving swiftly like a sprite. She preferred small throwing knives and other dainty weapons, earning comparisons to a murderous fairy by many with her cute looks embellishing this characterization as well. Her District partner, Sutton, was incredibly suave and well-mannered. Coming from one of the richest families in 1 who owned the largest sapphire mine in the country, he was able to impress the Capitolites with his prestige while also being adept with his weapon of choice, a spear, being able to fight close and far range with it. District 2 produced the strongest pair as was becoming typical. The girl, Caesora, was less initially stunning than her recent predecessors, only scoring a 9, but she was leanly muscled with a mean-looking face and a honed skill with a machete. Her District partner Chrome was the top pick to win; he towered at well over 6 feet and rippled with bulging muscles. He spent much of his time in the Capitol flirting with its citizens and telling his fight stories. While he was skilled with a sword and a mace, his favorite weapon were brass knuckles like Lyme Harriott had won with just over a decade prior. District 4 managed to produce two volunteers, although they were the weakest pair. The girl, Serra, only managed to score an 8; her sweet personality and knowledge of survival skills meant the pack did not consider kicking her out. Her fighting abilities weren't the most renowned, but she still had a good ability with throwing knives. Xavere, the 4 male, was a wonder in the water even for District 4 tributes, and his slim physique showed it. He was a talented fighter with a trident and was also rather handsome. The Outliers this year had produced some standouts. Audrina from 5 was incredibly intelligent, as she was learning to become an engineer of power plants, and she was skilled with traps and strategy like many past tributes from her District, earning her a 7. Jackson from 10 also earned a 7, as he was incredibly muscular from his work as a ranch-hand and knew how to wield a pitchfork with surprising skill. Another notable fact was that Darla from 8 was the first person to score a 1 in her Private Sessions. She was suicidal, having volunteered in hopes she would die in the Games. She had refused to do anything in her session, causing her to get a score of 1, which was groundbreaking and made her the laughingstock of the Capitol. She also received odds of 100-1, the lowest possible odds of winning, as the Gamemakers all thought she would blow herself up before the Games began. Besides the Careers and Darla, there were no other volunteers, and the rest of the tributes scored between a 6 and a 3. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Stelline Cleary, 18 (9) 9-1 and Sutton Schreave, 18 (9) 8-1

District 2: Caesora Oneida, 18 (9) 8-1 and Chrome Scalenbach, 18 (10) 4-1

District 3: Cellie Reath, 14 (5) 36-1 and Plugger Smith, 15 (5) 34-1

District 4: Serra Crohn, 18 (8) 12-1 and Xavere Finner, 18 (9) 9-1

District 5: Audrina McCoy, 18 (7) 18-1 and Spark Hlinka, 13 (4) 42-1

District 6: Ryann Juliard, 18 (6) 24-1 and Chevy Rotusso, 16 (4) 44-1

District 7: Ellen Darby, 17 (5) 33-1 and Stick Donnell, 14 (5) 38-1

District 8: Darla Hutchins, 16 (1) 100-1 and Bobbin Willett, 13 (6) 22-1

District 9: Sherry Crockett, 18 (6) 21-1 and Durum Ballie, 16 (4) 46-1

District 10: Annley Tobias, 15 (5) 38-1 and Jackson Fayre, 17 (7) 19-1

District 11: Paprika Gream, 12 (3) 55-1 and Shem Cottrill, 15 (6) 25-1

District 12: Glenda Siever, 14 (4) 46-1 and Yarrow Klate, 16 (5) 32-1

HGBA Odds: 22% on Chrome, 17% on Sutton, 16% on Caesora, 13% on Stelline, 12% on Xavere, 8% on Serra, 4% on Audrina, 2% on Jackson, 1% or less on Cellie, Plugger, Spark, Ryann, Chevy, Ellen, Stick, Darla, Bobbin, Sherry, Durum, Annley, Paprika, Shem, Glenda, and Yarrow.


The Games

As the 24 tributes rose up on their pedestals, all dressed in simple gray shirts and pants, the overwhelming scent of rotting garbage was the first thing that they perceived about the arena. All around them were miles and miles of rooting mountains of trash; the arena this year was simply a massive landfill. Not far from the Capitol, it held all the waste of the great shining star of the country, everything from rotted food to old furniture to lost valuables. The landfill had polluted the land around it for many years, since long before the Dark Days. In fact, some radioactive areas could be found in the arena, remnants from when some old District 13 warcraft had flown over this area on their way to attack the Capitol. There was no rhyme or reason to the landfill; there were just towers of garbage as far as the eye could see with no distinct pattern about their size or distance apart. There were also no mutts visible yet, although rodents and crows could be found picking among the trash. The tributes were utterly shocked by the endless sea of garbage around them, and also by what stood at the center of the arena. The area where the Horn and ring of pedestals could be found had been cleared and flattened, although a thin film of trash still coated the ground so that the dirt below was not visible. The Cornucopia was a boxy structure this year made out of rough cement. There were few weapons piled around it, but plenty of fresh food and water was inside the mouth of the structure. Many of the tributes knew that while food or water might be found in the arena, it could be that the food and water in the Cornucopia was the only edible stuff that would not make them sick. However, many of the tributes saw the sea of things around them and also believed that they would be able to pillage food, water, and makeshift weapons from their surroundings. Thus, a stunning number of tributes would run from the Bloodbath, and a measly 8 tributes would perish in the first minutes of the Games due to the many Outliers fleeing in the first minutes and the Career pack's below average strength compared to recent years.

The nation's eyes were all on the infamous Darla Hutchins from District 8 as the countdown ticked down above the cement Cornucopia. Everyone expected her to jump off of her plate, as she was weeping, but she seemed to terrified to end herself and did not move a muscle, meaning that there would be no sky-high explosion this year that many in the Capitol had been eagerly anticipating.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

When the gong rang, 8 tributes fled from the Bloodbath while the other 16 went in. The girls from 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 all ran along with the boys from 6 and 7 into the landfill surrounding them, eager to escape the risk of their early deaths. Darla was among this group, so terrified once the gong rang that she froze on her pedestal for long moments before tearing into the surrounding mountains of trash with fervor, survival suddenly pumping through her veins. Audrina from 5 was not also long in the Bloodbath; she snatched up a coil of wires near her pedestal and dashed off into the landfill as well to set her traps while the Careers and the other tributes reached the mound of supplies that was all closely concentrated around the Cornucopia.

The Careers were all swift, while Jackson from 10 kept pace with them as they snatched up weapons. Stelline and Serra grabbed belts of throwing knives, while Sutton grabbed a spear, Caesora grabbed twin daggers, Xavere found a trident, and Chrome found a pair of his cherished brass knuckles waiting for him inside of the structure. They immediately saw the fewer number of tributes available to them to kill, and they set about doing their best to make sure they took out as many tributes as possible in the opening minutes, eagerly racing out to begin their murdering sprees.

Caesora had been the first to grab her weapons, as daggers were of the least value and had been placed closest to the ring of pedestals. Once grabbing the twin serrated knives, she had leaped up from the ground and sprinted towards a nearby girl who was rushing towards the food and water inside of the Cornucopia desperately. Caesora quickly plowed towards her, lifting her arm in the air with a dagger in her hand and jabbing it into the back of the girl's neck. She shrieked and wept for mercy as Caesora shoved her to the ground and stabbed the dagger into the base of her neck twice more until she stopped gurgling. Caesora grinned as she drew her dagger from the malnourished girl's neck, having successfully made the first kill of this seventh decade of Hunger Games.

Glenda Siever, District 12 Female; 24th, Killed by Caesora, Bloodbath

Nearby, Sutton was eager to prove his mettle; while many respected him for his manners and believed he would be an admirable fighter in the arena, many had also pegged him as a weakling who was relying on his family's status to make it into the Games. Eager to prove his doubters wrong, Sutton set his sights on the nearest boy. Durum from 9 was scooping up a sickle from where it lay on the stinking ground, desperate to have a familiar weapon to defend himself with in this unfamiliar arena. However, before he could even stand up with the weapon in his hands, the well-mannered boy from 1 was on him, slashing into Durum's chest expertly with his silvery spear. Durum croaked as he toppled to the ground, the deep gashes in his chest quickly causing him to bleed out.

Durum Ballie, District 9 Male; 23rd, Killed by Sutton, Bloodbath

Xavere was also eager to prove he was a stronger fighter, as he knew District 4's ever-flagging reputation might lead many to dismiss him as someone who was not a true contender. He saw a smaller girl desperately sneaking into the Horn for one of the large jugs of water piled there, and he quickly shoved her up against the rough cement wall of the Horn with one hand. She shrieked for mercy, but Xavere just chuckled at her before using his other arm to stab the prongs of his trident into her face, two in the eyes and one in the mouth. The kill was gruesome, and the little girl from 11 was dead almost instantly once Xavere drew his weapon from her broken skull, her corpse flopping to the ground.

Paprika Gream, District 11 Female; 22nd, Killed by Xavere, Bloodbath

Chrome had finally found his brass knuckles in the back of the Horn, and he eagerly sprinted out of the cement structure once he had fitted them onto his hands, wanting to show why he preferred the blunt and seemingly useless weapon. A boy was trying to sprint from the Horn with a pack stuffed with water bottles and jerky packets, but Chrome delivered one sharp punch to the back of his head that made him stumble to the ground. The 12 boy, Yarrow, screamed for mercy, but Chrome did not listen, flattening his windpipe and killing him with two more sharp blows to his throat, silencing his cries for help.

Yarrow Klate, District 12 Male; 21st, Killed by Chrome, Bloodbath

Near the Horn, a big fight was taking place. Serra and Stelline had become good friends during the Pre-Games festivities, and they had agreed to fight together during the Bloodbath due to both being skilled with throwing knives. Jackson from 10, the muscular farmhand who had scored a 7 in training, was desperate to leave his mark by murdering a Career, and he saw Stelline and Serra as the weakest two to attack. Thus, with his pitchfork in hand, he quickly ran at Stelline and jabbed the weapon at her. Its sharpened tips slid into her back and poked out of her gut, causing a mangled scream to erupt from the 1 girl's throat as she staggered off of the weapon and collapsed on the ground.

Serra was weeping in anger as she threw a throwing knife right into Jackson's temple, the blade puncturing his brain immediately. The 10 boy went down like a sack of rocks while Serra knelt by Stelline's side, clutching her hand and trying to protect her from anyone else who might attempt to attack her during the opening melee as Jackson's corpse steamed next to them.

Jackson Fayre, District 10 Male; 20th, Killed by Serra, Bloodbath

Sutton was eager to make another kill after slaughtering the 9 boy, and he spotted the boy from 3 trying to sprint away with a pack bursting with wires and batteries. Knowing that any tribute from 3 could potentially do sufficient damage with those supplies, especially in an arena like this full of metal, Sutton knew he could not let Plugger out of his sights. The 3 boy shrieked when he saw Sutton pursuing him, trying to outrun him, but it was lost as Sutton was a head taller and much swifter. His spear stabbed through the back of Plugger's skull with one deft movement, ending his life with haste.

Plugger Smith, District 3 Male; 19th, Killed by Plugger, Bloodbath

Most of the tributes had either fled in the opening minutes or were escaping with pillaged supplies. Caesora was able to spot a straggler, however; the tiny boy from 5 who had made off with a jug of water and a box of crackers. Caesora was able to intercept him as he tried to sprint past the ring of pedestals, shoving him roughly onto one of them. She then ripped his supplies from his hands as he wept, and then she used the pedestal almost like an altar. She knew the Careers would be frowned upon for their poor successes in the Bloodbath, and she was not afraid of gore or violence. As little Spark wept pitifully, Caesora sliced open his body to expose all of his vital organs in a bloody and gruesome manner she hoped would appease the Capitol. After about ten minutes of Caesora's harsh, murderous ministrations, Spark's body stopped twitching, the 5 boy finally having bled out.

Spark Hlinka, District 5 Male; 18th, Killed by Caesora, Bloodbath

All of the Outliers were gone then, but the Careers had another problem on their hands. Stelline was still laying on the Bloodbath field, her lower back and gut a ragged, gory mess from Jackson's pitchfork. Serra was desperately trying to wrap the wound and help her friend, but the other Careers who were all less caring knew that it was useless, as Stelline had already lost plenty of blood. Wasting medical supplies on her would just hurt them all in the long run. They tried to explain this to Serra, but she refused to listen to them, angry that they were not trying to help her save Stelline. Thus, Xavere took hold of Serra as Chrome picked out a broadsword from the Cornucopia and strode over to where Stelline lay.

Serra screamed madly, and Stelline tried desperately to claw her way through the layer of filth covering the ground, weeping from the pain and terror as Chrome approached steadily with the sword in his hands. Chrome just sighed as he soon loomed over Stelline, jabbing his sword down into the back of her neck once in a fashion he knew would put her out of her misery swiftly and painlessly.

Stelline Cleary, District 1 Female; 17th, Killed by Chrome, Bloodbath

As Stelline stopped stirring with Chrome's blade still buried in her neck, Serra broke free of her District partner's grasp. With a maddened scream, she sprinted off into the landfill, abandoning the alliance with only her belt of knives clipped to her waist. Xavere tried to chase after her, but his trident was not near enough. By the time he got it, she was out of range, disappearing among the towering mounds of garbage surrounding the central area where the Cornucopia and pedestals stood. As the eight cannons fired, there was a somber mood among the four remaining Careers, who were all upset at having lost one member and having another desert them on only the first day. They knew that packs that broke early were often unsuccessful. While they wanted to hunt to appease the Capitol, they were all nervous about exploring such an arena with a new Head Gamemaker crowing over it in the night. They all knew Rufana must have wanted more Outliers to flee with this arena design, and thus they were wary she was not on their side. In fact, Rufana was completely neutral on the terms of Outliers versus Careers, but this year she had seen the middling skills of the pack and had hoped to draw the field as even as possible from the start, which she had seemed to have done. Fearing she might dislike them, however, the Careers agreed to not hunt for the night and instead stay at the Horn to observe and see what would become of the arena during the night.

Throughout the arena, the tremendous twelve tributes who were not a part of the Career pack were finding where they would set up camp for night. Two alliances had formed in the Games. Four of the girls that had fled from the arena immediately had formed an alliance to protect one another before the Games. These four were Cellie from 3, Ryann from 6, Ellen from 7, and Annley from 10. They all found each other in the northern stretches of the landfill, as they had all been placed close to one another and had agreed with hand signals they had devised before the Games to run away together. All the girls were good friends now; Cellie was the cheeriest, while Ryann was very sarcastic, Ellen was very mellow, and Annley was the most neurotic and nervous. To help calm the 10 girl, they cracked jokes and told stories as they walked, also keeping an eye out for things they could use in the trash. They were all able to find sharpened pieces of metal they carried with them as makeshift blades, and they all ultimately settled on the side of a mountain of trash facing away from the Cornucopia that was a great distance from the center of the arena, hoping to avoid the Careers for as long as possible. They were able to find a couple dusty bottles of water in their trash heap to keep themselves hydrated, and they agreed to search for food in the morning. Two of the Outlier boys had also aligned, Chevy from 6 and Shem from 11. They were both quieter and more intellectual than most people in their Districts, and they talked about science and the great wonders they had observed in the Capitol as they explored the western reaches of the arena. They walked all throughout the night until they reached a deep ditch that surrounded the arena and signaled its end; at the bottom, a river of sludge that glowed in the night was visible. Understanding the message, Chevy and Shem settled in a pile of trash near it to sleep. Shem had gone into the Bloodbath, and he had gotten a jug of water and a large loaf of bread that they consumed some of before they went to bed.

The rest of the tributes had chanced it on going alone. Serra from 4 was raving-mad after Stelline's death, sprinting for hours and getting lost among the southern stretches of the landfill as she cried her eyes out and kept screaming. The sounds rang through the arena, but no one was bold enough to attack her, and she ended up collapsing with a sob at the base of one of the piles of trash where she found a ripped sleeping bag, her sanity already shattering from the pressures of the arena. Audrina from 5 had fled from the Bloodbath after getting her coil of wire, and she quickly set to work collecting as many things among the trash heaps as she could find to help her build traps. Rusty street signs, old strings of twine, and old beer bottles were all collected by her. She set up her camp closer to the center of the arena than most, wanting to lure the Careers to herself easily once she was finished. She settled on the top of a mound of trash, digging out a hollow on the top where she could hide before beginning to rig traps around its base to fire projectiles and collapse piles of trash on her enemies. Stick from 7 had managed to get a hatchet from the Bloodbath before fleeing in fear before getting any food and water. He went north after seeing Ellen go that way, as they were both from the main city of 7 and he found the older girl to be familiar, hoping she would give him comfort in the Games. Darla was shocked with herself that she had fled the Bloodbath, having assumed for months she would be dead before the gong had rung. Now finding herself alive, though, Darla began to realize she valued her life and had been foolish to try to give it up so easily. She ambled westward before finding an old, musty mattress laying in a disguised fold of one of the lumpy heaps of trash. She collapsed there to sleep, welcoming the springs as they creaked and supported her as she barely slept all night. Her District partner, Bobbin, had managed to run all the way to the back of the Horn where he had grabbed two backpacks before slipping away unseen. One contained food and water, but the other held vials and needles similar to those that had allowed Indigo Arnett of District 6 to win the Games nearly two decades ago. Bobbin was excited about this, as he had studied all of the past Games in the case he was Reaped, and he began to explore the arena for anything that would act as a poison, seemingly very willing to kill unlike other younger Outliers. Sherry from 9 had fled from the Bloodbath immediately, knowing she might have made it out but also feeling she had enough ingenuity to fashion something out of the arena. She looked all day for a weapon, ultimately discovering an old shower rod that had cracked in half and left a sharp point. Using this as a makeshift spear, Sherry felt safe enough to find a trash heap in the south of the arena to settle in for the night.

In the morning, the Careers awoke and immediately agreed to go hunting. Feeling that sending only three people to go hunt would be unwise, they devised a plan to hide their supplies underneath one of the mounds of trash where no one would look so they could leave them unguarded. They spent most of the morning and early afternoon doing this until the Cornucopia was plucked clean and their supplies were safely concealed under one of the trash heaps bordering the Cornucopia clearing. Once they had completed this, they only had a couple of hours to go hunting, but they refused to not try to hunt, especially now that they had seen the arena was still at night. Taking flashlights and electric lamps from their supplies as well as food, water, and weaponry, the four remaining Careers began to prowl southward in order to hunt down tributes. Chrome and Caesora were very eager to murder, their brutish 2 blood compelling them, and Sutton and Xavere also surprised many by matching their vigor genuinely. While the pack had been whittled down to four already, making up only a fourth of the remaining tributes, they still seemed to have a great deal of strength to them.

Neither Outlier alliance did much during the second day of the Games. The girl's alliance discovered some cans of beans and soup that were safe enough to eat while hunting around the nearby trash heaps before resting the rest of the day to tell stories and comfort one another about their fears of the Games. Ryann was their leader as the oldest and most weathered, as she had grown up among the gangs that plagued District 6. She made sure to keep them all getting along and on task throughout the day. Cellie struggled to work hard but did her best, while Annley was extremely paranoid but did her best to keep calm for her allies. Meanwhile, Chevy and Shem began to explore the rim of the arena, thinking back to how Haymitch Abernathy had used the arena's barrier to his advantage during the Second Quell. They guessed they might be able to lure tributes to the toxic sludge river below if they were careful, and they began to brainstorm ideas for how to do this.

Serra was just an unstable when she woke up, although she stopped screaming and crying. Instead, she sulked, walking further and further south until she too reached the sludge river surrounding the arena by nightfall. Angry, Serra settled on its banks, throwing things into it and screeching at it but not going past the line her half-coherent mind knew was not to be crossed if she wanted to survive. Audrina continued to set up a complicated series of traps around her trash heap. By nightfall, she was happy with the fact that her own trash heap was a fortress, and she began to plan to plant other traps randomly around the arena to help her catch more tributes and get out of this crowded arena more swiftly. Stick had pursued Ellen's alliance all day, watching the four girls crack jokes and collect dented cans of food to eat. He also found a can of beans to slurp up on his own as he watched them from a distance, trying to gather the courage to approach them. Darla woke up that morning screaming from a nightmare of seeing her sister killed in a factory accident, the thing that had driven her to such severe depression. Losing her grip on her survival instinct, the girl curled up on her mattress and did not move all day. Bobbin, her younger District partner, was much more active. He explored the eastern stretches of the arena and eventually discovered a small pool of radioactive waste. Carefully, he filled several syringes full of it before speeding away, sure to not stay by the toxic sludge for too long.

While many of the Outliers had been lucky to avoid confrontation for most of the day, this would not be Sherry's fate. As she explored the southern reaches of the arena for food and water, she ended up walking towards the path the Careers were hunting on. As the sun was beginning to set over the arena, Sutton was the first to spot the 9 girl picking through a nearby trash heap, unaware of the Careers prowling close. The four Careers slowly stalked towards her until they were in range. While Sutton had spotted her, it was customary for the leader of the alliance to take the first post-Bloodbath kill, and Chrome was the uncontested boss of the Careers this year. Thus, Sutton fell back and let Chrome attack, the 2 boy sprinting at Sherry with a roar. She noticed him in time to pick up her makeshift spear, jabbing at him as she tried to backpedal. Her first jab was lucky, slicing a thin cut across Chrome's left forearm and allowing her time to turn and run. However, she tripped over an old tire and went sprawling on the ground, her weapon flying from her hands. Chrome was on her then, punching her five times in the face until her nose and jaw were broken before slamming his bronzed fists into her throat until it collapsed and her cannon boomed.

Sherry Crockett, District 9 Female; 16th, Killed by Chrome, Day 2

Chrome hissed in pain after murdering Sherry, the cut on his arm dripping blood across his shirt. Caesora helped him bind it with bandages before the pack returned to the Horn to sleep for the night. It was already near the end of the day once they had discovered the 9 girl, and now that they had gotten a kill and Chrome had gotten injured, they had all agreed it was time to rest for the day. They dug up some rations as well as their sleeping bags from where they had hidden them inside a nearby trash mound before retreating into the Horn to rest for the night.

In the morning, the Career pack awoke and began to explore the eastern stretches of the arena for tributes. Coincidentally, there were only two tributes in this area, and the Careers were unable to discover either. Bobbin had wandered further north, out of the reach of the Career's search, after collecting his radioactive sludge the day prior. Meanwhile, Audrina could see the Careers coming from her little fortress and hunkered down. They passed her mound without engaging in any of her traps, and Audrina did not lure them closer, wanting more time to set up more traps before confronting all four remaining Careers. The alliance was a bit upset to discover nothing throughout the day, becoming angry that there was little in this arena for them to discover.

Some of the other tributes began to explore the arena further to protect themselves. Chevy and Shem began weakening a patch of ground at the edge of the arena that overlooked the toxic sludge river below, hoping to lure a tribute there. They hoped the loosened ground would give way under the tribute's weight and send them plummeting into the toxic sea of sludge below, knowing this could be a way for them to get sponsors and thin the competition. Meanwhile, Darla roused herself from her stupor upon her mattress, deciding that she would try to defend herself as long as she was in the arena. She spent all day exploring the trash heap her mattress was on, finding an old canteen half-filled with water. As she continued to dig, she suddenly uncovered an old Taser. Shocked by the find, Darla brought it back down to her mattress and hoped it would be able to defend her against anyone that tried to attack her.

In the northern stretches of the arena, little Stick finally made up his mind to approach the alliance of girls that included his District partner Ellen. He left his hatchet behind, wanting to show them he meant no harm. The quiet boy crept towards them nervously as they all laid on one of the trash heaps and cracked jokes. Stick cleared his voice once he was feet from them, and the girls all suddenly panicked. Ellen was closest to Stick, and screaming, she slashed out at him with her sharpened piece of metal instinctively without stopping to see who was behind her. Stick's mouth gaped open as his skin from his sternum to just above his navel ripped open, blood gushing out. Ellen was aghast to see she had murdered her defenseless District partner, and she began to weep for him as he staggered. She cried and cradled his head in her lap as the blood quickly drained from his body due to the panic of his usually mellow District partner.

Stick Donnell, District 7 Male; 15th, Killed by Ellen, Day 3

Ellen was crying quietly once Stick's cannon fired, and her three allies comforted her sweetly, telling her it wasn't her fault and that she had only reacted out of instinct. Ellen nodded along, saying she felt bad but knew it was the Hunger Games, and that this kill would hopefully prove to the audience that this alliance had some mettle to it. It did, indeed; sponsors flew down four loaves of bread, each loaf from one of the girl's Districts. They started by eating the District 7 loaf to comfort Ellen and commemorate Stick, saving the other three to eat for another time so they did not waste all of their supplies.

Throughout that night, as the fourth day began, crazed Serra could be seen sprinting back and forth along the southern boundary of the arena, having completely lost her mind. She began attacking shadows in the dark, the loss of Stelline and her isolation and paranoia pushing her off the brink. She eventually began to run farther and farther northwest as she sprinted back and forth madly next to the boundary of the arena, until by dawn she was not far from where Shem and Chevy were resting. Shem was on guard duty when he heard her crazed ravings not far off. He quickly woke up Chevy, the two boys watching as Serra came to view in the early morning light. She soon spotted the two boys from where they rested atop their mound of trash while she was running along the boundary of the arena below, and she tore after them desperately.

Knowing their only chance against a maddened, trained killer would be to use their mostly completed trap against her, Chevy and Shem tumbled down their mountain of garbage and right past the softened place in the ground before running right against the boundary, hoping Serra would follow them right on the edge and fall on the softened edge of the cliff overlooking the toxic sludge arena. They were lucky: Serra did exactly as they planned, running right along the edge after them. Just as she was getting in range to try to throw one of her knives at them, her feet landed hard on the loosened section of ground, and it easily gave out underneath her feet. Serra screamed terribly as she tumbled down the cliff into the sludge river, the knife in her hand burying itself in her side as she tumbled. That was the least of her worries in moments, however, as she was soon drowning in the thick, highly toxic sludge river below. Shem and Chevy both watched in horror as the stuff ate away her skin and slipped into her airways, slowly melting her body away until she was far gone enough for her heart to stop beating and the cannon to fire.

Serra Crohn, District 4 Female; 14th, Killed by Shem and Chevy, Day 4

Having seen Serra come from the southern part of the arena, Shem and Chevy suspected that that area might hold some horrors. However, they both knew that killing Serra would not keep them safe as long, as the Capitol never liked tributes who used their arenas against the other tributes. Thus, Shem and Chevy packed up their things and hiked southward, staying towards the rim of the arena. They discovered no raving mutts or prowling Careers, however, and they ultimately settled in a new trash heap where they discovered an old cooler full of soda cans that they guzzled greedily.

Sutton was on guard when Serra's cannon shattered the stinking morning stillness of the landfill, and the sound awoke the other three Careers immediately. They agreed to go hunting as quickly as possible, heading eastward hungrily as Sutton said he had heard far off screams in that direction during his watch. These had indeed been the screeches of Serra as her skin was burned away by the toxic sludge. Suspecting they might encounter something that would give them a tough fight, the Careers armed themselves to the teeth and then marched eastward, combing the arena as best they could in search of the screams' source.

While the Careers hunted, the other tributes went about their days, having become more accustomed to the smell of rot and the sea of garbage mounds filling up their vision as far as the eye could see. The alliance of Ryann, Ellen, Cellie, and Annley spent the day trying to liven their spirits after the Stick incident the day prior. Ellen had retreated even further into herself; Annley did her best to comfort the girl quietly, but she was more nervous than ever and was always on the look out. Meanwhile, Ryann and Cellie did their best to keep up a bright banter going to try and keep them all happy. They were able to scavenge some more water bottles and cans of nearly-expired food from the trash heaps to keep them satisfied. Audrina spent much of the morning of the fourth day rigging up a couple more traps around the base of her mound before taking some supplies she had gathered and marching off. She placed several more traps around the eastern part of the arena where she laid in hiding, hoping to catch anyone trying to invade the part of the arena she had claimed as her own. Bobbin was continuing to creep northward, and he found another small radioactive water pool that he used several more syringes to fill up with, excited to see which strain of this poisoned water he had discovered would be more effective. He hunted almost as rabidly as the Careers for victims, eager to go home, but came up empty handed.

As the Careers picked their way westward, Chrome spotted some movement as a girl sprinted to hide behind one of her trash heaps. He eagerly set off after her, hungry for another kill now that the pack had not seen anyone since the 9 girl he'd killed two days earlier. He signaled loudly for his allies to follow him, and Darla heard him coming too. Instead of screaming like many tributes in her position, she stayed silent, slinking as quickly as she could through the trash heaps in hopes of escaping him, the Taser she had found clutched tightly in her hands. She had decided she had wanted to live, but she also would go out with dignity if she had to die, knowing it would not be the worst fate as she had wished for it only days before.

Despite how quickly Darla seemed to scurry, Chrome closed in on her easily with his massive strides and eagerness for bloodshed. The 8 girl felt his breath on the back of her neck before she stopped to face him. His fist was already in the air, the brass knuckles gleaming in the midday sun. Darla barely dodged his punch before jabbing her Taser into his chest and pressing down on its button. The effect was immediate; while it was not enough to kill him, Chrome jerked around for a couple of moments before falling to the ground unconscious. Darla spotted a broken bottle nearby, and she quickly scooped it up, running back to the unconscious Career and aiming to cut his throat with the sharp edge. Before she could do so, however, she suddenly felt a sharp burst of pain on her back. Chrome's District partner, Caesora, had been the first to arrive to his calls, and she snarled as she slashed at Darla a dozen more times before the 8 girl stopped heaving on the ground next to the unconscious Chrome. Caesora snarled as the girl who had planned to die in these Games and had ended up almost killing the top Career fell still, her cannon firing.

Darla Hutchins, District 8 Female; 13th, Killed by Caesora, Day 4

Sutton and Xavere soon arrived at the place where Caesora was bent over an unconscious Chrome, and they tried to help her tend to him. A sponsor gift drifted from the sky of smelling salts, and the little bottles were able to wake Chrome. The hulking Career still felt very dizzy and weak after being Tased unconscious, but he was able to struggle to his feet and limp back to the Cornucopia. The other three followed him, all muttering when he was out of earshot about whether he was fit to stay in the pack. Chrome knew their eyes were on him, and he did his best to gather his strength and start joking around by nightfall. The other Careers' fears were assuaged when they saw Chrome's normal personality return by the anthem, knowing he could be relied on and was not useless now. Sutton and Xavere joked all night with him, but Caesora went to bed early; she was a bit mad that Chrome had not even thanked her for saving his life.

That night, every tribute was still and asleep except for Audrina from 5. While she had been pilfering food and water from around the trash heaps, she was hungry for a real meal, and she also wanted to establish herself as a true threat. She crept incredibly close to the central clearing of the arena, just a mound or two of trash from it on the southern side of the arena. She placed it here in hopes that they would think she was camped out down there. Audrina then began stringing a deadly trap consisting of an old rusted saw she had found as well as the last bits of the wire coil she had scavenged from the Bloodbath. Once she was satisfied with it, she set up an alarm clock she had also found to begin ringing at daybreak. Then she slipped away back to her fortress deeper in the eastern part of the arena, hoping her trap would work.

As the sun slipped over the horizon, Audrina's alarm clock sounded right on time. Caesora was on guard then, and she was confused by the sound in the distance. She woke up the boys before walking over to check out the sound, knowing the other Careers would be following right behind her. She turned the corner once she got into the trash heaps and saw the alarm clock. Rolling her eyes, she stooped to pick up the alarm clock and turn off its obnoxious ringing. As she did though, she suddenly noticed a string pulled taut beneath it as she lifted it from the ground. The scream could not even leave her throat before the rusted saw was pulled from where it had been buried in the side of one of the heaps. It cut into her neck right underneath her jawbone, slicing almost halfway through. Caesora couldn't make a sound, and Chrome was the first to find her as she clawed at the old tool buried in her neck. Her District partner rushed towards her to help, but before he could get there she had slumped to the ground with a boom declaring her dead.

Caesora Oneida, District 2 Female; 12th, Killed by Audrina, Day 5

Chrome roared in anger at the loss of his ally and District partner, upset by the loss of yet another ally. Sutton and Xavere were right behind him, and they remained quiet as they watched Chrome rage at Caesora's death. Redfaced, Chrome motioned for them to follow him, and they began to search the southern part of the arena with passion in search of Caesora's murderer. Their search would turn up empty; Chevy and Shem had been resting in this part of the arena, but they began to pick back into the western sector of the arena once realizing there had been no mutts down there. They returned near the place where they had lured Serra to her death, deciding to try to weaken the ground again in order to trap more tributes. They were able to evade the Careers without knowing it by leaving the southern portion of the arena, and Chrome's rage only grew as he came up empty-handed with the culprit that was smart enough to murder his rugged District partner. Meanwhile, Sutton and Xavere were growing wary of Chrome's boundless anger, worried he might turn it against them soon if he did not find an Outlier to maim in the near future.

While the Careers hunted and Shem and Chevy began to weaken the ground near their hideout again, Audrina crept out from her trap-riddled fortress and began to set up other traps around the eastern part of the arena. Many were simple nooses or buried spikes, things meant to constrain or injure but not kill, as she did not want to waste all of the things she had gathered far away. However, she also set a couple of traps like the one that had killed Caesora, meant to severely injure, hoping she could take out more tributes. Already she was being supplied with more coils of wire as well as whatever foods she wanted, and it was obvious that Audrina was swiftly becoming a favorite of the Capitol like many intelligent tributes from her District often became.

Bobbin had been exploring the northern stretches of the arena for the past couple of days, but he finally stumbled upon where the alliance of Ryann, Ellen, Cellie, and Annley was camped out. He kept himself hidden in the shadows, watching as the jubilant girls ate their third loaf of bread, Annley's loaf from District 10. The only loaf left was the smallest: Cellie's hard, square shaped bread that was representative of Three's compact intelligence. They planned to eat it the next day, and Bobbin overheard this as he stalked them from the shadows. With a smile, a plan formed in his mind as he watched the girls curl up at night and begin to slumber. Cellie was on the first watch, but the young girl quickly fell asleep as well. Thrilled, Bobbin quietly crept to where they slept, and he emptied several of his syringes of sludge treated with sugar he'd received as a sponsor gift to cover the taste and smell as well as could be managed. Once he had done this, Bobbin quickly scurried off, watching from far away to see what would happen.

On the sixth morning in the arena, the girl's alliance woke up early, and they all agreed they were famished except for Annley, who complained of a twisting stomach ache. Ellen rubbed her stomach and shoulders to help calm her, but Annley still said she felt sick, and she went off to search for more water bottles while the other girls gathered around the poisoned loaf of bread. Annley was able to find a half-full old jug of mineral water, but when she returned to her allies, she was horrified by what she saw in front of her.

All three girls had eaten a share of the bread at about the same time before any of them could notice its strange taste or nasty side effects. Annley screamed and ran to where her three allies were all twitching on the ground, their eyes already going glassy as the toxic sludge ravaged their intestines and other internal organs with its poisonous compounds. Annley gathered all three of her allies around her, screaming and weeping pitifully as she stroked all of them as they died. Cellie went first, for she was the smallest, and Ellen slipped away five minutes later. Ryann, who had grown up among drugs and gangs, clung onto life for another twenty minutes, but even she could not fight the toxic sludge in her veins, and she too fell cold and still as Annley's tears dripped on her green-tinged corpse.

Cellie Reath, District 3 Female; 11th, Killed by Bobbin, Day 6

Ellen Darby, District 7 Female; 10th, Killed by Bobbin, Day 6

Ryann Juliard, District 6 Female; 9th, Killed by Bobbin, Day 6

That left the Top 8: Sutton Schreave from District 1, Chrome Scalenbach from District 2, Xavere Finner from District 4, Audrina McCoy from District 5, Chevy Rotusso from District 6, Bobbin Willett from District 8, Annley Tobias from District 10, and Shem Cottrill from District 11.

Annley began to scream and weep in terror once Ryann died, refusing to remove herself from the pile of her dead friends until she was shocked by the Gamemakers. The 10 girl had been paranoid and nervous the entire Games, but now that her three friends had died while she was gone, she was losing her sanity and was extremely frightened of everything. She ran far away from where they had been resting, collapsing on a new garbage heap with a sob in the western part of the arena, the only thing she'd brought with her the sharpened piece of metal she'd had since the first day. Bobbin watched as the hysteric girl ran away, not wanting to face her since she was taller than him and was crazed now. Instead, he smiled at the work he had wrought with the other three girls all puffed up with a greenish hue, and reclined nearby as their bodies were lifted away and sponsor gifts of food and water rained down on him to congratulate him for the shockingly dramatic poisoning. Many in the Capitol were thrilled with the idea of repeat District 8 Victors, an idea that had never even been thought probable before, but now seemed like a potential with such a cunning little 13 year old still left alive with 3 kills to his name.

After the poisoning of most of the girl's alliance, the rest of the tributes began to prowl the arena. The Careers awoke and began to hunt through the northern part of the arena, knowing it was the only part they had not discovered yet, and they expected to find many tributes there. However, Annley had fled west, her allies were dead, and Bobbin heard the Careers coming and was able to conceal himself within a trash heap. Angered further by the fact he could find no one, Chrome spent much of the day raving and talking about what he would do when he found a tribute, explaining bloodier and bloodier rituals. While Sutton and Xavere were both alright with such bloodlust, they were worried about how Chrome was faring, as it seemed like the Taser had muddled his brain and all he could think about was murder. The 1 boy and 4 boy grew closer as they waited to see if they would find a tribute or if Chrome would try to attack them soon.

While the flimsy truce held between the Career boys, Annley wept upon a western trash heap, and Bobbin hid within a heap in the north, the other three tributes went about continuing to rig traps in the arena. Audrina was beginning to run out of traps to set, as she had made the eastern part of the arena a virtual minefield with dozens of little traps throughout as well as with the tangle of traps around her own trash heap. Not wanting to overfill the area and forget where they were all set and injure herself, Audrina rigged a few more simple nooses before fleeing back to her hideout to wait it out until she could lure the Careers to her booby-trapped lair.

In the western edge of the arena, Shem and Chevy were working together to weaken the edge of the cliff overlooking the sludge river. They were able to weaken two areas, and they began a third as the sun began to set over the arena. As they were doing this, Head Gamemaker Rufana Halispell began to become aggravated with how much they were relying on her arena. Feeling like Audrina's traps were enough to complicate the Games, Rufana decided with the approval of Snow to use their own traps against them. As the boys were working on weakening a portion of the cliff, the dirt suddenly began to give way underneath them in a way they did not expect. Shem was able to leap to safety, barely making it onto solid land, but Chevy was not so lucky, as the boy had been closer to the cliff's edge and was not as athletic. Shem and Chevy both screamed as the 6 boy tumbled down the cliff and into the sludge river like their victim Serra days earlier. Shem wept as his ally was destroyed by the toxic sludge before running away, unwilling to stay near the area he now understood the Gamemakers wanted him away from.

Chevy Rotusso, District 6 Male; 8th, Killed by sludge river, Day 6

The Gamemakers were pleased as Shem fled far from the edge of the arena, settling closer to the Cornucopia than the rim of the arena in the western portion. They collapsed more of the rim of the arena where Shem and Chevy had set their weakened earth traps so that they would not affect any more of the Games. Soon after Chevy's death, the sun set over the arena, announcing the end of the sixth day of the Games. There was little action throughout the night, as all the tributes rested; Audrina was content with her traps, the Careers managed to rest for the night, and even the half-insane Annley managed to get some sleep.

On the morning of the seventh day in the arena, Audrina went around her trash heap checking all of her traps and strengthening them the best they could. She was still very popular after Caesora's murder, but she began to plan to draw the Careers to her soon, knowing that one kill would not carry her all the way to the end of the Games. Bobbin was also popular after poisoning everyone in the girls' alliance except for the neurotic Annley, and he spent much of the day refreshing himself on sponsor meals while also exploring the western part of the arena. He spotted Audrina without her seeing him, and he observed how she fiddled with hidden traps and recognized her as a true competitor. While Audrina and Bobbin were both intent on strategizing, Annley and Shem were very inert. Annley cried much of the day, mumbling about her lost allies, and she refused to eat any food she found out of an irrational fear of it being poisoned. Shem did a little better, shedding no tears, but he did not move around much, only getting out of the place he crouched to gather some stale bags of chips to eat.

The Careers awoke early and decided to search the southern section of the arena again, as Chrome was convinced whoever had killed Caesora was still hiding down there. Neither Sutton or Xavere believed this, as they'd thoroughly checked the area already and knew whoever built traps like the one that killed Caesora would not be foolish enough to give away their position that way. However, they did not want to anger Chrome, who was getting more and more absorbed with his quest for vengeance as the days wore on. Thus, they followed him south as he began to hunt hungrily for Caesora's killer.

By dusk, the trio of male Careers had found no one, and Chrome was becoming very belligerent. He began to shout out into the arena for whatever coward had murdered Caesora to come out, and the bloodlust in the 2 boy made the veins in his neck pop out frightfully. Sutton and Xavere shared a silent look as Chrome continued to rage and started to kick old broken bottles into the air. They did not know if this was anger, bloodthirst, or grief, but whatever it was, Chrome's allies feared him if he became unhinged, and they also agreed it was time to take out their top competitor. Thus, as Chrome was distracted kicking another broken bottle into the air, Sutton simply lifted his spear and slammed it into the back of his neck. Chrome was stunned as he felt the spear's tip poke out through the front of his throat; he did not have the strength to even turn to look in the eyes of his murderer. Sutton drew the spear out, and he and Xavere watched with satisfaction as the 2 boy collapsed in a heap on the ground, all his passion gone in the blink of an eye.

Chrome Scalenbach, District 2 Male; 7th, Killed by Sutton, Day 7

After polishing off Chrome, Sutton shook hands with Xavere, and the two men agreed to stick together until the bitter end now that it was just the two of them left. They both knew they were pretty comparable in fighting skills, and they also knew that going it alone with four Outliers left in the arena that had killed plenty of each other on their own would be dangerous. Thus, the two went back to the empty Cornucopia once Chrome's cannon fired and their pact was sealed, taking turns keeping watch for tributes as the night wore on.

The next day, the Outliers were all relatively quiet. Audrina had fiddled all day with her traps previously, but now she just sat and waited. She was thrilled to see one of the Careers gone the night prior, knowing she could take two on her own; however, she wanted them to take out another Outlier or two for her before she lured them in, as she knew the other three Outliers were all 15 or younger and did not consider any of them to be considerable threats. Not wanting to test her luck, she simply let the traps and herself rest. One of the tributes she had considered weak was watching her, however; Bobbin barely even twitched as he sat in the shadows of a nearby trash heap, picking out the traps surrounding Audrina's little fortress as best as he could and knowing if he stayed long enough, he might witness her battle with the Careers.

When Xavere and Sutton woke up, they decided to go hunting in the western swath of the arena, where both Shem and Annley were resting. In fact, the 11 boy and 10 girl had wandered pretty near each other, although neither knew it and kept to themselves, being similarly inactive as the day prior. Annley was still extremely paranoid and weepy, while Shem was desperately trying to come up with a plot to take out the other stronger tributes but coming up with little. Meanwhile, Xavere and Sutton hunted through their area of the arena hungrily, ready to get the Games over with.

It happened that the two Career boys, spread out a bit as they scoured the western arena, discovered Annley and Shem at the same time. Annley spotted Xavere from a far distance away, and she immediately lept to her feet and began to sprint away from him desperately, shrieking for a bit before falling silent in order to run as fast as she could. The 10 girl hadn't eaten in two days and was terrified, but surprising speed led Xavere to have to chase her hard through the trash piles. She knew this part of the arena much better than the 4 boy, however, and after about ten minutes of chasing, she was able to shake him off of her trail. She did not stop sprinting for an hour, though, until she returned to the familiar northern edges of the arena, where collapsed and sobbed in relief.

While Annley had been able to surprisingly escape Xavere due to the pent up nervous energy bursting inside of her, Shem was not as lucky. As the 11 boy was half-asleep on a trash heap, Sutton spotted him and crept towards the slumbering boy. Shem only woke up when Sutton was looming over him, and he barely had time to scream before the spear was buried in his abdomen. Sutton was focused on making Shem's death drawn out to satisfy the Capitol, jabbing his spear into Shem's stomach over and over as the boy kicked and whined. After about twelve minutes of torture, Shem stopped struggling beneath Sutton's rhythmic, even stabs of his spear, his head lolling to the side as his cannon fired.

Shem Cottrill, District 11 Male; 6th, Killed by Sutton, Day 8

Xavere and Sutton regrouped near where Sutton had murdered Shem, as Xavere sprinted towards where he had heard the 11 boy's screams once he'd lost sight of Annley. Xavere mumbled that the 10 girl had gotten away from him, ashamed, but Sutton did not say anything. While the 1 boy secretly glowered at Xavere behind his back, he knew he needed the fellow Career for the moment and decided that it would be wise to not try to antagonize him any further. Thus, after clearing the rest of the western arena, the two Career boys returned to the Cornucopia by nightfall to get their rest.

Early in the morning, before the sun had even fully risen over the arena, Audrina was wide awake and ready to attack. Having seen Shem in the sky the night prior, she knew there were only four other tributes left in the Games and that it was her time to strike and put up the maze of traps she'd rigged in the eastern part of the arena to use. So, before the sun could come up, she navigated her way down her trash heap, avoiding all of her traps carefully. Then she raced towards the center of the arena, where Xavere was on guard and Sutton was slumbering lightly. She wanted to get their attention, so she ran out into the edge of the Cornucopia field, deliberately walking a bit clumsily as to draw attention to herself.

Xavere instantly heard her and spotted her, rousing Sutton with a sharp kick in the side before chasing after the girl that had disappeared into the eastern side of the arena. Sutton groaned but heard Xavere take off, quickly rubbing the sleep from his eyes before grabbing his spear and running off to where he saw Xavere disappearing into the eastern trash heaps in chase of Audrina. Sutton was a bit behind Xavere, with Xavere a bit behind Audrina, and none of them could catch each other as they all raced in a spaced out line towards Audrina's trap-riddled fortress.

Audrina was the first there, and she desperately scurried up her slope, doing her best to dodge her traps without making her movements obvious. Xavere, who saw her climbing the heap, did not consider it odd as he believed she was zig-zagging in order to avoid his trident. He knew the 5 tributes were well known for trap-making, and thus he tried to be careful as he ran up the slope to where the 5 girl pretended to be cowering in fear. He spotted a simple noose snare on the ground and hopped over it, rushing forward with more boldness as he believed he had passed her ring of simple defenses. However, a small smile worked its way onto Audrina's face at Xavere's foolishness as he tripped another wire for a much, much more devastating trap. An old floorboard that Audrina had painstakingly studded with dozens of rusty nails as well as shards of metal and glass swung up and slammed into Xavere's front, sinking into his skin from his skull to his groin. The 4 boy screamed as the dozens of sharp spikes dug into his skin, pulling it out of him as blood began to burst from the wounds. He quickly collapsed on the ground, the blood spilling from him. By the time Sutton arrived at where Audrina was giggling lightly atop her fortress, Xavere's body had lost a lot of blood, and the 4 boy fell still with a small final groan of pain.

Xavere Finner, District 4 Male; 5th, Killed by Audrina, Day 9

Sutton was angry as he raced up the hill towards Audrina, but he was more careful than Xavere as he retraced the 4 boy's steps, jumping over the noose trap and around Xavere's corpse. Audrina looked nervous as Sutton passed Xavere's corpse, as there was only one more trap between herself and the 1 boy. She drew out the weapon she had made for herself, a long stretch of metal pole with a sharp shard of steel lashed on the end as a makeshift spear. She waited as she watched Sutton barrel towards her, but luckily for her, the boy triggered her last line of defense on that stretch of slope without even knowing it.

There was no tripwire, just a sunken depression in the ground where broken bottles and other sharp objects were buried. Sutton cried out as he tumbled down and the sharp objects bit into his legs. One large piece of aluminum cut almost all the way through his right leg just below the knee. Screaming, Sutton dragged himself from the pit as Audrina cackled. She tossed her spear at him, but it soared over his head, and Sutton was able to scramble down the hill, trailing a thick stream of blood behind him. Audrina watched with satisfaction as the 1 boy dragged himself through the muck and out of sight, knowing that with such a grievous wound, he would not be able to last very long.

Throughout the rest of the day, little else seemed to transpire. Sutton was horribly wounded, unable to even get on his feet to walk as his right leg below the knee was hanging on by a few strands of flesh. Knowing the appendage was not salvageable, he screamed as he used his spear to saw it off before using bandages sent as sponsor gifts to wrap the wound. However, he was worried, as he had dragged the open wound through the muck for a long time after escaping Audrina, and he worried it might become infected. He slowly crawled back to the Cornucopia, expecting someone to pursue him but realizing that they did not think they should waste their time on him, which shook the final Career to his core. Meanwhile, Audrina sat smugly upon her throne covered in traps after reactivating the ones that Xavere and Sutton had triggered, relishing in her victory as more sponsor gifts rained down on her. Bobbin continued to watch the 5 girl expertly from the shadows, continuing to map the maze of traps surrounding her lair. Annley was the least active of the day; she wandered the northern stretches aimlessly, bleary eyed and exhausted from not eating for so long.

That night, once the sun had dipped below the horizon, Bobbin slowly crept from the shadows where he had been hiding and began to slowly climb up the trash heap where Audrina was resting. The 5 girl was fast asleep, convinced her fortress would hold against any adversary now. However, Bobbin had been studying it for the past several days, and he knew the perfect way up without triggering any traps and making the least noise. It took him almost an hour to navigate the twisting, safest path, but he eventually was looming right over Audrina. He couldn't resist a chuckle as he plunged one of his syringes full of toxic sludge into her chest and pressed down the plunger with vigor. Audrina's eyes shot open; she scrambled for a weapon, but the radioactive sludge injected right into her chest quickly stilled her. The 5 girl looked up in utter terror at the 13 year old from 8 she'd forgotten was still alive as he giggled in her face, stabbing another syringe full of the substance into her forehead for good measure. He didn't even get to empty all of the toxic sludge into her brain before Audrina's cannon fired, the girl who had seemed to be set up to win the Games hours earlier now still due to the 8 boy's tricks.

Audrina McCoy, District 5 Female; 4th, Killed by Bobbin, Day 9

The next two days were a waiting game where nothing happened. Rufana was not a Head Gamemaker who liked to rush action, enjoying her Games to play out longer and more naturally without forced confrontations like Creon had often administered in the past. Sutton stayed in the Cornucopia trying to nurse his dire leg wound. He kept cleaning the wound, but it still hurt terribly. Meanwhile, Bobbin stayed cooped up in Audrina's old fortress after pushing her corpse out of it. He continued to memorize the traps she had laid, and he knew that here he would be invincible. Annley wandered the northern stretches of the arena as always; in order to make sure she ate something, her Mentor Elaine sent her a sponsor gift of her favorite food, strawberries. Annley was scared, but her growling stomach and weakening body forced her to gulp the basket down, which allowed her to not perish from starvation although she was still very weak.

On the morning of Day 12, Sutton woke up and examined his leg wound and was disheartened by what he discovered. Despite his constant cleaning and changing of the wound's bandages, it had taken a yellow, puffy tint that was a sign of severe infection. Sutton begged the skies for the medicine to treat his infection, but the price was too high for even a Career at this point in the Games, especially since many sponsors were unconvinced that Sutton could defeat Bobbin in a final fight. Angered, Sutton began to search the supplies for things to treat his wound, but all he died was make it leak blood and pus and come up with nothing. He ended up resting for many hours in the Cornucopia, hoping rest would make his fever and the wound better, but they continued to worsen. Sutton whined in pain as the sun began to set over the arena, fitfully trying to sleep as his infected wound throbbed. On the morning of Day 13, Sutton stopped moving or making any sounds, too tired out from fighting the infection. His body gave in as the sun began to rise, his eyes turning glassy as the infection took out the last Career in the arena.

Sutton Schreave, District 1 Male; 3rd, Killed by infection, Day 13

With only Bobbin and Annley left in the arena, Rufana decided it was time to drive the two Outliers together for the final brawl once Sutton's body had been cleared from the center of the arena. She began to set the trash heaps on the edge of the arena on fire, and the artificial flames quickly leapt from heap to heap. Annley was close to the edge of the arena on the northern top of the arena, and she began sprinting wildly to the center of the arena, sniffling with tears streaming down her face as she knew the end had come. She had not witnessed the chaos at Audrina's fortress, and she believed she would be facing Sutton alone. However, the flames scared her more, and she managed to move quickly. Meanwhile, Bobbin was having a tougher time. He had spotted the flames from the top of his heap with ease, knowing what time it was once the cannon rang. He was closer to the center of the arena, but it took precious time to navigate Audrina's maze of traps without triggering any of them. Once, one of the noose traps closed around his ankle, but it did nothing but throw him to the ground and knock the air out of him. Within moments, the 8 boy was on his feet again as he continued to pick down the heap. Eventually, he was able to get to the bottom, but the flames were already raging around him, and he had to move swiftly to reach the center of the arena.

Meanwhile, Annley was already crouched in the center of the arena, breathing heavily as she squatted in the mouth of the cement Cornucopia. Her breathing was ragged and her eyes darted around like a wild animal being hunted, as she was waiting anxiously for the boy from District 1 to materialize at any moment. She found Sutton's bloody spear and his extra dagger laying in the Cornucopia, and she picked up the dagger with its wickedly serrated edge, as she felt the spear would be too weighty for her to wield. As she waited, she suddenly spotted movement from the eastern part of the arena, and watched as Bobbin tumbled into the center of the arena with nothing but a syringe in his hand.

Annley wiped her tears from her eyes, shocked and relieved to see the scrawny 13 year old facing her. However, the boy began chuckling in glee at seeing Annley, and the 10 girl was absolutely shocked as Bobbin began to advance on her steadily with a ravenous grin on my face.

"I'm happy you're the last one," Bobbin grinned. "I got your three friends first, but missed you. Now I get to finish the job."

What happened next was pure savagery. A look came over Annley that was not human, at least not civilized. It was like the look on a mother bear's face when she sees one of her cubs being mauled in front of her. Annley roared, an inhuman and guttural sound, launching herself at Bobbin with immense rage and swiftness. The 8 boy had no time to prepare as Annley knocked his precious syringes from his hands, the radioactive sludge pooling on the ground far away as Annley slashed at him over and over. Bobbin tried to fight back, but Annley was possessed with vengeance, her thin, bony body and the wickedly quick and deep slashes of her dagger absolutely unrelenting. Annley screamed unnaturally in Bobbin's face like a creature from the depths of hell as she slashed and slashed and slashed until the little 8 boy who everyone had been convinced would win fell still beneath her blood-soaked body.

Bobbin Willett, District 8 Male; 2nd, Killed by Annley, Day 13

"Annley Tobias, you are the Victor of the Sixtieth Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius cheered with surprise tinging their voices as the trumpets trilled triumphantly. Annley continued to savage Bobbin's bloodied corpse for several more minutes in her animalistic rage before understanding what was going on. Then she began to scream and weep, the tears pouring down her face as she called out her lost allies' names with bone-chilling pain in her voice. She then passed out unconscious from the stress and shock of it all, her limp body destroyed from two weeks of the harrowing Games having to be lifted out by a hovercraft team.


Aftermath

District 10 was sorely in need of a new Victor, so they were welcoming of their new, broken Victor. Their last Victor was Elaine Canterbury from the Sweet Sixteen Games; the last time they'd won a traditional Games had been over four decades prior, with Jaguar in the Seventeenth. Thus, the District was starved for a new Victor and were happy to receive Annley. However, Annley was not much to write home about. She was one of the most broken Victors to date despite not having done much murdering in comparison to many of her peers. She had to be sedated for months after her Games, and she struggled with delusions, insomnia, and severe eating disorders for the rest of her life. Everyone viewed her with some pity, as she was the type of girl who usually died in the opening minutes but had been lucky enough to make it home for once. However, she had no close friends besides her family and the older Victors from 10 that did their best to care for her, and she certainly was not the fresh and whip-smart young Victor the District needed to revitalize itself after so many years of loss. She was hugely unpopular in the Capitol, who viewed her as a luck Victor that was undesirable and obnoxiously crazy. She quickly faded from the public eye after screaming her way through her coronation, being forgotten as the flashy Careers of the 60s quickly dominated the public memory. President Snow did not threaten or prostitute her, knowing the experience of the Games had been enough to break her for life. Annley was unable to do much for most of her life, often being treated by various doctors and psychiatrists who tried to help her adjust to her life. Annley made significant inroads throughout her life, but she was still always very broken and unstable woman, leading her to be a poor Mentor who rarely did it as it terrified her too much. She was forced to choose a talent, and she ended up choosing knitting, which she did with Barcelona and her mother every day to calm herself, as it was the only thing besides hallucinatory party drugs from the Capitol that kept her peaceful.

Annley would live to age 46, dying around the 91st Hunger Games from unspecified causes, although the abuses her body suffered probably contributed to her early demise. She would never marry and would have no children.

The payouts on her Victory were strong, as .35% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was horrendous; she was crying or cowering most of the time. She had to be mildly drugged to get through her speeches, leaving her to either say very little or say it very slurredly, embarrassing herself largely and cementing the fact she was one of the more damaged Victors of recent times.


Victor's News

Annley moves into the Victor's Village of District 10.

Tex has his fifth and final child, a son named Tim.

Shyanna has her third and final child, a boy named Julius.

Chaise has his first child, a son named Severus.

Lucullus marries his wife, named Maggie Hemys.


List of Victors

District 1 (8 Victors): Guild Tonneroy (6), Salandra Valour (11), Clermont Lackrey (15), Mascara Curler (22), Ivelisse Horner (31), Zion Alvarra (40), Nefertiti Kouri (47), Chaise Schauwen (54)

District 2 (11 Victors): Noor Tuskararus (4), Romulus Armidale (19), Fitore Renoro (21), Florianna Urnston (27), Tarquinius Isselhardt (30), Januaria Shale (36), Gnaeus Deccum (37), Brutus Asesino (44), Lyme Harriott (49), Lucullus Cuerer (55), Kyla Burks (58)

District 3 (4 Victors): Chaplin Nastaro (7), Calculata Fenceley (26), Beetee Latier (33), Wiress Furuya (46)

District 4 (6 Victors): Kelan Thather (1), Mags Flanagan (11), Bex Martin (16), Dorsal Rance (24), Flotsam Bresten (34), Syren Calanthe (43)

District 5 (6 Victors): Tugra Ertra (3), Irmentrude Marley (8), Fox Rennolls (29), Porter Tripp (38), Surge Tomlin (42), Shyanna Lowell (51)

District 6 (4 Victors): Greason Trails (10), Mercedes Benson (28), Indigo Arnett (41), Dirk Tautson (57)

District 7 (4 Victors): Ishania Patel (5), Grover Elms (20), Pomona McCrea (32), Blight Jonson (56)

District 8 (4 Victors): Woof Parsons (23), Organza White (35), Tex Hannon (52), Cecelia Lahren (59)

District 9 (4 Victors): Dillon Tripp (2), Deana Mitchellson (18), Enzo Faithlen (48), Brandy Hooper (53)

District 10 (4 Victors): Barcelona Sepias (13), Jaguar Crusoe (17), Elaine Canterbury (Aux. 46), Annley Tobias (60)

District 11 (4 Victors): Vissarion Chamantel (9), Freeha Indepp (14), Seeder Howell (39), Chaff Abwenza (45)

District 12 (2 Victors): Venice Grammar (25), Haymitch Abernathy (50)


A/N: Hey guys I hope you enjoyed this new chapter! We're officially in the 60s, and I hope this was a good way to start it off! We've transitioned Head Gamemakers, and I wanted to make this a pretty unique arena and Games, so I hope that was successful. In case you didn't figure it out while reading, Annley is the District 10 Female from Catching Fire, and I hope you had fun reading about her; she's definitely a tragic character, a normal girl who somehow survived even though she was a traditionally "boring" tribute. I hope it was a fun read and I can't wait for the next chapter; it's not a canon Victor, so it'll be an exciting one for y'all to see who wins! Thanks again for reading and drop a review to let me know what you thought :)

Until Next Time,

Tracee