Electron Davies, 17
District 5 11th Male
"I can't believe you dumbasses," Patternia scoffs, putting up her feet. "You never deserved to volunteer."
"Jeez Patternia, you need to calm down," Madras says, rolling his eyes. "We're all exhausted. So are you and you know it. Preston's ankle is fucking sprained. We need a rest day."
I'd really like to be hunting right now, but I'm just too exhausted for that to be a possibility. I stretch out my legs and recline backward so I'm practically lying down. We all have our individual nooks inside the cornucopia. Madras' and Organza's are tucked into the back corners. Mine is in the empty space underneath a big empty shelf. Patternia and Preston are out front, their sleeping bags sitting in small clearings within the field of scattered supplies.
"Speaking of Preston, how's that sprained ankle coming along?" Madras asks. For a ruthless career, he's pretty nurturing when it comes to his friends.
"Well," he says. "Everything is back into place as far as I can tell. The stabbing pain is only an ache now, but it's fading."
Patternia raises her hands in outrage. "What do you mean, it's fading? You tripped thirty hours ago and fell a whopping four fucking inches. You have the energy to move around?"
Preston sits up, clearing pissed. "For your information, ma'am, that tiny four inches was enough to force my ankle bone out of its socket. Gravity is a thing that exists. You're a moron."
Patternia stands up and clips her belt of throwing knives around her waist, then snatches up her hunting knives and her backpack. "If you retards are too lazy to go out hunting, then I'm going by myself. Fuck you lot."
"Have fun," Preston says in high falsetto, waving whimsically as Patternia sprints away.
Madras sighs. "That girl is a demon child. We've got to kill her."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Organza asks. "She's annoying as fuck, but you can't deny she'll put up a fight, even if we ambush her somehow. She has an eleven."
If I'm being honest, I have literally no idea how Patternia earned that eleven. I was the only other tribute to earn an eleven, but at least I have strength and skill on me. I'm guessing her private session involved more than a little nudity. That's the only explanation I can come up with.
"She isn't going to put up a fight," I retort. "There are four of us and one of her. Well, three, if Preston has to sit out."
"I won't," Preston says. "I heal fast."
"Anyway," I continue. "Nighttime is our best bet. We can knock her out quickly if we play our cards right."
Just then, the first cannon of the day fires. Preston, Organza, Madras, and I fall completely silent. Less than a minute later, another cannon fires. And less than a minute after that, there's a third cannon.
"Wow," Madras says, incredulous. "How many are left now? Sixteen?"
I take a deep breath. "Yep. But is Patternia Veil part of that number?"
Brigitta Channel, 18
District 8 9th Female
Felix and Boltson quietly snore behind me while I sleepily stand guard. We devoted this entire morning to hunting, and now we're too exhausted to do anything but sleep. I'd love to be sleeping as well, but duties are duties. If I've learned one thing from having a peacekeeper as a father, it's that duties must be fulfilled at any cost.
My first hint that somebody is coming is the swarm of birds. There are at least twenty of them, and they come flying out of the trees in one cloud. Clearly, their roosting place was agitated.
Should I risk waking up Felix and Boltson? When I hear the noise of something crashing through the thick forest, I quickly turn around and shake both of them awake.
"Grab your weapons," I whisper. "And be dead quiet."
We immediately fall into formation, with Felix on my left and Boltson on my right. Kneeling down, we're in a position to either stand up or lie down at an instant's notice.
There's silence. And more silence. At least ten minutes of silence.
"Are you sureā¦"
I don't have time to breathe. The throwing knife appears out of nowhere, shooting out of the dark forest and landing squarely in Boltson's chest. My mouth opens wide as Boltson falls to the ground, gasping and then screaming. Blood pours in a fountain from the gaps around the knife, fresh and dark.
Patternia bursts out of the trees, brandishing a hunting knife in one hand and a throwing knife in the other. A trill of icy cold panic runs through my body, and for a moment I'm tempted to run for my life. But it's my duty to fight until my dying breath.
"Move! Move!" I shout, but Felix is frozen in place. His eyes are fixed on Boltson's corpse. Before he can sidestep, Patternia tackles him, forcing him to the ground. Felix screams, and I glance back and forth between Patternia and safety.
"Help me! Brigitta! HELP!" Felix's wrists and ankles are pinned down, and Patternia grins as she traces the blade of her knife across his cheek. "HELP! HELP!"
I charge toward Patternia's back. I figure she must be alone, because if she was accompanied by the other careers they would have appeared by now. My sword is too large to use at this close range. I pull out the dagger I haven't used since I grabbed it from the bloodbath.
I raise the dagger, holding it above the back of her neck as she continues to torture Felix. Patternia finally gets tired of playing with her food. I momentarily freeze in place as she brings down her hunting knife, letting it sink into his neck. He immediately stops thrashing, and his cannon fires.
This is the moment. It's either now or ever. Patternia turns around and grimaces as she faces me. Then, before I realize what I'm doing, I've forced the dagger downward. It lands in the soft part of her shoulder, jamming through her flesh and then sinking slowly.
The career girl roars and jumps to her feet, kicking me hard in the chest. Winded completely, I curl up and clutch my chest, unable to move from the agonizing pain: like fire. As I squirm and cry out from pain, I clutch onto the hope that I've injured Patternia to a lethal degree.
"You bitch. You absolute bitch."
Patternia is standing up now, but her knees are wobbling. Her shirt is completely stained with blood on both sides.
"Yep, That's me," I say. Then she collapses.
Preston Richards, 17
District 5 1st Male
"It should be midnight by now," Organza says impatiently. "Do you think Patternia will come back?"
"Who cares?" Madras asks. "But for what it's worth, I hope not. I think she's dead."
There's a long silence after that, a long waiting. We're all waiting for the death recap. Three cannons fired today. As the silence stretches longer and longer, I build up the urge to break it.
"I want to try and walk now," I say.
Madras rushes to my side. "I can help you stand up if you want."
"I think I'm fine." I use my hands to push myself up to a crouching position. Then I stand up, feeling almost completely normal. There's a slight aching in my ankle, sure. But other than that, I feel fine.
The anthem suddenly sounds, and I rush to the mouth of the cornucopia. I hiss at the sudden pain in my ankle, but I'm too distracted by the death recap to care about that for long.
Felix and Boltson died today. And so did Patternia.
"That's two anti-careers down," Organza says. "And Patternia. Thank Snow and Hawke she's off of our backs."
Felix Landers, District 5 4th Male
Boltson Howcroft, District 5 12th Male
Patternia Veil, District 8 2nd Female
Remaining Tributes (16): Preston, Francina, Dawson, Thred, Electron, Nimona, Organza, Madras, Lycra, Cloth, Velvet, Rollag, Brigitta, Sasha, Threada, Crochet
