XVI. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

DAY 1 CONTINUED

ARDEN GOLDENROD, DISTRICT 3 FEMALE (14)

They'd made it out.

Both Arden and Deiondra were perfectly safe and most definitely alive.

Whether this could last was still up for question.

Considering Arden had no problem with making noise and was practically waking the whole forest up, it was definitely still up in the air.

Arden's ally, however, was continuously glancing shiftily around them, as if she expected the rainforest to erupt with threats any moment. Finally, she snapped, and said, "Arden, be quieter."

"When in Rome, I mean," Arden smirked, "We're not getting the full arena experience without jumping in and out of danger."

Deiondra rolled her eyes, a small smile pulling at her lips.

"We'd be dead if we got the whole arena experience."

"No shit, Deiondra."

It had been a few hours since the bloodbath and since they'd heard the cannons. Nine. Arden admitted she was disappointed- she'd hoped for more, just so Deiondra and Arden could get closer to the finish line. It wasn't a cowardly thought at all.

No, it really wasn't.

Neither Deiondra or Arden had killed anyone yet, and they supposed the only kills that had been taken yet had been the Careers.

Predictable.

Which was the good thing about not being one.

That was the thing about the Careers- sponsors didn't like them as much anymore. It was the underdog they liked, and Careers were easy wins. Of course, the boy from 1 was on top when they'd left, but the girl from 9 had been catching up. Just further proof of Arden's point.

She wasn't going to care about the fact she was low on the rankings, and probably even lower what with most of the unpopular kids gone.

Yeah, Arden didn't give a shit.

Well, maybe she cared for Deiondra's sake, and she hoped she wasn't dragging her ally down popularity-wise.

They found a small spring as well that they laid out camp out, which Arden definitely considered a good place. Obviously, they were the only ones with direct access to water, which was sweet. And their packs contained pretty good materials for the duo, though they'd run out of packed food soon.

Not much passed between the pair in the hours they waited for the projections, and Arden realized she was bored. Yeah, she'd come in for a suicide mission, but how long did she have to wait for actual excitement?

When footsteps started coming their way, Deiondra started up with panicked eyes, but the footsteps receded and she relaxed, though not by much.

Arden was interested to learn why Diondra was constantly so paranoid, though her ally kept the information secret. Arden didn't blame her for that- she sure as heck wasn't going to go all sob-story on Deiondra.

There was still a bit of tension in their alliance too, considering only one person could win.

Then again, Arden had only known Deiondra for a few days (but it felt like a lifetime).

Unfortunately those few days ended quite soon.

Arden planned to use them well.

Just try and catch me.

She stole a glance at Deiondra, who was staring off into the distance with her legs curled into her chest.

Catch us.

If you can.

DEMETER JARNIVEN, DISTRICT 9 FEMALE (16)

Demeter had never questioned the morals behind killing until Reyena herself had done so.

And yet, though nobody in the Capitol would care, the fact that a little girl had to kill was just fucking stupid. So pathetically ridiculous Demeter couldn't stand it.

Was this their sick, twisted version of entertainment? She knew it was, but it was so frustrating even though she'd only been locked up in this arena for a few hours. It was a prison, which she knew they'd keep her in even if she won.

The forest had begun to get even darker, which Demeter was more than shocked about, considering it was hard enough to see already. She'd stumbled through the

And then the projections began to play.

The first face was the boy from Three. He'd probably been backstabbed by the Careers- his angry district partner had made it, then. Both from Five, which was surprising, for the boy.

Ayla.

Demeter was glad she hadn't killed Ayla, but nonetheless the girl had died.

And yet it was unreal- Ayla, with all her plain wit, was dead and buried.

She would have escaped, if the Gamemakers didn't find it amusing to watch the tributes stumble over themselves as they tried to distinguish who was who.

It was sick.

But Demeter was more concerned with the fact it could drag her down.

Or the fact that the arena probably had much, much more in store.

She redirected her attention to the sky, as the faces of both kids from Seven flashed. Demeter hadn't known them, but they'd seemed sweet. Then came the boy from Eight- the girl was still alive, she guessed.

And then came Leon's face.

Demeter drew back from the picture, as if he'd come alive again.

She did feel bad for being such a jerk to him, but his death was only necessary for her to make it out. Still, the District 9 girl felt a twinge of pity as Leon's face disappeared forever, replaced by the boy from 10's face.

She didn't pay attention to the next face, the nonbinary from 11, instead staring at her hands. She didn't want them to be covered in blood, and felt sick just imagining it. If she'd allied with Leon, maybe he wouldn't be dead, could be living and breathing, in all of his stupid stupid therapist glory.

She was stupid herself to think she could escape this. Maybe she'd be dead and buried like Leon soon, back to District 9 by a Capitol airplane.

She let out a shaky sigh as the projection faded.

No more deaths.

Not even the runts from 12.

She supposed she should be upset since every new death got her closer to the end

Reyena and Demeter had split up, since both of the allies agreed it made the most sense. If one of them was caught, the other wouldn't be too. Or, Demeter considered, it might have been the fact that both "allies" were too paranoid to let one stand guard.

The "kill your ally" on Reyena's part had only confirmed that.

But to be fair Reyena was just helpless, and trying to do what would help her survive.

Inevitably, Reyena would die.

Demeter wasn't willing to go down too.

MERLOT MONTAGUE, DISTRICT 1 MALE (18)

In the Career camp, the air was fraught with tension.

Specifically on Lux's part, who was definitely annoyed at the rest of them.

"See, I thought we were supposed to trust each other," she'd lectured the other Careers.

Tempest rolled her eyes, "We're in the Hunger Games, Lux."

"So?"

As such, the feeble sense of trust the Careers had established during training had shattered.

Well, it wasn't like Merlot had expected it not to. He himself hadn't trusted any of the other Careers to begin with, even Angelo. Especially not Hestia, with their current rivalry going that Merlot hoped to win.

Then again, Hestia was up one given she was predicted to win.

They'd had an argument over the supplies while the other Careers lounged about, bored out of their minds by all the restless arguing.

"You're named after wine," Hestia had snapped.

"So?" Merlot challenged.

"Five to three. I'm winning."

Merlot exhaled through his teeth, thoroughly frustrated.

The Careers had split into relative sides now, Tempest siding with Hestia and Angelo with Merlot, as Nero had preferred not to take a side and Lux was busy sulking. Merlot and Hestia were so close to snapping and literally killing each other it was almost even hilarious.

The Careers had taken refuge at the Cornucopia, and given how cold it was, they'd found seven blankets in the back of the Cornucopia, which each Career had taken for their own, leaving the extra. They didn't know exactly what they were waiting for, just sitting on crates in the back of the Cornucopia.

Tempest tried to break in like usual, "Who killed the kid from 11, anyway?"

Merlot shrugged, and Hestia seemed distracted by this too. "Yeah, who did?"

"I didn't," Nero put in.

"Neither did I," Angelo volunteered.

The Careers all looked to Lux, who was ignoring them. "Lux, did you kill District 11?"

Lux rolled her eyes, "No, I didn't. I only killed Tesla, like you guys told me to."

Angelo shifted uncomfortably, as did Tempest.

"Lux," Merlot tried to reason with her.

"You broke my trust," she snapped.

Nero tried to intervene, "You'd give it away-"

"I didn't kill the kid from 11!" Lux interrupted, seeming exasperated. "Isn't that what you want? Yes? Then just leave me alone!"

The Careers stood in stunned silence as Lux stomped off.

"We should've told her about Nico," Hestia said in a sour tone.

"Let's be logical, Lux would've ruined it," Nero argued.

Merlot nodded, "She'll come around eventually."

"Let's hope so," Tempest cracked. "It's not the same without her energy."

None of the Careers spoke of the fact that Nico had had that energy too.

It had been a last minute thing, backstabbing Nico, as the Careers had only decided it on the second day or training and finalized it before the Games. And altogether the decision had not at all been unanimous, as District 4 had wanted to keep Nico and the others (minus Lux, who, again, had not been included) had been fine with killing him off.

Merlot supposed it was coming back to bite them now.

Choices.

You'd think you made a good one, and then it turned out you didn't.

Well, the pressure was on.

As Tempest had said, it was the Hunger Games.

The pressure was on.

LYANA ALYSSUM, DISTRICT 8 FEMALE (16)

Now that Aspen was dead, Lyana wasn't sure what to do.

Euan was dead too, and while he was a nice guy- had been a nice guy- as long as it had been Lyana and Aspen, they could've made it. Could've carried on until the very end, and Lyana now couldn't communicate with anyone. Her rock in the stormy seas the Games were had now sunk back into the sea, and now Lyana herself was fighting against the rough tide, wondering if she would be able to ever beat the waves.

And as much as Lyana hated to think about it, she knew what her next move would be.

It was night, the perfect time to act. And they'd put her on watch, which only encouraged Lyana's internal demon even more.

They'd taken rest in a small hollow they'd found after hiking for a while and settled in for the night, the trio's members snacking mournfully on the sandwiches Lyana had in her pack. It was hard enough to ration them, after having such good food in the Capitol already.

She brushed a hand against her temple, the knife heavy in her hands. Peri and Tristan were both fast asleep, though both seemed troubled. As they should've been, since almost half of their alliance was dead and gone.

What to do next would be so easy, so easy. It wouldn't physically challenge Lyana.

It would mentally do so.

It took everything you had to watch your allies die and know that you were truly helpless, but to backstab your allies?

It took everything you had.

Tristan had to go first, Lyana thought, because he had better chances of beating her in a fight than Peri- so if Peri woke up, then Lyana could easily outmatch her.

The thought was sickening, but she needed to win.

Survival of the fittest, I guess.

Standing up from her position, curled against a tree, Lyana stretched and seized up the packs, sliding them over her back as the materials crashed into each other. She hoped the noise wasn't loud like she imagined it to be.

Of course, she couldn't actually hear it.

Trembling, Lyana raised the knife over Tristan's body, her breathing frantic and panicked.

She stabbed down.

At the last second, Tristan's eyes flickered open.

He moved at the last second, and Lyana missed him by a centimeter.

She'd missed her chance.

The District 12 boy was staggering to his feet, and Lyana began to retreat. Even though Tristan was weaponless, there was no way for her to beat him in a fight.

No, maybe she could. After all, her training score was much higher than his.

He was yelling, panicking, talking to her, she noted. Even pleading.

She could barely read his lips, but guessed what he was saying.

Lyana, why?

We trusted you-

Peri! Wake up!

His District partner began to stir, rising from her sleep and gripping a knife they'd found hidden in her pack. What, Tristan?

Everything was a blur, but Peri went pale, seeing Lyana, and Lyana went ashen.

She could defeat them both. Only Peri was armed, and the girl couldn't handle a weapon competently. At all.

So Lyana went in for the kill, finding shock in the fact that somehow Tristan was holding Peri's knife now, and he was blocking her attacks and Peri was off to the side trying to sneak up on Lyana-

Stupid bitch. She doesn't even have a weapon.

The District 12 pair closed in on Lyana, and Lyana stabbed Peri in the side, the girl stumbling back, a hand to her stomach. She'd bleed out soon, Lyana thought coldly, but a twinge of pity ignited in her.

At least it would be quick.

But being focused on Peri, Lyana didn't see Tristan bring his knife down on her arm.

She stifled a scream, not wanting any tributes to come by, and dropped the pack and started to run. She couldn't win the fight now, and it wasn't a time to lose.

Tristan had two options now: to save his district partner or to come after Lyana. She caught a glimpse of black hair through the jungle (with her contacts, her vision was greatly improved) and was surprised he'd chosen the latter option. She didn't have time to think about it, and kept running, running, running-

How much more would she have to run?

She'd failed to kill them, and now her chances were ruined.

Tristan had to be catching up.

The District 8 girl increased her pace, knowing she was losing ground and Tristan was catching up-

Her feet caught air, and Lyana frantically tried to grasp onto something, arms flailing as she fell-

Where had she gone so wrong?

All she'd wanted to do was go home.

District 8 was out of the Hunger Games again.

BOOM!

KILL COUNT

Nero Blastaries: II

Hestia Mclearson: II

Lux Leblanc: I

Reyena Jensen: I

Angelo Marris: I

Merlot Montague: I

Tempest Trinidad: I

The Arena: I

Alliances

Tragic Backstories but then Again No: Deiondra, Arden

I Survived the Lyana Attack (Well, Peri Could Still Die): Peri, Tristan

Careers: Merlot, Lux, Hestia, Nero, Tempest, Angelo, Nico

Let's Go Home: Audelia, Avven

How To Backstab: Demeter, Reyena

15th Place: Lyana Alyssum, was chased off a cliff

Noooooooooooo! Never in a million years could even I predict this. Lyana was by far one of my favorites. I never thought she'd go this early- actually, she was supposed to make it to the finale until recently. It was shocking when I started writing her last POV, because I thought it would just be a check-in with her and her allies and then it changed into… well. She was a struggle at first, especially because she was made of so many contradictions- sweet, but sassy. Socially nervous, but also such a queen. This was the hardest death so far to write, and the hardest decision I had to make. Again, I never wanted her to go this early because she was one of my favorites, and the fact that she did was pretty heartbreaking. I even considered her for victor, but the plotline after her victory just wasn't there, so that's what she fell victim to. Maybe I'll bring her back sometime (hehe), but for now, her story ends here. Thank you so much to Marie464 for submitting her, and don't bring her back to life just to stab her!

A/N

Hey guys! This was just meant to be a check-in, so it was shorter than our future chapters. We hit 150 reviews last chapter, which is HUGE, so thank you so much to everyone! I'll see you for Day II!