THE FINALE

PART ONE

ANGELO MARRIS, DISTRICT 4 MALE (18)

The arena was ablaze.

Angelo didn't know how it had happened, but all of a sudden, right after Hestia's death, the Careers had been forced to flee, chased by the fire.

Lux had been sobbing about how she hadn't wanted to kill Hestia, but was forced to, not wanting to die- nobody did- but not knowing the mental toll it would take on her. Angelo's job was to figure things out- that's what detectives did- but Lux pulling the poison move?

Neither Nero nor Angelo (nor Hestia) had suspected it.

And Lux probably hadn't either.

And as such, when they reached the Final Six, the Gamemakers decided to literally set the world on fire.

Which meant, obviously, the finale was underfoot.

Angelo would've liked to have been given a warning before the finale proceeded, but of course this was the Hunger Games. It made sense for the Gamemakers to take them by shock- there were four of them left in the final six- no, three of them- and they obviously were stronger than the other tributes, so to have a good showing, not all of them should be alive.

So now they were running from the ruinous flames.

To where?

Obviously, there was no set destination, but there had to be some place in the arena that was safe. The Gamemakers wanted action, and having five tributes burned to a crisp without the last, surviving tribute getting any kills hardly seemed exciting if Angelo put himself in the typical Capitol viewer's position.

Nero was out of sight, and Lux was barely ahead of Angelo, but seemed to be losing speed. It was ironic that the Careers were running from fire- given Nero's choice in weapons, Angelo had expected that the ones to run from fire would be the tributes from the outer districts.

Now the tables had been turned- or maybe not, Angelo thought wryly, given the outer district tributes were running too, with the same chances as the Careers at seeing another day.

And then, Angelo made a foolish mistake.

He tripped.

It was a stupid blunder, but a branch Nero had kicked out of his way while running snapped back and ensnared Angelo's foot, causing him to fall. His arm took the majority of the blunt force the fall gave him, but his nose hit the rocky ground as well, and it might've been broken.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, Lux came from behind him and was dragging him up. "Come on, Angelo. We have to go!"

He staggered to his feet, shocked at having barely escaped the fire, and equally as shocked that Lux had helped him instead of saving herself. "Is Nero close by?"

"No, he's still ahead. He's fast," Lux answered shortly, letting out a string of coughs, but Angelo could tell she was running out of steam, slowly exhausted by the run which had no promise of ending. The smoke was invading his vision too,

And so they ran.

The fire spread quickly, and the distance between the Career pair- who were friends at this point- slowly lengthened as Angelo took the lead. Behind him, Lux stopped for a second, just a second to take her breath.

Angelo knew what had happened before it did.

The fire swelled, only getting stronger.

Lux screamed, and before Angelo knew it, a cannon boomed.

He ran, not wanting to look back, barely accepting that Lux was dead. A friend, though Angelo was rather reserved sometimes. The District 1 girl was dead, which should have made sense. Only one made it out in the end.

That didn't make it hurt any less.

And that was when the pyramid came into sight.

Had Angelo had more time, he would've waited and admired the thing, which was the epitome of architecture. Had he had more time, he would've appreciated the landscape the Gamemakers had put them in, even if meant to kill them, a scenery so unique and something Angelo had never seen in the beachy District Four.

But the fire was close to devouring the whole arena, so obviously he couldn't take his time.

Angelo's sense of staying calm in extreme situations, developed through years of being a detective for District Four, one of the best, was only heightened now.

However, due to the haze the fire was causing, he simply couldn't find the door.

A slab of stone covered what Angelo supposed led to the first floor, but it wouldn't be a good move to enter through there. The other tributes could possibly be on lower floors than him, or even higher, and in that sense he'd most definitely be cornered.

So common sense caused him to think that the Gamemakers didn't want everyone outright slaughtering each other- which would only increase the theory that there was another way in, had to be another way.

He didn't have much time to look, though, as the fire blazed around him- but to his relief, he found it in seconds on the right side of the pyramid, which had luckily not been savaged by the fire yet.

The Gamemakers had obviously made little effort on the door, which was stuck to the side of the structure in a rather haphazard way. Angelo rushed towards it, expecting it to open as he shoved into it.

But it was bolted shut.

Still reeling from Lux's death, he brought his sword to the door, smashing with all the strength that Angelo could muster.

It caved in beneath the weight and Angelo made his way in.

If Nero was in there, they'd carry each other to the Final Two like the whole alliance had promised- Lux and Hestia and Merlot and Tempest, who were all gone at this point.

Not much farther to go. You can get out soon.

The exact brevity of human life struck Angelo right then and there, and he hesitated. He was going into this pyramid, and so were four others.

One would come out.

That was how it had been in the beginning, and how it was shaped in the end. Angelo still had so much to prove, to solve, and maybe a victory would help him with that. Maybe he could finally ascend and go far.

For that, though, four people needed to die.

Four people with homes and families, probably better than Angelo's own.

He took a breath, clearing these thoughts.

He was a Career.

This was how it was supposed to be.

AUDELIA GLIDDEN, DISTRICT 6 FEMALE (16)

They were coming to her.

Not to Audi, specifically, but to the pyramid. The safe space in the fiery arena.

Which meant Audi had to be prepared.

When she heard a cannon, Audi relaxed slightly. Only five of them left- her and four others. She could do it, she really could. All she had to do was be ready.

Audi started scaling the ladders to the top floor.

With each new floor she reached, she pushed the ladders down, and kept rising. By the time she'd reached the third floor, Audi heard a crash and peeked over the edge of the floor to see that the girl from Three had come in through the door on the second floor. The boy from 2 had broken through the door on the second floor, but had come from a different side than Nine, so they were spaced out. However, the boy from 4 and the girls from 9 and 1 were nowhere to be seen, meaning one of them had been the victim of the fire the Gamemakers created.

Audi kept scaling and breaking the ladders.

Out of the corner of her eye, the boy from Four broke in from the blocked off door on the first floor. The boy from Two immediately reconvened with him, and whatever alliance they'd had Audi had guessed had broken, so this was probably just birthing from the remains of the Career alliance to take out the other outer district kids.

Like me.

The thought hit the surface like ice water as the boys began to run to reach the new levels.

She reached the fifth floor and exhaled softly in relief. The sounds were blending together, but she noticed Three trying to fix and then scale one of the ladders Audi had shoved to the ground in a panic. The Career duo were verging on her, and from the way she was carrying herself, one of her legs seemed to be slightly injured, but she managed to heft one of the ladders into place and swing herself up to the next level anyways- just in time.

The ladder shattered and fell into the pit, making a loud crash.

Audi's mind went blank.

Clearly, they were going to keep coming and would somehow or other be able to ascend to different floors, eventually reaching Audi herself.

She had to get home.

At whatever cost.

Even if it meant killing someone who had done nothing on a personal level to her, what was she supposed to do to win?

The girl from 9 broke through the door on a sub level of floor 2, directly across from the Careers, only confirming that the girl from 1 was out. The Career boys were struggling with getting to the floor the girl from Three was on, and District Three, seemingly uncaring, was staring at the girl from Nine, but unwilling to chase her yet.

The Career boys gave up trying to swing up to the third floor without a ladder, and Audi watched as the boy from Two tested one of the ropes across the pit. He began to swing across. His ally watched warily, but the ropes were holding, like Audi had assumed they would had she needed to get to a different floor.

The ropes were holding.

The ropes were holding!

In a panic, Audi realized that the countless pairs of shears that lined the pyramid's walls just happened to be absent from her floor- the fifth. She seized her knife, and began sawing into the rope, but it didn't make a dent.

The nearest pair of shears were on the fourth floor, but the girl from Three would reach her in minutes and Audi wouldn't be able to get back up onto the fifth floor quickly given she'd pushed the ladder down to give herself time.

She had to try, though.

Audi slid off the fifth floor, landing in a crouch. The girl from Three's eyes widened as Audi seized up the shears from the wall, and sprinted towards where the rope would bring the boy from District 2- onto the fourth floor, where she was.

Using the most force she could, Audi snapped at the rope with the shears.

The rope started thinning.

Once it became evident to the boy from 2 what Audi was trying to do- and he picked up rather quickly for a Career- he began swinging back towards his ally, who might've shouted to tell Two about the wire but the sounds meshed together in Audi's mind. The boy from Two was hanging over the pit for an instant, trying to move, but then he was falling as Audi had given a particularly fierce snap- her arm muscles were screaming- and the boy let out a shout before he went silent, disappearing from view.

They only had to wait a second for the cannon shot.

But that second felt like years to Audi, waiting to see if she'd killed somebody. Somebody who had aided in the death of Avven, yes, but still someone entirely undeserving of her kill.

BOOM!

Audi relaxed slightly, letting out a sigh of relief, dropping to her knees and tossing the shears away, grabbing her knife from the ground instead.

Then the thought sunk in that she was a murderer.

There were plenty of crimes in Six- murders, thefts, you name it- and all of those were harshly punished by the Peacekeepers. Nothing was going to happen to her for killing Two because she was in the Games, merely a plaything to be tossed aside. And by killing Two, she'd not only molded to a short-lived, twisted version of entertainment, but she'd twisted herself.

And yet, to get out, she still had to kill again.

She was so distracted by these troubling thoughts that she didn't notice the girl from Three coming up from behind her.

And then stab Audi in the side with the shears she'd just let go of.

Oh, no.

Audi stumbled back, and Three seemed shocked at what she'd done, letting the shears hang loosely at her side as she watched Audi try to find a place to hold onto, because the world was spinning and she didn't want to fall-

Oh, no.

She hadn't made it out of the arena at all- she'd fallen in fourth because she'd hesitated, because she hadn't been ready. Luck had stayed with Audi during Avven's death and past that, but when she needed it the most, it fled.

The last thing she saw before her vision finally began to clear were the shears that had ended her life being picked up by Three as she made her way to the final showdown.

Let her finish it then.

I've come far enough.

I'm too tired to go any farther.

Audi closed her eyes.

BOOM!

KILL COUNT:

Arena: IIII

Merlot Montague (DECEASED): III

Hestia Mclearson (DECEASED): III

Nero Blastaries (DECEASED): II

Lux Leblanc (DECEASED): II

Arden Goldenrod: II

Tempest Trinidad (DECEASED): I

Angelo Marris: I

Demeter Jarvinen: I

Audi Glidden (DECEASED): I

NO ALLIANCES REMAIN

6th Place: Lux Leblanc, fell victim to fire created by Arden Goldenrod

Lux was probably the sweetest of the Careers (and the most sane at that), and even in her death she ended up trying to help out Angelo. Lux was a joy for me, but unfortunately she fell victim to me not being able to find out where she would fit in with the pieces. She played such an important part in the Career pack, who probably would have stabbed each other without her, and overall was so well-rounded and dynamic because of her backstory and relationship with her parents. I wanted Lux to return home, I really did, but the story decided to be uncooperative and now, sadly, Lux's story ends here. Thank you so much to david12341 for submitting her.

5th Place: Nero Blastaries, fell to his death (caused by Audelia Glidden)

Of all the characters in And We Run, I obviously struggled portraying Nero the most. He was a really cool tribute, and I enjoyed every second writing him, even though I didn't do it well at all. I wish there was something I could've done to do him more justice but unfortunately, even though I really tried towards the end, I didn't capture his character well. Thank you so much to Platrium for submitting him.

4th Place: Audelia Glidden, stabbed with rusty shears by Arden Goldenrod

First off, Audi, I'm sorry for making your death so gruesome. Second, I'm sorry that you were my intended victor. I had a really cool storyline for Audi after her victory, but then as we got farther in the Games, by Day Four I realized that it just wouldn't make sense for Audi to win. She faded into the background a little bit, which was probably my doing, but I enjoyed writing her alliance with Avven and afterwards her moral complexity that tons of tributes have. Audi was definitely a super fun tribute to write, and every POV I wrote with her was something that always made me laugh especially if her dynamic with Avven was included. Thank you so much to goldie031 for submitting her.

A/N

WELL THERE'S ONLY THREE TRIBUTES LEFT! Angelo, Demmie, and Arden. Who's your victor prediction now? A special congrats to my-mental-mind, averyrandomauthor, and slytherindauntless for having a place in the finale! Sprntathon helped a lot with the next chapter, which should be out soon, where we'll meet the victor of the 49th Hunger Games!