Disclaimer:
I do not own the Hunger Games book series. It is the property of Suzanne Collins and the publisher Scholastic Press. The movies are owned by Lionsgate and other associated producers and creators. I am simply a humble fan, writing this for the enjoyment of other fans. Please support the official release.
Arena - Day 7
Gleam Delmas
District 1 Male Tribute
He was awakened at the sound of the golden doors, and wooden gate opening. The brittle morning sun illuminated the courtyard, reflecting off the gold Cornucopia. Ryker was the only other person awake, whistling to himself as he cleaned his spear with a rag.
"Is it your watch?" Gleam asked, yawning.
Ryker looked over at him and nodded. "Traded places with Cassandra a few hours ago."
Gleam stood up and stretched, grabbing his scythe off the ground. "I suppose we should wake everyone up. Get some food in our stomachs before we set out."
It's been four days since Ryker ended the life of the boy from Three. Four days since there had been any deaths in the arena. The crowd could be growing bored as they sat on their fat asses, waiting for blood. The longer the Careers took to find some unlucky tribute, the more of a chance that a Gamemakers might decide they needed to spice the games up. Which would mean they could be put in the cross-hairs again. The Muttation's they fought yesterday were still fresh in his mind.
The idea of finding another tribute disgusted Gleam. Despite the mask he wore, the boy from One didn't want to kill anyone. He might have the skills for murder, but he didn't want to use then. What did his parents think as they watched him? What did his sisters think of their big brother?
Not for the first time, he cursed the fate of being born in One.
"Before you do that, I wanted to talk with you," Ryker said. He finished cleaning his spear, discarding the wipe one of the sponsors sent him.
Gleam frowned at him. "What about?"
Now he was curious. What did Ryker want to speak to him about when the rest of the alliance was asleep?
"We both know only one person is walking out of this arena alive," Ryker said, stating the obvious. "Only one of us is going home. When the alliance finally breaks, it'll be a free for all. You're the pack leader. Everyone will be gunning for you."
"What about it?" Gleam demanded. He knew that already. Taking leadership meant that he would be seen as the strongest. The biggest threat.
"Well, you might be good, but do you really think you could take the rest of use if we all decided you die first?" Ryker asked. In all honesty, Gleam didn't think he would be able to kill all of his allies in a fight. He had been planning to kill as many of them in their sleep as he could when the tributes numbers fell to low. That was the plan, but there was no guarantee his allies might get him before he could. "The fight might go better if you head back up."
"Just spit it out," Gleam ordered. For the first time since he had met the boy from Two, Ryker smiled.
"I'm proposing an alliance. When it comes down to it, I'll fight with you. The two of us will stick together until the very end. When we're the last two tributes, we fight it out," Ryker said, giving his pitch.
If nothing else, it sounded nice. The idea of having an ally to rely on was comforting, but Gleam didn't trust any of his allies. Not in the arena. Not in the Hunger Games. Despite his lack of trust, Gleam saw the logic in his statement. Ryker might be the ticket to surviving the breakup. Having someone fighting next to him would decrease the number of enemies he would have.
From Ryker's point of view, Gleam could be his ticket as well. If the rest of them managed to kill him, Ryker would have four people out to murder him. No guarantee he would survive. If he fought with Gleam, he would only have one enemy to kill if they both survive. If Ryker got lucky, Gleam might even be injured enough to put him at a disadvantage.
"Okay. It's a deal," Gleam agreed. He promised himself that he would keep an eye on Ryker for the time being. If the boy from Two looked like he was going to betray him, Gleam would cut him down.
As the two boys started waking up their allies, neither one of them noticed that Cassandra was awake. They didn't know that she had been listening and heard everything.
Rance Walker
District 3 Female Tribute
"It's finished," Rance declared
"All of them?" He asked.
"All four of them are finished," she promised, not taking her eyes off the table in front of her. "I would have had it done a long time ago if I had proper parts. I don't know what junkyard the Gamemaker's found, but they should really consider putting better parts in the arena next time. How do they expect me to work with them? If any of my other classmates were here, they'd have already given up."
"Are those... Guns?" Rye asked, seemingly in awe.
She nodded to him and handed one of the makeshift firearms to him. "Two of them are guns, yes. These aren't as nice as the ones Siren made in the Sixty-Sixth games. She might have been in a junkyard, but she found better materials. Still, these guns will work. They shoot shards of glass and bits of metal. They're delicate though, so make sure not to break yours," she told him sternly.
The boy from Twelve nodded. "How long do you think we've been in here?" She asked, turning to her partner.
Rye shrugged. "Honestly, I've lost track. A week, at least."
Rance nodded. She opened her mouth to speak when Rye nearly tipped over. She was smaller than him by a large margin, but she managed to catch him, throwing one hand on the table behind her. She slowly leaned him down, until he was sitting on the floor.
"How many times have I told you? You need sleep," Rance chastised. He had been staying up late with her each night as she worked, no matter how much she had tried to get it through his head that he needed sleep.
"You don't sleep," he shot back.
"I'm used to it," Rance snapped back. She was used to staying up late nights, working on equipment to help her family get by. "You're not. I'll be back-"
His hand shot out like a bullet, grabbing her wrist. "Where are you going?"
Rance snorted. "Really? We ate all the fruit we had last night. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry," she said plainly.
"But you'll be out there alone-"
She waved her gun in front of his eyes. "Hello? I have this," she reminded him. She didn't spend days working on the two guns for nothing. "I promise I'll be fine. If anyone tries anything, I'll just shoot them."
That thought scared the hell out of her, but Rance knew she would do it. She was going back home to her family, and she wouldn't let anyone stop her.
She held his blue eyes for a moment before he nodded. He let go of her wrist, which was a good thing. Rance didn't want to knock him out. But they needed food, and she was hungry.
"I'll be back as soon as possible," she promised.
Rance was prepared to kill if it came down to it, but she hadn't been expecting it to come so soon. As soon as she closed the door behind her, four people came running down the hallway. The boy in the lead was from an outlier district, but the three people behind were Careers. And all four of them were coming towards her.
Rance grabbed her makeshift gun and pointed it at the group. She didn't have any problems with the outlier boy, but the Careers following him wouldn't think twice before killing her. If the boy had to die so she could kill the Career's, then it was a sacrifice she would have to make.
Rance raised the gun and leveled it at them. She pulled the trigger...
Nothing happened. The group was getting closer. "What?" She hissed, pulling the trigger again. Nothing happened. Rance pulled the make-shift gun and pulled it closer to her face. She saw the problem right away. How could she forget to load it!
"Shit!" Rance cursed. She had loaded Rye's gun. Why the hell hadn't she loaded her gun! The group was closing in on her, and that left Rance with only one option: run.
She turned around and bolted down the hallway.
Neptune Odair
District 4 Male Tribute
"So the turtle comes up from behind him, and snatches the hat right off Finnick's head," Neptune said, the memory of that day causing him to laugh. "It jumps back in the water and it's gone before any of us can do anything. You should have seen the look on my dad's face. Mom wove that old hat for him."
The rest of his allies laughed. That day had been a good day. Eight months after his brother had come back from the games, and it was the first time he really saw Finnick smile. Not the cocky flirtatious smile that he seemed to always wear, or the smile that never reached his eyes that Finnick fed to their parents, but a real smile. A laughing smile.
"So, can anyone from Four just go out to sea?" Cassandra asked.
It was Margaret who answered. "If you have a boat. The Capitol doesn't care if anyone goes out to sea. There's not much out there according to them. As long as you have a boat, you can come and go. Three-quarters of all the fish you catch is taken to pay your fishing license."
"Fishing license?" Gleam asked.
"Everyone who owns a boat is automatically granted a fishing license," Neptune explained. "You pay for it by giving up three-fourths of your fish haul. Every haul you bring in."
"Can you fish as much as you want?" Ryker asked.
"No. You have seasonal fishing. You can only catch crabs or lobsters at certain times of the year. Any fish that's too small has to be released back into the ocean. It's to prevent overfishing," Margaret explained.
"Of course, those rules only apply in the coastal waters," Neptune quickly added.
"Coastal waters?" Ryker repeated.
Neptune nodded. "Those are the waters closest to Four. The district is made up of various villages along the coast. We're very spread out. The water closest to us is more regulated. But you can go further out, and fish to your heart's content. As much as you want, and any fish you catch. The only downside is you have to sail far from the coast to reach the free water. You'll be outside of radio transmission. Unable to call for help if you need it. If something happens, you're screwed."
"How do you know when you're that far out?" Gleam asked.
"Every boat is mandated to come with a GPS system. An old system, but it'll tell you when you reach the outer waters. It'll also send a transmission back to Aquroya, which is the administrative center of the district. Though any fish you catch that far out still goes to paying off your license."
"What's One and Two like?" Neptune asked. They had talked enough about Four as far as he was concerned. He had lived there his whole life there. He wanted to hear about something new.
"A bunch of mountain towns and villages," Cassandra said. "Nothing special."
"Are you free to travel within the district?" Helene asked.
"Yes. Mountain climbing is the biggest hobby in the district," Ryker said.
"What about One?" Neptune prodded.
"We're a city," Gleam answered. "A little smaller than the Capitol, but not by much."
Neptune was going to crack a joke about One being paved in gold and silver when he caught the scent of food. After hunting through the palace for hours, the spell of food made his stomach rumble. The alliance only had a small breakfast, and the smell of the food was way too good to ignore.
"Is that food?" Helene asked from her spot next to her.
Neptune and his allies sprinted down the luxurious hallway, coming to a grand wooden door. Figures were carved in the wood, but Neptune didn't care. He tore the door open and looked upon the shocked faces of three tributes.
The room was large, with a single table in the center. A large bowl of stew laid in the center, halfway gone. Three tributes (the pair from Nine, and the Six boy) were seated in front of other bowls. Two canisters of water were propped by the edges. On the other side of the room was another door.
The boy from Nine stood up as Neptune raised his trident. In a fluid motion, he flipped the table over in time to block Neptune's trident. As his allies filed in behind him, the smaller alliance sprinted out the far door.
"Come on!" Gleam called out as he sprinted in. "Don't let them get away!"
"Six is mine!" Helene laughed, running in after. Neptune ripped his trident out of the table and ran to the end of the room, and out the other doorway. The door led to another hallway. The small alliance broke; the pair from Nine were running down the left, the boy from Six ran down the right.
Neptune joined Helene and Margaret down the right hallway, chasing Six. The rest of the pack followed Nine.
At first, Neptune thought it would be an easy kill. He promised himself to end Six quickly. He wasn't about to let Helene or Margaret put on a show for the Capitol. The boy didn't seem ready to die and stayed well ahead of them. He wasn't fast enough to outrun them, but he did stay ahead of them.
Though Neptune, Helene, and Margaret started to slowly close the distance.
As they crossed through another hallway, Neptune was surprised to not just see one tribute, but two. The girl from Three was at the very end of the long hallway, staring at them in surprise.
Neptune saw her pointing something at them, and at first, he thought she might have been lucky enough to find a crossbow. Nothing happened, and as he got closer, he could see it was too thin for a crossbow. Three finally did the smart thing and turned around, running down the hallway.
"Hey!" Six called back at them, turning down another hallway. He was neck and neck with Three girl. "We can work this out, can't we? I don't want to kill you. You don't want to kill me-"
"Sorry, Six!" Helene yelled, pushing forward. Neptune and her moved closer to the fleeing outliers. "But I DO want to kill you! I promise I'll do it quickly if you stop running!"
"No thanks. I think I'd kind of like to live!" He answered.
The two of them were gaining on the outliers. Margaret was starting to fall a little bit behind.
"If you don't stop running, I'll make sure you don't die for hours!" Helene yelled.
"Only if you can catch me!" Six yelled.
"Stop egging them on!" Three girl hissed.
Neptune raised his Trident. They had just entered a long hallway. No turns, or doors until the end. If he could spear Six just right, he might be able to kill the boy in one good stroke. Then he could focus on Three.
He pulled his arm back and hurled his trident. In one move, Six would be out of the game. Before his trident could make contact, the floor below Six and Three's feet opened. Both of them disappeared in the darkness as Neptune's trident sailed over their head.
Neptune's eyes widened and he tried to stop himself, but the trap was too close and Neptune was running too fast. Before he could correct his course Neptune fell into the darkness. The last thing he saw before his world vanished was Helene falling in with him, the trap door sealing itself shut.
Plutarch Heavensbee
Head Gamemaker
Most people watching the game probably wouldn't be as appreciative of the logistics of running a game indoors as they should be. With the tributes inside, faces broadcast into the sky might not be seen. So they had to make sure the roof above the tributes would have the deceased faces displayed. The Hovercraft couldn't take dead bodies out of the arena. Which meant it was left to a psychical workforce to get them.
As soon as Neptune, Helene, Rance, and Romeo were unconscious, he overrode the Trackers. They were set up to keep sending constant information about the tribute's vitals. Plutarch canceled the living signals and made it appear that poison gas killed them. In the arena, four cannons boomed. Then he directed five members of the cleanup team towards them. All of them were his personal agents, with instructions not to disclose that any of them were alive. They'd remove the bodies from the arena, meet with the District 13 crew, and exchange the real tributes with the artificial bodies. Coin would them safely tucked away in Thirteen.
Two problems were now immediate. The first involved getting Finnick, Wiress, and Aero the information that their family members weren't really dead, but on their way to Thirteen. Plutarch considered telling Augustus, but he wasn't sure where the Victor's loyalty was truly held. He had reports that he wasn't a fan of Fortune or the Capitol, but you never know.
The other was explaining the deaths away. Four very popular tributes just died in a very boring way. Almost half the pack! No epic battle, no show being put on. Nothing. Just silently killed by poison gas. Though luckily for his own skin, Plutarch had already laid the trap, led the evidence all the way to Set. His biggest rival would be removed, and since she secretly had it added to the arena, he wouldn't be blamed.
Plutarch had to hand it to his rival. Without Set, he never would have even attempted to get one living tribute out, much less four of them. He knew Coin wanted at least one tribute from every game until they were ready to move, but he doubted he would ever get the kind of haul he just got. Next year he'd be lucky to get one out alive.
"Sir?" The voice of one of his aids called. The door to his office cracked open and she poked her head in. "President Snow is on the line for you. He wants to speak with you now."
Plutarch nodded to her. "Patch him through to here," he ordered. The aid nodded and pulled her head out of the doorway.
Plutarch stood up with a stretch, making his way over to the windows. He had a clear view of the Gamemaker's down below, and noticed Set staring up at the window. A wicked smirk was on the Gamemaker's face. Plutarch returned it with a smile of his own. By the end of the week, he predicted Set wouldn't be a thorn in his side anymore.
The sound of ringing filled the office.
Wren Hyde
District 10 Male Tribute
Since they had first boiled water, they had done it four more times. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Careers. He was starting to get a little paranoid. Wren was happy that they weren't out tracking him and his ally, but that just made him more ready to jump at shadows. Could they really not have seen the smoke? Were they really that blind?
When he brought it up with Sequoya, she just laughed. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," she said, throwing his words back at him.
As the days passed, Wren kept his knife close to him at all times, just waiting until he spotted one of the Careers.
When the anthem started to blare, Sequoya sat up quickly. Wren followed her lead, and the two of them poked their heads out of the cave in time to see the girl from One's face appear in the sky. For a moment, Wren was speechless. One of the Careers was dead? Now that was good news!
The girl from Three's face followed her, but he quickly disregarded hers.
It became even better news when the face of the girl from the boy from Four. The faces of the boy from Six followed, but Wren didn't really care. Two of the Careers were dead. The pack was always one of the most dangerous parts of the game, and in one night their numbers had been nearly cut in half!
After spending days in fear of being found and hunted by them, Wren felt amazing. Relief flooded through him. Almost half the tributes were dead, Career's significantly at a disadvantage from where they had been the day before!
Sequoya looked just as shocked as he felt, but that didn't last long. The two of them looked each other in the eye and started to laugh. For the first time since he had been launched into the arena, Wren felt a surge of hope. He might just be able to go home.
A sponsor gift fell right in between him and Sequoya. The scent of food hit him, and Wren ripped it open. Inside was a thick carrot stew, and a set of dripping pork chops. He and Sequoya were going to eat well tonight.
Maisie Rosale
District 9 Female Tribute
She couldn't stop herself from crying when she saw Romeo's smiling face projected on the ceiling. She and Wallace had barely been able to escape the three Careers chasing them, having to duck back through one of the hidden doors they found the day before. Romeo had been the one to find it. If it wasn't for their ally, they would not have lived through the day.
And how did she and Wallace repay Romeo? By leaving him to die. When it came down to it, she couldn't save her ally. Her friend. She was powerless to do anything other than escaping. She hadn't even considered staying to fight. What could she do against well-armed and trained Careers? Even more than that, Maisie didn't know if she could bring herself to kill them. In the unlikely event that she had the chance to. She froze up at the very thought of taking someone else's life. It was a weakness in the Hunger Games.
Maisie didn't expect the strong and warm arms to wrap around her, but she didn't fight it. Wallace had been quiet since she had first met him on the reaping stage so long ago. He had always seemed to put a distance between himself and anyone else, so she hadn't been expecting the hug.
Wallace didn't say anything as she started to cry harder. Crying for the smiling boy from Six, who always had a laugh on his face. He could have done so much with his life., but he would never get the chance. The Capitol took it away from him, and for what? Just to watch them die.
Romeo was gone and he was never coming back. Maisie was never going to laugh with him again. Never see his infectious smile.
"Thank you, Romeo," she heard Wallace whisper in her ear. "For everything."
Above them, Romeo's face was replaced with the seal of Panem.
Author's Note:
Hello! I hope you have enjoyed the Fifteenth chapter! I also hope it was an exciting chapter!