Careen Ellis

The rockslides seemed to be coming closer, like they were on a path. I tried to climb to the top of a cliff for a better view, but I was weary and climbing was never my strong suit. From what I managed to see, the slides were around the edges of the Arena, making a circle that was getting smaller.

I got it. They wanted us to fight. I was the Career, so it was my responsibility. I didn't want to leave my camp. I was getting by, but a large expenditure of energy would sap my reserves. If I went hunting and didn't finish the job quickly, I could go downhill fast. One night of ineffectual solar stills would be all it took to kill me. But then, I couldn't last forever out here either. I might be able to outlast the others, but I might not. Des was at her physical peak. Either of them could just get lucky, either with sponsors or an unexpected waterfall.

It was almost high noon before I found another Tribute. I stopped frequently to drink, and my supplies were almost gone. My breath was labored and I knew how dangerous it was to fight in such weather. We could get heatstroke before we even killed each other.

DeMarcus was big. I was a tall girl, as tall as most of the boys I knew, but he was taller. He was wide and strong, with the muscles that came from hard living, not hard training. He looked fit, even if his skin was shiny with sweat and his chest heaved as much as mine. Neither of us wanted to start the fight.

"We gonna do this or what?" he asked. The hot, dry air hung between us like a force field. I didn't want to answer.

"We both know we have to," I said. He put up his hands in a fighting stance as good as anything I'd seen in the Academy. Sunlight glistened off the brass knuckles he wore. That would make the sword my best hope, but I didn't trust myself to be strong enough to use it effectively. Twin daggers were the best backup.

I'd have to fight smarter. DeMarcus outweighed me with heavy muscle. If he got me down, he could keep me there. Skills raised a fighter's odds, but I still couldn't fight someone twice my size. DeMarcus wasn't that bad, but I needed to be careful. Nothing was certain.

DeMarcus King

I expected Careen to engage without a second thought. She was a Career. She was supposed to be the elite that took out scum like me before breakfast. I didn't expect her to be hesitant. She seemed almost nervous.

I was bigger than Careen, but that didn't mean much. She trained to kill. I only fought to remove a threat. I fought when I had to. She risked her life for a chance at battle.

Careen came at me first, but when I stepped forward, she retreated. She backed up onto a slope beside one of the cliffs. With her above me, it was harder to reach her, but when I tried to get beside her, she warded me off with both knives.

This wasn't a boxing match. There were no rules. It was clear I wouldn't get near her upper half, since it was guarded on both sides, so I changed targets. I stomped my foot into the side of her leg in a move that would have snapped the bone if she didn't fall. She let herself fall, as I'd expected, and I moved forward to capitalize on it. She lunged forward and stuck her knife into my calf. As I reared back, she pulled the knife out and scuttled backwards to her feet. She tried to stab me again in the chest but I dodged the strike and smashed my first into her face. Her head jolted sideways and the force of the blow knocked her down the slope in a landslide of dirt and pebbles.

I ran after her and lifted a foot to stomp her head. She turned face up and stuck her knife through the bottom of my shoe and into my foot, pushing me back as she rolled and leaped back up. I kicked her with my other foot as she did, and I felt the flesh compact. Her face was slack and blood was smeared across her mouth. I was surprised she was still on her feet.

My own feet were as unsteady as hers. One had a hole in it and the other was attached to a similarly holey leg. I'd been in enough fights to be able to push the pain away until it was over, but I knew it would slow me down. I aimed another punch at her throat and she sidled closer along my arm and stabbed me in the armpit. She pivoted around my back as I tried to grab her and wrapped both her legs around one of mine, tripping me up. She stabbed me above the kidney as I went down.

It wasn't deep enough to kill me. But I had to be more aggressive. She could pull back and wait for me to weaken, and that's what she did. She lurked like a shark as I tried to get closer. She dodged backwards at my advances and harried my arms with her knives when I was too slow in my strikes.

The heat was unbearable and I was slick with blood and sweat. I could barely breathe and I knew she was feeling it, too. I lurched to my knees to catch my breath and watched her spring. I seized her around the legs to pull her down and break her neck. Instead of falling back, she tensed her legs and bent at the waist. She sank both of the knives into my back, just under the neck. My arms went limp and I fell flat as something crunched.

I'd never fought someone like her before. There was no preparing for it. She had all the advantages and I had none. It was a credit to me that I could break her face and get her panting. She didn't have to be careful as she raised one knife over her head for a full-force blow. I'd fought more fights than I could count, but I couldn't win them all.

Careen Ellis

My face felt like I'd gone cliff diving and missed. My jaw was shattered. I couldn't move my mouth and I had to keep coughing in my throat so the blood wouldn't drown me. My teeth ground against each other. The area where DeMarcus kicked me felt like something had ruptured. If Des came across me now, she'd win the Games. Everything depended on how much time they gave me.

I always mess up the placings somewhere along the line because I can't tell my left from my right and have a hard time keeping numbers in order.

3rd place: DeMarcus King

You found me out. After Theo died, I felt like I had to keep DeMarcus awhile so it wouldn't be another all-girls endgames. In hindsight, a Career or Kerry would have been a better final male- Kerry might even have won. I liked DeMarcus a lot more than the readers. I could understand his brutal past and how he really just wanted to be a kid and have friends. I also thought he was strong enough to win both in character and capabilities, but I don't want my Victor to be someone almost no one wants because you spend time reading these and I'd hate to be a letdown. Thanks Jayman for DeMarcus. I liked him and I think your Tributes have been getting steadily more compelling.

Also, DeMarcus never had a cold. His primary water supply was that puddle with a crusty white ring. Do not drink that if you see it in the wild. He was drinking alkaline water, the stuff that so often killed my poor emigrants in Oregon Trail. It weakened him and presented coldlike symptoms, which the syrup treated. All Badlands water is either filled with gross silt and dirt or straight up poisonous because of chemicals in the area.