Chapter Nine

River

I don't think I've ever been as scared as I was when I awoke the following morning. Today, I'd be going into the Hunger Games. Today, I would take part in the Bloodbath. Today, I would live or die. When I'm scared or nervous, I retreat into myself, which was what I did then. My thoughts consumed me as Calina silently dressed me in this year's tribute outfits. It was made of a light material that was made to dry quickly. So the arena would probably be hot and have lots of water. At least that was good. Back in Four, we were used to the merciless heat and every child was taught how to swim from a young age. One of the only things that I was better than Brook at was distance swimming. While she could swim fast, I could swim for hours without stopping.

Tjara and Brook joined me at the elevators, the latter dressed in the same suit and with the same stony-faced expression as me. Brook and I were silent as we boarded the hover planes that would take us to the arena. Tjara chattered quietly about some strategies we could employ, but I couldn't pay attention to her. When we touched down again, peacekeepers boarded and began pulling us in different directions. A tall man began to push me down the ramp when I realized I'd forgotten to say goodbye to Brook. I didn't know if I'd survive the Bloodbath, so I wanted to speak to her one last time. I twisted around and spotted her, being dragged down the ramp a little ways away from me. Yanking my arm away from the surprised peacekeeper, I darted through the crowd to Brook, who'd done the same when she spotted me coming. I took her hand in mine. It was small and rough with callouses, but my sister's nonetheless. I knew it like I knew my own hand. Looking up, I took in her face one last time. Those beautiful eyes, light freckles, long blond hair, lips that were always smirking a little. She looked so much like our mother.

I began to speak. "Brook, I just wanted to say good-"

She put her hand to my lips, silencing me. "No. Good luck. And survive. We'll figure it out. Together." And then she was gone, pulled away by her own peacekeeper. A hand clasping my arm caused me to yelp slightly in pain as my peacekeeper yanked me away.

We were in a building, which I realized was underneath the arena. I was led through a series of hallways and before I knew it, I was being escorted into the small room with a glass elevator that would take me into the arena. Calina and Elleston appeared and approached me slowly as if I were a frightened animal.

"Hey, River," Calina murmured. "You ready?" I wasn't, but I nodded at her anyway. We stood there in awkward silence until an automated voice filled the room.

"Tributes, you have ten seconds to board the elevators. Ten, nine…"

"Well, goodbye, I guess," I muttered.

"Don't die," Elleston said bluntly. He was about to add more, probably something I didn't want to hear, but Calina silenced him with a glare.

"We'll try to get you some sponsors," she assured me, but I knew her attempts would be fruitless. No one would want to waste money on me.

"Four, three…" the automated voice announced. Calina stepped forward to give me a quick hug, which I awkwardly returned, before stepping into the glass tube. The doors slid closed and the elevator began to slide upwards. I turned away from Calina and Elleston and braced myself for the worst.

The bright sunlight nearly blinded me as my platform slid into place with a click. I raised my hand to shield my eyes as I glanced around. My competitors and I were arranged in a large circle, each of us on spoke-like things radiating from a center island. The spokes were wide enough that one could easily run along without having to worry about falling. All the spokes were connected by a winding series of thinner bridges. I glanced down and nearly gasped aloud. Instead of being on water or something like that, the whole array of platforms simply floated over thin air. All I could see below me was a thick bank of clouds, which assured me that anyone who fell would not survive. Of course.

A man's voice echoed out from hidden speakers, filling the whole arena. "May the twenty-seventh annual Hunger Games begin! Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight…"

The air was hot and humid like I'd predicted, and I was already sweating a little. A bright "sun" filled the arena with warm light. Pushing my hand through my hair, I squinted at the center island. From what I could see, it looked to be tropical with sandy beaches, luscious forests, splashing waterfalls, and at the very center, a large mountain.

"Fifty-two, fifty-one, fifty…"

I glanced around to examine the tributes on either side of me. To my left was the girl from Nine. I didn't believe she'd be much of a threat, she'd only received a six in training. Then again, that was what I'd gotten, so I couldn't judge.

"Forty-four, forty-three, forty-two…"

To my right was the boy from one. Frick. He'd received a nine, he'd be trouble. At least the nearest connecting bridge between our spokes was a decent distance away, although I had no doubt that he could kill me just as easily with a long distance weapon than anything else.

"Thirty-seven, thirty-six, thirty-five…"

There didn't seem to be an actual cornucopia, to my surprise. Instead, various supplies from backpacks to swords to coils of rope were scattered along the bridges and spokes, held on by little hooks. The closer to the island, the better stuff was and the more of it there appeared to be. Of course, the Gamemakers had made it so that in order to run to safety, we'd have to run through the danger zone first.

"Twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven…"

I scanned the circle of tributes for Brook, to no avail. She must've been on the far side of the island. Oh well. It wasn't like we were joining up.

"Twenty-three, twenty-two, twenty-one…"

Next, I looked for Emmelie and Carter. Thankfully, Emmelie was only four tributes to my left and Carter was two to my right. That made things easier. I saw Emmelie was mouthing something at me. The distance made it hard to make out what she was saying, but I caught the word mountain. She was probably saying run for the mountain. That made sense. I turned to my right, caught Carter's eye, and mouthed meet up at the mountain. He nodded and bent down, ready to run.

"Sixteen, fifteen, fourteen…"

My heart was pumping fast. I felt shaky. My stomach was twisting itself into knots. I took a few deep breaths, tried to calm myself. I heard a boom. I knew what that meant: one of the tributes had fallen from their platform and set off the land mines. In the corner of my vision, sparks of flame and flesh drifted down towards the ominous clouds.

"Ten, nine, eight…"

I lowered myself into a runner's stance. My gaze landed on a backpack, only a few steps away. I knew I should retrieve it. I knew I would need to run towards the center. I knew Carter would cover our backs, we'd discussed our plan earlier. He was willing to die to save Emmelie and me. I just needed to avoid people, avoid getting into a fight. I was pretty fast. Maybe I could make it to the island. Once I reached the woods, I'd be as safe as I could get.

"Three, two, one, go! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Brooklyn

I had to be brave. I'd have to kill. That was the only way I'd survive. As Raven Pearl announced the start of the games, I heard a click as the landmines were turned off. I pictured my mother's sweet, gentle face, thought forgive me, and launched myself off my platform. Around me, I heard the sounds of metal clashing, kids screaming, boots thunking. Just ten seconds into the games and the air already smelled of blood and sweat. I'd been lucky enough to be only a few steps away from a trident which I seized and whirled to face the girl from District Eleven, who'd crept up behind me. I saw her expression change to fear as she realized who I was. I felt bad, she was too young to die as one of the several twelve-year-olds chosen for these games. A quick smack of my trident sent her over the edge to what I hoped was a painless death.

A sudden pit appeared in my stomach. I'd just killed someone and a young one at that.

"Hey, Four, quit standing there!" Glory yelled at me. I nodded. If I wanted to survive, I'd have to kill. But at least I would be merciful and give quick deaths.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the boy from seven, Maxon, leaning down. At first, I thought he was dying, but then realized he was leaning over something. As I watched, he began cutting long slits. I heard screaming. He was torturing someone! I wouldn't let that happen but was distracted by the boy from nine who engaged me in a battle of swipes. I disarmed him and turned to look for Maxon, who'd disappeared. I raced over to where he'd been, leaping over a body on the way there, unable to convince myself to figure out who they were. The girl from Three was lying on the ground, clearly dead. But what horrified me was her missing hands and feet. It occurred to me that Maxon had done this on purpose, before killing her, just to cause pain. Bile rose up in my throat at the sight of her blood pooling out around her like a devil's halo. I hated people who caused pain for the fun of it. I would kill him.

I was distracted from my murderous thoughts by shouting. This time, it was Shade.

"What are you doing? Get moving!" he yelled. At this point, most of the tributes had fled to the island or were dead. I spotted a fleeing tribute- the boy from eight. I swiped at him, forcing him to stumble back onto Glory's blade. She smirked at me then ran off. Just then, I realized how tired I was. The heat of the arena had made me sweat a lot, and all the running and fighting wasn't helping. Footsteps behind me alerted me to the fact Olivia was approaching. She spoke to me gently, as if we hadn't just killed a whole bunch of people.

"Brooklyn? We're going to gather all the supplies and meet up on the beach. You want to check this area with me?"

"Yeah," I muttered. Pushing my damp hair back from my face, I glanced down at myself and realized I was covered in the girl from Three's blood. I'd have to wash that off later. I looked over at Olivia, who appeared to be unharmed. She was holding a deadly looking whip, a backpack slung over her shoulder. Her hair had come free of its braid and was billowing around her small face.

I could feel my own hair, sticky with blood, clinging to my neck. The humidity had forced it into curls that I brushed away as I glanced around. Besides Shade and Glory, who were collecting supplies, and Nolen, who was protecting our already huge piles of weapons and food and such, I couldn't see any other tributes. Suddenly, I remembered River. Had he survived? Please, let him have survived.

"Over here," Olivia said. "There's a whole bunch of daggers." I followed her as the cannons began to boom for the fallen tributes. Eight cannons. Eight dead kids. And I'd been at least partly responsible for two of them.

We spent the rest of the day collecting, stockpiling, and organizing our supplies. When night began to fall, Shade was assigned as the guard until midnight. Although the sun was no longer blazing, the temperature hadn't fallen and to make things worse, bugs began appearing, biting us mercilessly. Although they weren't poisonous or anything, as far as I knew, they were obnoxious and I scratched myself bloody because of them.

Despite the heat and bugs, I fell asleep almost instantly and was awakened a little later by Olivia. "They're showing the dead tributes," she informed me quietly. Sitting up on my sleeping roll, I glanced towards the sky where the Capitol's symbol was glowing. The anthem drowned out the buzz of the bugs and the whistling of the wind in the trees. I still felt sweaty and gross and promised myself I'd try to find a river or something in the morning that I could use to wash up. Around me, the other Careers had awoken and were gazing up at the sky, silent. The first face to appear was Rex, the district two male, who was supposed to have been a Career but only received a five.

"Glad he's gone," Glory laughed. "We don't need weak links." I saw her look straight at Nolen, who'd also gotten a five. He shivered under her stare. I was willing to bet he was regretting becoming a Career, he was like a sheep in a wolf's den. He'd be dead soon.

The rest of us nodded our agreement but kept quiet. The next face was Nolen's district partner Annella. She was the girl I'd seen Maxon torturing and it hurt to see her smiling face, still innocent of the horrors that faced her. I gulped in a breath as her face faded into darkness. If River had died, he'd be up there next.

I nearly laughed with joy as a face that was not River's, appeared in the sky. He was alive! I nearly sighed in relief, before I I realized all the other Careers were staring at me. I coughed awkwardly.

"Oh, guess my brother's alive," I muttered.

I swear I heard Glory mutter, "Not for long," to Shade.

If they laid a hand on my brother, I would destroy them.

Chapter 9.5

Requiem

24th Place

District Nine Female: Amber Viena Age: 12 Score: 6

Stepped off her platform too early, killed by landmines

23rd Place

District Two Male: Rex Boulder Age: 18 Score: 5

Stabbed to death by Glory Crowne (1F)

22nd Place

District Eleven Female: Tess Bailey Age: 12 Score: 6

Knocked off the platform by Brooklyn Cassidy (4F)

21st Place

District Three Female: Annella Watt Age: 15 Score: 3

Bloodloss from multiple stabbings from Maxon Binty (7M)

20th Place

District Five Female: Sori Bolt Age: 14 Score: 2

Blow to the head from Shade Nightingale (1M)

19th Place

District Eight Male: Anagi Menanowa Age: 14 Score: 5

Impaled by Glory Crowne (1F)

18th Place

District Eight Female: Catarina Lox Age: 13 Score: 7

Yanked off the platform by a whip via Olivia Mei (2F)

17th Place

District Five Male: Attorious Spark Age: 15 Score: 6

Decapitated by Maxon Binty (7M)