Chapter Forty-Two: The End Begins
Cornucopia
Rhaemyr North, District Three Male
Sixty seconds. I can do anything in sixty seconds.
I was fortunate enough to not be placed next to any careers. Instead, to my left is the girl from Eleven, who stands stiffly, not moving a muscle as the timer ticks down. To my right, the boy from Eight is shaking profusely, what's left of his fingers clasping and unclasping as his arms hang at his sides.
As I scan the area, trying to pinpoint what, if anything, I should go for, I see Sotia standing almost directly across from me. Unfortunately for her, she's bordered by the hulking brute from Ten to the left and the girl from Two to the right. My only thoughts regarding her are "she's toast."
Just like that, my time to think is dwindling rapidly. I can't waste time worrying about nonsense like that. As much as it hurts, it's best to just worry about myself right now.
Maybe I could go for the backpack halfway between me and the Cornucopia… but no, the girl from Four and the boy from One could easily beat me there and/or attack, and that's not even mentioning the possible threat from the other two alliances. Maybe it's better to loop around and grab things from the edge… no, those will be picked over first, and I don't want to risk my life for next to nothing. Or I could just grab a weapon and start slashing… and probably fail horribly and mark myself as a threat at the same time. I might as well grab a shovel and start digging my own grave.
Less than fifteen seconds remaining. Have to come up with something. Doesn't matter what it is, but I can't just charge into the fray without a plan.
Or can I?
Or do I even need to do that to begin with?
All my life, I've survived off things others have left behind. Hiding in the shadows, taking things they'll never miss, keeping myself alive.
Screw this. I don't need any handouts.
That's why, the instant the gong goes off and the announcement about the beginning of the Hunger Games is made, I don't waste time charging for supplies. I full-on sprint in the opposite direction from the Cornucopia, arms pumping, head down, breath ragged. Besides my own breathing, all I hear are loud panting sounds coming from behind me. Chances are, the boy from Eight followed me.
But in the end, he doesn't matter.
What does matter is that I'm not going to die today. I refuse. I'll outlast everyone in this hell, no matter what it takes.
Remi Hamick, District Six Male
Once the gong goes off, I'm charging straight into the thick of things. Call me stupid all you want, but I'm not a wilderness guy. If I start with nothing, I'm not making it far.
A little more than halfway to the Cornucopia, I stop at a shocking-pink bag. While I'm grimacing at the girly color, one quick shake makes it clear it's got plenty of supplies inside. I heft it over my back without a second thought- convenience trumps style any day of the week.
Suddenly, what feels like a train hits me from the side, sending me flying. Several hard thumps later, my head is exploding in pain and the only thing I know is that my brain is screaming at me to run.
I scramble to my feet the best I can, but I don't even make it two steps. In an instant, I feel a heavy weight drop on me and all of a sudden I'm facing the business end of a very, very sharp sword. Someone who I'm pretty confident is the girl from One is looming over me and smiling.
"Nice to meet you," she says, right before slashing down.
The world gets drenched in red. An oddly warm sensation overtakes me as I struggle to push myself back up.
Then there's another slash and a white-hot pain explodes through my chest.
Darkness takes over. Then nothing.
Clara Ridley, District One Female
First kill of the Games. Say whatever you'd like about how that doesn't guarantee I'm going to win, but it's still an accomplishment nevertheless.
The Bloodbath is just as chaotic as I expected it to be, even though it felt like an abnormally high number of people didn't want to risk it this time. My allies are in a million different places, each of them trying to score something for themselves. Godric's dueling the allies from Nine, Nascar's chasing the boy from Four, Galadia and that girl from Twelve are viciously attacking each other, and Sienna's darting around, snagging as many supplies as humanly possible.
I charge toward Galadia's foe to try and help her, but when she knocks the girl away for a second, she waves me off. "Back off, she's mine!"
Whatever. If it gets her killed, it gets her killed. She can play into her fantasies all she wants here, but her being gone isn't too big a loss to anyone, even me.
Then, I hear what might be the worst sound in the universe, and it's Nascar shouting, "I NEED HELP!"
I dismiss it as him being a coward for about half a second. Once that half a second is up, I notice who he's fighting. He's moving and slashing desperately, but no matter what he tries, the boy from Eleven just isn't backing off, and that's not the only person nearby. He's surrounded by anti-Careers and has nowhere to run.
Shit. Couldn't we go for one Games without the anti-Careers screwing everything up for us? And it'd be the fourth year in a row the boy from One died in the Bloodbath, to boot. I wouldn't be able to stand the shame if I just sat there and watched him die.
Even if Nascar and I weren't exactly close, he's still from home. Thus, I sprint towards the fray with everything I have, hoping it'll be enough.
Faolan Drover, District Ten Male
I wish we'd prepared more for combat before we came here, if such a thing was even feasible.
Thomiah's doing everything he can to knock this guy down but it's not working. He's too fast, too fluid with his movements. Odysea's fumbling around with a bow and arrow, which are useless in close range, and while Artesia's charging again and again with a knife to try and catch him off guard, she just gets knocked away every time. It's a miracle she hasn't been hit yet.
And as for me? I'm carrying the vast majority of our supplies right now. My goal is to keep them safe. I have a machete in my hands in case it comes to that, but my hands are shaking so badly I have to wonder if I'll ever work up the courage to use it.
Before anyone can react, the boy knocks Thomiah aside. He's sent sprawling fifteen feet away.
Artesia screams and rushes to his side, but she gets batted aside like a fly. I race towards Thomiah as fast as I can, but there's no way I'm getting there in time-
Until a piercing howl changes everything. Suddenly, the boy has an arrow buried in the back of his neck, and Odysea's screaming something I can't comprehend.
She hit the bullseye.
How she hit the bullseye is beyond me, but she did it.
"I got him," Artesia yells, her voice more scared than excited. As I hurry to help Thomiah back up, I see Artesia stab the thrashing Career in the neck, causing him to release a short screech before his misery is ended and he falls over.
I move to pull Thomiah to his feet, saying, "You good?"
"Never been better," he grunts, although he looks like he's going to have a black eye pretty soon. "Just watch your back."
I whip around, looking for more threats, and we've got plenty. Girl from One's coming to the left, boy from Two from the right. I manage to yell, "We've got company!"
Everyone takes that as their cue to get out of there, myself included. Thomiah leads the charge, Artesia and Odysea running side-by-side behind him. I'm in the back, the bulky bags I'm carrying slowing me down just a tad.
Suddenly, pain rips through my left arm. I don't want to look, but I feel like I have to, and when I do, I see a spear sticking out in a direction I didn't even think was possible.
Odysea looks back at me and screams. Everyone else does likewise. I try to say something, but my mouth doesn't want to move like I'm trying to make it. I stagger a few steps forward, dimly aware of the others trying to keep me supported, but I know it won't do any good.
The last thing I feel is my back exploding with agony before everything goes black.
Galadia Devinson, District Two Female
As confident as she was trying to kill me in my room, this girl is far less confident once I manage to get a good swipe in with my machete, drawing a lot of blood and knocking her backward.
She's still not giving up, though. With a deep, animalistic screech, she charges straight at me, knives in both hands, probably wanting to see me dead before anything else. Unfortunately for her, I'm not going to give her that pleasure.
Thus, as soon as she's close enough I just stick out the machete, forcing her to come to a screeching halt if she doesn't want to impale herself. Then, in the split second before she starts running again, I slash again, getting her full in the stomach this time, such a hard hit that it knocks her glasses clean off.
A torrent of blood comes out and the girl collapses to her side, bleeding and starting to retch, convulsing in her death throes.
I don't care. She knew it had to be coming after she tried to murder me back in my room. She deserves every second of pain she gets.
Thus, I don't stop there, instead slashing over and over again, punctuating each one with a scream. "FUCK! YOU! AND! YOU! CAN! GO! TO! HELL!"
With that, I stop attacking and let my rage cool for a moment. It's done. Vengeance is mine. Now it's time to move on and help the others.
I grab her knives, stick them in the pockets of my outfit, and charge towards the other Careers, who are hurrying back into the fray.
Thomiah Marshall, District Eleven Male
The Careers appear to have stopped chasing us, which is the only positive thing I can say right now about this whole situation.
Faolan had the lion's share of the supplies when the Careers killed him, so now we're going to have to work with less, although that'll probably be manageable here since there's so much flora and fauna around here. Not to mention, we just saw someone we cared about get murdered in front of us. Not to be a downer or anything, but that's going to be weighing on us for as long as we live, not just during the Games.
Odysea's attempting to stay stoic in the face of danger, but based on the brief glances I'm taking it's not working very well, while Artesia's expression is one that I can only describe as resignation. I get why- if she was truly pulled from the streets, the world can be a cruel, cruel place to those in situations like hers. I've seen it before, and if I make it back, I'll see it again.
After about five minutes of hard running, I manage to say, "Slow down," and surprisingly, the others do. We don't stop, but we slow to an easy jog, putting distance between us and the Cornucopia without straining ourselves too much.
Then, Odysea's facade finally breaks and she starts crying. "God… I just killed someone."
"We," Artesia corrects. "We killed someone. He would have killed us first. Unfortunately, that's how this all works."
I can't argue with that, so I don't even bother to try. "And we're already down a member. At least we took out a Career in the process."
"Agreed," Artesia says. "Let's keep going for a while, we'll find a place to hide for a little while, and then we'll figure out what our next move is."
No one objects to that. Thus, with measured paces and heavy hearts, we continue to press onward through the dimly-lit woods.
Toren Laris, District Nine Female
I'm running with everything I have, knowing that I don't have any allies now and it's all my fault.
Dueling with one of the strongest Careers in the pack had to be among the stupidest ideas mankind has ever cooked up, and yet I insisted on trying it instead of running away when he charged us. And for what, sponsor money? What good are sponsors going to do now that our partnership is no more?
We didn't even last fifteen seconds. One hard slash to the chest was all the Career needed to make Marius crumple to the floor and start bleeding out. All I got was lucky- one of his allies was being swarmed by the anti-Careers and he decided that helping him was more important than chasing me down. If he'd wanted it, I'd be dead, no questions about it.
Now, if I ever get out of this nightmare, I'll have to answer the inevitable question of why I chose to leave him behind even though he cared about me. It sickens me, even if it had to be done if I wanted to stay alive.
Suddenly, with a violent gurgle from my stomach, I pull to a stop behind a tree, spending the next two minutes or so emptying everything I've eaten today from my stomach. With a nasty taste in my mouth from the bile and an even worse one from the shame, I force myself to keep going, knowing the Careers will find me and finish the job if I don't get out of sight in a hurry.
Above all else, I need to make sure that Marius' death won't be in vain.
Godric Runestone, District Two Male
The field's clearing. And it looks pretty empty to me, with very little remaining in terms of supplies or bodies.
Not counting Nascar's unfortunate death, I only saw four kills: Clara's stabbing of the boy from Six right at the beginning, her and I using our combined forces to take out the boy from Ten, my kill of the boy from Nine, and Galadia triumphing over the girl from Twelve.
I'm about to call everyone off and go help Sienna grab supplies until I see Galadia and Clara darting towards the last group still here, which appears to be the other anti-Career group just because it's a cluster of tributes and they all appear to be girls.
Without a second thought, I rush over to try and help Clara and Galadia, just because based on what I say of those three at the beginning, this one isn't going to be pretty.
Lacey Loveless, District Eight Female
Alexa needs to hurry the hell up, we're the last ones left. "Alexa, come on! We gotta go, we're the last ones left!"
Zari's about half a second from getting the hell out of here anyway- there was no way she'd have even stayed for the Bloodbath if we weren't allied with her. Thankfully, if nothing else, I can at least ensure that she'll be loyal for a while. As for me, while I remain confident of my ability to survive the Bloodbath, I don't want to test my luck against a Career.
Right now, at least two of them, if not more, are sprinting right towards us. Alexa's finally gotten the signal that it's time to go, grabbing one last bag before starting to book it towards us. Even with that, though, we won't be out of the range of the Careers forever, and they're faster than we are.
This is going to be close.
I turn and yell, "Let's go!" I'm talking to air, though- Alexa's behind me and Zari's already running. Following my own advice, I charge hard after Zari, managing to keep pace with her despite being much shorter, Alexa's panting and my own ragged breaths ringing in my ears as I sprint.
Then, a shrill scream pierces the air and it takes everything I have not to screech to a stop. Zari, not having that experience, stops on a dime and whips her head around, nearly causing me to crash into her in the process. Thankfully, I don't, because if we hit the ground, we'd both be dead.
When I turn around, I'm treated to a sight that most would find quite sickening. Alexa's on her knees, a spear through her chest and blood spurting out from the area around it. She feebly tugs at the thing, trying to dislodge it, but we both know her end is near.
I'd be running, but I don't want to leave Zari behind. As it stands, she appears frozen, probably trying to figure out whether to help her dying friend or keep herself alive. But then, Alexa manages to fixate her stare on us even as the life starts to fade from her eyes, making a weak shoving-off motion with her hands as she does so.
The message is clear. "Run. Save yourselves."
I grab Zari by the hand and drag her along for a few steps before she starts running on her own, not stopping even as Alexa's screams fade away. We have to leave this place, especially since one of the Careers who led the charge on Alexa is still giving chase, machete in hand.
Zari starts crying as we run, her tears streaking the ground beneath us, but unfortunately, I don't have the time or energy to waste on those. As much as it might hurt, there'll be time to mourn Alexa once we're safe again.
Somehow, even with Zari's emotions welling up the entire time, we outlast the Career, who slows up after a few minutes before turning around for her return to the Cornucopia. We're left to press onward with nothing but my belt of throwing knives, two backpacks, and our hearts: one filled with despair and the other shriveled up.
We've already gotten off to a bad start, and unfortunately, it'll probably be all downhill from here.
Sienna Starboard, District Four Female
I don't care how antithetical this is to the very concept of being a Career, but I wasn't ready to kill in the Bloodbath.
That didn't mean I couldn't make myself useful, though. Instead of racking up kills, I spent my time trying to get the most useful supplies I could find, including a gigantic crate filled with enough crackers to last at least a week, an enormous jug of water that'll probably run out alongside the crackers, a few specialty weapons (including a trident for me, of course) and, most precious of all, a paper that appears to be a map of the arena.
These are all stashed in the horn, which only one person (the boy from Seven) even tried to enter the whole Bloodbath. Thankfully, he backed off after a few parries and ran.
On top of that, I managed to catch a glimpse of Vick disappearing into the woods in one of the precious few seconds that I was idle, so at least I know he made it out alive. He might not be much and we might not be on the same team, but he's still from home.
The cannons haven't fired yet, so clearly we have some unfinished business, but I'm not going to worry about that this second. Right now, I need to figure out what our status is so that we can start working as a unit.
I see three of the other Careers jogging toward me, but we appear to be a member short.
"Hey," I say, "where's Nascar?"
"Dead," Clara says, her voice bitter and angry. "Anti-Careers got him, not like you did anything to help."
I choose to ignore that. As crass as that remark may have been, she just lost her District partner, so I'll cut her some slack, at least for now. "All the supplies I got are in the horn, and everything that's still left is fair game, obviously. Who's sorting what?"
"The cannons haven't fired yet," Galadia says. "Someone's still alive. Before we get all comfortable, let's figure out what's going on and clear out the area."
Clara, vicious disgust still evident on her face, volunteers herself and Galadia to check the perimeter, while Godric makes a move to start examining the fallen bodies for any signs of life. I force myself to start checking everyone on the field as well, not wanting to be seen as the weak link here. However, that gut-churning feeling I've had ever since I volunteered has come back with a vengeance, and I don't think it's going away anytime soon.
Nevertheless, I force that feeling into submission. For now, at least.
I can't let it get to me if I want to win the Games.
Marius Coin, District Nine Male
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Forget about the pain.
Everything will be over soon.
The sword slash was fatal, I know it was. It had to be. But it didn't get Toren. She cheated death, if only for a little while.
I hope with every ounce of energy I have left that she made it out, even if I'll be leaving her behind.
Everything in front of me is blurry and beginning to gray out, the brilliant colors of the world lost on me. Despite that, I still notice the Career approaching me with a trident.
The end is nigh. I expected nothing less at this point.
The Career, who appears to be the girl from Four, stops to look down at me. Even with my vision fading, I can see everything about her. The red of her hair, the green of her eyes.
And finally, her lips moving, appearing to say, "I'm sorry."
Then she thrusts down her trident and the lights go out forever.
Author's Notes:
-Finally, we've arrived. The Games have started for real this time, and we're going to see this through to the end. I hope to see you for the start of Day One next chapter.
-Eulogies and a few other bonus pieces are located right below the author's notes. Reading everything below this line isn't necessary, but I included it because I felt like it's in every SYOT I've ever read and for good reason. Hope you enjoy that stuff as well.
Eulogies:
-Remi Hamick, District 6 Male, 24th Place (Killed by Clara): Obviously, I'm not going to represent any of my tributes perfectly, but Remi felt like the tribute I did the worst job with. His submitter sent him in as a pro-Capitol, airheaded popular kid who treated almost everyone around him like shit, but I really couldn't write him that way. I toned down the worst parts of his personality and tried to work out a character around the rest, but I don't feel like it stood out much for me or anyone else. Not to mention, he had very little in terms of applicable skills, so there was no way I could have him go very far. Unfortunately, one of the tributes had to die first, and I ultimately chose him. Thanks for sending him, DMonkey1607.
-Nascar Galluci, District 1 Male, 23rd Place (Killed by Artesia, Thomiah, and Odysea): The curse of District One continues. While Nascar's family issues and sarcasm did make him stand out a little from the other tributes, he had some stiff competition in that regard, and I really don't feel like I did him justice. Him becoming a bit of a friend to Godric, as well as the pieces of his interview I showed, were enjoyable to write, though. While you might not have expected this one, even the mighty fall sometimes. Thanks for sending him, 20.
-Faolan Drover, District 10 Male, 22nd Place (Killed by Clara and Godric): Faolan was a relatively normal tribute, especially by District 10 standards: a calm, reasonably friendly, and strong kid who just wants to return back to his old life. I felt like he meshed quite well with the other anti-Careers and had a shot of going far, but unfortunately, so did quite a few others, and these games are both cruel and indiscriminate. Thanks for sending him, Sparky She-Demon.
-Fox Angel, District 12 Female, 21st Place (Killed by Galadia): Okay, I'm pretty confident everyone saw this one coming. As messed-up as Fox was, each one of her scenes was a blast to write and I had more fun with her than just about any other character in this story. However, considering she pissed off the majority of both the Capitol and the other tributes during her short stay, there was no way in Panem she was making it very far. Some might see her death as karmic justice, but that doesn't stop it from hurting all the same. Thanks for sending her, jupiter101.
-Alexa Dobio, District 7 Female, 20th Place (Killed by Clara and Galadia): Alexa's death was the one I went back and forth the most on. Her dynamic as the bridge connecting Lacey and Zari together was definitely an interesting one to write, and even if she lacked a lot of the sarcasm some of the other tributes had, she was still quite the feisty one, and that was on top of her unique living situation, something I can safely say I've never seen before. Unfortunately, though, if Mahogany gains a new neighbor this Games, it won't be her. Thanks for sending her, Tiger outsider.
-Marius Coin, District 9 Male, 19th Place (Killed by Godric and Sienna): As soon as I got them, I knew the fates of Marius and Toren would be closely intertwined until one of them met their untimely fate. Even if Toren kept her distance emotionally, Marius' one-way crush on her was something I definitely enjoyed writing, and I felt like they made a great pair even if nothing about them was romantic. Toren might not have loved him, but chances are that she'll never forget him as long as she lives. Thanks for sending him, Axe Smelling God.
Kills:
-Clara: 1 unassisted (Remi), 2 assisted (Faolan, Alexa)
-Galadia: 1 unassisted (Fox), 1 assisted (Alexa)
-Godric: 2 assisted (Faolan, Marius)
-Sienna: 1 assisted (Marius)
-Artesia, Thomiah, Odysea: 1 assisted (Nascar)
Current Alliances:
-Careers: Clara, Godric, Galadia, Sienna
-Anti-Careers: Artesia, Thomiah, Odysea
-Two Broke(n) Girls: Zari, Lacey
-Opposites Attract: Spark, Catarina
-Loners (For Now): Rhaemyr, Sotia, Vick, Aryion, Romeo, Toren, Maxxer