This chapter does not feature Lucy Gray Baird or any other characters from TBOSAS because it was written several years before the prequel's publication.


THE TENTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"One Decade Down"


INTRODUCTION

The Capitol ran rampant with excitement as the end of the first decade crept around the corner. This very special Hunger Games required a very special arena, and so President Syrio Chandler carefully picked one head gamemaker among thousands of auditions. The person he chose to take the duty of leading the games was a fifty year-old man by the name of Elwood Myrick, who had worked as an architect and prosthetic makeup artist most of his life. He had auditioned for the role of head gamemaker during the eighth Hunger Games, but was rejected. He auditioned again for the ninth Hunger Games, and was again rejected. Third time's the charm, they say, and this was proven correct when Elwood's dreams came true and he was selected to be the head gamemaker for the tenth annual Hunger Games. The nation had a hopeful outlook towards Elwood, and many were confident he would make the games the most memorable yet.

The arena for the tenth annual Hunger Games was a sort of 'medley' of different landscapes. The cornucopia was in what appeared to be a savanna, with dry stalks as high as the tribute's knees. To their left was a salty ocean with waves pulsing in and out like clockwork. To their right was an oak forest. Behind them was an abandoned city, with ruins littering the landscape and rundown houses everywhere. In front of the tributes, behind the cornucopia, there was a rolling green plain. Administration also made sure to hire the most talented and extravagant stylists for the tribute parade, and fantastic new lighting and scents for the interviews. For the special occasion, training was made four days long instead of just three.

To match the spectacular array of celebrations taking place in the Capitol was a spectacular array of tributes. The career alliance had five members, all of which preferred different weapons to do their killing. The District 2 boy preferred the sword, reasoning that it was quick to do the dirty work. The District 2 female much more preferred the whip, justifying that it would stun a tribute so much that they couldn't even move in time before she killed them with whatever weapon was handy. The District 4 boy preferred the harpoon, while his district partner was much more adept with the throwing knife. The District 1 male preferred to use the bow and arrow because of its long distance capabilities. Out of the three career districts, there was an outcast. It was the District 1 female. She was absolutely pathetic, disgracing the academy by scoring a two in training. All she did in the Capitol was cry. She didn't even pretend to be brave for the cameras. The other careers acted like she didn't exist. Nothing much stood out among the tributes from the outer districts except for the District 11 male, who was hugely muscular and scored a nine in training. He was even offered a slot in the career pack but declined in favor of going solo in the games. The training scores this year varied hugely. There were three tens, two nines, two eights, two sixes, two fives, two fours, five threes, two twos, and two ones. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Oren Earl, 17, (8) 9-1 and Velvet Farrow, 16, (2) 39-1

District 2: Sook Burgos, 18, (10) 6-1 and Alessandra Reiter, 17, (10) 8-1

District 3: Tesla Parson, 17, (5) 22-1 and Oretha Manuel, 18, (4) 30-1

District 4: Roma Seifert, 16, (9) 15-1 and Skye Busby, 17, (8) 13-1

District 5: Lupe Fiore, 18, (3) 28-1 and Julieann Fierro, 16, (4) 35-1

District 6: Hassan Kearney, 15, (3) 30-1 and Allena Tubbs, 18, (6) 18-1

District 7: Yuriko Delgadillo, 18, (10) 6-1 and Quyen Sally, 16, (6) 26-1

District 8: Bryon Hynes, 17, (3) 40-1 and Evangeline Byars, 14, (3) 52-1

District 9: Jackelyn Bartels, 13, (1) 79-1 and Lurline Westbrook, 18, (3) 31-1

District 10: Hanh Hinson, 16, (5) 20-1 and Tamatha Rocha, 12, (1) 148-1

District 11: Lino Dailey, 18, (9) 10-1 and Elsy Farlane, 14, (4) 50-1

District 12: Marcelene Grover, 18, (4) 37-1 and Lorriane Joy, 12, (2) 75-1


THE GAMES

Many of the tributes were shocked at the unprecedented theme of the arena; never before had the arena been a medley of biomes. They observed how different sections of the arena had different themes, and they all made their choices on which biome to flee to when and if they survived the bloodbath.

The tenth Hunger Games marked the first time in history that a tribute died before the games even began. A boy who had eaten far too much in the Capitol vomited over the side of his pedestal, forgetting about the land mines surrounding them. The force of the bile hitting the ground triggered the bombs, and the poor boy's corpse was blown sky high.

Jackyelen Bartels, District 9 Male: 24th, Killed by the Land Mines, Pre-Bloodbath

Despite this minor setback, the gong rang like it always did, and the vast majority of the tributes barreled across the terrain towards the cornucopia, the dry grass crumbling under their weight as they ran for their lives towards the bounty of supplies.

The first tribute to reach the cornucopia was Alessandra. She moved her eyes back and forth over the array of weapons before setting her eyes on a whip that lay waiting for her on a shelf in the side of the cornucopia. Grinning from ear to ear, she ran over to grab the weapon. Wielding it in her hand, she ran over to a nearby tribute who was a laughably easy target and smashed him in the back with the whip, causing blood to explode from his back as Alessandra ripped the jagged teeth out of his skin. She repeated this same process a few more times, lashing him in the back of the head and several more times in the back of the torso. He bled out and died a few minutes later after no shortage of bloodcurdling screams.

Hassan Kearny, District 6 Male: 23rd, Killed by Alessandra, Bloodbath

Not far behind Alessandra was Sook, her district partner. Sook picked up a dagger from inside the cornucopia and raced towards a tribute that was very weak and so would be an easy kill to help him attract the Capitol's attention. Sook brought the dagger down and stabbed it into the girl's back, causing her to let out an earsplitting scream as she fell to the ground. Sook brought the knife up and down from the girl's chest six times, and her screams were silenced when one hit from Sook's dagger pierced her heart.

Tamatha Rocha, District 10 Female: 22nd, Killed by Sook, Bloodbath

The next kill of the bloodbath, and the first kill of the games made by a non-career, was carried out when ten-scoring Yuriko picked up an axe that lay on the ground thirty yards from his pedestal and hurled it through the air before it lodged itself in the back of a girl's head, splitting her skull open and killing her instantly.

Julieann Fierro, District 5 Female: 21st, Killed by Yuriko, Bloodbath

After several minutes of searching, Skye finally laid her hands upon a magazine of throwing knives. With her hands closing around her favorite weapon, Skye went to town and hurled them all through the air in rapid fire. Within the next twenty seconds, she had killed two tributes.

Evangeline Byars, District 8 Female: 20th, Killed by Skye, Bloodbath

Tesla Parson, District 3 Male: 19th, Killed by Skye, Bloodbath

Oren, the District 1 male who was thirsty to make a kill and prove his worth to the Capitol audience, grabbed a sword off of a nearby table. He slammed the sword into a girl's side, and the blade slashed through the tender flesh as blood exploded from the wound. She died almost instantly after her vital arteries were cut and blood flow to her brain was blocked.

Elsy Farlane, District 11 Female: 18th, Killed by Oren, Bloodbath

Meanwhile, Alessandra had made one more kill with her whip, forcing a boy to the ground thrashing in pain at the agonizing bite of the leather strap's metal teeth.

Marcelene Grover, District 12 Male: 17th, Killed by Alessandra, Bloodbath

An ambitious Skye made another kill with her throwing knives, hurling two of them in rapid fire into a girl's back as she was attempting to scramble away from the bloodbath.

Lorraine Joy, District 12 Female: 16th, Killed by Skye, Bloodbath

And then came the first death of the career alliance. Lurline, the District 9 female who saw the strength of the careers and knew that she didn't have a chance of winning if they all survived the bloodbath, picked up a scythe off of the ground and rammed it into the back of Oren's neck. He tried to call out for his allies, but his voice box had filled with blood so it was useless. He thrashed around violently in the most disturbing way until Lurline stabbed Oren in the heart, ending his life.

Oren Earl, District 1 Male: 15th, Killed by Lurline, Bloodbath

Confidence boosted after killing Oren, Lurline went after another career. She chose as her second target Roma. So, she pounced upon Roma and stabbed him in the throat with the menacing edge of her scythe. Roma's lungs filled with blood and he could not breathe. He died of asphyxia two minutes later.

Roma Siefert, District 4 Male: 14th, Killed by Lurline, Bloodbath

However, Alessandra saw Lurline kill two of her allies. Enraged, Alessandra darted over to where she stood and smacked her in the back with her whip as hard as she could, sending her reeling to the ground. Then, she jumped up and down on her chest until she coughed up blood and choked to death on the warm red fluid.

Lurline Westbrook, District 9 Female: 13th, Killed by Alessandra, Bloodbath

At that, all of the tributes except the careers had scrambled away into the vast arena, leaving a creepy silence around the cornucopia. Sook, Alexandra, and Skye were all that remained of the fractured career alliance. Nevertheless, they set up a small camp in the cornucopia, leaving Skye to keep guard over the supplies when Sook and Alexandra ventured out. They chose Skye to be the guard because they believed she had the keenest senses of the threesome.

However, Skye's senses must not have been as keen as the others believed. Velvet, the District 1 girl who was snubbed from the career pack because of her 'weakness' quietly snuck towards the cornucopia, tiptoeing as to not make any noise. She picked up a knife and snuck up behind Skye. Velvet slit Skye's throat in one clean swipe, sending her corpse tumbling to the ground with a thump. Velvet rounded up everything she could carry with her from the cornucopia and booked it away from the cornucopia before the others could catch her.

Skye Busby, District 4 Female: 12th, Killed by Velvet, Day 1

The other careers rushed back to the cornucopia at the sound of her cannon and were distraught to find Skye's corpse on the ground in a pool of blood. They searched tirelessly for almost three hours but could not find the killer. They decided to call it a day and go to bed. However, they were not stupid enough to fall into the same trap that Sylca and Ceann fell into the year before. They each would work one hour long shifts guarding and keeping watch over the cornucopia, after which time they would awake the other and sleep while they took over the job. In this way, they went through the whole night without being attacked.

On the morning of Day 2, the gamemakers decided to spice things up a little. They introduced a huge swarm of vicious birds into the arena with only one goal; to kill. They tore apart the trees and scissored through the air as they raced after the terrified tributes. The hunt went on for almost two hours, the huge swarm splitting off into different sections to chase different tributes. After the longest one hour and fifty minutes of the tributes lives, they caught up to one boy who had naturally slowed down significantly due to exhaustion. They tore apart his body until he was no more than a splatter on the ground, after which they retreated into the sky.

Hanh Hinson, District 10 Male: 11th, Killed by Bird Muttations, Day 2

It was around noon on Day 2 when the next kill occurred. It was from a boy who was desperately thirsty and so gulped down water from a pond. However, it was more mud than water and was infested with worms. Not just any worms, mind you, but specially engineered worms that literally ate him from the inside. After almost an hour of being literally torn apart by the foul worms, he killed himself with a handful of poisonous berries to escape the pain.

Lupe Fiore, District 5 Male: 10th, Suicide, Day 2

The rest of Day 2 was deathless, as was the entirety of Day 3. The two remaining careers took turns wandering away from the cornucopia with an eye to make a kill or two, promising to come back and give the other a turn to venture out within two hours.

They finally struck lucky when, during Alessandra's turn prowling through the arena, she spotted a girl crouching down in a ditch behind a natural wall of rocks. It was too easy. Alessandra wielded her whip and slammed it down upon the girl. A long and bloody beating began, resulting in the girl's death a painful twelve minutes later.

Oretha Manuel, District 3 Female: 9th, Killed by Alessandra, Day 2

That left the final eight: Velvet Farrow from District 1, Sook Burgos and Alessandra Reiter from District 2, Allen Tubbs from District 6, Yuriko Delgadillo and Quyen Salley from District 7, Bryon Hynes from District 8, and Lino Dailey from District 11.

Confident that she had made good use of her time, Alessandra began trekking back to the cornucopia to give her district partner a turn. However, Velvet was waiting for her. Velvet ran out from behind a huge rock just as Alessandra was walking by, and hurled her hatchet through the air. Her aim was perfect, and the weapon lodged itself into her skull as she slumped to the ground.

Alessandra Reiter, District 2 Female: 8th, Killed by Velvet, Day 2

By now, it had sunk in to the entire audience that Velvet was not at all the weak and cowardly scrap of a girl she made herself out to be. Velvet was really an extremely talented killer, potentially the most lethal in the entire games. She was just pretending to be weak so that the others would leave her alone because they didn't see her as a threat.

It took Sook a long time to realize that he was the only remaining career, and when he did he made the very surprising decision to stay at the cornucopia and wait it out until everyone else was dead.

On the morning of Day 3, a tribute fell victim to dehydration.

Quyen Salley, District 7 Female: 7th, Dehydration, Day 3

Day 4 saw two deaths. The first was a dehydration death that occurred around nine in the morning.

Allena Tubbs, District 6 Female: 6th, Dehydration, Day 4

The second was from a tribute that ate a highly poisonous fruit he believed was edible.

Lino Dailey, District 11 Male: 5th, Poisonous Fruit, Day 4

With only four tributes left, the gamemakers concluded that it was time to force the tributes inward for the bloody finale. And so, the hurricane began. It started as a huge swirling mass of dark clouds on the outer ring of the arena that brought on an incredibly strong wind. Then came the rain. It came down in sheets, puncturing the tributes unshielded skin like bullets. It slowly spread inwards, forcing the tributes towards the cornucopia that was the eye of the storm and so would be void of violent weather.

Then the flooding began. A huge wall of water about five feet high pulsed in from the circumference of the arena, felling trees like dominoes as it barreled inwards. Of the four tributes remaining, only three of them made it safely to the cornucopia. One was trapped in an abandoned house when the wave completely washed it away, and he was killed by the force of the debris hitting his body.

Bryon Hynes, District 8 Male: 4th, Killed by the Hurricane, Day 5

Atop the cornucopia, Velvet, Sook, and Yuriko stood. Velvet wielded her axe, Sook held his knife, and Yuriko held his hatchet.

Sook, still believing that Velvet was a weak coward, paid no attention to her and instead focused on killing Yuriko, whom he believed was a bigger threat. Sook stabbed his knife into Yuriko's heart, sending him tumbling backward off of the horn.

Yuriko Delgadillo, District 7 Male: 3rd, Killed by Sook, Day 5

Sook still had not realized that Velvet's weakness was all a hoax to make the others ignore her. Believing that he could simply tear her apart like a rag doll, Sook took his time strolling towards Velvet.

"Poor old Velvet. Can't even hold that axe properly, can you? Do you want your mommy?" Sook teased her, sucking his thumb mockingly.

It was time for Velvet to reveal her true colors.

She threw herself at Sook, holding her axe high above her head. Sook was too stunned to even move when Velvet pinned him to the ground, roaring and bludgeoning his chest over and over and over, sinking the axe into his chest and then ripping it out, sinking her axe into his chest and ripping it out, and again and again. Then, she leapt up and down on Sook's stomach until he coughed up blood.

Velvet's strategy had worked.

Sook Burgos, District 2 Male: 2nd, Killed by Velvet, Day 5

"Velvet Farrow of District 1, you are the victor of the tenth annual Hunger Games!" Elwood roared into the arena as the trumpets played their melody in the distance.

Velvet threw her hands into the air, whooping proudly to celebrate her victory.

Velvet Farrow, District 1 Female: Victor of the Tenth Hunger Games, Day 5


AFTERMATH

The nation was intrigued by Velvet, and many would learn to love their tenth victor. Her tactic of pretending to be weak so that she would not be viewed as a threat would be used many, many times in the future by other tributes to win their games.

Velvet's victory tour went fairly well in eleven of the districts. However, District 2 expressed their disgust at stealing their victor by literally throwing rotten fruit at her and screaming insults.

Velvet moved into the victor's village of District 1, in the house across the street from Brandi's. Upon her victory, District 1 became the first district to have three victors.

She would live to the age of forty-seven, dying a very premature death from epilepsy around the time of the forty-first annual Hunger Games. In that time, she would marry once and have four children.


NEWS

Velvet moves into the victor's village of District 1, the third victor to do so.

All ten victors so far meet in the Capitol for a gathering promoting the Hunger Games, each one giving a thirty minute-long speech.


LIST OF VICTORS

1HG: Cordin Frey (#1, District 3)
2HG: Sapphire Waber (#1, District 1)
3HG: Molly Toliday (#1, District 4)
4HG: Amelia Spangler (#1, District 2)
5HG: Misty Sablone (#1, District 12)
6HG: Olivia Seager (#2, District 2)
7HG: Flux Stafford (#2, District 3)
8HG: Brandi Coyne (#2, District 1)
9HG: Isaac Crandall (#1, District 5)
10HG: Velvet Farrow (#3, District 1)