THE EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Dino Might"
INTRODUCTION
Head Gamemaker Lorenzo Chastain returned for his fourth year on the job, promising the nation that his next arena would be his most spectacular yet. As such, he met up with his team of loyal gamemakers and spent weeks sketching out possible arenas. But, none of the designs were really clicking with him. As such, he asked for special permission to view President Dyson's prized collection of books, hoping to find inspiration in them. She had old books. She had new books. She had books so old you could barely read the words. One such book was a book called "Jurassic Park". It was about a time when humans develop technology to revive dinosaurs, and a zoo is built where visitors can come and see the dinosaurs in their entire splendor. Lorenzo had to practically pry the nearly four hundred year-old book from Lizeth's hands in order to read it. But, the instant he read the first line, he fell in love with the concept. The next day, he stormed into the gamemaker's office and proclaimed enthusiastically what he wanted the arena of the eighteenth Hunger Games to be.
The career pack was six strong, as it usually was. The District 1 boy was your typical all-in-it-for-the-fame career, and perhaps his confidence and sureness of himself, along with his talents with the knife, contributed to his earning of a ten. His district partner was certainly less boastful and confident than him, as she was a mysterious trickster and temptress who impressed the gamemakers via her mysteriously spontaneous attitude and dangerous intelligence. The District 2 male was, in a sense, an all-out psychotic murderer. Most skilled with the dagger, knife, and axe, he appeared to actually enjoy killing. His district partner was quite the opposite, and she did not at all enjoy killing. She earned an eight, the lowest score of the careers. This was something she was obviously very disappointed with, but did a rather good job corking it down and making the audience laugh it off. District 4, which usually produced the least stellar showing of the trio, actually did extremely well. Their boy earned a ten with his sharp intelligence and wits as well as his skills with the harpoon and trident. He was probably the second most dangerous tribute after the District 2 boy. Their girl earned a nine, the only tribute in the games to do so. Not so much her skills with weaponry, but more her stealth and intelligence, contributed to that score.
There was also, strangely, a brother-sister pair from District 6. The two siblings had been reaped side by side and had actually made an alliance, one of two alliances in the games (the other being the careers). The male certainly was more successful than the female, for he scored a four whilst his sister scored a meager two. Training scores were rather average. Within the careers, four tens and one nine, as well as one eight, were scored. Outside of the careers, two eights and one seven were scored, scored by the District 7 tributes and the District 10 male respectively. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. There were two volunteers outside of the careers. There was the District 10 female, who volunteered into the games to save her disabled younger sister, and the District 5 male, who volunteered to save his best friend. In total, there were eight volunteers, one of the highest ever. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Raptor Endress, 16, (10) 9-1 and Jade Nocella, 17, (10) 9-1
District 2: Cnaeus Vindex, 17, (10) 8-1 and Lylen Wacquant, 16, (8) 12-1
District 3: Tylin Glover, 18, (4) 23-1 and Jilyen Imamoglu, 15, (3) 38-1
District 4: Trinidad Rhoades, 18, (10) 8-1 and Susan Corgain, 18, (9) 9-1
District 5: Zayden Lubin, 17, (5) 19-1 and Emmanuela Carder, 16, (3) 38-1
District 6: Markus Gardd, 16, (4) 21-1 and Carlynn Gardd, 14, (2) 52-1
District 7: Max Toriff, 17, (8) 13-1 and Leigha Li, 18, (8) 12-1
District 8: Marlen Rankin, 18, (4) 31-1 and Nyla Manson, 18, (3) 33-1
District 9: Ameden Worth, 16, (6) 20-1 and Olinda Keane, 15, (5) 24-1
District 10: Mason Cotter, 18, (7) 15-1 and Vanesa Scully, 17, (6) 17-1
District 11: Colby Peredes, 16, (5) 28-1 and Janette Southerland, 15, (4) 25-1
District 12: Hunter York, 13, (2) 69-1 and Cat Callaghan, 14, (2) 48-1
THE GAMES
The arena was on an island in the middle of a freezing ocean. The north tip of the island was very mountainous and cold, and in the center there was a rolling meadow dotted with every type of flower and grass imaginable. To the east was a long and sandy dune, and to the west was a long mountain chain, creating a rain shadow effect and causing the soil beneath it to be dry and hard and very much infertile. And, to the south was a massive mountain so tall the top was cut off by the misty white clouds. It was a stunning majesty of a thing, with its steep icy slopes and peaks every which way. But, the arena would not be complete without the dinosaurs. The arena had everything from Pterodactyls which soared through the air to Tyrannosaurus Rex that prowled the landscape to the tiny Velociraptors that munched on the flowers in the meadow. As they were very much harmless creatures, the gamemakers expected them to make very few if not zero kills but under their command. Lorenzo stated in an interview that it was his favorite arena of his creation so far, and the majesty of the breathtaking place really spoke for the true heart of the gamemaker and his craft.
A cool morning mist hung in the air when the tributes rose up into the arena atop their pedestals. They were, so to say, completely stunned at the huge dinosaurs that were wandering the landscape, and even though they weren't even acknowledging the tribute's presence, they still made them nervous. They whipped their heads around and took in the entire grandeur of the arena: the huge and looming mountain to the south, the mountain chain to the west, the sandbank to the east, and the rolling meadow that they stood on at that very moment, the shimmering cornucopia throwing off reflections of light as it sparkled in the round gem of the sun overhead.
When the gong rang, a number of tributes ran away into the arena with nothing but their bare hands to survive the difficult weeks to come. They were Tylin from 3, Nyla from 8, Colby from 11, and Hunter from 12. They all leapt off of their pedestals the moment the gong sounded and raced away from the mayhem that was ensuing back at the horn of plenty.
At the cornucopia, when the countdown reached zero and the sound of the gong rang though the arena, the tributes burst forward and began darting forth to scoop up whatever useful supplies they could find. Susan, a fast runner, sprinted at the very head of the onrush, her feet thumping over the earth as her chestnut brown hair snapped and whistled in the wind behind her. She leaned over and picked up an entire belt of throwing knives that lay on the ground fifty yards from her pedestal. She fastened the velcro around her waist and pulled one of the knives out of the belt, looking around for a target. When Susan spotted a boy running past her, she was on him like a hound. Susan hurled the knife through the air before it cut into the boy's back, sending him slumping like a stone amidst an explosion of scarlet. Susan ran over to rip the weapon out of his body as the bloodbath officially began.
Mason Cotter, District 10 Male: 24th, Killed by Susan, Bloodbath
Raptor, another fast runner, was not far behind Susan. Raptor raced all the way towards the mouth of the cornucopia and began rummaging through the assortment of weapons. A grin crossed his face when he spotted a menacingly serrated dagger waiting for him in a cluster of pink blossoms not far from where he stood. He picked up the knife and planted it into the back of the nearest girl. The knife sliced into her back like a knife into butter, and the moment the sharp tip of the blade punctured his heart, she was dead.
Emmanuela Carder, District 5 Female: 23rd, Killed by Raptor, Bloodbath
Cnaeus' strong legs that he had trained his entire life did not fail him, and when he caught a glimpse of a throwing axe laying on a table in the cornucopia he sprinted towards it with all of his might. He closed his fingers around the weapon and grasped it so tightly that his knuckles turned a hollow and starch shade of ghostly white. Cnaeus spotted easy prey in a girl that was kneeling on the ground and taking inventory of the contents of an orange backpack. Cnaeus hurled his axe thirty yards towards the girl's head. His aim was perfect, and the throwing axe sank into her head and lodged itself into her skull, sending her corpse rolling to the ground with a hollow thump.
Jilyen Imamoglu, District 3 Female: 22nd, Killed by Cnaeus, Bloodbath
It was then that Trinidad spotted a three-pronged golden trident leaning against the side of the cornucopia, glistening in the light of the overhead sun. He ran over to retrieve it, taking a quick moment to wipe off the condensation that had developed from who-knows-how-long of sitting in the very damp, misty air. Then, he lunged forward and planted the trident into the chest of the nearest boy, sending thick blood spraying in all directions. By the time his head hit the ground, he was dead. Trinidad ripped the weapon out of his corpse, reveling in his first kill.
Marlen Rankin, District 8 Male: 21st, Killed by Trinidad, Bloodbath
Jade had not even retrieved a weapon yet and so killing would not be easy, but when she saw one of the weakest tributes in the games running past her the opportunity was just too sweet to resist. She pounced upon her, pinning her to the ground as her mind raced, trying to come up with an idea as to what to do with this girl. She could snap her neck, but that would be a difficult and long process. She could beat her in the chest, but that would require lifting up her hands and so her prey would be free to escape. In Jade's moment of panic as to what to do, she was so distracted that she didn't even notice Leigha sneaking up behind her. Leigha brought down her axe upon distracted Jade's back, and by the time Jade noticed the sticky situation she was in she had no time to react. The axe sank into Jade's back, killing her almost instantly. Jade's prey was able to scurry away safely, at which time she dropped everything she had been doing and ran away towards the looming mountain in the distance.
Jade Nocella, District 1 Female: 20th, Killed by Leigha, Bloodbath
From the moment she reached the supplies Lylen had been searching for a bow and arrow, her best weapon. However, much to her dismay, she could not find one anywhere. When she finally did find one, laying on a countertop in the cornucopia, she sighed with relief as she ran over to retrieve it. She slung the sheath over her back and pulled one arrow out, nocking it in her bow as her spider senses took over. She aimed the arrow at a nearby boy that looked to be an easy enough target. When Lylen let go of the bowstring, the arrow whistled through the air at an arbitrarily fast speed before lodging itself into the boy's neck, causing a loud gurgle to rise up into his throat as blood began pooling up into his lungs. All that the poor boy could do was roll around on the ground and wait for asphyxia to do its thing, killing him a few minutes later.
Zayden Lubin, District 5 Male: 19th, Killed by Lylen, Bloodbath
Meanwhile, at the mouth of the cornucopia, Raptor spotted a boy inside of the cornucopia, rummaging through the supplies and throwing open crates. Raptor ran up to the cornucopia, blocking off the entrance and walking inward, forcing the boy backwards towards the solid back of the cornucopia. When there was less than fifteen yard's distance between Raptor and his prey, he surged forth and planted his knife into the boy's stomach, killing him after a brief moment of screaming on his part.
Max Toriff, District 7 Male: 18th, Killed by Raptor, Bloodbath
It was then that the careers suffered their next loss. After Raptor had killed Max, he bent over and began tearing open the backpack he had been carrying before his death. Seeing how distracted Raptor was, Cat picked up an axe that lay in the grass at her feet and ran up to where Raptor sat, bringing it down upon him and literally splitting his head in half. Cat ripped the weapon out of Raptor's head, all sorts of emotions coursing towards her after making her first kill. She picked up the weapon and darted out of the cornucopia, away into the vast arena and away from the wrath of the four remaining bloodthirsty careers.
Raptor Endress, District 1 Male: 17th, Killed by Cat, Bloodbath
The penultimate death of the bloodbath occurred when, as one girl was attempting to run away from the cornucopia, tripped on a small hole in the ground and fell to the floor, pain bolting through her body from her sprained ankle, her foot now sticking out at an awkward angle. She was so horrified, laying there on the ground and literally unable to get up. All she could do was wait there for some career to come kill her. And, come to kill her they did. When Trinidad spotted her, laying there defenseless, practically begging for death, he thrust the prongs of his trident into her back.
Olinda Keane, District 9 Female: 16th, Killed by Trinidad, Bloodbath
The tenth and final death of the bloodbath occurred almost thirty-two minutes after the gong first rang. When Susan caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye, she hurriedly pulled a knife from her belt and hurled it towards the motion. Her aim was perfect, and Susan turned around to see a girl thrashing on the ground with Susan's knife in her head. Seeing how she was almost completely dead, Cnaeus ran over and bludgeoned her a few times in the chest with his axe, finishing him off and triggering the ten cannons to ring through the arena, signaling the end of the bloodbath.
Janette Southerland, District 11 Female: 15th, Killed by Susan and Cnaeus, Bloodbath
The careers spent the next few hours with the laborious task of rounding up the ten corpses scattered around the clearing and piling them up in a far-away corner where the careers wouldn't be able to smell them. The four careers set up a little camp in the cornucopia, with four sleeping bags and four lanterns, one of each for each tribute. They didn't venture out at all for the rest of Day 1, instead choosing to stay back at the cornucopia and sort through the supplies. They separated them into three categories: weapons, commodities (like water and food), and tools. By the time they had finished with their work, the sun had already dipped below the horizon, and after assigning a watch they all fell into their sleeping bags and tumbled into sleep almost instantaneously.
The other tributes took varied approaches to the night. For example, Tylin, one of those that had chosen to run away from the cornucopia at the very beginning, set up a little den of sorts under a pile of sticks, with a small entrance that was not immediately obvious to the casual observer. Under a huge pile of broken sticks, he dug a little 'bowl' shape into the ground and stayed inside all night, packing dirt back to cover the entrance after he was inside. He managed to stay hidden from the sight of the others in this way. Leigha took a different approach, camping out for the night on top of the arena's looming mountain. Perhaps she reasoned that having the high ground would mean she could spot any danger early and still have time to run away. She made a shelter out of rocks and crouched down inside. It was a tight fit, but it held her. Nyla went for the more creative method of hiding inside of one of the caves in the rocky coast of the island, reasoning that the careers would not be expecting anyone to inhabit the forsaken place and so she would be skipped over.
Ameden, Colby, and Cat all went with the obvious strategy of hiding inside of coves next to the arena's main river. Colby's camp was closest to the source of the river, a large lake in the mountain range to the north. Ameden was between the other two, and Cat was near the mouth of the river, where the water was brackish and so no careers would come looking. Vanesa and Hunter both hid in the rocky and mountainous sector of the arena, Vanesa hiding beneath a sturdy rock shelf and Hunter building an 'igloo' of sorts out of the wet and hard packing snow on the mountain.
Then, there were the siblings from District 6. Markus and Carlynn both hid in a previously dug den that was perhaps once inhabited by a beaver or groundhog. It was right by the river, and the two could crawl down into the open space underground. A square-ish shape around five feet on each side, it could hold the two siblings well. When they were inside, they were able to pull out dirt from the walls and shove it into their entrance hole, blocking them from the view of the other tributes and rendering them safe for the night.
The night of Day 1 passed in complete peace, with no interaction between the tributes whatsoever. Some tributes were able to fall asleep right away, like the careers. Some tributes took much longer. Take Leigha, for example, who tossed and turned for almost five hours before falling asleep.
The tributes were jolted awake by the sound of a cannon around seven in the morning on Day 2. There had been an accident in the mountainous region of the arena. Vanesa, who had been sleeping under a sturdy rock shelf, was snoozing away soundly when a medium-sized Gallimimus stepped on top of the rock that Vanesa was under. The weight of the Gallimimus caused the shelf to collapse, and by the time Vanesa figured out what was happening she had no time to escape. The large and flat rock collapsed on top of her flat body, pressing her to death under the weight of almost four-hundred tons of stone.
Vanesa Scully, District 10 Female: 14th, Crushed to Death, Day 2
After being awoken by Vanesa's cannon the morning of the second day in the arena, the careers packed up their supplies and began devising their plan for the day. Lylen walked out of the cornucopia and asked some sponsor for a sheet of paper and pencil, which she received almost immediately. She then, her father being a book collector and her having read "Jurassic Park" before, drew out a map of the island on the piece of paper. She then drew a vertical line cutting it in half left and right, then drew a horizontal line cutting it in half up and down. She had divided the island into four equal segments.
"I'll take this upper-left hand segment," Lylen said, pointing at the portion of the map she was talking about. "Cnaeus, you take the upper-right hand part. Trinidad, you take the bottom left," she continued, pointing to each segment and then to each of her allies in turn. "And, Susan, you take the bottom-right section." "Seems fair enough," said Susan, adjusting her backpack on her back. And they went.
The careers did not manage to make any kills until one in the afternoon on Day 2. Multiple times had the careers heard some shuffling of bushes and lunged towards the sound to find some tiny Eromimus or other harmless dinosaur going about its business, disappointed flushing through them. However, around one in the afternoon that day, Susan found her next prey. Whilst wandering through the section assigned to her, which happened to contain the arena's main sandbar, she heard a rustling of sand to her left followed by a short yelp. Whipping her head around and slowly stalking towards the source of the sound, Susan found Cat crumpled up into a ball inside of a cove aside the sandbar. There was nowhere for Cat to run. It was all she could do to sit there and pray her death would be fast as Susan hurled one of her throwing knives into her forehead. Now, only half of the tributes remained.
Cat Callaghan, District 12 Female: 13th, Killed by Susan, Day 2
That was the only kill that was made on Day 2. This, of course, was to be expected because of how large the arena was and because of how new the careers were to all of the little quirks and such of the arena. The night of Day 2, the careers went to sleep early with hopes of getting lots of sleep for their next busy day in the arena.
The sun rose over the long sandbar on the morning of Day 3. Seeing how fruitless their efforts of the previous day had been, the careers decided to complete stop searching the meadow, reasoning that it was too open for anyone to feel safe and so no other tributes would be there. This line of thinking was beneficial to them, as they made two kills on Day 3.
The first of the day's two deaths came at roughly two in the evening that day. Whilst wandering through his assigned segment of the arena, Trinidad stumbled upon Nyla hiding behind a rock on the coast of the arena. Nyla put up a fight. Having crafted herself a knife with a sturdy stone for the handle and a piece of hard shale that she had chipped into a blade shape as the blade part of the knife, she was not about to go down without a fight. A little 'duel' of sorts began between the two, with Trinidad and Nyla dancing around each other in a circular pattern, Trinidad lunging forward with his trident and Nyla attempting to puncture Trinidad's skin or to ward him off with her knife. After a long ten minutes, Trinidad had Nyla forced back against a solid rock face, trapping her in front of him. Then, in one act of faith that seemed too miraculous to be true, Nyla hurled her throwing through the air. Miraculously, the blade sank into Trinidad's heart. Trinidad dropped his trident and began thrashing around on the ground, slowly dying from the grievous wound he had received. Then, to finish the job, Nyla picked up Trinidad's trident and speared him in the torso with it, ending his life. Through a bit of cunning and lots of luck, Nyla had just taken out one of the most powerful careers.
Trinidad Rhoades, District 4 Male: 12th, Killed by Nyla, Day 3
The second and final death of Day 3 occurred at about eleven o'clock at night, when the careers were out hoping to catch some sleeping tribute, which would make them a laughably easy target. The trio of Cnaeus, Lylen, and Susan all combed through the arena as one big pack, thinking it would make their kills easier. Perhaps they were right, for late that night they stumbled upon Ameden hiding in his cove. The first of the careers to make a move was Cnaeus, who hurled his knife into Ameden's chest. Then, Susan finished him off by throwing one of her knives straight into Ameden's heart, killing him almost instantly.
Ameden Worth, District 9 Male: 11th, Killed by Cnaeus and Susan, Day 3
Days 4 thru 5 passed, deathless. In this time, Leigha had moved down the mountainside towards the rocky coast of the island after all of her water kept freezing when she was on the mountain. Scattered sponsor presents had wielded the duo of Markus and Carlynn a water purification device and a fire-starting kit. Not too shabby.
The sun rose upon Day 6, and at this point Leigha was going completely insane from hunger. Not from dehydration, no; there was a practically infinite abundance of water from the fast and strong river. Lack of food had eaten away at her brain and begun to deteriorate her entire existence, subjugating everything she was as she lay on the ground, so weak she could barely move. There was only one option left for her. It was one that Leigha hoped she would never have to do, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Leigha darted over to a small cave where she had seen some tiny little baby dinosaurs earlier that day. It was easy to kill them, really. She just grabbed them and slit their throats with her axe. Once she had rounded up a few baby dinosaurs, she began a fire near the river and fried the babies over it. She bit into them, and her entire body nearly collapsed with relief. It was so delicious, especially since she had gone almost a week without food, that she gobbled down all of the rest in less than ten minutes, not bothering to be tidy.
But, it was only a matter of time before the mother dinosaur returned. And, it was common knowledge that most creatures on this earth do not take kindly to having their children be eaten. As such, when the mother Tyrannosaurus Rex returned, she ran up to where Leigha stood stuffing her face with the tender meat and threw her aside like a rag doll, roaring so loud that Leigha's eardrums almost burst. Over the course of the next few minutes, the dinosaur mauled apart Leigha's body until she was just a splatter on the stony ground. She had gotten food, all right. But it had cost her life.
Leigha Li, District 7 Female: 10th, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Day 6
Days 7 and 8 passed, deathless. The audience had begun to grow rather bored of the games, and many had long flicked off their televisions. The games were, so to speak, boring, which is something they must never be. As such, the gamemakers whipped up a new twist on Day 9. Nobody ever thought that the huge, majestic mountain overlooking the arena could be anything more than just a little thing to spice up the arena a bit. They could not be more wrong. The gamemakers had a devious plan in store, they would see.
When all of the careers were on the side of the mountain hunting for their next prey, they heard a faint rumble. They all just dismissed it as their imaginations and moved on. But, when it grew louder, and when the ground began to shake beneath their feet, they knew something was up. Two hours later, the mountain blew its top, spewing molten lava everywhere that rushed down the sides of the volcano. The careers dropped everything they were holding in favor of running faster down the slope of the mountain. The lava was hot on their tails, and if they stopped running for just a second it would gain on them and they would be no better off than the baby dinosaurs Leah had fried a few days before.
"We need to split up!" Cnaeus yelled to his allies. They all nodded in terrified agreement, spreading out on face of the mountain as they raced downward, their hearts beating out of their chests as they ripped through the cold air. Susan's hair snapped in the wind behind her as she raced down the mountainside. Cnaeus's footprints were heavy in the snow, almost immediately incinerated by the lava after he left them. And, Lylen, poor her, was the slowest runner of the trio. She could simply not outrun the raging flow of magma that was racing toward her, and before she was even halfway down the mountainside it swirled around her ankles and sent her tumbling over into the scorching stuff. It killed her immediately. However, it took a few minutes for her body to be completely incinerated by the lava. Susan and Cnaeus shared a terrified look. Their trio was down to two. The other careers all got down the mountainside safely, the hot lava beginning to harden behind them into stone. The other careers all got down the mountainside safely, the hot lava beginning to harden behind them into stone.
Lylen Wacquant, District 2 Female: 9th, Volcanic Eruption, Day 9
That left the final eight: Cnaeus Vindex from District 2, Tylin Glover from District 3, Susan Corgain from District 4, Markus Gardd and Carlynn Gardd from District 6, Nyla Manson from District 8, Colby Peredes from District 11, and Hunter York from District 12.
Meanwhile, the other tributes had been very disturbed by the eruption of the volcano. Most notable were Markus and Carlynn, who were out scavenging for food when they saw the eruption and began storming away from it as fast as possible. They had reached the opposite coastline of the island, breathing heavily. They were safe from the eruption, but based on the sound of one cannon some other tribute had not been so lucky. The siblings destroyed their den and moved it further away from where it had been, a greater distance from the volcano.
The darkness began gaining on Cnaeus and Susan before they could get back to the cornucopia. Soon it would grow cold, and they would simply not have enough time to reach their cornucopia home. As such, they found a little cove in the side of a hill and crawled inside, packing dirt over the entrance to shield them from view. They slept in extreme discomfort that night, practically laying on top of each other and scrunched up in a tight ball. If some tribute or predator tore open the entrance and found the two inside, they would have no way to escape. But, they brushed this off as an impossibility. After all, no tribute in their right mind would even think about messing with the careers! Right?
Unfortunately for them, that was just what happened. The brother-sister pair of Markus and Carlynn were wandering tirelessly through the arena with their night-vision glasses. At around eleven o'clock that night, Carlynn heard a snore. She stood completely still and listened again. Still another snore. It was coming from inside of the nearby hill.
"Markus!" Carlynn called for her brother in a whisper-scream. "There's somebody inside of that hill. See that area in the side... with no grass on it?" said Carlynn, pointing at the location she was referring to. "You can hear snoring, cant you?"
He nodded shortly and suggested they go in for the kill. And they did exactly that.
They quickly asked for a knife, which some sponsor gave them right away given how cheap of a gift it was. Now Markus and Carlynn both had a knife. Taking infinite care to be as silent as possible, the two siblings treaded over to the hillside and carved an opening. They looked inside, and had to clap their hands over their mouths to keep from screaming. They saw both remaining careers inside. Cnaeus and Susan were snoozing away inside the den. Laughably easy targets.
The two lunged into the den, startling the two careers awake almost instantly. Susan and Cnaeus fumbled for their weapons, but were just too surprised to do anything as Markus pinned Cnaeus to the floor and Carlynn pinned Susan to the ground. The first to make their kill was Markus, who plunged his knife deep into Cnaeus' flesh, killing him the moment it pierced his heart.
Cnaeus Vindex, District 2 Male: 8th, Killed by Markus, Day 9
Carlynn was quick to make her kill after that, bringing down her knife and cutting it into Susan's forehead. The career alliance had been eliminated completely. Now, not a single career remained alive in the arena.
Susan Corgain, District 4 Female: 7th, Killed by Carlynn, Day 9
Day 10 passed, technically deathless. However, around three in the evening that day Tylin scavenged out to gather food and, unbeknownst to the fact that they were poisonous, gathered and ate a bunch of poisonous berries. The poison began causing his blood to clot up and make his heart beat irregularly. All he could do was lay on the ground and muffle his own screams as much as he could, willing the poison to work its way out of his body. Then, around eight in the morning on Day 11, the poison reached his heart and he died.
Tylin Glover, District 3 Male: 6th, Poisonous Berries, Day 11
The rest of Day 11 passed without any deaths. The duo of Carlynn and Markus had gone back to the cornucopia after killing the careers and begun throwing aside supplies, healing the various wounds all over their bodies and stuffing their faces with the nearly endless supplies of food sealed away in the cornucopia. Where the careers had once reigned had now been taken over by the two District 6 tributes.
On Day 12, Colby had gone completely insane from dehydration. He had spent his entire time since Day 1 crouched up in a rocky pit near the jagged coastline of the island. He had gotten all of his water from the cornucopia, and it had long run out. He had gone so crazy from lack of water that he couldn't even find the freshwater river to drink from. He died in the rocky hole he had spent twelve entire days inside of.
Colby Peredes, District 11 Male: 5th, Dehydration, Day 12
The gamemakers had reached their cherished final four. They all agreed that it was time to drive the tributes inward for the cornucopia for the bloody finale that would crown their victor. This was a dinosaur-themed arena, and it was going to have a dinosaur-themed finale.
The meteor shower began on the morning of Day 13. The little rocks were barely larger than grains of said, and the tributes paid no attention to them. However, by noon, the rocks had grown to almost half a centimeter in diameter as they dropped from the sky periodically.
Then, around four in the evening on Day 13, the huge meteor came. The sound of the huge rock hurdling through the sky was so loud that the tributes clapped their hands over their ears to block out the sound. The meteor slammed into the ocean, causing the earth to rumble and causing debris to fly every which way. Unlucky Hunter was less than a kilometer from the source of the meteor's impact, and he barely had time to react before a huge piece of rock flung out by the asteroid smashed into him, sinking into the ground and burying Hunter underneath it. He was killed instantaneously, leaving only three tributes remaining.
Hunter York, District 12 Male: 4th, Meteor Debris, Day 13
The final three tributes were the two siblings from District 6 and Nyla from District 8 who had managed to survive much longer than she should have by eating spiders and snakes that wandered into her hiding place.
Then, the gamemakers sent the asteroids hurtling toward the tributes, forcing them together at the cornucopia. Once all three of the tributes bowled into the clearing, stumbling away from the meteors the gamemakers were hurling towards them, the entire arena burning away in a roaring inferno, the final battle began.
The gamemakers lit the grass in the clearing on fire, forcing the tributes inward towards the cornucopia as it spread, where they were forced to climb atop it, the whole world on fire around them.
Nyla had a bow and arrow she had retrieved from a sponsor a few days prior. Markus and Carlynn both had their knives, the likes of which had killed Susan and Cnaeus a week before.
Nyla took aim with her bow, aiming it towards Markus' head. But, he dove out of the way and ran around Nyla, attempting to stab her in the back of the head with his knife. She batted him to the side, however, sending him stumbling backwards. Nyla watched this happening, and while she was distracted Carlynn attempted to sneak up behind her and stab her in the back. However, Nyla heard Carlynn sneaking up behind her and so whipped her body around, giving Markus the perfect opportunity to plunge his knife into Nyla's back, killing her as the blade tore through the essential organs in her body.
Nyla Manson, District 8 Female: 3rd, Killed by Markus, Day 13
The only two tributes remaining were Markus Gardd and Carlynn Gardd of District 6. The two gave each other a high five. In this moment of triumph, Carlynn was distracted and tripped on Nyla's corpse. Carlynn screamed in panic as she tumbled backward off of the cornucopia. Markus screamed as he ran over to his sister's aid and grabbed her wrist. Markus was on top of the cornucopia, holding Carlynn above the raging inferno beneath them by her wrist, Carlynn's feet dangling above the fire. The two screamed in panic, trying to throw together a plan to get Carlynn back on top of the cornucopia.
Seconds bled into minutes as the two tributes stayed there, not sure what to do. Then, Markus screamed to Carlynn that he was going to pull her up. Carlynn nodded as Markus began to stand up. However, the effort had made Markus' hand sweaty, and the instant before Carlynn had enough room to grab onto the edge, his hand slipped from hers.
Markus screamed in horror, sobbing as he watched his sister's body descend into the raging fire beneath.
Carlynn Gardd, District 6 Female: 2nd, Fire, Day 13
"Markus Gardd of District 6, you are the victor of the eighteenth annual Hunger Games!" Lorenzo exclaimed as a hovercraft appeared from the sky to collect their newest victor.
Markus screamed at the top of his lungs as the hovercraft reached down to grab him and carry him away from the arena. He struggled and thrashed with all of his might.
"LET ME OUT!" Markus demanded, screaming so loud his voice went hoarse. "STOP!" he screamed until he couldn't scream any more. But, it was no use. He gave up and buried his face in his hands, letting out a deep sob as the hovercraft carried him away.
Markus Gardd, District 6 Male: Victor of the Eighteenth Hunger Games, Day 13
AFTERMATH
Markus' loss tugged at the heartstrings of many people in the audience, and this fact earned him a ticket to being one of the most beloved victors of the first Hunger Games century. District 6 was overjoyed to receive their second victor, and he was happily accepted by the nation into their growing lineup of victors.
Markus' victory tour went fairly well, except for his stops in 4 and 2 where he was degraded and ignored for the entirety of his stay. Those two districts had not taken kindly to having their beloved Cnaeus and Susan be taken down in such a disgraceful manner by Markus and his sister, and the two districts began whipping up a storm in an attempt to ensure that the next year's victor would be from one of them.
He moved into the Victor's Village of District 6, the second victor to do so.
After the traumatizing event of watching his sister die in the arena, Markus turned to the drug of morphling to dissuade his demons and numb the bitter pain of the time he had served in the arena. After his games, he developed an unimaginably powerful fear of fire, screaming and fleeing at the sight of so much as a match being lit. He contemplated suicide multiple times in the next year. That was, however, until he met Beatrice Toland, the victor of the sixteenth Hunger Games. The two were virtually perfect carbon copies of each other: both were from District 6, both had entered the Hunger Games, and both had lost a sibling in the final showdown of their games. The instant the two met, they became the best of friends. Two months later, they requested that they live in the same house together in the Victor's Village. And, later in their lives, they would even get married. Markus would live to the age of eighty-three, the chandelier of his Victor's Village home collapsing on top of him around the time of the eighty-first annual Hunger Games.
NEWS
Markus moves into the Victor's Village of District 6, the second victor to do so.
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)
11HG: Mags Flanagan (#2, District 4)
12HG: Slate Ogston (#3, District 2)
13HG: Woof Dozier (#1, District 8)
14HG: Blaze Skalnik (#4, District 2)
15HG: Dina Wilmarth (#2, District 5)
16HG: Beatrice Toland (#1, District 6)
17HG: Amelia Bankston (#5, District 2)
18HG: Markus Gardd (#2, District 6)
