THE THIRTY FOURTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Jungle Gym"
INTRODUCTION
In sharp contrast to the year prior, the thirty-fourth year after the dark days passed with minimal rebellion. The mini rebellion of the previous year had been stomped out by the Capitol. The districts did not attempt to rebel again, having seen the sheer scale of the Capitol's power. President Coriolanus Snow, returning for his tenth year as president, was immensely pleased with how much the districts feared him. He had them right where he wanted them. Now that he did, he squeezed down his grasp and held it firm. Labor quotas in the districts that had rebelled skyrocketed. Snow would also make sure to rig some of their reapings to ensure that a few rebel's children were forced to enter the games. The thirty-third Hunger Games had been a massive success in the Capitol. With the success of those games, the Capitol was now wrapped up in a full Hunger Game frenzy. Betting was on overdrive. Spendings on ceremonies, parties, and festivities were some of the highest in history. Head Gamemaker Yarrow Dawnbloom returned for his second year as head gamemaker, having successfully executed one of the most coveted games yet. The arena for the thirty-fourth Hunger Games was a tropical rainforest. The cornucopia stood nestled in a lush valley in the very center of the arena. Masterfully crafted from the leaves and sticks of the jungle was the cornucopia. Among the cornucopia's weapons were spears, swords, chakrams, maces, pitchforks, tridents, and knives. But, by far, knives were the most plentiful. The cornucopia burst at the seams with knives of all shapes and sizes. They would be paramount for the tributes to be able to cut through the thickets and to get around. Beyond the cornucopia, the jungle stood in all of its majesty. The sound of birds singing their songs was nearly always present. A huge river, swift and cool, meandered through the arena. Waterfalls also cascaded from higher levels to lower levels of the arena.
The careers this year were some of the best that the academy had ever seen. There was a rather monumental stumble in District 1, however. Their male, who preferred the sword, loved all of the attention from the Capitol. When not in front of the nation, he was more laid back and unconventional. A girl named Brilliance was selected as District 1's female volunteer. However, a girl named Luster volunteered as well. Since Luster cried out "I volunteer" before Brilliance, she was officially a tribute. Brilliance was absolutely furious because she was eighteen and would never be able to volunteer again. District 2 certainly produced a much stronger batch than their counterparts from 1 and 4. Their male scored a ten. He had a sort of mysticism floating around him that sent a shiver down the spines of the outliers. He was a spear and scythe user. The District 2 female also scored a ten, with four-to-one odds of taking home the crown. She was skilled with the knife, able to work magic with that weapon. The District 4 male was noticeably the most powerful of the careers. Tidewater Ousley, the son of District 4's head academy trainer, stole the show with his beauty and his mastery of weaponry, particularly with tridents and axes. The District 4 female, a beautifully dark-haired girl, had sea-green eyes that she often received compliments on. She was short for her age, but she did insist that she was dangerous. Her training score supported that: a nine.
Outside of the careers, a strong alliance formed. It consisted of: Summer Erumphant, District 5's lively and bubbly girl; Grover Handa, the District 7 boy who managed an astounding ten via his looks and his mastery of the bow and axe; Wilda Comanor, District 7's golden-blonde, axe-brandishing girl; and Harvest Corum, the District 11 boy who had mastered the scythe. The quartet of Summer, Grover, Wilda, and Harvest became quickly known as the anti-careers because of their game plan. Their alliance formed with the goal of killing, primarily killing the careers. An alliance of this strength had perhaps never been seen before outside of the career districts. The careers, seeing competition, would be sure to try to eliminate them early. In general, the training scores were slightly higher than average. Tens were scored by District 2's tributes, Tidewater (District 4's boy), and Grover. The boy from District 1 and the girl from District 4 both earned nines. Eights were managed by Luster from 1 and Wilda from 7. The only sevens scored were Summer from 5, Ardath from 9, and Harvest and Silk from 11. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. There was a single volunteer outside of the careers: twelve year-old Zoe Jia from District 7, who was terminally ill and knew that her only hope of treatment was to win the Hunger Games. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Onyx Rieder, 17, (9) 7-1 and Luster Lemessurier, 17, (8) 9-1
District 2: Dante Dalgarno, 17, (10) 4-1 and Ceceillia Daynard, 16, (10) 4-1
District 3: Hephaestus Giles, 16, (5) 24-1 and Sirena Kline, 17, (5) 23-1
District 4: Tidewater Ousley, 18, (10) 3-1 and Quay Nietzsche, 17, (9) 5-1
District 5: Apollo Drinker, 15, (3) 50-1 and Summer Erumphant, 17, (7) 14-1
District 6: Cosmo Symonds, 18, (6) 16-1 and Lainey Decanio, 15, (4) 37-1
District 7: Grover Handa, 18, (10) 4-1 and Wilda Comanor, 16, (8) 8-1
District 8: Brian Silberstein, 13, (3) 75-1 and Elannia Ceaderbaume, 13, (3) 75-1
District 9: Ardath Fielder, 18, (7) 13-1 and Sondra Palacios, 14, (5) 29-1
District 10: Emmanuel Broadway, 16, (4) 32-1 and Zoe Jia, 12, (2) 90-1
District 11: Harvest Corum, 16, (7) 14-1 and Silk Urbanski, 16, (7) 14-1
District 12: Landreth Sunbird, 14, (4) 37-1 and Sorcha Whikkam, 13, (5) 51-1
THE GAMES
The tribute's mouths hung wide open as they rose up into the arena atop their pedestals. All around them were cascading waterfalls, colorful birds, and brightly colored jungle. It was warm: a slightly disagreeable seventy-two degrees Farenheit. The air felt damp and thick to the tributes. The arena itself was a wonder, masterfully created under Yarrow's supervision. It would prove to be one of the highlights of his career.
The bounty of the jungle was enticing to many a tribute. As such, when the gong pealed across the arena, four tributes fled immediately. They were Cosmo from 6, Brian from 8, Silk from 11, and Sorcha from 12.
Tidewater sprinted at the head of the onrush, his heavy footsteps thundering across the ground as he raced toward an axe that sat in a thicket of tall grass twenty yards from his pedestal. Tidewater swept up the axe and brought it down upon the nearest tribute: a nearby boy who was scrambling toward the cornucopia, zigzagging to avoid attacks. The blade of the axe buried itself into the tender flesh between his shoulder blades. The boy screamed as he collapsed to the ground. Tidewater cackled maniacally as he ripped his axe out of the boy's back and hacked open his torso.
Emmanuel Broadway, District 10 Male: 24th, Killed by Tidewater, Bloodbath
Dante, another fast runner, picked up a whimsically curved sword that lay on the ground. It rested in one of the few beams of sunlight filtering through the heavy canopy of the jungle trees. Dante quickly went in for the kill upon the twelve year-old Zoe from 10, who was trying to off him with a blade of her own with hopes of eliminating competition early on. Zoe had no such luck; her eyes widened with terror as Dante whirled around and slashed his blade across her chest. Zoe screeched as she slumped to the ground. She sobbed as Dante made quick work of her, reveling in his first kill. District 10's chances of victory were extinguished upon her death.
Zoe Jia, District 10 Female: 23rd, Killed by Dante, Bloodbath
Ceceillia picked up one of the smaller boys and lifted him a few feet into the air. The career threw her onto the ground with all of her might, watching with satisfaction as she crumpled to the lush grass like a torn paper doll. Ceceillia grabbed her by either side of the neck and did the deed. The snap was sickening to hear, and it gave many little girls and boys nightmares for years to come. A later victor would say that this was the most traumatizing death that they saw in the games as a child.
Apollo Drinker, District 5 Male: 22nd, Killed by Ceceillia, Bloodbath
Tidewater wrenched his axe out of Emmanuel's blood-lathered form and threw himself toward a nearby girl, who was crouched down on the ground, busy taking inventory of the contents of a slender black suitcase. The girl tried to scramble away, but the moment she got to her feet she tripped back over the suitcase. Realizing that trying to escape was hopeless, the girl closed her eyes as Tidewater's axe disemboweled her skeletal form.
Elannia Ceaderbaume, District 8 Female: 21st, Killed by Tidewater, Bloodbath
The anti-careers (Summer, Grover, Wilda, and Harvest) were not trained careers. Although they didn't want to go killing, they knew that flexing their combatant might to the audience would greatly increase their chances of survival. Wilda swept up a serrated dagger that sat on a sleek, wooden countertop inside of the cornucopia. She tossed the dagger toward a nearby boy. He screamed as the blade dug into his chest. The boy slumped like a stone as Wilda ran over to his side to rip her dagger out of his body. Wilda's face seemed to be completely void of expression, as if all of the emotions of the spectrum were cancelling out like the sides of a math equation.
Landreth Sunbird, District 12 Male: 20th, Killed by Wilda, Bloodbath
Quay may not have been the strongest career in the world, but she certainly was a fast and agile runner. Being a career, it was dangerous for her to be disarmed because of the shield that was painted onto her back. Quay zigzagged to avoid scattered attacks as she stormed toward a trident that leaned against the cornucopia. Quay picked up the trident and planted its three bronze prongs into the chest of a nearby girl who was trying to escape the cornucopia with a spile and a package of water bottles. Her form went limp as Quay's trident entered her chest; she promptly fell to the ground at Quay's feet.
Sirena Kline, District 3 Female: 19th, Killed by Quay, Bloodbath
Tidewater's axe swiftly and aerodynamically cut through the air as he stormed toward a girl who had embarrassed him during training by hiding his favorite weapon while he left for a bathroom break. Tidewater kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She fell to the ground, exposing her neck and upper torso. Tidewater mercilessly hacked away at these areas with his weapon, wiping off his bloodstained axe in the grass after he was done.
Lainey Decanio, District 6 Female: 18th, Killed by Tidewater, Bloodbath
Grover, the strongest tribute outside of the careers, certainly had a lot of expectations to meet up to. He locked his fingers around a throwing axe that he found in a cluster of yellow blossoms at his feet. Grover got within a reasonable distance of one of the careers—Tidewater—and threw. The throwing axe missed Tidewater, instead sabotaging a boy who was mere seconds from escaping the bloodbath into the thicket of the jungle. The axe buried itself into the back of his neck. He fell, blood gushing from his wound. Grover darted toward him, arcing around Tidewater, to rip his axe out of the boy's side.
Hephaestus Giles, District 3 Male: 17th, Killed by Grover, Bloodbath
Onyx hadn't managed to make a kill yet, but he was determined to do so before the bloodbath reached its conclusion. Onyx picked up a shogei that leaned against a crate inside of the cornucopia. Onyx hurled the knife, watching as its string trailed away. Onyx's face sported a triumphant expression as he watched the shogei arc along its path before landing squarely in Harvest's head. Onyx had eliminated one member of the anti-careers, something that made him very proud indeed.
Harvest Corum, District 11 Male: 16th, Killed by Onyx, Bloodbath
Tidewater made the final kill. The anti-careers, down to three members, had managed to scamper away from the cornucopia mere seconds prior. All of the careers stood around the cornucopia in silence and set their gaze upon the only non-career remaining at the cornucopia: little Sondra from 9. Sondra tried to duck behind a crate to shield herself from the sight of the careers, but they had already seen her. Tidewater did the honors, swinging his axe through the air and burying it perfectly into her skull. The crunching sound was quickly accompanied by ten cannon shots.
Sondra Palacios, District 9 Female: 15th, Killed by Tidewater, Bloodbath
With the bloodbath at its conclusion, the tributes spread out across the entire arena. The careers immediately began hunting, hoping to catch a few tributes off-guard, disoriented from the chaos of the bloodbath. Seconds after the final bloodbath cannon faded away, the careers grabbed their weapons and made for the brightly colored jungle.
The anti-careers were now down to three members: Summer from 5 and Grover and Wilda from 7. They were the fastest runners besides the careers. They also recognized the fact that they were the biggest threat to the careers' victory and so they basically had targets painted onto their backs. They mostly kept to the thick areas of the jungle, where they used the sharp edges of their weapons to cut through whatever thick vines lay in their way. The wildlife of the jungle was bountiful; by the end of the day, the three caballeros had cut down several parrots and several brightly-colored newts and squirrels. Grover, the nature survivalist expert, made sure that they were safe to eat. Then, the anti-careers started a fire on the bank of the river, where they could extinguish their fire in mere seconds if need-be. The meat was delicious, and after the fact they all dipped their feet into the rushing river to cool off.
District 11's Silk was certainly a popular girl, and it showed. She got a rather handsome number of sponsor gifts before the first day grew old. Her main downfall was the fact that she had ran away from the cornucopia immediately after the gong rang. Many people saw this as a display of "cowardice" or "unwillingness to kill". Silk eventually started gathering fruit to eat. Being from District 11, she recognized several edible fruits in the forest. Cosmo from 6, being the son of a recreationally fishing father, was a talented fisher. He filed a rock into a curved hook and then fashioned thin twine out of the fibers of the jungle trees. He threw his fishhook into the water and waited. It was nearly fifteen minutes later, and Cosmo was just about to give up when he felt a tug on the hook. He pulled. Flying toward him was a beautiful fish, of a silvery sheen and sparkling with every color of the rainbow. The fish hit him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He now knew one thing: the rivers had fish. He spent the rest of the day fishing, having filled up an entire buckets worth with them. With some salt from a sponsor, the fish were delicious. Sorcha from 12 had also run away from the bloodbath. She was virtually knowledgeless of how to find food or water in an environment like this. She didn't trust the brightly-colored wildlife, reasoning that bright colors were usually nature's way of telling you to stay away. Eventually, an idea popped into her head. She had seen a tribute holding something at the cornucopia: a spile. She had seen them back in District 12. She had seen how thirsty miners would shove a spile into a tree and watch as crystal clear water flowed into a bucket that they had placed below. Sorcha fashioned a spile with a piece of wood. She took down a parrot and used its claw as a carving tool. However crude, Sorcha held a spile in her hands. Quivering with anticipation and uncertainty, she treaded over to a nearby tree and cut a little dent into it using her rock. Then, with all of her might, Sorcha shoved the spile deep into the tree. Minutes passed in anticipation. Then, a slow drizzle of liquid began pouring from the tree. Sorcha cupped her hands under the drizzle and waited about three minutes for her hands to fill. Then, she shoved the clean water into her mouth. Ardath from District 9 was the strongest tribute outside of the careers and the anti-careers. He wielded a sickle that he had collected from the cornucopia. He ventured away from the horn, starting out fast and then gradually slowing down as fatigue took over. He had grabbed quite a bit from the bloodbath, and he was off to a good start.
Brian from 8 was young. He was weak, and didn't fully comprehend the importance of getting the hell away from the careers. He jogged all of the way away from the cornucopia, and in that time he made no effort to silence his footsteps. Of course, it was only a matter of time until the careers stumbled upon the clumsy boy. Brian was trying to dig a hole in the dirt, noticing that whenever he did so water pooled up in the bottom of the hole. He was rather loud and clumsy in his work. This quickly attracted the attention of the careers. Tidewater and Quay heard his loud sounds from the cornucopia and dismissed themselves to go on and hunt him down. They quietly prowled through the arena with hopes of remaining hidden from his sense of hearing. They found him quickly. Tidewater did the honors, burying his axe into his torso. The blade of the axe lodged itself between two of his ribs and dislocated several other bones. He fell, heaving, where Quay finished him off by plunging her dagger deep into the side of his head.
Brian Silberstein, District 8 Male: 14th, Killed by Tidewater and Quay, Day 1
After Brian's death, Day 1 trickled by, virtually empty of conflict among the thirteen remaining tributes. Yarrow was rather pleased with how fast-paced these games were going. He wanted to get the ball rolling, which he would do on Days 2 and 3 with several different mutts. The tributes spread out and stuck to their hiding places. Sorcha had her spile, and so she could get water without having to make the long trek to the river. All of the other tributes had to lumber over to the river whenever they needed water. This would expose them greatly, as the bank of the river was virtually void of plant life except for some weeds.
When the careers went hunting on Day 2, they instantaneously went to the river, reasoning that the tributes would probably be clustered around it in seek of its water and abundant supply of fish. The river was long and coiled across the arena like some kind of intestine. It would be nearly impossible for the careers to traverse its entire length travelling in one group, and so they split up into three groups of two. Onyx and Dante, two rather close friends, requested to be put in a group together. Quay and Ceceillia, companions as well, walked toward each other. That left Tidewater with the most pathetic career: Luster from 1. Tidewater scowled. The rest of the day for Tidewater was spent dragging her around everywhere. Multiple times Tidewater tried to abandon her, but each time he failed. The duo settled down on the riverside at noon, where they gathered food to eat. Quay and Ceceillia were fast and elegant in their movements, and they traversed about a third of the way across the river's shore when they settled down onto the bank for food. Quay fastened a fishhook, and the two feasted on delicious fish for a few minutes. Onyx and Dante were the wanderers of the pack. They used the river as a general guide for their movements, but they did not stick perfectly to its meandering course. They regularly ventured away from the river, only to return several minutes later and keep walking down its shore. Onyx and Dante were growing hungry around noon. As such, they travelled a few yards into the rainforest to gather berries to eat. Dante collected them in a basket. They walked around the jungle to collect the most flamboyant and flavorful fruit that they could find. Then, they wandered back to the river.
Onyx and Dante cackled with glee when they spotted weaponless Cosmo greedily gulping down the river's cool water. The two careers ran toward him, trying to silence their footsteps and their laughter. Cosmo spotted his pursuers. He immediately dropped his fishhook and made a beeline for the jungle, where he hoped to remain hidden in the thick. The two careers pursued him. Cosmo was a fast runner, but he was not nearly as fast as the careers. Cosmo screamed as Dante's curved sword slashed across his back. He tumbled to the ground, where the careers used jungle vines to bind him. They were in need of some really nice food, having grown fed up with the jungle's fruits and berries. Drawing outtheur kills would get them more sponsor gifts, they reasoned. They spent a good hour circling the boy, occasionally lunging forward just to make him jump. Cosmo screamed all the way, slowly dying from the slash wound he had sustained. Eventually the careers grew bored of him. When they did, Onyx did the honors, burying his shogei into Cosmo's chest.
Cosmo Symonds, District 6 Male: 13th, Killed by Dante and Onyx, Day 2
On Day 2, there was little action among the anti-careers. They knew that the careers would be out for them, and so when they woke up on the morning of Day 2 they switched camps. First, they poured cool river water over their fire's cooling coals, watching as they sizzled with fury. Then, they packed up their things and went. The jungle was thick; they had to regularly use their blades to cut through whatever was in their way. By the midafternoon of Day 2, the temperature had risen to a hot ninety degrees Farenheit. This was not so hot as to be a survival problem for the anti-careers, but it was extremely uncomfortable. The napes of their necks were damp with sweat. Very late that night, when they knew that the careers had probably gone to sleep, the trio ventured back to the river. The roaring of its current was audible from virtually everywhere in the arena, so they could easily find it. They splashed themselves in the river water and savored the sensation of the cool water sliding across their tongues. Although they had stocked up on water before leaving that morning, that water was the most refreshing yet.
Much like the anti-careers, Day 2 didn't mean much for the other tributes. Sorcha lost her spile around noon and needed to fashion a new one. She found the perfect piece of wood, but couldn't catch any birds. Last time, she had used one of their claws to file the wood into the perfect shape. Now, the parrots were never caught in her grasp. Perhaps the notes that the bird had squawked out while it was dying was a message to the others to stay high. Eventually, Sorcha gave up and tried a rock. It worked, but inefficiently. The spile she was left with had a crude frame. Throughout Day 2, Silk amused herself by trying to teach herself how to climb a tree. It was a risky business, as if she sustained any sort of injury she couldn't get any professional medical care. But, perhaps anything was better than doing nothing. The sun was at its zenith when Silk had finally reached the top of a twenty foot-high tree. She had stumbled multiple times and was now covered with scrapes. None of them were deep enough to become infected, but they still made her paranoid, so much so that she stopped climbing and milled around the jungle instead.
After Cosmo's death, Day 2 slithered by without any interaction between the tributes. On Day 3, the anti-careers went with a new strategy. It stemmed from the realization that they would easy prey if they slept in one long period at night. It was Grover who had the idea at first after seeing the alarm clock that Summer had salvaged from the cornucopia. They took two-hour-long power naps throughout the day. This would let them avoid ten hours of defenselessness each night. He was perhaps inspired by Discordia Komine, the victor of the twenty-ninth games, who also sprinkled small naps throughout the day. This strategy would pay off in the long run. They would see.
Ardath from 9 was the tribute that the gamemakers had seen the least of over the course of the games thus far. He had had no interaction with the other tributes, much less had any kills under his belt. The gamemakers summoned up a muttation to pursue him: a toucan nearly four feet tall. Ardath awoke on the morning of Day 3 to the feeling of a smooth, flat surface rubbing against his chin. Ardath, in his sleep-addled state, was groggily unable to identify the surface. He picked the sleep out of his eyes and looked up. He yelped, panicked, when he saw the toucan's mouth widening around his head. Ardath leapt to his feet and fled. The toucan squawked behind him in fury, zipping after him. Ardath eventually lost the creature when he reached a drop-off. He got to the ground and rolled down the steep hill, breaking through vines and cracking sticks along the way. He came to a gradual stop at the bottom of the valley. From there, Ardath decided to walk to the river, hearing its familiar trickle in the distance.
He emerged right into the area where the anti-careers were packing up their supplies, ready to go hunting. Ardath tried to scramble, but the three tributes were on him like bloodhounds. They ran over the sandy ground toward him and threw him to the ground. Summer questioned how they should kill him, whereas Wilda suggested that they use him to their help. Grover blocked out their suggestions as he reached his axe into the air and plunged it deep into Ardath's chest, sedating him. Ardath slid off of his axe. The two others gaped at Grover with their eyes wide open. They had not known that they were dealing with a killer as savage as the killer that Grover had just displayed. "Come on, guys," Grover said to his allies after kicking Ardath's remains into a corner. The others quickly obeyed, scrambling after him. They began to have second thoughts about being allied with the merciless killer.
Ardath Fielder, District 9 Male: 12th, Killed by Grover, Day 3
The careers hunted feverishly for the remainder of Day 3, displeased with the fact that they found no kills that day. Silk and Sorcha, now the only two remaining tributes besides the careers and the anti-careers, were on the path toward each other. They would meet on Day 4. The Capitol, and indeed, the whole nation, was curious to see how they would react to each other. Would Silk and Sorcha ally? Would they act hostile to each other? Time would tell.
Day 4, surprisingly, passed without any deaths. Around noon, Silk had a close call with the duo of Ceceillia and Quay. Silk heard the thump of their footsteps and beelined for her hiding place. She could see the two figures less than ten yards away, now. Silk hurriedly ducked down behind a tree, hoping and praying that they would not see or hear her. Then, Silk stepped on a stick. Her entire body stiffened. The careers whipped their heads toward her and stood still for several seconds. Then, Quay watched as a squirrel wiggled out from under Silk's body and scampered away. "It's just that squirrel," was Quay's remark. Then the two career girls were off. Silk had never felt more grateful for an animal in her entire lifetime. This encounter taught Silk that the place she was in wasn't safe. She strayed from her course, and the nation was disappointed. The much-anticipated encounter of Silk and Sorcha was not to be. Sorcha kept going straight along her path and walked straight past the area where Silk had nearly been slaughtered by the careers. Sorcha's new spile began to chip, and so she spent several hours fashioning a third one out of wood. After nearly five hours of hard work making the spile, the feeling of cool water sloshing against her throat was almost heavenly.
The anti-careers, who had been returning to the river each night after their hunt, continued this trend. Six o'clock at night came, and Summer, Wilda, and Grover decided to split up. Grover did this to cover more ground. Summer and Wilda agreed just so that they could get away from Grover. They returned to camp that night, reasoning that Grover's fury if they abandoned the alliance would not be something they wanted to be added to their list of problems.
Day 5 was similarly deathless. The anti-careers went about their routine, as did the careers. Out of the three groups of careers, two remained content whereas one (Tidewater and Luster) remained unhappy. It was kind of a dictatorship at that point; Luster obeyed Tidewater's commands without question. She knew that disobeying him might present her with his wrath, which, with a career, was never, ever, ever a good thing. Silk and Sorcha went along their paths, not doing much. Sorcha's new spile was faring well. Silk milled around the jungle all day, not doing much. She settled down that night with her back against a tall tree.
On the morning of Day 6, Yarrow decided to listen to the popular public opinion. It was ridiculous to be this far into the games and to have all six careers remaining, many people and press said. Yarrow hoped to thin out the crowd of careers. He did so by showering them with a hoard of tracker jackers. The specially-engineered muttations chased after them as the barreled blindly through the jungle. Quay was the first to fall, having tripped on a root. Her ankle was lodged under the root, and she could not escape no matter how hard she thrashed. Quay reached for her trident, the sharp edge of which she used to saw away at the root. She finally escaped, but when she did the wasps had caught up to her. Quay screeched with pain as the tracker jackers stung her and then left her to look for more prey. She stumbled through the arena, hallucinations controlling her vision. She finally succumbed to the poison five minutes later, the first career to perish in the thirty-fourth Hunger Games.
Quay Nietszche, District 4 Female: 11th, Killed by Tracker Jacker Muttations, Day 6
The tracker jackers only made one more career kill before they were recalled by the gamemakers. They made the kill in Onyx, who had tripped on a vine and fell to the ground. His eyes widened with terror as the tracker jackers hooked onto his body and stung him, injecting their venom into his bloodstream. He wasn't sure what to do except pray that his death would quick as, one-by-one, his bodily functions began to cease.
Onyx Rieder, District 1 Male: 10th, Killed by Tracker Jacker Muttations, Day 6
The anti-careers were alarmed at the tracker jacker attack; even though they had not been attacked themselves, the screams coming from the cornucopia were filled with too much pain for any of them, even Grover, to be at ease. Perhaps out of paranoia, they slept extra close to the river's bank that night. If need-be, they could roll into the river at a moment's notice and be completely safe from the tracker jackers. They, of course, recognized that they would get swept away in an instant if they went into the river. As such, they slept near a part of the river that was just before a rocky area and so was rather calm, so much so that they could swim in it with ease. They did so that evening to cool off from the broiling heat of the rainforest.
Day 7 crawled by, deathless. The careers were taken aback by the attack of the tracker jackers, and they had barricaded themselves into the cornucopia and not gone out to hunt that day. It made them seem cowardly, and they lost many sponsors. They would stay in their dark cornucopia hideout for the entirety of Day 8, which would also pass deathless.
The sun rose on Day 9, and Yarrow once again decided to listen to the popular request of the public. They were disappointed at how the encounter of Silk and Sorcha and not happened. Yarrow forced the two tributes together via rainbow-colored snakes. The girls ran as fast as they could away from the snakes, and eventually the two girls spotted each other over the horizon. The snakes slithered away, leaving the girls by themselves. Each was entranced by the sight of the other, for it had been a long time since either of them had seen another human that wasn't a bloodthirsty killer. They were so hypnotized that they walked toward each other and just locked gazes. Suddenly, Sorcha pulled her spile out of a fanny pack that she had crafted. "A gift to you?" Sorcha said as she dropped the wooden spile into Silk's hand.
"Allies?" Silk returned the same question, just worded in a different way. Silk made the decision at this point to display her secret. Silk hesitantly reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial of thick, clear liquid. Poison. "I've been saving it for when I really need it," Silk said. "We're the only ones left besides the careers and the other alliance going on in 5-7." Silk said with a tone of finality in her voice.
And it was official. The two girls set up a permanent shelter. It was hard work, but it was very satisfying to complete. Nestled in the bottom of a valley was a house made of felled logs splayed into a circle, where alternating stacks of logs piled up to a spiraled roof. After covering it with mud and leaves, it blended into the rest of the earth rather well. The two girls could fit comfortably inside. Neither Silk nor Sorcha dared to return to the river at this point in the competition, and so they used Sorcha's spile to collect water from the trees.
Chaos occurred in the anti-careers on the morning of Day 10. The sun had just risen above the east horizon when the much-coveted tracker jacker mutts were unleashed to wreak havoc on the anti-careers. They were sleeping on the riverside at the time. They awoke to the sound of the buzzing. They identified their pursuers by sound before they could identify them by sight. Grover and Summer had managed to scramble to their feet and sink into the river, where they were safe. Contrarily, Wilda had fallen asleep with both of her ears folded. She couldn't hear the buzzing of the tracker jackers. Grover and Summer watched from the river as Wilda was stung by the tracker jackers. Then, the wasps were recalled by the gamemakers. They were curious to see how the alliance of Grover and Summer would end; they did not want to kill any more members of the anti-careers.
Summer and Grover rushed to Wilda's side, watching with earnest as she slipped away and died. During training, when the two had shared their interests, Wilda had remarked that she had always loved rivers. She loved their peace and quiet. As such, when Wilda died, Summer decided to give her a sort of dignity. Grover went out hunting, leaving Summer along a the anti-career camp, of which only two members remained. Summer created a raft out of leaves and sticks from the trees and plucked several blossoms that matched Wilda's ocean blue eyes. Summer placed the raft into the river and placed Wilda onto the raft. Then, the raft began to float away. Wilda watched, sobbing, as her friend floated away down the river, at peace.
Wilda Comanor, District 7 Female: 9th, Killed by Tracker Jacker Muttations, Day 10
That left the final eight: Luster Lemessurier from District 1, Dante Dalgarno and Ceceilia Daynard from District 2, Tidewater Ousley from District 4, Summer Erumphant from District 5, Grover Handa from District 7, Silk Urbanski from District 11, and Sorcha Whikkam from District 12.
Grover returned several hours later to find Summer curled up beside a tree, balling her eyes out. Grover demanded to know what she was crying out. She strung out a series of meaningless words. Grover was able to catch words like "river" and "peace" and "death" and "angel". Grover knew what she meant when she saw Wilda floating away from the riverbank, at peace.
Grover was rather floored by her grief. If Summer was going to let herself cry every time an ally died, she wouldn't have the energy to force her way to the finish line. Finish line... an idea sparked in his head. When Grover's firm fingers wrapped around his axe, Summer's anguish melted away and transformed into fear. She released a string of words that blurred together.
Summer, who had not realized that Grover had settled on killing her, hurriedly proposed a compromise. "I was just thinking about splitting up. It's too far into the games anyway. I'll ge…" the last part of her sentence was never heard as Grover lifted his axe into the air and buried it into Summer's skull. Grover looked morosely over Summer's dead body.
"Poor girl," Grover murmured, shame and triumph warring within him.
Summer Erumphant, District 5 Female: 8th, Killed by Grover, Day 10
The two cannons in one day had spooked out Silk and Sorcha enough that they never left their wooden-log home for the entirety of Day 10. Sorcha had stocked herself and Silk up with enough water to last them a week if need-be, and the two girls were secure in their little home made out of logs.
On Day 11, the careers heard talking from a few yards away. The four remaining careers had been hunting in one big pack for the last couple of days. The talking was coming from down in a valley. The careers lumbered down and peeked into the house. Silk and Sorcha, inside, screamed and busted through the back wall. They tried to make a run for it. Sorcha managed to kill one of the careers, hurling her knife into her chest. Ceceillia collapsed to the ground, where her allies kept on running, abandoning her. Ceceillia lay on the ground, blood oozing from her chest as she slowly died from the wound that she had sustained. Ceceillia died with the knowledge that at least Sorcha was now defenseless. She died with her hand locked around the knife that was planted securely into her torso.
Ceceillia Daynard, District 2 Female: 7th, Killed by Sorcha, Day 11
Now that the two girls were both defenseless, it was easy for the careers to kill them. Tidewater was the fastest runner among the careers. He decided to make a splash with hopes of impressing the sponsors. Tidewater lifted up his axe and, in one wide breadth, decapitated both of the girls. Their heads fell to the ground beside each other, the rest of their bodies not far behind. Now, the only tributes remaining were the three careers and Grover from 7.
Silk Urbanski, District 11 Female: 6th, Killed by Tidewater, Day 11
Sorcha Whikkam, District 12 Female: 5th, Killed by Tidewater, Day 11
Grover recognized that his only remaining competition was the careers. He didn't think that he was fully prepared to take on a group of three careers, and so he waited around for a few of them to die off.
There was no doubt that Luster from District 1 was the weakest remaining tribute. The careers all went to sleep in the cornucopia that night. Two o'clock a.m. on Day 12, Tidewater woke up to his buzzing alarm clock that he had found behind a crate in the cornucopia a few days prior. Tidewater wiggled out of his sleeping bag and grabbed his axe. He tiptoed over to Luster's sleeping form and bludgeoned her in the chest with the weapon's sharp blade. Luster sat up with a start and gave out a choked gasp before slipping back to the ground in death. Now, only three tributes remained.
Luster Lemessurier, District 1 Male: 4th, Killed by Tidewater, Day 11
Yarrow began to grow impatient as Day 12 passed, deathless and conflict-less between the three surviving tributes. Grover spent most of the day hunting, not only for tributes but also for much-needed food and water that would help him during the finale.
The two surviving careers, Dante and Tidewater, went to sleep on the night of Day 12 with hesitance. They knew that they might only get in a few hours of sleep before the gamemakers threw a predator their way. They slept like rocks that night, wanting to get in good night's sleep's for the big day coming up.
Only one of the careers would experience that big day. Tidewater was not actually asleep, only pretending. He wiggled out of his sleeping bag once he was absolutely certain that Dante was asleep. Tidewater locked his fingers around his axe. He was about to betray his ally. Although he was a little hesitant, his constitution as a career stated that it was his goal to return home at any cost. Tidewater shoved the blade of the axe deep into sleeping Dante's chest. The axe lodged itself between two of his ribs and sliced through his lungs, and Dante was dead within seconds. Dante had been stupid to fall asleep beside Tidewater. He should have learned a lesson from Luster's death before his.
Dante Dalgarno, District 2 Male: 3rd, Killed by Tidewater, Day 13
The gamemakers had reached their cherished final two, and luckily it consisted of the two most beloved tributes of the year. Tidewater Ousley was one of the finest products of District 4's academy. He was a wizard with the axe. Additionally, he was funny, witty, and clever. He would make a great addition to District 4's readily growing lineup of victors. If he won, he would have an impressive nine kills, the second highest number of kills for any tribute in Hunger Games history at the time, after only Molly Toliday of the third games, with ten kills. He would also mark District 4's third victor in five years if he was able to take home the crown. Grover Handa was the cross of two lumberjack parents. He had managed to score an astounding ten in training, tied with Tidewater. He flexed District 7's might to the audience, and if Grover won the Capitol would be forced to send District 7 more resources, less they stop producing popular tributes like Grover. The thought of parcel day in District 7 made Grover smile. If he won, he would bring the lumber district its first ever victor.
The morning of Day 13, Yarrow lit the world ablaze. The jungle trees had such high water content that it was difficult to get the ball rolling, but once the fire started it quickly grew out of control. Tidewater, at the cornucopia, obviously had the advantage. Grover was in the woods, putting on quite a show as he dodged the roaring inferno.
What happened next is one of the greatest moments in Hunger Games history; nobody can call themselves a games fan who is unable to describe the following events in detail. Grover was running away from the approaching fire when a burning branch fell from above him. Grover was consumed by its shadow, and he saw the falling log just in time to duck down into a ditch, where the branch landed on top of him. As he tried to wiggle out of the narrow gap between the branch and the edge of the ditch, his shirt got caught on the branch. He tried to get out, but was unsuccessful. Suddenly, the branch that he was trapped underneath was lit on fire by a falling twig that was on fire. Grover reached down and ripped off the parts of his shirt that were hooked onto the log. The material that made up the shirt was strong; Grover gritted his teeth and pulled with all of his might to cause the material to rip.
The instant that Grover was free, another log fell from the sky. Panicked, Grover threw himself forward. What happened next is better seen in slow-motion. While flying forward through the air, his backpack, which was strapped to his back, weighed the upper half of his body down, making him parallel to the ground. The falling branch was less than a second from crushing Grover, now. Grover slid perfectly under the falling log. The log crashed into the ground less than a tenth of a second after Grover had finished travelling under it. Then, he was off, ready to face his final opponent: Tidewater.
Back at the cornucopia, Tidewater wasn't really doing much. The gamemakers decided to shake things up a little for him. They unleashed the largest muttation yet after him: a jaguar. The jaguar was huge, and its teeth were sharp, as were its claws. The jaguar was designed not to kill Tidewater, only mildly injure him. Yarrow did not want Tidewater perishing before the cherished final battle. For nearly an hour Tidewater was able to fend off the thing. But, with every strike from his axe or his trident, the creature just got angrier. Then, out of the corner of his vision, Tidewater saw Grover bowling into the clearing. Grover faked a severe injury for reasons that would become obvious about twelve seconds later. Grover collapsed to the ground, fake-retching, and holding his hip. He screamed with pain.
At that moment, Tidewater thought, it would have been easy to take out Grover. But, the jaguar mutt was his number one priority now. Suddenly, Tidewater abandoned all caution and lunged forward at the jaguar. He knew that there was no way the gamemakers would let the jaguar kill him, and so Tidewater's risk of death was probably zero. Tidewater planted his axe squarely into the jaguar's head. It roared so loudly that the very earth seemed to shake. Out of the wound drizzled not blood but an evil black liquid. Slowly but surely, the jaguar muttation died.
Smugly, Tidewater strolled over to where Grover lay on the ground. All he saw was grass. Grover was nowhere to be found. Tidewater peeked behind him and all of the sudden Grover was on top of him, knocking him to the ground and beating the side of his head with his fist. Grover stood up and buried his axe into Tidewater's torso once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, six times, seven times, eight times. Tidewater's body quickly succumbed to the grievous wounds, leaving Grover the only remaining tribute.
Tidewater Ousley, District 4 Male: 2nd, Killed by Grover, Day 13
"Grover Handa of District 7, you are the victor of the thirty-fourth annual Hunger Games!" Yarrow sang as a hovercraft descended to collect District 7's first ever victor.
Grover stood and let the hot waves of air from the forest fire blow against his face, the face that had seen too much.
Grover Handa, District 7 Male: Victor of the Thirty Fourth Hunger Games, Day 13
AFTERMATH
District 7 was elated to finally receive their first victor, and many would learn to love kind and benevolent Grover Handa. He donated eighty percent of the payouts of his victory to the poor of District 7. Grover's victory left District 10 the only district without any victors. District 10 was now the laughingstock of the nation.
Grover settled into the previously vacant Victor's Village of District 7, this first victor to do so.
His victory tour went terribly. In District 5, he was showered with hatred and ill-will because of how he had murdered their beloved Summer. Several other districts were disgusted by his tactics. Most extremely was District 4, whose people were furious about how Grover had "stolen" their victor.
Grover would live to the age of thirty, dying a terribly early death around the time of the forty-sixth annual Hunger Games, trapped in his Victor's Village home when it caught on fire due to a gas leak. In his lifetime, he would marry, but would divorce a few months later because of how terribly his husband was abusing him. He would adopt one daughter who would unfortunately die in the house fire along with him.
NEWS
Grover moves into the Victor's Village of District 7, the first victor to do so.
Mags Flanagan adopts her third child, a two-year-old boy named Max.
Dayta Albrand marries her second and final spouse, a man named Kemper. The two would remain married until Kemper's death a great many years later.
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)
19HG: Odius Ruttler (#6, District 2)
20HG: Seeder Kaiser (#1, District 11)
21HG: Freya Digard (#7, District 2)
22HG: Gold Carson (#4, District 1)
23HG: Ashlyn Breston (#3, District 6)
24HG: Dayta Albrand (#3, District 3)
25HG: Diamond Griego (#5, District 1)
26HG: Thor Rosner (#8, District 2)
27HG: Magnet Lisagor (#4, District 3)
28HG: Maria Dutra (#3, District 4)
29HG: Discordia Komine (#9, District 2)
30HG: Barley Chisolm (#1, District 9)
31HG: Marlin Coppi (#4, District 4)
32HG: Wyatt Kerdler (#5, District 3)
33HG: Molly Soltan (#5, District 4)
34HG: Grover Handa (#1, District 7)
