THE THIRTY FIFTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Under the Weather"
INTRODUCTION
President Coriolanus Snow, now returning for his eleventh year as president of Panem, saw that the nation's economy was beginning to suffer because of how harshly he was treating the districts that had rebelled. President Snow was slowly but surely loosening his iron grip on the districts that had rebelled two years prior: Districts 3, 8, and 9 the most notable among them. The instant that Snow released his clutch completely, talk of revolution began to spring up in the districts once more. Rebellion blossomed around the nation, and soon, for the second time in three years, the districts rebelled against the Capitol. The rebellion was brutally crushed by the Capitol. President Snow was pleased at the display of the Capitol's military might as he watched thousands of rebels be killed by peacekeepers. Soon, the districts were forced to accept that their large-scale riot had failed. Snow would not tolerate rebellion, and so he raised labor quotas higher than they had been ever before. Statistics show that, in the six months following Snow's order, rates of whippings, floggings, execution, murder, and suicide nearly quadrupled. Rising from the ashes of rebellion was an influential Capitol politician: Ronan Salazar by name. Ronan entranced the nation with his promises of lowering labor quotas and taxes, and increasing minimum wage throughout the country. He even promised to imprison the "greedy, treacherous snake that was Coriolanus Snow" when he took over as leader of the nation. Snow was infuriated at how another Capitolite dared to question his position as president, and Ronan was poisoned to death before you could say dictator. Now that Coriolanus had even the strongest quivering with terror, the thirty-fifth Hunger Games came along to put the icing on his ever so dastardly cake. Yarrow Dawnbloom returned once more as head gamemaker, now in his third year on the job. The two years prior, he had been giving infinite sums of money and unlimited freedom to make whatever arena his heart desired. However, this year, President Coriolanus Snow decided the arena for him, at least in a way. Snow insisted that he reuse a past arena, but not just any arena. Snow made a list of the victors who were the most loyal to the Capitol. Those who obeyed its rule without question. Snow demanded that Yarrow's next arena be a repeat of a past arena that had been won by a loyal victor. Snow hoped that this would drill into the district citizen's hands the lives of luxury that would come to those who obeyed him. From Snow's shortlisted series of victors he deemed loyal, Yarrow selected the fourth Hunger Games' arena, modeled after the four seasons. Those year's games had been won by Amelia Spangler, the first ever District 2 victor. Amelia set a precedent of District 2 victors being the most obedient to the Capitol, and Snow was pleased by Yarrow's choice.
During the riots, academy training had been temporarily cancelled. They were also still reeling from the increasing labor demands of President Snow. As such, this year's careers were more lacking than usual and scored much lower than they typically did. District 1, overall, produced the weakest batch. Their male, the son of a candlemaker mother and glass-blower father, was actually among the lower class of District 1. He only scored an eight in training, showcasing his substantial albeit clunky and clumsy talents with the bow and arrow. District 1's female, a rather attractive girl with golden blonde hair, was funny and childish, but in a cute way. She scored an eight, showcasing her dagger skills. District 2's male was among the strongest tributes this year. Managing an impressive ten, he could work magic with the spear and also with the knife. The District 2 female chose the throwing knives, a steadfast classic for females from the quarry district. District 4 produced, by far, the strongest batch. Their male was tall, a fast runner, and hardier than any other tribute that the academy had seen in a long time. He was strong, too, and he had looks to match. A gamemaker remarked that they even considered giving him an eleven. The District 4 female was strong, swift, and stealthy. She chose the trident along with her male counterpart, like most District 4 tributes.
Outside of the career pack, the training scores were rather average. Two eights were scored by Linden and Autumn from 7, who both chose the throwing axe as their weapon of choice. Sevens were managed by Tiberius from 6, Oxford from 10, Gruber from 11, and Jacinth and Garnet from 12. The rest of the tributes scored between six and one in their private sessions. Tailor Dunan from District 8 was physically handicapped and had been wheelchair-bound most of his life. He was the first tribute to score a one in ten years. There was a single volunteer outside of the careers: Tiberius Chevry from District 6. He was on death row for the murder of several individuals, and he volunteered into the games hoping to dodge, or at least postpone, his death. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Vizier Brathwaite, 18, (8) 9-1 and Fabrege Hendenning, 17, (8) 10-1
District 2: Rome Hallowell, 18, (10) 5-1 and Dronninga Hinnon, 15, (9) 10-1
District 3: Caius Lowry, 14, (4) 40-1 and Cosima Chinnici, 15, (4) 35-1
District 4: Troy Stiles, 18, (10) 3-1 and Ceto Odell, 18, (10) 5-1
District 5: Genesis Safire, 13 (2) 79-1 and Aeryn Pagliaro, 18, (5) 20-1
District 6: Tiberius Chevry, 17, (7) 15-1 and Muta Cloes, 16, (6) 17-1
District 7: Linden Casarano, 16, (8) 11-1 and Autumn Melvin, 16, (8) 11-1
District 8: Tailor Dunan, 12, (1) 100-1 and Zina Naddeo, 18, (6) 19-1
District 9: Bari Mcpherson, 16, (6) 16-1 and Greta Vanover, 13, (5) 38-1
District 10: Oxford Chefte, 18, (7) 15-1 and Mina Butcher, 15, (6) 18-1
District 11: Gruber Frohook, 17, (7) 15-1 and Myrtle Talbot, 13, (3) 60-1
District 12: Jacinth Pulley, 18, (7) 15-1 and Garnet Walsh, 18, (7) 15
THE GAMES
The arena was a circle with a radius of about two kilometers. This was smaller than most arenas at the time. The cornucopia stood in the very center of the arena. Made of ivory, its weapons consisted mostly of whips, batons, knives, and swords. The circular arena was split into four slices. To the north was the winter slice. The terrain was cold and snowy. It was, naturally, the coldest section of the arena. A tall, rocky mountain dominated the landscape. The only food was the edible moss that clung to the side of the mountain. To the east was a lovely peach grove. Its peaches were delicious, and their mouth-watering aromas caused the tribute's mouths to flood with saliva. The south, summer, was a rolling green field. It was mostly bare except for the occasional tree. To the west, representing autumn, was an autumn forest with brown and red and orange and gold leaves. Viewers could practically see the lightbulbs flicking on in each tribute's mind as they realized that the arena was a model of the four seasons. The cold, biting wind from the north and the warm summer zephyrs from the south actually swirled together in the clearing, causing rather strong winds around the cornucopia.
When the gong's familiar note rang across the arena, a sizable number of tributes ran away instantly. They were Genesis from 5, Greta from 9, Gruber from 11, and Jacinth from 12. This large number, coupled with the weaker batch of careers, would make for a rather puny bloodbath. Only eight lives would be claimed in the opening minutes, a rather shoddy number in comparison to the usual twelve or thirteen.
Back at the cornucopia, Troy raced at the head of the chaotic scene. He was the fastest tribute by a wide margin. It showed. The speed at which he thundered across the terrain took many a tribute and many a Capitol viewer by great surprise. He made his first kill before even reaching the cornucopia. Little Tailor from 8 was hobbling away from his pedestal toward a package of plastic sheets that sat twelve yards away. Troy thundered over to him and grabbed him by either side of the neck. The powerful career snapped his neck with ease. He collapsed soundlessly to the earth, the first tribute to die in the thirty-fifth Hunger Games.
Tailor Dunan, District 8 Male: 24th, Killed by Troy, Bloodbath
Fabrege, although not the most powerful career in the world, was undoubtedly a very fast sprinter. She elegantly raced across the terrain with all of the grace of a gazelle, her gaze fixed upon a serrated dagger that leaned humbly against a black crate. Fabrege swept up the blade and fluidly attacked her first prey: a nearby girl who was trying to worm her way past her. The girl couldn't move out of the way fast enough before Fabrege pinned her to the ground. Fabrege's dagger easily carved out the girl's chest.
Myrtle Talbot, District 11 Female: 23rd, Killed by Fabrege, Bloodbath
Dronninga had run all of the way into the cornucopia for a belt of throwing knives. She began throwing the second that they were clipped securely around her waist. She lifted one of the knives into the air and aimed for a nearby boy, who was on the ground taking inventory of the contents of an orange backpack. Dronninga was about to throw when a huge weight knocked her to the ground. It was Tiberius. The District 6 boy had rammed into her back, and even though Dronninga was strong Tiberius was stronger. Tiberius unsheathed his knife and placed it on Dronninga's neck. Tiberius slowly drove the knife inward. The skin broke; blood burbled forward. Dronninga's belt of knives having been ripped off by Tiberius, she was defenseless as the murderer boy speared his knife the rest of the way through her neck.
Dronninga Hinnon, District 2 Female: 22nd, Killed by Tiberius, Bloodbath
Now that three tributes had died, things were beginning to organize within the careers. Groups of careers had clumped up, two or three careers in each miniature pack of sorts. Troy pounced upon a weaker boy. The boy was paralyzed with terror as Troy grabbed either side of his neck and twisted. He fell to the grass, never to rise again, as Troy reveled in his second kill.
Caius Lowry, District 3 Male: 21st, Killed by Troy, Bloodbath
Troy soon realized how inefficient it was for him to keep slaughtering tributes with his bare hands. He swept up two chakrams that sat about sixty yards from his pedestal. The weapons fell snugly into his grasp. He lifted one into the air and hurled it with all of his might toward the nearest girl. The girl screamed as the razor of the chakram buried itself into her hip. Nearby Vizier polished her off with an arrow from his bow.
Aeryn Pagliaro, District 5 Female: 20th, Killed by Troy and Vizier, Bloodbath
After wrenching his arrow out of Aeryn's dead body, Vizier heard shuffling behind him. Vizier whirled around and found himself face-to-face with Tiberius, the volunteer District 6 boy. Tiberius lunged forward. Vizier was so shocked by his burst of energy that he couldn't move out of the way fast enough before Tiberius buried the blade of his knife deep into Vizier's head. It took quite a lot of effort for Tiberius to wrench his knife out of its resting place lodged between two of the plates of Vizier's skull. Tiberius had now killed two of the careers.
Vizier Brathwaite, District 1 Male: 19th, Killed by Tiberius, Bloodbath
Ceto picked up a spear that leaned against the cornucopia. She turned sharply on her heel and planted the tip of the spear into the upper abdomen of a girl who was trying to worm her way past her. Ceto's spear lodged itself in-between two of her ribs. The girl spasmed and collapsed at Ceto's side like a torn paper doll.
Zina Naddeo, District 8 Female: 18th, Killed by Ceto, Bloodbath
Troy made the bloodbath's final kill. Young Mina from 10 had hidden inside of the cornucopia, hoping to wait out the bloodbath and come out once in was all over. Troy was riffling through the cornucopia's bounty of supplies when he spotted a pair of eyes staring back at him from the darkness. They were unmistakable as human. Troy lunged forth, and the defenseless girl was dead within seconds. Troy stepped back to admire his handiwork for a few moments before tearing his bloodstained chakram out of Mina's neck.
Mina Butcher, District 10 Female: 17th, Killed by Troy, Bloodbath
As the careers went about their business, the surviving outliers scattered across the arena. At the cornucopia, four careers remained, slightly lower than average number. After dragging away the corpses, the careers went out hunting immediately with hopes of catching a few tributes off-guard.
At the conclusion of the bloodbath, it became immediately obvious that Tiberius was the most powerful tribute outside of the careers. He had racked up two kills in the bloodbath, earning the attention of a respectable amount of sponsors. From the bloodbath, be had pillaged several serrated knives, a tent, a hand warmer, and even a sleeping bag. He immediately travelled toward the mountain in the distance of the winter sector, reasoning that he would be safe from the careers who would assume that the mountain's inhospitality would avert tributes away from it. He reached the peak around one in the evening, at which point he settled into a crevasse and feasted on a barley cake given to him by a sponsor who liked his bloodthirstiness. The winter sector had two other inhabitants by the end of Day 1: Linden and Autumn from 7, allies. Both earning eights, the two District 7 tributes stayed close together as they walked. Despite being some of the most powerful tributes they had scavenged little from the bloodbath besides their axes. The night of Day 1 for the two largely consisted of huddling together in a crevasse, desperately attempting to keep warm in the cold of the mountain's face.
The spring peach grove was certainly alluring to many a tribute; its peaches were ripe and luscious and the place was chock-full of places to hide. Genesis from 5 headed for the peach grove immediately after the gong rang. Genesis' father and mother were both engineers who worked hard to create new methods of generating electricity. One method involved harnessing the large water content from leaves and moss to create electricity for powering laptops. Genesis was able to identify the leaves of the peach trees and the moss that clung to their bases as edible. Muta from 6, true to her name, was very quiet and graceful in her movements. Muta was the Greek goddess of silence. Muta's family worked as engineers. They worked to come up with methods to reduce the loud sounds emanated by heavy machinery, particularly near schools where the sounds could distract students. Muta ventured into the peach grove and used a basket she had received from a sponsor that liked her elegance to collect the peaches. She feasted on the peaches that night, burying the pile of pits when she was done to eliminate all traces of her presence there. Oxford from 10 had escaped the cornucopia with a spile. As long as he had the spile, he could never go thirsty. Inspired by Sorcha Whikkam of the year prior, Oxford jammed the spile into one of the peach trees and watched with a grin as crystal clear water poured from the spile. He cupped his hands under it and used the water to clear his face of grime. Jacinth from 12 had barely managed to escape into the grove, but with a severe wound on his leg. He had been pursued by Troy during the bloodbath. Troy's chakrams had grazed his leg, but Jacinth had been able to disappear into the grove before Troy could do any further damage. Once in a safe location, Jacinth fell to the ground and tried to quiet his labored breathing. He willed the wound to close. With so few sponsors, he could do nothing but lay in throes of pain with hopes of the wound closing or a swift death. He would not have either. Eight hours passed, and in the end Jacinth's body could not replenish the huge amounts of blood that he was losing.
Jacinth Pulley, District 12 Male: 16th, Killed by Troy, Day 1
The rolling summer field to the south seemed rather inhospitable, but for reasons that one might not expect. The place was rich in wildlife, so food would be no problem. However, the land was so flat that nobody could feel secure without any sort of cover. Only one tribute called this place home: Cosima from 3. Cosima had escaped the cornucopia with a coil of wire and a package of water purification tablets. She spent the rest of Day 1 hunting the rabbits and birds that inhabited the rolling field. With no method of cooking the animals, Cosima had no choice but to eat them raw. She chewed and chewed until her jaw was sore.
The autumn forest, while having lots of cover, would throw the largest array of dangers after its inhabitants, from mutts to proximity to other tributes. Every inch of the ground was covered with something crunchy; with every step, a loud crunch emanated from underneath the tribute that took it. Bari and Greta from 9, allies, headed there at the conclusion of the bloodbath. Bari, 16, was the oldest, and so he walked ahead, promising to warn Greta if he saw any dangers ahead. There were none. They had no water, and so they sighed with relief when the quiet sound of a river played in the distance. They shared a look of disbelief and ran toward the river. Its song got louder with proximity. They finally reached it. They were so exhausted from the run that they decided to wade in the river to cool off. They dipped their feet into it. Their feet sank into the mud in the most satisfying way. They tried to walk, but could not. Indeed, the river had a hidden danger that Bari and Greta had been the first to discover. Underneath the mud was a network of fibers that gripped fiercely onto anything that entered it. The two panicked. Their feet were stuck into the riverbed like glue. They pulled with all of their might but could not escape. They made quite a racket. Unfortunately for them, this racket was enough to grab the attention of nearby Fabrege, the District 1 female. The District 9 tributes sobbed and Fabrege smirked when she spotted them stuck inside of the river. Fabrege nocked her first arrow. The two allies were defenseless as Fabrege killed them in rapid succession.
Bari Mcpherson, District 9 Male: 15th, Killed by Fabrege, Day 1
Greta Vanover, District 9 Female: 14th, Killed by Fabrege, Day 1
Fabrege cackled maniacally at the sight of their two limp forms. Fabrege stepped into the river to retrieve her arrows. Her stomach took a violent leap as she realized that he was stuck in the river just like Bari and Greta. She struggled to escape, but soon she tripped on a rock. She tripped face-first into the river, her entire body falling into the network of fibers. She was stuck in place underwater to slowly suffocate to death. Now, only half of the tributes remained.
Fabrege Hendenning, District 1 Female: 13th, Drowned, Day 1
With the four post-bloodbath Day 1 deaths, the twelve remaining tributes were rather spooked. The careers began to grow concerned as to why Fabrege wasn't returning to the cornucopia that night, but once the anthem played they realized that she had died. The rest of the tributes mostly stuck to their hiding places for most of Day 1. Several of them didn't even come out to relieve themselves. Gruber from 11 and Garnet from 12 were the other two tributes to foray the autumn woods. Gruber from 11 had run away from the cornucopia with absolutely nothing. He had no idea how to find food in the wild, and so he spent that night curled up behind a tree, sobbing with despair. Garnet from 12 had managed to grab a rope, but that was it. She used a sharp rock to cut the rope into several small segments, which she used to fashion snares. She fashioned a remarkably good axe with a sharp stone and a branch, which she used to chop up the trunk of a short and brittle tree. She started a fire with a bow, and she cooked the outputs of his snares over the fire.
Day 2 contained lots of movement but little action. On the icy mountain, Tiberius woke up bright and early. He needed a steady supply of food and water. He was beginning to grow fed up with the mountain's only source of food—the moss—and the method he was currently using to melt ice into liquid water was inefficient. The only way to get those things was to get sponsors. And Tiberius knew that the only way to get sponsors was to get his hands a little dirty. Tiberius trekked away from the mountain and forayed the peach grove with hopes of finding easy prey that had flocked to the peaches as a food source. The two District 7 allies spent the entirety of Day 2 melting the mountain's snow into water. The only way to do this was to hold it to their bodies until it melted into liquid. After melting, it had to be drunk immediately lest it freeze. Just before sunset on the second day, Linden and Autumn concluded that the mountain could not sustain them. They trekked down its steep side and travelled to the spring forest, where they hoped to get a little wider variety of food and a better source of their other necessities.
Not much movement occurred in the peach grove on Day 2. The tributes seemed to be satisfied with the endless supply of delicious food. The tributes that inhabited the grove (Genesis from 5, Muta from 6, and Oxford from 10) spent most of the day doing nothing and occasionally leaving their dens to gather more peaches. The peaches had high water content, and so hydration wasn't a huge concern in the grove. Oxford continued to utilize his spile to gather water. However, he misplaced his bucket around noon and so he needed to cup his hands to gather the lukewarm liquid. To the south, Cosima from District 3 seemed rather content in the rolling summer field. She buried the bones of her kills to eliminate all traces of her existence before foraying the taller hills, further south.
Autumn's sector saw little excitement as well. When Garnet woke up, she poured dirt over her fire to douse it and then scattered its cooling fuel. She then travelled to the river and scooped up some water with a container she had gotten from a sponsor. She then trekked back to the fire and drizzled the cool liquid over the scene. The last embers smoldered out, Garnet travelled downhill where she thought the plant and animal life would be more lush and more bountiful. Gruber from 11 tried in vain to gather food that he recognized. Everything was foreign to Gruber, and he refused to eat anything he didn't recognize for paranoia of it being poisonous. Once more Day 2 trickled by for Gruber without any food or water. He felt a raging thirst and a raging hunger.
Nothing much happened on Day 2 until very late at night. Tiberius had long prowled through the arena, and he was determined to make a kill before midnight. He struck lucky. He had been combing through the peach grove when he heard a slight sound to his right. Tiberius froze in his tracks. There it was again. Ever so carefully, the boy trekked toward the sound, wielding his serrated knife. Then, he saw them. It was so dark that it was difficult for him to make out the sleeping forms of Linden and Autumn. The two tributes had smeared themselves with mud to help them blend into the earth, which made Tiberius' job harder. Tiberius smirked as he got to work. He crafted rope from the fibers of the plants that scattered the floor of the grove. Once the two tributes were securely tied to the ground, he gave each one a slight smack to the head. They bolted awake immediately. They thrashed and screamed with all of their might, but Tiberius' rope was too strong for them to escape.
Tiberius circled around them, occasionally lunging forward just to make them jump. When he went in for the kill, he made his first prey in Autumn. Tiberius cackled as he plunged his knife into her chest. Tiberius tore the knife through her flesh and ripped the blade back, carving out a huge portion of her torso and exposing several of her organs. Tiberius crept over to nearby Linen. He slowly dug his knife through Linden's torso and then peeled the skin away from the slice. The two tributes screamed so loudly, and Tiberius doubled over and cackled with glee. Slowly but surely, their cries of agony began to fade away until only silence remained. Tiberius hacked apart their blood-lathered forms. When he looked up, the moonlight shining on his face showed an expression that can only be described as insanity. Tiberius marched away smugly, two cannon shots firing in rapid succession. At this point, it was difficult to deny that Tiberius wasn't exactly playing with a full deck of cards.
Autumn Melvin, District 7 Female: 12th, Killed by Tiberius, Day 2
Linden Casarano, District 7 Male: 11th, Killed by Tiberius, Day 2
Day 3 crawled by, deathless. In the Capitol, Tiberius' popularity went through the roof after his encounter with the District 7 tributes. Sponsor gifts rained down upon him. Tiberius didn't travel back to the mountain. Instead, he travelled to the summer hills. He considered sleeping in the peach grove, but then he realized that that would make him an easy target because of his proximity to other tributes. The summer hills would be a habitable place to make camp without him being close to several other tributes. Nothing much happened among the other tributes. There was no movement among them. Now that the District 9 alliance had been eliminated by Fabrege and the District 7 alliance had been eliminated by Tiberius, the only remaining alliance was the careers.
Days 4 and 5 were the most lifeless and boring days that the thirty-fifth Hunger Games had seen yet. The careers hunted feverishly each day. They began to grow immensely impatient with the fact that they were not making any kills, and they returned home each night in fury. Tiberius hunted each day as well.
Finally, on Day 6, the first kill since Day 2 was made. Garnet had fashioned more and more rope from the fibers of the plants of the forest. Although the exact number is unknown, it is estimated that Garnet set up at least fifty snares. The three careers were hunting in the autumn forest when something wrapped around Ceto's ankle. She jumped, thinking that it was some kind of dangerous creature. But, it was not. She had stepped into a snare. She lifted the snare into the air. They had seen all of the outliers during training. There was only one tribute that could have made that snare.
The careers followed the path of snares and burst into the clearing where Garnet sat, waiting for one of her water purification tablets to do its thing. Garnet screeched and leapt to her feet, but she wasn't fast enough. Ceto hurled her trident. She watched with satisfaction as it arced through the air and sank into Garnet's back. She collapsed, painting the leaves around her red.
Garnet Walsh, District 12 Female: 10th, Killed by Ceto, Day 6
Since Day 2, Tiberius had been only hunting at night. A few minutes before midnight, Tiberius was travelling through the summer hills when he heard the chattering of teeth to his left. He spun toward the sound and saw a pair of eyes staring back at him. They were Cosima's eyes. Tiberius was tired at the time and didn't have the motivation to draw out her death. Tiberius stalked forward, and defenseless Cosima slowly backed away. Tiberius threw his knife. It plunged into Cosima's chest. She fell, a dark pool slowly building up around her.
Cosima Chinicci, District 3 Female: 9th, Killed by Tiberius, Day 6
That left the final eight: Rome Hallowell from District 2, Troy Stiles and Ceto Odell from District 4, Genesis Safire from District 5, Tiberius Chevry and Muta Cloes from District 6, Oxford Chefte from District 10, and Gruber Frohook from District 11.
The sun set on Gruber's life as the sun rose on Day 7. He was so weak from dehydration that he could barely move. He had long since given up trying to find water. Gruber felt a raging thirst. At that moment, he would have given anything to feel the cool sensation of water slipping across his tongue. Knowing that his hours and maybe even his minutes were being numbered, Gruber dragged himself into a clearing and watched the sun slowly rise. He closed his eyes and felt the warmth of the sun spreading across his body. Gruber's cannon shot followed soon. The boy's body was void of physical injury, and he looked as if he could be merely asleep, basking in the warmth of the brilliant sun.
Gruber Frohook, District 11 Male: 8th, Dehydration, Day 7
After Gruber's death, little action occurred on Day 7. The careers hunted, as did Tiberius, who had now begun hunting in the autumn forest. There was actually an encounter between Genesis and Muta on Day 7. Around two in the evening, the two tributes spotted each other. They were less than fifty yards away. The two tributes just turned tail and started away from each other. Oxford continued using his spile to gather water from the trees of the spring grove.
Day 8 came, and bloodthirsty Tiberius made another kill. Genesis had left his hiding place in the bough of a strong peach tree to go out hunting for a source of water. He was strolling through the arena when all of the sudden a huge weight hit him in the back and knocked him to the ground. Genesis yelled as he realized that Tiberius was on top of him. The glint of Tiberius' blade made Genesis scream louder. Tiberius drew out Genesis' death just as long as he had all of his other kills.
Genesis Safire, District 5 Male: 7th, Killed by Tiberius, Day 8
On Day 8, not much happened outside of the careers and Tiberius. Oxford stuck to the peach grove, his spile an infinite and unwavering source of the most important commodity of all. Muta, who had spent the whole games in the peach grove, began to realize that she faced the most dangers there. She got up and left shortly after sunrise on Day 8, trekking all of the way to the mountain and beginning to climb its slippery face.
Yarrow was growing frustrated. Every time he saw an opportunity to unleash a muttation, that opportunity quickly vanished. If he didn't release any mutts, millions of dollars' worth of them would go unused. The games would be a flop, and Yarrow would almost certainly lose his job and maybe even his life. Yarrow came to a conclusion that there was only one way that he could pull this off. The next two days in the arena had to be wrapped up in a muttation frenzy. The weaker mutts would be released first, gradually getting stronger until the victor was crowned. It was a haphazard strategy, and a risky one at that, but it could work if Yarrow pulled it off properly.
The first mutts unleashed after the tributes were borrowed from the twenty-fifth games, the first quarter quell. They were the cute little bunny rabbit mutts. They looked cute, with their big, black eyes and floppy ears. But they were not nearly as harmless as they might originally seem. Each rabbit had a mouth that donned two rows of sharp teeth. Their thirst for blood. could only be quenched by the killing of a tribute. The rabbits, in varying numbers, were unleashed to pursue the four remaining sets of tributes. The careers, naturally, received the strongest group, with about ten rabbits. Muta had a pack of three. Tiberius had seven or eight muttation pursuers. And Oxford had five.
The careers seemed to be doing a rather good job of fending off the deadly rabbits. Troy swung his chakram through the air, watching with satisfaction as it sliced one of the rabbits in half. Rome's sword could slash, meaning that he could do damage to several rabbits at once. Ceto's trident wasn't the most efficient weapon for fending off the beasts, but it was satisfactory in a way. Muta from 6, weaponless except for a glass bottle, tried to outrun the creatures at first. While running, she smashed the bottle against a tree. It shattered. The pieces rained down. Once they did, Muta was left with a deadly weapon with a dangerously sharp edge. Muta thrust forth the neck of the bottle, batting aside one monster. It tumbled down a hill and disappeared from her sight. Muta was able to kill the other one, goring it through the eye with a sharp piece of glass that had broken out from the bottle as it shattered.
Tiberius was kind of a different story. He killed six of his seven pursuers and left one. This one remaining rabbit he grabbed firmly and threw it into a container he had gotten from a sponsor. He bound the container shut with a strong rope. Now that the rabbit was contained, Tiberius began to start a fire. Then, he opened up the container and dropped the rabbit in to the fire. Tiberius cackled with glee as he watched the rabbit die. Tiberius poured dirt over the fire to cool it and then tore out the rabbit from the ashes, burnt to a crisp. Then he discarded the rabbit. It was evident at this point that Tiberius wasn't killing for sponsors. He wasn't killing to make the games end faster. He was killing just to kill. He took joy in killing. Time would tell whether this strategy would help or hurt him as the games progressed.
One more round of the mutts was unleashed on Day 8. The mutts were brightly colored birds, but not just any birds. They were jabberjays, beasts that repeat messages and torment the mind. The flocks of the birds were thrown into the arena along with every tribute. The careers woke up to the sound of screaming as the jabberjays circled them. They grabbed their weapons. They quickly realized that fighting the birds short-range was inefficient, so they quickly switched to throwing weapons like bows and throwing knives. Ceto, who had stubbornly refused to fight with anything but her trident, was doing virtually no damage against the creatures. All of the sudden, one of them swept down and gored its sharp beak through Ceto's eye. She screamed as she collapsed. The other jabberjays, seeing easy prey in the girl, flocked toward her and began tearing her apart. Soon, she was nothing but a clump on the ground. Only five tributes remained.
Ceto Odell, District 4 Female: 6th, Killed by Jabberjay Muttations, Day 8
Tiberius was quickly able to fend off his pursuers by throwing rocks at them. Rocks were plentiful in the forest; he was in no short supply. Soon, he resorted to fighting them off with his knife. He excelled in the usage of the knife. He occasionally threw it. Unscathed by the screams of death and blood from the mutts, he could fight them off with ease.
Muta, well, she was not nearly as lucky. The copying birds began playing the screams of her younger sister, who had died in an accident the year prior. Within moments, Muta collapsed to the ground and clapped her hands over her ears, screaming for them to stop. She sobbed, tortured by the sounds of her friend who had been taken from her far too soon. The birds kept circling her even when she demanded that they either shut up or tear her to a pulp. They went in for the kill eventually, though, spearing their sharp beaks through her body and then tearing it up with their talons.
Muta Cloes, District 6 Male: 5th, Killed by Jabberjay Muttations, Day 8
Having made two kills, the jabberjays were content. They were recalled by the gamemakers. The gamemakers allowed the tributes nearly half a day of peace. The two careers, Rome and Troy, had been taken far away from the cornucopia in fighting the mutts, and so they took rest of the day to get back to the horn. Oxford continued contentedly using his spile to gather water. If he felt scared or shaken up after the jabberjay encounter, he didn't show it at all. Tiberius was just as insane as ever. The night of Day 8, he started around his hiding place, cackling strange phrases, the meanings of which stand un-deciphered to this very day.
It was nearly one in the morning on Day 9 when Troy awoke. He felt for his chakrams, only grabbing one in fear that wielding both would weigh him down and be impractical. Troy was about to betray sleeping Rome, his ally. Careers betraying each other had occurred the year prior, and in the end it ended up getting the careers nowhere. However, Troy was confident that he could pull off the maneuver.
Troy had gone to bed the night before worrying that he wouldn't wake up at the time that he had planned. The second that the bloodbath ended Rome had smashed all of the alarm clocks in the cornucopia out of paranoia, so Troy had no clear-cut way to wake up to go about his plan.
Troy wiggled out of his sleeping bag and prowled toward where Rome lay, snoozing contentedly. With all of the alarm clocks smashed, Rome had no worries about being attacked in his sleep. This false sense of security was shattered when Troy buried the blade of his chakram into Rome's lower abdomen. The boy roared with pain and bolted awake. He tried to grab his weapon, but Troy had all of his limbs pinned down. Troy ripped his chakram out of his chest and lodged it directly into Rome, who was now full-fledged screaming in agony. Abruptly, Rome went completely limp. So much for smashing all of those alarm clocks.
Rome Hallowell, District 2 Male: 4th, Killed by Troy, Day 9
The sound of Rome's cannon shot startled Tiberius and Oxford awake. Tiberius leapt to his feet and grabbed his knife. He peeked outside of his cove to ensure that he didn't have any pursuers, determined to make them regret their decision. There were none, and he nodded off seconds after wiggling back into his warm sleeping bag. Oxford, in the peach grove, couldn't fall back asleep with the knowledge that the tribute count had dwindled to three. This lack of sleep would take its toll on him the next day.
On the morning of Day 10, the asteroid first appeared in the sky. It grew bigger and bigger as it got closer. All of a sudden, the sky flashed with a brilliant light. Then, the meteor crashed into the mountain. The friction of the body with the mountain caused sparks to fly like confetti, lighting both the spring and autumn forests ablaze and starting a brush fire in the summer field.
Yarrow did not yet want the victor to be crowned. He merely wanted at least one death, but not a natural death. He wanted a full-fledged combat death. Oxford being in the peach grove, he got to his feet and ran away from the spreading flame as fast as his legs could carry him. Simultaneously, Tiberius was running toward him in the same direction. All of the sudden, Tiberius spotted Oxford over the horizon and vice versa. Tiberius cracked his knuckles and stormed toward Oxford. Oxford knew that the gamemakers wanted blood. Therefore, he knew that it was either he die in the fire or be killed by Tiberius. Oxford decided that if he had to choose between burning to death and dying from a knife to the heart, the knife would be much quicker. Additionally, Oxford had a secret that could help him in a dire situation.
The two boys stormed toward each other. All of a sudden, Oxford reached into his shirt and pulled out his tribute token, an adorable owl plushie. He held the owl's head in one hand and its abdomen in the other. Then, Oxford ripped the owl in half. Out fell a small black sphere. Oxford held the sphere into the air and pulled out what looked to be a pin. Then, he hurled it. It landed at Tiberius' feet. When it did, he couldn't run away fast enough before the miniature grenade exploded.
Tiberius Chevry, District 6 Male: 3rd, Killed by Oxford, Day 10
Oxford had exploited the token system by sewing a grenade into his owl plush token. From the thirty-sixth games onward, each tribute's token would be investigated by the Capitol before the tribute was allowed to take it into the arena. Despite this, Oxford's strategy would be used many times in the future. Notable examples of this include Marilou Deer, a District 10 female of the fiftieth Hunger Games, who tried to bring a hair pin that unfolded into a razor into the games, and Glimmer Rambin, the District 1 female of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, who tried to bring a jeweled ring that produced a poisonous spike when twisted into the games.
The gamemakers had reached their cherished final two. Troy Stiles from District 4 was one of the strongest tributes that District 4's academy had ever seen. He was bloodthirsty and hoping to draw out Oxford's death, for he had not made a full-fledged kill in many days. He didn't count his killing of sleeping Rome as a kill, for the boy had been asleep and didn't go down in a real, career fight. If Troy won, he would continue a strange trend of every other Hunger Games being won by a District 4 tribute. Oxford Chefte's controversial move of sneaking a grenade into the games certainly disqualified him from the competition. In any other situation he would have been blown to smithereens by the gamemakers instantly. But, the gamemakers wanted a bloody final battle. That would be impossible if Oxford died. If Oxford won, he would bring District 10 its first ever victor. If Oxford won, every single district of Panem wound have at least one victor. When the final battle came, they would make sure that Troy would win, but only slightly.
On Day 11, several hours after the aftermath of the meteor strike had stopped, Yarrow unleashed a pack of raptors after each remaining tribute. The raptors were fast and agile. Prior to a recent breakthrough in AI technology, having mutts as developed as the raptors was downright near impossible. The raptor mutts would prove to be among the highlights of Yarrow's career.
The raptors were fast, but the tributes were faster. Lest they lose a tribute to the bloodthirsty mutts, Yarrow set the raptors to run at a speed where they would keep the tributes on their toes but not catch up to them and kill them. Naturally, the gamemakers were driving Troy and Oxford toward the clearing that housed the cornucopia. Once the tributes were both in the clearing, the real show began. The two tributes shinnied up the cornucopia and stood atop it. Final fights atop the cornucopia were largely a figment of the old Hunger Games, particularly the first two decades. The thirty-fifth Hunger Games' final battle was one example of a top-cornucopia battle that would crown the games' victor.
Troy wielded but a single chakram, the other one having been knocked out of his hand by one of the raptors when he was trying to use it as a shield a few minutes prior. The gamemakers sent Oxford a whimsically curved sword and a cleaver. They hoped that, even though Oxford had more weapons than Troy, the District 4 boy could easily overpower that from District 10. Oxford's first few blows were powerful. The first slash of his sword sliced a shallow gash into Troy's side. Oxford's second slash was even more significant, literally slicing off Troy's left hand. Troy's hand rolled off of the cornucopia into the pack of raptors.
Troy, infuriated, slammed forth his chakram. The force of the impact knocked away Oxford's cleaver, leaving him with only a sword. Now that each tribute had only one weapon, the real fight began. It seemed neck-and-neck. Many suspected that Oxford would have scored much higher than a seven in training had he not pretended to be mediocre in skill. He proved then and there to be a wizard with the sword. He had gone with the strategy of Velvet Farrow from the tenth Hunger Games, just to a lesser extent.
Nearly five minutes later, each tribute had received several other wounds. Oxford had received a slash to the chest from Troy's chakram, and Troy had received a slash across the leg from the District 10 boy's sword. Finally, Troy triumphed. He slammed his chakram forth, watching with satisfaction as the razor of the circle buried itself into Oxford's head. The blade lodged itself securely between two of the blades of Oxford's skull. Oxford's eyes rolled back into his head as he fell to the floor like a stone.
Oxford Chefte, District 10 Male: 2nd, Killed by Troy, Day 11
"Troy Stiles of District 4, you are the victor of the thirty-fifth annual Hunger Games!" Yarrow cried out, his voice accompanied by a majestic symphony of trumpets.
Troy smiled weakly. He was growing weak due to blood loss, and mere seconds after Yarrow finished his congratulations Troy passed out. The hovercraft whisked down to retrieve the boy whose chakram was still lodged into Oxford's blood-lathered form.
Troy Stiles, District 4 Male: Victor of the Thirty Fifth Hunger Games, Day 11
AFTERMATH
The "Boomerang Era" as it was called was now securely underway. The term Boomerang Era was coined by Head Gamemaker Yarrow Dawnbloom in an interview. The boomerang era had begun when Marlin Coppi won the thirty-first Hunger Games. The thirty-third Hunger Games was won by another District 4 tribute. And, now, the thirty-fifth Hunger Games was won by a District 4 tribute. The games alternated between a District 4 victory and a non-District 4 victory. This trend would continue for a few more years. District 4 welcomed Troy to their steadily growing lineup of victors with open arms. Upon his victory, District 4 had six victors, meaning that they were ahead of District 1 but behind District 2 in terms of amount of victors.
Troy settled into the Victor's Village of District 4, the sixth victor to do so.
His victory tour went rather well, especially in his home district where he was hailed as "The Vanquisher".
Troy would live to the age of eighty-nine, dying from an asthma attack around the time of the one-hundred sixth annual Hunger Games. In his lifetime, he would marry and divorce twice, both times to women. He would have one daughter with his second wife. After his second divorce, Troy began work at District 4's academy. He was employed to train students on usage of the chakram and trident, his two chief weapons during his games. He never had any relationships after that. He always said that the academy was enough for him.
NEWS
Troy settles into the Victor's Village of District 4, the sixth victor to do so.
Isaac Crandall has his first child with his wife, a baby boy named Surge.
Gold Carson marries is fiancée of two years, a kind woman named Splendor.
Dayta Albrand's son, Makepiece, is born.
Magnet Lisagor bears her second child, an adorable baby boy named Cordin.
Barley Chisolm's final child, Demetria, is born.
Molly Soltan weds her fiance, Julian Tanesha.
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)
35HG: Troy Stiles (#6, District 4)
A/N: Thanks for sticking with me for so long! This story has just surpassed 100 reviews, which frankly blows my mind to bits. I'm so thankful for all of your support. Expect the thirty-sixth Hunger Games soon, hopefully much sooner than it took for this chapter to get out XD
