THE THIRTY SIXTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Glow-in-the-Dark"


INTRODUCTION

Despite their constant failures every single time that they tried to rebel, talk of revolution sprung up once more as the time for the thirty-sixth Hunger Games rolled around. It was only in two districts, really: District 6 and District 8. The Capitol managed to spook the two districts into jumping off of the bandwagon by cutting down their food rations slightly and eliminating about 0.1 percent of the population of each one. The Capitol tried its best to keep this entire chain of events silent from the rest of the nation, and this worked successfully for a few weeks. The way it eventually spread was through peacekeepers. At that time in Panem's history, peacekeepers almost never stayed in one district for long. They were constantly moving and switching districts wherever they were needed. The peacekeepers ended up leaking information about the riot throughout the nation. President Coriolanus Snow, now in his twelfth year as president, eliminated the possible upcoming rebellion before it started. He increased peacekeeper security in the districts by a factor of nearly two, and he cut food imports to 6 and 8 significantly. This prevented all rebellion completely. Snow was immensely pleased by this, as it was a sure sign that the people of the districts were afraid of him. Yarrow Dawnbloom returned for his fourth year as head gamemaker, having received thunderous applause from the nation for the success of the games the year prior. Yarrow, unlike last year, had freedom to build whatever arena he wanted once more.

The careers this year were a rather lacking group of kids, but not nearly to the extent of the year prior. District 1, overall, produced the weakest batch. Their male was very proud and boastful, perhaps more than he should have been given that his score was a meager eight. District 1's female was the weakest career by a wide margin. She had a lack of training compared to the others. She was a lesser in weaponry and combat and more of a Barbie, getting sponsors for her looks alone. She should have scored a seven, but she used her beauty to seduce one of the top gamemakers into giving her a nine. District 2 really produced the cream of the crop. Their male, one of the best hand-to-hand warriors that the academy had ever seen, scored a cool ten. He had looks to match, too. But, towering over all the rest, it was the District 2 girl who really stole the show. This Lana Voltaire was Victor Discordia Komine's half-sister, and she really followed in her sister's footsteps. She had two eyes like ice. She was as hard and tough as a rock and about as human. She showed no mercy for her prey, and she infested the nightmares of little district children around the nation. The District 4 pair was stronger than District 1 but weaker than District 2 in terms of strength. Their male, the youngest career this year at only fifteen, was a popular surfer in his district. He preferred the bow, using it as his chief weapon. District 4's female chose the throwing knives, remarking in her interview that she liked to throw knives at her kitchen wall whenever she was bored. The careers were weaker than average this year, scoring one eight, three nines, and two tens.

Outside of the careers, the training scores were higher than average. There were two tens scored outside of the career pack, however! The first was scored by Crosshatch Oliviero of District 8, who managed to outscore more than half of the careers with his hand-to-hand combat skills as well as his beauty. A ten was also earned by Susan Stark of District 11, who was able to walk home with a double-digit score because of her mastery of the sickle and scythe. Neither of the two ten-scorers minded killing; they even allied before the games began. They would travel day and night, scattering power naps throughout the day to avoid having one long nod in the nighttime. A single nine was managed outside of the careers. Florianna, District 7's girl, was a knockout gorgeous girl. She was funny, cute, and kind, and quickly became a Capitol favorite. Hatchet, the District 7 male, was able to snag an eight in training via his mastery of the axe. Only three sevens were scored, a particularly low number. Wheat and Angella from 9 and Tiffaney from 10 were the only three seven scorers. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. There were two volunteers outside of the careers. The first was Draco Transportation from District 6, who had been diagnosed with severe depression a few days prior to the reaping. The second was Hatchet Guston of District 7, who volunteered to save his best friend. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Damask Brackett, 16, (8) 8-1 and Adelaide Tassinari, 16, (9) 8-1

District 2: Romulus Ustinja, 17, (10) 4-1 and Lana Voltaire, 17, (10) 3-1

District 3: Nikola Erbach, 14, (3) 48-1 and Theresa Zacharells, 15, (5) 20-1

District 4: Alexander Cascade, 15, (9) 7-1 and Mandy DeLaFleur, 16, (9) 6-1

District 5: Callum Jupe, 15, (6) 17-1 and Diana Rustic, 12, (2) 75-1

District 6: Draco Transportation, 17, (6) 14-1 and Corry Fish, 17, (6) 14-1

District 7: Hatchet Guston, 16, (8) 10-1 and Florianna Ceasar, 16, (9) 8-1

District 8: Crosshatch Oliviero, 18, (10) 5-1 and Rya Knots, 12, (2) 75-1

District 9: Wheat Sullivan, 14, (7) 20-1 and Angella Autry, 16, (7) 14-1

District 10: Harrison Ferris, 13, (4) 33-1 and Tiffaney Freund, 18, (7) 13-1

District 11: Bosco Curtis, 17, (5) 15-1 and Susan Stark, 16, (10) 6-1

District 12: Atticus Minten, 13, (2) 50-1 and Hatikvah Jesaitis, 16, (4) 27-1


THE GAMES

This year's arena was a subterranean sewer system. The cornucopia stood in a clearing in the center of the arena. The floor, ceiling, and walls of the entire arena were made out of cement. The cornucopia was bioluminescent, the only thing in the arena that gave off light except for the glow-in-the-dark fungus that clung to the damp walls of the sewers and the green slime that clung to the walls in some places. The cornucopia was suspended on pillars above a "hub" of sorts, where all of the water in the sewer siphoned to before being pumped into the earth. Walkways stood on the sides of each hallway, with a canal of water flowing down the middle. There was no human excrement or urine in the sewers because that wouldn't play well on public television. It was just water, admittedly disgusting water, but water nonetheless. The cleanest sources of water were from the cornucopia or from licking the water that had condensed on the cement walls. The cornucopia's weapons largely consisted of bows and sharp, sleek blades. There were a few scattered axes and rapiers here are there as well. Night-vision glasses were plentiful in and around the cornucopia. They would be paramount for the tributes to navigate the arena, as it would be difficult to move in the pitch darkness without any method of night vision.

Each tribute's stomach gave a violent leap as they realized that they were inside of a sewer system. The crashing of water underneath the cornucopia threw off mist, which landed on the tribute's bodies and made them shiver with disgust. This year, there wasn't just one reason to get away from the horn alive. This year's arena was basically empty of natural resources like food. As such, when the gong rang, every single tribute chose to battle it out at the bloodbath. Each tribute's pedestal was connected to the cornucopia by a long shaft of cement. The horn was set up like a bicycle wheel, with the tributes running along the spindles of the wheel to reach the cornucopia.

Lana immediately took charge, elegantly racing across her spindle. Her gaze was locked upon a shogei that humbly leaned against a crate in front of the cornucopia. Lana swept up the shogei and immediately began throwing. She looped the ring around her finger and threw the blade, watching with satisfaction as the sharp knife buried itself into the shoulder of a boy who was about halfway down his spindle. Lana drew back the knife by the chain, and it was mere seconds before the boy lost balance and tumbled into the churning sewage below, his blood the first to be spilt in the thirty-sixth Hunger Games.

Bosco Curtis, District 11 Male: 24th, Killed by Lana, Bloodbath

Romulus, the second fastest runner after Lana, caught a glimpse of a rapier leaning against the cornucopia. Romulus raced forth and locked his fingers around the slender weapon. Romulus turned sharply on his heel and skewered the long sword through the torso of the nearest girl. She didn't have time to scream or struggle before her entire form went limp and she collapsed to the cement ground with a hollow thud.

Rya Knots, District 8 Female: 23rd, Killed by Romulus, Bloodbath

Mandy had run all of the way into the cornucopia to retrieve a package of knives. Although they were not designed for throwing, they were satisfactory for Mandy's purposes. She removed the sharpest and sleekest knife from the belt and tossed it toward the nearest girl, who was on the ground and taking inventory of the contents of an orange crate. She screamed as Mandy's knife dug into her chest and carved out her upper abdomen.

Diana Rustic, District 5 Female: 22nd, Killed by Mandy, Bloodbath

Mandy darted toward Diana's corpse to retrieve her knife. As she did, nearby Susan Stark from District 11 swept up a scythe that sat twelve yards from her pedestal. Susan saw the opportunity to eliminate competition and ran to Mandy's side. Mandy yelped as Susan's scythe dug into her back. Susan could not overpower this career girl alone, and so she called for her ally, Crosshatch. Injured Mandy put up a good fight against the two allies, but in the end her wounds were too severe for her body to keep fighting. Crosshatch delivered the ending blow by throwing his knife into her head.

Mandy DeLaFleur, District 4 Female: 21st, Killed by Susan and Crosshatch, Bloodbath

Crosshatch's knife was lodged so deep into Mandy's head that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wrench it out. Eventually, Crosshatch ditched the knife in favor of a bow that sat at his feet. Crosshatch's bow skills were satisfactory, albeit a bit clunky. Crosshatch swept up the bow and nocked one arrow, aiming toward a still target: a four-scoring girl who was having a panic attack, screaming and crying and holding herself on the ground. The District 8 boy loosed his grasp on the arrow. It arced through the air before worming its way through the girl's head, ending her life.

Hatikvah Jesaitis, District 12 Female: 20th, Killed by Crosshatch, Bloodbath

Lana, having completely drawn back the blade of her shogei, fluidly attacked her next victim: a girl who was zigzagging to avoid attacks as she stormed toward the yawning mouth of the horn. Lana unwound part of the shogei's chain and used it as a whip, slamming down the end upon the zigzagging girl. She screamed as the sharp point of the blade raked across her back, and once she was on the ground Lana was able to grab the blade of the shogei and drive it into her back.

Theresa Zacharells, District 3 Female: 19th, Killed by Lana, Bloodbath

After Rya had slid completely off of Romulus' rapier, the career boy whirled around and attacked a boy that was trying to off him with a rapier of his own with hopes of eliminating competition early. The boy had not expected to face Romulus in a duel, and he couldn't sidestep fast enough before the District 2 boy speared the long sword through his torso. It protruded from his back, and his form slid off of the blade as it slowly went limp.

Harrison Ferris, District 10 Male: 18th, Killed by Romulus, Bloodbath

Damask began throwing the second that his grasp was firmly locked around a bow that he found inside of the bioluminescent cornucopia. Damask threw a quiver of arrows over his shoulder and pulled back his bowstring, aiming for the seam boy from District 12. Damask unleashed the arrow, smirking as it whizzed through the air before landing squarely between the boy's shoulder blades. He fell, never to rise again, his blood splattering the cement around him an evil red.

Atticus Minten, District 12 Male: 17th, Killed by Damask, Bloodbath

The duo of Crosshatch and Susan were onto it again, this time making their target the District 4 boy who had yet to make a kill. The two allies watched as he jogged into the cornucopia to refill on his supplies. Crosshatch and Susan trapped him inside of the cornucopia so that he couldn't escape. Crosshatch had a bow, meaning that he could pick off the career from long range. One of his arrows found a home in the career's lower abdomen. When he fell like a stone to the ground, Susan ran forward and finished him off by hacking open his torso with her scythe.

Alexander Cascade, District 4 Male: 16th, Killed by Crosshatch and Susan, Bloodbath

Lana drew back her shogei by its chain and quickly attacked her third bloodbath victim: a young boy who had ducked behind a crate inside of the cornucopia. Lana ran into the horn and grabbed the boy. She threw him against the ground, and he wept as Lana buried her shogei into his head.

Nikola Erbach, District 3 Male: 15th, Killed by Lana, Bloodbath

Lana ripped the blade of her shogei out of Nikola's blood-lathered form and instantly heard rustling behind her. She whipped her head around and found herself mere feet from a boy that was trying to kill her with a serrated dagger. Lana used her shogei as a whip, swinging it by the chain. The knife knocked into the boy's knife, sending it spiraling away. Now defenseless, the boy turned tail and fled. Lana caught up to him in two seconds, throwing the knife of her shogei into the base of his neck. He fell, gurgling as warm blood pooled up in his mouth.

Draco Transportation, District 6 Male: 14th, Killed by Lana, Bloodbath

Damask made the bloodbath's final kill. Realizing how inefficient his bow was given how dark the arena was, he ditched the bow in favor of a belt of throwing knives. Damask clipped the belt of knives around his waist and threw three of them at a nearby outlier girl. She screeched with agony and terror as the knives dug into her chest. The four careers all gathered around to watch her die. Her life force was drained away nearly an hour later, at which point twelve cannon shots boomed across the arena.

Tiffaney Freund, District 10 Female: 13th, Killed by Damask, Bloodbath

After Tiffaney's death, three out of the four careers backed away and grabbed their weapons. Damask, satisfied after administering the bloodbath's closing kill, smirked as he tore the three knives out of Tiffaney's chest and inserted them back into his belt. Romulus had been holding his rapier the entire time and began practicing with it as the others scrambled to get ready. Lana wiped off her bloodstained shogei blade with her shirt. Adelaide was a different story. Adelaide, the pretty girly-girl that she was, refused to go hunting before she could get her hair perfect. The sponsors were willing to comply, and the others waited around impatiently as she styled her hair with the products that she had received. Once her hair was perfect (which took nearly half an hour, mind you), she insisted that she put on her makeup. The others, refusing to play along with this girl, snuck away from the horn when she wasn't looking and went hunting. When the District 1 girl turned around and saw them treading away into the sewer system without her, she scowled something about how the others "just didn't realize how hard it is to be perfect". The three careers, Adelaide not among their ranks, did not dare split up for fear of losing each other. Romulus, the mathematical whiz of the group, kept track of the directions that they moved in, lest they get lost.

Nobody knew it but them, but the entire time that the careers prepared to go hunting two tributes were hiding around the cornucopia. The two tributes were allies Crosshatch and Susan, from 8 and 11 respectively. They knew that they were outmuscled and outgunned, so to speak, by the careers, and so once the chaos of the bloodbath had begun to die down the two tributes had ducked inside of crates. Once they no longer heard the frantic movements of the careers, Crosshatch and Susan lifted the lids of their hiding places. They nearly jumped out of their skin with fright when they spotted Adelaide trying to clean off her shirt with water, mumbling about how ugly the tribute uniforms were and how she would like to be wearing a beautiful white dress at the time. The two tributes shared a terrified look, but they managed to scamper away from the cornucopia before Adelaide could see them, the District 1 girl now engrossed in combing through her hair with her fingers and sobbing about how many knots her hair had gotten into from running around in the bloodbath. Once the two allies were out of earshot, they began speaking some words about the conceited "career" girl that their grandmothers would most certainly not approve of. Crosshatch and Susan ventured through the sewer system, Crosshatch with his bow and Susan with her scythe. The two settled down in a small niche in a particularly quiet region of the sewer. They fell asleep soon, wanting a good night's rest. They only had one pair of night vision goggles, which Crosshatch held in his hand for the entire night lest the two allies lose the precious thing. Corry from 6 had received an arrow to the hip from Damask during the bloodbath, but she had managed to rip the arrow out of her flesh and escape the cornucopia without Damask doing her any further harm. Corry crawled across the ground, trying to quiet her labored breathing. In the sewer, every tiny sound was echoed to a million times the volume, and so paranoid Corry placed several layers of cloth over her mouth to make her quiet moans of pain less loud. She collapsed beside a small dip in the cement floor. Water had collected in the bottom of the dip. Corry tasted it and was surprised to find that it didn't taste terrible. She used it to clean her wound. Once that was done, she greedily gulped it down. Soon, the small pool was empty.

Upon the conclusion of the bloodbath, Hatchet and Florianna, both from District 7, began walking down the same hallway away from the cornucopia. They didn't speak a word as they walked parallel to each other on opposite sides of the channel. They affixed their night vision glasses to their faces. Florianna looked jealously at Hatchet's two-liter bottle of water. Meanwhile, Hatchet looked with envy upon Florianna's belt of axes. They decided to ally rather than attack each other. They split up before the end of the day, though; their alliance was very short-lived. Callum had been running down his spindle and toward the cornucopia. However, just before he was about to step off of his spindle and onto the cornucopia's platform, he changed his mind, turned tail, and fled. With nothing, it was all that he could do to lick the condensation off of the walls for water. Food would be his main concern very soon. Wheat from 9 had escaped the bloodbath with a Swiss army knife and a package of jerky, and he walked for the entire day before dropping from exhaustion inside of a long, wide, broad, tall-ceiling hallway. Angella, also from 9, had gotten away from the bloodbath with a bag of chips, nothing more. She sat down that night beside the chips, refusing to eat them and deciding to save them for when she really needed them.

The careers' efforts to go hunting on Day 1 were not fruitless, as a few minutes before midnight the pack of three stumbled upon Corry, who had fallen asleep beside her little pool of water. The three careers shared a look that said, I can't believe this is going to be this easy, and then lunged toward the sleeping girl. Damask recalled being the one who had delivered her her trademark arrow to the leg, and so the careers decided that it was he who should finish her off. Damask finished the job that he had started many hours prior, flinging his sleekest and sharpest arrow into her torso. The careers watched as she bolted awake, retching as blood pooled up into her mouth. She didn't die until a few minutes into Day 2, at which time the careers were content and decided to head back to the cornucopia. Romulus whipped out his paper cataloging every one of their twists and turns. The careers retraced their footsteps toward the cornucopia, where they found Adelaide snoozing away with some kind of deep-treatment conditioner massaged into her golden-blonde hair.

Corry Fish, District 6 Female: 12th, Killed by Damask, Day 2

The morning of Day 2 for the careers was just as chaotic as the day before. They awoke bright (actually, not very bright because it was always dark in the sewer system) and early to go hunting. They played into Adelaide's little whims, waiting for her to style and comb her hair, wash her face, blow her nose, paint her fingernails, lather herself with body lotion, clean the grime off of her face, and so many other things. The second that Adelaide was looking away, the three careers turned around and fled. They weren't sure what to do with the girl. No matter how shallowly dimwitted she was, she was their ally. Then again, friendly devotion doesn't go very far in the Hunger Games. Yet, she was their number one source of sponsors. The others tried to deny it but had to admit it that Adelaide had a near-complete physical perfection and was among the best-looking tributes in history. Every time she asked for this or that, she got it from the sponsors. Every time. Eliminate her, and they would eliminate their number one source of sponsors gifts, which were paramount to any tribute's survival and potentially victory.

The duo of Crosshatch and Susan woke up on the morning of Day 2 to a strange tickling sensation on their faces. They bolted to their senses and grabbed their weapons. Strange arms were rubbing against them. They were wet and slick. Crosshatch had no idea what was going on, but Susan caught on quickly. Susan whispered for Crosshatch to run the second that the arms drew away. The arms just came closer. Crosshatch saw that they were pink. Suddenly, the monster shrieked and lunged toward Crosshatch. He bolted to his feet and raced away, Susan at his side. The muttation was a star-nosed mole rat, nearly the size of a cow. Its pink feelers raced after the two tributes in the most disturbing way, wiggling in a most disgusting manner. The two tributes screamed things at each other until they developed a solid plan. Susan stood in front of the canal where the sewage was being siphoned toward the cornucopia. Once it was about to reach her, Crosshatch shot an arrow into its side. The star-nosed muttation roared with fury as it ran toward Crosshatch. Their plan was falling perfectly into place. Right before the mutt hit Crosshatch, he leapt out the way. It slammed into the wall behind him. The two tributes got to their feet and fled before the mutt could regain its senses. They were too terrified to feel triumph at that point, but the sponsor gifts began pouring in mere minutes later.

The sponsor gifts of these games could not be delivered by parachute; since the arena had a ceiling, there would be no way for the parachute to get into the arena. Instead, the gifts were carried by small drones, zipping through the arena toward the tribute that was their target. These drones were invented by Victor Magnet Lisagor, the very same woman that emerged victorious from the twenty-seventh Hunger Games. Each drone was the size of a flake of glitter but could carry as much as ninety pounds of weight. It also ran on a battery that had a life of nearly three hours. These drones would be utilized in many future Hunger Games that had closed off arenas where access to the sky was nonexistent. Another problem with this arena was the anthem and the death recap. There was no sky to project the faces of the fallen onto. So, alternatively to showing the faces in the sky, a little drone would zip down an electronic device to each tribute. The device had one big button, which when pressed would turn on the device. The faces of the fallen would begin playing on loop, and the device could be turned off by pressing the large button again.

Callum from 5 was certainly a small boy by many standards. He was not only of short stature but was also thin and rather sinewy. He began to go with a rather unusual strategy around noon of Day 2. He walked through the arena to get around, and whenever his feet grew tired he would switch gears. Callum would get down onto his hands and knees and crawl across the ground. This was his unique talent, and he was well-known in his school and even in his district for being a great runner on all-fours. This certainly got him lots of sponsors, and soon his fears of hunger were cleared for the next several days.

Angella from 9 made several assumptions on Day 2. She knew that guarding the cornucopia's vast supplies was an easy job, as raids to the cornucopia were rare. She had seen from previous games that the careers often left behind their weakest member to do that job. Angella knew who the weakest remaining career was: Adelaide. Angella walked to the cornucopia. Out of pragmatism, Angella had used a ballpoint pen she had gotten from the cornucopia to track all of her twists and turns away from the cornucopia. Angella retraced her footsteps and stepped into the cornucopia's clearing. She walked down one of the spindles toward the cornucopia, where Adelaide sat applying eyeliner and mascara. Adelaide spotted Angella immediately. Adelaide threw her hairbrush at Angella. The hairbrush knocked Angella in the head, and she rubbed her forehead in discomfort after it bounced off. In comparison, Adelaide may have been a weakling, but she didn't earn a ten in training for nothing. Adelaide swept up a throwing knife and threw it into Angella's shoulder. Angella fell, clutching her shoulder, as Adelaide went forward toward her. The District 1 girl took a nearby spear and drove it into her forehead, killing her.

Angella Autry, District 9 Female: 11th, Killed by Adelaide, Day 2

Blood splattered away from Angella. A single drop of blood flew toward Adelaide and landed on her neck. Adelaide screamed as she ran toward the cornucopia and wiped off the blood with a rag. After wiping it away, a small stain still remained. The career girl wept on the ground, scrubbing at the stain with a sponge. It wouldn't come off, and she smashed all of the water in the cornucopia in her fury. She would face some trouble that night when the careers would discover what she had destroyed.

The careers, out hunting, were startled by the sound of Angella's cannon. They kept hunting. That cannon meant that the tributes must be out and about. They were right, for less than an hour later the trio jogged into a clearing. Lana shined her light into a corner. The flashlight's beam landed on Wheat, who was snoozing contentedly on the damp floor. Lana called the kill, adding that she had seen him first. The others complied, not daring to disobey the strongest among them. Lana hurled her shogei into Wheat's chest. Wheat bolted awake and immediately began heaving as the blade of the shogei wormed its way through his torso. Wheat struggled to cling onto life, and his body put up a good fight. The careers were beginning to grow rather bored of watching him struggle, and Romulus polished him off, spearing his rapier through Wheat's neck.

Wheat Sullivan, District 9 Male: 10th, Killed by Lana and Romulus, Day 2

The tributes were dropping like flies. Only one more death and the final eight would be determined.

On the morning of Day 3, the careers woke to a sobbing noise. They ran toward it and found Adelaide crying at the mouth of the horn, her hand clapped over her eyes. They demanded to know what was wrong. Adelaide sobbed uproariously, telling them that she messed up her makeup. The others commanded for Adelaide to lift her hand off of her forehead, but she refused. She yelped when Lana reached forward and tore it off. Her mascara had slightly strayed from her eyebrows, a tiny line of the makeup sticking out in an awkward position. "Why don't you clean it off, then, if you're so worried about looking perfect, princess?" Damask said mockingly, gritting his teeth with fury. Adelaide screamed, protesting that if she tried to clean it off it might smudge the rest of her makeup. The girl had a full-on panic attack, rolling around on the ground and holding her pretty self and sobbing obnoxiously.

The other careers knew one thing for sure. They would not take this nonsense any longer. Romulus unsheathed his rapier and, in one clean slice, sliced off all of Adelaide's hair. Adelaide gasped with horror as she watched her golden-blonde locks fall to the ground. Adelaide sobbed and cried and yelled and screamed as she grabbed her silky tresses and rubbed them against her face, mourning the loss of her look. The other careers shared a look. Although they said not a single word, their looks said everything. Suddenly, Lana began unwinding the chain of her shogei. Adelaide's sobs were silenced as the blade sliced into her back. That living nightmare was done with.

Adelaide Tassinari, District 1 Female: 9th, Killed by Lana, Day 3

That left the final eight: Damask Brackett from District 1, Romulus Ustinja and Lana Voltaire from District 2, Callum Jupe from District 5, Hatchet Guston and Florianna Ceasar from District 7, Crosshatch Oliviero from District 8, and Susan Stark from District 11.

Day 4 arrived. Damask, Romulus, and Lana were much more efficient now that they had bumped off Adelaide, and they were able to cover much more ground. They were also able to get in a solid hour of extra hunting time now that they didn't have to wait for Adelaide to get ready in the mornings. Day 4 saw some movement in the duo of Crosshatch and Susan. These two tributes, wanting to get a foothold in the fast-paced nature of these games, actually went out tribute hunting. The sponsors were willing to comply, delivering a new bow to Crosshatch and a much sleeker and more slender sickle to Susan. The two tributes' efforts were fruitless. They decided to cover more ground around noon by splitting up. However, each one took note of their twists and turns with a ballpoint pen on their arm so that they could keep track of their movements.

The gamemakers knew that it was far too long into the games for an alliance among outliers to continue. As such, around noon on Day 4, a wave of cool water was sent after Crosshatch and Susan. The two tributes were able to outrun the wall of water, but it gradually picked up speed. Susan was the first to give into the gamemaker's plan. Susan, having gotten far ahead of the flow of water that was building up behind her, grabbed onto the wall and held on for all that she was worth. Her grip was firm. Less than a second later, the wave was over. Susan inspected her arm. All of her markings were gone, washed away by the wave. There was no way that she could find her way to Crosshatch now.

On the other side of the arena, Crosshatch ran away from the wall of water. But, the boy tripped on a rock and face-planted onto the rough cement. The wave caught up to him before he could regain his senses. He was swept away by the wave and was plopped down into the flow of sewage that carried him toward the cornucopia. Water crashed around Crosshatch, and there was nothing he could do but yell with agony as the furious, crashing water tore him to a pulp.

Crosshatch Oliviero, District 8 Male: 8th, Killed by Wave and Crashing Water, Day 4

Hatchet had been travelling toward the edge of the arena for the past few days. His supplies of water were running very low, and dehydration would be his concern very soon. Hatchet grabbed the serrated dagger he had gotten from the cornucopia. It was only four days since he had gotten the knife, but to him it felt like a million years. Hatchet got to his feet. If he wanted water and food, he needed sponsors. And there was only one way to get sponsors. He went tribute hunting, only to make no kills that day.

Day 5 passed, deathless. The careers hunted feverishly to no avail. Susan, her ally dead, spent the days waiting in a small cove for whatever threats the gamemakers might bring her. Callum had been prowling through the arena when he heard snoring around a corner. He burst around the corner and found himself mere feet from sleeping Florianna. Callum cringed at the sight of her belt of axes. Callum unlatched her belt and removed it, dragging it a long ways down the hallway. Then, Callum removed one of the axes and got to work. Florianna screamed and thrashed and struggled as Callum bludgeoned her to death, and once her cannon shot fired Callum pillaged her of three axes. He also stole away with her supplies, including lots of water and medicine. Callum got sponsors aplenty after the encounter. This was not considered a Day 5 kill, but a Day 6 kill, for the girl did not die until a few seconds after midnight.

Florianna Ceasar, District 7 Female: 7th, Killed by Callum, Day 6

The rest of Day 6 passed, deathless. The careers hunted feverishly, their efforts futile. Eventually, they just gave up and went back to the cornucopia. There were only three outliers left, and the careers knew that the gamemakers would drive them toward them soon enough. All they had to do was wait. Callum hid for most of the day, as did Susan.

On the morning of Day 7, Hatchet's supplies of water had been exhausted. Licking condensation off of the walls wasn't helping his raging thirst, and he refused to drink the sewage no matter how dire the situation. He knew that his days and maybe even his hours were being numbered, and so he crawled into a corner and began saying heartfelt goodbyes to his friends and family. If only we all got that opportunity.

Hatchet Guston, District 7 Male: 6th, Dehydration, Day 7

With the opening of Day 8 came the first muttation interaction since Day 2. Callum had three axes. Axes were the skill that he had excelled in during his private session. The gamemakers wanted to see what he could do, and so they drove him toward the cornucopia for a bloody battle with the careers. The muttations that chased after Callum were spiders. They were huge and black and ugly, with a legspan of nearly five feet. The spiders chased after him, their long legs scuttling across the ground in the most disturbing way. Callum dared not stop for an instant to catch his breath lest the creatures catch up to him. Within two hours, he burst into the cornucopia's clearing, where all three of the careers were preparing for their daily hunting spree.

One would have expected that the careers would charge toward Callum and take him out immediately. But, the three careers and Callum actually teamed up to take down the three spiders. Romulus' rapier was a great weapon against the spiders, as he could slash and slice off more than one of their most terrifying legs at once. The strategy that they were all going for was to cut off their legs and render them immobile. To their great horror, a spider would grow back a leg within a minute if its leg was cut off. Damask's bow and arrow strategy was virtually useless against the monsters, and he was soon overwhelmed by the creatures. Two spiders, seeing how poorly he was fighting against their companion, scuttled toward him. All three of them were going for Damask, now. The other tributes raced toward him to help him, but the spiders beat him to it. They tore apart his bulky frame, hissing with triumph after they were done.

Damask Brackett, District 1 Male: 5th, Killed by Spider Muttations, Day 8

With the spiders engrossed in Damask's corpse, the other tributes were able to kill them easily. It was Lana who killed the final spider, hurling her shogei into its abdomen. Now that the spiders had been eliminated, it was time for Callum to slaughter as many of the careers as he could.

Callum swung his first axe, letting it whizz quietly toward Romulus. Romulus rebutted his blow, knocking aside the weapon with his rapier. The axe spiraled away, and Callum grabbed his second axe. He aimed for Lana this time. Lana leaned down to try to hurl her shogei into Callum's leg. When she did, Callum leapt over her and landed perfectly on his feet on the other side of her. Lana was disoriented from their complex maneuver. Therefore, for a few seconds, Callum had only one target. Romulus charged toward him, and Callum swung forth his axe. The axe knocked his rapier to the ground, where Callum bent it into a strange shape with his feet. The purpose of a rapier was for stabbing, and that could not be done with a bent blade. His chief weapon now useless, Romulus leapt toward Callum and tried to strangle him with his bare hands. Callum thrust forth his axe. It buried itself perfectly into Romulus' head as he fell to the ground, moaning with pain. Now, Lana was the only remaining career.

Romulus Ustinja, District 2 Male: 4th, Killed by Callum, Day 8

Lana quickly regained her senses. Her next blow was powerful. She threw forth the blade of her shogei. Lana smirked delicately as the travelling knife knocked aside Callum's second axe. Now, he had only one. Lana pounced forward and knocked away Callum's third and final axe with her feet. Lana pinned Callum to the ground but did not kill him. Lana was one to play with her food before she ate it. Using some rope that she had strapped to her back, Lana bound Callum so that he couldn't move.

Lana circled Callum, occasionally lunging forward just to scare him. Callum was terrified, but he did not cry. He did not sob or scream or yelp. He wore on his face a look of defiance. He knew that he was going to die, and he decided to go out with dignity. The careers fed off of fear and blood and death. Lana wanted to see him cry. She wanted to see him break.

Callum stayed silent. He would sooner die than give her that satisfaction. His silence infuriated her, and soon Lana went in for the kill. The urge to scream is irresistible when one's chest is being carved out with a shogei, but even as Lana was doing so Callum held his hands in twin vulgar gestures. Right before his death, Callum spat onto cackling Lana.

Callum Jupe, District 5 Male: 3rd, Killed by Lana, Day 8

The gamemakers had reached their final two and wound be sure to crown their victor the next day. Lana Voltaire was the half-sister of Victor Discordia Komine. If she won, she would be the second ever victor to be related to a past victor, the first being Freya Digard, the niece of Olivia Seager. If Lana won, she would have eight kills under her belt, one of the highest counts of all time. If she won, she would bring District 2's victor count to ten, making them the first ever district to achieve double digits in terms of number of victors. Susan Stark, however, was the true underdog. She was the daughter of a harvester father and a florist mother, and she had five siblings that she was a big sister to. She had been a great fighter, and throughout the games she had showcased her endurance in the face of hardship as well as her loyalty. This trait made her a personal favorite of Coriolanus Snow, who could use some more examples of loyalty to shove into the rebel's faces whenever they should emerge again.

On Day 9, Yarrow unleashed the slime. The slime was green and bioluminescent, and it reeked. The huge globs started around the perimeter of the arena. The slime spread, consuming everything in its path.

Lana had been out gathering water at time. Ever since Adelaide had smashed all of the water bottles several days prior the careers had had to go out for the commodity. She saw the torrent of green slime headed her way and fled from it. She was graceful and agile in her movements. Naturally, the slime was guiding her toward the cornucopia. Susan shook with panic as she ran away from the flow of slime that was racing in from behind her. She bowled into the cornucopia clearing, where Lana was waiting for her. The final battle began.

Susan raced into the clearing with her scythe held high. She swiped it down and tried to drive it into Lana's shoulder. But, the clever 2 girl leapt out of the way and circled around and around her. Lana pounced toward disoriented Susan, who was able to fend her off with a violent strike down from her scythe. Susan held her scythe firmly in her grasp and spun around and around, creating a barrier around her. When Lana crawled to the floor to try to go under the trajectory of the spinning edge, Susan kicked her in the torso with her foot. Lana spiraled away. Once she regained her senses, she charged forward. Susan, surprised by her sudden burst of energy, couldn't move out of the way fast enough before Lana let out the chain of her shogei and hurled it directly into her heart. By the time that Susan collapsed to the ground with a loud thud, she was dead and the trumpets began trilling in their tumultuous melody.

Susan Stark, District 11 Female: 2nd, Killed by Lana, Day 9

"Lana Voltaire of District 2, you are the victor of the thirty-sixth annual Hunger Games!" Yarrow screamed.

Lana held her shogei high into the air for all to see. She had eight kills, the second highest kill count for a victor in history at the time. She had brought District 2 its tenth victor. And, although nobody else knew it at the time, it was Lana's nineteenth birthday. What a truly spectacular birthday present.

Lana Voltaire, District 2 Female: Victor of the Thirty Sixth Hunger Games, Day 9


AFTERMATH

District 2 welcomed Lana to their lineup of victors with thunderous applause. She was their tenth victor, and District 2 was now the first district to achieve double digits. The Capitol showered the district with spectacular and marvelous things. They decked out Lana's house in the Victor's Village to being one of the finest homes in Panem. The Capitol loved Lana, and she was your typical all-in-it-for-the-honor, loyal career. She actually requested to keep her shogei after her victory. The Capitol complied. Although it was technically illegal for anything in the arena to be removed from it, the Capitol was willing to break that rule for one of the finest and most beloved victors of all time.

Lana moved into the Victor's Village of District 2, the tenth victor to do so.

In District 2, Lana received a hero's welcome during her victory tour. The other districts, particularly 11, were cold toward her and showered her with ill will.

Lana would live to the age of ninty-one, dying from heart disease around the time of the one-hundred ninth annual Hunger Games. In her lifetime, she would marry and have one son.

A point that many Hunger Games enthusiasts noted was that Lana was the second oldest victor of the first Hunger Games century, nineteen years old at the time of her victory. It would be nearly forty years until there was a victor older than her: Annie Cresta, who won at nineteen years and two days of age.


NEWS

Lana moves into the Victor's Village of District 2, the tenth victor to do so.

Velvet Farrow adopts a baby girl named Nefertiti.

Odius Ruttler marries his fiancée of three years, a woman named Althea.

Molly Soltan adopts a young boy named Dusk.

Grover Handa marries his fiance, James Rally.

Troy Stiles weds his fiancée, Lucy.


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)
36HG: Lana Voltaire (#10, District 2)


A/N: Here's Lana, District 2's tenth victor! District 2 has double-digits now :D

If you're able, please review. I'd love to hear your feedback or your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading, and expect the thirty-seventh games pretty soon! :D