THE FORTY FIFTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Pallium"
INTRODUCTION
President Snow remained supreme over his domain called Panem, keeping his firm grip on the presidency for his twenty-first year. Immediately following the New Year, a new trend began sweeping through the Capitol and stirring up the enthusiasm of many a Capitol citizen. Glitter was all the rage in the Capitol. The glitter fad grew so big that Snow had to order District 1 to nearly double production of the sparkling stuff. Several famous Capitol fashion designers began designing glittered clothing, and it was a way for many up-and-coming tailors and seamstresses to strike it rich with the new clothing that they could produce. Soon, anybody walking on a Capitol street would be sure to see the splendor of glitter shining from its radiant citizens. This trend swallowed internet search results and social media, so much so that at the games' opening ceremony the fireworks that were fired into the sky matched the colors of glitter that were popular at the moment. Snow even wore a glittered tie to the festival, and his wife Magnolia wore a marvelous blue dress shining with iridescence. This further popularized the growing fad. After the reapings of the forty-fifth Hunger Games, the stylists even decided to ditch all previous rules for the chariot outfits and dressed up all of the tributes in glittered clothing. The Capitol couldn't get enough of it. The only tribute that actually liked the outfits was the twelve year-old Alice Brown from District 11. Alice had been a lover of fashion for most of her life and adored her costume. However, her district partner, the massive Chaff Korsmun, did not like his dorky outfit and seemed rather humiliated by the whole ordeal. With the Capitol absorbed in a storm of glitter, the forty-fifth Hunger Games rolled around. The head gamemaker this year was Wisp Glasgow once more. Last year's game had been a flop, and it was a miracle in and of itself that Wisp wasn't dead. If Snow had punished him with death, the Capitol would be tainted with shock like he tainted the food of his enemies with poison. Not wanting the backlash that could come from disposing of the man, Snow allowed Wisp to return as head gamemaker once more, with a warning. If the forty-fifth games were to fail, Wisp would be dead, kicked out of the job, no questions asked. Tensions were high between the inner gamemaking circle as the forty-fifth games began.
After an outlier victory the year before, the careers were determined to take home the crown this year. District 1 produced the strongest batch. They were a duo of formidable fighters and were beautiful enough to draw tons of sponsors. The male was the best sword fighter that the academy had seen in a long time, but he could also work magic with the dagger. The female liked bows, and she was sexy enough to score a ten along with her weapon skills. District 2 certainly fell behind this year in terms of strength. The male was muscular and broad-shouldered but was pretty weak for a career because he was wasn't the best weapon user in the world. The girl was a terrifying and vicious warrior. Her beauty made her a hit with the audience, and in the arena she would rather die than admit defeat. District 4 produced some pretty powerful kids, but they were overall overshadowed by their flashier peers. The male was the son of a famous District 4 goldfish seller. Long days of helping his father sweep nets through water to catch the golden fish had perfected his elegance to a tee. The girl was the weakest career this year. Managing a meager eight, she was seen mostly as a place filler by her stronger allies. While she was laid-back and unconventional, she was fiercely loyal. Their training scores were average, with three tens, two nines, and one eight.
Outside of the careers, the batch of outliers didn't have much to boast. The strongest outlier was a certain Chevron Prentiss from District 8. Although nobody knew how or where she had perfected her knife skills, Chevron was a dangerous fighter and a big target for the careers, who were determined to take home the victor's crown. Chaff Korsmun of District 11 also scored an eight. He was large and muscular and had substantial looks and talents with the javelin to impress the sponsors quite a bit. The only two sevens earned were by Enzo from District 6, who had put on lots of muscle from the hard labor quotas of District 6; and Otter Saville from District 10, who had had lots of practice killing cows and chickens on his ranch with daggers and applied that to the cloth dummies in the training center to score an impressive seven. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. There were no real standouts outside of the careers besides Chevron, and she was really only notable because of her training score. There were no volunteers besides the careers. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Zinfandel Bernard, 18, (10) 4-1 and Viola Jendrock, 18, (10) 4-1
District 2: Cassius Fuentes, 16, (9) 6-1 and Cayenne Scapini, 17, (10) 5-1
District 3: Captcha Fitchett, 16, (4) 33-1 and Kernel Luca, 14, (4) 36-1
District 4: Koi Oslo, 18, (9) 5-1 and Wava Holzgrefe, 15, (8) 9-1
District 5: Diode Stevenson, 17, (5) 19-1 and Shunt Urdang, 15, (4) 22-1
District 6: Enzo Burley, 16, (7) 14-1 and Porsche Solace, 12, (3) 45-1
District 7: Leaf Slive, 16, (6) 16-1 and Logger Dexter, 16, (6) 16-1
District 8: Denim Elkies, 18, (5) 18-1 and Chevron Prentiss, 18, (8) 10-1
District 9: Irvin Euling, 18, (4) 24-1 and Renata Silvera, 17, (5) 20-1
District 10: Otter Saville, 16, (7) 27-1 and Poe Vitale, 12, (3) 44-1
District 11: Chaff Korsmun, 17, (8) 10-1 and Alice Brown, 12, (3) 44-1
District 12: Cavern Kringle, 16, (6) 23-1 and Cylvene Jackson, 16, (5) 25-1
HGBO Bets: 11% on Zinfandel and Viola, 7% on Cassius, Cayenne, and Koi, 6% on Wava, Chevron, and Chaff, 4% on Enzo, Leaf, Logger, and Otter, 3% on Diode, Denim, Renata, Zinnia, and Cylvene, 2% on Captcha, Kernel, Shunt, Irvin, and Cavern, 1% or Less on Porsche, Poe, and Alice.
THE GAMES
The arena was a nearly exact replica of the region of District 8 abandoned after the rebellion nearly half a century earlier. After the rebellion, District 8, as one of the closest districts to the still-smoking 13, had to have half of its land marked as an exclusion zone. The people living in this area were to evacuate and move to safer areas, never to return again. Forty-five years later, the area was still not habitable. The entire arena was cocooned in complete silence. Not a bird sang from anywhere. Not a river flowed, nor did the wildlife of the arena make any sound. Even the air was completely still, never showing the slightest hint of a breeze. The cornucopia stood in the center of the arena. Nestled away in a ditch, the tributes would have to run up a steep slope to flee to the bloodbath after running in. This could possibly dissuade some outliers and maybe even careers. Splayed out around the arena was a series of textile mills. There were nine mills in total. Each was large and had several stories, like a church. Inside were rows and rows of old, English leather seats. Each seat was connected to a loom or a sewing machine where employees could have once sat weaving thread into fabric. Each mill had a storage room in it. Each cardboard box tucked away was filled to the brim with clothing of every color imaginable. Outside of the mills, it was far too open for anybody to feel safe without some sort of cover, so it was expected that most of the carnage would occur inside of the bulky buildings.
The abandoned industrial area that the tributes emerged into seemed creepy in a way. The sky was solid grey, without a cloud in sight. Paved sidewalks, weeds sprouting from the cracks, shot out from the cornucopia and wormed their way toward the textile mills. Barely a blade of grass in sight. The completely human-made arena showed few hints of nature. As such, when the gong rang, only one tribute fled off the fly: Enzo from District 6. This year's bloodbath hosted twelve deaths. After two years in a row with small bloodbaths, this fact reassured Wisp. It meant that the games were off to a good start.
Zinfandel was at the head of the onrush, literally kicking up the dirt that had built up in the cement and leaving a cloud of dust behind him. In one swipe of his arm, Zinfandel deftly swept up a double-edged sword that sat just inside of the cornucopia's open mouth. Zinfandel flung the sword into a nearby sinewy girl. The girl stopped dead in her tracks as the sword cut through her torso and protruded from her back. Her form tightened before going slack and falling forward with a thud. Zinfandel tore his sword messily out of her dead body to look for more prey.
Shunt Urdang, District 5 Female: 24th, Killed by Zinfandel, Bloodbath
Viola was only a few strides behind her district partner. A gleam of metal caught her eye from around a rather bulky crate. Viola thundered forth and found herself beside a sleek bow and its accompanying quiver of arrows. As she picked them up, they let off the faintest glimmer, reflecting the little sunlight that was able to stream through the polluted air. Viola threw the quiver over her shoulder and immediately fired a volley of three arrows at a boy that had fallen to his knees from a stab wound inflicted by Zinfandel mere seconds prior. The boy had his hand clapped to his side, wheezing, blood pouring plentifully from between his fingers. One of Viola's arrows struck home, worming its way into one of the boy's ears and out the other. His cries of terror were silenced immediately preceding a heavy thud.
Irvin Euling, District 9 Male: 23rd, Killed by Zinfandel and Viola, Bloodbath
Koi had run all of the way into the horn to grab a trident. As he emerged into the light, he was immediately greeted by the terrifying sight of District 11's Chaff bolting toward him, javelin in hand. Koi was too shocked to make any movement until the sharp tip of Chaff's weapon was a scary two feet from spearing his neck like a shish kebab. Koi swiftly brought up his trident, placing it in front of his neck. The tip of the javelin clanged against the bronze trident and bounced off with a few glowing sparks. One of the sparks landed on Koi's neck. Koi reached up with his hand to slap at the red-hot particle that had landed on his body, and it was then that Chaff saw the perfect opportunity. Chaff backed up by a few feet to build up momentum and then shoved his javelin into the career's arm. Koi made a sound that started with a yelp and ended with a roar, but Chaff had fled the scene before Koi had the sense to fight back. With the gaping wound pouring out thick blood onto the ground, Koi bled out in due time as Chaff thundered away to gather more supplies.
Koi Oslo, District 4 Male: 22nd, Killed by Chaff, Bloodbath
Wava from District 4 was darting toward the horn, her blonde hair rippling behind her, when she swept up an axe that sat on a plate of rock. Wava picked up the heavy weapon and moved it around a bit, trying to get a sense of the weapon that she was dealing with. Less than thirty yards away, a young girl of only twelve was struggling to get out of the ditch that the cornucopia was nestled inside of. The girl, who was slightly more than halfway up the slope at the time, whipped her head around and let out a short scream before the axe buried itself into her head with a crunch. She tumbled like a roly-poly to the bottom of the ditch, where Wava wrenched her axe out of her dilapidated skull.
Porsche Solace, District 6 Female: 21st, Killed by Wava, Bloodbath
Logger, the charismatic girl from District 7, had dragged a few suitcases and crates into one place. Logger had constructed a rather wonky and precarious structure by stacking them on top of each other. Logger used the added height to leap on top of the ivory cornucopia. Logger unearthed a knife that she had hidden in her shirt and looked out over the bloodbath, which was unfurling below her. Logger thought rather stupidly that nobody would be able to hurt her up there. Cassius saw the girl on top of the horn and immediately hurled a throwing knife her way. The knife missed, whizzing past Logger's torso with a breadth of about two meters. As the knife landed behind the horn with a clang, Logger let a laugh tumble from her lips. Furious, Cassius ran toward the tower that Logger had made and climbed on top of the horn. With Cassius cornering her on top of the cornucopia, Logger had no choice but to leap off of the horn lest she feel one of his throwing knives for real. She landed on her feet less than two feet from Wava, who had just finished pulling her axe out of Porsche's misshapen head. Wava spun sharply and buried her axe into Logger's neck, and she died immediately as blood flow to her brain ceased entirely.
Logger Dexter, District 7 Female: 20th, Killed by Wava, Bloodbath
Cassius had watched the whole scene unfold from on top of the cornucopia. With reassurance that the tribute that had insulted him was dead, Cassius pounced off of the ivory horn to thank Wava. Wava, caught up in a killing spree, instinctively flung her axe forward. Cassius shot out his hands to defend against the trigger-happy District 4 girl, but her axe had already impaled Cassius' hip. Cassius keened as Wava realized her grave mistake. Hoping to hide the fact that it was her who had killed her ally, she grabbed a knife and inflicted a few stabs into his body. Nobody, she thought, would suspect the girl with the trident to have killed the boy who showed lots of knife wounds.
Cassius Fuentes, District 2 Male: 19th, Killed by Wava, Bloodbath
Zinfandel, ready to make another kill, saw easy prey in a dark-haired girl that had picked up a backpack and was now booking it away from the horn. Zinfandel swung his sword, and the girl held her steady ground as she delivered a blow of rebuttal. Her sword cut through the air and landed in Zinfandel's shoulder. Furious, the career tackled the girl and shoved her to the ground. Zinfandel pressed the tip of his sword into her neck. She choked out pleas of mercy as Zinfandel drove the blade into her neck, and the further and further that Zinfandel's sword went into her neck the quieter she got until she had gone completely silent.
Renata Silvera, District 9 Female: 18th, Killed by Zinfandel, Bloodbath
Cayenne had laid eyes on a green jar that sat on a countertop inside of the horn. She walked toward it and read its label. It was clearly labeled poison in elaborate cursive, and inside was a clear liquid. Cayenne impulsively snatched it up. Wanting to put the poison to the test, Cayenne looked for easy prey, eventually laying eyes on a miner girl from District 12. The District 2 girl raced toward the girl and tackled her to the ground. Cayenne pinned her down and pinched her nose shut. Then, Cayenne placed the vial of poison just above her mouth. The intention was that, with her noes grasped shut with strong fingers, the girl would eventually have to open her mouth to breathe. When that happened, Cayenne poured about a tablespoon of the poison into her mouth. She instantly began spasming violently, and her mangled, grotesque corpse was one that the gamemakers weren't too keen about showing on television.
Cylvene Jackson, District 12 Female: 17th, Killed by Cayenne, Bloodbath
Viola's aim was impeccable, and her gazelle-like grace was unmatched by most tributes that had come before her. At the sight of a willowy boy nearby, Viola fired a single arrow. The arrow arced along its path before planting itself into the top of the boy's head. By the time he fell with a loud noise, he was dead, and he was open for Viola to approach and retrieve her arrow.
Leaf Slive, District 7 Male: 16th, Killed by Viola, Bloodbath
Chevron's braid thumped against her back as she darted toward the cornucopia's dark interior, hoping to find weapons and other supplies. Chevron's first order of business was to get a weapon so that she could defend herself against any attackers that tried to kill her while she was in the horn. Zinfandel spotted Chevron in the horn and ran to her side to kill her. He was so quiet and stealthy that Chevron didn't even hear him come up right behind her and bring down his sword. Chevron screamed and grabbed her weapon as the razor-sharp blade cut into her neck like butter. Chevron got to her feet and tried to fight back, but she staggered to the ground mere seconds later, too weak from the grievous wound she had sustained. Zinfandel watched smugly as her blood pooled around her. He marched off proudly, having eliminated the strongest outlier in the games.
Chevron Prentiss, District 8 Female: 15th, Killed by Zinfandel, Bloodbath
Denim from District 8 should have learned from the failed attempts of so many tributes in previous games. Despite how heavily the odds were weighed against him, Denim scooped up two tomahawks and charged toward Viola, who seemed engrossed in scanning the terrain for prey. Viola heard the clumsy boy when he was a substantial distance away. Viola turned sharply on her heel and fired a single arrow. The arrow landed squarely in Denim's heart, killing him immediately.
Denim Elkies, District 8 Male: 14th, Killed by Viola, Bloodbath
Cayenne made the final kill. She was looking through the cornucopia for weapons when she spotted a pair of eyes staring at her from the darkness, like a cat's. The eyes were unmistakable as being a human's. Cayenne picked up a machete and stalked forward to investigate. Immediately, a twelve year-old girl sprang out from the darkness and made a beeline for the cornucopia's exit. She only made it a few feet before Cayenne uncorked her vial of poison and threw it at the girl. The girl screamed as the acidic poison splattered her face and ate away at her skin. When she fell, never to rise again, her face was scarred and degraded like that of a victim of some terrible fire. The three other careers all gathered around to watch as Cayenne kneeled beside her and plunged her knife into her heart. Immediately, twelve cannon shots shattered the silence of the arena.
Poe Vitale, District 10 Female: 13th, Killed by Cayenne, Bloodbath
The careers regrouped at the cornucopia. With a twelve piece bloodbath, they knew that they probably didn't need to go hunting for the rest of the day, but since it was customary they decided to trek away from the horn. Leaving Wava behind to guard the cornucopia, Cayenne, Zinfandel, and Viola hunted. While they were moving around, Cayenne kept perking up. Whenever the others asked her what was wrong, she said that she had heard something. Every time they went to investigate, they would find nothing. Zinfandel and Viola dismissed this as her having "bad hearing", and they stopped taking suggestions from her as to where to look for tributes. This angered her, but she dared not roar at her stronger allies who she knew could take her down if they really wanted to.
With a kill under his belt, Chaff's confidence was boosted. His endurance was spectacular, and he ran away from the horn for fifteen minutes at a stretch without breaks. Breathing heavily from the long run, Chaff eventually found himself at the base of a large textile mill. He popped open the door and slipped inside. Intrigued, Chaff marched toward the long lines of sewing machines and work stations. He tried to get into the curator's office, but it was locked. Chaff settled for a spot underneath one of the sewing machines and slithered underneath. Alice was entirely mortified by the chaos that she was leaving behind her as she ran away from the bloodbath. She would force herself to find some cover, then she would leave herself time to cry out whatever she needed to. Red-faced and shot-eyed, Alice crawled into a spot where a circle of trees surrounded a hidden area. Then, she fell to the ground and she cried. Having chosen not to fight at the bloodbath, Enzo had to survive with only his wits and his bare hands. He couldn't reach the textile mills in one day, as even though he was more nimble than Chaff he didn't have half that spectacular endurance. Enzo's dark skin blended in well to the dirt, and the grass that covered him camouflaged him even more. At first, Otter was apprehensive to do much. Even though he had earned an impressive seven in training, he couldn't bring himself to do much else but practice with the shogei that he had gotten from the horn. Otter knew that the shogei wasn't his best weapon, but he practiced and practiced for hours on end until he perfected every single move. Cavern was one of the only other tributes besides Chaff that was able to reach the textile mills in the first day. Cavern ended up at the base of one with two large smokestacks and popped inside. He eventually grew bored as the day wore on, and so he began throwing open drawers and taking out the things inside. Diode had gotten a lightbulb, coil of wire, and coil of rope from the horn. He ran and eventually came to a stop at the bed of a river, long-dried up. Trees stood on either bank, but they were dehydrated and looked as if they might crumple to dust at any moment. Diode found a way to gather water from underneath the soil that had once belonged to the river. With dehydration death out of the question, he set to work trying to figure out a way to win the games like Beetee. Captcha had snatched a spiked mace from the cornucopia. He ran away from the horn, and a few minutes later he ran into Kernel, his district partner. A long chase ensued, and eventually they lost one another through the dense fog. Captcha collapsed at the end of a long, wide chasm and backed away for fear of falling over the edge. Kernel was both frustrated and relieved about Captcha escaping from underneath her; she felt responsible to make a kill but also dreaded the concept. Kernel didn't have water and so she slept thirsty in a copse of bushes.
Little excitement filled the long hours of Day 2. Not only was he unsettled by his proximity to the gaping chasm, Captcha felt very exposed with nothing covering him but his thin clothes out in the open. Captcha ducked into a pile of rocks and placed a few in front of him to hopefully keep him from rolling out in his sleep. Alice had cried herself to sleep the night prior, and after that time of mourning she got up, wiped the dust off of herself, wiped the tears from her eyes, and marched toward the nearest textile mill. This one seemed to specialize in blankets more than anything else. Lines of looms neatly traversed the large building. The place didn't seem abandoned. It was as if everyone in the place had set down what they were doing and left. Perhaps that was what happened with the evacuation of nearly half of District 8 forty-five years prior. Alice ventured into a supply closet, shut the door behind her, and fell down onto a pile of fluffy blankets. How amazing it felt after a night of sleeping on the cold hard ground! After walking for several hours, Otter found himself at the base of a large textile mill. Although it was stale, he drank water from the taps in the restroom. Then, he had nothing much to do. In one of the strangest moves in Hunger Games history, Otter began work on an elaborate pillow/blanket fort. He sketched it with pencils and paper that he found on a bench, and after about four hours of work, he had perfected his structure. Otter was proud of his handiwork, spending the rest of Day 2 inside of it. Chaff's back needed a break after bending so much to fit inside of the cramped space. Chaff got out and did a few stretches before grabbing his javelin. For the first hour or so, he practiced between the lines of work stations, but he soon realized that this was dangerous. His weapon frequently banged and clanged against objects, and this made quite a racket. Chaff was set off on an odyssey through the factory, and he eventually found a place where yarn was stored. The room was nearly thirty yards a side, and piled up to the ceiling were bundles of yarn. There, he had lots of room, and even when his spear did hit something, the sound was just a mere thud against yarn.
The next few hours were very still and calm. Cavern was hidden away safely inside of a mill and didn't have any reason to leave. Enzo set up a series of snare traps. They were crudely made; they produced a combined total of one kill for the entire day. The one animal that Enzo did catch was a chipmunk that hung by its foot and screeched madly as it flailed around in the air. It was a feisty one, and it took several minutes for a frustrated Enzo to grab hold of it to actually kill it with his knife. Seeing how disastrous the fire had been in the last year's games, Enzo figured that roasting his prey wouldn't be the best idea. This arena was a lot less flammable that last year's, but Enzo still didn't want to take any chances. Diode gave up trying to form his lightbulb, wire, and rope into an elaborate electrical trap, and so he set his mind toward finding water. Diode was walking contentedly along when suddenly his foot caught a rock and he fell forward onto the ground. His cheek raked across a sharp surface, and he felt a hot wetness drizzle down his face and neck. A sizable gash had opened up in his neck from the scrape, and Diode knew that he couldn't ignore the wound. Hoping to prevent infection, he tore off a bit of his shirt and used a rubber band that he found discarded on the ground to secure it around his head.
This year, the careers' plan was to only take the bare necessities out hunting each day. At the end of every day they would return to the horn to restock. They returned to the cornucopia on the morning of Day 2. There, they left Viola behind and went hunting. The careers knew that most of the tributes would be in the factories, and so they split up and went to three different factories to look for prey. Kernel endeavored to do something that few tributes had ever done successfully in Hunger Games history. She grabbed her limited supplies and began the long trek toward the cornucopia.
Kernel arrived around one o'clock in the morning. There, Viola was out in the clearing, yawning with tiredness and waiting for her allies to get back. Racing on her tiptoes and taking infinite care, Kernel scampered toward the horn. In the darkness, Kernel tripped on a suitcase and face planted into the ground in front of her like an idiot. Viola whipped her head around and spotted her, dumfounded, on the ground. Viola leapt to her feet and charged, and Kernel was dead before she could even get to her feet. Viola fired two arrows in rapid succession, both of them skewering themselves through her torso in perfect precision. Blood spouted from the holes that they had opened in her flesh, and the dark pool quickly reached Viola's feet. She retrieved her two arrows, wiped them off on her shirt, and then shoved her away to get back to her business.
Kernel Luca, District 3 Female: 12th, Killed by Viola, Day 3
The rest of Day 3 trickled by without any more deaths. Having made the latest kill, Viola was the popular one in the pack for the time. Cayenne found a very bright flashlight and affixed it to the ceiling with duct tape. This illuminated the entire interior of the cornucopia and virtually the entire ditch into which the horn had been situated. This was of great convenience for the others, particularly Zinfandel who liked to sharpen his sword inside of the horn and was constantly complaining that it wasn't bright enough to work. Chaff was growing fed up of the stale water from the sinks in the textile mill, and so he decided to leave and go hunting. With his javelin at his side, Chaff was hardy and strong. At one point in the day, Chaff found the blanket storage room that Alice was hiding in. Chaff was about to kill Alice before realizing that she was his district partner. Chaff let her go, and with that freedom Alice swore to never leave hiding ever again. She travelled to the nearest factory, where she found a cardboard box and crouched up inside of it. Lest asphyxia give her a nasty end, Alice carved a small hole in the floor of the box. Whenever she needed air, she would swing her body to the left. This would lift the floor of the box off of the ground and expose the hole for fresh air to flow in. Enzo continued setting up more snares, and it paid off. On Day 3, he collected three kills, whereas the day prior he had only collected one. In his cozy little office on the wheelie chair, Cavern flicked on the television to see what was on. It was just a bunch of Capitol propaganda, but it was better than nothing to fill the boring hours of the day. Diode had seemingly managed to prevent the infection that could have taken root in his gash, but it was still immensely painful. His mentor Porter sent him a bag of ice, which he put onto the wound to nurse it.
As the sun rose on Day 4, things began to grow peculiar. Cavern, who was very hungry after staying inside for three days, went outside to look for food in the wee morning hours of the day. The moment Cavern stepped outside to forage for food, he began to feel faint tremors beneath his feet. He just dismissed these as his upset stomach and kept searching. Eventually, he came across a patch of carrots. They were gnarly and wrinkly, but carrots nonetheless. After munching down the sour vegetables, the shivers and shakes from the earth seemed to be getting louder, way too loud to dismiss as tummy problems. Suddenly, the earth let out a huge roar and began shaking back and forth. Cavern let out a yelp and leapt up from his place sitting cross-legged in a ditch eating carrots. Less than ten yards away, a huge crack was opening up in the earth. The ground was cracking open in front of him like ice thawing in hot water. Then, suddenly, a roar that shook the heavens bellowed out from all around him and a plume of red-hot lava came shooting out of the ground. The first plume of ash was mere yards from his face. Cavern recoiled. He stood, dumbfounded, as the gash widened and red-hot lava began burbling forth. The lava pooled around his feet and held him in place, and it was too late to run. The force of the lava slamming into his feet caused him to fall forward, his body sinking down into the molten magma and killing him in due time.
Cavern Kringle, District 12 Male: 11th, Killed by Volcanic Earthquake, Day 4
The bellows and screams that the earth was letting out roused many tributes from their slumbers. Chaff had been camping out for the night in the blanket factory recently vacated by young Alice. Suddenly, a spurt of boiling lava shot toward the building and broke through the wall like nothing. The magma exploded through the room, and Chaff had no choice but to run. To gain high ground, he leapt on top of the countertops as the lava built up beneath him and began rising. Otter heard the groans of the earth and thought that a monster was outside of the factory. So, he used his little broom trick. The second that Otter pulled the broomstick out from its place, the entire building fell to the ground in a heap of blankets. Otter backed away, holding his knife, prepared to fight against whatever monster sought his blood. Soon, his back touched a wall. But the wall was strangely hot. It was as if something boiling hot was on the other side…
Suddenly, the wall burst and a hungry mass of lava began pouring in. Otter, whose back was touching the wall, was instantly swallowed by the lava and was killed immediately. The lava approached what once was his fort and lit the blankets ablaze. They only had a few seconds to blaze before the lava rolled over them, and, leaving Otter's burning corpse behind, continuing on in its insatiable rage.
Otter Saville, District 10 Male: 10th, Killed by Volcanic Earthquake, Day 4
Meanwhile at the horn, the careers were all going about their business. When they heart the rumbles of the crying earth, they grabbed their weapon and prepared for whatever monster was their way. Nothing happened for at least an hour, and so they went back to their business. All four careers were out in the area surrounding the horn sorting through supplies when, suddenly, the earth burst before them and a fountain of hot lava spurted out into the sky. The careers screamed and tried to run as the lava splashed down and droplets of it flew every which way. One of the droplets landed on Cayenne's forehead. It burned through her skin, and Cayenne tried to bat it away but couldn't. Cayenne was in critical condition but kept running. In a pack of four, the careers were less than ten steps from escaping the ditch when a geyser of lava shot up in front of them and started its own lava flow, trapping the careers between them. Zinfandel saw the tall pile of suitcases that Logger had built during the bloodbath. Zinfandel gave a mighty leap and pounced on top of the pile. Using all of his muscular strength to hoist himself up, Zinfandel was able to jump on top of the ivory cornucopia. Viola followed suit, laughing with relief, as did Wava, who was sweating bullets from the blistering heat of the lava. That left only Cayenne. With two flows of lava rushing in toward her from opposite directions, Cayenne had leapt on top of a crate and watched with terror as the lava pooled around the crate and began going upward. When the lava was mere seconds from pouring over the top of the crate, she gave a leap of faith toward the tower of suitcases and crates that her allies had used to reach safety. Alas, she was too far away, and she smacked into the lava more than a yard short of her target. The lava burbled beneath her as she sank into it and left her three surviving allies watching with earnest from atop the ivory horn.
Cayenne Scapini, District 2 Female: 9th, Killed by Volcanic Earthquake, Day 4
That left the final eight: Zinfandel Bernard and Viola Jendrock from District 1, Captcha Fitchett from District 3, Wava Holzgrefe from District 4, Diode Stevenson from District 5, Enzo Burley from District 6, and Chaff Korsmun and Alice Brown from District 11.
Meanwhile, Chaff was beginning to grow overwhelmed by the way the lava was building up around him. Up about ten feet in the air, he estimated that he had three or four minutes before the level of the lava reached him and he was toast. Chaff tried to make a break for the door, but it was covered to the halfway point with the boiling stuff. His only choice was to escape through the ceiling. Chaff looked around and spotted a small skylight nearby. Pouncing over the work stations and desks and chairs and tables, Chaff reached directly under the skylight. Then, he reached up with his javelin and slammed the sharp tip into the glass. The glass was strong, and a minute of hard pounding later Chaff had made progress of less than an inch. Chaff's arms felt like they were on fire, but he kept pounding away at the glass until finally the skylight shattered. The shower of glass fell down, some pieces impaling him, but he ignored them as he hoisted himself up through the broken skylight and onto the roof of the factory, which was filling with lava underneath his feet.
Weirdly, some tributes didn't notice the onslaught of lava for a really long time. Perhaps they didn't know that the labored cries of the ground beneath them were signs that a terrible disaster was about to occur. Diode was an example of this. He had high ground, and the lava didn't inconvenience him in the slightest. Enzo was walking out to collect the outputs of his snares when he saw the hungry lava flow rushing in from in front of him. He turned around and darted away from the lava as fast as he could. He came to a stop beside a long metal pole. Enzo shinnied up the pole and held on for dear life, but could do nothing as the lava eventually reached him. The lava melted through the base of the pole, and without a base it fell to one side. Enzo landed straight in a huge plume of ash, dust, and, most importantly, lava. The flagpole melted into liquid as Enzo was scorched to death, the second to last tribute whose life would be claimed by the earthquake.
Enzo Burley, District 6 Male: 8th, Killed by Volcanic Earthquake, Day 4
Captcha didn't notice the onslaught of bubbling lava until it was too late. He had settled down into a district thick with trees, and as the lava raced toward him the trees toppled. Abruptly, the lava felled a tree nearby. The tree fell down toward Captcha, and he was too dumbfounded with shock to move as the tree landed straight on top of him and hammered him to a pulp. He was the final tribute to perish in the terrible disaster.
Captcha Fitchett, District 3 Male: 7th, Killed by Volcanic Earthquake, Day 4
Day 5 had no deaths as the tributes scrambled to find safety in the arena. By morning the lava had hardened into stone but was still too hot to walk across or touch. Until the rock was safe to walk on, Chaff was stranded on top of one of the textile mills. He occasionally peeked down through the busted open skylight and saw that the area he had been standing in before his exit was completely covered with lava, and whenever he did he felt thankful that he had been able to break through the skylight. The careers were able to return to the cornucopia, as the gamemakers had stopped the hungry lava flow after Captcha's death, before it was able to consume the entire cornucopia. Some of their supplies, particularly plastic objects, had melted and changed shape, and anything metal was blisteringly hot to the touch. Zinfandel suggested that they stay on top of the horn all day, but Wava objected and said that it would be far too open up there. Viola broke the tie and suggested that atop the cornucopia would be the safest option. Wava was mad because she was paranoid that the ivory horn would melt, but Zinfandel pointed out to her that it hadn't melted at all thus far and such was unlikely to do so ever. Up there they didn't have much to do but practice with their weapons, and really only Wava and Zinfandel could do that. Viola couldn't practice with her bow because whenever she fired at the roof of the cornucopia the arrow would bounce off and land somewhere far away. She would just be wasting arrows. Diode, like Chaff, was stranded. He had been on the top of a dusty hill when the lava had pooled up around him and hardened into rough rock. Only a tiny bit of the hill protruded from above the surface of the stone, and since the stone was too hot to go near he was pretty much trapped there. He dug a hole in the ground with his hands to crawl inside of to give himself an illusion of shelter. If a threat came along , he would have nowhere to run. The entire duration of the disaster, nimble Alice had been only a few precious strides ahead of the lava. If she ever stopped to catch her breath, she would be dead. On Day 5, she was exhausted and, after finding high ground, she just laid around and slept. Never mind finding shelter.
Days 6 and 7 passed deathless, the most slow and boring that the games had seen yet. Progress slowed down to a crawl. On Day 7, the rock was finally cool enough to walk on. Chaff was able to escape his island prison. After discreetly scouting the horn and ensuring that all of the careers were there, he travelled to one of the textile mills and ducked behind a basket. He knew that the tributes would all flock to the mills seeking their cover, and he wanted to have an outlier encounter or two. Alice searched for a good place to build shelter and soon found a space perfect for her needs. She used moss and sticks to create a structure that would be able to keep out the cold fairly well. The only exciting thing that happened was when Diode got a dagger from a sponsor. He had misplaced his shogei that day prior and was thankful to have a weapon. He practiced with the dagger not only to give him something to do but also because he knew there would be more threats soon…
The tributes woke up to a bloodcurdling screech that filled the sky and earth. Circling overhead each tribute was a marvelous golden eagle. The careers immediately grabbed their weapons to fight. The eagle extended its talents and dove toward them. Viola shot a single arrow. It landed in the golden bird's neck and angered it. It cawed and raced down toward Viola. Hurriedly, her allies ran to her side to defend against the creature. Wava held her steady ground and swiped away at the creature with her axe. Zinfandel slashed his sword every which way and ran around, trying to injure the eagle. Abruptly, it dove in and prepared for hand-to-hand combat with the three tributes. The eagle screeched and clawed at the air with its talons, threatening death to anyone who dared come near. Viola was doing the most damage against the muttation, having a bow. The fight came to an end when Viola flung an arrow that found its way through the eagle's sparkling feathers and into its head. Black muttation blood stained its pristine feathers, and right before dying it flung out a mighty claw and slammed it into the nearest tribute: Wava. Wava screamed as the eagle raked its talons across her torso. Then, the eagle gave a final caw and died.
The careers ran to Wava's side. Zinfandel immediately ran to grab healing supplies from the cornucopia, but the plastic packages of medicine had all been melted by the heat from the lava flow a few days earlier. Neither Zinfandel nor Viola could do anything as they stood by with earnest and watched Wava bleed out from the three gashes that traversed her chest.
Wava Holzgrefe, District 4 Female: 6th, Killed by Eagle Muttation, Day 8
Meanwhile, the outliers strived to kill their eagle predators, with varying degrees of success. Diode slashed away at the air with his dagger and tried to fend off the beast. The eagle was nimble, and it dodged his scattered attacks most of the time. His most harmful hit saw the sharp edge of his dagger scrape across the eagle's leg. It cawed with agony and rage as it dove toward Diode, and he had no choice but to turn around and run. Diode ran at top speed for nearly twenty minutes, not once looking behind him. The calls of the golden eagle from behind him were evidence enough that he had not yet lost his pursuer. Eventually, he had no choice but to hide. Diode darted toward an area were the earth curved down into a steep slope. Then, he rolled forward and went tumbling down the hill. With the added velocity of the roll, the eagle fell behind him. Diode prayed that he would find some sanctuary, and his eyes immediately travelled to a place in the side of the slope where a rock was covering up a hole dug by some kind of large mammal. Diode pulled away the rock, crawled inside the hole, and scrunched up into the very back. The eagle couldn't find him, and even if it did it wouldn't be able to get through the hole and reach him. Even so, he dared not move a muscle until the creature gave up and flew away in a flap of leathery wings. Chaff was the only tribute besides the careers that managed to kill his muttation. The creature dove toward him with great speed, and Chaff rolled to the side. The eagle smashed into the ground where he had once been, and Chaff leapt to his feet to grab his javelin and go in for the kill. He skewered the long spear through the eagle's neck. Its cries became choked and much quieter until it finally died.
Alice was not so lucky. After her shelter was destroyed, she had been sitting on the ground with her back against a sturdy tree. The eagle barreled through the air and toward her, and she didn't notice it until it was too late. In one second, the eagle snatched her off of the ground and carried her high into the air. Alice thrashed and struggled, but the grasp of the muttation was so tight that she couldn't escape. Struggling just made her more tired, but even so her screams were mortifying to many a district child as the eagle munched away at her body as an airtime snack.
Alice Brown, District 11 Female: 5th, Killed by Eagle Muttation, Day 8
With eight days down and only four tributes remaining, Wisp knew that he had to tone things down a bit. Zinfandel and Viola were rather shaken up from the attack and so decided to stay at the horn, not hunting at all on Day 9. They didn't even do much productive wise, and given how hard they had worked throughout the games before the audience was able to give them a break. Chaff got to work literally tearing off the feathery flesh of the eagle that he had slew. Then, he traveled to the nearest textile mill, grabbed some scissors, whipped out one of the sewing machines, and starting creating a coat with the hide of the eagle. Few things are more menacing than a hero that makes a cloak out of the pelt of his kill, and Chaff did exactly that as he marched off proudly to look for prey with his new look. Diode had a run in with the creature that lived in the hole when it returned that night. It was a massive beaver, and even though it wasn't deadly it had a fierce bite and Diode had to run for a few minutes to lose it. Diode came to a stop at the edge of a large chasm, the very same chasm encountered by Captcha over a week prior. He was too scared to make camp directly on the edge of the chasm, so he went a few feet away and made shelter there.
Day 10 saw a single death. Sporting his new cloak made from the pelt of the golden eagle, Chaff continued tribute hunting through the day. He wanted to make a kill by the end of the day, and he did just that. Diode had been snoozing contentedly for most of the day, exhausted from the day prior, and he was asleep when Chaff saw him and scampered toward him. Diode woke up to the horrible sensation of Chaff's javelin raking across his leg. Diode screamed and grabbed his dagger, but before he could get back at Chaff he had already speared his javelin through his hip. Diode's blood spouted from the large hole that Chaff had opened, and as Chaff scurried away from the scene the boy was left to die. Chaff had defeated some quite tough enemies before, but could he emerge victorious over Zinfandel and Viola? Time would tell.
Diode Stevenson, District 5 Male: 4th, Killed by Chaff, Day 10
At this point in the game, Wisp had to make a big decision. One option was to let the games go on under his nose and not interfere. This wasn't the preferable option. At this point, Chaff was the audience's favorite to win behind possibly one of either Zinfandel or Viola, and Wisp knew that even though he was a strong boy he probably couldn't take down the united strength of the two District 1'ers. This would make an exciting fight but would leave Chaff's chances of victory low. His other option was to kill off one of the careers before the final fight. This would mean that one of the popular and beloved careers would have to die, but Chaff and the surviving career would have a duel that could end either way. That was what Wisp decided to do. How he determined which career to kill is unknown to this day, but he chose Viola to die before the final fight.
Convenient that was, for the very next day Viola went hunting while Zinfandel stayed behind to guard the cornucopia. Wisp waited for Viola to be a mile or so away from the horn before unleashing hell. The mutts that attacked her could have once been human, but they looked to be so altered by radiation that they were almost unrecognizable. Their skin was blue and stricken with veins, and their limbs shot out at awkward angles. They cackled strange phrases. Viola was in an area thick with trees when suddenly two of the strange ghouls leapt down and landed straight in front of her. Viola immediately fired a volley of two arrows at each one. The first ghoul was able to dodge both arrows. The second ghoul dodged the first arrow and swatted away the second arrow like nothing. Despite their awkward stature and form, they scuttled over the ground with impressive speed, and as Viola fired more and more arrows it became increasingly obvious that her arrows weren't hurting the monsters.
Eventually, she had no choice but to find shelter and hide. She raced as fast as she could toward the nearest textile mill and threw herself inside. She looked around for some heavy furniture and found a sort of desk, which she shoved in front of the heavy door. She repeated this for a few other pieces of furniture. Viola was almost completely certain that she had lost the ghouls when she heard a thud on the door. The heavy objects rattled. Another thud. Viola ran away from the door and sought shelter in the lady's restroom, which was at the very back of the factory. She crouched down into one of the stalls and waited, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, there was a great crashing sound as the monsters broke through the door and raced toward Viola as if sniffing her out. The beasts crawled into the stall, and she leapt on top of the toilet and pounced out of the stall with perfect precision. She landed on the ground, rolled, and got to her feet a few yards away, but by the time she got up to run one of the creatures had grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her to the ground. Their mouths watered and Viola wept as they mauled apart her body and tasted her delicious flesh.
Viola Jendrock, District 1 Female: 3rd, Killed by Ghoul Muttations, Day 11
The gamemakers had whittled down the crowd to their cherished final two, and luckily for them it contained the two most popular tributes of the year. Zinfandel Bernard was one of the most powerful tributes that the academy had seen in ages, and if he won he would help his district along the way to overtaking District 4, which had recently surpassed it in victor count. Chaff Korsmun, however, was the true underdog. After his mother died when he was four, Chaff had been living in the slums of District 11 doing back-breaking work to support him and his crippled father. If he won, he could help his family escape all of that. He would also bring District 11 its second victor, which it really could use given how overwhelmed Seeder was in keeping track of so many tributes.
On Day 12, Wisp unleashed the golden eagle mutts once again. Zinfandel had his sword, Chaff his javelin; they both met up in an open field of cement a few hours later. The eagles weren't meant to kill, but they had injured both of the tributes nonetheless. Zinfandel had gotten a slash to the side, and Chaff had received a claw to his back. Both were bleeding fiercely, and at this point in the competition it was either each tribute kill their opponent or die trying.
Zinfandel spotted Chaff on the horizon around noon, racing away from his eagle mutt pursuer. The two tributes clashed together in the meadow, and their fight began. Zinfandel made a devious move, showing his sword sharply to the left. The sharp edge of the blade grazed Chaff's arm, drawing a few drops of blood. Chaff tried to grab a steady hold of Zinfandel's arm, but he managed to shake the District 11 boy off and throw him to the ground. Chaff landed on his bum on the ground, with Zinfandel above him. Suddenly, with a burst of energy so sudden that Zinfandel was too stupefied to move, Chaff leapt to his feet, tore Zinfandel's sword out of his grasp, and kicked him to the ground. Chaff leapt on top of Zinfandel. The career struggled. He was strong, but Chaff was stronger, and as he slowly drove his knife into Zinfandel's chest he could do nothing to protest. Zinfandel was dead seconds after the blade pierced his heart, and then Chaff was the only remaining tribute.
Zinfandel Bernard, District 1 Male: 2nd, Killed by Chaff, Day 12
"Chaff Korsmun of District 11, you are the victor of the forty-fifth annual Hunger Games!" Wisp cheered, his voice energetic and bright. Wisp was confident that he had pulled off the games well, and he didn't think he would face the punishments Snow promised if he had failed.
Chaff staggered away from Zinfandel's corpse before collapsing to the ground, bleeding out from the huge gash that the eagle mutt had dealt him mere minutes prior. A team of medic officials poured out of the hovercraft to help him, and as they did they couldn't help but notice the weak, but certain smile that was plastered across his face.
Chaff Korsmun, District 11 Male: Victor of the Forty-Fifth Hunger Games, Day 12
AFTERMATH
District 11 was overjoyed to have their second victor. Seeder was the happiest resident of the district by far, as since Chaff was now a mentor she only had to take care of one tribute each year instead of two. District 1 was furious, as they had provided their two strongest pupils to fight in the games with hopes of winning and catching up to District 4. The sourest of all was Zinfandel's father and mother, who literally threw curses at him during his victory tour.
Chaff moved into the Victor's Village of District 11, the second victor to do so.
His victory tour was a varied show. In all districts except 1, 4, and 5, he was loved. The crowning moment of his Victory Tour, however, happened during his stop in District 11. Chaff turned out to be a fantastic public speaker, and he gave little Alice a heart-wrenching eulogy that left few dry eyes in the nation. Snow didn't exactly like this display of mourning so strongly for a fallen tribute, but he let it slide since Alice had been young and wasn't rebellious anyways.
Chaff would live to the age of sixty-nine, dying from a possibly intentional alcohol overdose around the time of the ninety-seventh annual Hunger Games. In his lifetime, he wouldn't marry or have children. He would turn to the vice of alcohol to dissuade the rampant memories of his time in the games. Because of this, he would become great friends with fellow alcoholic Victor Haymitch Abernathy.
NEWS
Chaff settles down into the Victor's Village of District 11, occupying the second house.
Porter Tripp adopts triplet daughters named Phoebe, Rachel, and Monica.
Radiance Clinton has quadruplet sons: Brilliance, Valor, Splendour, and Gleam.
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)
37HG: Lucy Said (#7, District 4)
38HG: Porter Tripp (#3, District 5)
39HG: Penelope Turek (#8, District 4)
40HG: Beetee Latier (#6, District 3)
41HG: Radiance Clinton (#6, District 1)
42HG: Technik Hartline (#7, District 3)
43HG: Dylan Levitt (#9, District 4)
44HG: Rye Boyum (#2, District 9)
45HG: Chaff Korsmun (#2, District 11)
A/N: Thanks for reading, and thanks to all of you for sticking with me for so long! We're coming up on a lot of canon victors: Brutus for the 48th, Wiress for the 49th, Haymitch for the 50th, and Lyme for the 51st! As always, I love getting your reviews so please tell me how I'm doing. See you all next time :D
