THE FORTY SEVENTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Iumenta"


INTRODUCTION

President Coriolanus Snow kept his unrelenting grip strangling the throat of the nation for another year. The entire year was passing in serenity with almost no rebellion, yet punishments for insubordination were harsher than ever and taxes were as bloated as Snow's ministers. The district that felt this the worst was District 12. At that point in Panem's history, District 12 was one of the most rebellious districts, perhaps even up to par with Districts 8 and 6. With Snow's additional strictness, the backbone keeping the district from tumbling into anarchy finally snapped. A terrible famine occurred in the district. Nearly one tenth of District 12's population perished due to the famine. Following the famine, there was a long, icy winter and a short, mild summer. In the winter, an additional five percent of the population perished from starvation. The Capitol tried to keep the news from spreading around the nation. So, for the forty-seventh Hunger Games, they rigged District 12's reapings. Two healthy kids picked from a healthy crowd. No need to panic if nobody knows to. Snow focused on making these games especially vicious, and he knew he could trust Wisp Glasgow to do just that. Wisp kept his job as head gamemaker for another year. Because of the rule set into place nine years earlier that the twelve arenas leading up to the second Quarter Quell would be modeled after the twelve districts, the arena for the forty-seventh Hunger Games would represent District 10, the livestock district. And Wisp really outdid himself. Wisp said in an interview that District 10 was his favorite district, and that was shown by the immense amount of time he put into the creation of the arena.

The career pack this year was a remarkable group of kids. District 1 produced a pair that was as gorgeous as always. The male was well-versed with long range weapons, particularly the bow and the harpoon. He was a beauty, with his ocean blue eyes and blonde hair. The girl was one of the most beautiful tributes District 1 had seen in several years, and that was saying something. She made the sponsors' mouths hang open with awe, and in combat she preferred the whip more than any other weapon. District 2 produced a pair that made up with valor what they lacked with looks. The boy was arguably the strongest tribute this year. With two eyes like pieces of ice, he didn't seem to give a crap about any of the pre-games ceremonies. The girl was confident in many ways, maybe a bit too much, as she could be foolish at times. District 4's male the weakest of the bunch. The youngest this year at only fifteen, he was under par due to a lack of training compared to the others. The District 4 girl had a sort of exotic beauty to her. Although it couldn't match the District 1 girl, it provided the right combination of awe and intrigue to those looking for good tributes to sponsor. She liked whips, with their merciless grip and biting teeth. The training scores of the careers were higher than usual. Every single career scored a nine or above. In total, two tens and four nines were earned.

The outliers this year were rather lackluster, and there weren't many standouts. Two outliers scored eights. Annie Ribbons from District 8 had a knack for knives, and she was also supple enough to catch the attention of the Capitol. Madigan Moller, a boy from District 10, was broad-shouldered and muscular, and he was acquainted with the sickle and sword. Only two sevens were scored. Lennox, a boy from District 7 who had knowledge of the axe and of basic survival skills; and Reid, a nimble and stealthy boy from District 11. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. There was a single volunteer outside of the careers. She was the first outlier volunteer in five years, the last one being Sequoia O'Rourke from the forty-second Hunger Games. This year, the girl from District 3, Avatar Cable, entered the games voluntarily. Her sister's name was read at the reaping, and she wasted no time volunteering for her. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Fifer Grunge, 16, (9) 7-1 and Fiesta Tedlow, 16, (9) 7-1

District 2: Robust Talbot, 17, (10) 6-1 and Faye Gowen, 17, (9) 6-1

District 3: Router Singh, 18, (6) 19-1 and Avatar Cable, 18, (4) 32-1

District 4: Ballast Nyckell, 15, (8) 8-1 and Flounder Escot, 17, (10) 6-1

District 5: Klink Byrae, 16, (4) 35-1 and Binary Slane, 13, (3) 54-1

District 6: Roy Joiner, 18, (6) 21-1 and Elise Skala, 14, (4) 44-1

District 7: Lennox Chiara, 17, (7) 14-1 and Poppy Holway, 16, (6) 22-1

District 8: Fleece Lents, 15, (3) 51-1 and Annie Ribbons, 18, (8) 10-1

District 9: Fonio Bison, 13, (3) 56-1 and Zinnia Manners, 15, (5) 22-1

District 10: Madigan Moller, 18, (8) 10-1 and Pasture Watkins, 12, (2) 82-1

District 11: Reid Kinchla, 16, (7) 19-1 and Belle Jewel, 17, (4) 33-1

District 12: Cody Perlmann, 18, (4) 32-1 and Nedra Laplume, 18, (4) 33-1

HGBO Bets: 9% on Robust and Flounder, 8% on Fifer, Fiesta, and Faye, 6% on Ballast, Annie, and Madigan, 5% on Lennox, Poppy, and Reid, 4% on Router and Roy, 3% on Zinnia, 2% on Avatar, Klink, Elise, Fleece, Belle, Cody, and Nedra, 1% on Binary, Fonio, and Pasture.


THE GAMES

This year's arena was on an island in the middle of an ocean. The ocean water was so beautifully clear that one could see the sand and rock on the sea bed. The island was the most breathtaking place imaginable. The cornucopia, a freshly painted barn, stood in the center of a serene meadow. The grass was lime-green and fuzzy and had the most wonderful aroma. Dotting the meadow were brightly-colored flowers every color of the rainbow, springing out from the green grass and giving a false sense of serenity to the scene. Puffy white sheep and mooing cows grazed the area, as well as brilliantly-colored birds that roosted in the flower patches after long flights through the azure blue sky dotted with clouds. Several rushing rivers cut through the landscape. Their water smelled sweet, and they were lined on either side with lilies and heavenly reeds. Rainbows stretched across the azure blue sky, though it didn't look like it had just rained. Surrounding the meadow was a forest that stretched on for half a mile or so. But, the crowning jewel of the arena was on the north tip of the island. A rocky cliff jutted out of the earth like a piece of rough metal, completely fruitless and menacing. At the very top of the black mountain was a cave. Surrounding the entrance to the cave were skeletons of sheep, cows, and even some humans. The entire landscape was, of course, modeled after District 10. With its rolling plains dotted with flowers and livestock and its beautiful forests, the arena seemed to capture the essence of the livestock district. This pleased District 10 immensely, as it was the first time they had ever really been projected as anything positive. Many of the tributes stood with their mouths hanging open in awe until the second that the flashing countdown above the cornucopia reached zero.

Tributes burst forward and backward. Robust was the fastest of the lot this year, and he was the first to finish the sprint toward the cornucopia, his slower allies behind him. Robust scooped up an axe that sat in a cluster of pink blossoms at his feet and hurled it with all of his might toward an outlier girl that was shaking with panic as she thundered toward the cornucopia. With a bloodcurdling crunch that was music to Robust's ears, the axe buried itself squarely into her chest. Her ribcage was immediately shattered. Robust ran to her side to tear the axe out of her spasming torso as her blood painted the fuzzy green grass dark red.

Elise Skala, District 6 Female: 24th, Killed by Robust, Bloodbath

Fiesta's golden blonde hair rippled behind her as she raced toward a nifty whip that she had requested from the gamemakers. The glint of its metal teeth in the sun was easy for her to spot amongst the mass of supplies. The weapon fell snugly into her grasp. Fiesta whirled around and slammed down the whip onto the nearest girl, a sinewy and undernourished one from District 5. The whip wrapped around the girl's arm several times. Fiesta yanked back the whip and was greeted by the screams of the girl as half of her arm was torn off. She fell forward, and she was easy work for Fiesta from there.

Binary Slane, District 5 Female: 23rd, Killed by Fiesta, Bloodbath

Fifer, well-versed with bows, was pleased to find one lying in the grass less than thirty yards from his pedestal. Fifer snatched up the weapon and readied a single arrow, aiming for an outlier boy that had scored an astonishing eight in training. He let the arrow fly. Fifer smirked as the projectile glided through the air, arcing along a perfectly circular path, before landing in the top of the boy's head. Fifer darted forward to tear the arrow out of his head as he whooped with triumph, having eliminated a major non-career target.

Madigan Moller, District 10 Male: 22nd, Killed by Fifer, Bloodbath

Now that three kills had been made, things were really starting to organize in the career pack. Ballast and Flouder were scouting the perimeter of the circle of pedestals, trying to catch tributes that were running away from the chaos of the bloodbath. Meanwhile, Faye and Fifer stood their steady ground in the clearing. They both had bows, so they were able to fire without moving at all. Fiesta and Robust wanted to make a splash to impress the sponsors, and they figured that it was a good time to bump off the three tributes that were inside of the horn. Fiesta immediately charged toward the weakest of the tributes, the dark-haired boy from District 5. Meanwhile, Robust tackled one of the stronger outlier boys. Robust wrestled him to the ground and whipped out his axe, ready to strike. The boy rolled out from underneath him and tried to escape, but Robust ran in front of him and stopped him dead in his tracks. He didn't have enough notice to sidestep before Robust swung his axe and decapitated him in one clean slice. His head was sent tumbling to the floor, stringy blood splashing against Robust's legs and clinging to everything around.

Roy Joiner, District 6 Male: 21st, Killed by Robust, Bloodbath

Robust immediately ran forward to assist Fiesta, who was struggling to contain the elusively nimble outlier. In the midst of all of this, the third outlier had been left completely unharmed. She tried to stay as silent as possible as she sauntered out of the horn, but the other tributes heard her. Fiesta ordered Robust to bump off the boy before charging toward the girl that was just about to escape the horn. Fiesta lashed her black whip at the girl's back. She immediately fell and skidded across the ground for a few seconds before coming to a stop. The girl landed right at the feet of Faye, who fired an arrow to end her life.

Nedra Laplume, District 12 Female: 20th, Killed by Fiesta and Faye, Bloodbath

Inside of the horn, Robust was struggling to contain the boy from District 5, whose name was Klink. Robust swung away with his axe. Adrenaline fired Klink up to the point that he was able to dodge all of his blows. After Nedra's death, Robust looked up for a tiny instant, and Klink took the opportunity. He sprinted out of the horn, ignoring the furious yells of the careers behind him as he sprinted away into the meadow.

Seconds before on the outskirts of the ring of pedestals, Flounder had caught a glimpse of a certain boy thundering away from the horn before disappearing into the meadow. Flounder chased after him. It was several seconds before the boy realized that he was being chased. When that happened, adrenaline powered him up to run even faster, and Flounder had to run with all of her strength to catch up to him. Flounder hurled her spear and watched as it skewered itself through the boy's leg. He stumbled forward and tried to keep running, but the injury was too grievous for him to run normally. He soon collapsed. Flounder tore the spear out of his leg and thrust it into his heart before returning to the horn.

Fonio Bison, District 9 Male: 19th, Killed by Flounder, Bloodbath

Fifer twirled around with astounding finesse and fired a volley of two arrows at a nearby girl that looked like easy prey. The girl lifted up a small pack to guard the back of her head. The shield worked. The arrows landed in the pack. It had cushioned the blow, but not stopped it completely, and the young girl was thrown into a fit of agony. It was quite like someone had thrown a punch at the back of her head. Fifer launched another arrow. His arrow whizzed through the air and landed in the small of the girl's back. Her efforts to get back up after the fall that ensued were futile, only ending in her death from blood loss about a minute later.

Pasture Watkins, District 10 Female: 18th, Killed by Fifer, Bloodbath

Robust, now scouting the clearing and trying to catch a few scrambling outliers, hurled himself at a nearby girl and forced her thrashing form to the ground. She screamed and fought with all of her might to escape. When Robust whipped out his axe and prepared to strike, the girl knew it was all over. The last thing she saw was the blade of Robust's axe flying down at her torso, and then she fell away into oblivion, leaving the cackling boy from District 2 to pillage her of her measly supplies.

Avatar Cable, District 3 Female: 17th, Killed by Robust, Bloodbath

Fiesta's whip cracked once more as she lashed it down upon the sobbing boy from District 12. He was carrying a package of water and tried to toss it at Fiesta to knock her out, but she just stepped out of the way as it sailed past her before landing on the ground behind her and popping. Fiesta slammed down her merciless whip onto the boy's face and turned him into a bloody mess as she continued to tear him apart one lash at a time.

Cody Perlmann, District 12 Male: 16th, Killed by Fiesta, Bloodbath

Ballast grinned as he chased a weeping girl away from the cornucopia. She wasn't very fast, and Ballast caught up to her quickly. Wanting to savor his first kill, Ballast decided to kill her slowly. He first grabbed her firmly and threw her to the ground, snapping her neck and rendering her immobile below the center of her torso. Ballast snatched up a nifty dagger and went in for the kill. Driving the knife into the girl's torso, his hands were soon washed over with her blood. Ballast induced several sizable scrapes into her body and watched as her hopeless screams faded away to silence.

Zinnia Manners, District 9 Female: 15th, Killed by Ballast, Bloodbath

Two girls had been fighting over a blue backpack filled to the brim with supplies for about a minute when they began to grow violent. The younger of the two girls, Poppy from 7, was kicking around her legs and trying to swat away the grand Annie Ribbons from District 8, who had a knife. Annie swiped the knife through the air. Poppy pulled back her head just in the nick of time, but she still cursed when the tip of the blade nicked her cheek. Annie was off of her bearings after the strike, and Poppy took the opportunity to grab the pack and run. Poppy was high-tailing it away when Annie grabbed her ankle. Poppy face-planted into the ground like an idiot, and it was all over from there. Annie plunged the knife into Poppy's back before slinging the backpack over her shoulder and fleeing the scene.

Poppy Holway, District 7 Female: 14th, Killed by Annie, Bloodbath

Annie was mere feet from entering the picturesque flower-strewn meadow when she heard a shuffling sound behind her. It was Faye from District 2. Faye had noticed that the triumphant Annie was one of the only outliers left at the horn and had singled her out because of her training score. Faye readied herself to fire an arrow, but Annie attacked the hawkish girl and shoved her onto the ground. Faye leapt to her feet and looked around, but Annie was nowhere to be seen. She had taken off into the meadow, and Faye could only see her because the blue backpack stood out like a sore thumb in the field of green grass. Faye chased after Annie. All seemed hopeless for the career girl until Annie's foot got caught in a small hole and she collapsed like a paper doll. Faye sprinted toward her. Annie had really fallen on purpose and was faking extreme pain. She knew that Faye would take her sweet time killing her, and she had a plan. Faye cried out insults at her. Annie was now fake crying and clutching her ankle as if in agony. Faye was about to fire an arrow when suddenly Annie jumped up and stabbed her knife into Faye's shoulder. She was so surprised that she couldn't even move as the girl from District 8 slashed away at her head and torso mercilessly with her weapon before disappearing once and for all into the meadow.

Faye Gowen, District 2 Female: 13th, Killed by Annie, Bloodbath

Back at the cornucopia, Fiesta made the final kill. A few minutes before, Fiesta had struck a boy with her vicious whip. She had then run away from him to do something more important. The boy had dragged himself across the grass and then thrown a crate over himself. He was still tucked away inside the orange crate, shaking like a leaf, slowly dying as blood leaked from the holes inflicted by the sharp teeth of Fiesta's whip. Now, Fiesta turned over the crate that he was in and found him again. Fiesta flung down her whip and finished the job that she had started five minutes before. The pitiful boy was mere seconds from death already, and he barely felt it.

Router Singh, District 3 Male: 12th, Killed by Fiesta, Bloodbath

Thirteen cannons shattered the peaceful silence of the meadow. The careers all regrouped at the cornucopia and went hunting, leaving Flounder behind to guard their supplies. When they went hunting, they unanimously agreed to head toward the looming mountain on the horizon. As the dominant feature on the horizon, it would likely attract many tributes to its uneven slopes despite its apparent harshness. Though tributes who headed there would be faced with a rough environment, there were several of them. Reid had grabbed a bowl and a pack of just-add-water noodles from the cornucopia. As he scaled the steep and rocky mountainside, he clutched onto his supplies for dear life, which they very well could be. Reid came to a stop on a flat terrace of land, where he gathered a few sticks and started a fire. He brought water from a nearby pool to a boil and used it to prepare a portion of the plasticky noodles. Fleece knew that temperatures got lower the higher in elevation one travels. Thus, the higher he climbed up the mountain, the longer he made his strides. Fleece hoped that this extra physical movement would keep up his body temperature. It did, at least for a while. Soon, he was running to and fro and stamping his icy feet to keep warm. When night fell, Fleece ducked into an outcove in the mountainside and tried to quiet the chattering of his teeth. It would seem that no outlier would think it a good strategy to stay in the meadow. Because of its proximity to the cornucopia, anyone in it would be the first prey that the trained tributes would encounter. However, a tribute chose this route. It was Lennox from District 7. He stayed in the meadow and picked flowers that he recognized as edible. He got to work finding a water source, and he succeeded when he found a creek of sweet-smelling water winding along and slicing the land in two. He sipped its water down and made camp at its bank. The forest, of course, was the place that the most tributes travelled to. After her fight with Faye, Annie decided that she had had enough trouble for one day. Keeping the blue backpack with her at all times, Annie ventured through the lovely forest and found herself in a sandy clearing around a little pond. Not trusting it to be safe, she drank the water from her pack, of which there was quite a lot. Belle wanted a very secluded area to live in, but she was having trouble finding it because the trees were relatively far apart. After searching for several hours, Belle discovered an oblong ring of trees encircling an empty area. Belle sat down and rested her tired feet. The sounds of the birds singing and the wind quietly washing over her quickly put her to sleep. After narrowly escaping Robust and Fiesta during the bloodbath, Klink would take no more risks. He moved between the trees as silently as possible and tried not to tread over anything that could snap. He wasn't exactly experienced in the art of moving quietly, and despite his best efforts he was clumsy to put in nicely. On his way away from the cornucopia, he had managed to grab a spile and a dagger. Klink shoved the spile into a lush tree and waited for water to come pouring out. When it did, he didn't have a bucket or anything, so he had to place his open mouth underneath the faucet as water poured into it. He was too caught up in all this to have time to build a real shelter, so he simply got down into a ditch and slept the night away like a stone.

The sun rose above the forest on the morning of Day 2. The careers staying out hunting, surveying the face of the mountain for prey. Reid was smart enough to stay in hiding during the early morning hours; the careers were the most active in the early morning, so he remained still and when he had to move he did it as quietly as possible. A sponsor delivered him a lemon flavored cookie, which he shoved into his pocket for later. Reid discovered that the seemingly inhospitable mountain had food if one knew how to find it. Reid munched on green leaves the sprouted from the stubborn, rough rock in some places. Over the night, Fleece's hands felt like ice and he couldn't feel his toes. Frostbite was such an immediate concern that Fleece had no choice but to head down the mountain. There weren't exactly any paths to follow, so the journey was precarious to say the least. The quartet of careers were walking about when suddenly Fifer hissed for his allies to be quiet. The others followed Fifer's gaze and saw Fleece's shivering form moving clumsily down the rough mountain. Fifer instructed his allies to prepare their weapons as they crept toward the boy. Fifer pounced and landed straight on top of Fleece. Fleece screamed and tried to run, but Fifer was holding him down. He launched an arrow from his bow into Fleece's heart. The others caught up to him and prepared to get in on the action, but Fleece was already dead, his cannon shot booming in their ears and echoing around the stony cliff like thunder.

Fleece Lents, District 8 Male: 11th, Killed by Fifer, Day 2

In the meadow, Lennox's morning was going well. Realizing that the sheep and cows that grazed the area were great potential sources of food, he went on a mission to kill one for its meat. He peppered a series of small holes into the ground and waited. Lennox watched as one sheep stepped into one of his holes and shrieked. It immediately fell to the ground, unable to move with its leg broken, and Lennox could go in for the kill with a saw that he snatched up from the bloodbath on the way out. He didn't dare go so far as to start a fire; he figured that, if it got out of hand, it could spell disaster in big, fiery red letters. The forest experienced only peace for the duration of the day, and as day turned into night. Annie crawled away from her sandy home beside the pool and sought better shelter. After searching for about an hour, Annie discovered a space in which three strong trees had fallen around a hole. Annie crawled in and felt secure inside her fortress with wooden walls. Hidden, she sharpened the several small blades that were in her pack with a rough stone that she found lodged underneath one of the fallen trees.

Klink was quite fed up of settling for life scrunched up in a ditch, so he got to work on an actual shelter. After much searching, he discovered an area with a lot of old logs. Klink stacked these logs in alternating directions, like a Lincoln Log house, and then covered the top and sides with leaves. It was cozy inside apart from the occasional sprinkle of mud from the roof. Belle had never been able to sleep more than a few minutes at a time because of horrible nightmares. Every five minutes or so, she jolted awake screaming. Belle theorized that this was because the area she was in had a lack of sunlight, which made her uncomfortable. She left her hiding place with the ominous trees overlooking all and trekked to a more sunlit region of the forest. Open to the sky, she slept much better, though she was awoken at least ten times through the warm night by the nightmares.

On Day 3, many of the tributes awoke to a faint trembling from deep within the earth. Several tributes, in their sleep-addled states, like Reid and Klink, dismissed them entirely and went back to get more shut-eye. Belle had a memory sparked by the tremors. Something she had learned in school. Belle racked her brain for the answer but found nothing. The prospect of more sleep was so enticing that she fell back into it after a few minutes, thinking that the rumbling wasn't an issue and couldn't hurt her in her beautiful forest home.

The tremors continued throughout the wee hours of the morning, and when day broke the careers decided to head down the mountain and back toward the cornucopia to restock on supplies. All of them had a strange feeling that something was up. Those shakes and cries from the earth couldn't mean nothing. As they stepped into the meadow, the earth let out a mighty roar and rapidly began spasming back and forth. The careers clawed through the air for each other, wanting to stay in a group to have more stability. The initial jerk had thrown Fiesta away and tossed her like a rag doll. Fiesta landed on the ground a few yards away and cursed. The world continued shaking harder and faster. The earthquake was tossing Fiesta around on the ground like a bouncy ball, and she was so battered she could hardly think or breathe. Meanwhile, her allies were gripping on to each other harder than ever to keep from shattering apart and flying every which way. Back at the cornucopia, Flouder leapt underneath a heavy table and covered her head with her hands, wanting to stay as safe as possible from the earthquake.

The earthquake caused chaos in the forest. Trees toppled like plastic dominoes. Annie fought to get out of her shelter, but the earth was shaking so fiercely that the walls were rattling around her and squeezing her to death. Annie managed to slip out just as a tree fell nearby and landed where she had just been with a crash. If she had acted a second later, she would most certainly have been killed. Klink's puny log home immediately crashed down around him. He hissed with pain when one log landed on his head. His vision was black and blurry. Klink wormed his way out of the wreck with all of his might and bounded toward clearer areas, where there would be less trees to crush him. Belle didn't notice how harsh the world's joggling was growing until it was too late. A gash was opening in the earth beneath her, and there seemed to be nothing she could do. That was when a miracle happened. Nearby, a tree was falling, and it was falling less than five feet from her. As the tree was about to hit the ground, Belle grabbed onto it and hoisted herself out of the gash just before it closed up and crushed her supplies, which had all tumbled in. Belle sat on top of the tree like a rodeo bull for a few seconds before it crashed to the ground. As it did, Belle was thrown off of it. She landed on the ground about twenty yards away and skidded for one or two before screeching to a halt on the dusty forest floor. She was so tired and bruised that she couldn't react when she noticed a heavy tree falling down toward her. It instantaneously crushed her to death. Everyone thought that would be the end of the earthquake… and it was. But something much worse would follow. They would see.

Belle Jewel, District 11 Female: 10th, Killed by Falling Tree, Day 3

Alarm bells went off in the gamemaker's control center, and every gamemaker rushed to his or her controls, ready to witness and control the disaster that was to come. Every eye in the nation was glued to its television screen, hanging in anticipation and terror for what was to come next. The ocean was drawing back far past the lowest tide, and the east horizon, far out beyond the ocean, was beginning to heighten, as if a wall was rushing toward the land. The careers and Lennox were the only tributes at immediate risk because they were in the meadow. They would have died if not for Ballast. Ballast not only lived in District 4, the district with the most earthquakes, but he also knew the signs of a tsunami. That thing racing toward the land was a monster wave. There was no doubt about it.

"Get to high ground!" Ballast screamed to the others, and they all scattered, trying to get as high an elevation as possible as a screaming sound as loud as a bellowing train filled the air. In the forest, tributes were scrambling to get to areas they thought were safer. Annie knew a tsunami was coming after the bellowing sound, so she ran up the nearest hill and prayed for protection from the ensuing disaster. Klink had no idea that a tsunami was coming. He thought there was some kind of monster whose stomping had shook the earth, and he was now hearing its roars. As such, he hid in a small cave and bunched himself up, praying that the creature would not find him. The only tribute safe from the threat was Reid. Up on the icy mountain's slope, the water could never get to him. Though he knew horrible sights were about to occur, he was so captivated with terrible fascination that he couldn't look away. He sprawled himself out and peeked over the edge of the mountain, watching as the tsunami crashed into the land.

Sand, mud, and trees were kicked up. Like children's toys, everything in sight was toppled by the onslaught of water. The huge weight crushed animal's dens and flattened trees to the ground. The terror of a tsunami is impossible to understand unless one has experienced it first-hand. And none of the tributes had. The terror was fresh and terrible in the tributes' minds as the water came racing across the terrain and barreling toward them.

The careers in the meadow were the first to feel the oncoming tsunami. The only outlier in the meadow, Lennox, was now racing toward the mountain to get high ground, but he would never make it fast enough. He dropped and dug his fingers into the ground like claws and held on for dear life as the water came for him. The careers grabbed onto whatever they could. They hadn't had time to make it all the way back to the mountain, though the terrain surrounding it was rocky and uneven. Fifer and Robust both grabbed rocks with all of their strength as the tsunami blocked the sun and plunged the world into darkness. Fiesta, who had just managed to get back to her shaking allies, clutched onto Robust for extra stability. Ballast joined in, and the three huddled together in terror as the water washed over them.

Their first surprise was just how cold the water was. Although it was nowhere near freezing, it felt as if their skin was being scored with a million tiny daggers. They were too shocked to move or think. They could do nothing but stay where they were, lungs screaming for air, shivering as the frigid water crashed around them, and wait for the tsunami to pass. They couldn't swim up to breathe, for they all felt as if the second they let go of whatever they were holding on to they would be washed away by the current and killed.

The tsunami claimed its first life when it rushed toward the cornucopia, where Flounder was cowering underneath her table. It could protect her from the earthquake, but it couldn't protect her now. Flounder wept quietly to herself as the water slammed into the cornucopia and tore it off of the face of the earth along with countless other debris. Flounder was left under yards of the ice-cold water as debris slammed into her. Most of it was small, but her life was over when a large black suitcase filled with supplies came rushing toward her and slammed her in the head. If Flounder hadn't died from the head trauma that followed, she most certainly would have drowned within minutes, and perhaps the former was more painless and perhaps she should have been glad that her life was ended before suffocation could reach her with its agonizing, death-bringing hands.

Flounder Escot, District 4 Female: 9th, Killed by Tsunami, Day 3

That left the finale eight: Fifer Grunge and Fiesta Tedlow from District 1, Robust Talbot from District 2, Ballast Nyckell from District 4, Klink Byrae from District 5, Lennox Chiara from District 7, Annie Ribbons from District 8, and Reid Kinchla from District 11.

The angry water then crashed down into the forest, where Annie and Klink were hiding. In the last minute or so, Annie had managed to find higher ground than before, in an area overlooking a valley. This was good; it meant that the valley had to fill up before the water touched her and she would hopefully be safe. Klink quickly realized that there was no monster coming for him. When he saw the wall of water crashing through the forest, he zipped to a strong tree and clung onto it as the water rushed past. He was so cold from the water that he felt like screaming, but he resisted the urge, as that would just make his body use up precious oxygen faster. As the thrashing of the water around him began to die down, he finally was able to swim for the surface. He took many grateful breaths of the stale air but was soon thrown back under as a wave of water came crashing toward him. Klink fought to stay at the surface, and he was so exhausted that he nearly gave up. But thoughts of his friends and family motivated him, and he stayed treading water until the dreadful flash flood stopped and left a field of relatively calm water covering the arena. Amidst all of this, Annie had watched with earnest as water rushed down into the valley and filled it up. By the time the cold water reached her, it had died down significantly and she was able to wade to a higher and drier area safely.

One more death occurred that day. The force of the water sliding past him had thrown Lennox off of the ground and deposited him in an underground cave dug into the base of the mountain. The small room with walls of stone was filled with a foot of freezing water, and even after the flood began to settle he couldn't escape. The small hole in the ceiling was too far up for him to reach no matter how high he jumped. The foot of water at the bottom of the cave was lowering his body temperature a lot. Although there wasn't much of the cold water at all, it can surprise one how quickly cold can kill, and Lennox died from hypothermia a few minutes before midnight.

Lennox Chiara, District 7 Male: 8th, Killed by Hypothermia, Day 3

With the crowd thinned to seven tributes, the batch of survivors didn't have much reason to do anything but reel from the catastrophic effects of the tsunami. The careers had all managed to hang on tight, though the trio of Fiesta, Robust, and Ballast had been dragged away significantly by the tsunami. Fifer had had much more luck. He had managed to dig his fingers and feet underneath a rock to latch himself onto the ground so that no amount of rushing water could sweep him away. They were all freezing cold, and crossed their arms to maintain warmth as they trekked back toward the cornucopia.

Meanwhile, in the forest, tributes frantically tried to recover from the intense damage caused by the monster wave. With her clothes sopping with freezing water, Annie knew that hypothermia could be a problem. Annie discovered an area beside a lazily burbling river that was veiled by strong trees that had managed to withstand the flood. There, she wrung out her clothes and put them back on, and she was very surprised to find just how much warmer she felt. Klink had been patiently treading water as the water level went down and down. The water was so cold that he was shivering profusely and holding his limbs in toward his core to maintain precious body heat. He proceeded similarly to Annie, and once his clothes were dry he got to salvaging what he could in the mushy, crushed-up wasteland. He got to work building another shelter similar to his first, though it wasn't nearly as stable because the muddy ground was so uneven. Up on the mountain's face, Reid was so traumatized by the horrifying events that had occurred that he scrunched himself up into his hiding place and wept quietly to himself for the entire day.

After the spectacular yet destructive chain of natural disasters, two entire days passed deathless. The tributes were weary, tired, cold, and not in the mood to do anything productive. On Day 4, the careers finally trudged toward the cornucopia, which was completely gone, swept away by the water. They set up camp with what few supplies had caught on rocks and such and hadn't been destroyed in the flood. There were surprisingly many of these. All of the food was waterlogged. They hoped for sponsor gifts of food, but since they weren't exactly looking their best none came. Fifer and Fiesta, beauties from District 1, tried to impress the audience the best ways they knew how, but their efforts of hopelessly acting sexy were failing miserably. Reid finally got around to establishing a shelter. Individual stones were scarce on the rough, slippery mountain, but he used the ones that he could find to form a wall sectioning off an area for him to live in. Inside, it was noticeably warmer, but not by much. Annie stayed beside the murmuring stream and sipped from it whenever she got thirsty. She got food from a trio of snares that she built, and Annie slept against a hillside with her feet in the cool river. Her pack of supplies had been lost during the initial earthquake of the day prior, and she only had two wicked-looking hunting knives that a generous sponsor delivered her in a silver parachute. Klink awoke to a nasty shock on the morning of Day 4 as he was beginning to sink into the mud like quicksand, his shelter falling in on top of him. Klink fought his way out of the quicksand and managed to snatch out his few supplies before the lazily flowing earth swallowed down his shelter. Klink was too tired to set up another shelter, and given that it was the middle of the night he was too sleep-addled to do anything but lean against a nearby tree and fall asleep on stabler ground.

Similarly, Day 5 passed without any deaths. Annie managed to cut down a white-tailed deer with her hunting knives, and she roasted its meat over a fire that she started on the sloping land near the creek. Eventually, Klink spotted a furry grouse less than twenty feet away, and he unearthed the dagger he had received from a sponsor. He leapt at the grouse and sliced it cleanly in half with the dagger. It was enough food to fill him up, though he said to the cameras that it was a little too smoky for his liking. At the cornucopia, the quartet of unhappy careers kept slaving away to restore the cornucopia as much as they could. Their best find was made by Fiesta, who discovered a waterproof case containing an extremely bright flashlight. Fiesta created a precarious structure, like an upside-down U, with three pieces of wood, and attached the flashlight to it. This illuminated a good chunk of the meadow and made work easier for the bunch after the sun set. Reid, for once, decided to head further up the mountain. This would mean leaving his shelter behind for good, he originally thought, but maybe it didn't have to. Reid asked for a bucket full of colorful beads from the sponsors. This was a peculiar request, but sure enough a small pot of red wooden beads was sent down to him within a few minutes. As he circled up the mountain, he left the beads behind him like bread crumbs. He couldn't make it all the way up the mountain in a single day, so he had to make a very temporary shelter and settle down. He was the closest that any tribute had ever been to the threat that lurked on the mountain's rocky top, but apparently the flashing lights of that billboard saying that something evil lives here just weren't visible to Reid and his curious mind. Not yet, at least.

Day 6 arrived. Annie didn't have any reason to leave her forest home, so she sat at the riverside for much of the day. When she got hungry, she put her hunting knives to use once more and cut down a fuzzy golden squirrel that wandered into her riverside den. She cooked it over a fire but never left it unattended for fear of it getting out of control. Klink had wisely eaten only half of his grouse the day before, planning to save the other half for Day 6. But the meat had gone bad overnight. As such, he was forced to discard it and continue moving through the toppled-over trees to look for more prey, eventually finding and killing two chipmunks.

At the cornucopia, it was Robust's turn to sleep in the only sleeping bag for the night, while Fiesta, Fifer, and Ballast had to tough it out on the damp ground, shivering. It was a couple of minutes before eleven when the careers awoke to a bloodcurdling hiss. They were all smart enough to stay quiet, though they glared at each other and reached for their weapons, slowly getting into positions where they could get up and flee if need-be. It was incredible how much they were able to accomplish without saying a word. After they were all in position, the careers stared off into the cloud of darkness and listened as the hissing sound got closer and closer, louder and louder.

Suddenly, a massive viper snake as wide around as a pickup truck and several times as long leapt out of the darkness and attacked the careers. Fiesta and Ballast ran to one side of the monster, whereas Fifer and Robust scurried to the other. The huge snake lashed out and threw itself at Robust, but he managed to sidestep. Immediately, Fifer aimed at the snake's long body with an arrow. The arrow flew with perfect precision but bounced harmlessly off of its scales. Fifer screamed to his allies that they would have to go for its face to kill it. The snake was now chasing after Fiesta. Years of practice kept her alive. Fiesta wove through the soup of debris and away from the monster. Then, Ballast hatched a plan. He ordered Fiesta to make the snake open its mouth. Fiesta was taken aback by the request, but she quickly realized what Ballast was trying to do. Ballast got Robust and Fifer in on the plan. Fiesta stood completely still, acting as meat, as the snake lunged toward her. The rattlesnake opened its mouth wide enough to swallow Fiesta when suddenly the careers hurled their weapons into the rattlesnake's mouth. The only career that was doing real damage was Fifer, who had gotten a bow from a sponsor a few hours earlier. The others threw rocks, baskets, and whatever else was near them. The snake shrieked with fury and fell forward, and Fiesta sprinted out of the way just as it landed on the ground with a thud, dead.

The careers shared a moment of triumph, having taken down the monster. They were about to clean up the mess and go back to sleep when the same hissing sound came from the darkness. They knew what was coming this time, and so they were extra prepared when the snake leapt out of the dark cloud. This snake was just as big as the first, but it seemed to be moving more slowly, as if lugging along a huge weight. Fiesta darted toward the wreck of the horn and snatched up the strong flashlight. When she shined the light onto the monster, all of the careers felt pangs of shock. Standing in front of them was a dinosaur-esque body from which three heads sprouted, like string cheese being peeled into three pieces. One head lolled uselessly on the ground, dead. One of the heads was in a stance prepared to attack. The third head was waiting back in the darkness, only ready to emerge once the second head was killed. The careers all noticed this, and Fifer and Robust broke off to attack the third head while Fiesta ran down the hill to join Ballast in cutting down the closest head. Of course, they tried to get it to open its mouth, but it was too smart for that now and refused to move its jaw an inch. The snake snapped at the air, and the careers picked up their combative objects and batted away the creature. Fifer and Robust were having the most luck. Since Fifer had his bow, his was able to do a ton of damage. He made several decent shots, not the least of which occurred when he launched an arrow into the monster's forked tongue when it stuck it out. The rattlesnake hissed and dove toward Fifer, slamming into the ground the instant after he dove out of the way and landed on the ground. Robust tore Fifer's bow out of his flaccid hand and sprinted off toward the creature's body. The others yelled for him to stop, that they would be better taking down the beast's heads, but he would listen. Robust disappeared into the darkness.

With his allies behind him, Robust found the creature's heart. It glowed a beautiful gold and showed through the creature's scales. Robust lunged toward it and grabbed an arrow. With all of his might, he drove the arrow through two scales and plunged it into its heart. The snake-headed monster screamed with anguish as black muttation blood spouted from the wound that Robust had opened. Robust repeated this several times with different parts of its torso, and after he had made several incisions he raced far away and watched it fall forward, dead.

Fiesta, Fifer, and Ballast all realized that the snake-headed muttation was falling and had time to run away. But only two of them made it. Fiesta was the first to realize, and she screamed for Fifer and Ballast to follow her far away from the dying monster. Fifer heeded her warning, but Ballast was so entranced that by the time his life was in immediate danger he didn't have time to run away fast enough. The limp creature collapsed on top of him, thousands of pounds of monster crushing him to a pulp instantaneously. Now, only six tributes remained.

Ballast Nyckell, District 4 Male: 7th, Killed by Three-Headed Snake Muttation, Day 6

As the careers trudged through the soup of gunk and swerved around the pile of heads that had fallen together in a heap of spaghetti, they found that the monster had absolutely annihilated their camp. The only sleeping bag was trampled and torn, with cotton strewn everywhere. Their limited water supply had been destroyed as well, along with nearly all of their food. Needless to say, it wasn't a very great night for the three remaining careers. The sleeping bag was still useful, though it had to be unzipped and used as a blanket. The careers figured that two of them could sleep underneath it, with a third if they scrunched underneath it real tight. They were all uncomfortable packed together under the blanket like sardines in a can, but it was better than being out in the cold.

The careers caught on to the gamemakers on the morning of Day 7. With the destruction of the cornucopia and the hideous mutt that ruined their few possessions that remained, it became obvious that the gamemakers wanted the careers to leave the cornucopia. They grabbed the very few supplies that they still had and hiked toward the mountain. Everyone figured a threat would be lurking at the top of the rocky cliff. The careers knew that the gamemakers would force them to the mountain soon if they didn't do it of their own accord, and if they chose the latter that there would be one less threat for them to deal with. They reached the mountain around noon and stopped to munch on a few waterlogged daisies that Ballast and Robust recognized as edible. After that, they began scaling the mountain, staying close to each other for added balance and as not to get lost in the terrain where every square inch looked exactly the same. After scavenging the lush land by the edge of the river, Annie came across a path of leaves that looked suspiciously like the collard greens she and her family often used to make salad back in District 8. Annie sliced the greens out of the ground and collected them in a small wooden bowl delivered to her by a sponsor. She wasn't hungry enough to eat them all and wanted to save them for tomorrow. As such, she took a layer of leaves and laid them over top of the bowl, wanting to keep out bacteria and keep the greens fresh. Klink continued his life of scavenging for prey. He tried to rack up more kills with his dagger but found nothing, so he was forced to settle for an assortment of misshapen grey berries that hung from a limp bush. They clearly weren't healthy, as they upset his stomach quite a bit and he tossed and turned for much of the night until they naturally worked their way out of his system. Reid was about an hour from the top of the mountain when he suddenly chickened out and started to head back down. He changed his mind when the Capitol unleashed a large spider muttation after him that chased him back up the slope. Reid lost the spider after about twenty minutes of running, and then the gamemakers were happy with his position. Reid set up camp in an area where he could get to the tip of the mountain the next day, which the Capitol evidently wanted him to. Anything to delay that as much as possible.

For the entire night, Reid dreaded the terrible fate that loomed before him, even though there was still hope for him to cling onto: hope that the creature at the top of the mountain wouldn't hurt him, hope that he could survive. He couldn't get any sleep at all when he needed it most. And when the sun rose, he had no choice but to lumber up the mountainside and toward his doom. A sponsor sent him a dagger, which didn't make him any less comfortable about the whole ordeal. In fact, it just reassured his greatest fears that a huge threat was up there. The careers stalked up the mountain behind him in their group of three. Fifer, Fiesta, and Robust got closer and closer together to maintain more precious body heat the higher and higher they got. It wasn't long until they could see their breath, and their teeth were chattering by the time they stepped out onto the top of the mountain. Reid had gotten to the mountaintop a few minutes before them. He had lifted himself up onto the plate of rock and seen the yawning mouth of a dark cave before him. After backing away from the cave as much as possible, Reid slid down behind a large stone and waited. What he was waiting for he wasn't exactly sure.

Reid heard the footsteps of the careers as they trampled across the mountaintop. The ground was caked with frost from the extremely cold temperature, and it was slippery in some places. All four of the tributes (Fifer, Fiesta, and Robust from the center of the plateau, and Reid from behind the boulder) held their weapons at the ready and prepared for whatever terrible threat was to come.

The sparkling sun reached its zenith high up in the sky. Noon struck. Then a great stirring arose from within the cavern. Next, a hiss filled the ears of all of the tributes. It stank of malice and desire to murder and brought to mind the splatter of blood and the foul breath of a killer. The most horrifying thing of all, though, was that the hisses weren't random. Words could be heard from deep within them. Words of death and blood. They were difficult to hear, but they were most certainly there. The creature's hisses were cut off. There was silence. The world held its breath.

Then a volley of spines came firing out of the cave. Reid flinched when one of them slammed into the rock he was hiding behind and shattered. The careers all swerved away from the spines. Fifer dodged one just in the nick of time, and it grazed his shoulder. Fiesta and Robust backed away, and Fifer soon followed when he saw a hideous monster stepping out of the cave and into the sunlight.

In the grassy meadows and rough mountains of District 10 long ago, farmers used to tell a legend. The chupacabra, meaning "goat sucker". Traditional myth portrays Chupacabra as a nimble, terrible creature about the size of a dog. The fabled monster snuck into farmers' pastures at night and sucked the blood out of their livestock before scampering off without leaving a trace. It fed off of blood, yes, but there were other things it lusted for beyond all reason. It strived off of fear, death, and hatred. Wherever farmers were most scared of Chupacabra's existence, it would appear.

The creature that leapt out of the cave was the Chupacabra, but a hundred times as large. It was nearly fifty yards tall. Like a dragon, it was black and rough. Its back was covered with silvery spines that glinted in the sun. Its tail had a spiked tip like a club. Chupacabra flailed around the club and destroyed everything it came into contact with. Sporting two massive horns, its head was hideous. Its eyes glowed a sinister red color. As it opened its mouth and let out an intimidating roar, it displayed two rows of teeth that protruded from its gums like curved knives. They were stained red with blood. As it thundered out of the cave, it kicked up heaps of bones, skulls and ribs, that crashed to the ground with a sound that was painfully like the clattering of breaking glass.

The careers scattered and screamed orders to each other as Chupacabra thundered toward them. They all forced Fifer to the front. He had the bow. He was the only one with a hope of doing damage to the beast. Parachutes containing crossbows sailed down to Robust and Fiesta, which they snatched up instantly. Fiesta fired a volley of three arrows in rapid succession. They landed in the creature's arm, but Chupacabra batted them away and sent them flying back toward the careers. Fiesta sprinted out of the way as the arrows came flying back. Fifer figured he had better aim for its mouth, and he screamed for Robust to make it open wide. Amidst the roars of the beast, however, Robust had no idea what he was saying. He screamed for clarification, but it was hopeless.

Robust and Fifer then noticed that the Chupacabra was chasing Fiesta. Fiesta had no hope of outrunning it, and for the first time the creature opened its mouth to go in for the kill. Fiesta screamed for help, and Fifer let loose his bowstring. An arrow flew into the monster's mouth. Black muttation blood spouted out and splashed into the ground like water at a water park. The others, reflecting on the death of Andre Plunkett from the first Quarter Quell, scrambled out of the way. Mutt blood was acidic and could kill upon contact with human skin.

Fifer had run out of the way fast enough and managed to swerve around the splattering blood that was landing all around the shelf of rock. Fiesta also noticed the blood pouring toward the ground and got low to the ground before waddling to safety. That left Robust, standing out in the open when a torrent of blood came down and swallowed him up. The others gasped with horror and disgust as the poisonous acid ate away at his skin and consumed him completely. The black blood all drizzled away and left no sign of Robust's existence at all. He had been completely dissolved by the monster's blood.

Robust Talbot, District 2 Male: 6th, Killed by Chupacabra Muttation, Day 8

Fifer stormed away from the Chupacabra as fast as he could and spotted a large stone nearby. Fifer ran toward the stone, wanting to hide behind it and have some time to take a short rest. He ran around the rock and found Reid cowering behind. Always the good career, Fifer shot an arrow into his head and killed him. Fifer shoved his limp form away and crouched down behind the rock, panting fiercely and trying to catch his breath.

Reid Kinchla, District 11 Male: 5th, Killed by Fifer, Day 8

With Fifer hiding behind the stone, Fiesta was the lone tribute on the mountaintop, and it was hopeless to try to kill Chupacabra. It was so big and so powerful that it would be impossible to slay on her own. She tried to run down the side of the mountain. When one can't fight, one should flee. It was a futile endeavor, and the Chupacabra caught up to her. It reached down its hideous claws, ready to snatch her up. Fiesta leapt off of the side of the mountain. Suicide. She went plummeting down and snapped her neck the instant she crashed to the ground. It was a much quicker and more painless death than the Chupacabra could ever give her.

Fiesta Tedlow, District 1 Female: 4th, Killed by Herself, Day 8

Wisp didn't want the Chupacabra to kill all of the tributes on the mountaintop. He planned to have two tributes out of the four survive. Three deaths had occurred, which was slightly more than planned, but it was no biggy. Through his fair share of luck, Fifer had survived the Chupacabra. The huge beast slunk back into its cave, and Fifer fled. He tore down the mountain without looking back and didn't rest until he collapsed at the wreck of the cornucopia. Maybe this cloud had a silver lining. He was the sole remaining career in the forty-seventh annual Hunger Games.

No more deaths happened on Day 8. In the forest, Klink and Annie were absolutely mortified by the chaos they watched unfolding on top of the mountain. Annie abandoned the calmly murmuring stream and raced as far away from the mountain as she could. She found herself atop a tall hill overlooking a marshy swamp. There, she lay down and stood still for several hours. She didn't eat for the entire day. Klink heard the grumbles of the monster and thought that another earthquake was on its way. In preparation, he barricaded himself underneath a heavy fallen log and braced himself for the oncoming disaster. He waited for hours. When his mentor Porter sent him a note saying that an earthquake wasn't coming, he felt embarrassed and rather humiliated, so he tried to keep himself busy by hunting to restore his already pretty low standard for the sponsors.

Day 9 turned out to be the final day of the games. This was a critical decision for Wisp, as he wanted the games to end with an action-packed finale. The Chupacabra attack had gotten the ball rolling and it was time for him to finish off his cake.

On the morning of Day 9, Wisp lit the forest ablaze. The fire started in the southeast corner of the wood and spread quickly, scorching the debris littering the ground and lighting the strong trees that had withstood the tsunami ablaze. Annie was closest to the fire. She was snoozing away on the ground when she awoke the crackle of the fire. She was on her feet and sprinting away from the fire as fast as her legs could carry her, leaving everything behind but her trusty hunting knives. Klink had set up a makeshift shelter over the night and was notified of the fire in the worst possible way: when a spark landed on his shoulder. Klink jumped ten feet into the air and stamped out the spark before his shirt could catch on fire. Then he grabbed his dagger and sprinted away from the conflagration that was rushing toward him. Fifer, once at the cornucopia, had gone scavenging the lands around the meadow for food. He had ventured a mile or so into the forest when he heard the roaring of the fire. Fifer immediately turned tail and fled, jumping on top of the cornucopia for added safety as the fire scorched what little was left of the forest below his feet.

Klink was a significant distance ahead of Annie in the race to the cornucopia. However, he fell behind when his foot got caught underneath a log and he fell to the ground. The inhaling of so much smoke caused his stomach to turn up its contents, and Kink had to fight against every muscle in his body to get up and continue running away from the hungry fire.

Klink and Annie both burst into the meadow at the same time and made the six-mile sprint toward the cornucopia. Being younger, Klink had to stop and break more often. One would have thought they would be safe, but this was not so. The fire had spread to the grass and foliage in the meadow and was tearing through it faster than ever before. The two crashed toward the cornucopia and leapt on top of it, greeted by Fifer, and the final battle began.

Fifer's first target was, of course, Annie, because she was the stronger. Fifer hurled himself at the District 8 girl and knocked her off her feet. Fifer was on top of Annie and pinning her down, but that didn't stop her from trying to fight back. Annie swiped away with her wicked hunting knives, scraping Fifer across the face. Fifer hissed as warm blood drizzled forth. Klink darted toward the two with a plan to stab Fifer in the back when he was distracted with Annie, but he couldn't even touch him before he reached out a hand and grabbed him. Klink flailed his limbs before Fifer smashed him into the floor with all of his might. He collapsed like a rag doll, and Fifer turned back toward Annie. But Annie was gone. Where she had once been was simply a platform of empty metal, the roof of the farmhouse cornucopia. Fifer walked forward to investigate and suddenly Annie was on top of him, grabbing him by the neck so he couldn't move. Fifer struggled for freedom, but Annie had already planted one of her knives into his back. The career screamed. Annie let him loose and watched him flop around like a fish out of water, dying from the wounds Annie had administered to him.

Fifer Grunge, District 1 Male: 3rd, Killed by Annie, Day 9

Annie got to her feet and wiped the grime off of herself, a torrent of emotions attacking her after watching Fifer die. Annie had been so caught up in the chaos of her duel with Fifer that she had completely forgotten about Klink. Klink saw an opportunity. Right when Annie was the weakest, Klink darted toward her and punched her in the back with his fist. Annie screeched and spiraled forward from the blow. Annie tried to grab onto something, anything, to keep her from tumbling off of the cornucopia, but there was nothing. She lost balance and slipped down into the flames. Annie screamed as she was scorched to death by the fire. At first she struggled to climb back on top of the cornucopia, but within a few seconds she couldn't move at all. Klink turned away so that he wouldn't have to watch, but no matter how hard he pressed his hands over his ears he couldn't drown out her screams of terror. Annie quickly died, leaving Klink as the only living tribute in the arena.

Annie Ribbons, District 8 Female: 2nd, Killed by Klink, Day 9

"Klink Byrae of District 5, you are the victor of the forty-seventh annual Hunger Games!" Wisp announced, his voice barely audible over a symphony of euphonious trumpets.

Klink wiped away his tears and tried to look presentable for the nation whose eyes were all focused on him.

Klink Byrae, District 5 Male: Victor of the Forty-Seventh Hunger Games, Day 9


AFTERMATH

In history, Klink was often considered among the "lucky" victors: those unassuming tributes who shouldn't have had any chance of survival but beat the odds to defeat the toughest of opponents and make it home safe and sound. The Capitol wasn't a very big fanatic, for he had only made one kill and hadn't stood out for any real reason.

Klink moved into the Victor's Village of District 5, the fourth victor to do so.

His victory tour wasn't the best, as he had stage fright and delivered rather bland and boring speeches to the public.

Klink would live to the age of eighty, killed by Alzheimer's disease around the time of the one-hundred eleventh annual Hunger Games. Annie's screams as she was burned to death by the brush fire would haunt him forever, and he would quickly find that the vice of alcohol was the only way to silence them. He developed into an alcoholic. However, in his fifties, he would try to make a recovery and would succeed, doing so for the girl of his dreams (who was named Annie, coincidentally. Klink would nickname her Anna so that she wouldn't remind him of Annie Ribbons from his games). After that, he would go on to donate much of his riches to the poor of District 5, for he had been among them before he became a victor.


NEWS

Klink occupies the fourth house of District 5's Victor's Village.

Woof Dozier has his first child with his wife, a girl named Loom.


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)
46HG: Nolan Wrack (#11, District 2)
47HG: Klink Byrae (#4, District 5)


A/N: Enter Klink, the District 5 Male from Catching Fire. He's always been sort of an ambiguity to be because we get to see so little of him, so it was fun to write him. I love these unnamed victors because they're so open to interpretation.