THE FORTY EIGHTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Frumentum"


INTRODUCTION

With only two more games left until the highly-anticipated second Quarter Quell, Snow's expectations of Wisp and his team were flying through the roof and into outer space. Just over twenty years prior, the games immediately before the first Quell were some of the most spectacular yet, thus distracting viewers from the quell and maybe even overshadowing it. This time around, Snow wanted the games before the second Quarter Quell, the forty-ninth, to be lackluster and rather bland, so that the quell itself would seem particularly exhilarating. However, two boring games in a row would be overkill, so Snow demanded that this year's games be among the most exciting yet, lest the carefully mapped out plans for the era of the second quell be ruined. Wisp and his team got to work on the arena and the carnage that would take place inside of it while Snow went back to his business poisoning anyone who objected him. The Capitol, with the quell so close around the corner, was caught up in a full-fledged Hunger Games frenzy. Tickets to the chariot rides sold out in just a few days. A popular Capitol filmmaking company began selling deluxe editions of past games on DVD and streaming services. Of course, the demand for victors, particularly desirable ones like Porter and Dylan, was higher than ever, and many victors unwillingly spent many a night in posh Capitol hotels with the highest bidder.

This year, the career pack was exceptionally weak, with one exception. District 1, overall, produced the weakest of the bunch. The male was less skilled due to a lack of training compared the others and a minor injury to his leg that the sustained during training. The medics in the training center helped him to bandage the gash inflicted accidentally by a swordsman he was studying under. However, it couldn't heal fast enough, and the games began with a painful scar that restricted him from running too fast without extreme pain. The female from District 1 wasn't even a career. The chosen volunteer, the eighteen year-old Glitza Midnight, chickened out at the last moment and didn't volunteer. As such, the reaped girl, a pathetic thirteen year-old that scored a two in her private session, entered the games, marking the first reaped tribute from a career district in decades. Undeniably, though, the most powerful tribute was the District 2 male. The eighteen year-old Brutus Cordley was the son of the mayor of District 2 and the headmistress of the combat academy, and he would make even the most intimidating careers cry for mommy. He was a giant, towering over the rest of the terrified tributes, and rippling with muscle all throughout. He was as cold as ice and doubtlessly the best swordsman that the academy had ever seen. He was the first tribute to score an eleven since Discordia Komine nineteen years earlier. Earning forty-nine percent of bets, he was also the tribute in the first century to earn the most bets. To date, this record has only been broken twice. Brutus' training score was the first major piece of evidence that the training score of twelve was literally impossible to earn. The Capitol reasoned that if Brutus couldn't score a twelve then no tribute could. His district partner was an intimidating career, though she paled in comparison to her terrifying district partner. The girl was well-versed with bows and managed to catch the eye of the Capitol with her beauty, though it couldn't come close to comparing with Brutus once again. District 4 offered up your typical pair of kids. The male was a popular surfer and was level-headed and unknown by much of his district. The girl was the youngest trained career this year at only fifteen, though she was able to score a respectable nine. The Capitol liked her because of her craftiness and creativity. The male liked tridents, whereas the female fancied spears. The training scores of the career tributes were rather pathetic. Apart from Brutus' astounding eleven, one ten, two nines, one seven, and one two were scored.

The outliers this year put on a varied showing. A few sevens were earned: three in total. Jack from District 7 captivated the audience with how he was able to score so high being so young, and he became a favorite in the Capitol. Hailing from the textile district, Canvas Ballatynne was well-versed with knives and had looks to match. Finally, Duncan from District 11 had enough experience with the sickle and enough charm to earn a seven in his private session. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. Because of Brutus' eleven and two-to-one odds, the training scores and odds of the other tributes were thrown completely out of whack. After the games, the method of assigning odds was changed so that this couldn't happen. However, in these games, it wasn't uncommon to see two tributes of similar ages and training scores earn wildly different odds of taking home the Victor's Crown. Brutus had thrown a wrench into the works and made all of the math to determine the odds haywire. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Luster Forcinius, 16, (7) 14-1 and Trinket Chantry, 13, (2) 64-1

District 2: Brutus Cordley, 18, (11) 2-1 and Calypso Madison, 17, (10) 6-1

District 3: Lance Moble, 18, (5) 26-1 and Blog Canessa, 13, (3) 74-1

District 4: Floatsam Minnow, 17, (9) 8-1 and Clew Woods, 18, (9) 8-1

District 5: Grid Knuth, 18, (4) 60-1 and Volta Martel, 18, (6) 24-1

District 6: Listrus Basquet, 13, (5) 27-1 and Loraselle Colin, 15, (5) 32-1

District 7: Jack Fabian, 12, (7) 18-1 and Hazel Daoust, 14, (6) 25-1

District 8: Canvas Ballatynne, 18, (7) 16-1 and Georgette Pomona, 16, (5) 25-1

District 9: Ash Knowles, 17, (6) 22-1 and Luna Scinto, 12, (3) 80-1

District 10: Anthony Bechtel, 15, (4) 33-1 and Frostine Hemphill, 17, (4) 32-1

District 11: Duncan Bleck, 18, (7) 23-1 and Iris York, 18, (6) 26-1

District 12: Hewitt Eagle, 17, (3) 69-1 and Rebekah Mobley, 14, (4) 53-1

HGBO Bets: 49% on Brutus, 13% on Calypso, 8% on Floatsam and Clew, 4% on Luster, Jack, Canvas, and Duncan, 3% on Volta, Hazel, Ash, and Iris, 1% or Less on Lance, Blog, Grid, Listrus, Loraselle, Georgette, Luna, Anthony, Frostine, Hewitt, and Rebekah.


THE GAMES

When one thinks of agriculture, one likely thinks of rows of corn and grain standing proudly in the sunlight. While District 11 did provide the nation with this nourishment, its livelihood wasn't just limited to growing crops. Anything involving harnessing the beauty and glory of the earth was District 11's job. It grew flowers for sale in the Capitol and made sweet-smelling body lotion from aloe. As such, the arena for the forty-eighth Hunger Games, though inspired by District 11, took a turn away from all of those rows of wheat and toward the more obscure products of the district. The cornucopia was nestled cozily in a flower-strewn meadow. Its supplies largely consisted of knives, though other weapons were provided including a single bow. Colorful blossoms burst forth around the meadow every color of the rainbow. Butterflies leapt between them and unfurled their tongues to sip the delicious nectar. The meadow stretched on for about a mile in all directions before changing into different landscapes. To the far east was a dense, brightly-colored jungle teeming with life. The rainforests of District 11 provide it with many resources to make some medicines and foods. A peach grove lay in the far west. Dirt paths winded through the trees, and the smell of the peaches was alluring enough to get even the most stubborn to give them a try and leave them sucking their fingers.

Brutus thundered toward the cornucopia, leaving even the fastest outliers in the dust as he sprinted a hundred yards to the cornucopia with speed and style. He snatched up a sword and grinned at the glint of its blade. The massive boy made the three feet of gleaming iron look miniature. Brutus sprinted toward the nearest outlier, a small girl who had scored a five in training, and stabbed his sword into her back. The girl screamed and tried to flee, but she only stumbled forward a few steps before falling to the ground, the movement of her muscles working to lodge Brutus' sword deeper into her back.

Georgette Pomona, District 8 Female: 24th, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath

Though Calypso knew that she was overshadowed by her mighty district partner, that didn't stop her from making a splash. Calypso was the first to reach the single bow in the cornucopia, sneakily hidden between two black crates. She nocked an arrow and pulled back the bowstring. After a few seconds of scanning the clearing, she set her gaze upon a nearby boy who was running away from the cornucopia carrying a bag of loaves of bread. The arrow sailed along its path and landed straight into the boy's back, lodging itself between his shoulder blades. He was dead within seconds, and Calypso reveled in her first kill.

Listrus Basquet, District 6 Male: 23rd, Killed by Calypso, Bloodbath

Brutus cackled with glee as he chased a weeping girl away from the cornucopia. With all of his might, the burly career boy hurled himself at the girl and tackled her to the ground. She was a slippery one, and it was difficult even for Brutus to contain her underneath his massive weight. Brutus used his legs to pin her wrists against the ground as he slashed his sword across her chest. Beads of scarlet splattered across Brutus' face, but he kept hacking away at her torso until her sobs died away to silence.

Iris York, District 11 Female: 22nd, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath

Brutus leapt up off of Iris' limp form and immediately spotted a young outlier boy stealthily running into the cornucopia to hide. Brutus shook his head and smirked as he chased after him. The boy ducked behind a crate inside of the cornucopia and discreetly grabbed an axe, but Brutus had already seen him. He dove toward the outlier boy. The boy jumped ten feet into the air and had no choice but to fight. Of course, Brutus disarmed him in ten seconds, tearing his axe out of his grasp and shoving him against a silver crate filled with tools. Brutus grabbed him by either side of the head and bashed it repeatedly against the crate until he died from head trauma. As if some sort of archaic war hero, Brutus used the boy's own axe to decapitate him in two or three clean slices. Carrying his head outside of the horn, he used a nearby blade to spear it into the dirt in front of the cornucopia. Brutus' message was clear. He was not to be messed with, and anyone who challenged him would pay.

Anthony Bechtel, District 10 Male: 21st, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath

At that, many of the outliers and some of the careers were so horrified that they dropped whatever they were doing and fled. Floatsam hefted up a heavy trident, and he was in business when he heard the thumping footsteps of a tribute storming away from the horn. Floatsam ran in front of her. When she saw the District 4 boy standing dead in front of her, she tried to change course. But Floatsam followed her wherever she went. Finally, Floatsam lunged toward her and knocked her in the legs, sending her spiraling backward. Floatsam speared the three prongs of his trident through her torso.

Blog Canessa, District 3 Female: 20th, Killed by Floatsam, Bloodbath

The screaming of the terrified outliers was music to Brutus' ears. He got his sword at the ready and bowled through the clearing, toward the wave of outliers that were frantically scampering away from him and the other careers. A girl made the mistake of her life as she grabbed a dagger and ran toward Brutus' back, planning to stab him and eliminate the strongest tribute in the games. Brutus heard her clumsy movement and whipped around. He balled his right fist and slammed her in the head. She dropped her dagger and was sent into a daze, spinning around and going unconscious from the strike. One slash of Brutus' trusty sword, and her life force was drained away.

Loraselle Colin, District 6 Female: 19th, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath

The glisten of a pair of bronze knuckles caught Luster's eye. Luster sprinted toward them and tried them on. They fit on snugly, almost as if they had been made for him. The District 1 boy, wanting to put the unique new weapons to the test, ran up to the nearest boy and rammed the spiked knuckles into his body. He stumbled and reeled backward as Luster continued to slash away at his face and abdomen without mercy. After he was dead from blood loss, Luster pumped his fists with triumph and let the sun gleam over his lethal brass knuckles.

Grid Knuth, District 5 Male: 18th, Killed by Luster, Bloodbath

It was Frostine of District 10, of all people, who made the next kill. Though she had been a clear-moraled girl back in her home district and a good person, the stress of the games was getting to her and the thought of killing was becoming less and less outlandish. She scooped up a coil of rope and wrapped it around the neck of a nearby boy. Frostine tied the rope into a firm knot and fled, leaving the boy to suffocate to death behind her. The boy clawed at the tightly-knotted rope and tried to undo it, but thinking was becoming more and more difficult with how much oxygen his body was using up. His lungs screamed for air, but the rope clutched his neck so tightly that he could do nothing to satisfy their pleas. The boy was finally sedated as Frostine took off into the meadow, a torrent of emotions attacking her after making her first kill.

Jack Fabian, District 7 Male: 17th, Killed by Frostine, Bloodbath

Brutus used his sword to nail a sobbing boy against the ground. He pressed the point of the sword deeper and deeper into his neck. The skin broke, and blood promptly burbled forward. The boy screamed for help that would never come. His cries of agony and anguish pleased Brutus, and the boy cackled like a maniac as he drove the sword further through his torso. The sword finally finished its path through his body and pierced the ground like a toothpick spearing through meat. Brutus yanked his sword out of the limp boy's body and kicked him aside as he ran off to kill the last few outliers strewn around the clearing.

Hewitt Eagle, District 12 Male: 16th, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath

The problem was, those few remaining outliers were smart and knew that the best plan would be to take off into the meadow before Brutus could find them. Brutus roared with fury so loud that heaven and earth seemed to rumble along with him. Nothing would satisfy him except more blood. As he stalked through the clearing searching for any hiding outliers, he grew more and more furious. Finally, he found what he was looking for. Brutus tossed aside a canvas covering and found the pudgy Trinket from District 1 quivering with terror underneath. Brutus wanted to draw out the last bloodbath kill as much as possible, and he did. The other careers watched with shock from the edges of the meadow as he sawed off her limbs one by one and angled her slightly upward so that the blood would rush to her head and keep her conscious through the long torture. Her moans of agony finally gave way to silence, and the birds squawked and flew away as ten cannon shots proudly boomed throughout the arena.

Trinket Chantry, District 1 Female: 15th, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath

For a while, the other careers just stood in awe. Of course, their constitution as careers was to slaughter mercilessly and bring honor to their districts, but they had never seen any career nearly as vicious as Brutus. Quietly, the quartet of careers grouped together on the north side of the clearing. Flotsam wanted to ally with Brutus, knowing he was the most popular tribute. He would also be their greatest source of sponsors. The others shifted uncomfortably. Deep down, they all knew he was right, but they were still all terrified that what had happened to Trinket or Anthony could happen to them. In an act that proved his bravery, Floatsam proclaimed, "Fine. If none of you want to go up to him then I will." Floatsam marched through the meadow toward Brutus.

"Scram!" Brutus demanded, followed by a string of profanities, calling Floatsam no more talented than the pond scum from his district and waving his sword wildly to and fro. Suddenly, Brutus saw the other three careers a few dozen yards away, and his agitation melted away and was replaced with an expression calm and inviting. He was being a snake. Snow would be proud. Brutus beckoned the terrified kids forth, and he offered them his own food and weapons. Really, he was lying to them, trying to earn their trust just so that he could backstab them later. That night, Brutus patiently waited for the others to fall asleep. Then he grabbed his district partner Calypso by the neck and shoved his hand over her mouth. "Don't make a peep," Brutus instructed, unsheathing his sword. Brutus grabbed the flailing career girl by the neck, shoving a piece of cloth into her mouth so she couldn't scream, and started off toward the jungle in the distance.

The trek was long and difficult. On the outskirts of the meadow, the flat land was replaced by rolling hills, but if Brutus felt any difficulty at all starting up and down the uneven landscape he didn't show it. Gnats buzzed furiously around. The jungle was hot and muggy, with the chirping of insects always present. Brutus unearthed a piece of rope and bound together Calypso's two arms. That was when Calypso managed to use her tongue to dislodge the gag. The slimy rag was sent to the ground, and her mouth was free to move. Calypso screamed and thrashed and flailed around, but Brutus was unfazed. He knew that those few outliers that were nearby wouldn't dream of coming near him in a thousand years. In fact, her desperate cries amused him and made the work of tying her up more eventful.

Once Calypso was tied and bound up by the rope, she really began putting up a fight. She fought with all of her might to escape, but Brutus' knots were firm and the rope was as strong as steel. Brutus circled around Calypso and let her toss and turn on the ground, though unable to get to her feet because of the ropes. The maniacal District 2 boy cackled with joy at the sight of her tears. As Brutus danced around her, he occasionally lunged forward with his sword just to frighten her and just to keep the fear fresh in her mind. Calypso was balling now. Her wrists and ankles were bleeding from tugging uselessly against the ropes, and she was crying out, mouth quivering violently and snot pouring from her nose. Brutus was patient, doodling bloody methods of killing in the dirt with his sword.

After the bloodbath, the outliers seemed to have no goal but to place themselves as far away from Brutus as possible. It was really a game of chance for the outliers. About half of them travelled to the jungle, and the other half made the journey to the sweet-smelling peach grove. None stayed in the meadow. For those in the peach grove, the word hunger was taken out of the name of the game. Food was plentiful, and one was never more than a few feet from it. After escaping the bloodbath alive with a knife, Hazel jogged the radius of the meadow and found herself at the base of the first peach tree. Experimentally, she used her knife to cut down one of the peaches before throwing it into her mouth. Her mouth flooded with saliva at the delicious fruit, and within a few minutes she had eaten ten of them and was left licking her fingers. She fell asleep with peach juice stuck to the corners of her mouth right at the grove's entrance way. The only outlier with a kill under her belt, Frostine confidently trekked through the meadow until the luscious peaches came into clear sight. As soon as she entered the grove, a silver parachute sailed down containing a bowl and a stubby pocketknife. Frostine filled the bowl with peach slices and snacked on them as she ventured through the grove. A dirt trail guided her to a small lake, on the sandy beach of which she fell into a dreamless sleep. Lance saw Brutus decapitate Anthony during the bloodbath and was so festered with horror that he fled from the bloodbath then and there. He sprinted through the meadow without looking back before collapsing in a circular clearing in the peach grove. Lance just lie down on the muddy ground and sobbed the night away. Rebekah had gotten a spear from the cornucopia and never let it out of her sight as she ventured out on an odyssey through the peach grove. It really was an adventure more than anything. She soon found a small pool with crystal clear water. Soon after quenching her thirst, Rebekah discovered an area where a peach tree's roots had stretched over a valley and created a sheltered area underneath. That area of the arena experienced a light sprinkle for a few minutes, and Rebekah was completely dry underneath. She was happy and safe. But that all changed when the sun set. Suddenly, Rebekah was plagued with fear. The looming trees were so menacing that she never left her little shelter. She crammed herself into the corner as still as a stone and jumped at the slightest sound. Terrifying thoughts ravaged her mind, and she had horrible nightmares that she woke up crying from. She got almost no sleep when it was needed most.

Those tributes that headed for the jungle certainly faced the most cover, though they also faced the most dangers, from mutts to proximity to the monstrous Brutus. Duncan had gotten a dart gun with ten darts from the cornucopia. As he entered the jungle, he immediately spotted a bright blue frog leaping between the leaves. He almost mistook it for an edible frog that he ate often back in District 11. His fingers were mere feet from it when he jumped backward. Its skin was burbling, and colored liquid was coating the frog's body. It was a poison dart frog. Its venom could cause excruciating pain and death. Duncan grabbed a few pieces of bark and carefully lined them up around the frog, trapping it. Then, he dipped his darts in its venom to make them extra lethal, if he ever needed to use them. Volta ran through the jungle for a good hour, wanting to place as much distance between herself and that horrible Brutus as possible. It was muggy and swelteringly hot, and she was sweating profusely. Eventually, Volta settled down on a hill overlooking a swampy marsh. Volta fashioned a slingshot out of a stick shaped like the letter Y and an elastic band a sponsor delivered her. She fired rocks at passing birds and eventually shot down a colorful one. The bird, as blue as the ocean, landed beside her with a thump. Volta grabbed a stone and smashed it to death before roasting its meat over a small fire.

Canvas alternated between walking and jogging through the jungle for much of the light hours of the day. He made camp in a fissure in the earth beside a calmly murmuring stream. Canvas was frightened awake at around eleven at night by a rustling sound. A colony of army ants, millions of them, was scuttling across the ground at nearly eight miles per hour. Canvas jumped out of his skin with fright and fled. The ants eeked and chased after him. He was getting away from them, but very slowly. They snapped the air with their jaws and lashed out. Each one was nearly the size of a human hand, and they were fiery-red. Canvas didn't know what would happen if they caught up to him, but it didn't look good. As he got more and more tired, Canvas naturally got slower and slower. Then his foot caught a root and he was flying. He landed on the ground a few feet ahead and skidded for a while before coming to a stop. The army ants overwhelmed him. They called for their brethren, and the little monsters poured out from the trees, crawled out of the soil, and formed a barrier around Canvas. He tried to swat them away and get up, but their stings felt like fire. His screams pierced the night as the ants tunneled down into his skin and ate him up before marching away and leaving his entrails behind to rot in the heat of the jungle.

Canvas Ballatynne, District 8 Male: 14th, Killed by Army Ant Muttations, Day 1

Ash and Luna from District 9, who had allied prior to the games, stayed close together as they ventured through the brightly-colored jungle. Everywhere looked the same, and they didn't want to lose each other. As the jungle became thicker and more complex, they locked arms so that they would stay together. As night began to fall, they used fallen logs to create a shelter at the bottom of a sheet of sloping land. Ash put together the logs, while Luna draped vines and heavy leaves overtop to keep out all of the furiously buzzing gnats and flies. They were miserable in the intense heat, with countless bug bites. It was even hotter inside the shelter, and it was nearly impossible for them to sleep so parched and swelteringly hot.

Back to Brutus. Calypso was covered in cuts and bruises, as Brutus was beginning to actually do damage by inducing minor scrapes and such just to scare her but nothing major. The Capitol cheered with delight as Brutus slammed her in the nose with the butt of his sword, crunching the cartilage underneath. The girl kept screaming, but the outliers didn't dare come near to rescue her. Brutus shoved the tip of his sword into Calypso's stomach. Brutus drove the sword further and further into her chest, and Brutus beat his own with triumph when her cannon shot sounded. Brutus snarled pompously before thundering off deeper into the jungle.

Calypso Madison, District 2 Female: 13th, Killed by Brutus, Day 2

At the cornucopia, when the careers awoke to find Brutus and Calypso gone, they looked at each other gravely. There was no possibility other than Brutus had stolen away with Calypso in the night and killed her. They all agreed that, whatever Brutus was, he was not one of them. The careers went hunting, though they stayed in the lands close to the cornucopia out of fear. Even they were terrified of Brutus, and they hid and reached for their weapons at the slightest noise. Even when all was silent, they looked over their shoulders constantly out of paranoia.

As the mighty Brutus delved deeper into the jungle, his clutch on his sword grew tighter and tighter. His knuckles were white as he grasped the blade that had drained the lives of seven tributes. His impatience turned to fury as he failed to find any tributes after eight hours of hunting. He was about to give up and demand that the gamemakers send one of the outliers to him when he spotted the shelter of Ash and Luna. Brutus smiled and crept toward their shelter. The tail end of the night had been much cooler than the front end, and the two District 9 tributes were snoozing contentedly inside. Brutus could just kill them with his sword right then and there. But he wanted more than that, of course. Brutus rapped his sword on the side of the shelter and the two tributes bolted to their senses. Brutus showed his face between two logs, and the tributes screamed. They stood up and exploded through the roof of the shelter as they sped off. Luna yelled at Ash that they needed to split up, but Brutus had other plans. So quickly they couldn't react, Brutus reached out with his rope and bound their wrists together. They were stuck together, and Brutus chased after them. It pleased him immensely to see the outliers trying to coordinate to make any sort of movement, and Brutus intentionally ran slower than full speed behind them. The tributes couldn't untie the rope because their other hands were swinging at their sides from the fast run. Finally, they were too exhausted to move any further. Ash made a wrong move, and the two outliers were sent falling to the ground in a heap. Ash and Luna struggled to get backup, but Brutus caught up. He played eenie-meenie-minie-mo to determine who he would kill first, and his finger landed on Luna.

Brutus approached the terrified District 9 boy and whacked him in the head with the butt of his sword soft enough that he would be able to regain consciousness, but hard enough that it wouldn't be until he was done with Luna. Brutus was a few feet from Luna when he produced a little contraption from the pocket of his pants. It had been delivered to him by a sponsor that morning. A thumbscrew. It was a torture method often used in the mediaeval ages and was a vice that was designed to slowly crush the toes and thumbs of its unfortunate victims. Luna cried as Brutus seized her thumb and crammed it into the vice. Brutus spun it a few times to tighten it, and the pressure on Luna's thumb was immediately felt. It wasn't painful, just a pressing sensation. After seeing that Luna wasn't reacting, Brutus tightened the vice a few more turns. The girl instantly began sobbing. Her thumb was being squeezed in the vice so hard that she couldn't see straight. She tried to tear the horrible tool off of her finger, but it was on so tight that it was futile. Brutus spun the wheel with all of his might and suddenly Luna's thumb snapped. She screamed with terror as Brutus snapped her pointer finger, middle finger, ring finger, and thumb in order. It took nearly an hour to do all five fingers. They all stuck out of her hand at awkward angles and bent in unnatural ways from the damage they had been dealt by the dreadful thumbscrew. Brutus was about to do her other hand when his mentor Discordia sent him a note saying that the audience wanted more blood. Brutus was happy to comply, skewering his sword through Luna's torso and yanking it out. Like many of Brutus' other kills, Luna was almost glad when the world began to drop away as long as it meant that the excruciating pain would leave with it.

Luna Scinto, District 9 Female: 12th, Killed by Brutus, Day 2

Brutus' timing had been perfect. Ash came to less than a minute after Luna's cannon shot, fresh prey for the savage District 2 boy and his barbaric techniques of inflicting death. Keeping Discordia's request that his kills be bloodier in mind, Brutus went straight in with his sword. He scraped the blade across Ash's arm. He didn't dig it completely into the skin. If he did, the boy would die soon. Instead, he just broke the surface of Ash's pale skin such that there would be blood but also so that he wouldn't die quickly. As blood poured from his wound, Ash tried to his best to be quiet. He wouldn't give Brutus the satisfaction of tears or screams. His silence infuriated him, and Brutus went in for the real deal sooner than usual. He dug his sword into his wrist, a more critical point of blood in the body, and Ash died briskly from loss of blood. It wasn't Brutus' proudest kill, and he swore to make another kill before the day was done to make up for it. After Ash's death, he discarded the thumbscrew.

Ash Knowles, District 9 Male: 11th, Killed by Brutus, Day 2

There wasn't much movement or action among the rest of the tributes for the day. Those two deaths were no doubt carried out by Brutus, and most of the others figured that since he was back at large it would be wise to stay in hiding. Those in the jungle were both close enough to hear the screams of Luna and Ash and to figure that Brutus was nearby. These tributes, Duncan and Volta, kept activity to a minimum. Duncan used one of his poisoned darts to kill a small, peach-colored ocelot with chocolate brown spots. After sipping some water from a stream and cutting up the ocelot's meat, Duncan slunk back into his shelter and waited out the day in silence. Volta slithered under the thick layer of vines littering the forest floor and occupied herself by crafting a spile out of a slab of wood. The wood was rather brittle, and her creation was crude. The spile certainly worked, but it was drawing water from the trees at a rate of less than two tablespoons a minute.

The peach grove didn't have much to boast either. Hazel had gotten up from her slumber at the entrance of the grove and delved deep into the orchard. After several hours of travel, she settled down in a bed of roses and feasted on more peaches. Frostine kept by her little lake and even managed to catch a fish. It had a repulsive texture and taste, and Frostine discarded it after the first bite and settled for slicing up more peaches into her bowl. Lance finally got up, wiped the dirt off himself, and put himself to work. He used several felled logs to create a hut in a heavily-wooded area where it would blend into the wilderness. After the shelter was finished, he set off to find water to quench his raging thirst. Rebekah got up the second the sun rose, wanting to be delivered from her horrific nightmares, most of which contained Brutus' blood smattered face and the bite of his sword. Rebekah found a good water source and munched contentedly on the peaches. Around noon, she accidentally scraped against a sharp piece of tree bark and hissed as blood poured from the wound. She tore off parts of her clothing to stop the blood flow and to prevent infection, and Rebekah stayed still and nursed her wound for the remaining light hours of the day.

Brutus was back on the prowl the second Ash bled to death. He drilled silently through the forest with his sword resting snugly in his grasp. Finally, after nearly thirty hours of continuous hunting, he needed to rest. Brutus sat down on a large stone and, finally, announced his plan to the audience. His goal was to kill at least one tribute from every district. He had already killed at least one tribute from Districts 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. That left Districts 3, 4, 5, and 7 as the only ones to have never felt Brutus' wrath. The only tribute alive from District 3 was Lance. 4 had both Floatsam and Clew. District 5 had only Volta left alive, and same for District 7 with Hazel.

Brutus scribbled down a little note for his mentor, Discordia, negotiating a bargain.

Want to kill one from each district. Need 3, 4, 5, and 7. You give me the 5 girl and 3 boy, and I forfeit one of the 4s. Deal or no deal?

Glasgow says deal, Discordia wrote back in her spidery handwriting, and he'll also give you 7.

Deal, said Brutus' final note simply.

Within minutes, Brutus was back up and running, combing through the jungle for victims. Brutus' run slowed a tiptoe when he saw Volta, the District 5 girl, curled up in the bough of a cherry-colored tree. Volta's ground shelter had gotten destroyed by a wild animal, and she couldn't be bothered to build another so she had climbed up the tree and was catching zs on its lowest branch. Brutus shinnied up the tree like a squirrel, never loosening his grip on his sword.

Brutus climbed onto the bough that Volta was sleeping on, taking infinite care not to make a sound. Brutus' plan was to get her to fall onto the ground and break a leg or something, so that she couldn't run and Brutus could kill her off. Brutus was ready to carry out his plan. He scraped the tip of his sword across Volta's arm. Volta started awake and screamed when she saw Brutus right next to her. There was no way she could climb down the tree without Brutus getting to her first. She leapt off of the tree without a second thought. She tried to steady herself through the fall, but about halfway down she was flipped over and collided with the earth as if belly flopping into a swimming pool. Her right arm took most of the blow, and two of its sturdy bones immediately shattered from the collision. Brutus scurried down the tree and to her side, where she was moaning and weeping from the pain. Brutus had her right where he wanted her. The son of the mayor of District 2 slid the tip of his sword into her neck. The blade dug down for about half a centimeter before Brutus yanked it out. Dark red strings flew everywhere and splattered against Brutus, but he didn't mind it in the least. As one final hoorah, Brutus flipped the girl over and shoved his sword through her ribs so savagely that even the Capitol was shocked. Volta died instantaneously, her death the tenth initiated by Brutus.

Volta Martel, District 5 Female: 10th, Killed by Brutus, Day 2

The morning of Day 3, Discordia sent Brutus another note. The note said that Brutus had these games in the bag and he needed to slow down a bit. But Brutus just discarded the note with a scowl. When Brutus Cordley made a goal, he never, ever failed. Nothing would satisfy him except the Victor's Crown, served bloody and cold, of course.

At the cornucopia, the careers were beginning to grow desperate. Brutus was hogging all of their sponsors, and the best gift they had gotten was a small steak that they split among the three of them and overall provided very little sustenance. Because of Brutus, they had been forgotten by most of the audience and by Caesar, and on Day 3 they were determined to make a splash and impress those sponsors. Floatsam was left behind to guard the cornucopia. Luster and Clew ventured into the peach grove. The mouth-watering aroma enticed them more than the earthy smell of the far-away jungle, and they figured that most of the outliers would have made the same decision.

The two careers had reached a level area of land when Luster stopped dead in his tracks. He pointed out the moving form of Rebekah traveling silently through the trees. Luster readied his knife, Clew her sickle, and they charged toward Rebekah. Luster reached her first and stabbed her in the abdomen with his knife. Rebekah opened her mouth to scream. Before she could make a sound, Clew threw forward his sickle and shoved it down the girl's throat. The girl vomited, her bile splashing over Clew's arm. He recoiled with disgust and inflicted further injury as he unevenly pulled his slimy sickle out of her mouth. Rebekah blubbered nonsensically and flailed around before finally collapsing in death. The two pillaged her of her meager stocks of supplies and split them amongst themselves before returning to the cornucopia.

Rebekah Mobley, District 12 Female: 9th, Killed by Luster and Clew, Day 3

That left the final eight: Luster Forcinius from District 1, Brutus Cordley from District 2, Lance Moble from District 3, Floatsam Minnow and Clew Woods from District 4, Hazel Daoust from District 7, Frostine Hemphill from District 10, and Duncan Blech from District 11.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Apart from Brutus, Duncan was the only tribute in the jungle, and, hearing the horrified screams of his victims, he stayed in hiding for the whole day. Frostine rested in a thick area of the peach grove laden with moss and cherry-colored blossoms, munching on peaches and sipping water from a nearby spring sporadically throughout the day. After several hours of feverish searching, Lance discovered a satisfactory albeit a bit shoddy source of water, a small muddy pool nestled comfortably between two hills. He was so loopy from dehydration that he didn't stop to think that the water would likely contain all of the residue drawn down the two hills by gravity. The water quenched his thirst alright, but his stomach tossed and turned and he stopped six times throughout the course of the day to heave himself dry. Hazel was content relaxing underneath the blood-red roses listening to the burbling of the lake to the south. However, she moved around on occasion so that the gamemakers would leave her alone.

Brutus was up and at 'em bright and early on the morning of the fourth day as bloodthirsty as ever. He jogged through the jungle for several hours, not bothering to be stealthy or careful. Any time he sustained an injury, enough medicine was delivered in minutes to last him for days. As for tossing stealth out of the window, he figured it didn't matter whether the outliers heard him and had time to hide or not. Nothing would satisfy him except for reaching his daily goal of bumping off at least one more outlier, and that was what he would have.

Duncan was out and about looking for water after his supplies from the cornucopia ran dry. He knew that Brutus was in the jungle, but he didn't bother to be quiet because he believed hiding places were bountiful in the rainforest and he could easily pass of his footsteps as those of a wild jungle animal. Big mistake. Brutus was strolling along, sharpening his sword with a stone, when he spotted Duncan trampling clumsily through the dense jungle. Ditching the stone and turning his sword in hand, Brutus crept forward.

When he pounced like a cat, Duncan didn't have time to react. Brutus hurled himself at the outlier boy and tackled him to the ground. It was as if he had melted out of the jungle. With outstanding elegance, Brutus snapped off a bright-green tree vine and bound Duncan's feet together, all in less than a second. Duncan made a desperate attempt at escape, but with his legs tied together he could only leap for a few awkward steps before plummeting to the jungle foliage. Brutus went for a repeat Calypso, circling him for hours and lunging forward occasionally just to terrify him. Duncan reached for his poisoned darts, but he had used them all up hunting. Now, he was defenseless.

Duncan struggled with all of his might to escape. His skin was cracked and bleeding from rubbing against the strong vine. But Duncan had a brain. He located a small rock nearby and grabbed it. Then he threw it a few feet. It landed in the brush with a rustle, and for an instant, the slightest instant, Brutus averted his gaze. Then, Duncan tugged at the vines with all of his might. He pushed on them for all that he was worth, all of the reasons he had to win the games. The vine gave a creak. Then, one of the knots slipped. The vine unwound within moments. Duncan was free.

He ran. He bolted across the uneven rainforest ground faster than he had ever run in his life. Brutus roared with fury and followed behind, and the terror of the situation was getting to Duncan and only made him run faster. He had to stop sometime, though, and after a half hour-long chase Duncan stopped for a tiny second to take one quick rest. Brutus, of course, caught up to him, and pressed the metal tip of his sword, covered with dried blood, to his neck. Duncan's eyes opened wide. He had been so close to escape! Brutus shoved the blade point into Duncan's neck, sedating him immediately and triggering his cannon a moment later.

Duncan Bleck, District 11 Male: 8th, Killed by Brutus, Day 4

In the early hours of Day 4, the careers didn't start out by hunting. Alternatively, they went for a strategy unprecedented in the Hunger Games. They sent out a spy. The careers knew so little about Brutus, their number one source of opposition, yet they would have to face him sooner or later and when that happened heaven help them if they didn't know anything about his tactics.

Neither Luster, Clew, nor Floatsam volunteered at first, which was to be expected. Who would volunteer to get nearer to Brutus? But after a popular vote, the careers determined that Floatsam should be the one to do the job. He was quick, speedy, and slippery enough that he might be able to escape if Brutus caught him on his hunting ground. He refused at first, but over time he gave in under the pressure of his peers.

Floatsam slunk into the jungle and was soon sweating fiercely in the intense heat. Floatsam gasped and placed a shaking hand over his mouth when he stepped on something hard, yet soft. He looked down and was greeted with the dead body of Calypso Madison. Though she had been dead for only a few days, decomposition had already begun to take root. And the expression on her face was one that horrified Floatsam more than anything. The sheer look of hopelessness and terror plastered in her expression made it look like she had died uselessly pleading for Brutus' mercy. Floatsam trekked onward, wanting to get away from Calypso and from the horrible thoughts that were swimming around his mind.

This whole spying shenanigan was fascinating and intriguing most of the audience, and Floatsam's mentor Lucy sent him a note giving him directions to Brutus. Floatsam swallowed hard and walked between the landmarks Lucy had written to him in her elegant hand. Floatsam clutched his trident as he walked, and it wasn't long before the thump of Brutus' footsteps filled his ears and stirred up his deepest terrors. Floatsam ran through a list of information he needed to recover. Brutus still had a sword. Check. Now they knew what weapon to practice fighting against. He was growling, evidently frustrated by not being able to find any kills. He was… he was… staring right at Floatsam, a smirk plastered across his face!

Floatsam screamed like a little schoolgirl, turned tail, and sped away. Brutus growled like a bear and scampered behind. Floatsam was nimble, and Brutus lost him twice, but his whimpers of fright always allowed Brutus to find him again.

"A four!" Brutus sneered. "Just what I needed. Glad it wasn't your partner, stupid girl can't even hold a sword. You, well, you'll be entertainment."

Brutus chased Floatsam to the edge of a furiously rushing river. Sure, he was a fantastic swimmer, but the river water was moving so fast that Floatsam wasn't sure if he would be able to keep his bearings in the current. Furthermore, the small portion of the riverbed he could see looked rocky, perfect grounds for a concussion if the current threw him into them.

Brutus teased him. "District 4 can't even swim, can he?" Floatsam wasn't sure if he could manage to cross the river. But he had to get away from Brutus. He stood in scary indecision for a few seconds, so much time that Brutus was able to approach him and grab him by the neck. Brutus lifted him into the air like a naughty puppy and shook him around.

To begin his torture, Brutus pulled out his trusty sword and speared it through his hand. Floatsam screamed as the sharp blade bored through the flesh and protruded from the other side, and Brutus buried the tip of the three foot-long blade into the dirt, essentially binding his prey to the ground. Then he picked up a five pound stone, and it was all over. He slammed it into Floatsam's head, bashing in part of his skull and rendering him immediately unconscious. Over the course of several minutes, Brutus beat the pitiful boy to death. He died from head trauma in less than five minutes, and Brutus left his misshapen head and blood-lathered body behind him as he ran away back into the thick of the jungle to hunt some more.

Floatsam Minnow, District 4 Male: 7th, Killed by Brutus, Day 4

The rest of Day 4, as well as the entirety of Day 5, passed with neither interaction nor conflict between the six surviving tributes. Most of them stayed in hiding for much of this period, scared by the two cannon shots that fired in the early hours of Day 4. After sending out Floatsam to spy, the careers halfheartedly hunted the lands around the cornucopia. When a cannon shot sounded, they all clung onto a tiny thread of hope that the career had managed to survive, but as day turned into night they wore solemn expressions. And then his face appeared in the sky, shattering their hopes of triumphing over the beast like a ceramic sculpture dropped on concrete. Luster and Clew spent much of Day 5 resting at the cornucopia. After Floatsam's death, they slithered into the horn and made as many excuses as possible to stay inside. It was the first time that any career had been openly scared by another. Brutus, of course, was on the prowl, as savagely bloodthirsty as ever. His mentor sent him a note saying that there wasn't any prey left in the jungle and that he should head to the peach grove. Brutus was glad to obey, sprinting through the meadow toward the peach grove. Victory was so close he could taste it. He didn't bother killing the careers as he sprinted past the cornucopia; he had bigger fish to fry. He wanted to save his energy for Lance and Hazel, the only tributes standing between him and his objective of killing at least one tribute from every district.

Among the tributes from the outlying districts, there was an awful lot of hysteria. They all figured that Brutus would be heading toward them now after so long in the jungle, and good hiding places near the edges of the arena were in high demand. Hazel discovered a remarkably well-formed natural shelter. The roots of three peach trees wove around each other and overlapped above an empty space hidden on either side by thick bushes. It was the perfect hiding place. Hazel even had some room to move around inside. As the only outlier off of Brutus' kill list, Frostine was in much less peril than her peers. Still, she jogged further away from the center of the arena for several hours and found herself at a point where the land dropped off at a ninety degree angle and fell down forever into oblivion. At the very edge of the arena, she created a little shelter in a copse of bushes and amused herself by tossing stones over the edge of the cliff. Lance's stomach kept on churning for several days. The muddy water he had drank was really getting to his system. His stomach churned, and he threw up on regular occasions. Extreme diarrhea was dehydrating Lance severely, and he was in misery with no sponsors generous enough to open their wallets and purses for him.

After not making a kill on Day 5, Brutus sped through the peach grove faster than ever before, growling with fury every time he heard a sound that turned out to be a small animal. He was slithering through a thicket of branches when he heard human sounds very nearby. Brutus laughed and followed them. He saw Lance on the ground, retching himself dry, with a sunken mouth and dry, pink eyes. He looked like he might fall dead at any moment, and Brutus wanted to get to him before that happened. The career boy didn't bother to torture him any more than he needed to. He was pretty unresponsive, so he wouldn't be much fun anyways. Brutus jabbed his sword through his back. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, and Lance's limp form slid off Brutus' sword.

Lance Moble, District 3 Male: 6th, Killed by Brutus, Day 6

Tributes stirred in unease for the remainder of Day 6. Lance's cannon shot meant that Brutus was once again on the prowl, and nobody wanted to be found by the victory-hungry career boy. Frostine was too close for comfort to the edge of the arena, so she backed away about a hundred yards and found herself at a pool of water. Her supplies were low, and she was glad to restock on precious body fluid. By this point, Hazel had caught on that Brutus was striving to kill at least one tribute from every district. That meant that she was his sole true target. She stayed in hiding the entire day. At sunset, the gamemakers sent her a cryptic note warning her that she'd better get out and about or else they would send a threat after her. But Hazel was so terrified that her brain was refusing to process the information. She discarded the note. That would be the mistake that ended her life.

Mere minutes prior, Brutus had grown thirsty for the blood of his last few opponents and demanded that the gamemakers guide him to one of the other tributes. Given that their end of the deal had not yet been paid, they took the opportunity to show him Hazel's location. Hazel was crouched down in her crudely-built shelter when a firework burst out of the ground a few feet away from her and flew into the sky. The firework exploded with a sound that left Hazel's ears ringing. Terror was impairing her sense of reason, and whatever she though the firework was for she didn't perceive it as any real threat.

Brutus bared his teeth and snarled with triumph as he saw a red firework fly into the air from somewhere in the middle of the peach grove. His faithful sword at his side, he raced toward the general location that the firework had been set off. It was scary how well his bearings were. He sprinted through the forest without slowing down and without faltering. He leapt between rocks and over burbling creeks with impeccable grace. When Hazel's mud shelter came into view, Brutus chuckled. He trekked forward as quietly as his legs could carry him, approaching Hazel's shelter after about a minute of tip-toeing forward.

Hazel shrieked as Brutus' humungous weight landed on top of her. She tried to knock down the wall of her shelter and escape, but Brutus had already bound her hands together with a strong knot. She kicked with her feet like a child. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying, and hot tears pooled up on her cheeks. Brutus shoved her legs into two loops of his rope, effectively binding her. There wasn't much light where Hazel had built her shelter. Brutus gagged her and snatched her up like a rag doll. He marched off into the peach grove.

Brutus dropped Hazel in a clearing well-lit by the silvery moonlight. Then he unsheathed his sword. The glint of its blade in the light of the moon made Hazel's life flash before her eyes. She tugged against the constraints harder than ever. She probably could have broken them, but Brutus had learned from Duncan that the knots he had been using originally weren't strong enough. He had developed a whole new method of rope-tying that ensured that not even Hazel, adrenaline firing throughout her body like water through a straw, could escape.

This was Brutus' last kill until he met his goal of killing one tribute from every district. He wanted to savor this as much as possible. Now that she was constrained without hope of escape, he tore out her gag. As soon as the slimy rag was removed, Hazel screamed as loud as she could. Mustering up all of her strength, she strained against her rope confinements. But she could not break Brutus' rope. The boy circled around her, joy flashing in his eyes. And how did she scream!

Nearby, Frostine bolted awake at the sound of Hazel's cries of fear. However unreasonable, but no doubting heroic, she got to her feet and produced her knife. She had to help that poor girl. She walked a few steps in the direction of the screams and then stopped. What if the killer was still nearby? She could be killed as well. Tears burned the back of her eyes as she debated whether to risk her own life to save another. Finally, she came to the verdict that she had to help the poor girl, lest it weigh down on her conscious forever. She was off before she could change her mind. What were the chances that it was Brutus anyhow?

It was easy for Frostine to find Hazel. Her yelps pierced the night. Finally, Frostine arrived. When she saw the District 7 girl lying on the ground, wrists and ankles bleeding, she ran forward to help. Hazel choked out her thanks as Frostine sawed away at her confinements.

Then, Brutus leapt out of the dark. She didn't even see him coming. Just a flash of movement in the darkness, and suddenly Frostine was on the ground on top of Hazel. "I come here to catch one tribute, and I find two! Came to save her? How sweet," Brutus teased.

Frostine grabbed Hazel, and the two got to their feet. Immediately, Brutus went in for the kill. He didn't even bother to draw out their deaths any more. His prey was escaping underneath his nose. With expertise that bespoke years of dutiful practice, Brutus slashed away at the air with his sword. It slashed across both of their backs in rapid succession, and they tumbled forward. Brutus approached Hazel first, figuring she was more important fodder. He shoved the point of his sword into her throat before tearing it out. She gurgled and moaned, near death, as Brutus turned toward Frostine. Frostine was playing dead, lying sprawled out of the floor of the forest. She was putting up a pathetic job. She was breathing normally, and the absence of her cannon shot shattered all of Frostine's hopes. Brutus wasn't fooled. He loped off Frostine's left arm in one clean slice, sending it tumbling away. After a few more moments of entertainment, he planted his sword into her back like a skewer. The girls both died within seconds of each other.

Hazel Daoust, District 7 Female: 5th, Killed by Brutus, Day 6

Frostine Hemphill, District 10 Female: 4th, Killed by Brutus, Day 6

Brutus howled into the night like a wolf, advertising his presence to all of the world. It would take the biggest upset in the history of the Hunger Games to result in anything but his victory, and, with only two competitors living in the arena, the odds of his failure were astronomical. He had thirteen kills so far. No matter how many of the last tributes he killed, he would set the record for the most kills for any tribute in any Hunger Games thus far. If he killed both of the tributes left, he would have racked up a monumental fifteen kills.

Day 7 was the last day of the games. From the second the sun rose, Brutus galloped across the terrain. His only goal in mind was to reach the cornucopia, where his final two kills would be waiting. The non-Brutus careers had been completely forgotten by the audience. Luster and Clew waited around at the horn for Brutus to arrive. They scavenged the cornucopia for supplies. By the time Brutus burst into the clearing with a grin as wide as the moon on his face, they were all covered with chainmail body armor and had the wickedest looking swords the arena had to offer. They were ready to kill or be killed.

Brutus wasn't tired at all from his trans-arena trek, and if he was he didn't show it. He hacked away at the air. By instinct, he swiped and slashed and dodged. His sword was an arc of pure destruction. In one move, he drove his sword through a chink in Clew's armor. She staggered backward a few feet from the blow. She was an instant from regaining her footing when Brutus slammed the metal butt of his sword into her head. She was immediately knocked unconscious. Right before she lost balance, the District 2 boy skewered his sword through her torso. Her cannon shot rang throughout the arena like thunder. Only two tributes remained.

Clew Woods, District 4 Female: 3rd, Killed by Brutus, Day 7

Luster had to fight against Brutus. There were no other options. To the best of his ability, he whirled around and lashed out with his sword. But, Brutus had predicted his blow and was able to swat it out of the way before the sword could touch him. Gripping his sword so hard his knuckles turned white, the boy with fifteen kills leapt forward with his sword. The sharp edge of the blade raked across Luster's forehead. He reeled, spinning, and Brutus grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"I've always wanted to try this," Brutus giggled, a childlike glint in his eyes. He grabbed a thrashing Luster by the head and snapped his neck with both hands. The snap was sickening to hear for all but Brutus. It was music to his ears. The scene festered the nightmares of district children for weeks to come. Brutus staggered away from Luster and let him tumble to the ground, a look of sheer terror forever frozen in his expression.

Luster Forcinius, District 1 Male: 2nd, Killed by Brutus, Day 7

A symphony of trumpets blared throughout the arena. A familiar voice accompanied them. "Brutus Cordley of District 2, you are the victor of the forty-eighth annual Hunger Games!" Wisp Glasgow shouted.

Brutus bellowed with triumph and beat his chest with pride in celebration of his victory.

Brutus Cordley, District 2 Male: Victor of the Forty-Eighth Hunger Games, Day 7


AFTERMATH

Brutus received a hero's welcome when he returned home to District 2. He was their pride and glory, and many would praise the Cordley name for years to come. He had brought their total victor count to an astounding twelve. He was adored in the Capitol, and he would go down in history books as one of the best victors in Hunger Games history. He was also among the most beautiful victors yet, which of course meant that Snow used him in the same sick, twisted ways he used many of the other desirable victors. Brutus broke Molly Toliday's record for most kills of any tribute in any Hunger Games, and he is now remembering as one of the most bloodthirsty tributes the games have ever seen.

He settled into the Victor's Village of District 2, occupying the twelfth and final house. The Capitol added another twelve fine houses to the Victor's Village to accommodate any future victors that the district of masonry may obtain.

His victory tour was rather quiet and dull. Those in the outlying districts were disgusted by his tactics but also terrified of him. Not even the loved ones of his kills showed Brutus any hardship publically.

Brutus would live to the age of one-hundred and twelve, dying from a heart attack around the time of the one-hundred and forty-second annual Hunger Games. That made him the victor with one of the longest lifespans so far, second only to Mags Flanagan of the eleventh Hunger Games. Brutus would marry and have two strong boys. At the age of one-hundred and five, he would suffer a heart attack. The Capitol doctors were able to keep him alive, but only using advanced and wildly expensive medication. He was bound to his hospital bed for the next five years before finally dying. The Capitol was willing to sacrifice all that they had for one of the greatest victors of all time.


NEWS

Brutus moves into the Victor's Village of District 2, occupying the twelfth and final house,

Isaac Crandall adopts a son named Robin.


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)
48HG: Brutus Cordley (#12, District 2)


A/N (Written 4 years after this chapter was originally published): I remember going absolutely crazy with this chapter. In hindsight, it's unrealistic that a tribute could make *that* many kills, but I sure had fun with Brutus and I hope you liked reading about him.